and so can your small town. I'm not writing to brag about the 20 folks who came out to our

501 Tech Club at the 501 Lounge (yep, there's a swanky bar called the 501 Lounge). Or the 35 folks who came to our meet up last month. Or the 60 organizations who have expressed interest in the club.

Laugh it up big city dwellers. I know, these numbers seems small, but for towns with less than 100K (Mlsa is about 70K), these are great metrics.

I'm writing to encourage folks to in smaller towns to consider starting your own 501 Tech Club through NTEN as a way to create a supportive technology network. I've found NTEN to be a great umbrella organization that's worked for me to get techies and non-profits to mash and mingle. If Missoula, Montana can do it, I'm sure your town can do it too.