NO! Had you going though didn’t I? Probably not. Anyway, tonight is the inaugural Kickstand meeting in Southern Idaho, and 3/4 of LGM will be there for that. Just prior, we have another update on the UI redesign for Pronetos. But I won’t be doing any of that.

No, instead I will be in Seattle at a TiE event. What is TiE? Good question. I had not heard of it either until TechConnect made me aware. TiE is a global entrepreneurial network - now the fastest growing such network in the world. I mentioned social networking, right? Here is the program TiE is putting on tonight:

Opportunities in the Web 2.0 Ecosystem

Social networking sites present a huge monetization opportunity. Analysts expect them to grow faster than ‘traditional portals’ and estimate that by 2011 they will account for 12% of all online advertising revenues amounting to $8.2 billion worldwide.

With social networking sites like Facebook opening up their platforms to external developers and VCs announcing funds for applications built on top of specific platforms have you ever wondered?

o What it takes to build a successful startup in this space?

o Do you build your own social networking platform or do you ride the platform provided by the leading sites?

o How do you distinguish yourself from several thousand Facebook applications and widgets that have been built for MySpace and other such sites?

o What do VCs look for when funding a social networking application startup?

o How can you monetize the traffic that you generate?

o How will the social networking landscape evolve over the next few years?

If you have asked yourself these questions or are just curious about Web 2.0 platforms and social networking applications, this is the event for you. Come and hear our distinguished panel talk on this topic.

The discussion panel includes 4 CEO’s, a venture partner from Madrona (our favorite VC firm), and the moderator John Cook from the Seattle P-I.

Should be a dynamite evening! Be even cooler if we could have this kind of discussion in Boise!

I need to give BIG TIME props to the Boise Perkins Coie office, and Melanie Rubocki for hooking me up with one of the Bellevue partners who is sponsoring tonight’s event. You are first rate, Melanie!