Last Saturday was Barcamp Philly and it rocked (thanks to you @jptoto, @stellargirl, and @kelaninichole)! The first session I went to was titled “Web Apps and Hookers" which was presented by the dynamic duo of Allan Branch and Steven Bristol of Less Everything fame.
Sadly, I have to admit, before I met those guys I wasn’t huge fans of them. I thought they were kind of arrogant. However, all that changed when I got a chance to hang out with them at LessConf last month. I can truly call them friends now and they are some of the nicest people I have met.
Ok, back on topic! They had many nuggets of advice but the most important segment in my mind was the part about partners. They went on and on about how important they are. At one point they asked if anybody was starting a business without a partner to which I raised my hand. Their basic response was “you need a partner" but Steve mumbled at the end “except Randy, he’s spot on". Ok, that had me glowing a little bit. However, I do understand the importance of a partner and wish I had one.
I am surrounded by very very awesome people but I don’t know if I have met someone that would pass the 3 AM call test. I’m not sure if this was their original idea, but basically the 3 AM test is if a potential partner would pick up the phone when you call at 3 AM instead of silencing it and going back to sleep, then they are your person. I think this is a great test and one I’ll be using going forward.
The part I haven’t figured out is how to keep from offending the people you don’t choose to be your partner. Any ideas?
(: PS I promise I’ll stop gushing about the Less Everything dudes for a while, I don’t want them to get any ideas :)