Techdirt Greenhouse is a different kind of event. It's designed to be fun, interactive and thought provoking. It requires participation, rather than passive listening, but has enough structure that it's not a total free-for-all. In fact, the structure is quite similar to the Techdirt blog.

This event which is organised by Alba Innovation Centre and Edinburgh-Stanford Link will take place in the Alba Innovation Centre, Livingston on Friday 25th January from 11am - 4pm.  Registration from 10.30am.

A group of pre-selected companies and MSc students in Informatics will present ideas in quick, five minute presentations. Unlike a standard product showcase, this is not the "final word." After a group of presentations, the attendees are split up into breakout groups, and given a specific issue from one of the presentations to "workshop." For a company with a new product, this could be anything from "what new features should be added" to "what target market should they focus on" to "is there a business model here?" Other presentations may not be about products, but ideas, and the workshops will be related to those ideas.

After a short period of time, everyone will reconvene and discuss some of the findings and takeaways for the presenters (and the attendees) to consider.

Think of each presentation as a Techdirt post -- and each breakout group as the comments around that post. This allows us to create an event where many different interesting topics gets discussed among a diverse group of people with a wide range of perspectives and opinions -- all in a short period of time.

Leave the Powerpoint and the sales pitches at home. Here's a chance to interact with some of the smartest folks around, while helping to solve real and interesting challenges facing the technology business today.

Register now to secure your place at this event by emailing albareception@innovationcentre.org

Hosted by Mike Masnick

Speakers:
Mike Masnick, Entrepreneur and Founder of Techdirt www.techdirt.com

Read the recent Interview with Mike Masnick in The Guardian

Mike Clouser, Entrepreneur and Associate with the Edinburgh-Stanford Link will talk briefly on the underutilization of student brilliance in Scotland
Liza Sutherland, Entrepreneur and Advisor with the Alba Innovation Centre will talk about the Innovation Centre and conduct a tour

The first Techdirt Greenhouse Idea Workshop in Scotland will be held at the Alba Innovation Centre on January 25th, 2008. Uniquely this session will combine local startup companies with MSc and Ph.D. students in Informatics and Digital Design at the University of Edinburgh .