[garann]

"The No. 1 challenge for tech startups in Austin and around the country is hiring critical engineering talent," Baer said. "We are going to bring the best talent here for all these events we will be having."

That seems like something of a leap of faith, especially if "these events" are the same ones mentioned earlier in the article, i.e., they're geared toward "entrepreneurs". Why would an engineer be interested in that sort of content unless he or she were trying to launch their own company? And if they're trying to launch their own business, of course, they're not likely to be looking for a job. Sounds like another echo chamber where business people congratulate each other on Austin's awesome tech community while avoiding doing anything, you know, technical.

[edash]

What classes or groups would you want to see in this space?

I'm guessing many of the existing tech oriented groups (Austin on Rails, Austin.rb, et al) will start meeting there. Many of these groups already met at the OtherInbox offices on the 8th floor. OIB is moving up to this new space—so it's natural that those groups will move up as well.

There are also several (albeit more business-focused) groups like Refresh Austin and Lean Startup Circle that have held meetings at Buffalo Billiards. That space is not really conducive to meetings of any sort (it's loud, dirty, and has few outlets) so I'm guessing those groups will move two blocks to the new space as well.

[garann]

I don't really have an interest in what kind of events happen in the space. It appears to be a venue for business people so, as an engineer, what goes on there doesn't really affect me. Neither of the groups I run is likely to be able to afford to rent the conference room. I do, however, hope Refresh doesn't end up there - in spite of its flaws, I like Buffalo Billiards for meetups.