Dan J. Berger

Here is my album of pics I took of my favorite art from this year’s Art Basel, the country’s largest art fair that takes place in Miami every year for 3 days. Galleries from all over the world set up shop and show off their artists and pieces.

My top picks:

• Strongest political statement: Bare-chested Muslim woman
  
  
  
  
• Most beautiful photo: Elephant in Amboseli
  
  
  
  
• Sculpture/Installation: Chanel gun with flower petals
  
   
• Favorite Abstract painting
  
  
  
  
• Favorite old-school Pop Art: Andy Warhol’s The Witch, pink version (going for 95k)
  
   

I literally saw thousands of pieces… from the absurd to the beautiful. Lots of “is this art” moments, including the “installation” of Brooklyn-based artist, Muri Kim, who lived naked with pigs in a pen for 104 hours.

Personally, going to Miami during the Northeast’s Winter was a total change of pace. I’m used to going down there for the Winter Music Conference to party. It was like I grew up… fitting for someone who just turned 30.

It was totally awesome. See you next year, Miami.

This morning, as I was getting ready, I had an impromptu Stuart Smalley moment. I stared at myself in the mirror and said out loud: “Social Tables is doing awesome. Our roadmap is solid. And god damnit we will be successful.”

I’m not sure where this came from. I mean, things are going really well for us. Our team is formidable, our userbase is growing fast, our product is being polished every day, and we’re working on some amazing partnerships.

So, if you’re ever feeling just a little down about things (it’s normal), come up with your own version of “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!” and yell it in front of the mirror.

So DC Week just wrapped up last friday (BYT’s photos here) and DC Entrepreneurship Week has arrived. I didn’t even get a chance to breathe!

Apart from being informative and fun-filled, these two weeks are illustrating why DC is [again] becoming a technology hub.

In his October 2011 essay, Paul Ghraham says tech hubs work because within them startups are seen as cool and chance meetings with people who can help you are more likely. The more startups in one area, the more potent this formula becomes, he says.

Well, the YCombinator godfather must have been thinking about DC when he was writing his post. Events such as these are helping put DC on the map by making startups cooler and people more connected.

TechCocktail and iStrategyLabs deserve a huge amount of props for producing DC Week. Let’s follow their lead and produce more community-building/inspiring events. DC Startup Weekend is another good example. This is why I help organize monthly DC Founder Dinners and Study Hall DC. And it’s why Social Tables works out of District I/O.

What are you doing to make this hub stronger?