A couple weeks ago I announced my cross-country road trip from Virginia to California and offered to stop by and meet with people interested in entrepreneurship and business ideas along my route.

Washington, DC
I kicked off my trip Sunday in Washington DC, meeting with a couple friends of friends about creating personal brands, getting involved in the “startup scene” in a city and cutting the “big company” cord. I also had the opportunity to meet Nicholas Tolson and talk about a wide range of entrepreneurial and artistic topics, including his projects DeGeeked and others. (More to come soon…)

Charlotte, NC
Monday I drove down to Charlotte to meet many of the Charlotte Twitterati, including Lyell Petersen, Scott Lundgren, Amy Petersen, Jason Keath, Katie Morse and Andria Krewson.

It was inevitable that our conversation would stray towards social media. Charlotte has an interesting local Twitter scene; in trying to tease out the differences between how social media is being used in DC, Raleigh, NC and Charlotte, I find that Charlotte has a surprisingly active social media community that’s finding ways to use Twitter for fun and business. Social media by no means “known”; we’re all learning as we’re going, and the Charlotte community is testing the boundaries and learning in the process. But I’m open to thoughts from people more attuned to each area.

Tuesday morning I met with Lisa Hoffmann (and Lyell and Amy) to talk about the trip (plans, background, ideas and goals) and to get some ideas around how I could connect with people along my route. (More to come soon…)

What’s Next?

• Over the next couple days I’ll be working my way through Georgia and the Florida panhandle, mostly working on some photography projects.
• If you’re around Tallahassee, FL, Mobile, AL or the Gulf Coast, drop me a line.
• I missed Startup School a couple weeks ago, but I am looking forward to meeting some of the entrepreneurial community in New Orleans, LA. Drop me a line if you’re around this weekend and early next week.
• After that, Houston and Dallas, TX…
• And then, on to the southwest and California. You still have time to influence my route…

If you’re on my route, drop me a line if you’re an entrepreneur or if you’ve got an idea for a product or company and you would like a bit of free consulting and advice, or if you want to hack out a financial model for your idea, or want to do an interview about your idea, or if you just want to say hello. I’m here for you.