*reprint courtesy of Traingle Business Journal*
Written by Lauren K. Ohnesorge

Silicon Valley-based website TechCrunch knows how to attract a crowd. About 600 techies and entrepreneurs packed into Bay 7 at American Tobacco in Durham Tuesday evening to pass out business cards, down drinks and talk ideas.

The event, part of TechCrunch’s Southeast “MeetUp” tour, was originally scheduled for Tyler’s Taproom, but with about 700 RSVPs, it outgrew the bar.

For Maggie D’Angelo and the rest of the ReverbNation team, the event was a way to show off what’s been happening at their company.

“We just moved into our new space, literally last week,” she says.

For Knowledge Tree CEO Daniel Chalef, Tuesday was a celebration - the first big outing since closing on more than $2 million in funding Monday.

“It’s been busy for the past two days,” he says.

Jeff Downs with SnapCrowd came from Burlington for the event.

“We believe that, as part of the tech community of North Carolina, that in order to attract other tech companies and create a tech vibe, we have to support the community,” he says, adding that he’s been at TechCrunch events around the country.

“It’s a great way to see what’s going on,” he adds.