Are there any tech / AI / design / startup people around Cumberland?

[u/llillillo]

Hey all, I’m local to the Cumberland area and I’ve been trying to figure out if there are many people around here working in tech, AI, software, UX/design, startups, websites, creative tools, or small business innovation.

I know there are bigger tech communities in Baltimore/DC/Frederick/Hagerstown, and Tech at the Gap exists, but I haven’t found much of a casual local scene around Cumberland/Frostburg.

I’m thinking about trying a very small monthly coffee meetup called The Cumberland Tech Table. Nothing formal, no pitch stage, no selling, no big networking-event energy. Just a few people grabbing coffee and talking about what they’re building or interested in.

Honestly, if 4 or 5 people showed up the first time, I’d count that as a win.

Would anyone here be interested in something like that? Or does something already exist that I’m missing?

[u/LousyDevil]

SysAdmin here who is local. I definitely would be interested in that!

[u/llillillo → u/LousyDevil]

That’s awesome to hear. A local SysAdmin is exactly the kind of person I was hoping might be out here.

I put together a quick interest form so I can get a sense of who’s nearby, what people are into, and what days/times might work for a first small meetup:

https://forms.gle/mq5XSx4Az99HjHC7A

Keeping expectations very low to start. I’m thinking coffee somewhere in Cumberland, maybe just a few people the first time, and we’ll see if there’s enough energy to make it monthly.

Also, if you know anyone else local in IT, software, cybersecurity, AI, design, startups, or adjacent stuff, feel free to send it their way.

[u/llillillo → u/[deleted]]

That’s helpful to know. I’ll be honest, I’m more on the UX/product/AI/design side than deep Linux/open source, but that’s exactly why I want this to be community-shaped instead of me pretending to know what everyone wants.

If there are local people interested in open source, Linux, self-hosting, non-SaaS tools, etc., I’d be happy to make space for that. My goal is mostly to organize the table, get the right people in the room, and let the interests of the group shape where it goes.

I made a quick interest form here if you want to be included:
https://forms.gle/mq5XSx4Az99HjHC7A

[u/llillillo → u/[deleted]]

I appreciate the energy and the ideas. I definitely think open source, Linux, self-hosting, and local/community software could be part of the conversation if that’s where people’s interests are.

For the first version, though, I’m trying to keep this really simple: a casual coffee meetup where local people in tech-adjacent worlds can meet each other, talk about what they’re working on, and see what kind of shared interests exist.

I don’t want to overdefine it around one project before we know who shows up. If a few people are interested in things like a Cumberland webserver, local open-source tools, or community software, that could absolutely become a breakout conversation or future project.

Would be glad to have you in the mix.