Clayton Stobbs, the facilitator of SWA2, invited me to join him in my old stomping ground of Research Triangle Park, NC for the next Startup Weekend event, July 11-13.

Clay liked the new format beta-tested by SWA2 poobah, Laura “mitten” Fisher: 97 participants pitched 34 ideas, formed 13 Teams and started 11 new companies. (Previous SW’s started with an idea bake-off, with a single winner).

SWA2 also started with a bake-off: the 34 pitchers spread out in the cavernous space, and entertained participants who were looking for Teams to join. A couple pitchers abandoned their own ideas for other, better prospects. And there were, inevitably, stragglers – folks who couldn’t find a Team.

Clayton also appreciated the “connectors” – we went around picking up the stragglers and introducing them to Teams. An interview would go something like this:

• Connector: what do you like to do?
• Straggler: I’m a marketer for a big bank.
• Connector: cool. But what do you want to do?
• Straggler: Marketing, I guess. For a bank.
• Connector: you want to moonlight doing your day-job?
• Straggler: naah. I really want to do something customized and creative.
• Connector: gotcha. C’mon over here, lemme introduce you to Team #8.

There were about a dozen stray stragglers who got matched-up in this way. They ended up contributing considerable startup mojo to their respective Teams.

The new SW format makes connecting even more important: first you have to listen to all the pitches, and remember what made each one unique and what the pitchers said they need to succeed (it helps to take notes). Then you interview the stragglers and make introductions – that’s just being friendly.

North Carolinians are exceedingly friendly – that oughta make things even easier.  If they have as many entrepreneurs, ideas, teams and newco’s, they could brand themselves as The Ann Arbor of the South.