Event: Silicon Valley - A History of Change, August 30, 2010

The name change vote wasn't the only thing happening on August 30th! Leslie Berlin, Project Historian for the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford University and author of the book The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley, spoke for about an hour on the founding and history of Silicon Valley. Before that, Chapter members tried to identify the former names of 50 people, companies and countries (I'm amazed anyone knew Burkina Faso's former name - I certainly didn't!)

While some of the elements of the Valley's History might have been familiar to members, such as the role of Frederick Terman in funding students' companies and the Fairchild Eight aka The Traitorous Eight and their role in forming Fairchild Semiconductor and various spinoffs, what was fascinating were the lesser-known elements which helped make Silicon Valley what it is today. These included the role of the government in providing a ready-made market for electronics and aerospace in earlier decades - Lockheed was the major employer in the Valley in the 1950s - the effect of tax laws on encouraging investment, potential investors who had the technology background, as well as things one might take for granted such as the pleasant climate.

If there was one takeaway from the evening, it was that it wasn't enough to get a bunch of smart people in a group or a small area - an established infrastructure and a fair amount of chance each played their part. It was great to hear from audience members during the Q&A, with one person talking about how they'd bought Julius Blank's house.