People: JumpStart's Hendrickson pitched Nashville
for ReadWriteStart's tech-center spotlight

By Milt Capps


People: JumpStart's Hendrickson pitched Nashville for ReadWriteStart's tech-center spotlight

Lucas Hendrickson

Nashville's recent exposure on the widely followed ReadWriteWeb blog was not the result of a "ranking" of top tech cities, but the shout-out by columnist Audrey Watters was much appreciated locally, just the same.

Nashville was spotlighted Jan. 19 as part of the ReadWriteStart section's 18-month-old "Never Mind the Valley" series on cities "that people don't automatically think of" as centers of tech innovation, Watters told VNC.

Earlier RWS posts made clear the anecdotal series aims to highlight "some unique, unexpected locations where startups thrive, where tech scenes are vibrant, where cooperation outstrips competition, and where creativity runs rampant."

Nashville would probably still be awaiting its cameo if Lucas Hendrickson, JumpStart Foundry's recently hired communications director, hadn't seen Watters' recent invitation for RWS readers to submit their favorite cities for consideration and then provided Watters background on Nashville tech and venture initiatives.

Watters

Nashville was one of more than 30 cities and nations recently nominated by their fans, Watters told VNC. Other tout-ees include London, Paris, Montreal and the nation of Israel.

Hendrickson calls Midland, Texas, home. He's a Belmont University adjunct instructor of media studies, according to his LinkedIn profile. His 15-year career has included news-editorial roles with Vision3 Interactive Media, TunedInMusicCity, Nashville Citysearch, Crossroads Magazine, SonicPlace.com and MusicCountry.com.

Hendrickson earlier spent more than four years as graphics editor and systems manager with the Nashville Banner, the afternoon daily that ceased publishing in 1998. He graduated from Abilene Christian University. Hendrickson, who is about 6'7" tall, sometimes blogs on LargeLandMammal. VNC