Last week, we had the privilege of attending 3 events. Runako went to Startup Drinks, while I gave a presentation on product development to the Atlanta chapter of the Founder Institute, and was later featured on theAtlanta Technology Leaders show on BusinessRadioX.

We spend a lot of time in the office and other places in front of computers or on the phone trying to make a better product for our customers, or supporting the product we have, so we don’t get out as much as we should. It was invigorating to meet up with other entrepreneurs, some of whom are well on their way in business, some of whom, like the Founders, are just getting started. Here are a few things I was reminded about by getting out there.

• Meeting People Live Is Still Important - The developer’s instinct when starting a company is to shrink back, to hide behind a wall of near-perfect code that means your customers need no care and feeding, and to attract capital and interest through quality construction. (I can say this because I am one.) However, live interaction is important. It reminds you that your potential customers are people. It lets you hear their stories and learn things you might not have known before. And it makes you get better at telling your story.

• There’s Enough Credit To Go Around - When you’re in a promotional venue designed to improve your marketing reach, the temptation is to figure out how to sell, sell, sell. Relax! Of course you must tell your story. However, if there are partners that are doing something for you, or doing something for your industry, don’t be afraid to talk about them. I talked liberally in my interview about the Founder Institute and Atlanta Tech Village because they’re doing great things for Atlanta’s startup scene that will only help ProjectLocker, being a part of that scene, in the long run. When I or Runako are networking, we are always sure to try to think of referrals that can help who we’re talking to, even if we gain nothing from the transaction. My experience has been that fostering an open, helpful environment in a community always reaps greater rewards than quid pro quo.

• Atlanta Has A Strong Scene - Atlanta now has several co-working spaces, a couple of incubators, and an increasing pool of investment capital. When I get out and meet other entrepreneurs at events, I get excited about what’s happening here. When we first started, the technology meetups were dominated by consultants or developers from large firms, working only on enterprise projects. Now, there’s a wealth of startups being created, though the scene is still more B2B than B2C (with notable exceptions like Scoutmob and to some extent our hometown hero MailChimp). One of the things I’ve noticed as well is that the cooler capital environment has let to more mature founders who find ways to bootstrap, grow out of revenue, or borrow from family, friends, and savings to start. This is less exciting than receiving checks at a heady valuation, but it does mean that many of our firms are built to last and are creating value that is less likely to dissolve if the capital tide ebbs.

We’re going to keep working at getting out and about more often. If you’re part of a startup in Atlanta, tweet us at @ProjectLockerHQ with the hashtag #ATLStartups. We’ll give you a shout, and sometime soon, will invite you out for some beers if we don’t see you at Startup Drinks or somewhere similar first.