When it comes to cool tech events here in Seattle, the East Side always seems to draw the short straw. Which is why when a really cool event (like a Jane and Robot meetup) rolls around, we want to draw as much attention as possible. Vanessa Fox and Ignition Partners are hosting a get-together to talk about website design from both a usability standpoint, as well as search engine optimization standpoint. Jeff Pollard of SEOmoz.org will be on hand to add his expertise to the discussion. Make sure you register on the upcoming page, and then head over to Bellevue tonight!

The local entrepreneurial community seems to spend a lot of time worrying if Seattle might or might not become the next Silicon Valley. One of the big advantages Seattle has over any other tech hub, however, is the Seattle Tech Startups list. This is the place to go if you have questions, need advice, or are looking to recruit talent for your next project. It is by far one of the best resources in Seattle’s tech community.

This month, the group is meeting to discuss product design and marketing. If you go, you’re guaranteed to learn some useful, practical knowledge and no doubt get some serious networking in as well. If nothing else, you should at least sign up for the mailing list.

Anita Rowland passed away last week, on December 10th. I never personally met Anita, but if you had any awareness of the Seattle blogging scene, you knew who she was. She has an enormous local presence, organizing the Seattle Blogger Meetup (one of the first in the country), as well as local Sci-Fi conventions like Potlatch. This week’s meetup will be held at it’s usual time and place, though folks will be gathering to remember Anita and plan the next steps for the group. You can read tributes by some of the people who knew and loved her over at her husband’s (Jack William Bell) blog.

Saturday House is hard to describe in a single sentence. It’s based loosely on the concepts behind the Sudbury Schools, but in an adult setting. People come together for a whole Saturday every week, working on projects together or by themselves, having conversations, or just working. Saturday House is not a geek event, per se, though it was founded by geeks, and get rather geek-centric (lots of laptops, Python, board games, etc). The group has been gathering in some form for almost 6 months now, rotating among people’s homes (including my own). But now they’ve found a quasi-permanent space down in SoDo, and are thinking about using it to explore some concepts around co-working. Come down, poke around, check it out. Or sign up on the mailing list to learn more.

The Seattle Flickrites group is probably one of the most active photography groups in the country. On Saturday they’re doing a “photostroll” around the beautiful Kubota Gardens in South Seattle. There will be a guided tour and time afterwards to wander. And with over 40 people signed up, there will be plenty of other folks to compare notes and techniques with.

I know, I know – it’s a bit odd to be posting here about an event way down in Nevada. But the fact is that there’s not much going on in Seattle this week, and I think it’s because everyone is at Burning Man. The Emerald City has a very strong Burner presence, and there’s a lot of crossover with the local tech community. You can see this at events like Dorkbot, and the occasional Ignite presentation. But the Seattle Burning Man folks do have their own weekly meetup – head down to the Lower Level of CHAC on Monday nights to learn more. Well, when everybody gets back, of course.