I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for general aviation. In my single days, I spent money I didn’t have to learn to fly the Diamond Katana. I learned the fundamentals of flight in a Cessna Skyhawk, and made my first solo in a Piper Tomahawk. I jump at the occasional chance to report from the ‘BZ Copter, and even logged an hour of dual time piloting the Good Year Blimp. The freedom of flight is a magical thing to me — literally and figuratively like nothing on earth.

So, the spectacle of a flying car parked in front of the MassTLC Innovation 2009 unConference had me salivating. But, could what was inside the building live up to the hype parked right there in front? I also had to wonder what many of us have been wondering about the high-tech economy lately. Is this thing really ready for takeoff?

According to Carl Dietrich of Terrafugia, the answer with regards to his street legal airplane (seen in the photo above) is yes. In fact, dozens of hours have already been logged by the company’s test pilots on the Transition, and some 69 buyers have lined up and even put a down payment on their own personal dream machines. But, to find out if the Massachusetts tech economy was ready to soar, I’d have to step out of the cockpit and into the building.

There seemed to be a buzz there too. Not just about the flying car. Folks were buzzing about the Mass Technology Leadership Council’s unConference itself. This may have been my first time, but I overheard countless repeat customers declaring this year’s sold-out event superior to last year’s. Topaz Partners’ own Paula Slotkin had to agree with Judith Hurwitz, who said as much in the hallway. That’s high praise from an industry analyst whose opinions were teasingly described as “always unvarnished” by Mass High Tech Editor Doug Banks during an unConference session entitled “PR Improv” (led by Topaz alum Adam Zand and independent flak Patrick Rafter).

Workshops were as informal as they were informative. Longtime evangelizers of social media (like Tim Allik of Topaz Partners) should feel validated by the fact that a breakout session on Facebook and Twitter was led by Bain Capital Ventures Associate Adam Marchick in the learning lab. While they may not have figured out a reliable way to consistently monetize social media ventures yet, it certainly seems that big money is planning for the mass migration of ad revenues from traditional media to online social outlets.

From the founder of Avid to the student from Northeastern studying to be an entrepreneur, there were countless stories of success – and success in the making – at this year’s unConference. I have to say, being around so much energy and optimism makes it hard not to feel, well… energetic and optimistic. While economists say such euphoria is no substitute for statistics and economic theory, I say boo-yah. It’s certainly starting to feel like the high-tech economy is ready for takeoff once again.

Walking out the door and past the flying car in the parking lot, I bumped into Jeremy Wertheimer, the President and CEO of ITA Software. As we walked back to our earthbound vehicles, I asked for his opinion on Mass TLC Innovation 2009. Like so many others in attendance, he was glowing. He told me it was much better than last year’s, pointing out a number of intangibles before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of business cards. “You see these,” he asked. “I had at least four great meetings today—any single one of them alone would have made this event worthwhile.” I understood. But, for me, it was the flying car.

Topaz Partners guest blogger Scott Montmimy @scottmontmimy is a New England broadcaster and NECN reporter who also works at Metro Networks in Boston, where he serves as assistant director of operations. In his career, Scott has worked as a reporter with numerous Boston radio and television stations. Scott occasionally reports for WBZ radio’s “Traffic on the Threes” (where his traffic reporting career began) from both the ground … and the air.

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