Last August we lost a dear friend and pillar of many Philadelphia communities, Reed Gustow.

Reed was a cornerstone of the Philly Tech Community for decades, active in many overlapping communities including Philadelphia Area New Media Association, Philly Wordpress Meetups, Indy Hall, Barcamp, Philly Tech Week, and so many more. He also famously organized dozens of life-saving blood drives with the Philly Tech community over the years, literally saving hundreds if not 1000+ lives just by bringing our community together.

Another way Reed's love for community surfaced in his photography. So much of Philly Tech history was documented through his lens. He loved taking photos so much that he took every single photography class available at Fleisher Art Memorial. In sharing his photos – whether artful street photos, headshots of community members, or active collections of various community gatherings, Reed's literal memories fused with ours forever.

Reed was always the first to step up to contribute, help others, or simply listen and affirm. We miss him dearly, and have been looking for a way to remember him. Given that he was such an active meetup attendee, Alex Hillman from Indy Hall and Christopher Wink from Technical.ly agreed that the 2025 Philly Tech Week SUPERMEETUP was a perfect backdrop to launch a new memorial fund in his name.

100% of every donation will go to one of two purposes:

The first 50% of every dollar will go to the CJ Wolfe Foundation, a local nonprofit that exposes youth at-risk to gun violence to photography basics and helps fund their access to equipment that will enable their skills to grow and positively impact their own communities.
The second 50% of every dollar will go into a brand new fund to provide free and low-cost resources for meetup organizers, including reduced rate/free meetup hosting, community organizing tools to help the local meetup scene regrow after the COVID quarantine ended so many groups, and more. This fund will be transparently managed by Indy Hall until a dedicated fund or fiscal host is established (ideally before the end of 2025).

We believe that Reed would have been among the first to donate to both of these causes, and so we feel it is the best way to keep Reed's spirit present in the many communities that he was a part of and loved so much.

If you have any questions about this campaign, please contact Alex Hillman: alex@indyhall.org

The "Community in Focus" Fund - In Memory of Reed Gustow

By DGS

The "Community in Focus" Fund - In Memory of Reed Gustow