DAVE DELANEY, the social-marketing thought-leader who personifies a vaguely defined, but zesty slice of Nashville's Geek culture, has returned to full-time consulting and speaking.

Delaney recently bade farewell to Griffin Technology, where for more than three years he ram-rodded social media, and is doing business as Dave Delaney Digital Marketing.

Delaney has since arriving Nashville in 2007 contributed to accelerating the growth of the Nashville tech scene: He was one of the organizers of the original Barcamp Nashville and Podcamp Nashville, and later the Geek Breakfast and Nashcocktail series. He told VNC that he began posting on e-bulletin boards in 1984 and has been blogging eight years. His all-volunteer work on Barcamp sparked C-level interest that led to his being recruited by Griffin, he noted.

Annually, Barcamp and Podcamp still bring together the region's geeks, entrepreneurs and others who would not likely meet, otherwise, said Delaney, when asked about the events' lasting value.

Such activity has produced a dramatic increase in the level of social-media activity centered around Nashville — blog postings, Tweets and the like — which, in turn, have played a major role in raising awareness in some quarters regarding Nashville's attributes, Delaney said.

Through it all, the proliferation of meet-ups has been driven in part by a desire within the tech and startup community not to give-in to the "buzzkill" that occurs after a conference, when "everyone goes back to where they came from."

Asked about Nashville's growing demand for tech and related skills that many believe has out-stripped the available talent supply, Delaney insisted, "We have incredible talent here, we definitely do! — I know that absolutely...but, we need more talent," Delaney told VNC.

With his 40th birthday just around the corner, Delaney told VNC he decided it was time to launch his consulting business. He's under contract to Jumpstart Foundry, the accelerator for which he also serves as a startup mentor, he said. His immediate focus for Jumpstart is mobilizing prospective startup entrepreneurs to apply for Jumpstart's 2012 accelerator class, where window just went up. He has two other clients he declined to name, he said.

Toronto native Delaney and wife Heather — the couple met while backpacking in Ireland — have two children under six years. For three years, 2005-08, they jointly produced Two Boobs and a Baby, a popular podcast on parenting, he noted.

Delaney was named Digital Media Champion by the Nashville chapter of the American Marketing Association, in 2011. Ahead of his Griffin gig, Delaney spent five years in sales, marketing and promotion for print and broadcast media, theater, marketing and entertainment businesses, including Nashville-based Emma, according to his Linkedin profile. His education includes Ryerson University and Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.

The Delaneys plan to remain in Nashville: Six winters in Canada were all that Tennessee-born Ms. Delaney cared for, said Delaney. VNC