BOULDER - Spending an entire week barhopping, hiking, working, barbecueing, networking, coffeeing, eating, drinking, bowling, blogging and simply hanging out with fellow entrepreneurs is Andrew Hyde's idea of enticement.

Hyde, a local entrepreneur, community advocate and tech guy, founded Startup Week in an effort to get people from throughout the country to come to Boulder and enhance the local entrepreneurial scene.

The first Startup Week is scheduled for Tuesday, May 4, to Saturday, May 8.

"(The) focus is to give people from out of town a damn good excuse to get to Boulder and check out the amazing tech environment," Hyde said in an e-mail. "Many startups are hiring (especially development talent)."

An offshoot of a development job fair from a few years ago, Hyde organized Startup Week to help entice more quality people to relocate or decide to work in the area.

Despite having to register to attend the event that covers five days, it's free and everyone is welcome. As of mid-April, about 150 people have registered, and Hyde's hoping for about 350.

Each person who attends must pay his or her own way - everything from the plane flight to lodging and transportation. Locals are welcome to partake in the events, too. In exchange, attendees get a chance to hobnob and network with a host of well-known entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and businesspeople.

Jason Sosa, a 30-year-old Web-oriented entrepreneur from Grand Rapids, Mich., plans to be in Boulder for Startup Week despite not having a place to stay, yet.

His goal: To fly back to Michigan at the end of the week with a job offer from a tech company in the Boulder Valley.

Sosa's involved with the tech community in Grand Rapids and has heard great things about the Boulder community. Startup Week will be a trial run for him before he decides whether or not to relocate his family.

"Boulder really represented a nice blend between business and life," Sosa said.

Strategically scheduled, the first Startup Week revolves around the Boulder Denver New Tech Meetup and Ignite Boulder - two popular tech-related events that help give Boulder its techie panache.

The meetup, which occurs once a month, is a networking event and showcases a handful of local companies that present their technology and, often, ask the audience for input or advice.

Ignite, organized by Hyde, is a series of presentations about any subject each presenter chooses. Each speaker has five minutes backed by 20 slides auto-advancing every 15 seconds. Often, Ignite draws a techie crowd that's forward thinking.

Besides the meetup and Ignite, Startup Week attendees can go on a guided hike up Mount Sanitas, join a Banjo Billy's Bus Tour, go bowling, talk blogging, work and, of course, eat food and drink beer.

To cover some costs, Hyde looks to the local (mostly tech-related) entrepreneur community to host events, like those listed above, and show visitors the ins and outs of Boulder.

For instance, Boulder-based Everlater Inc. is hosting the hike and the bus tour, Boulder-based Trada Inc. is hosting a lunch, and Boulder-based SimpleGeo Inc. is hosting a Rock Band competition.

Alex Jackson, San Francisco-based Pivotal Labs Inc.'s practice manager who helps lead the company's new office in Boulder, said hosting events is a great way to meet potential employees and sign new clients.

Pivotal, which will host Startup Week's opening party on May 4, is a software development firm focused on startup companies' needs.

Even if he doesn't sign new clients or find new employees, Jackson said hosting the event is a great way to meet more local companies and help foster the close-knit tech community.

The University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business is getting involved as well.

Besides sponsoring Ignite Boulder, the school is sponsoring a breakfast during Startup Week.

Sarah Behunek, the school's alumni relations and communications director, said Startup Week meshes perfectly with the school's focus.

"For us, since we're an extremely entrepreneurial school ... it seemed like a really good connection and a really good obvious partnership," Behunek said.

Behunek said regardless of how many people attend the breakfast, it helps the school, and university, reach out to companies that may relocate to the area.

"If we get more MBA students, that's a bonus as well, but it's not our No. 1 goal," she said.

Though many tout the Boulder area as a community-oriented tech hub, by hosting events like this, Hyde hopes to grow the area into an even better known national player in the industry.