This article has been updated from the original.

Kevin Winston is a hard man to miss.

For starters, the Silicon Beach event organizer attends two or three tech-related gatherings a day. And second, his trademark red shirt, pants and sunglasses make him easy to pick out in a crowd.

But Winston’s nonstop networking is about more than just schmoozing: It’s his job.

L.A.’s young and ever-growing tech sector leans on Winston’s scrappy one-man operation known as Digital LA to organize industry events.

“I view it as my job to know everyone who is rocking it in tech in L.A.,” he said. “Digital LA has always been about bringing the L.A. tech community to together to share knowledge and help L.A. get smarter.”

Winston is now extending his company’s brand south as he prepares to launch an Orange County conference in April.

His company brings in most of its revenue through event ticketing and sponsorship. He said its flagship conference, Silicon Beach Fest, pulled in more than 2,000 attendees over four days in June at the Marina Del Rey Hotel. A full pass to the event, which featured dozens of industry panels and nightly parties, cost $550, while one-day passes ran $350. More than a dozen companies sponsored the conference, including Media Temple of Culver City, DirecTV of El Segundo, City National Bank of downtown Los Angeles and New York’s Univision.

Digital LA also organizes smaller evening events throughout the year. Smaller, one-day Silicon Beach Fest offshoots in downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood will also launch later this year.

Though he declined to disclose revenue figures, Winston said his company is profitable and growing.

Tech industry insiders say energetic organizers, such as Winston, are in high demand. Despite the role technology has played in connecting people in far-flung places, networkers such as Winston are still needed to match potential collaborators, facilitate the exchange of ideas and cultivate a sense of support in a startup-heavy world filled with first-time entrepreneurs.

“The fabric and DNA of tech is to collaborate and to bring people together. I think that’s reflected in the kind of events that are put on,” said Jason Nazar, co-founder of Santa Monica’s Docstoc, which was acquired by Intuit Inc. of Mountain View in 2013. “I think Kevin’s been one of the people who have done a lot to coalesce the tech community in L.A.”

Among the event organizers are tech accelerators such as Venice’s AmplifyLA and StartEngine of Santa Monica, which facilitate a number of panels and mixers. Cross Campus also hosts several industry-themed meetups every week spread throughout its co-working spaces in Santa Monica, downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.

Tidy business

A former digital marketer at Myspace Inc. of Beverly Hills, Winston said he started organizing tech networking events in 2007, right about the time the L.A. tech economy was picking up steam.

Digital LA started by hosting small panel events focused on a certain topic, such as the online dating business or e-commerce, he said. The events quickly became popular and grew bigger.

“When I see a trend happening, I rally a panel of people to share knowledge on the subject and that acts as a catalyzer to get people together,” said Winston, noting that topical events often create budding relationships. “For people to really feel comfortable with someone, to hire someone or to do business with someone, you really need the in-person meeting to connect.”

Those events have filled a particular niche, said Docstoc co-founder Nazar, who formerly hosted L.A. tech event Startups Uncensored.

“There are a lot of events for founders, CEOs and execs. There’s not as many events in L.A. for people just working in tech,” he said. “Kevin has done an incredible job building the biggest and best events for tech professionals.”

Digital LA events also stand out because of Winston’s signature red attire.

“When I started I had only two red shirts, but now I have about 50,” said Winston, noting that he even wears red while going to the gym. “Thanks to social media, my whole wardrobe is online, so I can’t wear the same shirt twice.”

Winston aims to grow Digital LA’s business beyond events. A consultancy to advise startups and an agency to connect professionals in the L.A. tech industry are also in the works, he said.

All of those initiatives and ambitions make for a busy schedule, said Winston, who works on the go by hopping between co-working spaces in Hollywood, Playa Vista, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.

“He might have a twin. He does seem to be everywhere at once,” said Dan Dato, co-founder and chief operating officer of Cross Campus, which hosted the first Silicon Beach Fest in 2012. “He’s unbridled and unbound with energy when it comes to bringing together great people.”

Making match

The need to connect startups with talented workers isn’t likely to abate anytime soon, said tech executives, and that may help Digital LA grow further.

But the firm’s events offer companies other benefits besides recruiting.

Big-name Digital LA event sponsors, such as City National, Media Temple and Santa Monica’s Cornerstone OnDemand want to connect to startup founders, said Dato.

“He’s matchmaking between big and small, between corporations and the grass roots,” he said. “Those groups don’t naturally mix and Kevin ends up being the agent that helps those things mix.”

Elsewhere, investors also see a lot of value in attending grass-roots events, said Yohei Nakajima, director of pipeline for Techstars of Boulder, Colo., who previously worked at Disney Accelerator. “Investors and accelerators are looking to connect with great early stage startups. You want to meet with them before others do by being at these events.”

Moreover, events and panels offer startups an opportunity to cultivate industry boosters, he said.

“Starting a startup is hard,” said Nakajima. “One of the key success factors is a founder’s ability to surround themselves with the right peers and mentors.”

With his company’s growing roster of events and divisions, Winston will likely have to buy even more red outfits. But that’s OK with him.

“I get energized by this stuff,” he said. “I get excited when I see innovation happening, when I see people building startups, building their dreams.”