Yesterday I attended the innaugural WordCamp Vancouver presented by Tazzu at the Network Hub.
The format was not unlike a BarCamp where people could submit topics they would present on. Unfortunately I was laying on a beach in Hawaii when it all happened (the advance submissions that is) so I missed the opportunity to participate as a presenter. Fortunately the plan is to have these frequently so there should be more chances to participate. Judging from the turnout, it could have possibly been a day long affair as there was no shortage of interesting topics and people interested in learning more about WordPress.
As much as I like the Network Hub, it’s not the best kind of venue for this kind of event - it’s just not big enough to accomodate the number of people that were interested in attending. There wasn’t nearly enough chairs for everyone and it was pretty tropical in there once people started showing up. There must be some place in Vancouver that can fit a large number of people, has decent wifi and supports some kind of food/drink service. Aside from UBC, SFU or one of the other school venues, there isn’t much that works.
I won’t recap the whole event because as she usually does, Rebecca liveblogged the entire event - well almost all of it since she was also a presentor, Raul covered for her during her segment.
The one presentor that I was surprised by was John Chow. He gave a presentation on making money from your blog. I had heard some (negative) stories about him and was expecting some kind of slimy, Tom Vu-like salesman and was impressed with his openness about how he became successful from blogging. He outlined how much money he makes from his blog, detailed the pricing structures and many key mistakes people make when trying to monitize their sites. His candor and self-deprecating humour was refreshing.
While I don’t necessarily agree with some of the tactics he uses, I don’t see them being much different than what you would see people in other types of business do to be successful - figure out the system and exploit it. I’m also not sure that his approach would work for many bloggers I know but he certainly has an interesting story and I thought he told it well. The audience was certainly hanging on his every word although some folks were definitely not impressed by his methods.
As with many of the local tech events, the evening wrapped up in a local restaurant for drinks with some old and new friends.
I’m looking forward to the next WordCamp for sure. You can see some of the other pictures I took in my WordCamp Flickr set.
The countdown has begun to Thursday morning when many Vancouver locals will crawl out of bed much eariler than normal and head down to YVR to board their flights to Austin, Texas for the 2008 edition of South by Southwest. Many of us will be on the same flight which should make the trip that much more fun.
There is still a lot to do to prepare for the trip. I still have to go through the schedule of events while at SXSWi but may take it day by day instead of spending too much time planning every hour of the conference. There are many ways to see what’s going on from the official site, Upcoming, Facebook and the SXSW Insider on Ning to name few. If you’re planning on attending any events or parties, it’s probably a good idea to scope things out in advance and rsvp. While many events are open to all Interactive attendees with a badge, demand usually far exceeds capacity so get on a list if there is one and show up early.
While down in Texas, I’ll probably not be doing a lot of blogging around here until after the conference but will be dropping dispatches from Austin on Miss604, Flickr, Utterz and Twitter…and possibly other places depending on what I find and have time for.
As more of a backup plan in case Twitter implodes under heavy use during SXSW, I decided to setup my own pseudo version of it using the recently released Prologue theme for Wordpress. If you’re going to be down in Austin and want to try it out, drop me an email or direct message and I’ll add you to the list. Using this theme and a standard Wordpress install, we’ll be able to micro-blog what we’re doing without relying on other services to be available as well as not bombarding the non-attendees with tweets.
It’s pretty plain and simple at the moment (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since it loads fast) and that could change if I get time between packing and getting ready. A nice feature of the theme is that you can subscribe to an RSS feed of everyone’s posts or just a specific person so I’ll probably plug my feed into a few services.
That’s it for now….gotta go find my giant suitcase.
A few of us have been noticing that there hasn’t been as much chatter on the internet about Northern Voice during or immediately following the event. As well, the page views on Flickr seemed to be a lot lower than last year. Personally, I think it’s just that everyone hasn’t fully had a chance for it all to sink in yet. As I’m finding by new followers on Twitter, new contacts on Flickr and a bunch of new feeds I’ve been reading, it’s slowly gaining some momentum after the fact.
Let’s face it, a weekend of conferencing takes it’s toll on people and especially since most of the attendees have normal day jobs that they returned to almost immediately. It takes awhile to get your head around what you participated in and find a way to record or publish those thoughts. Not to mention taking care of all the things you didn’t tend to during the conference.
So in that vein, I thought I’d followup my somewhat brief recap with a few more cool things I’ve found since the weekend:
- my pal, Duane Storey, pulled some awesome out of his hat with his amazing photo mosaic of all the tagged photos in Flickr he could hoover down. He called it 1600 reasons to love Northern Voice and I’m sure he’ll have to rename it as that photo number keeps growing as attendees get out their card readers and upload more shots to the Flickr stream. As Gene said in his post, if you can’t find yourself in those photos, you weren’t there.
- I twittered about it a bit and mentioned it in my first recap but I keep coming across blog posts and photos of people that I wish I had a chance to either spend more time talking to or even just meeting at the conference. I guess one of the cons of going to a conference in your own town, with a lot of friends in attendance, is that you don’t get outside your circle as much as you would if you were somewhere you didn’t know many people. That and there is never enough time.
- I wish I had an opportunity to chat with Stewart Mader whose presentation about Wiki’s I really enjoyed at last years NV and missed his this year. He’s been rounding up some great links and comments from other people as well as doing a great job liveblogging a lot of sessions
- Another missed meet/chat was with Alan Levine who gave a great presentation on “50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story” in which he outlines some of the amazing web tools out there you can use to tell a story. Something he did with all 50 tools and the same story. Alan also managed to capture one of my favorite open mic sessions at the Opening Night party by Scott Leslie called Trackback Love.
- Bobby Dassler took an awesome set of polaroids that turned out really cool…and I’m even in there
- DaveO’s amazing “F*ck Stats, Make Art” session is now available via Audio (MP3) thanks to Cosmo and Matt’s keynote audio is here although he says that it may not be a great experience without the slides. Stewart has a transcript as well.
There is a ton more stuff that I missed that I hope makes its way online eventually. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to next year already.
Check out the Northern Voice wiki for other things you (or I) may have missed.
Update: Looks like videos of Miranda’s natural light talk and Reilly’s modified light talk have been posted. Both are great parts of PhotoCamp. Great video capture job too!
I headed downtown tonight to check out Third Tuesday Vancouver at the Network Hub.
Jeff Young was the guest tonight speaking about many topics and their legal implications online. There was a lot of interesting discussion about copyright versus trademark, what aspects of a design can be legally owned, and the legal rights of bloggers and what (or who) they blog about. Jeff also spoke about a number of legal differences between Canada and the US.
Warren has the scoop over at TechVibes.
Thanks to Tod and Tanya for continuing to bring some great speakers out for this monthly event.
I encourage everyone to keep an eye on the Third Tuesday Vancouver schedule and come out to these very interesting (and free) talks.
Update: Raul has a recap now as well.
If you’re planning on heading to Austin in early March to attend South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), here’s a few tips that might be helpful to you. I’ve been twice before and this year will be my third trip to Texas. Every year it’s gotten bigger than the last and I expect this year to be no exception.
SXSWi is actually only one part of the whole South by Southwest conference. Interactive happens the same time as the Film conference with the Music one starting when the film/web geeks vacate the hotels. Judging from the pictures I’ve seen, the music part is pretty amazing but I’ve never been able to stay for the full run of both conferences.
1. Pack light and bring a big suitcase.
You WILL get a lot of swag (or at least offered it) so be prepared to bring a bunch of stuff home and give it to your friends/coworkers that didn’t get to go (unless it’s cool).
Since it’s usually very warm in Austin so you can wear shorts and a t-shirt most of the time and a light jacket at night. You can even just wear the swag you get to save even more luggage space….last year I came home with about 15 t-shirts. Last year was a little cooler and it rained but it was still shorts weather.
2. Bring/wear comfortable shoes
You’ll be doing a LOT of walking between the panels, parties and your hotel so bring a good pair (or two) of comfortable shoes. Hopefully they’ve changed the panel layout this year after last year’s craziness of having a panel end at one end of the convention center and the next one begin at the other end. It is Texas and the convention center is easily the size of a small Alberta town.
3. Don’t stress about note taking
This event is easily one of most blogged/photographed/podcasted events and since you can’t expect to be everywhere at all times, you should have no problem getting the full scoop from someone else. SXSWi also publishes videos and podcasts of many panels. Although these seem to be posted over a very long period of time (like months) and not right after the event.
4. Get your DSLR tagged
kk+ gave me this tip last year (unfortunately before I had my Nikon) - if you have a ‘pro camera’ (or something that resembles one) you may be asked (but do it if not) to get your camera tagged by the Event staff. This lets people know you’re taking event photos….however they didn’t seem to care about my little Casio point and shoot. This also has the added benefit of helping you get into some places you may not normally (think Press Pass) when combined with your SXSWi lanyard. YMMV on this one.
5. Plan your power usage
EVERYONE brings a laptop to SXSWi and there are so many Apple computers there, you’d think that you were at MacWorld. Plan on charging your laptop at night for the next day. As long as your battery is decent, you should be able to last through most of the day unless you’re Twittering the whole time. If that’s the case, expect to have to share the power outlets that are strewn throughout the place with a bunch of others. Forgot your power adapter in the hotel room? No worries, as someone is bound to have the same device as you and I also witnessed some of the event staff lending cords to forgetful attendees (again it was Apple adaptors as most of the event is powered by Macs).
6. Stay in touch
If you are going to SXSWi by yourself, be prepared to meet a ton of people - you WILL leave with new friends. Chances are there are already a few people that you know going. You can find out by stalking the Online Registrants Directory, and watching Twitter/Jaiku/Pownce for SXSW messages. You might also want to get some Moo cards and be prepared to go through them all. As March draws closer, there will be a ton of online services to help attendees get organized. Panel schedules, party planners and more will be everywhere. If you want to get a head start, check out the SXSW Insider.
You’ll also want to find out about your mobile situation. Depending on your plan, make sure you understand the implications of using your cellphone in Texas. If you’re from Canada like me, prepare to get screwed on roaming charges. Even if you forward your phone to voicemail, you may be charged the roaming fees if it rings through in Austin. A better bet is picking up a disposable (don’t really throw it out when you’re done) cellphone or pay as you go SIM card if you rock the GSM. AT&T has a cheap phone you can pickup almost anywhere south of the border for $10-20 that will give you a cheap local number while down south. I got my phone/sim from Radio Shack for $10 with a $10 credit (free+tax) then added a $25 card. T-Mobile also has SIM cards you can get from ebay but they apparently don’t let you use data on the prepaid SIMs unlike AT&T. Make sure if you do get a phone down there that you can find additional add on cards for it…the first year I took a US Virgin Mobile phone with me and couldn’t find the cards anywhere and they didn’t accept my Canadian credit card to top up online or over the phone.
Unless your company is paying (and doesn’t care), the pay as you go route will be infinitely cheaper than anything a Canadian provider will charge you. Don’t forget to change/disable/reroute your Twitter/Jaiku/Facebook mobile notifications as well as those can get costly when roaming depending on your plan.
That’s all for now….more as SXSWi gets closer!
There is a lot going on over the next little while around town and elsewhere. Here’s just a few of the events you should check out.
Tonight (Sunday, January 20th for you slow feed readers)
Watch Rebecca (aka Miss604) on CBC’s Test the Nation where she (and a few other locals) ‘represents’ on the Blogger’s team. I think I can actually get away with saying “You go girl” and not look like a tard in this case. I’m sure she’ll find a way to live blog via her iPhone. My TiVo is set to record so expect some video highlights of Becky beating some flight attendants with her brain.
Creative Thinking Hacks - Tuesday, January 22nd
I’m really going to try to attend this talk at VFS by Scott Berkun put on as part of the VanUE group.
Launch Party Vancouver 3 - Friday, January 25th
I missed the first two parties and won’t be missing this one…hosted by Strutta.com, I keep hearing about how much fun they are and a lot of my friends will be there RSVP on the Facebook group or their site if you’re interested in meeting up with a lot of the local tech community.
Third Tuesday - January 29th
The monthly event just keeps getting better and better (thanks to Tod and Tanya) and this month is no exception with Brian Oberkirch’s talk on Social Media and Brands.
Vancouver Blogger’s Meetup - January 30th
Another monthly meetup that I’ve missed the last couple but will be attending this one….if you blog, or want to blog, you should come out too. Lots of great people to talk with.
Privacy & Security Conference - Feb 6-8th (Victoria)
Due to some projects I’m involved in lately, I’ll be attending this conference in Victoria for the first time. The agenda looks very interesting and the speakers are very impressive.
Northern Voice - February 22-23 (UBC)
Great little local conference I finally discovered last year (this is the 4th year) for people interested in blogging….it’s also not just for geeks. I met a lot of great people last year and look forward to seeing many of them again and meeting new friends this time around. Tickets are very affordable but that is also why they always sell out so get yours as soon as possible.
South by Southwest Interactive - March 6-11 (Austin, Texas)
Easily my favorite tech conference held each year in Austin, Texas. This will be my third trip to the Lone Star state and look forward to meeting up with friends again as well as taking in all it has to offer. It’s also one of the least expensive tech conferences and there is arguably no better place to meet and interact with the brightest people in the tech world. If you haven’t already booked a hotel expect a long commute as all the good ones were booked months ago…I had the foresight to book mine last September. It’s worth the trip for the BBQ beef brisket alone and the Raincity Studios folks put on the best party during the event.
These are just a few of the things on my plate for the next little while…hope to see you at one (or more) of them.
My buddy Duane is cooking up a cool idea currently called BeerCamp which seems appropriate to me since we met over beers at the SuperHappyDevHouse last year.
The idea is that a bunch of people camp out for the weekend with the goal of creating a company from scratch during that weekend.
Head over to Duane’s blog for the full scoop and post in the comments if you’re interested in participating. All the usual event stuff will come if there is enough interest.
Update: Looks like it will be called StartupWeekend Vancouver…there will still be beer in attendance so calm down.
Since everyone is doing it, I thought I should do the same although I have a hard time putting them in some kind of order…so they aren’t!
Here is my list of the random things from last year that stood out to me in no particular order:
- my iPhone - in case you haven’t noticed, I kinda dig this phone. Sure it’s not perfect but overall, it’s hands down the best cellphone I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned a lot). It’s also the first phone that has made me stop looking for a better one. It’s been a lot of fun this past year sharing it with friends and helping others with theirs. You’ll notice it’s the only tech item on this list (shocking!) but it’s been hard for it to not be a focal point on this site and with many friends. This is a geek blog afterall so if I had to pick one tech item from last year, this is it.
- Falling in love with photography again - I fully blame/credit kk+ for this. As I’ve said before, after attending Kris’ Photography session at Northern Voice something struck a chord that made me want to pick up a camera again for more than just snapshots. Kris’ passion for taking photos really had an impact. That lead to picking up my first DSLR (after years of point and shoot and film cameras) and reconnecting with a fantastic creative outlet that I had been into before I became a (computer) geek. Thanks Kris!
- Friends - I don’t talk about too many ‘personal’ things on this blog but this past year has been an immensely rewarding year for meeting new people and forging new friendships on and offline (real life FTW!). Social media/networking/whatever has really changed how people communicate, meet, collaborate and generally be human. I’m still surprised how many friends from my past I’ve reconnected with on Facebook as well as how many real life friends these tools has helped stay in contact with in ways that I never expected. Everything including SXSW, Northern Voice, photowalks, tech events, Camps (how come I never see tents?) and meetups has put me in contact with some truly amazing people (way too many to list). I look forward to building on those friendships and making more new ones this year and beyond.
- Buying our first home - my wife and I made probably the biggest financial move of our lives this past summer and it has been an amazing experience. Even when we were stressed out and woefully unprepared for our big move, our friends came through and helped in ways that I can’t ever repay. It has been a fanatastic experience being a ‘homeowner’ - like a really good rollercoaster that can make you sick and giggle like a schoolgirl at the same time. The commute isn’t that bad and has been totally worth it!
I know that’s only 4…I can’t think of anything else from last year that’s had as much impact as these 4 things have had on me at a high level at least.
So 2007 in summary: I’ll call you with my iPhone to invite you over to my house and take your picture.
Third Tuesday Vancouver is tonight!
Here’s the scoop (from ThirdTuesdayVancouver.com):
When: 6pm - 9:30pm Tuesday, October 16 2007
Where: SoHo in Yaletown - 1283 Hamilton St., Vancouver (Map)
Speakers: Joe Thornley (propr.ca) and David Jones (www.prworks.ca).
Topics include:
- The importance of social media to us as Canadians - extending our reach without needing to leave home to reach the larger audiences that have been the exclusive domain of the U.S. Mainstream Media distribution business;
- White hat social media (long term community building) vs. black hat social media (increasing your conversion rate for marketing). The future of social media will be what we make of it and will reflect the norms we impose on it;
- The continuing importance of face to face meetups like Third Tuesday to lift online social relationships to the next level.
There is no hockey game tonight so you have no excuse for not coming! See you there!
This Thursday, October 4th is the next DemoCamp event at Workspace in Gastown - a very cool place and the home of BarCamp as well as this Flickr story.
As I mentioned a few months ago, DemoCamp is an event where people show up, pitch something they want to demo and the rest of the attendees vote on who gets to give their presentation. It’s a great place to show off something cool you’re working on to a group of smart people. Last time, I got to see and play with an iPhone - possibly one of the first ones in Canada as it was just days after it’s launch.
So if you’re interested in attending, signup on the wiki or the Facebook Event….who knows who or what cool thing will end up at this week’s event?!
Update: Back from DemoCamp (and a few beers with Peter). No big wrapup (see Rebecca’s excellent live blog for the full scoop), just some iPhone pix from the event. I swear these events get better and better everytime!
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