Updates from April, 2008 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • John Erik 5:21 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    How much has money contributed to your happiness? – Dusty Reagan 

    The man.

    In December I asked my Linkedin friends a question. It was a time when I really needed to hear inspiring words. I needed to feel comfortable with my decisions. I received so many great responses (35 total), I want to share them with you. I’m going to start throwing them out here – assuming I get permission from the respondents.

    One of the first to reply was my good buddy (and perhaps yours too) Dusty Reagan. …Let’s begin:

    My question

    How much has money contributed to your happiness?

    I’m curious because, as a soon-to-be college graduate turning full time entrepreneur, I feel like I have several options. Do I go for the money now so I can follow my passions later. Do I follow passion now and hope that money follows. Is money even going to make me happy…

    I’ve heard two things: “Money does not make happiness” and “Money is not happiness, but money is freedom and freedom is happiness.” ??

    Dusty

    Personally, I consider capitalism like a video game. There are a set of rules you must play the game by, there are weaknesses in the system you can exploit, and you generally have to practice to beat the difficult parts.

    For me money doesn’t necessarily equate to happiness, but (like collecting wood, gold, and ore in an RTS) it’s a resources I must have to sustain and grow my venture. If I have an abundance of resources to grow my venture, I coincidentally, find myself happy. :)

    You should always follow your dreams. That will make you happy. It won’t necessarily make you money though. And you usually need money to follow your dreams. This conundrum is the game we’re all playing. But, as long as you have enough money to feed yourself, your family, and your business, you can keep playing the game. If you run out of cash you’ll be forced to find a new racket.

    The long and short of my advice is you *must* have cash flow. How you obtain it is part of the game. One other piece of advice, there’s never a “good-time” to set out on your own venture. It will always be risky, it will always be hard, and there will always be nay-sayers in your life. You just have to do it.

    //

    I encourage you to ask questions on Linkedin. I promise you will get some great answerers. Ones that resonate with you, like Dusty’s did for me. Thanks dooder!

     

    • Dusty Reagan 5:31 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Hah! Aww, Thanks man! I’m blushing over here. :)

    • Damon Clinkscales 5:38 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      wrt the post…

      I’d link up your LinkedIn posting on “asked LinkedIn friends a question” in case people want to jump to the whole discussion right now.

      At the bottom, where you say I encourage you to “ask questions on LinkedIn”, I’d link that to the primary page for LinkedIn Answers in case people want to check it out. My $0.02.

    • John Erik 5:41 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      thanks Damon! done!

      @dusty :)

    • Dusty Reagan 5:31 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Hah! Aww, Thanks man! I'm blushing over here. :)

    • Damon Clinkscales 5:38 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      wrt the post…

      I'd link up your LinkedIn posting on “asked LinkedIn friends a question” in case people want to jump to the whole discussion right now.

      At the bottom, where you say I encourage you to “ask questions on LinkedIn”, I'd link that to the primary page for LinkedIn Answers in case people want to check it out. My $0.02.

    • John Erik 5:41 pm on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      thanks Damon! done!

      @dusty :)

  • John Erik 7:56 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , mayor will wynn, , will wynn   

    Walkandtalk meeting with Austin Mayor Will Wynn 

    Today I ran into Mayor Will Wynn on 5th street. I asked if I could walk and talk with him. Per my tweets afterwards, here’s what happened:

    • Me w/ 1 minute version of our plans for a Startup District: startups in close proximity = innovation, attraction for Austin, reclaim our diminishing spot as the number 2 location for startups, proposed east side location because of price, light rail.
    • Mayor: the city has been talking about something like that for 10 years now. No one has taken the lead.
    • Mayor: you better get to know the neighborhood planning committee (for the east side)
    • Maor: what kind of startups are you talking about.
    • Me: internet, digital media, gaming, etc. – not silicon, not enterprise software
    • Mayor: talk to the emerging technology fund at their next open meeting and propose the idea. It’s in line with what they want. and there are funds there (Kristine Gloria thanks for finding the link).
    • Me: staring at Will Wynn as he walks off  ::Our mayor is a sharp dresser. I gotta remember to take pictures with people::
     

    • Juan Sequeda 8:16 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Excellent!!!!! This is exactly what we need!

    • Eric Doggett 8:56 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      He seems like a great guy. My wife, Lisa, is heavily involved in Town Lake Animal Shelter, and we’ve always appreciated his support of the group as well as all of the volunteers throughout Austin.

    • Juan Sequeda 8:16 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Excellent!!!!! This is exactly what we need!

    • Damon Clinkscales 9:42 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Nice.

    • Eric Doggett 8:56 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      He seems like a great guy. My wife, Lisa, is heavily involved in Town Lake Animal Shelter, and we've always appreciated his support of the group as well as all of the volunteers throughout Austin.

    • Damon Clinkscales 9:42 pm on April 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Nice.

    • Jonatne 1:43 am on April 24, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Very awesome man.
      Very smart move on your part to discuss your ideas with him.

    • Jonatne 1:43 am on April 24, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Very awesome man.
      Very smart move on your part to discuss your ideas with him.

  • John Erik 2:56 am on April 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , startup, vision   

    Austin Startup Community Vision – true alpha 

    google image

    …for Austin

    • Austin has a Startup District. Blocks of startups flying their flags to the world – I want this to be an attraction when people come to Austin. Highest props to Dane Hurtubise for originally coming up with this one.
    • The startup community in Austin knows each other. (Yeah.)
    • When tech people come to Austin we twitter ‘em up and we welcome them as family. When they get they know wher to go and where they can stay. We love our community.
    • AustinStartup.com has stuff to talk about non stop. Like the valley, people who run blogs about austin startups can live off just blogging. There is that much traffic; because people really care. right?! …this is how the community stays up-to-date with the people around them – people report on it.
    • One of us hits a home run. I’m talkin Google. :)
    • We have several kick ass coworking spaces – including one that is straight up free.
    • (1 Year) We have a micro fund – 10-15 teams per year – 25K max. similar to ycom / techstars <— <3
    • Oh, and we have people running the fund who know what they are doing — who are these people in Austin? Answer me that. …I know one I want on the team: Jared Slosberg. Sosa bothers would be nice. I could go on.
    • there is a bar downtown that you can walk into at anytime and see some great startup people.

    …for The University of Texas

    • Coworking space for students, near campus -call it an incubator, call it a hatchery, i’ll call it coworking
    • Official concentration in entrepreneurship available to all majors – similar to “business foundations”
    • Grads and Undergrads know where to go if they have an idea or are interested in entrepreneurship -single place that embraces them, fosters them, understands them. COMEON!

    conjunctured guys, john sibley butler, marc nathen, whurley, andrew hyde, Thomas Marriott … just so you know, i thought of all of you while writing this.

    //

    Forms and verbiage, feel free to pass it on:
    Conjunctured is opening a Coworking space in Austin. We’re following the lead of some of our friends in other cities: [http://www.indyhall.org/] [http://nwcny.com/]

    We’re looking to plant this space in the heart of a “Startup District.” A place where all the startups in Austin live. Where we proudly fly our flags to world. The district is an attraction in Austin. If you think you might be interested in playing with us, let us know by filling out this fancy form, here:
    http://tinyurl.com/68f89z

    If you don’t need / want a space. But you’re interested in sponsoring this endeavor (great for social capital, exposure to potential recruits, and PR), you can let us know that, here:

    http://tinyurl.com/5usods

     

    • Julie Gomoll 9:48 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I would *so* love for someone to figure out the microfund thing. Some of the problems with that:

      * whether you’re investing 25K, 250K, or 2.5mil, you still have to jump through all sorts of legal and regulatory hoops. Half of the 25K gets sucked up getting all that set up.
      * so you do a pool, right? 250K for 10 startups. But then the investor has to keep track of 10 companies – can’t really do that effectively.

      I’ve done several startups, but never gone the VC route. Back in the day, AV wouldn’t even touch a company who needed less than a million – too much work for not enough profit. The couple times I looked for investors in the 90s, I found the 250K I was looking for was *not enough* for anyone to be interested, even if I gave them a good sized chunk of my profitable business.

      That said – I’d be all over doing my part to help someone figure it out. So many talented people need that small boost to get started – it would pay of in so many ways other than financial. Hard to get investors to think that way though.

    • mattrepl 10:40 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Julie – By legal and regulatory hoops, do you mean incorporating and related tasks? That should be under $2k.

      The quintessential (and only a few years old!) seed-funding group is YC, the members are startup veterans that have made their millions. Because the startup veterans relate to new founders, they decide who to invest in based on the {creativity, intelligence, potential} of a team. There’s a certain amount of trust given and the amount of investment is small enough that babysitting is not necessary.

      Traditional VC folks are in the business of choosing investments from the analysis of numbers and many do not yet realize without early investment there will be no startups that can take a couple million and output a figure with more zeros attached.

    • Julie Gomoll 9:48 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I would *so* love for someone to figure out the microfund thing. Some of the problems with that:

      * whether you're investing 25K, 250K, or 2.5mil, you still have to jump through all sorts of legal and regulatory hoops. Half of the 25K gets sucked up getting all that set up.
      * so you do a pool, right? 250K for 10 startups. But then the investor has to keep track of 10 companies – can't really do that effectively.

      I've done several startups, but never gone the VC route. Back in the day, AV wouldn't even touch a company who needed less than a million – too much work for not enough profit. The couple times I looked for investors in the 90s, I found the 250K I was looking for was *not enough* for anyone to be interested, even if I gave them a good sized chunk of my profitable business.

      That said – I'd be all over doing my part to help someone figure it out. So many talented people need that small boost to get started – it would pay of in so many ways other than financial. Hard to get investors to think that way though.

    • Julie Gomoll 11:23 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      The hoops I’m referring to are the agreements that need to be set up for investors and partners. Incorporating is not a big deal, agreed. I’m referring to the nuts and bolts of the investment. Is it an equity deal or a loan instrument? How are funds distributed? Will there be additional rounds? How do you avoid too much eventual dilution? None of this is rocket science, but someone has to figure this stuff out. I have a hard time envisioning a company that can be set up with investors for just 2K.

      I’d be happy if you proved me wrong, though! And I’d definitely like to hear more about YC.

    • mattrepl 10:40 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @Julie – By legal and regulatory hoops, do you mean incorporating and related tasks? That should be under $2k.

      The quintessential (and only a few years old!) seed-funding group is YC, the members are startup veterans that have made their millions. Because the startup veterans relate to new founders, they decide who to invest in based on the {creativity, intelligence, potential} of a team. There's a certain amount of trust given and the amount of investment is small enough that babysitting is not necessary.

      Traditional VC folks are in the business of choosing investments from the analysis of numbers and many do not yet realize without early investment there will be no startups that can take a couple million and output a figure with more zeros attached.

    • Julie Gomoll 11:23 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      The hoops I'm referring to are the agreements that need to be set up for investors and partners. Incorporating is not a big deal, agreed. I'm referring to the nuts and bolts of the investment. Is it an equity deal or a loan instrument? How are funds distributed? Will there be additional rounds? How do you avoid too much eventual dilution? None of this is rocket science, but someone has to figure this stuff out. I have a hard time envisioning a company that can be set up with investors for just 2K.

      I'd be happy if you proved me wrong, though! And I'd definitely like to hear more about YC.

    • John Erik 1:01 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @mattrepl sent this out over twitter the other day.. i think it’s a good starting place http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2008/04/can-the-y-combi.html

    • John Erik 1:01 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @mattrepl sent this out over twitter the other day.. i think it's a good starting place http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2008/04/can-the-y-com…

    • mattrepl 12:37 pm on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @John Erik – Thanks for following up with that.

      @Julie – I was referring to the cost for individuals to incorporate, open up a bank account, and get a couple hours of a lawyer’s time when I threw out the $2k figure.

      Even the investment and operation points you mentioned can be streamlined by providing would-be founders with a agreement templates that allow them to fill in the blanks. With fewer choices, the more optimized (in both time and money) the process becomes.

    • mattrepl 12:37 pm on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @John Erik – Thanks for following up with that.

      @Julie – I was referring to the cost for individuals to incorporate, open up a bank account, and get a couple hours of a lawyer's time when I threw out the $2k figure.

      Even the investment and operation points you mentioned can be streamlined by providing would-be founders with a agreement templates that allow them to fill in the blanks. With fewer choices, the more optimized (in both time and money) the process becomes.

  • John Erik 10:56 am on April 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Quick thought 

    Three most important (potentially game changing) social media concepts. IMO

    Presence – the ability to immediately share my state of being, including my location, from anywhere.

    Ownership – the ability to own all the data you are creating. Such as your social graph.

    Moments – using the data you have been (or facebook as been) collecting to digitally travel back in time and get a keen sense for what was going on in that moment.

    …ok, heading to the Funding Symposium.

     

    • Alex Jones 12:17 pm on April 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I would add connections to that list – both with other people and with related experiences in time.

    • Jonathan Simmons 12:20 pm on April 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Yeah, from talking to you and reading articles on the interweb it def seems like those are the long term trends on the web…at least in the tech community. Who knows if those will translate into the wider market of ideas and usage, right?
      I went to the talk about trend forecasting I told you about, and there was definitely a process of trends being invented (or innovated), of people seeing those trends, early adopters and then wider or widespread adoption…and at every turn there is a ‘gate keeper’ someone who decides to adopt or not…and of course the book tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell…like what is it that finally tips the scale? Will twitter, or twitter-like apps ever attain the status of facebook?
      I don’t want to sound like an expert here I’m new to social media but even though it seems like such a niche its actually a vital part of the world in general and exemplifies other processes that are happening, mostly driven by technology….
      Anyways back to work. Interesting post

    • Alex Jones 12:17 pm on April 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I would add connections to that list – both with other people and with related experiences in time.

    • Jonathan Simmons 12:20 pm on April 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Yeah, from talking to you and reading articles on the interweb it def seems like those are the long term trends on the web…at least in the tech community. Who knows if those will translate into the wider market of ideas and usage, right?
      I went to the talk about trend forecasting I told you about, and there was definitely a process of trends being invented (or innovated), of people seeing those trends, early adopters and then wider or widespread adoption…and at every turn there is a 'gate keeper' someone who decides to adopt or not…and of course the book tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell…like what is it that finally tips the scale? Will twitter, or twitter-like apps ever attain the status of facebook?
      I don't want to sound like an expert here I'm new to social media but even though it seems like such a niche its actually a vital part of the world in general and exemplifies other processes that are happening, mostly driven by technology….
      Anyways back to work. Interesting post

  • John Erik 2:37 am on April 18, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: job hunting, , linkedin, Millennials, notchup,   

    Millennial job hunting – Q&A 

    Last weekend during the Startup Barhunt I made a new friend. Her name is Archana and she is thee most startup-savvy UT student I know. What does startup-savvy mean? She knew everything that was going on in the tech world, from gossip and people, to new technology and services.

    Today she asked me to answer a survey for a project she’s working on. I had a great time answering the questions. If you want to take a stab at answering all or some of ‘em, DO IT. I’m sure it would help her out. Enjoy!

    1. How did you find your current job? Online? Networking? Company website? Job fair?

    Hmmmmm… I don’t have a job really – no one employees me. :-\
    But! If that was the case, I would have got the job online – that’s how I found radar.net when I was in school. They had a facebook ad looking for a young, mobile savvy student. I clicked and it asked me to write them a letter about how savvy I was, how connected I was, and why I love tech…

    2. Have you ever searched for jobs online? If so, how?

    For sure. Don’t think I’ve looked any other way. I’ve looked at http://www.ventureloop.com and http://startupers.com/jobs/ to see what’s goin on. I’ve looked on craigslist in the past. Umm.. I looked at monster one or two times. People can find me now. Via linkedin or http://notchup.com

    3. Do you have a LinkedIn account?

    For sheezee.

    4. What do you use in LinkedIn?

    Um. Everything. Even though I’ve only asked one, I think the Q&A feature is killer. I asked a question about following money or passion over Christmas and got 30+ answers/messages. That kind of feedback was amazing.

    5. How do you manage your impression online?

    My outward appearance? I am who I am. I write casually like I am here. I try and post everything I do so people can get a good sense of who I am. I want people to be engaged in my life. I want to set the example for how I want others to document their life. I love knowing what’s going on with my friends and others. I have… oh, next question.

    6. Have you ever altered your image online, like “untagging” photos?

    Untagged, YES. But not often anymore. It was mostly pics of when I was in college and chugging tons of beers. I still have some of those, but because I don’t post that many pics on facebook anymore, it would seem I was still doing the same thing.

    7. Have you ever asked or been asked by an employer about your online activity on sites such as Facebook or MySpace?

    NOPE. But no one employees me. When I was working (interning) fb wasn’t that popular.

    8. How do you network?

    By writing people emails that make them think. And by going out to places where I can meet them. By always staying up-to-date with what’s going on in the bubble that I care about. And some other bubbles. Using Twitter.

    9. Do you use business cards?

    YES

    10. Have you ever applied for a job that did not require any online activity? For example, you were asked to mail in your application.

    NO

    11. In your opinion, what is the best way to find your first job out of college?

    Depends what kind of job you want. And if you want a job.
    Read the book Never Send A Resume. It’s short, I read it in a Borders.
    I’d say, make relationships. Go meet people, email them. Email the leaders, only start at the bottom and work your way up if you have to. Even if you do have to, keep emailing/starting conversations with people who you respect, who you can empathize with. Help them empathize with you and they will help you. Only take a job that you are going to love. You’re gonna have to look and look and look so you better start now. It will all be worth it though – think of it as your contribution to the world, this is you giving back. How does that work? If you are in a place where you are happy, the world overall will be that much happier. Your vote (happiness) counts!

     

    • Damon Clinkscales 10:10 pm on April 20, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Hey John

      I am liking what I am seeing from you in following you online. Keep up the energy. Hope to meet you sometime soon.

    • Damon Clinkscales 10:10 pm on April 20, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Hey John

      I am liking what I am seeing from you in following you online. Keep up the energy. Hope to meet you sometime soon.

    • John Erik 6:21 am on April 22, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      looking forward to meeting you as well!

    • John Erik 6:21 am on April 22, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      looking forward to meeting you as well!

  • John Erik 6:55 pm on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    The number one reason why I love the Austin Startup Community 

    I’m not sure if y’all know this, ohh my 50 visitors, but the Startup Community in Austin has a hawt group of g33k girls!! (just look at that sweet, blue VC Wear tee, “Your Mom is not a test market.“)

    These are the twitter’n, text messagin, geek loven, iPwn sportin, black boxy glasses wearin, nerd babes of Waggener Edstrom.

    As you can see here they’re always busy in meetings and twittering things like “Beauty bar rules..plus I just got hit on in the women’s bathroom ..hot!” from @gloriakt (the scenester looking one in black) and “I am wearing my iPhoneDevCamp shirt tomorrow, you wear your BarCamp shirt and we’ll see who gets the most dudes… ;-)” from @keelyanne (stripes, cardigan and dual tone hair) and finally “I’m in!! @gloriakt you better come tonight since you missed all the spooner action last night” from @kmclarty (PINK – w/ cunning elf ear showing in second and third pics).

    Above, in pow-wow fashion, likely twitting about @whurley‘s upcoming escapades or the next Austin Startup Drinks.

    …So, here you have it. Bring it on girls!

     

    • Josh 12:01 am on April 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Annnd now my number one reason.

    • Josh 12:01 am on April 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Annnd now my number one reason.

    • @gloriakt 2:44 am on April 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Glad to help out – interesting that no matter the medium, sex sells.

      Do I need to return the favor and feature the “Cuties from Conjunctured”?! Like that? don’t get your hopes up. HA j/k

    • @gloriakt 2:44 am on April 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Glad to help out – interesting that no matter the medium, sex sells.

      Do I need to return the favor and feature the “Cuties from Conjunctured”?! Like that? don't get your hopes up. HA j/k

  • John Erik 3:27 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: austin startup, co-company, , coworking austin,   

    Austin Coworking space, future plans 

    Update: Conjunctured is up and running and full of members. check out the site here: http://conjunctured.com :)

     

    500px_black_conjunctured_sc.png

    We have a lot going on at Conjunctured these days – most of it overlaps with what I’ve been talking about recently. I want to bring you all up to speed. So, here’s a list of everything we are doing.

    btw Conjunctured is a co-company I co-founded with Dusty, Matt, David, and Cesar about 2 months ago – it started at a Jelly.

    1.) 1-2 months out – open a coworking space in Austin similar to the following

    Coworking definition: Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.

    If this sounds cool, it would be great if you’d fill out one or two of these forms for we can get rolling with all this

    We are looking at spaces with several agents NOW. However, we all know the best deals come from relationships and connections. If you know of a space on the east side, downtown, or on south congress – PLEASE let me know.

    Here is a thread about our plans for the coworking space.

    2.) Ongoing – Help organizations have conversations online.

    Conjunctured leverages the power of collaboration and community. We are inspired by the existing concept of coworking and call ourselves a “co-company” – it’s a term we came up with that describes how the company is structured – we don’t employ people. Instead, a team of independent freelancers, all specialists in their own areas, come together to collaborate on the projects they feel most passionate about.

    3.) 1 year – micro-fund; akin to

    Here’s a link to my personal vision(1.0) for Austin’s startup community http://blog.think27.com/austin-startup-community-vision/

     

    • Julie Gomoll 10:18 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Tell us more about your criteria for a space. Size? Cost? Does it need to be ready to go or will you do some finish out? Parking?

      Have you talked with Joshua at Progress? He’s into the coworking idea, and a while back I believe there was some space about to be available right in that building.

    • Julie Gomoll 10:18 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Tell us more about your criteria for a space. Size? Cost? Does it need to be ready to go or will you do some finish out? Parking?

      Have you talked with Joshua at Progress? He's into the coworking idea, and a while back I believe there was some space about to be available right in that building.

    • John Erik 6:24 am on April 22, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      we’re looking for ~2000-3500sq ft. yes, parking. cost… low as we can get and still have a nice place?

      would love to talk with Joshua. Progress is a great place. hmm

    • John Erik 6:24 am on April 22, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      we're looking for ~2000-3500sq ft. yes, parking. cost… low as we can get and still have a nice place?

      would love to talk with Joshua. Progress is a great place. hmm

    • Brad 9:08 pm on October 22, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Would love to join this when it's open.

    • Soulsfeet 10:06 am on August 13, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Tapestry Dance Company (behind Central Market South) has space available! What do you need?

  • John Erik 5:10 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Operation bolster Austin startup/tech community via video+conversations 

    (these awesome g33k girls say “read this post!“)

    Here’s what I wanna do. I want to talk to every tech/startup person in austin. and I want to take a video camera. I want to know what they are doing, what they want (from the community/city). And, if they don’t know about beautiful things like door64, Jelly, refresh & geek austin, coworking movements 1 and 2, txventures, etc. I want to share that with them.

    I’m so pumped on Austin from Startup Drinks and the Barhunt, this would be like my dream right now. But, if I’m going to be spending a considerable amount of time doing this I would need to have either a trust fund (OH HAI!) or some kind of other little income. I think meeting all these people, videoing it, sharing teh good news, if you will, could be valuable to some people. I mean, I’ll post all the videos to a blog, I’ll wear a company’s t-shirt, you know, sponsorship. hmmm…. Sounds like I could put a little startup in this idea (looking to VC Wear‘s pitch document for clever inspiration).

    Vision: Talk to every tech/startup person or person who cares about tech/startups in Austin (or until diminishing return).

    Problem: SILOS!! No one knows what anyone else is doing/up to and thus overall innovation in Austin is, well, not as high as it could be.

    Solution: CONVERSATION!!! Talk to all these people, document it, share it with y’all, share what I know/learn with the people I’m talking to. Swirl everything up on a blog like it was a fruit cocktail. Y’all could even tell me what to ask.

    Market Size: it could be bigger than Hutto.

    Team: Yours truly! (maybe a flipcam.)

    Monetization: Hope so. All I need is enough to live. So about 20k a month will do (wah!). How am I gonna make it? that’s the next line.

    Funding: Cool organizations/people/groups are going to sponsor me, because they like initiative, because they want me to tell everyone just how cool they are, because what I’m doing will benefit them indirectly.

    Contact/paypal address: jmetcalf27(at)gmail.com

    Potential Partners:

    Look at that! every place I just listed has AUSTIN in their name. ha. I guess tomorrow I have to contact all these places. yikes.

    if you copy my idea i’ll be sad.

     

    • Alex Jones 9:51 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Don’t forget about us in Refresh Austin! With just under 400 members here in town, and an average of 35 – 45 people attending our monthly meetings, we can get the word out to all sorts of geeks, many of whom would like to participate and/or help you build this.

    • Alex Jones 9:51 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Don't forget about us in Refresh Austin! With just under 400 members here in town, and an average of 35 – 45 people attending our monthly meetings, we can get the word out to all sorts of geeks, many of whom would like to participate and/or help you build this.

    • John Erik 11:10 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      heck ya! i can’t believe i havent made it to a refresh meetup. no offense to silicon folks, but i think yall might be more like me. :)

    • Alex Jones 11:40 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      We’re all geeks, we just wear different stripes. I know a bunch of us love to learn about the other areas of geekdom.

    • Seth Jay Goldberg 11:50 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I think its an awesome idea. The little bit I know about co-working and stuff like Jelly has come from you. It has helped spin the gears and also created a pool of contact’s.

      I’m wondering if there should be a convergence of the linux/top gun/2600 guy.

      There might be some grants available for monetization.

    • John Erik 11:10 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      heck ya! i can't believe i havent made it to a refresh meetup. no offense to silicon folks, but i think yall might be more like me. :)

    • Alex Jones 11:40 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      We're all geeks, we just wear different stripes. I know a bunch of us love to learn about the other areas of geekdom.

    • Seth Jay Goldberg 11:50 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I think its an awesome idea. The little bit I know about co-working and stuff like Jelly has come from you. It has helped spin the gears and also created a pool of contact's.

      I'm wondering if there should be a convergence of the linux/top gun/2600 guy.

      There might be some grants available for monetization.

    • David J. Neff 1:47 pm on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Sign me up. I do love to talk about all my non-profit projects. Also I will volunteer if I can buy gloria a drink. I have been admiring her ever since she showed up to a CC salon wearing a barcamp shirt. ; -)

      P.S. You are the next iJustine but actually funny. That could be your tagline.

      - Dave

    • David J. Neff 1:47 pm on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Sign me up. I do love to talk about all my non-profit projects. Also I will volunteer if I can buy gloria a drink. I have been admiring her ever since she showed up to a CC salon wearing a barcamp shirt. ; -)

      P.S. You are the next iJustine but actually funny. That could be your tagline.

      - Dave

    • John Erik 5:38 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      OMG haha @david

      grants?? really how. what is “linux/top gun/2600 guy.”?? ..going to google

    • John Erik 5:38 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      OMG haha @david

      grants?? really how. what is “linux/top gun/2600 guy.”?? ..going to google

    • SJG 8:54 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I meant guys….
      darn typo’s allays kill me.

      Group of geeks roughly affiliated with geek Austin, Usually hang out at epoch coffee house.

    • SJG 8:54 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I meant guys….
      darn typo's allays kill me.

      Group of geeks roughly affiliated with geek Austin, Usually hang out at epoch coffee house.

    • Josh 11:57 pm on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I’m interested to see what comes out of all these talks. If the problem is primarily isolation and silos, I think the most exciting thing about a potential solution is ensuring that these silos don’t reappear.

      Social networking, collaboration, so many fun ways to facilitate communication here.

    • Josh 11:57 pm on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I'm interested to see what comes out of all these talks. If the problem is primarily isolation and silos, I think the most exciting thing about a potential solution is ensuring that these silos don't reappear.

      Social networking, collaboration, so many fun ways to facilitate communication here.

    • Bryan 4:39 pm on April 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      We’ll be your publishing arm for all the interviews. Haven’t yet met people interested in financially sponsoring the blog, but people like video much better. So it might be easier for you.

    • John Erik 4:51 pm on April 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      w00t! that’s awesome Bryan! i’m super excited. thanks man!

    • Bryan 4:39 pm on April 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      We'll be your publishing arm for all the interviews. Haven't yet met people interested in financially sponsoring the blog, but people like video much better. So it might be easier for you.

    • John Erik 4:51 pm on April 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      w00t! that's awesome Bryan! i'm super excited. thanks man!

  • John Erik 4:40 am on April 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Startup Bar Hunt **open alpha 0.20** 

    We did it! Teh Startup Bar Hunt has begun. 11 total were in attendence – and get this – 6 girls, 5 guys! WOWOW best time evva.


    View Larger Map

    In short – Betsy’s Bar was cool, dark, red, had a radar.net stick in the bathroom. Firehouse Lounge was nice and fun. Spill was awesome for dancing! Go team. Black and Tan/Orchid was pretty killer – robots hanging from the ceiling, good music, good lights, cool owner. (What was the bar Dusty went to?) Beauty Bar was fun for looking at scenesters (+ lesbians). THAI PASSION + Mmmm. END.

     

    • Sharlee 1:51 pm on April 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Dusty, Sharlee, Julia, Rachel, & Brian went to Lovejoy’s Tap Room and Brewery on Neches between 6th and 7th.

    • Sharlee 1:51 pm on April 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Dusty, Sharlee, Julia, Rachel, & Brian went to Lovejoy's Tap Room and Brewery on Neches between 6th and 7th.

    • Cesar Torres 7:05 pm on April 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      This was tons of fun. Thanks for reminding me that Startup Drinks is coming up next week. How can we converge the two? Is SUD the pre-party for Startup Barhunt? PS: did you just make a meme?

    • Cesar Torres 7:05 pm on April 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      This was tons of fun. Thanks for reminding me that Startup Drinks is coming up next week. How can we converge the two? Is SUD the pre-party for Startup Barhunt? PS: did you just make a meme?

    • Chris Everson 2:00 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for adding me on Twitter and hooray for ATX geek folk! I’m gonna have to come drink with you folks sometime.

    • Chris Everson 2:00 am on April 14, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for adding me on Twitter and hooray for ATX geek folk! I'm gonna have to come drink with you folks sometime.

    • Josh 11:59 pm on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I need to keep up with this blog more. Sounds like I’m missing out on so much!

    • Josh 11:59 pm on April 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I need to keep up with this blog more. Sounds like I'm missing out on so much!

    • Radar detectors 8:30 am on February 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Hey Josh, I am also seem to have missing a lot, I am going to bookmark it right away, will be visiting lot often now!

  • John Erik 5:39 am on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , cool fucking people, geek bar,   

    Austin Startup/Geek Bar – FIND IT! 

    I was out tonight with Cesar, Jon and Kristine – we had a good time hopping from Key Bar, the Belmont, SIX, Cuba, One2One… (none of us drank btw).

    In keyBar we were talking about meeting people. We (or maybe it was just me) decided that ‘if they were on Twitter‘ was a good determinant for, would they be fun to talk to. Of course we met nobody who was on Twitter. So, with that in mind, I did a Twitter search for Austin just now and got ~2000 results. I made it through page 45 (of like 130) looking at people’s links and following them if they seemed interesting to me. By doing this I totally ruined my nice ratio of followers to followees, but who cares – I’m really looking to meet more interesting, creative, entrepreneural, techy, people in Austin, and I’m hoping this will be a good way to do it – I’ll let you know. Hiii if I just followed you!

    Something else I think would be amazing is having a single place where startup/tech people usually hang out – we need to pick a place. THE place for techies, startup junckies, social media geeks, designers to hang out. It doesn’t have to be the same year after year – think of it like the clubs in LA. The cool clubs are are where all the celebs are. ohhh. Now replace celebs with geeks! w00t! I think it would be awesome to walk into a bar or club or whatev and see all the great startup types we have around here. WHERE ARE MY PEOPLE AT!

    I tweeted this out about the bar spot and got some response: cuatros, firehouse, speakeasy, one2one, & sapphire. I’m going to check all these out tomorrow night. Let the hunt begin! …If by some luck you read this and want to come along, well that would be SUPER! just tweet me up!

     

    • Alex Jones 8:41 am on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Great idea! I always love it when I get to meet up with local geeks at a pub like the Gingerman or the Draught House. It would be great to see a ‘home base’ pop up for those days where there isn’t time to kick out the word to a group. Plus, knowing that there’s a high likelihood of the people around being geeks/designers/social media/startup types, people may be more likely to strike up conversations with strangers. Very cool.

    • Alex Jones 8:41 am on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Great idea! I always love it when I get to meet up with local geeks at a pub like the Gingerman or the Draught House. It would be great to see a 'home base' pop up for those days where there isn't time to kick out the word to a group. Plus, knowing that there's a high likelihood of the people around being geeks/designers/social media/startup types, people may be more likely to strike up conversations with strangers. Very cool.

    • Juan Sequeda 2:48 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      This is awesome. It would be great to know that there is a place you can go to get together with entrepreneurs on the weekend.

    • Juan Sequeda 2:48 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      This is awesome. It would be great to know that there is a place you can go to get together with entrepreneurs on the weekend.

    • Todd Sundsted 6:21 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Clever idea with twitter. I’m going to try it. Thanks!

      Regarding the club, don’t forget the big guy at the door keeping all of the celebs and n00bs out. If you start letting them in, pretty soon you let everyone in and then it’s just another bar ;-)

      AKA Bandit

    • John Erik 6:23 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      hehe, come on Todd – no excluding people! :)

      like the celebs do, we’ll just migrate to another bar and the other one will go under. ha

      Alex and Juan – you better come out tonight!

    • Todd Sundsted 6:21 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Clever idea with twitter. I'm going to try it. Thanks!

      Regarding the club, don't forget the big guy at the door keeping all of the celebs and n00bs out. If you start letting them in, pretty soon you let everyone in and then it's just another bar ;-)

      AKA Bandit

    • John Erik 6:23 pm on April 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      hehe, come on Todd – no excluding people! :)

      like the celebs do, we'll just migrate to another bar and the other one will go under. ha

      Alex and Juan – you better come out tonight!

  • John Erik 4:04 am on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    conjunctured, openID, semantics — all the stuff I love 

    Great day today.

    Worked at Austin Java on Lamar with the guys and got the start of a new Conjunctured website mostly figured out. Along with some financial details and goals — which btw are to actively pursue new clients and have our coworking space — uh, asap. We’re looking for a space (downtown or the east side) and people who are down to work in it. We are totally pimping the model of our peeps Indy Hall and New Work City.

    Got to have a brilliant conversation with my old Digital Identities professor, Christoph Engamann, about Austin, Conjunctured, innovation, openID vs M$ cardspace, startup communities, and the furtue of identity. WOW. This was important because I talked with Dick Hardt this week about managing the creation of/developing a plan for openID’s core messaging platform. – I couldn’t be more excited about this! This really deserves it’s own post soon. What does openID mean to you? It’s “the ID you own,” says Christoph.

    After this, I rode with Eric to CycCorp headquarters for a meetup arranged by JohnDeO. There, I saw a demo of a semantic firefox plugin – honestly i didnt understand it. Michael Bergman, CEO of Zitgist LLC, gave a demo of Umbel – which is “A lightweight, subject concept reference structure for the Web” – I was blown away and that’s just scratching the surface of what Cyc can do.

    There really is a large semantics community in Austin, I’m trying to get everyone together – if you’re in Austin and remotely interested in the semantic web (web 3.0), send me an email – this is a great group that will blow your mind.

    Steve Reed gave a short presentation on his “open source project to create an artificial intelligence.” JohnDeO is one of the smartest guys I know. Tonight he said Steve was the smartest guy he knows…. What he is working on it will change the world.

    When I got home I had an invite to Nova Spivack’s twine waiting for me – Thank you. ~5000 people on twine. Not really sure what i’m supposed to do. Share stuff in a place where none of my friends are? Nice tags though ??

    The overall theme for today was a term JohnDeO uses often: Intelligence Amplification. It’s “AI” flipped to IA – it’s a great descriptor for what the semantic web and openID can do for us.

     

    • johndeo 8:49 am on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      John, you make me blush! Thanks.

      If any of you want to read deeper into the AI side of things (as opposed to IA), check out Steve Reed’s post: The Current State of Affairs in Pursuit of a Commonsense AI

      http://texai.org/blog/2008/01/11/the-current-state-of-affairs-in-pursuit-of-a-commonsense-ai/

    • johndeo 8:49 am on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      John, you make me blush! Thanks.

      If any of you want to read deeper into the AI side of things (as opposed to IA), check out Steve Reed's post: The Current State of Affairs in Pursuit of a Commonsense AI

      http://texai.org/blog/2008/01/11/the-current-st…

    • Jonathan Simmons 11:32 am on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Sounds like it was a good day! I’m just learning about the semantic web, but I don’t feel like a total no0b b/c its something I’m not sure a ton of people have heard about, at least graphic designers.
      Looked at the conjunctured web presence and it looks awesome!

    • Jonathan Simmons 11:32 am on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Sounds like it was a good day! I'm just learning about the semantic web, but I don't feel like a total no0b b/c its something I'm not sure a ton of people have heard about, at least graphic designers.
      Looked at the conjunctured web presence and it looks awesome!

    • Todd Sundsted 11:37 pm on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      The only question I have is, when do you work!?!?!

      That’s more than I get done in one week! Possibly my life.

      Great news about the plans for the space. I caught wind of this today on twitter.

      AKA Bandit

    • Todd Sundsted 11:37 pm on April 11, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      The only question I have is, when do you work!?!?!

      That's more than I get done in one week! Possibly my life.

      Great news about the plans for the space. I caught wind of this today on twitter.

      AKA Bandit

    • Stephen Reed 11:08 am on April 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks John for the mention of my blog site. John DeOliveira is too kind in regard to my smarts. There are lots of people with higher IQs, more perfect recollection, and more expertise in AI than me. I concede that I do focus what abilities I have on the task of creating artificial intelligence.
      -Steve

    • Stephen Reed 11:08 am on April 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks John for the mention of my blog site. John DeOliveira is too kind in regard to my smarts. There are lots of people with higher IQs, more perfect recollection, and more expertise in AI than me. I concede that I do focus what abilities I have on the task of creating artificial intelligence.
      -Steve

  • John Erik 1:35 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , people,   

    People to meet in Austin / set meetings with 

    Last edit – July 1

    Some of these folks I’ve met and some I have not… now to have meetings with them regarding the development of Austin’s startup community, the Conjunctured coworking space, the plan for a Startup District, etc.

    Entrepreneurs/invest

    Gov types

    • Dawanna dukes – starte rep for the district that covers east austin
    • Sheral cole – councel. east side revitalization process
    • Lee Leffingwell, Council Member Place 1
    • Mayor Will Wynn – Done
    • Rosalinda Jalifi – economic growth and redevelopment services, small business development program
    • Brewster McCracken – http://www.brewstermccracken.org/
    • Eve Richter – Economic Development

    Edu/othr

    more to come! i’m past my bed time to get 6hrs… more politicos, angels, law, realestate … need to look at old business cards

     

    • Damon Clinkscales 9:53 pm on April 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I like the fact that you’ve published this big list. I’d suggest you use a strikethrough as you meet with each person and update the blog post accordingingly. That way, we can follow your progres.

    • Damon Clinkscales 9:53 pm on April 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I like the fact that you've published this big list. I'd suggest you use a strikethrough as you meet with each person and update the blog post accordingingly. That way, we can follow your progres.

    • John Erik 1:49 am on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      will do Damon.

      strike one: the mayor. :)

    • John Erik 1:49 am on April 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      will do Damon.

      strike one: the mayor. :)

  • John Erik 1:38 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Leadership Austin – AH! Baby Boomers 

    “insert pic of persons age 44-62″ :)

    Last weekend Thom Singer invited me to be apart of a panel. The topic was Boomers and how they will be affecting the Austin area. Here are some things I took away:

    • There needs to be an app that shows everyone (people my age especially) a time line of their life. down to saying, “this is when your parents will die and this is when you will die…” This sounds kinda drag but it’s important stuff to know and think about. We need to be thinking about what were going to do to take care of out parents and/or close friends. Unless we think about these things now, we’re bound to be unprepared. I think this can be done with a web or facebook app. – I lots of ideas about this that I’ll spare you.
    • When asked where they want to retire, the majority of the Boomers in the room said in a community of others like them… it was the “we’ll be old ladies together” line. “Grow old on the porch swing,” kinda thing. There needs to be a way to connect these people boomers. My take was they need to be better educated in technology so they can use social media to find each other, see who their neighbors are. The joke here was “Geriatricbook.” Also, if something like this was to exist it cannot be termed a social network. That phrase is ingrained in everyone’s minds as a kids toy. grrr
    • The conversation was purposefully broad. There absolutely needs to be more talk about this and it needs to be done with statistics, demographics, all the breaks downs on the board. People were talking from their own bubbles, their own experiences – the percentages need to be put on the board and it needs to be determined how one side can help the other.

    Thanks again for the invite Thom. And thanks Jon.

     

    • Jon Lebkowsky 9:59 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Comments on your comments (speaking as a boomer as well as a social web guy)…

      Of course, you can’t really guess at a time line for the major life-events, but you can figure out what the events are, and you can create a context for sort of journaling how you might respond. OTOH nothing could have prepared me for some of the changes in my life, especially the death of parents and the 2000 Internet crash (which slammed my life pretty hard). But I could have done a much better job of preparing, especially financially. If you want to talk more about this, you know where to find me.
      You seem to assume that boomers aren’t connecting online, and I’m not sure that’s a valid assumption. They’re connecting like crazy… and they’re not necessarily going to want to hang out with other boomers as a matter of course. Maybe it’s better to forget age, forget retirement, and if anything create usable resources for people of any age who want to learn more about the Internet.
      Might be something the Pew Internet and American Life project has tackled or will tackle. I have a friend there, I’ll check.

    • Julie Gomoll 10:54 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      John, John, John. Those folks in the picture? They are not boomers. They are parents of boomers. I’m 45 – at the tail end, technically, of the boomer generation.

      “There needs to be a way to connect these people”? Hello! We’re perfectly capable of using the same tools you are. (And really… “these people?”)

      Half the people at the last Jelly I attended were boomers. Your friends at LaunchPad Coworking, and notanmba, and geekaustin – we’re all boomers.

    • Jon Lebkowsky 9:59 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Comments on your comments (speaking as a boomer as well as a social web guy)…

      Of course, you can't really guess at a time line for the major life-events, but you can figure out what the events are, and you can create a context for sort of journaling how you might respond. OTOH nothing could have prepared me for some of the changes in my life, especially the death of parents and the 2000 Internet crash (which slammed my life pretty hard). But I could have done a much better job of preparing, especially financially. If you want to talk more about this, you know where to find me.
      You seem to assume that boomers aren't connecting online, and I'm not sure that's a valid assumption. They're connecting like crazy… and they're not necessarily going to want to hang out with other boomers as a matter of course. Maybe it's better to forget age, forget retirement, and if anything create usable resources for people of any age who want to learn more about the Internet.
      Might be something the Pew Internet and American Life project has tackled or will tackle. I have a friend there, I'll check.

    • Julie Gomoll 10:54 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      John, John, John. Those folks in the picture? They are not boomers. They are parents of boomers. I'm 45 – at the tail end, technically, of the boomer generation.

      “There needs to be a way to connect these people”? Hello! We're perfectly capable of using the same tools you are. (And really… “these people?”)

      Half the people at the last Jelly I attended were boomers. Your friends at LaunchPad Coworking, and notanmba, and geekaustin – we're all boomers.

    • John Erik 1:15 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      oh man. yall are totally right about the picture and “these people”

      the picture is the second google image result when you search for “baby boomers” — it seemed to work bc the conversation was so focused on what boomers will want from austin when they reach their 70′s … the panel was trying to determine this (future desires/needs) by looking at their past and present. …and thus i was thinking “people in their 70′s”

      i apologize for saying “they” “these people” etc to classify. what is a better way for making these references?

    • John Erik 1:15 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      oh man. yall are totally right about the picture and “these people”

      the picture is the second google image result when you search for “baby boomers” — it seemed to work bc the conversation was so focused on what boomers will want from austin when they reach their 70's … the panel was trying to determine this (future desires/needs) by looking at their past and present. …and thus i was thinking “people in their 70's”

      i apologize for saying “they” “these people” etc to classify. what is a better way for making these references?

    • John Erik 2:44 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @jonl i can agree that boomers are connecting online more and more – but i’d like to see numbers. i’d also like to see the income distribution of the people. i’d bet it’s the upper middle class on up that are connecting. …really it’s the other groups that need to connect

    • John Erik 2:44 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      @jonl i can agree that boomers are connecting online more and more – but i'd like to see numbers. i'd also like to see the income distribution of the people. i'd bet it's the upper middle class on up that are connecting. …really it's the other groups that need to connect

    • Julie Gomoll 9:17 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for the improved picture :)

      While it’s true that, as a rule, older = less tech savvy, assuming a whole generation (or two) needs different tools isn’t a very useful assumption. The differential isn’t age, it’s whether people are online or offline. So a more relevant question is “how can we help people who aren’t online connect?”

      Someone did a Twitter poll recently asking everyone’s age – I believe the median age was 37. Not scientific, and not boomers, but it certainly shows it’s more than a “kid thing”.

      re: the “these people” thing… there’s not a doubt in my mind you were trying to be helpful. Turn that into “you people” though – What do You People [blacks, women, gays, liberals... the list goes on] want? It’s a way to classify a big group of people as something other than the norm, which of course is straight, white, and male.

      I’ve owned the domain youpeople.com for years. Perhaps I should bring it online and have this discussion there :)

    • Julie Gomoll 9:17 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for the improved picture :)

      While it's true that, as a rule, older = less tech savvy, assuming a whole generation (or two) needs different tools isn't a very useful assumption. The differential isn't age, it's whether people are online or offline. So a more relevant question is “how can we help people who aren't online connect?”

      Someone did a Twitter poll recently asking everyone's age – I believe the median age was 37. Not scientific, and not boomers, but it certainly shows it's more than a “kid thing”.

      re: the “these people” thing… there's not a doubt in my mind you were trying to be helpful. Turn that into “you people” though – What do You People [blacks, women, gays, liberals... the list goes on] want? It's a way to classify a big group of people as something other than the norm, which of course is straight, white, and male.

      I've owned the domain youpeople.com for years. Perhaps I should bring it online and have this discussion there :)

    • Jon Lebkowsky 10:39 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      One of my colleagues, Susannah Fox, is with the Pew Internet and American Life project. She wrote a report in 2005 that’s relevant:
      http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/Fox_Aging_2005.pdf

      Most recent Pew demographics are here:
      http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo_2.15.08.htm

      Those are high-level numbers, but the show 72% adoption in the 50-64 age group – boomers – and 37% adoption of 65 – those born before the baby boom. Pretty high rate of adoption by boomers.

      If you look at the figures for income, you have 61% adoption at the lowest level and it scales up from there. The digital divide is still there, and it’s a complex issue to address. I spent a lot of time working with community networks, and there’s all kinds of issues that keep people offline. Some of them just don’t want to go there… but they’ll do it if they have a compelling reason. Otherwise, why should they? So one important question to consider is whether people don’t have access actually want it.

      People with more income have more access, but I think you have to be nuanced in the assumptions you make about those figures.

      The next Bootstrap Web isn’t programmed yet. Maybe we should make it a discussion of digital divide and adoption.

    • Jon Lebkowsky 10:39 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      One of my colleagues, Susannah Fox, is with the Pew Internet and American Life project. She wrote a report in 2005 that's relevant:
      http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/Fox_Aging_2005.pdf

      Most recent Pew demographics are here:
      http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo_2.1…

      Those are high-level numbers, but the show 72% adoption in the 50-64 age group – boomers – and 37% adoption of 65 – those born before the baby boom. Pretty high rate of adoption by boomers.

      If you look at the figures for income, you have 61% adoption at the lowest level and it scales up from there. The digital divide is still there, and it's a complex issue to address. I spent a lot of time working with community networks, and there's all kinds of issues that keep people offline. Some of them just don't want to go there… but they'll do it if they have a compelling reason. Otherwise, why should they? So one important question to consider is whether people don't have access actually want it.

      People with more income have more access, but I think you have to be nuanced in the assumptions you make about those figures.

      The next Bootstrap Web isn't programmed yet. Maybe we should make it a discussion of digital divide and adoption.

    • John Erik 12:55 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      julie, i think youpeople.com should be a faceroll – you should take photos of all the people you meet and know. a random face will appear with every refresh. you could even have a one liner under their photo about why you love that person.

      jon, the kind of questions that can be answered by cross referencing Pew’s various results are beautiful. i love data like this. austin could extract and apply this knowledge to their “boomers” efforts. who is using this data and what are they doing with it. hmmmm

      thanks so much for your comments and opinions, folks. YOU ROCK

    • John Erik 12:55 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      julie, i think youpeople.com should be a faceroll – you should take photos of all the people you meet and know. a random face will appear with every refresh. you could even have a one liner under their photo about why you love that person.

      jon, the kind of questions that can be answered by cross referencing Pew's various results are beautiful. i love data like this. austin could extract and apply this knowledge to their “boomers” efforts. who is using this data and what are they doing with it. hmmmm

      thanks so much for your comments and opinions, folks. YOU ROCK

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