Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for November 19

It’s unfortunate to hear that Strands has had to make some cuts. Via TechCrunch “The cutbacks continue, even at seemingly healthy startups. Social recommendation engine Strands let exactly 10 percent, or 14 people go (7 in the U.S. and 7 in Spain), the company confirms.”

Upcoming Tweetup Breakfast at Fuller’s Restaurant (Thursday November 20, 2008)

Via the AboutUs blog “It’s tough to say vote for us, when we are with so many great sites. But that is what we say! Vote for AboutUs! because we are doing something groundbreaking and different than all the other fabulous sites in the category.”

Mike Rogoway writes “Downtown Portland tech startup Iovation laid off a dozen employees last week, the latest in a series of Oregon companies making tough decisions as the recession deepens.”

Josh Bancroft writes “I’m writing this up to help bloggers and other people who create stuff online (videos, etc.) get their ‘stuff’ more visibility, by getting more sites to link to it and talk about it. Specifically, I’m trying to help people in my group at work, Intel Software Network, by sharing some of my experience and ideas, since I’ve been blogging for over 5 years. I’m by no means an expert, just sharing what I know. I hope you’ll post a comment or otherwise jump into the conversation if you have ideas of your own on how to get more ‘outside’ links and conversation around the things that you write.”

Dawn Foster writes “I’m participating in the Great Portland Interview Project, and I was recently interviewed by Grant Kruger. According to the rules of the project, I’m posting the results of the interview here for your reading pleasure. Grant even slipped in a few extra questions, including an obscure question about Sausage the goat. The questions came from Grant, but the answers are mine.”

A discussion about the Portland tech scene heading into 2009. Where are we now, how did we get here and where do we want to go?