Silicon Florist » Lunch2.0

Reminder: Lunch 2.0 at ISITE Design Wednesday

Jake — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:58:03 +0000

The dust has settled from last week’s whirlwind of activity associated with Open Source Bridge, and it’s time to get back to the routine.

Don’t fret though, you can see all your pals at Lunch 2.0 at ISITE Design on Wednesday to rehash the awesomeness, or if you didn’t make it to OSB, you can hear about when went on last week.

This will be the 17th (not 16th) iteration of Portland Lunch 2.0, and the fifth time we’ve been to Old Town. Andy Van Oostrum of ISITE will be hosting Lunch 2.0 for a second time; maybe you remember he was a part of the second Lunch 2.0, at eROI.

I’ve noticed recently that attendance at Lunch 2.0 has tailed off a bit. Not that Lunch 2.0 is an attendance-driven event, but wondering why. Maybe the schedule is more full, so each one is not as big a deal. Drop a comment if you have any insight.

As always, please make sure you RSVP over on Upcoming so they know how much food to get and drop a comment there if you’re a vegan or vegetarian.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

June 24 hosted by ISITE Design
July 15 hosted by Pacific Real Estate Partners at Jive Software

I’ve got a few tentatives cooking for August/September. If you want to host one, drop a comment here (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information. It’s easy.

As always, big thanks to all the previous and future hosts.

Reminder: Lunch 2.0 this Thursday at Webtrends

Jake — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:09:55 +0000

Amidst the flurry of activity recently, maybe you didn’t notice there will be another chapter in the PDX Lunch 2.0 saga this Thursday, June 4 at Webtrends.

The kind people at Webtrends have agreed to give Open Source Bridge a forum to chat about the conference, which is quickly approaching, June 17-19 at the Oregon Convention Center.

Remember Open Source Bridge, the volunteer-run conference for open source citizens?

Hoping you do, since both Rick and I are volunteers, and your friendly neighborhood Silicon Florist is a media partner, and we’ve been yammering on about it for months now. Is this thing on?

Anyway, Webtrends is one of the many companies sponsoring Open Source Bridge, and they are also graciously hosting our volunteer orientation, which will be held at their offices on June 3 at 7 PM.

Want more Webtrends news? You can has. Beer and Blog founder and all-around nice guy Justin Kistner will be joining their ranks on June 9 as Senior Manager Social Media Marketing. I can’t say if Justin will make it to Lunch 2.0 on Thursday, but if he does, you can congratulate him in person, or if you prefer a more social media congratulatory method, drop a comment on his blog or tweet @ him.

Want more Open Source Bridge news? You can has that too. Conference co-founders and open source mavens, Audrey Eschright and Selena Deckelmann, were guests on Strange Love Live last Friday.

So, if you want to help out with the conference, drop by Wednesday evening for the skinny on volunteering.

If you want to register for Open Source Bridge, head over there posthaste and tell your friends.

If you want to find out more about Webtrends and/or Open Source Bridge, hang with your favorite PDX peeps and meet some new people, meet us at Webtrends on Thursday.

As always, please make sure you RSVP over on Upcoming so they know how much food to get and drop a comment there if you’re a vegan or vegetarian. You can also +1 for Todd’s cookies-at-every-Lunch 2.0 campaign.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

June 4 hosted by Webtrends and Open Source Bridge
June 24 hosted by ISITE Design
July 15 hosted by Pacific Real Estate Partners at Jive Software

I’ve got a few tentatives cooking for August/September. If you want to host one, drop a comment here (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information. It’s easy.

As always, big thanks to all the previous and future hosts.

July Lunch 2.0 hosted by Pacific Real Estate Partners

Jake — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:15:07 +0000

I promised you there were more lunches on tap, and here you go.

On July 15, Pacific Real Estate Partners will be hosting Lunch 2.0 at Jive Software.

You may recall that Jive has moved into and is renovating the old Federal Reserve Building on SW Stark and SW 9th.

I’m not sure if the renovations will be complete by then, but this will be my first visit to the semi-new digs. I’m curious to check out the space, which has an interesting history, including what used to be a gun range in the basement.

Jive has converted that space into bike parking. Please use it for bikes and leave your sidearms at home.

Thanks to Mark Friel and Kristin Hammond (aka @FzMcFadden) of Pacific Real Estate Partners for connecting all the dots and making this happen.

Here’s the skinny:

Host: Pacific Real Estate Partners

Where: Jive Software, 915 SW Stark St Portland, OR 97205

When: July 15, 2009 from 12 PM to 2 PM

Please RSVP on Upcoming so the hosts can get an idea of how much grub to get. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, drop a comment on the event page for planning, unless you don’t want to eat.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

June 4 hosted by Webtrends and Open Source Bridge
June 24 hosted by ISITE Design
July 15 hosted by Pacific Real Estate Partners at Jive Software

Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.

Lunch 2.0 at Webtrends

Jake — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:33:00 +0000

Although I didn’t make it to the last Lunch 2.0, hosted by WebVisions at the Oregon Convention Center, I hear it was a good time.

I also hear the poor WebVisions volunteers were a bit flustered trying to check badges on unsuspecting lunch-goers. Sorry about that.

And poor Rick was operating at half capacity due to seasonal allergies. Poor guy.

Anyway, the Lunch 2.0s are fast and furious now that Summer is here. Not intentionally, but happily, at least if you like to hang out around town in the sunshine.

The next Lunch 2.0 is coming up fast. It’s June 4 (yes, that’s a Thursday) at Webtrends.

I’m sure you know Webtrends already, or you should. They’ve been around since 1993. But, in case you don’t, here’s an excerpt from their about:

Webtrends standards-based technology and dedicated support lets organizations extend the rich, visitor-centric data collected by their websites to business systems throughout the enterprise. Marketers, BI analytics and others can combine online and offline data to gain the one view of their customers and business – the integrated perspective that drives marketing and business success today.

Here’s the skinny:

Hosts: Webtrends and Open Source Bridge

Where: 851 SW 6th Avenue #1600, Portland, OR, 97204

When: June 4, 2009 from 12 PM to 2 PM

Please RSVP on Upcoming so the hosts can get an idea of how much grub to get. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, drop a comment on the event page for planning, unless you don’t want to eat.

If you attend PDX Lunch 2.0, you’ve probably heard about Open Source Bridge already.

You know, the volunteer-run conference, dedicated to open source citizenship and (ahem) world domination that’s happening June 17-19 at the OCC.

Rather than co-opting another Lunch 2.0 to promote the conference, we’re (full disclosure, both Rick and I are volunteers) teaming up with Webtrends, one of our awesome sponsors, to fill your ears with open source goodness and your belly with yummy food.

Coincidentally, Webtrends is a quick walk across Taylor Street from the Hilton Portland, where the Open Source Bridge all-hours hacker lounge will be during the conference.

And yes, June 4 is a Thursday.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

June 4 hosted by Webtrends and Open Source Bridge
June 24 hosted by ISITE Design

The list looks short, but don’t worry. There are announcements on the way soon.

Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.

REMINDER: Portland Lunch 2.0 hosted by WebVisions today at the Oregon Convention Center

Rick Turoczy — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:46:12 +0000

If you’ve never been to a Portland Lunch 2.0, now would be a good time to start. If you’ve been to a bunch of Portland Lunch 2.0 gatherings, this one will be completely different.

I mean, sure, a lot of the same gang will be there. Which will be great. And you’ll have some interesting conversations and some “Hey! I haven’t seen you forever!” encounters. And of course, you’ll also get free grub while you chat.

But this time around, thanks to the cool folks at WebVisions, we’ll be gathering in the middle of a conference in the Oregon Convention Center. That’s a first.

We’ll also likely get the chance to mingle with some of the cool folks who are in Portland to present at WebVisions. Especially those who are running workshops today. How cool is that? That’s right. It’s very cool.

And if you’re still on the fence about attending WebVisions? You’ll be able to register today, as well. So get off that fence and get registered.

Speaking of registration, you can still cash in on the WebVisions and Open Source Bridge 2-for-1 deal. Meaning you can get into both conferences for $300. Don’t want to go to both? Split it with someone else. We won’t tell.

Free lunch, cool people, and an awesome conference. What could be better?

What’s that? LA LA LA. I can’t hear you.

See you at WebVisions around noon.

There’s no such thing as a free… Wait. Shoot. Free WebVisions and a free lunch?

Rick Turoczy — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:42:34 +0000

We’re getting awfully close to WebVisions, the premier Web conference that has graced Portland, Oregon, for nearly a decade by bringing incredible Web thinkers, designers, and developers to discuss their craft. It’s such an amazing show, I can’t imagine not paying for it.

But that’s me. I’m not lucky like these folks: the winners of the Silicon Florist WebVisions raffle.

Chad Broadus was the big winner with a free pass to the Indi Young Workshop and a free WebVisions conference pass
Jeff Bunch won a free conference pass
Steve Peterson won a free T-shirt

Thanks very much to everyone who participated in the raffle. For those of you who didn’t win, there’s still time to register for WebVisions.

Whoa there, tiger. Why the sad face? I know, I wanted you to win, too. But buck up. There’s still something we can give you for free.

Portland Lunch 2.0 will be hosted by WebVisions on Wednesday, May 20. All you have to do is show up at the Oregon Convention Center and hang out with your peers from the Portland tech scene.

Word around the campfire is that it’s also Adam DuVander‘s birthday.

So, while you may not have won a free pass, you still have a chance to get a free lunch.

Please make sure to RSVP via Upcoming so that the WebVisions folks have a decent estimate for who’s showing up.

WebVisions Lunch 2.0 is Next Week

Jake — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:30:51 +0000

WebVisions is quickly approaching. It’s coming up next week already, May 20-22 at the OCC.

Time to stop procrastinating and register. Better yet, take advantage of the package deal WebVisions and Open Source Bridge are offering, i.e. full access passes to both events for $300. Jump on that deal before May 18, and you’ll save $200.

Look at it this way. If you have an interest in either conference, you’ll get the other for a song, i.e. $50. Or maybe you’re a Web designer who wants to attend WebVisions who has a Web developer buddy who wants to attend Open Source Bridge. That’s a pretty sweet split cost. (Hint, hint)

Have you seen the speaker lineup for WebVisions? It’s jam-packed with local and international talent, assembling to talk about the future of the Web design, business strategy and user experience.

Oh, and Silicon Florist is a sponsor so the turoczybot commands that you attend.

Back to Lunch 2.0. WebVisions will be hosting Lunch 2.0 on May 20, the workshop day of the conference at the OCC.

You don’t have to be registered for the conference to attend, but if you are, you’ll be rubbing elbows with the speakers and other attendees before the sessions begin. So, you can get advance information about the content to help you set your schedule for Thursday and Friday.

If you’re not registered by then, this will be your chance to see what you’ll be missing and to remedy the situation.

As always, please make sure you RSVP over on Upcoming so they know how much food to get and drop a comment there if you’re a vegan or vegetarian. You can also +1 for Todd‘s cookies-at-every-Lunch 2.0 campaign.

Hope to see you there.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

May 20 hosted by WebVisions at the Oregon Convention Center
June 24 hosted by ISITE Design

The list looks short, but don’t worry. There are announcements on the way soon.

Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.

Lunch 2.0 at TechShop Portland, DIY Heaven

Jake — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:51:55 +0000

Yesterday, about 40 or so people gathered at TechShop Portland in Beaverton for our second venture into the wild and wooly suburbs.

Unfortunately, we conflicted with the opening day of InnoTech so many of the usual suspects weren’t able to make it.

I did see a lot of new faces, just like at Lunch 2.0 at the OTBC in January, which is a good thing. It’s always nice to meet new people or people you follow on Twitter but never see IRL because they live way far off in the ‘burbs.

TechShop is almost complete and ready for its official opening this coming Saturday, April 25. The warehouse area seems to be done, with only a few finishing touches and furniture remaining in the front office area.

To get us started, Denney Cole, our host, gave a quick intro about what is TechShop. The short version is it’s like a health club, for DIY people. You sign up to be a member, then you bring your projects.

What projects you ask?

Pretty much anything from soft goods (sewing, embroidery, upholstery) to wood-working (cutting, gluing, planing, sanding) to metal-working (melting, welding, grinding, cutting) to painting to robotics and electronics in any combination.

You could conceivably construct a couch from scratch, including the woodwork and finishing work at TechShop, or as Denney says, cut up the aluminum wheels on a junker, melt them down, and resurrect them as door handles and cabinet knobs.

Did I mention they have a laser etching machine too? That, apparently is the crown jewel of the original TechShop, in Menlo Park. I saw one of those in action at Web 2.0 Expo 2008, and that’s a fun toy to have at your disposal. The urge to etch can be strong.

Beyond providing tools and space to store your stuff, TechShop has classes. So you don’t kill, maim or embarrass yourself.

Wm Leler also talked about Open Tech Space, which is housed within TechShop.

Open Tech Space is a freely available gathering place for anyone interesting in creating prototypes, sharing and mentoring, and promoting business development in the technology and art communities. Even if you’re not a TechShop member, you can go to Open Tech Space and hang out with like-minded people. The goal is to put people with ideas together and encourage them to grow those ideas.

That’s really TechShop’s goal too.

After the talking, came the tour.

It’s probably best that we didn’t get a full crowd, since even with 40 people, it was a bit tough to hear Denney in the warehouse.

As we walked around, you could see the wheels turning in people’s heads. We like to build things, take them apart, improve them, and TechShop is full of the tools you need for that kind of learning. I overhead a few ideas flying around, and that’s the great thing about TechShop. It removes the sunk cost of buying and storing tools.

It also removes the spousal reminders to clean up your mess and finish the project already.

While in the wood shop, we saw this mold for a harp switch, which would have made Aaron very happy. Sadly, he didn’t make it.

When we went outside to check out the furnaces, we got a sweet demonstration. One of the furnaces got a bit cranky and decided to shoot flames about ten feet in the air. Not as dangerous as it sounds and very cool. Don Park took some video of a different furnace that gives you an idea.

As the tour wrapped up at the laser etcher, Amye pointed out this friendly reminder on one of the large cutting devices, a Pexto Jump Shear, used to cut large pieces of sheet metal.

Did I mention the safety classes?

After the tour ended, the lunch wound down as people wandered around more to soak in the awesome collection of toys, erm tools.

Thanks to Denney for having us. TechShop Portland officially opens on Saturday, April 25, and there will be an open house at 3 PM complete with demonstrations and ideally, fewer geysers of fire. Although, I enjoyed that.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

May 20 hosted by WebVisions at the Oregon Convention Center
June 24 hosted by ISITE Design

If you’re wondering about the WebVisions’ lunch, it will be open to anyone, attending the conference or not. There’s also a rumor that Open Source Bridge may be hosting a lunch before the conference (June 17-19) sometime. Any ideas on venue? Drop a comment.

Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.

TechShop Portland Lunch 2.0 is Wednesday

Jake — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:17 +0000

On Wednesday, April 22, we’re headed back to the ‘burbs, Beaverton to be exact, for a lunch hosted by Denney Cole and TechShop Portland.

What is TechShop? Glad you asked because it may not be what you’re expecting.

TechShop is a 33,000 square foot membership based workshop that provides members with any skill level to have access to tools and equipment, instruction, and a creative and supportive community of like minded people so you can build the things you have always wanted to make.

TechShop is perfect for inventors, “makers”, hackers, tinkerers, artists, roboteers, families, entrepreneurs, youth groups, FIRST robotic teams, crackpots, arts and crafts enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to be able to make things that they dream up but don’t have the tools, space or skills.

In short, TechShop is DIY paradise.

I took a brief tour last week, and if you ever had an itch to build something, you should know about TechShop. Amenities include: every metal and wood-working tool you can imagine, kilns and furnaces, a CNC router, a painting space, a tech hardware tinkering space, a robotics course, a textiles area, and more that I can’t recall right now.

If the tool you need isn’t on the list, they might get one, just ask. Don’t know how to use any tools safely? No worries, there’s a safety class.

TechShop is also home to OpenTechSpace, an open lab space for electronics and computer projects that you can use for free. There are also offices for rent and a computer lab, so it’s an incubator of sorts, with a shop attached.

Denney mentioned he might start a wiki for projects completed at the TechShop, which sounds like a fun time.

My personal favorite project is the urban logging one member is doing.

Ever had a tree toppled by a windstorm? Maybe the city comes to cut and chip it or maybe you pay some company to do that. What a giant waste of perfectly good timber.

Urban logging consists of a guy with a tractor and a big log cutting machine who removes these trees, transports them to TechShop, cuts them down, dries them out in a kiln, and leaves them there, much to the delight of the wood-working members.

So. Very. Portland.

Anyway, Denney is giving us a sneak-peak at the TechShop. He’s been taking members for a while, but the official opening isn’t until April 25. You can get a deal on membership until it opens.

So, head out to the ‘burbs if you’re in Portland, or if you’re in the ‘burbs already, swing by TechShop and say hello. If you’re driving, there’s parking in the front, and if that’s full, you can park in the loading dock area.

As always, please make sure you RSVP over on Upcoming so they know how much food to get and drop a comment there if you’re a vegan or vegetarian.

Hope to see you there.

Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:

April 22 at TechShop Portland in Beaverton
May 20 hosted by WebVisions at the Oregon Convention Center
June 24 hosted by ISITE Design

Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.

Beyond the Forest: Seattle Lunch 2.0

Jake — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:36:00 +0000

Josh Maher, the Seattle Lunch 2.0 guy, has a happy hour Lunch 2.0 planned for this coming Friday, April 17 at blist.

I know Rick’s reach stretches up north, so if you’re near Seattle, check out Lunch 2.0. It’s a blast; I know because we made a little road trip up there a month ago to check it out and spread the Open Source Bridge word. And it was good.

And, if you split time between Portland and Seattle, like Brian Westbrook does, you can enjoy nearly twice the free lunches, and who can argue with that?

Seattle Lunch 2.0 is also in the running for a Seattle 2.0 award in the “Best Social Event for Startups” category. The awards are focused on Seattle startups and will be held on May 7, 2009.

So, if you feel so inclined, head over and vote. You can do so until April 28.

Good luck Josh.

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