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Month: August 2009

Strange Love Live: Portland, startups, entrepreneurs, venture capital, and the Silicon Florist

Rick Turoczy on August 10, 2009

Last Friday, I was honored to be the guest on Strange Love Live—the best tech podcast in Portland, if not the world—to celebrate the second birthday of this little blog here.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Strange Love format, there’s generally a serious “tech” segment followed by a less serious “afterhours” segment. But you know me. Given the opportunity, I can’t help but continue blabbing about the Portland tech scene. Blah blah blah.

So if you’ve got a few minutes, take some time to listen in on the tech episode where we chat about Silicon Florist and whatnot. Read More

Silicon Florist is two today. What a short strange trip it’s been.

In the wee small hours of August 7 2007 I dragged my ass out of bed sat myself down in front of the computer and registered siliconflorist.com. I posted the first Silicon Florist post a few days later.

Rick Turoczy on August 7, 2009

Roughly 730.5 days ago, I sat up in bed at 2 AM with an idea. Who knew it would be an idea that all but ensured I’d rarely be in bed at 2 AM ever again?

In the wee small hours of August 7, 2007, I dragged my ass out of bed, sat myself down in front of the computer, and—giving life to what seemed like a bit of a strange idea with a wacky name—registered siliconflorist.com. After some hosting setup and WordPress wrangling, I posted the first Silicon Florist post a few days later.

The concept, in my mind, was to highlight what folks in Portland were doing with tech startups. To shine a small light on developers and open source folks who were focused on building cool stuff, but who didn’t have the time to focus on promoting that stuff. Read More

Lunch 2.0 Ventures East to Slate Technologies

Rick Turoczy on August 6, 2009

Yesterday, about 50 or 60 people make the eastern trek to Slate Technologies.

Actually, there might have been more, but I had to bail early, just as the festivities got going. It’s a good thing they got their signs put up earlier in the week, or so Chris told me, because Slate is in a pretty nondescript office space just east of the SE Foster and SE Holgate intersection.

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City of Portland regarding PortlandOnline design contest: Oopie.

The City of Portland realized that the request was poorly worded. Now, they say: In partnership with Portland’s design and development community, we are in the process of revisiting our rules and criteria.

Rick Turoczy on August 6, 2009

[HTML2]Given that I’ve covered some of the creative community’s response to the City of Portland’s contest to redesign PortlandOnline.com, I thought it would be wise to update you on what I’ve heard recently. All thanks to the work of the AIGA of Portland to keep the discussion going.

Long story short, while the City of Portland realized that the request was poorly defined and worded, they didn’t expect the kind of response it generated. So now they’re refining their position on the contest. To wit, “In partnership with Portland’s design and development community, we are in the process of revisiting our rules and criteria.” Read More

GadgetTrak featured on Portland’s KOIN 6 News

GadgetTrak is a great example. With software that helps people recover lost or stolen laptops or phones, it’s a technology that anyone can understand. And that translates into coverage by more traditional outlets, like TV.

Rick Turoczy on August 5, 2009

One of the reasons I started Silicon Florist was the hope that I could recognize some local startup efforts that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore the ventures that are getting attention from traditional media.

GadgetTrak is a great example. With software that helps people recover lost or stolen laptops or phones, it’s a technology that anyone can understand. And that can translate into coverage by more traditional outlets, like TV. Read More

Webtrends releases Webtrends Analytics 9, initial reviews are ecstatic

Fresh off the news of the Widemile acquisition, Portland-based Webtrends rolled out the latest version of their Web analytics software, Webtrends Analytics 9. The feedback on Webtrends 9 has been overwhelmingly positive.

Rick Turoczy on August 5, 2009

[HTML2]Fresh off the news of the Widemile acquisition, Portland-based Webtrends rolled out the latest version of their Web analytics software, Webtrends Analytics 9.

Now in a day and age when folks can get Web analytics for free—or at a very low cost—you might think that an upgrade to the Webtrends offering might fall a little flat.

Well, think again, my friend. The feedback on Webtrends 9 has been overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to their opening up the platform to other data streams—and in so doing, helping folks do a better job of understanding what’s happening on their sites. Read More

Getting even more creative: Wieden + Kennedy launches Portland Incubator Experiment

Wouldn’t it be awesome if something positive did the same thing? Now it may. Introducing the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) from Wieden + Kennedy (W+K).

Rick Turoczy on August 5, 2009

[HTML2]If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, Portland is a town full of creatives. We’ve got creatives in technology. Creatives in startups. Creatives in graphic design. Creatives in writing. Creatives in the arts. Creatives, creatives, creatives.

But if there’s one thing I don’t like about the Portland creative scene, it’s this: how divested these creative groups seem to be from one another. It’s a crying shame.

Now granted, some recent negatives have helped bring these creative groups together. But wouldn’t it be awesome if something positive did the same thing? Now, it may. Introducing the Portland Incubator Experiment, from Wieden + Kennedy. Read More

WordCamp Portland: Let the registration begin

Once a year, Portland WordPress aficionados like to gather to share ideas, compare notes, and learn from our astute peers at WordCamp Portland. WordCamp registration opened today.

Rick Turoczy on August 5, 2009

You know me. I like to state—some would say overstate—the obvious. So here we go. You may not know it, but Portland? Portland loves WordPress.

It’s true. We have user groups for it. Build themes for it. Code plugins for it. Heck, some of us even blog with it every now and again.

And once a year, all of us Portland WordPress aficionados like to gather to share ideas, compare notes, and learn from our astute peers at WordCamp Portland. Sound interesting? Well get moving, because WordCamp registration opened today and there’s only room for 200 folks. Read More

Sad news: SplashCast hits the off button on Social TV

While I love all of the startups in the Silicon Forest equally, SplashCast has always held a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, that scrappy Portland startup’s history has now come to an end. SplashCast has decided to shutter its operations.

Rick Turoczy on August 4, 2009

While I love all of the startups in the Silicon Forest equally, Portland-based SplashCast has always held a special place in my heart.

You see, not too long after I came back to this side of the desk as a consultant, I had the opportunity to meet with QMind founder Mike Berkley a few years back—and signed an NDA, I might add—when he was getting ready to retool the company into what would become SplashCast. And then they hired Marshall Kirkpatrick. And Alex Williams. And they showed a great deal of promise.

Unfortunately, that scrappy Portland startup’s history has now come to an end. SplashCast has decided to shutter its operations. Read More

Top 10 Silicon Florist posts for July 2009

So here are the top 10 posts according to your peers a combination of Web and RSS metrics from Silicon Florist for July 2009. What’s more, I’m dubbing July the month of horrendously long headlines. Take a look.

Rick Turoczy on August 4, 2009

Whatever happened to taking it easy during the summer, you crazy kids? Even with a series of 100 degree days, no one seems to be slowing down around the Silicon Forest. There were tons of things happening. And some especially momentous, um, moments.

I wanted to give you a look back. Just in case you were actually taking some time off. But I didn’t want to just grab a random post here and there. So here are the top 10 posts according to your peers—a combination of Web and RSS metrics—from Silicon Florist for July 2009. What’s more, I’m dubbing July the month of horrendously long headlines. Take a look. Read More

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