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Month: April 2016

Gather all of the coins: PIGSquad to host a video game marathon livestream fundraiser

Rick Turoczy on April 29, 2016

There are few things I enjoy and appreciate more than people who figure out how to make a living doing what they love to do. That’s what’s so appealing about indie game developers. And that’s what’s equally appealing about the scrappy Portland organization that supports them, PIGSquad, Portland Indie Game Squad. But making ends meet for an organization can be challenging. And that’s why PIGSquad has taken to Patreon to raise funds. Read More

Coming into its own: Over the past five years Portland's TechFestNW has grown into a destination tech event

Rick Turoczy on April 28, 2016

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since we held the first TechFestNW. Back then, we called it the Portland Digital eXperience or PDX, and it hosted a small contingent of tech faithful at both the Leftbank and Ziba Design, late in the summer of 2012. This week, a bigger, better—and independent of MusicFestNW—TFNW filled the Armory in Portland with activity, energy, and a view into our tech future. Read More

REMINDER: Act now if you want to get in on ACT-W Portland

Rick Turoczy on April 21, 2016

We all know that if you want to build products that are useful to a wide variety of people, it’s incredibly important that you have a wide variety of people building those products. It just makes sense. That’s why I’m always happy to see events that help get more and more diverse groups feeling welcomed and comfortable within the Portland tech community. Like ACT-W Portland. Read More

Spring fever musings from the world of science startups

Rick Turoczy on April 20, 2016

In my first post, I made a mild dig at my former hometown (Silicon Valley) for perhaps becoming a bit soft(ware) and distant from the science and tech base it started from. That’s not the whole story, of course, and in any event the home of Apple and Google (great software companies that ended up doing their own great hardware) doesn’t need my help to philosophize on this topic. Read More

We may not actually have Google Fiber, but at least you've got a shot at a Google Fiber Digital Inclusion Fellowship

Rick Turoczy on April 20, 2016

Portland’s never-ending dance with Google around Google Fiber continues with no end—positive or negative—in sight. But that’s not stopping Google from applying needed resources to the Portland community. Like their Google Fiber Digital Inclusion Fellowship. Read More

Rethinking reselling: Portland's Rezella streamlines the whole person-to-person, buying and selling thing

Rick Turoczy on April 19, 2016

It happens all of the time. As more and more people start using a service, it begins to shift away from the reasons we were attracted to the service in the first place. It’s a natural sort of entropy. But it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. But sometimes that frustration turns into inspiration. And maybe it’s just me, but here in Portland? It seems like Craigslist is often the source of that frustration and inspiration. Read More

Toward more engaging learning: OpenSesame wants to rethink organizational development through a Training Jam

Rick Turoczy on April 18, 2016

We’ve all sat through them—or at least seen them made fun of—the dreaded corporate on-boarding, training, and organizational development curricula. But what if those learning experiences were more, well, fun? What if we actually enjoyed them? I mean, without the snark. Call them optimistic, but Portland startup OpenSesame thinks that there’s an opportunity there. To reinvent the medium. That’s why they’re throwing a Training Jam. Read More

It's no flying car, but it can carry us into the future: Meet the Beaverton School District mobile maker space #FutureBus

Rick Turoczy on April 18, 2016

The day and age of schools having shop class are, sadly, a thing of the past. So what is the next generation of would-be makers to do when they need space to muck around with tech or production equipment? The Beaverton School District is proposing one solution. It’s a mobile maker space housed within an old school bus. Meet the . Read More

You've got some meetin' to do: Design Week Portland, ACT-W Portland, TechFestNW imminent

Rick Turoczy on April 13, 2016

We’re barely into Spring and those crazy Portland event planners are already overloading us with awesome events. And trust me, there’s even more in store for us as the year progresses. So you might as well get used to that feeling of being overbooked and overcommitted, right now. Maybe just think of this as Spring Training for your Summer event season. In the immediate future, we’ve got Design Week Portland, ACT-W Portland, and TechFestNW all happening in rapid succession. So get registered and get ready to attend. Read More

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