.

Category: Beerandblog

Beer and Blog & Open Source Bridge: Two great tastes that taste great together

Beer and BlogLast night at the Portland Web Innovators presentation, I got the chance to laud compliments on Beer and Blog, an event that has really helped solidify the Web and Open Source startup community in Portland—and now Corvallis. A little later, I got the chance to share some of the early thinking on what will be the biggest volunteer event for Portland in 2009, Open Source Bridge.

Well, as luck would have it, whether you’re interested in Beer and Blog or Open Source Bridge, you can kill two birds with one stone this week. Because Beer and Blog this week will feature none other than Open Source Bridge:

Hi friends! Rick Turoczy asked me if he and the Open Source Bridge crew could lead some discussion tomorrow @beerandblog. I think what they are up to is valuable to the Portland community and her tech scene, so I said yes. If you’re not yet familiar with Open Source Bridge, they are a group of local techies that want to continue OSCON now that they are not coming back to Portland. But, they’re growing into much more than that.

So why not take some time out of your busy schedule of attending holiday parties to hang out with the Open Source Bridge team at Beer and Blog? Not interested in Open Source Bridge? Come on over anyway. You might find yourself having such a good time that you wind up wending your way over to the CyborgCamp pre-party at Vidoop.

RSVPs abound: Beer and Blog and the CyborgCamp pre-party.

I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

Puff! The Geeky Dragon is dead (maybe)

Green Dragon FAIL WhaleBirds of a feather flock together. Startups like startups. Creatives like creatives. And that’s probably why when a startup distillery and bistro called the Green Dragon opened, the startup tech community in Portland felt a certain affinity for it.

They liked us. We liked them. They were perfect for Beer and Blog. They were centrally located for other tech events. It was a very much kismet.

But now, that’s coming to an end. I’m sad to report that, like many a startup, the Green Dragon has (possibly) been acquired by Rogue Brewing.

And, if it goes through—the lawyers have jumped in to say that “nothing is final”—then the dynamic of the joint may be changing.

OurPDX is reporting:

John Foyston of The Beer Here blog has an update that pretty much states that Rogue plans on keeping most of what the Green Dragon character is today, so that could bode well for us who love it. From how I read the article, the only change would be in ownership, but the heart of the Green Dragon would live on. You decide.

We don’t know what we don’t know. But I’m not exactly holding my breath that the Green Dragon we know and love will be around much longer.

What to do? Show up to Beer and Blog today to bid one of the best geek hangouts in town a fond farewell. Mourning attire and protest armbands optional.

Have a Happy Halloween at Beer… err Bat & Blog

Bat and BlogEvery week around this time, a group of Portland blogging and tech types gather at the Green Dragon to end the week on a good note with Beer and Blog.

This week, it just so happens that Beer and Blog falls on Halloween which has it—like a victim of an unfortunate zombie bite—transforming into the ghoulishly clever “Bat and Blog.”

But wait, there’s more:

Now, if you are like me (meaning, not into intricate costumes that involve actual planning) you may find yourself dressing up as yourself again this year (meaning, sans costume). All that thinking ahead for costume ideas really bums me out, so I usually skip the whole thing.

This year, however, I came up with an easy-to-create Halloween getup of the non-lame variety that lets you participate in the celebrated tradition of being someone else for a day. The best part is that this costume idea is of someone we all admire, whom men and women alike want to emulate. Someone smart, popular, good looking and super-dooper nice, who supports and promotes the Portland tech scene with unwavering love. A bona fide tour de force.

Who are they describing? You’ll just have to head over to the blog and see.

Suffice it to say, I’m buying. But you’ll have to show up to find out if that’s a trick or a treat.