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Category: Discussions

Round table: Discussing the PortlandOnline contest, the Portland design community, and spec work

Now, the Portland AIGA is working to bring the graphic design and Web design community together to discuss the whole PortlandOnline contest, spec work, and potential next steps for the community.

Rick Turoczy on July 21, 2009

[HTML1]When the City of Portland decided to launch a design contest this week for the redesign of PortlandOnline, they tried to avoid some RFP entanglements. Unfortunately, that decision had them offering a link from the site to the winning designer—instead of a cash prize or contract.

Well, members of the Portland graphic design and Web design community responded. And it wasn’t favorable. Because the contest carried with it the strong stench of spec work.

Now, the Portland AIGA is working to bring the graphic design and Web design community together to discuss the whole PortlandOnline issue and potential next steps for the community. Read More

Portland Mayor Sam Adams talks open source, mobile, coworking, and the startup environment

Rick Turoczy on May 19, 2009

Last Sunday, a group of folks representing the Portland open source, mobile, and coworking community got the chance to sit down and chat with Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Among those in attendance were Rubyist and Calagator lead Audrey Eschright, CubeSpace’s David Komisky, Software Association of Oregon Interim President Scott Kveton, the Mayor’s Economic Development Policy Advisor Skip Newberry, CubeSpace’s Eva Schweber, General Counsel at Extreme Arts & Sciences J-P Voilleque, and Small Society’s Raven Zachary.

Eva has a great recap of how the meeting played out, including insight on the topics we covered from telecommuting to open source to mobile. [UPDATE] And Skip Newberry from the Mayor’s Office has posted his recap, as well. So I wanted to take a different tact. I wanted to find out how the attendees perceived the meeting and the Mayor’s willingness to engage this group in conversation.

Here’s what they had to say. Read More