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Category: Events

Portland Grassroots Media Camp begins August 24

Rick Turoczy on August 22, 2007

Okay. I know all of you folks know how to blog. Some of you use Twitter. Some of you podcast and post videos.

I know that you get the whole “grassroots media” thing.

But what about interacting with the mainstream media? I mean, besides that KATU thing. What about coverage that reaches the non-technically savvy? You know the 99.9% of the population that could use the tool you’re building if they only knew about it?

Enter Portland Grassroots Media Camp. The camp is a free gathering, held August 24-August 26, in a variety of venues around town. And while it focuses on a number of things that you, Mr. or Mrs. Technophile, completely understand, it also offers some sessions on things that you may not understand, specifically:

  • Writing a press release
  • Setting up a press conference

So, if you’re a working by yourself or with a small startup, and building the next big thing sans massive marketing dollars and wily PR agencies, I thought this might be valuable for you.

As our old friend Tom Peterson used to say, “Free is a very good price.”

For more information or to register, visit the Portland Grassroots Media Camp blog.

(Hat tip to Around the Sun)

KATU Portland-blogger invites blanket the area

Rick Turoczy on August 21, 2007

I received a strange eVite from Portland ABC affiliate KATU inviting me to a blogger get together that they are hosting.

KATU wants to get to know the blogging community and is interested in joining the conversation. There’s no agenda, other than to enjoy some food and beverages courtesy of our hosts. Meet fellow bloggers, view (and photograph!) the television studios and have some fun!

And I’m not alone. Nearly 300 Portland area bloggers got the same thing.

Out of the blue. Yet intriguing, nonetheless.

Maybe Amanda is coming to town. Or maybe it’s just a ploy to raise KATU’s visibility, given that this was included:

To help spread the word (and hear what fellow bloggers are saying about this meetup), let’s tag our blog posts and photos “KATUmeetup”.

Other mentions, so far, include:

Did you get one? What’s your take? Someone from KATU care to elaborate? Or perhaps Brian Westbrook who seems to be the eViter for the event?

One thing is for sure, Portland Mercury’s Blogtown PDX is not happy with the snub.

SXSW 2008: Portland presenters?

Rick Turoczy on August 20, 2007

Sure, sure. SXSW takes place in Austin. But that doesn’t stop a bunch of us Portland types from making the trek down to Texas.

Now, the (apparently completely buggy) voting system for SXSW 2008 panels is open, which means it’s time to choose the panels you want to see while you’re down there.

That’s all well and good. But there are nearly 700 panels on which to vote. If you’re like me, you could use some help culling the herd.

Well, I’ve heart rumors of a few Portland folks who were proposing presentations, but I only know of one for sure. That’s Dawn Foster who has proposed two panels:

If you’re a Portland presenter hoping to make the SXSW bill, drop a link in the comments so we know what’s what. If we get enough comments about different panels, I’ll post a round-up with all of the proposed Portland presenters and their topics.

And, who knows? Maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a little Silicon Florist get together down there, with all of the Silicon Forest attendees.

Stranger things have happened.

Pibb-powered backchannel for BarCamp Block

Rick Turoczy on August 17, 2007

Headed down to BarCamp Block, this weekend? Yeah, me neither. I mean, it’s Multnomah Days. I can’t miss the parade.

But, even though you and I are miles away, Portland-based JanRain will make it feel like we’re there, making snarky comments on the backchannel like the rest of the folks, thanks to the Pibb BarCamp channel.

They’ve even built a bridge to IRC:

As an added bonus the Pibb developers have setup a Pibb <-> IRC bridge, so all the people on the #Barcamp IRC channel will be able to see whats going on in Pibb and vice versa. Cheers to bridges helping people break out of their communication silos!

For more information on Pibb’s at the BarCamp Block, see the JanRain blog.

Ignite Portland begins to smolder

Rick Turoczy on August 16, 2007

As mentioned earlier (“Ignite Portland?“), Josh Bancroft came back from Gnomedex with an urge to begin Ignite Portland.

Well, if Twitter is any indication, a small planning session, today, seems to have been extremely positive. Josh mentions it in tweets here and here. And Dawn Foster mentioned it in a tweet as well, offering that something may be happening as soon as October. I know that Raven Zachary was in attendance, too.

Both Raven and Dawn are involved in organizing the annual BarCamp Portland and monthly BarCamp Portland Meetup events.

(Full disclosure: I was honored to be invited to attend this planning session, but had to decline due to personal commitments.)

More details on Ignite Portland as they become available.

[Update] Ignite Portland has a Facebook Group, now.

Metroblogging Portland meetup August 22

Rick Turoczy on August 16, 2007

Metroblogging Portland is a collectively composed blog featuring a relatively continuous stream of local news from local talent. The bloggers work together, but they don’t work together. So they try to meet up once a month.

This month? You’re invited.

We’ll be at rontoms starting about 5:30 or so on August 22nd. If you’d like to come have a drink, we will be supplying a variety of nibbly things for you to munch on while you have your beverage and come say hi to us. Especially if you’re a commenter, even more especially if you’re a regular commenter (whether you agree with us or not) we would love to put some faces to some names. Wouldn’t you?

For more information, visit Metroblogging Portland.

VC Thunderdome: Seed Oregon

Rick Turoczy on August 13, 2007

You’ve got good ideas. You’ve got elegant code. And you’ve got the next killer app. But what you could really use is some capital to make a real go of it.

That’s where funding comes into play. Oregon Entrepreneur Network understands.

So rather than make you come right out and beg, they have their own little Thunderdome for funding called Seed Oregon:

Nine presenting companies will be selected to compete in the Seed Oregon tournament. Each will have 10 minutes to present their concept to the PubTalk audience, followed by a 10 minute Q&A session. Three companies will compete at each of the the preliminary rounds, with the audience voting for the winning presentations to move to the championship round. The Angel Oregon Selection Committee will serve as judges for the championship round.

The competition is restricted to companies in the Portland metropolitan area who are currently seeking a seed round that is less than $2 million.

If you match those requirements and you’re interested in a little “two man enter one man leave,” consider sending in an application. The first round entry deadline is August 31, 2007.

Gnomedex 2007: Portland Perspective

Rick Turoczy on August 13, 2007

Every summer, a bevy of bloggers journey to Seattle for Gnomedex. And given Portland’s relatively close proximity to Seattle, a few of the Portland crew generally make the jaunt.

So last week, both Marshall Kirkpatrick and Josh Bancroft kept us up-to-date on the goings-on via Twitter. Alex Williams also provided some play-by-play from Portland, while watching the live feed.

While Gnomedex 2007 will likely be remembered for Mahalo-gate, Marshall proves that there was actually other content associated with the event, as shown in his SplashCast Gnomedex recap channel.

If you’re a Portlander who attended, by all means link up your recaps in the comments.

[August 15, 2007 update] Jason Harris just published a recap, as well.

Portland Internet Astronauts to meet August 16

Rick Turoczy on August 13, 2007

Portland Internet Astronauts was founded by Darius A. Monsef IV, who is probably best know for COLOURlovers. It’s purpose? To bring together local Portland online entrepreneurs to share ideas:

This is a group for the creative people building and running online start-ups. It is a group to get together to talk about our new ideas, share development & design resource and tips, and talk about the latest developments in web technology.

The next Portland Internet Astronauts get together will be held August 16 at 7 PM in the Urban Grind in the Pearl. Seating is limited to 20 attendees. To RSVP or get more information, visit the group’s Meetup page.

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