By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that originally-Tulsa-based Vidoop is now well on its way to becoming Portland-based Vidoop. If not, let me tell you this little secret: Vidoop is moving its headquarters to Portland.
Now, Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a far cry from Portland, Oregon, on any number of fronts. Therefore, a little friendly immersion is both recommended and necessary for this burgeoning crop of soon-to-be Portvangelists.
So, Scott Kveton, the original Portvangelist, has arranged to bring members of the Vidoop team up here in waves, introducing them to Portland and the whole Portland tech scene. There are a group of them in town as we speak. And they’ll be in attendance at the Vidoop sponsored Beer & Blog, this Friday.
Hold that thought. And let’s talk about Twitter for a second.
Like many of you, I’ve been known to use Twitter from time to time. And, one of the things I’ve always appreciated most about Twitter is that I gradually get to gain some sort of insight into a person’s life before I run into them in person.
In essence, I get to meet them before I meet them.
Now, I’m excited to meet all the new talent that Vidoop is bringing into Portland. And I’m following as many of the Vidoop folks on Twitter as I can. But we’re a little short on time. So my little “getting to know you” Twitter trick won’t work.
Long story short, I’m feeling a bit behind.
And, here’s where you come in. Disguising my “self interest” as “community interest,” I asked the Vidoop troop if they would be up for answering a few questions. So I we could meet them—as it were—before meeting them.
Being good sports, a number of them obliged. (I like them already!)
And now, I present those folks to you, to meet them before you meet them. Breaking the ice, as it were.
Koesmanto Bong, Web Developer
What? I am one of the web developers at Vidoop who is in charge of the development of myVidoop. I also work on maintaining vidoop.com, confidenttechnologies.com, and blog.vidoop.com
How? I was born in Indonesia in 1982. Came to the US in 2000 and graduated with a degree in MIS in 2004. I worked for a non-profit organization for 2 years before joining Vidoop in June 2006. I have a huge crush on photography and soccer. My dad is a photographer so it runs in the family. My favorite soccer team is Manchester United. I am glad to be a part of Vidoop and what it believes in as far as the way things should go in the identity space, and definitely look forward to seeing where things are going in the near future.
Links? SoccerNet, Digg, Koesbong on Twitter
Questions about Portland?
- Is there any local friendly pick up soccer and volleyball games in Portland?
- Where can I find authentic Chinese food in Portland?
- Is bacon the official choice of food of the city?
Joel Curran, Researcher – Business Development
What? My day is filled with reading tech blogs and different news sources to find info on competitors, potential partners/clients and what’s happening out in the tech community. I also do some market research and help provide information and statistics to contribute to our marketing department.
How? I graduated from Oklahoma State University with a B.A. in Public Relations in 2007. At OSU I helped manage a student-run advertising agency, worked on some non-profit PR campaigns, and worked for the athletic department/football team. I have been working at Vidoop since January. Some things that make my day are: listening to Ray Lamontagne, any sport (but college basketball is number one), Chuck Palahniuk books, meeting new people, being outdoors, a little rain, some time at the gym, an episode or two of The Office, and a good dinner and night out with friends.
Links of interest? The Office Quotes, ESPN, and Go Pokes.
Questions about Portland?
- Where can I find some info on some sports leagues?
- Who are some of the top local bands?
- What is the one place you would say is a “must-go” for my trip to Portland this weekend?
- And most importantly, what is the best place for some Mexican food?
Jason Grlicky, Web Developer
What? Web work of all sorts. Mostly keeping up with myVidoop.com and working with the plugin team. I am frequently seen grazing in areas populated by CSS & JavaScript and have been known to create little icons at the slightest provocation.
How? Raised in Oklahoma, I graduated from the University of Tulsa in ’07 with computer science and psych degrees. I joined Vidoop as an intern last August and became full-time as soon as I could. I take great joy in good design and am obsessed with games (video or otherwise) and music.
Links? Maxheadwound on MyVidoop, Maxheadwound on Twitter, Jason Grlicky
Questions about Portland?
- Where is the best local place to get music gear?
- What are your favorite venues?
- Who wants to get together and play some board games?
Robert Nelson aka Rob, Business Development aka BizDev; specifically: Prospector (I like saying aka)
What? I am part of the Business Development Team, working specifically for Confident Technologies which focuses solely on bringing stronger authentication to enterprise. I support my BizDev brothers by finding new leads and building relationships with contacts/companies that we want to partner with to provide the web with stronger authentication.
How? I have a problem (or so my boss say’s, “whatever Mitch, you shut your mouth”) I tend to speak, then realize that I immediately regret what I just said, there is supposedly this thing called a “filter” that most people have and apparently I don’t have it. I am very active, if it is day light I want to be outside, I enjoy combat sports, watching and training, I train Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai kick boxing along with some wrestling and boxing as well. I like to cheat the system (for the record there is no sign that says you have to leave the theater once your movie is over, so the way I see it I am just smarter than everyone else 🙂 ..I am known to go to a movie and then whenever my movie is over sneak into another movie, then another, then another, then another, my record is 6 movies in one day, 5 soda’s 3 popcorns, 2 pickles, and of course a butterfinger…and waaaay too many bathroom breaks. One of my favorite things to do though is simple, get together with quality people and eat some quality food, in that order. I think I am addicted to sushi, our CEO said I am going to wake up one day with gills, I’m still waiting…
Links? T-Rex Vehicles, UFC, and the obligatory ConfIdent Technologies, Vidoop, and Silicon Florist
Questions about Portland?
- Where should I live?
- Where are some great places close to down/mid town to hike?
- Sushi?
- Live music?
- Places to train MMA (jiu jitsu and kickboxing)?
Joel D. Siedenburg, Account Manager
What? Siedenburg’s core role is business development and strategic partnership procurement as well as account relations and management.
How? Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, moved to Tulsa for college in 2000, and did commercial real estate (retail investment sales) with CB Richard Ellis. Later turned down doing an amplified level of this in London or Madrid to join Vidoop in Nov of 2006. Have never looked back!
Links? Elpais.es, elmundo.es, Lowes.com (joke, I’ve been renovating a 1928 house), Wes Anderson, Audi
Questions about Portland?
- Looking for a good gym…?
- Where are some close fly-fishing spots?
- And definitely need to start looking more into housing… recommendations?
Benjamin Stover, Software Developer
What? Member of the plugin team. I currently maintain the Firefox plugin code.
How? Born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma. I’m 23 and have been working for Vidoop for about a year. My interests include video game programming, Javascript, jogging, two-stepping, beer (favorite: Pilsner Urquell) and math (or what I can remember of it). My current project is losing weight. 🙂 Lately I spend too much time reading blogs and thinking about work. I’m gay and have a wonderful boyfriend who is a
school teacher, and we volunteer together at Oklahomans for Equality.
Links? Not very interesting, I assure you 🙂 My webpage is stechz.com, but there’s nothing there right now. My twitter URL is http://twitter.com/stechz.
Questions about Portland?
- What kind of bike should I buy? A hybrid? Where’s the best place to buy one?
- Is there a good capoeira group in Portland? Muay thai?
- What are the geeky niches in Portland? e.g., retro video game hobbyists? Chiptunes scene?
So now that you’ve met them, where can you meet them? Beer and Blog, my friend. Beer and Blog. Sponsored—appropriately enough—by Vidoop and featuring Scott Kveton, Michael Richardson, and DiSo.
As always, I’m sure Mr. Kistner would appreciate an RSVP on Upcoming so he knows how many to expect.
Looking forward to seeing you and the Vidoop’rs there.
And if you want to get a jump start on answering some of the questions posited above, feel free to begin sharing your Portland expertise in the comments.