Thanks for all the feedback on the first Silicon Florist podcast. I’m working to incorporate the feedback, but please, by all means, keep the critiques coming! I really, really appreciate it.
Now, let’s get on with the latest show. Some important links:
Think this podcast sucks? Well, why not try listening to some people who are much, much better than I at this whole podcasting thing: Strange Love Live with Shizzow.
After a long weekend at Gnomedex and a—no doubt—“conversation crammed” late-night ride to Portland on the Iterasi Magic Bus, Sarah Lacy took time out of her travels to spend some time chatting with Portland folks at the Green Dragon, last night.
A number of folks got into some pretty in-depth conversations with Sarah. And from what I could hear, those chats made the trip well-worth Sarah’s time.
The Portland stop on her junket was part of her User Generated Book Tour to promote Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good. And I’m proud to say that Portland was one of 13 cities that made the cut. Thanks, in no small part, to folks writing in and asking Sarah to stop by.
So thank you to all of the folks who wrote in and to all of you who took time out of your weekend to swing by and meet Sarah.
As I always say, I think it’s incredibly important for folks from outside of Portland and the Silicon Forest to meet the people who are doing cool things here. To get an understanding of what’s happening in our area. And to get them as excited about what we’re doing as we are.
I think we succeeded in doing that last night. And, I know Sarah really appreciated your being there, too.
But what if you couldn’t make it?
Buck up, little camper. Don’t be sad.
We’re already working—lobbying heavily, in fact—to get Sarah back to town soon.
And Sarah’s assistant, Olivia (who is from Portland), will be here in town for a few more days. So we’ll work on getting her out at some more of the Portland events.
Well, see here’s the thing. Sarah and Olivia had a few books and a couple of t-shirts and some stickers and stuff left. And they were going to have to check bags. And I knew that you would really like the book.
So, here’s what I did: I kinda bought them out.
And I was thinking of selling them on eBay—I mean, they’re signed and everything—but I like you more than eBay.
So I got this idea.
Join Friends of the Florist
You’ve been working hard and being good and whatnot. You deserve a little reward.
And then there’s me. I don’t really do anything and yet, every once in a while, I kind of stumble into some cool stuff. Like multiple copies of Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good, for example.
Seems like there’s some kind of disconnect here, doesn’t it?
I agree.
It struck me that, for all the nice things you do for me—like creating cool stuff for me to write about and showing up at cool events and being interesting—I’m not really pulling my weight.
By joining Friends of the Florist, you’ll get the opportunity to receive random physical mailings from me from time to time. No spam. No ads. Just cool stuff—or at least stuff I think is cool—from people like you who are busting their proverbial humps to make cool things.
Well, and you’ll probably get some Silicon Florist stuff every once in a while, too.
First mailing? Four lucky winners will receive a signed copy of Sarah Lacy’s book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good.
Your obligation? I just need a physical address to which I can send the stuff. Well, and your trust that I’m not going to do anything nefarious with that information. (Which I won’t, Seeger.)
If the idea of getting some little rewards and nice things from Silicon Florist from time to time sounds like a good thing to you, simply sign up to be a Friend of the Florist.
It’s not often that Portland gets random “Internet famous” types swinging through town. I mean, yes, we have quite a few Internet famous types who live here, but we’re not often on the “swing through” route for those that don’t.
“Wait a second,” you’re saying. “On the Silicon Florist podcast, you said this gig was Monday Monday Monday!”
Well, you’re right. It was originally scheduled for Monday. But schedules being what they are, the event had to be moved up to Sunday. Same bat time, same bat brew pub. Just a different day.
But let’s get back to Sarah, shall we?
Lacy has been a reporter in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade, covering everything from the tiniest startups to the largest public companies. She writes a biweekly column for BusinessWeek.com called “Valley Girl” and is co-host of Yahoo! Finance’s Tech Ticker.
And the book? It’s been incredibly well received.
“Happily, one intrepid reporter, Sarah Lacy, stayed on — and she now has given us what will likely be the only real record of what happened during that remarkable era. Her portrayals of the founders of companies such as Facebook and Twitter are dead-on, and her reporting will no doubt be a vital source on this amazing time for generations to come. ”
– Michael S. Malone, author of Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company
So, much like the opportunity we had to meet with Garyvee not too long ago and like the missed opportunity with Charlene Li, I see this as a big opportunity for the entire Portland tech community to put its best foot forward in welcoming Sarah to town.
But there’s another important aspect to this. As much as I hate to admit it, there simply are not enough women’s voices in tech. Sarah is one of those voices, and a strong one at that. One that holds its own with the likes of Tara Hunt, Li, Kathy Sierra, and Kara Swisher.
Likewise, in Portland, I’ve always been terribly impressed by the number of incredibly strong women’s voices we have in our own tech scene. Voices like Dawn Foster, Audrey Eschright, Selena Deckelmann, and Amber Case to name just a very, very few.
And, this event—in my opinion—would be a really, really good opportunity to shine a spotlight on that wealth of female tech talent we have in town. And I would really like to see that happen.
In my opinion, this is one of those rare opportunities to give some new folks a view of what makes Portland so special. An opportunity to share our town. And an opportunity to give a brief glimpse into the incredible tech community in this town.
And you know, I’m all about making people appreciate what’s happening in the Portland tech scene.
I realize that it’s Sunday (trust me, I’ll be busting my hump to make it back to town after Gnomedex). And I realize that you may already have some stuff planned. And the shift in time doesn’t help.
But let’s try to make this happen, Portland.
So please join Sarah Lacy, me, and (hopefully) a full patio of people at the Green Dragon, Sunday, August 24 at 6:00 PM.
.