Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
That’s why the folks at SXSW Interactive have created the Accelerator, a program underwritten by Microsoft Bizspark that gives promising new startups the opportunity to take the stage at one of the most popular tech events around.
[HTML3]For many startups and entrepreneurs, there is no shortage of good ideas. No shortage of lines of code. And no shortage of sweat equity. But getting attention for those efforts? That can be a challenge.
That’s why the folks at SXSW Interactive have created the Accelerator, a program underwritten by Microsoft Bizspark that gives promising new startups the opportunity to take the stage at one of the most popular tech events around. Read More
[HTML1]If you spend any time in social media, you’ve no doubt been inundated over the last two weeks with requests to “vote for my panel at SXSW.” Ever since SXSW instituted the crowd sourced PanelPicker, folks have taken to the airwaves to pimp their panels to their peers.
Admittedly, I’m part of the problem. But not for much longer. You see, today is the last day you can vote on the proposed 2011 SXSW panels. Read More
It’s that time of year again. Time for folks to be voting on the SXSW Interactive talks they’d like to see—all via the SXSW 2011 PanelPicker.
And so like we did for the SXSW 2010 submissions, I thought it might be helpful for you to have a list of the Portland people who have submitted sessions for your consideration. Read More
There’s a Portland party at SXSW this year. That’s right! See all of your Portland peers all in one spot, Sunday night beginning at 5:30 at the Karma Lounge.
So you’re down in Austin at SXSW. Soaking up all kinds of interactive knowledge and goodness. But you’re feeling a little wistful. You’re missing spending time with your Portland tech friends. I mean, that must be why you’re reading this blog post.
Well, buck up little camper. I’ve got some good news for you. There’s a Portland party at SXSW this year. That’s right! See all of your Portland peers all in one spot, Sunday night beginning at 5:30 at the Karma Lounge. What’s that? Not from Portland? Swing by anyway. Read More
Well Morgan, the one part of the team who remained in Portland, managed to pull a rescue mission and get the file uploaded again. So here, without further delay, is the special SXSW edition of memePDX.
Hey it’s Thursday! Oh wait. It’s not Thursday. It’s Friday. Yes, there was a technical glitch while a big chunk of the memePDX team was traveling down to SXSW. So if you grabbed it from iTunes, it was likely broken.
Well Morgan, the one part of the team who remained in Portland, managed to pull a rescue mission and get the file uploaded again. So here, without further delay, is the special SXSW edition of memePDX. Read More
The time is drawing near for SXSW interactive, once again. And it promises to be bigger and better than ever. But who from Portland is making the journey down south?
Every year about this time, you start to feel it. It’s drawing near. The largest geeky Web event of its kind. A sort of pilgrimage for the Web types. Where they all head down to, well, Texas of all places. To hang out, attend sessions, and socialize with other people of their ilk. That’s right. I said “ilk.”
Yep, it’s true. The time is drawing near for SXSW interactive, once again. And it promises to be bigger and better than ever. But who from Portland is making the journey down south? Well, there’s no better way to find out—and draw the SXSW types out—than a social event. And that made tomorrow’s Beer and Blog Portland the perfect venue for a little get together. Read More
If you’re like many Silicon Forest types, today, you’re sitting and staring out the window at a wet and rainy September Saturday. Sad, I know.
But instead of sighing and twiddling your thumbs, why not put those thumbs to good use—by voting? There are all kinds of awesome SXSW interactive panels proposed by interesting Portland people just sitting there, waiting for your opinion.
What’s that? You thought SXSW voting was closed? Oh no, my friend. This is your reminder that you’ve been granted an extension—through the weekend. Read More
[HTML2]Every year, thousands of geeks make a pilgrimage down south to Austin, Texas, for SXSW Interactive, a gathering of some of the best and brightest in this whole Web thing. While there, they share ideas, discuss concepts, and meet a bunch of people in the flesh who they’ve only known as avatars on Twitter.
And since they need something to break up the time between the parties, the get togethers, and the constant flow of BBQ and Tex-Mex, the folks down in Austin also hold some conference sessions during the day. But to have those sessions, they need speakers.
Here’s where you come into the picture. You see, SXSW likes to give the public a chance to voice their opinions on the talks that could appear at the show. And thanks to the SXSW Panel Picker, you can get in on the fun. Read More
I know you’re busy. Updating Twitter, blogging, running around from coffee shop to coffee shop, updating Shizzow. The list goes on and on.
If only there were some way to combine a few of those things to save you a little time.
Well, we can’t move the coffee shops any closer together, but the folks at Shizzow have come up with a way to keep your location—and your Twitter friends—up-to-date on your latest whereabouts.
Thanks to the magic of OAuth, Shizzow now shouts to Twitter.
Simply enable the feature in your External Preferences and you’ll be able to post your location update and shout to Twitter from within Shizzow.
Just want to update your location and not bug your Twitter followers? Don’t add a message. No message, no tweet.
As you may have seen, I got to test the feature down at SXSW while it was still top secret, and it performed flawlessly.
If only AT&T had performed as flawlessly, Shizzow would have been invaluable at SXSW. Unfortunately, with the Edge network cratering under the sheer girth of iPhone traffic in Austin, neither Shizzow nor Twitter managed to live up to their potential.
But now that we’re back in the land of the speedy connections, Shizzow will no doubt shine. And since many of us monitor Twitter far more than we monitor Shizzow, maybe just maybe we’ll have some more of those chance meetings that Shizzow was designed to facilitate.
For more information on the new feature, see the Shizzow post. To enable the feature for yourself, go to your Shizzow profile.
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I’ve spent the last few days in Austin, TX, at SXSW Interactive, the annual gathering of some of the best and brightest Web types sharing their experience and ideas.
But it’s not all about the presentations. Truly, it’s all about proximity. Because every presenter, every leading thinker, and every attendee have plenty of time to talk with one another over meals or over a beer.
Suffice it to say, if you’re looking to get the chance to chat with the folks who are influencing the Web, this is a target rich environment.
This year, I went to SXSW with the intention of learning more about other entrepreneurial communities. To uncover ways that other metropolitan areas were trying to make their communities stronger in order to capitalize on the talent of creative developers.
I managed to make some great connections and learn a thing or two. Here’s what I took away from the conversations.
It’s no secret that I think we’ve got a phenomenal Web, mobile, and open source community. I think the mix we’ve got is special. And there’s little doubt that I think we have the single most amazing technology community anywhere.
But I also admit that I may be a little biased.
Still, for all the love I have for Portland, we’re not unique in our struggles to foster an entrepreneurial community that helps the brilliant people of the Silicon Forest earn a living doing something that they love.
There are communities all over the US trying to make this work. Some of them are taking steps similar to Portland. Some of them are coming up with new ways to deal with the solution. Folks from Asheville, NC, are finding ways to fund projects with government dollars. Boulder is running a series of Ignites that are continuing to draw the community together time and time again. People in Houston and Kansas City are using coworking spaces to get members of the community working together and sharing ideas. DC is using things like Tech Cocktail to help facilitate connections—and the tech scene is getting the opportunity to advise the local government on issues. And the guys at Silicon Prairie News are pulling in some amazing speakers for Big Omaha, an event that will help solidify their entrepreneurial community.
I’m hoping to spend more time with these folks over the coming months, visiting their communities, learning more about what they’re doing, and sharing more about what Portland is doing.
It looks like the trip to Seattle Lunch 2.0 was just the first of many diplomatic missions.
Another conversation that repeated itself throughout the conference was the discussion about how to fund an entrepreneurial environment. And time and time again it came back to one simple point: for funding to work, it has to be local.
Now this works one of two ways. You either make your locality where the money is—by moving to the Valley for example—or you find local money to fund your project, local angels to invest in startups, and local funds to support larger investments.
Obviously, I’m leaning toward the latter. (And that’s what makes tonight’s Nedspace event especially well timed.)
You heard me right. Yes, yes. It surprised me, too.
I didn’t intentionally go to the conference to learn about the entrepreneurial environment in China. But as I began to learn more and more about it, I realized that the Portland startup scene had a great deal in common with the Chinese startup environment.
They’re building phenomenal products in China that none of us know about. They’re pushing technology in ways that rival or eclipse our ability to deploy it. China is perceived to have a wealth of development talent that outside companies want to tap. They’re attracting more and more entrepreneurs who see China as a land of opportunity. And the Chinese want to do business—but they want to do it on their terms.
Sounds pretty familiar to me.
Finally, the overarching theme of the conference sounded eerily similar to something I’ve tried to champion in Portland: Work hard at doing what you love and you will succeed.
No matter if it’s Zappos shipping happiness or Gary Vaynerchuk hustling wine or a bunch of volunteers putting together an open source conference or the Bac’n guys selling premium pig parts. It doesn’t matter. Doing what you love—and working your ass off to do it—will lead to success.
And I don’t know anyone who works harder at doing what they love than the folks in the Portland startup scene.
So that’s what I got out of SXSW, this year. No doubt the 60+ Portland types who were there each got something completely different out of it.
But that’s the magic of SXSW. And that’s the primary reason I’ll keep going back to SXSW as many times as I can.
So I go all the way down to Texas to think about Portland some more. But that’s just how I am. Did I make some incorrect intuitive leaps? Do you disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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