Any number of online event platforms try varying degrees of approximating an event environment, virtually. But most, at best, create an uncanny valley of “almost but not quite.” So what if you took a completely different approach? Like, I don’t know… riffing on the incredibly popular Animal Crossing as an event environment? That’s about the most accurate description of Skittish.
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If I accomplished one thing during 2020, it was successfully test driving innumerable online meeting and collaboration platforms. I mean, what else was there to do, really? And throughout that time I kept thinking, “Trying to recreate the real world meeting or event dynamic online is only going to result in an uncomfortable and awkward Uncanny Valley situation.” The true winner of the new generation of virtual events, in my opinion, was going to have to come at the problem of gathering virtually in a new and creative way. And with that in mind, Skittish just might be on to something.
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Sometimes founders are ahead of the curve. And sometimes, they’re right inline with timing. Such is the case with Fritz Brumder, one of the founders of Brandlive, a Portland startup that was early to the game of video collaboration between consumer brands and their customers. Back then, Brandlive was way ahead of the curve — which always brings with it an educational hurdle as you help the market understand the vision. This time around with his new startup — Bend based Zipcan — however, the timing seems impeccable.
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For all of the incredible negative impact on families, businesses, and communities, this global pandemic has also — at times — inspired laudable creativity. And folks making due. And people trying new things. And that’s what startups are all about. So I was really happy to see the folks at Water Avenue Coffee embracing a new concept to ride out this situation. By helping you learn to be a barista, virtually.
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Like many potentially awesome things, the proof is often in the pudding. Or podcasting. Or something. And stuff. Ahem. Let me start again… Ideas are a dime a dozen. Turning that great idea into something meaningful, however, takes the ability to execute. Podcasts are no different. And luckily, there’s a resource like Stream PDX that can help you turn those podcast ideas into podcast realities.
I know any number of us have expressed concerns about the increasingly deteriorating state of privacy and security online. And as it continues, we’re all looking for ways to protect ourselves. But it’s confusing. And difficult.
COICA could be horrible for the Internet as a whole. And that’s why a single Senator is standing up against the bill. The senator? Oregon Senator Ron Wyden.
[HTML3]While the Internet may not be a series of tubes or a big truck you can dump stuff on, it is a place where an awful lot of folks spend time and energy building businesses. And as such, one of the most hotly debated topic is the idea of copyright. And who owns what on the Web.
Enter the US government and the attempted legislation of said copyright, the “Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act” (COICA, S.3804). Problem is that—as usual—the devil is in the details. Read More
Anyone who’s spent any time at Portland tech events has likely met Dawn Foster. She’s one of the founding members of Legion of Tech, one of the driving forces behind BarCamp Portland, an adviser to the Shizzow and the SAO, a leader of the online community manager and Portland data plumbing user groups, and a regular attendee at Beer and Blog—among thousands of other things.
One thing you may not realize is that, in addition to juggling all of those side projects, she manages to do a day job, too. And today she announced that that “day job” part of her life was changing. Dawn has joined the Olliance Group to lead a new online community practice. Read More
