Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community
Portland startup and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Sharing information about your current location with people you trust has always held this glimmer of potential. The glimmer of actually finding the time to meet face-to-face during our ever increasingly busy schedules. The glimmer of that impromptu meetup with people whom you would like to get to know better.
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[Editor: Over the past couple of months, I’ve had the pleasure of getting into a number of fairly deep conversations with the Portland-based Back Fence PDX crew, Frayn Masters and Melissa Lion, about the power of story. You see, that’s what they do. They help people understand and formalize their stories.
I mean, technology is great and all, but the stories of the entrepreneurs in this town—the folklore—is what really brings these technology stories to life. But I could never really effectively capture that concept.
So why not let a real writer—an author—step in? Enter Melissa and Frayn—two real authors.
Melissa was kind enough to swing by Silicon Florist to write a guest post about the power of story in the world of startups.
Do you like what she says? Disagree? Why not take the opportunity to have that discussion with her, in person, at Beer and Blog tonight, where Melissa will be the guest speaker. And the beer is free. That’s right. Thanks to TeachStreet. Win, win, and, um, win.
Now, on with our story…]
Storytelling is appealing at its core because it’s gossip—that delicious thrill of knowing a person’s hidden life a little bit better. The details of the person’s story stick in the listener’s mind to be retold to others due to the history and flawed point of view of the teller. And, like a game of telephone, as it gets passed on, the little details change making the story more and more enticing, adding to the lore.
Business plans, white papers and websites all tell a hygienic story—none have a distinguishing voice—they are the musings of robots. None share the shiver of a whisper in your ear, or the eyes-wide-with-anticipation surprise of what comes next. That gossip, that raw story, is the reason blogs and social networking sites bloom. They are a break from the bullet points and style guides. Voiceless PowerPoint presentations don’t make for juicy party chatter.
People crave a voice. People desire a story.
There is the official story of the company. And then there is the lore. It’s the legend, the myth, what Joseph Campbell calls the Hero’s Journey. Campbell identifies the elements of the Hero’s Journey as the separation, the initiation and the return.
The separation is the moment the founder decided to do something different. Why the change? What was that moment? Was he or she on a bike ride? At dinner with a friend? Suddenly woken in the night? What did it feel like when the idea appeared?
The company is initiated through its initial mistakes, trials, additions and edits. It is the discovery of what works.
The return occurs when past life is melded with the present. When the business is at once, something totally new and yet blended with the past, with lessons learned and warnings heeded or ignored. It is the after shot of the makeover story—the person is still the same, but they are improved through the trials of the initiation.
Though storytelling is a natural element of humanity and the original social networking tool, an engaging and repeatable narrative is difficult to capture. The tools of the story from plot to character to voice can be unwieldy. The craft of narrative is one learned through years of trial and error. Skilled use of the craft is what separates lore from idle chat.
Professional storytellers have a trained ear for the details of the arc; they understand that it is not about perfection, but about flaws, the real humanity of the journey. They brush aside the static of the story, the starts and stops and craft a tale that is simple, compelling and easily retold so the lore is passed like so many legends through the community.
A story crafted by professional storytellers is the beginning of the buzz. There is a twist of the unexpected, or the make-over that engages the reader or listener. It’s the whisper that starts the cacophony.
It gives even the newest companies a past, a humanity that can never be felt through white pages. It is the history that all humans relate to. A well-told lore adds value to all companies, and invites a personal connection with those who hear the tale.
By creating a lore, a start-up invites others to become characters in the tale. The Venture Capitalist wants a role, they want to be character in the story. The Angel wants to be a hero. The lore provides a structure for people to better see their potential role in the start-up.
What’s your story? What’s the gossip passed around the community? What is the lore that is yet untold?
Back Fence PDX is a storytelling series in Portland. Co-producers Frayn Masters and Melissa Lion are professional storytellers, crafting the lore of Portland companies.
Melissa Lion of Back Fence PDX will be presenting at Beer and Blog, this evening. To RSVP, visit Beer and Blog on Upcoming.
Our friends over at the Open Technology Business Center (OTBC) are getting the itch to move.
But before they go and do anything rash, they want to make sure it’s the right move. So, like any good socially minded organization, they’re asking you for your help.
Why the move? Well, OTBC wants to be even more involved in the startup community—and they want to make it easier for all of us to participate in their programs.
But they have one minor issue: they receive funding from the city of Beaverton and, as such, they must remain within the Beaverton city limits.
So what options do they have? I’m glad you asked!
Why not take a couple of seconds and tell OTBC where to go? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
OTBC provides coaching for and hosts events for high-tech entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Well, okay. Maybe I’m jumping the gun. But BlogHer ’09 could be held in Portland. It could be, that is, if you exercise your right to vote.
Elisa Camahort writes:
I’ve heard a lot of rumbling out there wondering where BlogHer ’09 will be. Well, just like last year, we’re going to poll the community. We included the below poll in the post-conference survey for attendees, but we want to make sure those of you who didn’t attend can also weigh in.
That’s right, the premiere event for women bloggers is asking you to help choose where BlogHer will be held in July of 2009. And I can’t think of any better spot than Portland.
Why?
So what do you have to do to make this dream a reality? Vote! Female blogger or otherwise. Vote, and let’s see if we can bring BlogHer to the Rose City next year.
(Hat tip Jeff Martens)
Hot on the heels of SplashCast’s possibly haunted Lunch 2.0 announcement, comes another Lunch 2.0. I told you I had a busy Friday.
The Art Institute of Portland will be opening its doors for Lunch 2.0 on October 15, just over a week after their Fall term begins. It’s in the Pearl, right across the street from the Portland Armory.
Big thanks to Bram Pitoyo for making this happen. Did you know he is a graduate of the Art Institute, as is Lunch 2.0 veteran Gaia Borgias Brown? I’m sure there are others you follow on Twitter who will be happy to return to the hallowed halls.
OK, the skinny:
Hosts:Â Art Institute of Portland
Where: 1122 NW Davis, Portland, OR, 97209
When: October 15, 2008 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM
Thanks to Allena Baker and Lulu Hoeller for securing a gigantic space for this Lunch 2.0. Bring your friends and colleagues and look forward to learning something new about the Art Institute, meeting some new people and seeing your old Twitter pals. Oh, and check out the exhibit on your way in or out or both.
One last programming note, I’ve spoken to a few potential hosts who were interested in September and/or October lunches. Fear not, there’s no clause in the Lunch 2.0 bylaws requiring no more than one event per month.
So, we can work around the upcoming lunches, no worries, or we can look ahead to November.
Lots of lunches coming up, so here’s the quick and dirty schedule:
Last Friday I signed up two more Lunch 2.0 hosts at two very cool places in Portland.
First, SplashCast wants to show off its new(ish) office space in Old Town, and not just any building in Old Town, the old Merchant Hotel.
You know, the same building that Old Town Pizza inhabits, directly above the infamous Portland Shanghai Tunnels, the haunted one. That building.
While the Merchant’s old lobby is the home to OTP now, SplashCast is up on the third floor, presumably occupying space that once was one or two guest rooms way back in the day. Kim Ramage has done a great job fixing up the space, and she’s eager to have you all come by for some lunch. So, now the skinny:
Hosts: SplashCast
Where: 226 NW Davis, 3rd Floor, Portland, OR, 97209 (we’ll have signs and spirit hosts to guide you)
When: September 17, 2008 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM
The space isn’t huge, so the RSVP if you’re definitely coming. We’ll turn off the list at 60 or so; if you’re not sure, decide on that day and cruise by later. The crowd generally thins out after 1:00 PM as people head back to work.
As always, if you want to nom veggie or vegan, add a comment on the Upcoming event indicating your culinary desires.
In case you missed it, Rick is celebrating his first birthday as the Silicon Florist with a Lunch 2.0 on August 13 at CubeSpace. RSVP for that event here, and stay tuned for another Lunch 2.0 announcement for October.
Portland-based blogger extraordinaire, Marshall Kirkpatrick, is well-known for his investigative skills, his objective reporting, and his almost Barnum-esque flare for hinting at the “big news” he’s just about to publish.
So when @marshallk sent the following tweet on Thursday night…
… hinting at news that he had already queued up nearly a week before, a whole bunch of us waited with near-breathless anticipation for the news to drop.
And at 7:00 PM Pacific time, the news broke.
So what’s up with Marshall? Two things.
Let’s do the business thing first and the personal thing second, because I’ll probably get all gooby and misty by the end of this thing.
Marshall has served in a part-time role as Lead Writer at ReadWriteWeb for nearly year, helping the publication climb the ranks of the tech blogs—and truly all blogs—to crack the top 10 of “most linked” blogs worldwide and to a near-permanent residence in the top 10 of the Techmeme Leader Board.
Marshall’s effect on ReadWriteWeb has clearly been felt. And, as such, his promotion to Vice President of Content Development is both timely and well deserved. Bringing him on as a full-time employee will only strengthen his ability to contribute to the publication.
So what will this new role entail? And does it mean we’ll see less of Marshall’s posts? Richard MacManus, RWW founder, described Marshall’s new role:
The grand title reflects Marshall’s senior position within ReadWriteWeb, where he will be responsible for driving a lot of our upcoming content developments. These include premium content, publishing system enhancements, and more magic things. Marshall will also continue to be ReadWriteWeb’s Lead Writer, so don’t worry his writing isn’t taking a backseat at all. He will be going full-time at RWW sometime over the next couple of weeks.
There’s no telling what Marshall has up his sleeve. But, before too long, we’re sure to see some of that Kirkpatrick magic beginning to wend its way into regular rotation on RWW:
I am really excited about getting to bring some of my other ideas to fruition with a team of good people and Richard’s support, though…. I think many of you will really like what you see us come up with over at ReadWriteWeb.
In my opinion, this is a shrewd and necessary move for the ReadWriteWeb team. Embracing one of the leading bloggers in the industry and giving him more control over the content on the site will only help RWW continue its ascent in the tech blog world.
That, and I never get tired of hard workers getting just rewards for their efforts.
I know. Call me crazy.
But here’s the even bigger news…
Tech jobs come and go. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started chasing the next shiny Web 2.0 bauble.
So that’s why it’s I take a distinct pleasure in reporting truly important news like Marshall’s and Mikalina’s engagement.
Marshall puts the announcement in context:
Most important, I’m getting married to my partner Mikalina! Many of my work contacts here on the blog haven’t met Mikalina but many of you have. She’s wonderful and I love her very much.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with Marshall as a consultant, as my blogging mentor, and—yes—even as an entrepreneur on the receiving end of his objective reviews. But for all of that fun, learning, and excitement, I always feel luckiest about the fact that I get to count Marshall among my friends.
And there’s nothing better than seeing friends happy.
(See? I told you I’d get all gooby.)
So congrats to Mr. Kirkpatrick on two very exciting—and life altering—announcements. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.
And, I can’t tell you how much I love it when this kind of stuff hits Techmeme.
It’s no secret that one of the best things about Portland is the summer weather. (Although the past few days have been working at doing a pretty job of keeping that secret.) It’s also no secret that the more technically inclined spend more time absorbing rays from their respective monitors than they do from that burning orb in the sky.
So, if you’re a coder and you need something enticing to draw you away from the dull glow of your favorite machine, look no further than the Summer Coders’ Social, a language and framework agnostic gathering of Portland’s coding community, this Sunday, August 3, at Laurelhurst Park.
The first Coders Social was last December, Winter Coders Social (photos). It was the result of many of the scripting language User Groups “Taking the month off” from their regular meetings and instead “having a party”. The event was a great success so we thought we would do something this summer. Coders Summer Social is the outdoor, sunny, successor of that winter event. The goal is a very casual, geek social event. BBQ, games, and conversation.
C’mon. That code will wait for a few more hours. Why not take a few minutes this Sunday to hang out with some other coders?
Sponsor Mozilla will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, and vegetarian BBQ fare. The rest? Potluck. You’re a coder. Go build something in the kitchen, too. Beverages are your responsibility, as well.
For more infor mation on the event, see the Summer Coders’ Social wiki. To RSVP, visit the Summer Coders’ Social on Upcoming.
Portland-based Jive Software has been a bit quiet as of late. Which is always a good sign that folks are up to something.
Part of that “something” was clearly their move to a new office space. And this morning, we discovered another part of that something in the form of a new offering, Clearstep:
Clearstep is the first of its kind online community, powered by Jive’s own Clearspace product, for social and enterprise 2.0 practitioners. Now these professionals have a place to interact, share best practices, and gain access to a much wider range of perspectives on common community and collaboration issues. Clearstep is intended for all social and enterprise 2.0-focused professionals, including Jive customers.
Gia Lyons, Jive’s Director of Social Enterprise Evangelism… Um. I’m sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, Gia Lyons describes Clearstep as the “best business hook-up hotspot”:
Ever wish you could find someone working on social media or Enterprise 2.0 efforts at other companies, same as you? Wish you could pick their brain about how the heck they justified the implementation cost? Found that elusive ROI? Tricks to get employees to use it? Best way to communicate your new online community to your brand fanbase?
The fringe benefits for Jive hosting the site are immediately evident. Not only do they get a bunch of leading social media specialists talking it up about enterprise adoption of social media in Jive’s backyard, they also get those experts having that conversation while using Jive’s product.
Which, aesthetically, I might add—thanks to the work of Michael Sigler and his design team (specifically Chris Kalani)—is one of the most beautiful corporate Web apps around.
It’s an interesting experiment, to be sure. But the question for me remains: Do people involved in social media experts—especially those within the enterprise—like talking to one another as much as they like talking to non-expert social media types? That remains to be seen.
[Update] Gia Lyons was kind enough to stop by and clarify this point. The community is actually for everyone—not “experts” as I had incorrectly concluded. So this truly becomes a social network focused on social media, open to anyone who is interested in participating. Obviously, the community was seeded with experts because, well, I mean who else would you seed it with?
If you are someone interested in social media expert pursing that ever elusive “Enterprise 2.0” and Clearstep has sparked your interest, why not consider joining the community and giving it a test drive? Clearstep registration is currently open. Jive has done a great job of seeding the community, pre-launch, so that there is plenty of existing content in which you can root around.
For more information, see the Jive press release announcing Clearstep, Jive’s numbers, and recent hires.
Seems like Silicon Florist has lunch on the brain as of late. What with looking for Portland Lunch 2.0 hosts and hosting a Portland Lunch 2.0 in August. So, clearly, mentioning another lunch or two won’t hurt.
Okay, let’s do that.
If you don’t have any lunch plans today, you might want to take the opportunity to swing by CubeSpace at noon to have “Lunch with a VC.”
Come hang out with Epic Ventures to learn more about VC funding. Bring questions! We’ll have 45 min. of Q&A, then head out to lunch as a group.
Carolynn Duncan of Epic Ventures will host this first-of-many-to-come event as a way of introducing herself to the Portland startup and entrepreneurial community.
Can’t make the lunch? No worries. You can still get to know Carolynn by following her on Twitter or following her blog.
And lunch isn’t all she has in mind. There will be some other capital-related activities that she’ll be kicking off in the near future as well.
For more information or to RSVP, visit Upcoming.
