Fade to Play

Linda Bustos @ Facebook Developer’s Garage Vancouver
On Tuesday the Massive Technology Show will take place in Vancouver. One of the friendliest people in Vancouver, Rebecca Bollwitt aka Miss 604 will be on a panel entitled New Media: Collaboration in Business. What is equally cool is that some other very talented people that will be on the same panel: Monica Hamburg (writer/Social Media Evangelist), Linda Bustos (Get Elastic E-commerce), Rob Cottingham (Social Signal) and Warren Baxley of Intercall.

More biographical information is available from the Massive Technology Show page.

In the world of Web 2.0, collaboration has always been the key buzzword. Why are 2.0 technologies so critical in enabling business communication both internally and externally? Learn from executives of small, medium, and large sized business on how online social mediums like blogs, wikis, Facebook, YouTube, and pod casts are helping their businesses grow.

Note: You must purchase an All Access Pass to attend this panel

Relevance: Talented Vancouver locals providing their expertise on Social Media and technology. Should not be missed.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user miss604

So, here in Vancouver we have a number of people that love/use/know drupal. In May, Vancouver Drupal Camp 2008 will take place.

Details are still being worked out. If you can volunteer or offer sponsorship, I’m sure the offer would be appreciated and you will get a cool title (e.g. Sponsor Consular). It also looks like the cost is reasonable for 2 days of fun + a cool t-shirt.

Details:

Date: May 9-10, 2008
Where: Friday sessions at SFU Wosk Centre for Dialouge (Hasting and Seymour) ~ Saturday sessions at Workspace (21 Water St., Gastown)
Who:You and about 80 other people (first come, first served – stay tuned for registration mid-April)
How Much: about $20 … probably* – that’ll get you 2 lunches and a eco-friendly t-shirt (*subject to change)

Relevance: The Vancouver tech scene is awesome. You should be here!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Paphio

It was only a short 10 months ago that the inaugural Democamp Vancouver began and in early April “the island” will be hosting the first Democamp Victoria 01. It is a perfect opportunity for those in Vancouver and even Seattle to travel to Victoria to find out more about the tech scene there. You could carpool and spend the night in a cool B&B waking up to the fresh morning island air.

The Details – The Idea is your Demo

Your concept or idea should be developed enough to support a three minute presentation, but it is not necessary to have a working model to “demo” … it’s the idea that’s important! There are three minutes for delivery and three minutes for discussion (or 6 minutes to use however you see fit…previous attendees highly recommend time for interaction, questions, etc.). The time limit is strict so if you take two and a half minutes to setup your laptop, you only get thirty seconds to present (the gong hath no mercy).

Signing up to Present

Just show up with an idea, write it on the board, and get voted on to be one of the “main” presentations. Every presenter gives a 30 second elevator pitch before voting happens. Attendees vote and the 4 presentations with the most votes get a 6 minute slot.

You can read more info on the Barcamp Victoria page.

When: April 3rd, 2008, from 5:30pm-7:30pm

Where: 834 Johnson St. (Juliet Living Demo Space, a.k.a. the OLD peacock billiards place) [map]

Join the Facebook group.

Sign up for the Facebook event!

Relevance: Cool tech stuff is happening in Victoria, and now more people will be aware of it.

One of the advantageous of living in Vancouver is being able to attend events being organised by talented individuals. Democamp Vancouver 06 is a fun event that shouldn’t be missed.

What:

• come in the door and post your demo idea on the board
• 30 minutes of meeting other attendees (promote your idea, get votes!)
• presentation process starts at 6:00pm
• 30 second elevator pitches by all presenters
• attendees vote on top 4
• we will have 4 x 6 minute talks (time limit enforced, includes feedback time!)

When: April 10, 2008: 5:30-7:30pm (drinks afterwards)

Where: Workspace – 21 Water St.

Battledecks: Don’t miss the latest version!

“Gesture, Flow, Credibility and Jargon”

• 2 people from the crowd are chosen (by elimination or volunteering or voting…) and go head-to-head in DemoCamp‘s installment of BATTLEDECKS
• Each contender is given a 6-to-8 page Keynote Presentation on the spot and will present their fabulous, ground-breaking, earth-shattering, mind-blowing business/project/idea/nonsense to the crowd, inspiring us all on whatever it is they are revealing.
• Think: “Gesture. Flow. Credibility. Jargon.” It will really help.
• Winner will be professed by crowd applause and cheering.
• Prizes may be awarded, but bragging rights is the ultimate goal.

Linda Bustos @ Democamp Vancouver 06

Democamp Vancouver wiki

Democamp Vancouver Facebook event

Relevance: A great opportunity to network and socialise with Vancouver people

Strutta Home Page

Last month I was fortunate to be one of a select few to take part in a super-duper secret demo of Strutta. I began hearing about Strutta around August/September, although there wasn’t much information about it, they subsequently organised 3 related launch parties: Launch Party, Launch Party with a Twiist, and Launch Party 3 — each was bigger and better than the one previous.

Alexa Booth

Strutta is a company that is founded by Danny Robinson and Maura Rodgers. I have been lucky to personally get to know some of the members of the Strutta team (Lyal Avery, Jordan Behans, Alexa Booth, Danny Robinson, Maura Rodgers) and have found them all to be super friendly, intelligent, and good at what they do.

Danny Robinson & Maura Rodgers @ Launch Party with a Twiist

So what is Strutta about? Here is what I able to disclose from the demonstration. Basically you treat your video like a game. You upload a video of yourself or friend preforming a task (e.g. playing guitar hero, or doing a catwalk on the street) and then other people will also upload a similar video to compete against you. The videos will be able to be recorded and also viewed on the Strutta site. People will rank your video against others submitted or upload their own “one better” version in that particular category.

More features have been added since that initial demo according to the most recent Strutta blog update as some of the bugs have been fixed and suggested feedback has been implemented. I wish Strutta success. If you can, get one of their cool t-shirts you might have seen around SXSW.

Relevance: A rocking startup from Vancouver by some talented and cool friends.

Gene Smith @ Northern Voice

As I have stated before, one of the benefits of attending a large (40 000+) university is that you can request any book under the sun for the library and they will not only order it for you but will hold it at the front desk of your library of choice. When I read on Gene Smith’s blog that his book had become available, I immediately requested that my library purchase it as it relates to my thesis research.

Gene Smith is a great speaker whom I met most recently at Northern Voice this year. There is a companion website for the book. I have just began reading the first chapter so I am not able to provide a valid assessment as yet, however I do recommend everyone order it from Amazon.com or ask their school library to order it as so much of web2.0 technology is built on the foundation of tags.

Relevance: Most of us tag daily whether using flickr, wordpress, or delicious, but few of us understand why we tag. This book explores the value of tagging.

Darren Barefoot at BarcampVancouver 2007

On Tuesday, March 25th in Vancouver, an event will take place entitled “An Evening of ‘Green’ Web 2.0!“.

Why: Social change makers and web innovators come together at Net Tuesdays to mix, swap stories, and collaborate on new ideas. Please join us for great conversations, networking, and community building!

Our second event has a “Green” theme! We’re bringing together three cutting-edge innovators at the intersection of social media and social change to tell their stories on how they’ve harnessed the power of the web to build awareness about environmental issues and foster eco-friendly communities

Who:

• Darren Barefoot (Head Geek, Capulet.com and Co-Author of SocialMediaReady.com)
• Rex Turgano (Founder & Editor, TheGreenPages.ca)
• Ron Williams (Founder, happyfrog.ca)

When: This event is FREE and starts at 5:30 with snacks & networking. Presentations start at 6pm sharp! Ends at 7:30pm

Where: Workspace, 400 – 21 Water St., Vancouver, Canada

Facebook event

Upcoming event

Meetup event

Relevance: Vancouver locals discuss green + web 2.0 technology

Image by flickr user Cogdogblog

This Saturday, on March 29th, the Bridging Media conference will be taking place in Vancouver. It is being organised by two of my friends — Megan Cole and Erica Hargreave among others.

Location: Great Northern Way Campus [google maps]

About: Bridging media is an event designed to open the channels of communication between the broadcast and digital media communities.

The Goals:

• Help to open the communication between the broadcast and digital communities.
• Find solutions to the misunderstanding between our communities and processes.
• Work together and strengthen our future projects.

Why Attend:

• To gain understanding of the broadcast and digital process.
• Learn from experts in both fields.
• Address concerns surrounding quality and methods of delivery.

Who Should Attend:

• Producers / Filmmakers
• Screenwriters
• Directors
• Camera Operators
• Broadcasters
• Animators / Visual Effects Experts
• Digital Technology Community
• Investors

Official Site.

Add yourself to the Facebook event and make sure you register on Eventbrite.

Read a more comprehensive summary of the event on Sexinvancity.com.

Relevance: Another example of cool digital media events being organised by locals.

Find the Lost Ring

I am playing an Alternate Reality Game (arg) called “Find the Lost Ring” and I began playing shortly after receiving a box in the mail from a mystery sender.

Basically 6 olympic-fit athletes have woken up in various locations around the world on Feb 12th with a strange “trovu la ringon perditan” tattoo on their arm and complete amnesia. I am following Ariadne, the only one that is writing and providing videos in English.

You can begin playing here.

Jane McGonigal discussed the game at her SXSW keynote. She describes the game on her blog here.

Relevance: my first arg experience. I am enjoying it and it contrasts nicely with urban games that I usually play.

Phillip Jeffrey and Olga Skutina @ Vancouver Sun
Last month I was contacted by Chantal Eustace, a writer for the Vancouver Sun as she wanted to interview me about social networking/Facebook within Canada. I was interviewed over the phone and I went down to the Vancouver Sun offices for a follow up photo session with my friend Olga Skutina and to make a video of us demoing something cool on Facebook.

A week ago, the article and related video was released online and in newspaper format. You can view the article entitled “Net Friendships: Part 2″ here and the video entitled “Social Networking with Facebook” is here. (I had lost my voice due to a cold).

[Phillip Jeffrey] likes to know what his friends are up to, browsing photos and checking out new events and parties: “It’s sort of like a social-friendly stalking.”

He’s been a Facebook user since 2005, when he e-mailed the once-college-focused site to ask it to include University of B.C. in its networks.

Jeffrey doesn’t just use Facebook though, he’s also a Twitter.com-user and an Utterz.com-user, along with a list of others.

Jeffrey predicts that in 2008, social networking will cater more to “user-generated” video content.

“Witness any concert or live public event and you will see audience members using cellphones or digital cameras to capture the moment for later sharing,” Jeffrey says.

“I see user-generated content as an example of how young people are increasingly more willing to communicate and develop digital identities for sharing personal aspects of their everyday life using social media.”

Relevance: I enjoyed sharing information about Facebook to readers that may not be full aware of its advantages and benefits.