Adriana Gascoigne

Web 2.0 Conference Snapshot

admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:40:51 +0000

15-Jul-08 SummerMash - San Francisco

Mighty 119 Utah, San Francisco, CA

http://mashable.com/us-summer-tour-2008/

This will be Mashable’s first official tour covering more than 7 cities in less than a month. Each event will have approximately 500 to 900 attendees, and will include networking, formal introductions to the sponsors, “Drink Tickets”, music, light appetizers, Pete Cashmore, and more.

17-Jul-08 SWAT Summit

Westin St. Francis 335 Powell, San Francisco, CA

www.swatsummit.com

Private invite-only conference on advertising and marketing techniques on social networks.

17-Jul-08 Twiistup

Viceroy 1819 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA

http://twiistup.com/getin

Twiistup events feature several startups chosen to “show off” their products and services to influential bloggers, fellow tech-heads, investors, the media, and those interested in learning about what’s hot in tech.

18-Jul-08 SummerMash - Los Angeles

Rubicon Project Headquarters 1925 South Bundy Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90025

http://mashable.com/us-summer-tour-2008/

22-Jul-08 SF Beta - Midsummer Night’s Beta

111 Minna 111 Minna, San Francisco

http://sfbeta2p5.eventbrite.com

SF Beta’s Midsummer Night’s Beta will feature midsummer fun, networking and demos

23-Jul-08 F8 - Facebook Developer’s Platform

http://www.facebook.com/f8

August 5 - August 6 Ad:Tech

Navy Pier Festival Hall B, Lobby 2, 600 East Grand Ave. Chicago, IL

http://www.ad-tech.com/chicago/adtech_chicago_register.aspx

Ad:Tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. Worldwide shows blend keynote speakers, topic driven panels and workshops to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a changing world.

August 14 - August 16 New Media Expo

Las Vegas Convention Center 3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109

http://www.newmediaexpo.com/index.html

The Expo is a hands-on, exciting, “how-to” event with practical conference sessions about how to produce high-quality online audio and video content, grow a loyal audience, and market or monetize that content in creative ways.

September 8 - September 10 TechCrunch50

San Francisco Design Center 635 Eight St. San Francisco, CA

http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/get-tickets/

TechCrunch 50’s goal is to find the best start-ups and launch them in front of our industry’s most influential VCs, corporations, fellow entrepreneurs and press.

September 16 - September 19 Web 2.0 Expo - New York City

Javits Convention Center 655 West 34th St. New York, New York

http://en.oreilly.com/webexny2008/public/content/home/

As large as the crowd was that gathered at the inaugural Web 2.0 Expo last April in San Francisco, the majority were from the Bay Area and the West. In order to serve the thriving web community on the East coast, interwoven with the financial, advertising, and consulting industries headquartered in New York, we’re building a vibrant event for the developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and other web professionals who’d like to learn and network with like minds in the Big Apple.

November 7-9 Web 2.0 Summit

The Palace Hotel 2 New Montgomery St. San Francisco, CA

http://en.oreilly.com/web2008/public/content/home

This summit is known for its interactive format, encouraging audience interaction and participation. Web 2.0 Summit brings the intelligence, innovation and leadership of the Internet industry together in one place at one time. Attendees will learn what business models are working, what’s next on the horizon, and how all of this will affect your own business.

Be a Part of the Virtual Change Movement

admin — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:52:30 +0000

Philanthropic and non-profit volunteer work have always played a big role in my life. Well, I won’t lie, at one point, while attending a Catholic all-girls school it was a mandatory part of our curriculum to volunteer about eight hours per week to a local non-profit or philanthropy. I chose to become a candy-striper at a hospital walking distance from my house. My experience volunteering at the hospital was a lot more depressing than philanthropic, however, at the end of the day, the daily stories I read to the elderly, the special apple sauce runs I would make for the sick, or the comfort and attention I would provide the premature babies were all special moments and experiences for me that would change my life forever.

Since my candy-striper days, I’ve volunteered for organizations such as Future Leaders of America, The Woodland Mentorship Program, Enterprise for High school Students (EHSS), Habitat for Humanity, Miami Children’s Hospital, The Red Cross, Green Peace, and the Mexico City earthquake disaster relief program. Each providing a deep, humbling and educational experience, I feel that volunteering for non-profits fulfills and enriches my soul and day-to-day life. It has become an important part of my daily schedule, even a priority, to give back to under-developed communities, the environment, to those less fortunate than I, and helping provide immediate assistance to victims devastated by a natural disaster.

Below are a few virtual philanthropies that I suggest you check out. They are creating massive, global change by bridging the gap between technology and non-profit efforts. These organizations are making it seamless to provide awareness, assistance, and fund raising on an accessible, scalable and social level. Become a part of the Virtual Change Movement!

TechSoup.com

Powered by CompuMentor, one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit technology assistance agencies, TechSoup.org offers nonprofits a one-stop resource for technology needs by providing free information, resources, and support. In addition to online information and resources, we offer a product philanthropy service called TechSoup Stock. Here, nonprofits can access donated and discounted technology products, generously provided by corporate and nonprofit technology partners.

Kiva.org

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

Change.org

Change.org aims to transform social activism by serving as the central platform that connects likeminded people, whatever their interests, and enables them to exchange information, share ideas, and collectively act to address the issues they care about.

DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.org is dedicated to addressing the scarcity and inequitable distribution of learning materials and experiences in our public schools. We believe this inequity is rooted in the following factors:

Shortages of learning materials prevent thorough, engaging instruction;
Top-down distribution of materials stifles our best teachers and discourages them from developing targeted solutions for their students; and
Small, directed contributions have gone un-tapped as a source of funding.

DonorsChoose.org will improve public education by engaging citizens in an online marketplace where teachers describe and individuals can fund specific student projects. We envision a nation where students in every community have the resources they need to learn.

WorldofGood.com

Our mission is to provide a trusted platform where individuals can create positive change through commerce, as part of a global community. We believe that a growing number of individuals want to understand how the choices they make impact people and the planet. There is an important need for trusted information, and a need for transparency into how and where products are made. Our goal is to provide our community with the resources needed to make good choices and connect with others who share the same passion.

http://www.squidoo.com/org20

Why Max?

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:57:04 +0000

I just recently hired a superstar associate at Ogilvy by the name of Christine Ngo. For the past few weeks she has absorbed SO much about the Digital Influence world at Ogilvy that she proactively researched and produced a kick-ass blog entry on WiMax - a hot button topic for several of our technology and consumer clients. I am so proud of her entry that I decided to re-post it on my own blog. So here it is. Enjoy!

Adriana

I’ve recently read a number of blog entries dedicated to critiquing the recent Clearwire and Sprint WiMAX deal from an economic standpoint. People want to know: what money is there to lose? What is there to gain? Who invested in what? And are they crazy for doing so?

For now, my answer is, “Who cares?”

I’d like to step away from this and focus on what WiMAX might contribute from a sociological standpoint. Personally, I am in complete support of WiMAX and what it might do for rural and underprivileged communities. By providing wireless internet access to areas that didn’t have it beforehand, there is potential to revolutionize the global education system.

Of course, critics will point out that part of the problem with the education system is the disparity of resources. If a WiMAX chip processor can commit to providing grants to some of these communities, providing them with the necessary equipment to jumpstart their journey into the wireless world, the possibilities are endless. When discussing costs, one must note that WiMAX is indeed the most cost-efficient way to distribute broadband data to rural areas. According to Jeff Evans, a Georgia Tech Research Institute senior research engineer, “With WiMAX, an internet service provider that wants to reach a small community up to 30 miles away can set up a wireless link for thousands of dollars rather than hundreds of thousands.” This alone should knock down a large portion of critics’ monetary concerns. This information is enough to make me very hopeful and enthusiastic about what’s to come.

By enabling these communities to have access to the internet, and in turn, information, we are fighting half the battle. After working with students from underprivileged backgrounds and speaking with teachers currently working in inner city school systems, the biggest obstacles that low-income students face is a lack of access to technological resources. Many of these families are lucky to have a computer at home, but cannot afford to pay for internet access, and are forced to scramble to find access to the internet - even to do simple homework assignments. This is a significant disadvantage for these students, as it makes it extremely difficult to work on school assignments in the time given to these kids. However, with technology such as WiMAX, companies can contribute funds to provide internet access to these areas. In addition, students can be better equipped to maximize the use of their computers to access the vast variety of resources on the internet. By providing an affordable system like WiMAX to these communities, we would be helping to bridge the “digital divide” that currently exists in education to our nation’s youth. After all, access to information and education in our nation is a right, not a privilege!
For more information, resources and articles in support of WiMAX technology in rural areas and for the benefit of our education system, visit:

•http://www.wimaxforum.org/technology/downloads/WiMAX_to_Bridge_the_Digitaldivide.pdf
•http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39189051,00.htm
•http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/wi-max.htm
•http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2008/wimax-in-education-market-to-reach-1-8-billion-by-2015
•http://www.computerworld.com.my:8080/WCIT2008/index.php/2008/05/19/using-it-to-enhance-lives/

“The Conversation of a Lifetime”

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:10:15 +0000

The very first thing that popped after checking out the StoryCorps website is their tag line, “The Conversation of a Lifetime.” What a statement. While conversations are flying rampant on the Internet these days, it’s very rare that we read “conversations” for good; that tell a story, that you can learn from, that can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling. StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.

By recording the stories of real people, anyone can share their own personal story, their experiences, history, hopes, and dreams. As noted on the StoryCorps website, Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. Millions of enthusiasts listen to StoryCorps’ award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans.

The public can listen to any of hundreds of stories, drawn from the more than 17,000 conversations recorded across the country. Just press the “play” button next to each image; if the story moves you, pass it along using the share link. StoryCorps produces a few weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and News & Notes, and if you are still wanting more you can:

Subscribe to our podcast
Sign up for Listen Closely to receive the latest stories by weekly email
Check out their non-profit channel on YouTube
Listen to an audio intro to StoryCorps

StoryCorps collaborates with groups, organizations, and institutions all over the country so that the common public can learn more about each organization’s current non-profit, environmental, educational, and philanthropic efforts. Some organizations that StoryCorps currently supports are (as noted on the StoryCorps web site):

The Griot Initiative

StoryCorps Griot is an ongoing initiative to ensure that the voices, experiences, and life stories of African Americans will be preserved and presented with dignity. All interviews recorded as part of the Griot Initiative will be archived at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture in addition to the Library of Congress.

Memory Loss Initiative

In 2006, StoryCorps launched an initiative to reach out to people affected by memory loss. Our aim is to support and encourage people with memory loss to share their stories. The project is guided by an Advisory Board of nationally recognized leaders in the field of memory loss, and all interviews are facilitated by our specially trained staff.

September 11th Initiative

In 2005, StoryCorps began a special initiative to honor and remember the stories of September 11, 2001: the stories of survivors, rescue workers, and all those most personally and immediately affected by September 11th. With permission, interviews become part of the collection at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, in addition to the Library of Congress.

Mobile Tour Outreach

StoryCorps partners with numerous community-based organizations on our Mobile Tour. The StoryCorps interview is an opportunity to highlight voices often missed in our society, and to ensure their stories are passed on to future generations. We work with our Community Partners to record and preserve the stories of the various communities they serve.

New York City Outreach

We provide access to the StoryCorps experience by partnering with New York communities that may otherwise encounter barriers to participation. Through Community Partnerships, hundreds of New Yorkers and New York City organizations have recorded interviews, reflecting a wide variety of voices and creating a growing portrait of who we are as Americans.

Nashville Outreach

StoryCorps builds relationships with Nashville organizations that work with us to bring groups of new participants to our Nashville StoryBooth to record their stories. These partnerships are valuable to us and help to ensure that a wide array of people have the opportunity to participate in StoryCorps

Support our initiatives

Make a donation now to help keep StoryCorps accessible to everyone. Or become a sponsor to support StoryCorps and its initiatives. If you are interested in becoming a major donor or corporate underwriter, please call Heather Burke, Development Manager, at 646-723-7020, ext. 12

South Park Studios: For the Potty-mouth in you . . .

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:06:09 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I like hanging out with very diverse people, with many layers, maybe closet knitters or people that have a passion for jumping off cliffs, maybe even writing their personal biographies; a common theme throughout my whole friend group, heck, even outside of my immediate friend group, is the extreme love for a fun, animated, potty-mouthed show called “South Park.” I’ve really loved this “cartoon” since the first day it aired. I’ve even spent money on going to the theater and watching the movie.

I must admit I’m obsessed with sit-com-type animations like the Simpson’s and Family Guy. They are hilarious. I think within every one of us we have a little kid that just wants to watch cartoons, eat cereal and walk around in their jammies all morning. Slowly growing out of that (I think) I was secretly hoping that someone out there would create a cartoon for adults. With adult humor, that is. I think South Park has nailed it.

I know most people are weirded out that I like South Park so much, but again, it’s a “layer.” My humorous, kid-at-heart, Catholic school girl rebel layer . . .

South Park just launched its South Park Studios featuring videos, clips, a social network for fans, discussion boards, episode guide, news, games and more. Check it out!

Everyone’s Doing It

admin — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:35:36 +0000

Crowdsourcing is a cool, somewhat new concept that allows companies to “outsource” work or gather focus group ideas in an open call format. It’s a relatively inexpensive and resourceful way to collect data, stats, trends, create new technologies or designs, provide feedback on a company or concept. The only issue is the credibility of the work that is produced. Where is the control? What are the metrics or measurements on the outcome? Well, as crowdsourcing continues to grow and transition from a fad to a practice, I think we’ll be noticing bigger, better innovations, ideas and information from these free-spirited cyber-players.

Here are two solid crowdsourcing definitions that I found on crowdsourcing.com:

The White Paper Version: Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.

The Soundbyte Version: The application of Open Source principles to fields outside of software.

Below are some great resources and recent articles on crowdsourcing:

http://crowdsourcing.typepad.com/

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/28/yelp-lets-businesses-fight-back/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/crowdsourcing_million_heads.php

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_39/b4002422.htm

Web 2.0 Pahhhhhties!

admin — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:55:27 +0000

Here’s a list of the must-attend Web 2.0 parties.

Have fun kids!

Adriana

Monday

What: Pownce Brunch
Where: Dottie’s True Blue (522 Jones St)
When: Monday, April 21, 11:00AM -
Info: pownce.com/DigitalKNK/notes/1817275/

What: Pre-Web 2.0 meet-up with Flickr, Moo
Where: Kate O’Brien’s (579 Howard St)
When: Monday, April 21, 5:00PM - 8:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/469348

What: The Finns Are Coming to Web 2.0 Expo!
Where: Foreign Cinema (2534 Mission St)
When: Monday, April 21, 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/491643/ (RSVP)

What: Social Media Club - San Francisco
Where: Adobe (601 Townsend at 7th St)
When: Monday, April 21, 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Info: www.eventbrite.com/event/110484462

What: Web Monday Silicon Valley
Where: Citizen Space (425 2nd St)
When: Monday, April 21, 6:30PM - 9:30PM
Info: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=7959317099

What: Love 2.0
Where: Harlot (46 Minna St)
When: Monday, April 21, 8:00PM - 11:00PM
Info: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11322066771

Tuesday

What: British beer tasting & European networking
Where: Hiller Aviation Museum (San Carlos Airport)
When: Tuesday, April 22, 5:30PM - 8:00PM
Info: crossingtheocean.net/seeda/hiller_event.html

What: GAB and Blogtropolis launch party
Where: Gray Area Gallery (1515 Folsom St)
When: Tuesday, April 22, 6:00PM - 11:00PM
Info: www.grayareagallery.org/

What: Official Digg Meet-up
Where: Mighty (119 Utah St)
When: Tuesday, April 22, 6:30PM - 11:30PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/471398/

What: Ignite Web 2.0 Expo SF II
Where: DNA Lounge (375 11th St)
When: Tuesday, April 22, 7:00PM-
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/467652/

Wednesday

What: Web2Open Takeout Dinner
Where: Yerba Buena Gardens (4th/Mission)
When: Wednesday, April 23, 6:00PM-
Info: www.eu.socialtext.net/web2open/index.cgi?schedule

What: Photobucket Developer Party
Where: Roe Bar & Lounge (651 Howard St)
When: Wednesday, April 23, 6:00PM - 9:00PM
Info: mashable.com/2008/04/16/photobucket-developer-party-tickets/

What: Evolve - Chi.mp and Mashable’s Web 2.0 After Party
Where: Mighty (119 Utah St)
When: Wednesday, April 23, 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/467885/

What: The Big Open Y! Party
Where: Yahoo! Brickhouse (500 3rd St)
When: Wednesday, April 23, 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/469035/

What: South Park Crawl
Where: South Park (Brannan / Bryant / 3rd / 2nd St)
When: Wednesday, April 23, 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/454850/
Leverage Software: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=23295987864
Six Apart: everything.typepad.com/blog/2008/04/connecting-with.html

What: Web2Open
Where: Moscone West
When: Wednesday, April 23, 8:00PM - 11:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/467423/

Thursday

SpringMix Party

Where: Ambassador

When: 6:30pm till the sun comes up

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=16723702463

What: Booth Crawl
Where: Moscone West
When: Thursday, April 24, 4:30PM - 6:00PM
Info: en.oreilly.com/webexsf2008/public/schedule/detail/3484

What: Amazon.com Networking Party
Where: Jillian’s @ Metreon (101 4th St)
When: Thursday, April 24, 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Info: www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6972960853&topic=4431

What: After Hours Event
Where: Marriott (55 4th St)
When: Thursday, April 24, 6:00PM - 12:00AM
Info: en.oreilly.com/webexsf2008/public/schedule/detail/4238

What: Web2Open
Where: Moscone West
When: Thursday, April 24, 8:00PM - 11:00PM
Info: upcoming.yahoo.com/event/467423/

What: Web Mission 2008
Where: Redwood Room at Clift Hotel (495 Geary St)
When: Thursday, April 24, 9:00PM -
Info: www.webmission08.com/agenda.html

Web 2.0 Discount for Girls in Tech Members

admin — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:26:56 +0000

Web 2.0 is offering a $100 discount to Girls in Tech members/readers for the Expo, using this registration code: websf08bl2

This is the link for buttons: http://en.oreilly.com/webexsf2008/public/content/promote

We would like to invite you to the Web 2.0 Women’s Networking Evening at the Marriott View on Thursday, April 24th from 6:30 - 8:30.

Ad:tech - one big cluster $%#^

admin — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:14:02 +0000

In my opinion, there are WAY too many conferences covering tech this and tech that . . . one of the most tedious and “salesy” conferences is Ad:tech. I would never want to step foot in the Ad:tech expo (or shall we say “zoo”) because there are too many sales people from all of the globe whizzin’ around schmoozin’ and boozin’, talking about the same ol’ thing, wearing the typical blue button down and black slacks “uniform” (I didn’t get the memo).

I think that the ONLY thing Ad:tech brings to the table is having ’some’ of the dealmakers or decision makers in one city at the same time. My suggestion is to plan one-on-ones around the conference and not even step foot in the expo. You’ll get your ear talked-off and get schwag thrown at you, which you will eventually throw away or give to a homeless person on the way to your hotel.

On a positive now I like attending some of the influencer, industry parties around Ad:tech. Usually a very New York-style crowd with a little attitude, a little spice. Something that us, San Franciscans aren’t used to on a day-to-day basis. Girls in Tech is sponsoring an AdFemme party on Tuesday.

We hope you can make it, blog about it, Twitter about it . . . you catch my drift.

What’s All the Bzzzzz About?

admin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:20:16 +0000

Ahhh beautiful Los Angeles . . . I’m here this week for a couple business meetings, so I just thought to stop by the BzzAgent’s Word of Mouth Marketing Summit in LA. Who would’ve thought that there is more WOMM going on offline than online AND that there are approximately 4.3 billion word-of-mouth conversations going on everyday in the US. Craziness.

I’m a huge advocate of BzzAgent’s services along with the FrogPond idea, where you can reach consumers online to garner feedback, input, ideas on a newly launched site, product, or pretty much anything online.

Check em’ out!