Great News! The next CyborgCamp will be in early May of 2010. That means its time to start planning!

This meeting is everyone’s chance to brainstorm on location ideas, sponsors and speakers. What kinds of topics are of interest to you? How has the idea of Cyborg evolved over the last year? What new kinds of technologies have arrived on the scene?

We’ll discuss volunteers and the wiki too. Come along, especially if you helped make CyborgCamp PDX ‘08 so excellent in the first place. Bring snacks and drinks to share with others.

This planning meeting will most likely be followed by general networking and fun at a local haunt.

RSVP on Upcoming.org

Where:

AboutUs.org

107 SE Washington Street, Suite 520
Portland Oregon 97214
United States

When:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 from 7–9pm

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What is CyborgCamp?

CyborgCamp is an unconference about the future of the relationship between humans and technology. We’ll discuss topics such as social media, design, code, inventions, web 2.0, twitter, the future of communication, cyborg technology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy.

CyborgCamp’s aim is to have many communication channels, such as Twitter, Flickr, UstreamTV, Video and Audio recordings and live chats displayed on the screen.
Why May 2010? In March 2010, CyborgCamp will make its way to Brazil and back before landing again in Portland, Oregon for its second year.

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Questions? Contact Amber Case @caseorganic or MJ @mama_j.

You can also follow @cyborgcamp on Twitter for updates.

The last Portland Data Visualization Meetup occurred way back in March 2009. That’s way too long to go without a good data viz meetup, so there’s going to be another one. We’ll have five 10 minute presentations and a bunch of networking time. Webtrends will again graciously host us on their top floor.

The event is open to everyone interested in or working in the field of data visualization. This means designers, programmers, information architects, data miners, anthropologists, ect. We’re expecting a similar amount of people to last time, but the presentations will be limited to 10 minutes each or less.

Bring business cards and an excitement to connect with others in this field.

The second Portland Data Visualization Group will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 from 7:30Pm-9:00Pm at Webtrends.

851 SW 6th Ave.
Portland OR 97204
(map)

RSVP on Upcoming or view this event on Calagator.

Agenda:

The second meeeting of the Portland Data Visualization Group will serve as an introduction to what’s going on in the world of data viz. There will be five presentations of 10 minutes each. There are three openings left, so if you would like to demonstrate something you’re working on, please E-mail me or comment below.

If you’re interested in Data Visualization, please come to this event.

Google Group:

Ed Borasky started a Google group called pdx-visualization. As the name implies, it is a group for Portland-area people interested in languages and techniques for visualization of data. http://groups.google.com/group/pdx-visualization

Flickr Photos:

I’ve been collecting interesting data viz photos for a while now and posting them to Flickr. They’re all accessible on my Flickr account in this set. Most pictures contain descriptions and links to the viz sources.

I hope to see you all there!
——

About

Amber Case, (@caseorganic is a Cyborg Anthropologist studying the interaction between humans and computers and how our relationship with information is changing the way we think, act, and understand the world around us.

Today I was excited to speak at BoCo, a great new conference developed by the Boulder Tech Community, especially Andrew Hyde. Rick Turoczy was there, among other awesome Portlanders, San Fransiscans, and Boulderites. It  was a sunny day and there were beautiful mountains all around. The morning sessions dealt with food and music and were very wonderful to listen to.

I spoke about Cyborg Anthropology, which is the study of human computer interactions and how technology affects the way in which we communicate with one another.

We Are All Cyborgs

When you read this, you are acting as a low-tech cyborg, because you are using a computer to view text that I have written. My writing is stored here in my website, part of my actor network of external technological devices that, when taken together, comprise my technosocial self. As cavemen, we began skipping evolution by crafting spears instead of growing teeth. We began making hammers as extensions of our fists.

My social self is part technology and part human. My technological self does a lot of networking for me through my social networking profiles and my Google search results. So do yours (if you have them). My technosocial avatar of a self networks for me when I’m not there.

Distributed Social Selves

Each piece of my distributed social identity leaves a geological trail of past self that my present self can interact with. These all comprise my future self, which your future self or selves will most undoubtedly interact with. The online optimization of self, when coupled with the analog optimization of self (i.e. real-life networking, person to person) is the creation of a stable identity that is uniformly distributed and presented all over the web.

Technology Resembles Magic

Technology is almost magical. Like the scrying pool of the past (or of fantasy novels), the iPhone or computer monitor allows us to view anything anywhere in the world through YouTube and Twitter, News sites and Facebook. We can summon up an image with a simple spell (a simple text entry into Google search or Twitter search) and we can extend our speech and ears across very large distances in seconds with the mere touch of a button.

Technology Gives Us Superpowers

Technology, when used well, gives us amazing superpowers. We are like gods, until we forget to charge our batteries. We are like gods, until we forget to upgrade our devices to the most recent operating system or device number. Our external prosthetic devices turn against us when they get old. Our old clothes go out of style. Our brick phones make us get laughed at in the streets.

From Physical Transportation to Mental Transportation

In the same way that cars transport our physical bodies, computers and cell phones transport our spiritual bodies. Don’t like the word spiritual? Use the word mind instead. We’re increasingly entering into a world of mental machines - mental transportation devices. These devices transmit our thoughts invisibly to others. They are taking up smaller amounts of space, until vehicles, who require increasingly large highways.

Mental Traffic Jams

We have traffic jams, too. Mental traffic jams. Jams on Twitter. Twitter fails. Rush hour around important events and deaths and wars and crises. We can now have multiple views of the same event.

Telephonic Schizophrenia

When telephone technology first came out, people felt it was crazy. The idea of going into a room and speaking into a machine sounded schizophrenic.

More

There is more: enough to fill up a hour and a half speech, but I’ll leave that to you to see the next time I speak. Until then, you can follow me on Twitter @caseorganic, or you can check out BoCo.

Last night, around 6 pm, an event at Substance brought together many members of the Portland design/creative/new media/innovative community. Those tags do not describe the types of people there, no do they describe how it was to be at the event. Why? Because I wasn’t able to make it.

I’m going to review the event anyway (or at least provide information for others who couldn’t make it), as well as use some great pictures taken by Haley Lovett. I’m including them here, so you can understand some semblance of the event.

Okay, so what is The New Communicators about?

According to a post on the Substance website, “New Communicators are compelled to engage in conversation. They stand taller and stride farther when traversing the current media landscape. They are a mixture of digital and analog. Their message is everything interactive. Everything transmissive. Communicating is a give-and-take, speaking-and-listening, and New Communicators utilize a mixture of new and traditional tools to share their point-of-view with the world. Evolving conversation, they share their ideas, their truths, their lives”.

The New Communicators Video

If you missed it, here’s a Q&A in digital video!

The New Communicators Q&A - September 1, 2009 from The New Communicators on Vimeo.

The gathering was “about the evolution of conversation: exploring the pathways through which an originator interacts with a receiver. These connections can be fulfilling and triumphant; the failures potentially tragic and illuminating. Regardless of the outcome, these experiences are relevant, useful and inspirational. They should be open, discussed and analyzed in the interest of understanding what it means to be a New Communicator”.

What Next?

From Wednesday, October 28th to Friday, October 30th, you’re invited to hold an event around the theme of Evolving Conversation and explore what it means to be a New Communicator. The intent is to curate events for specific time slots in the mornings (8am to 10am), afternoons (4pm to 6pm) and evenings (7pm to 9pm) across the city. However, if those time slots become filled and you still want to hold an event, we got you covered. Any individual, group or company who wants to be a part of the convergence is welcome to do so and we will promote your events on our web site. Although, get those ideas in early if you want top billing and mentions in press content.

Event Response:

There was a lot of buzz about The New Communicators on Twitter. Some of my favorites:

hillerns: I learned something important this evening. When you invite folks to engage, you begin by asking, “What do you think?” #thenewcom

momothemonster: Great conversations at #thenewcom meetup tonight. Consider my fires officially stoked.

ephanypdx: 2nd thing I learned at #thenewcom: exchanging contact info is so 2004. Now we just follow each other.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to hosting a session. Although I’m not sure on what yet. You can help me if you want by commenting below.

If that’s not enough for you, here’s a quick Q&A:

Who are you?

We are a group of like-minded individuals who believe the nature of conversation is evolving. It is our mission to illuminate this evolution, educate on how to traverse the new media landscape and inspire others to initiate conversations of their own.

What do you mean by “Conversations”?

Conversations are any kind of engagement in which thoughts are shared, ideas are exchanged and lives are changed. A Conversation is a dissemination of a point-of-view, a connection with an audience and a reciprocation to the originator. It is how we learn and grow.

What is a New Communicator?

Anyone who is compelled to engage in conversation by utilizing a mixture of new and traditional tools to share their point-of-view with the world.

Why are you doing this?

We want to seek out and share the stories of those who have found a way to break through to their audience in an authentic way using any medium, digital or otherwise. Too much emphasis is placed on the technology behind interaction, when it is the content and quality of the conversation that matters most.

How do you intend to make this happen?

We see our role as gracious facilitators providing an online space for participants to promote their gatherings, connect with collaborators and venues, and use our connections in the community to provide a context to share their experiences and promote their ideas.

Where is Substance Located?

Looking for 1551 SE Poplar? Here’s what it looks like from outside: http://twitpic.com/g5705

How Can I Participate?

Simply visit The New Communicators, or follow them on Twitter at @thenewcom, and the hashtag #thenewcom.

Welcome to an Open Source Extravaganza. Only in Portland, Oregon.

Open Source Bridge is something unique - the first ever volunteer run, open source technology conference  It works because the structure of the Portland Tech Community works in the same way. A true community organizes, network, and build things because they’re passionate. This conference was organized out of that passion.

Open Source Bridge is a chance to experience three full days of epic open-sourceness. The kind that’s found only in Portland, Oregon.

Cyborgian Keynote on Wednesday

I’ll be giving Wednesday’s keynote at 9:00 Am on June 17 2009 - the first day of OSBridge with Kurt von Finck, Audrey Eschright, and Selena Deckelmann. My part will be on what it means to be a Cyborg Citizen. What is a Cyborg Citizen? Come to the conference to find out. Meanwhile, you can follow me on Twitter @caseorganic for conference coverage and anthropological analysis of tech and the tech world.

Conference Registration

Conference passes are $175 if you register by April 10, and $250 after that date. Student passes are $99 (you will be required to show current student ID when you pick up your badge).

So, if you are at all interested in participating in something incredible, you can register right now for OSBridge. We don’t think you’ll regret it.

Follow OSBridge on Twitter and Identi.ca

For updates during the conference, follow @osbridge on Twitter. If you’re not on Twitter, you can get OSBridge updates through Identi.ca.

OSBridge Sponsors

An enormous thanks to the amazing line-up of OSBridge sponsors, including HP, Google, Yahoo! Developer Network, WebTrends, ReadWriteWeb, Silicon Florist…the list goes on and on.

All Night Hacker Lounge

So, this sweet room at the top of the Hilton should be worth the price of admission alone. Where else can you meet other people with your interests, 24 hours a day? Learn more about the 24 hour hacker lounge.

Final Thoughts

You shouldn’t miss this event. Please just don’t. If you do, you may feel sad, and people who feel sad because they miss amazingly cool Portland events make me feel sad.

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On Thursday, June 4th, 2009, members of the Portland Advertising, Tech, PR and Social Media community gathered to watch a panel event called “Who Killed Social Media?”. It was moderated by Marshall Kirkpatrick @marshallk, VP of Read Write Web, and one of the most prolific and RSS-informed people in the technosocial universe. The panel was a partnership between Portland’s Nemo Design (who graciously provided beer and a nice meeting space), and Group Y Network.

Marshall started off the panel by saying that terms are strange, for instance, “social media tends to be a little bit more broadcast and marketed, vs. the social web, which is a little more a way of life”.
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Social Media Panelists

James Todd - @jwtodd

Software Engineer - Worked at Sun for over 50 years. Involved with Twine.

Lee Crane - @leecrane

Action Sports Media Veteran (Does that mean he’s wounded?), and proud blogger.

Matt Savarino - @Ridertech

K2, worked with the XGames.

Tony Welch - @frostola

Leads the Social Media strategy at HP, does the social media strategy for the laptop division.

Dave Allen - @pampelmoose

Community Manager, Director of Insights, Nemo Design

—

Who Killed Social Media? - The Panel Begins

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Just like when you open a fortune cookie and add “in bed” to the end, we add the “how will it make money”, “how will we market it” to the end of each social media question.

First question was for Tony,

Tony Welch: The alpha geeks validate our technologies. There is someone you go to when you want to know about computers. They validate what HP is doing. From there, hopefully you can use that relationship to bridge down to the rest of the mass audience.

James Todd told everyone go to Twine.com, and said this name multiple times throughout the panel. But by the end, it was apparent that he truly believed in twine and how it is a true filter for information streams, be it social or not.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Twine is like a social bookmarking tool that automatically grabs material from the content of web pages and places in a tagged, semantically linked structure. Last month, Twine surpassed Delicious for number of unique visitors. Some people love Twine, but there’s also ample people who follow them around and criticize them.
–

The Semantic Web

James Todd: Semantics have been around for many ears. It’s pretty easy to screenscrape and provide APIs to that data, which Twitter does really well (it’s API). Down the road, consumers actualy have the ability to be in the driver’s seat.

The semantic space has really been driven by academics. While it is easy to talk the talk, you also have to walk the walk. Providing a list of distributed databases to provide access and crosslinking to those databases allows you to be able to know your customers much more.

The bar was set high; as Marshall said, he lives 5 years in the future and sometimes comes back to visit us. We hadn’t quite delivered some of the API features that we wanted to. Some of those future features. We use a lot of Open Source. A lot of it which only works on White Boards.

Let me just be really candid here — there’s been a lot of sidebar discussions. If you have a social application, you really have to have engagement. The promise has not really been delivered yet, but it is on the way. We’ve been a little bit burned by the alpha users in our experiences. We syndicate with Twitter now, and we’re getting a lot of people to use that. Really, we just want to average person to use it.

Marshall Kirkpatrick:
So, realizing that some of your critics have financial interests, realizing your shortcomings and working them out. But what James really wanted to talk about is the future and what’s coming down the night.

Not sure how many of you have heard of the new product Google Wave, but James has been following that particularly close, and if that’s one of the visions of the far-out future and how it can work…then.
–

Social Collaboration

James Todd: I have a problem with formal names, such as the Social Web. To me, I think the social web is just allowing people to communicate — bidirectional- back and forth. I think that what the Wave is going to allow collaboration. Allowing the average person to casually use applications. Google Wave allows people to do things on top of those applications naturally. It’s built on XMPP Jabber, which is the technology that instant messaging is built on. I think the consumer will be in the driver’s seat on which services will be allowed to integrate with each other.

I envision a point where pople will be able to choose which services to interoperate.

I used to work on a JUXTA project at SUN (where he worked for about 15 years), which we put XMPP on top of. This stuff can be small group oriented, which I really like better than large group orientated. I think that communication/collaboration is going to be the next bit thing.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: So the future will be a bunch if little groups talking with robots coming in giving updates on the snow conditions on the slop that the small group is going to go snowboarding on later.

So lets talk with Lee on the transition that we’re going to be going through in the transition from analog to digital media. He’s been in the television industry, but he’s also a blogger as well, so I think he has an understanding of this space really well.

The Transition from Traditional Media to Social Media

Lee Crane: When the cotton gin came, it actually made people’s jobs a lot easier. But now people want to be able to communicate 24 hours a day, so the marketer has to be available at all times. Traditionally, a marketer would make segments and send out some marketing, and set back and say “cool”. Now people know when they’d not doing a good job because no one is responding to it.

The difference is today that it is no longer the marketers that are doing the communicating — It’s the customers that are doing the communicating, and they’re doing it would your consent.

The difference being that it is…more difficult.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Is it fair to say, lets not do push marketing media type stuff and instead communicate with our users, or…

Lee Crane: The media landscape is so fragmented now that people are being so bombarded with little bits of information that our job becomes bombarding them with lots of relevant information. The game becomes and instantaneous battle of having relevant information every minute of the day.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: While maintaining authenticity.

Dave Allen: Yes.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: So lets say someone was crazy enough to want to get into that, what do you think a good way to get into that would be?

Lee Crane: Well, it’s that if people are saying you have to Twitter, you HAVE to Twitter. When they say you have to Blog, you have to Blog. And the problem is that to understand it, you have to blog for a while.

There was a conference — and Ev was asked, “why is it that 50% of Twitter users don’t don’t Twitter after signup”.

When I first signed up, I didn’t have anyone to talk to, so there was no real point in updating.

That’s kind of what is happening, “there’s this Twitter thing going o, so we should have to Twitter. So can someone just say something that just happened in the Office?”.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Let’s talk to Matt Savarino next. He has a lot of experience with Extreme sports, has long been interested in geolocation, and has a substantial Facebook presence.

The big question I have for you is, are all these freaky things you’ve been interested in finally picking up speed with the general market?

Matt Savarino: Basically, the question of who you know and where you’re at is becoming commonplace. I bet most brands here don’t have a mobile website, and they should. In the future, I think it is important that sites have one to prove that they are not subpar.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: We discussed youth marketing in general. Do you think that’s important now for people under the age of 25?

Youth Marketing

Matt Savarino: In my experience, kids don’t have the iPhone. They generally have ht free flip-phone, ect. Parents generally don’t invest in something that, if dropped once, will be broken (I don’t agree with this. I’ve seen 13 year olds with iPhones, the middle class market, definitely). But when I look at middle school kids now getting out from school, all of them have their heads down, texting.

–

Social Media Decision-making in a Multi-Channeled World

Marshall Kirkpatrick: We’re making decisions like that- do we do a mobile site, do we do a web app? It is difficult to have the conversations without first discussing ROI.

Matt Savarino: There is a large problem with having g the data be tracked, ROI tracked. The people who know and see and use these things, and the people who don’t. Justifying to them that if 30 people Tweet the post to their friends, that that has value, even if they didn’t buy a ticket. And with apps, I have to prove to them that I am giving them engagement, when they want me to give them traffic. But the problem is that these brands have traffic already, they just don’t have the engagement.

You can choose NOT to do it, but your competitor will. Burton snowboards doesn’t capitalize on Twitter, which is a tremendous opportunity for us to prove that we have something they don’t. Because they’re one of the biggest brands out there, and they’re not doing something important.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Would you like to share your insurance analogy?
–

Social Media Insurance and the Case of Emusic.com

Dave Allen: It is difficult to convince executives to pay someone $55,000 a year to scrape the web. So I tell them, put that $55K into insurance. Because if your brand doesn’t own the message, the message owns the brand.

A company that did not share in this idea was Emusic, who was smashed this week.

833 people on Emusic’s blog said “Goodbye”, and Emusic did not respond.

One of the people who should’ve responded said, “I’m going to go on vacation for 2 weeks”, and, as you know, 2 weeks in Internet time is infinity.

What they ought to have done is completely pool their subscription base, 400,000 people, and say “hey, we’re thinking of acquiring the Sony music collection - are you interested?”. And I be you that 98% of those subscribers would’ve said, “no thank you”, and then set up a tiered system so that the 2% that is interested would pay for this additional music collection so that the rest of the subscriber base could’ve been grandfathered in and still had access to the independent music that they’d been so supportive of for the past 10 years.

They need to get the CEO onto Youtube to say, “I’m sorry, we blew it, really, really badly — and then apologize profusely to the subscriber base”.

Now that we have access 24/7 to spread our thoughts across the web, then

If you’re the manager of a brand, you have the ability to control the message - to jump in and interact with it, help shape it.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: (Sarcastic) Are you sure it wouldn’t just be a good idea to just be really nice, and just tell everyone about your products?

Dave Allen: Why should we do that?

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Because that’s what’s made money for the majority of people in this industry since the industry began.

Dave Allen: Well, that’s not how I make my living.

So, is Social Media Dead?

Rod Pitman (audience): Well, I have a question. Is social media dead? Isn’t that the name of this panel? And if not, why? I think that, if you don’t have a story, you’re dead.

Dave Allen: I agree. A story is necessary. But there is the name of the panel, which I am responsible for, and the question behind that is what is behind social media, and to also start a discussion.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Would anyone else like to speak about push marketing pushed over social media tools, vs. the opposite, which is engagement?

Matt Saravino: Social media is by no means dead. I think that over time, your intent becomes obvious. So if your intent is that you’re going to constantly tell me that your products are 20% off, I’m going to realize that. To be genuine, and to realize that people can see right through you.

If you’re trying to broadcast deals, then call your Twitter account “BrandDeals” or something, so then people at least know what to expect.

Lee Crane: Social Media is not dead, it’s actually the other way around. The Social is killing the “media.”

Watch What You Predict

Tony Welch: How many of you do SEO or SEM? SEO and SEM will be dead as you know it within 6 months. Google is going to take into account now much more about what’s happening. Now, when people talk in your name, people will see social conversations about your company showing up in Google results, from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr. It’s now about brand management vs. SEO.

Dave Allen: Great, so you can take all that money you put into SEO and SEM and put it into community management. And you should not retain your assets but spread them as far and as wide as possible.

If we are moving away from SEO/SEM and into community and reputation, then it is of tremendous importance to protect and monitor communities and reputations.

Tony Welch: Anyone know what the second largest search engine is? Facebook. Twitter is coming next. People are spending a lot more on relationship analysis.

Self-Censoring and Social Media

Marcus Miller (audience): I guess that Dave has no self censoring problems. Tony you speak to - the idea that when you do any Twittering, then it is you. What degree do you find yourself self-censoring?

Tony Welch: There are some things I would love to Tweet about, but as I do work at HP, there are some constraints: for instance, I can’t just post anything because I’m also representing part of HP, and what I say can reflect on the brand.

Lee Crane: I use pseudonyms. I use fictional constructs, which also blog for me.

Dave Allen: Do you pay them well?

Lee Crane: I do. Very well.

Dave Allen: I’m not as wide-open as you think. I have a 30 second rule, and if it still reads well after that, I post it. I also don’t do anything online after 11 O’clock. Because I drink a glass a glass of wine. That’s a new rule I’ve decided to follow.

Technological Adoption and Social Class

Carri Bugbee (audience): brings up a questions about kids having flip phones, but per danah boyd’s research, social class plays a bit role in having iPhones or not. The man from New York who sent this question says, “all my kids have iPhones”.

Matt Savarino: That sounds like a very nice family to be in. But the majority of kids don’t have these technologies.

(break)

Lee Crane:Right now, it seems like there’s so much volume of information out there that we can ignore everything.

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Some people who tweet as many as 5 times a day feel like they’re flooding the world with too much information. I prefer to get RSS feeds from people and companies so I can keep track of all the the updates in an organized manner.

Community Management - Tracking the Social Web. Monitoring, then Participating

Tony Welch: We use a social media tracking program called Radian6 to track what’s happening on the social web. I’m not actually participating in conversations but am watching them happen.

Dave Allen: That’s classic community manager. Monitoring the network is the first step to maintaining reputation. You should not start right away by saying ‘We’re such-and-such a shoe brand”, or we have to jump in and get a Twitter or Facebook page, ect. If you don’t have a plan for that, it’s going got be a bit of a nightmare. There’s always this expectation or practice built around it. I wish there were such a way that I could get across to these companies about the need or them to have an insurance policy.

Tony Welch: One time, when I was looking at what people were saying about the community, and this one guy said, “I hate HP so much that it hurts when I pee”.

(Laughter)

Tony Welch: And so I think, what am I supposed to do what that? Do I engage? How do I engage?

Lee Crane: Well, he’s probably not using the product correctly.

(More laughter)

Nicole (audience): It’s not going to be who killed social media, but who killed the companies, because they didn’t participate? How, if you’re in one of these companies and have them understand the insurance principle, or the stupidity of companies?

Tony Welch: You pull up Google and pull up their name, you go to Twitter and pull up their name, you go to Facebook and pull up their name — and you say, “look at all of these people having conversations about your brand without you participating.

Panel Conclusions

The battery on my laptop died just before the end of the panel, but Ed Borasky (@znmeb) came up to the mike and asked a very potent question.

“Some people got in on the ground floor of Twitter,” said Ed, “but it’s too late to do that now. My question is what is the next service to get in on the ground floor of. For instance, there’s no way to be Scoble, or Oprah, now that it’s been done”.

I’m not sure who it was that responded, but a number of the panelists did, and the response was along the lines of personal branding. “There’s always opportunity to develop a brand. And there’s never been a chance to be Oprah,” they said.

Nate DiNiro (@unclenate“) also asked if social media was going to backlash, because now “aren’t we all just looking at screens?”. He wondered if there was a point when we wouldn’t be able to take the inflow of information anymore - when we would just ’snap’.

Dave Allen: I don’t think so. I’ve had a greater ability to meet people through Tweetups and get to know them in real life more than if I didn’t have the technology. In many ways, looking at a screen has made me more social.

The panel ended on a high note, with Dave Allen saying something really awesome, and the networking continued into the night, moving from Nemo to various bars and pubs. Thanks to everyone who helped up the event on, including Nemo Design, GroupY, and the panelists, and special thanks to Marshall Kirkpatrick, who did an excellent job of moderating.

Who Killed Social Media Recorded Livestream

If you missed the event, or want to make fun of the lousy job I did of trying to type way too quickly during it, then you can watch the saved livestream of Who Killed Social Media at USTREAM.

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Amber Case is a Cyborg Anthropologist and social media consultant living and working in Portland, Oregon. You can follow her on Twitter @caseorganic. She has a background in qualitative and quantitative analysis and is available for short-term projects involving new media, online presence, digital branding, data aggregation and event coverage. If you’re not on Twitter, reach her at caseorganic [at] gmail [dot] com.

It’s that time again. Time to list some of the amazing events coming up in the Portland Tech sphere (or universe - or fortress). These next few months are extremely exciting. Make sure not to miss Open Source Bridge, Ignite Portland 6, and the infamous Webvisions (and a note, though it is not listed below, if you’d like to meet a lot of tech people at once, make sure to come to Beer and Blog every Friday at the Green Dragon. If you’ve got more to add to this list, you can contact me on twitter @caseorganic or simply leave a comment below with your event information.

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Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 1–5pm

Arduino Cult Induction at TechShop

TechShop Portland
10100 SW Allen Blvd
Beaverton Oregon 97005
United States

OpenTechSpace, TechShop, and Tempus Dictum will present an “Arduino Cult Induction” Workshop at TechShop on Saturday, May 9 2009, from 1 to 5 pm.

In this workshop, you will build a complete and functional Arduino-compatible micro-controller (Dorkboard), and will upload and run a program on it. The Arduino development environment is very popular with artists and other creative people, and can be built and programmed even if you have little hardware or software experience.

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Monday, May 11, 2009 from 8:30am–5pm

SAOpdx: ITIL Intermediate: Release, Control, & Validation

Portland State University (PSU) - Smith Memorial Center
1825 SW Broadway
Portland OR 97201

Description:

Course Length: May 11-15, 2009

This 5-day course immerses learners in the practical aspects of the ITIL v3 Service Lifecycle and processes associated with the Release, Control and Validation of services and service delivery. The main focus of this course is on the operational-level process activities and supporting methods and approaches to executing these processes in a practical, hands-on learning environment. This training is intended to enable the holders of the certificate to apply the practices during the Service Management Lifecycle. This course is designed using an engaging scenario-based approach to learning the core disciplines of the ITIL best practice and positions the student to successfully complete the associated exam.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 from 6:30–8pm

PDXPHP: Debugging and Profiling PHP Web Applications

CubeSpace
622 SE Grand Ave.
Portland Oregon 97214

A tour of PHP application debugging and profiling techniques using open source tools such as

- Xdebug [http://www.xdebug.org/]

- Netbeans [http://www.netbeans.org/features/php/]

- cachegrind [http://valgrind.org/info/tools.html]

Presenter: Sam Keen

@samkeen

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 from 7–8pm

PDX Firefox Developers Group

NedSpace
920 SW Third
Portland Oregon 97204
US

Description:

First meeting for anyone interested in hacking on Firefox or Firefox extensions.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 8pm

Portland Werewolf - May Gathering

Lucky Labrador Brew Pub
915 SE Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland Oregon 97214

Description:

Come play at our monthly game of werewolf at the Lucky Lab on Hawthorne. Check out the site for details (http://www.portlandwerewolf.com).

If you are planning on coming and want to play please respond with “attending”. That way we know who is coming and you are guaranteed to play.

Ticket Info: Donations appreciated, for the room rental.

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Thursday, May 14, 2009 from 6–7:30pm

Portland WordPress User Group - May Meeting

Webtrends
851 SW 6th Ave.
Portland OR 97204

Description:

Meeting agenda to follow, but do join us for our monthly meeting at Webtrends this month.
Remember, Webtrends will be our venue for WordCamp Portland, taking place on October 19th and 20th, 2009

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Saturday, May 16, 2009 from 10am–3pm

Cre8camp Corvallis

MadAve Collective
Corvallis OR 97330

Description:

Cre8Camp is an unconference for creative industries professionals. It is an ad-hoc gathering for participants to learn, network and share in an open environment with discussions, demos and interaction all led by the attendees.

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Saturday, May 16, 2009 from 3–6pm

Interactive Video Community Meetup

TechShop Portland
10100 SW Allen Blvd
Beaverton Oregon 97005
United States

Description:

Northwest AudioVisualist
Interactive Community Meetup

The Northwest Audiovisualist community is here to bring together
artists in the interactive video/multimedia performance disciplines.
Our meetings consist of open exchanges of information through
demonstrations, screenings, socializing, and hands-on interaction.
More information at

http://nwav.org

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Sunday, May 17, 2009 from 1–5pm

DorkbotPDX Pure Data Workshop - (1 of 3) - Introduction to Pd

Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA)
1241 NW Johnson Street
Portland Oregon 97209

Description:

We are excited to announce a new workshop series devoted to Pure Data (Pd).

http://puredata.info

“Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing. It is the third major branch of the family of patcher programming languages known as Max (Max/FTS, ISPW Max, Max/MSP, jMax, etc.) originally developed by Miller Puckette and company at IRCAM.”

Pure Data is free [FLOSS] software - meaning there is no charge for the download and it is open source, (free/libre). It runs wonderfully on Mac, Linux, Windows - so bring any laptop. Come with Pd-extended installed if possible - otherwise come a little early for installation assistance. The workshop is free as well!

We will will be doing several workshops starting from the ground up - and ranging topics as advanced as there is interest for.

Workshop One will be held May 17th. No prior Pd or programming knowledge is required, but expect to leave with functional knowledge of how to use Pd. The outline in progress can be found here:
http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pd_workshop_2009_outline.

But we want to hear from you! We’d love to get a rough idea of how many people are interested in attending.

Do you use Pd? Do you use similar commercial software like Max/MSP? Are you interested in learning Pd? Why? What are some of your ideas?

Pd is an incredibly open-ended platform so we’re trying to get an idea of where the majority’s (if there is a majority) interests lie…. Physical Interfaces for music? Live DSP? Generative composition? Video? Dance? Robotic cat toys? Feedforward most welcome!

Bring a laptop with Pd-extended installed, if possible. Otherwise come a little early for installation help! http://puredata.info.

Seating is limited to about 35, so please rsvp at http://dorkbotpdx.org/pd_rsvp or email jason@noisybox_net or coldham@mac_com.

* When: May 17th, 2009
* Where: PNCA room 205 (Portland, OR)
* Time: 1-5pm

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Monday, May 18, 2009 from 7–9pm

PDX Critique

CubeSpace
622 SE Grand Ave.
Portland Oregon 97214

Description:

The mission of PDX Critique is to provide a monthly forum for designers of any stripe (graphic, web, whatever) to share information and constructive criticism.

If you have something to show sign up here.

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 8:30am

SAOpdx: The Art of Agile Teams: Designing Roles and Responsibilities

Doubletree Hotel Portland-Lloyd Center
1000 Ne Multnomah St
Portland OR 97232

Description:

These courses are heavily federally subsidized (you will not find pricing like this anywhere else) and will sell out early. Register now before they fill up!

At the conclusion of this course, you will be prepared to build a successful Agile team, define roles and responsibilities for your project, and set expectations for team performance and deliverables.

Trainers: Diana Larsen + Jim Shore

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009 from 5:30–8pm

Portland’s Pink Slip Party

Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave
Portland OR 97209
US

Description:

Portland’s companies have been hit hard by the recession and the tech crowd has seen the impact first-hand. However, there remains massive energy around Portland’s tech scene that doesn’t always find its way to the companies and individuals who can most benefit from its vitality. We believe strongly that Portland possesses the resources and the will to take care of its own.

In this dynamic and challenging economic climate finding a new job can be frustrating – companies are tending to extend fewer courtesies to job seekers and opportunities are harder to locate. The tools, methods, and resources for finding work have changed dramatically as a result of technology and the current recession. Identifying those organizations with the ability to guide and assist is tricky at best. Boly:Welch and YPOP are bringing together resources to help you through the process. The Pink Slip Party is a chance to begin the discussion and make new connections between innovative technical professionals and resourceful business leaders. Together we can make a difference.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 8am through Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 5pm

Webvisions 2009

Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland OR 97232

Description:

Discover the future of Web design, user experience and business strategy for three days of mind-melding on what’s new in the digital world. Get a glimpse into the future, along with practical information that you can apply to your Web site, company and career.
Ticket Info: $150 - $195 before April 1st.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009 from noon–2pm

Lunch 2.0 at WebVisions

Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland OR 97232

Description:

WebVisions, yes the conference, will be hosting a Lunch 2.0 at the Oregon Convention Center during their day of workshops, May 20.

Important to note, you can come to Lunch 2.0 even if you’re not attending the conference.

Attend WebVisions if you want to:

“Discover the future of Web design, user experience and business strategy for three days of mind-melding on what’s new in the digital world. Get a glimpse into the future, along with practical information that you can apply to your Web site, company and career.”

This will be the first Portland Lunch 2.0 hosted by a conference, and it should be an interesting mix of conference attendees, many from out of town, and Portlanders.

This crowd mix should provide some interesting conversation, as well as an opportunity to network outside your normal crowd.

Lunch 2.0 is a Valley phenomenon that you can read about at lunch20.com, and we’re putting a PDX stamp on it.

You can follow all things Portland Lunch 2.0 an the Silicon Florist.

Are you vegan or vegetarian? Please leave a comment so we can plan food accordingly. Thanks.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 8am

SAOpdx: Software Day at the Capitol

Oregon State Capitol Steps
900 Court St Ne
Salem Oregon 97301
United States

Description:

…check back for updates!

If your company would like to be involved, please contact
Jennifer Warren at 503-228-5401 or jennifer.warren@sao.org for more information.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009 from 6–9pm

Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in Health IT

BICC (Biomedical Information Communications Center) Theater
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road
Portland or 97239

Description:

Health Information Technology Gets $19 Billion Boost, Comparative Effectiveness Research Gets $1 Billion

The new economic stimulus bill is an example of the priority and urgency the new Congress and Obama Administration gives to reforming the health care system. As part of the stimulus package, signed into law by President Obama, $19 billion is now dedicated to transforming the patient record to an electronic format and adopting standards, to be developed by Jan 1, 2010.

Heath Information Technology (HIT) standards that must be developed by Jan. 1, 2010.
Physicians and other practitioners will be eligible for up to $64,000 in incentive payments over several years for the meaningful use of an electronic medical record for patients. By 2015 all physicians will be required to use electronic records in their practice.
Hospitals will also be eligible for $1-9 million in incentives for meaningful EHR adoption.
This stimulus package is expected to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs to provide technology and services to healthcare practitioners and organizations. It will also focus on developing the health IT workforce that institutions like OHSU are already doing, creating new career opportunities in this area.

TIE Oregon has partnered with OHSU and lined up a great panel of healthcare industry professionals and entrepreneurs who have pioneered the developm

ent and use of Electronic Health Records, who will provide insights into this industry and how entrepreneurs can capitalize on this opportunity.

If you are looking to get into this field this is your opportunity to network and learn!

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009 from 6:30–8pm

PDX Open Source GIS User Group

OpenSourcery
1636 NW Lovejoy Street
Portland Oregon 97209

Description:

The [not] first meeting of the newly re-grouped Portland Open Source GIS user group.

Parking is limited, but mass-transit is ample.

We’ll have some type of software demonstration, discussion about
group structure and preferences, and then adjourn to a local boozery
around 8 for more co-conspiring.

You can find out more and sign up for announcements by joining the google group pdx-osgis.

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Thursday, May 21, 2009 from 11:30am–1pm

OEN - CEO Roundtable - Boards and Advisors: Using your external team to help drive you and your company’s success

IronStone Bank
309 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland OR 97204

Description:

Paul Gulick, formerly of Clarity Visual Systems and Planar, will lead a lively discussion that will help entrepreneurs drive their organization’s success. Come share your challenges, observations and successes with other CEOs of emerging businesses.

We will discuss why and how to structure your board of directors, advisory board, professional advisory teams (legal, accounting, etc.). Learn from other’s successes as well as war stories from the board rooms.

Open only to CEOs or Presidents of currently operating companies that have employees. Boxed lunch will be served. This program is limited to 12 participants, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Non-member Fee (includes a one-year Individual Membership to OEN): $151.00
OEN Member Fee: $46.00

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Thursday, May 21, 2009 from 5:30–7:30pm

PDMA: Product Strategies for Today’s Economy

Crowne Plaza Lake Oswego
14811 SW Kruse Oaks Drive
Lake Oswego OR 97035

Description:

The Oregon chapter of the Product Developm

ent and Management Association (PDMA) is pleased to announce its May Learning Event; Product Strategies for Today’s Economy: Lessons from the Front Lines. Three Directors will discuss what it’s like to be on the front lines of product developm

ent and management during the recession. Each will share insights into how their companies are adapting to new challenges and new opportunities. Learn, share, collaborate, network and have fun!

$20 at the door ($10 for members or students with ID)
Includes hors d’oeuvres, non-hosted beer and wine.

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Thursday, May 21, 2009 from 6–8pm

Independent Consultants Meetup

Jax Bar (CLOSED)
826 SW 2nd Avenue
Portland Oregon 97204

Description:

Are you an independent consultant or thinking about becoming one? Come network with other local independents, and share success stories and tips and tricks for starting and running your own business. Contact @incanus77 or @hal_pomeranz for further info.

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Thursday, May 21, 2009 from 7–9pm

SECP’s Event May 21, 2009 | Striving To Thriving: Sustainable Marketing Resolutions

Oregon Stamp Society
4828 Ne 33rd Ave
Portland OR 97211

Description:

SECP Advisory Board Member and Affiliate, Roberta Mac Laren of Rpm

Marketing Mentor has just published a new book with tips for Striving to Thriving—Sustainable Marketing Resolutions that are Practical and Cheap. She’s coming in May to share her tips exclusively with SECP.

Roberta will introduce integrated ways to market your services and products that are sustainable. She will cover how to strategize and create a marketing plan that makes the most of the resources and contacts you have right now to build the business that you want by maximizing different channels. The she will introduce the concept of making a ‘resolution’ to set it in your mind and make it happen.

Cost: $10 (members); $15 (non members).

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Thursday, May 28, 2009 from 6:30–7:30pm

Refresh Portland May: User Experience and Healthcare, by Sheetal Dube

Jive Software
915 SW Stark
Portland Oregon

Description:

In the healthcare industry, Web 2.0 tools are being used to share information and connect with others. This is significant for an industry that has not taken advantage of digitization until recently.

But how does the new technology work with the user needs? How do we design products and applications that could benefit us all?

Join Sheetal Dube, a Senior User Experience Consultant at Evantage Consulting, for a conversation on:
• Designing around user needs
• Unique challenges faced while designing for the healthcare industry
• Process for doing a quick usability review

Refresh Portland is a monthly meetup on design, front-end development, usability and web standards. It’s part of the Refreshing Cities Movement, and held every 4th Thursday of the month.

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Saturday, May 30, 2009 from 8am–6pm

Portland Code Camp

Reed College
3203 SE Woodstock
Portland OR 97202

Description:

Coders showing code to Coders

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Tuesday June 9, 2009 at 7:00pm

Objectified Special Screening with Gary Hustwit

Cinema 21
616 NW 21st Ave
Portland, Oregon 97209

Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.

Through vérité footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential product designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects with which we surround ourselves?

*Join director Gary Hustwit, director of the acclaimed documentary Helvetica, for a special screening and post-film discussion.*

Watch the Trailer:

http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/objectified-trailer/

Ticket Info: General public $20, Students, AIGA, IDSA members $15.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 from 6:30–8pm

Portland Java User Group

Oracle (Downtown Campus)
1211 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 800, Room 8005
Portland Oregon 97204

Description:

This month’s topic: TBD

PJUG meetings start with some time to eat and socialize (pizza and beverages are provided), followed by the featured speaker, then Q&A, discussion, sometimes a drawing to give away swag.

Though we like knowing how many people to expect, you don’t *have* to RSVP, on Upcoming or otherwise. Go ahead and just show up!

Many people also go for a drink and further discussion following the meeting, at a location determined ad hoc (more often than not, Jax on 2nd).

http://twitter.com/pjug

http://pjug.org/

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 8am through Friday, June 19, 2009 at 4:30pm

Open Source Bridge

Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland OR 97232

Description:

Open Source Bridge is a three-day open source developers conference, focused on bringing people from a range of technology backgrounds together to share their knowledge and explore what it means to be an open source citizen.

In order to create a conference that promotes cross-pollination as well as providing space for in-depth discussion, the tracks are divided into the following five areas:

Cooking: Useful recipes for software developm

ent, systems administration, and working with open source.

Chemistry: Understanding how our systems work, in order to improve and extend.

Business: Building open source businesses that thrive.

Culture: Exploring how open source extends through technology into our communities.

Hacks: Tinkering, experimenting and bending the rules to make hardware and software do what we want.

The final day of the conference will be structured in an unconference format, to allow participants to reflect and build on the previous days’ discussions.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 from noon–2pm

Sweet Sixteen Lunch 2.0 at ISITE Design

ISITE Design
115 NW First Avenue, Suite 500
Portland OR 97209

Description:

We’re back in Old Town for Portland Lunch 2.0’s Sweet Sixteen at ISITE Design . At least, I think that’s considered Old Town.

Anyway, Andy Van Oostrum is bringing Lunch 2.0 to another company, and you all are invited to check out ISITE, mix and mingle with your Twitter pals and meet some new folks.

Lunch 2.0 is a Valley phenomenon that you can read about at lunch20.com , and we’re putting a PDX stamp on it.

You can follow all things Portland Lunch 2.0 an the Silicon Florist .

Are you vegan or vegetarian? Please leave a comment so we can plan food accordingly. Thanks.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 from 7–9pm

ECLIPSE DEMO CAMP GALILEO 2009

Lucky Labrador Beer Hall
1945 NW Quimby
Portland OR 97209

Description:

Instantiations and The Eclipse Foundation will co-host a pizza and salad buffet, including beverages. Come see what’s cool in Eclipse developm

ent, and network with your local Eclipse community!

Here are the official details and where to sign up:

Event Sponsors:
Eclipse Foundation / Instantiations

Event Title:
Eclipse DemoCamps Galileo 2009/Portland

Date: June 17, 2009

Time: 7pm – 9pm (Presenters set up at 6pm)

Location:
Lucky Lab Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby, Portland

Cost: Complimentary; attendance is limited

Registration: To register, add your name as presenter or attendee to this wiki: http://wiki.eclipse.org/Eclipse_DemoCamps_Galileo_2009/Portland.

Feel free to pass this along to your colleagues, and be sure to sign up on the wiki if you would like to attend or present!

We look forward to seeing you there.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009 from 7–8:30pm

UX Book Club

Tyesha’s house (inner SE Portland)
Portland OR

Description:

Interested in user experience in all of its forms? Enjoy reading? Want to combine the two in a social setting with other smart, like-minded people, and maybe drink a beer?

Join us for Portland’s second UX Book Club meeting on Tuesday June 23. For this session, we’re reading “Mental Models” by Indi Young:

http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/

books/mental-models/

Feel free to bring snacks or drinks (alcohol is a-okay), for yourself or to share. We’ll be meeting at Tyesha’s house–the address will be posted closer to the date.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 from 7–9pm

Portland JavaScript Admirers June Meeting

CubeSpace
622 SE Grand Ave.
Portland Oregon 97214
USA

Description:

The June Meeting of Portland’s first JavaScript and ECMAscript users’ group. We will discuss topics ranging from client-side web frameworks and features, to functional and prototypal programming theory.

Topics will be announced on the mailing list at

http://groups.google.com/group/pdxjs

. If you would like to give a presentation, or have a suggestion for a topic, please send a message to pdxjs@googlegroups.com.

Feel free to join our mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/pdxjs if you too are a JavaScript admirer. Or visit our web site for more information at http://pdxjs.com/.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009 from 7–10pm

Ignite Portland 6

Bagdad Theater and Pub
3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd
Portland Oregon 97214

Description:

Save the date! Ignite Portland 6 will happen on Thursday, July 16, 2009, at the Bagdad Theater. Stay tuned to http://www.igniteportland.com/ for more details, and submit YOUR talk idea now!

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009 from 6:30–8pm

Portland Java User Group

Oracle (Downtown Campus)
1211 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 800, Room 8005
Portland Oregon 97204

Description:

This month’s topic: TBD

———-

PJUG meetings start with eat+meet+greet time (pizza and beverages are provided), followed by the featured speaker, then some time for Q&A, discussion, and sometimes a drawing to give away swag.

It is not necessary to RSVP, on Upcoming or otherwise; go ahead and just show up!

Many people also go for drinks afterward, at a location decided on the fly (more often than not, Jax on 2nd).

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Thursday, July 23, 2009 from 8am–1pm

Internet Strategy Forum Summit

Governor Hotel
614 SW 11th Avenue
Portland OR 97205

Description:

The Internet Strategy Forum Summit is the premiere annual conference from the Internet Strategy Forum, a national professional association for corporate Internet executives.

Attendees of the 6th annual Internet Strategy Forum Summit will engage with our keynote presenters from Intel, Xerox, Forrester Research and more, who will share their insights and ideas on how to best leverage the Internet and integrate it into overall business strategy.

Visit the event for a complete list of confirmed presenters.

There are plenty of opportunities for networking with corporate Internet professionals and Internet-related product and service providers.

Check out “The Road to Chief Internet Strategist”, an optional corporate Internet strategist career path symposium on July 24th, the day after the main conference.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 8am through Friday, September 11, 2009 at 5pm

Inverge 2009

Description:

Inverge 2009 — Come Together

Inverge: the interactive convergence conference, is scheduled for Thursday + Friday, Sept. 10 + 11, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. It is an interdisciplinary thought-leader event that focuses on the convergence of media platforms, of virtual + physical, content + advertising, and corporate content + consumer-generated content. Inverge is part of a unique business+culture event cluster happening in Portland around the same time (see below).

Confirmed Keynote Speakers so far include*:

* Jeff Gomez, President & Chief Executive Officer of Starlight Runner Entertainment and transmedia storytelling expert.
* Andy Yang, General Manager, InstantAction.com at GarageGames
o Read the recent BusinessWeek article
* Raven Zachary, iPhone expert and the driver behind the “Obama ’08? iPhone application

If you are interested in attending, speaking, sponsoring or partnering, please complete the contact dialog at the bottom of the Connect page.

To create a unique business+culture experience for attendees, this conference is integrated with four other unique events happening in Portland over the same multi-day period:
+ Portland Creative Conference (focused on the creative process across categories)
+ Time-Based Art Festival (performance : dance : music : new media : visual arts)
+ MusicFestNW (over 150 indie bands)

* Speakers and topics are subject to change

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More Portland Tech Events

This is only a smattering of tech events compared to the immense volume of events omnipresent on various calendar sites such as Calagator, Portland’s Tech Event Calendar, and Yahoo’s Upcoming.

This morning I met with Brooks Gilley, Partner and Managing Director of 52ltd Portland’s only locally owned and operated full-service staffing resource for the creative industry. We had a great discussion on how marketing is changing, and how some companies really ‘get it’, or at least attempt to experiment with this strange new medium, while others are left behind.

We were meeting to talk about a creative event that will be occuring on May 27th at Univeristy of Oregon’s White Stag Building in downtown Portland. The event will feature four panelists from fields ranging from advertising, social media and sociology/anthropology. I’ll be on a panel discussing cyborg anthropology, new media frameworks, and changes in marketing in the digital era.

Panelists

I’ll be speaking with a variety of others, including an executive from Crispin Porter + Bogusky (the agency that worked on the infamous Facebook Burger King Whopper Sacrifice campaign).

Other panelists will include the Directory of Interactive Media for the Portland Trailblazers (whose community engagement strategy has been quite impressive), as well the possibility of a professor of Sociology from Portalnd State University, but I am unsure of his name yet. All told, the event should be a great chance for all of us to share different perspectives and strategies with each other and an audience of creatives, freelancers, and marketers.

More Information

I’ll post more details as the event nears, but it should begin at around 6:15 Pm at the White Stag Building on NW Couch street. There will be ample time for networking, so if you’re excited to meet new people, come on out. It is a free event too, so you’ve got nothing to lose. Check the 52ltd website for details as May 27th approaches, and if you’re looking to hire a creative or looking for a creative gig, consider making an appointment with them.

If you have any questions you’d like us to cover on the panel, feel free to E-mail me at caseorganic [at] gmail [dot] com, or simply reply to me at @caseorganic on Twitter.

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Prior to network culture, traditional news outlets were the first reliable source for news concerning major events. This was because traditional news media outlets have established reputations for providing a certain level of credibility and reliability.

In a global, ever-connected economy, it is finally possible to rely on citizen media outlets to receive news almost as soon as it happens, however, people often have a limited basis on which to determine validity. Online, time and space for information gathering is compressed. This also means that time and space for decision making is also reduced. This is why online social networks try to use online metrics to establish validity in as short amount of time as possible.

Take, for example, critical situations like wars, attacks, accidents or natural disasters:

• In emergency situations, traditional media sources are often too slow in providing clear, relevant information.

• In delicate political environments, standard news outlets are often blocked from transmitting relevant information.

These situations call for non-traditional data points. These data points exist in the form of social nodes in networks. The wired, network of the online world allows anyone close to the news source to have the same power as ones with bigger budgets, bigger political power or better transmission equipments like a traditional news source. Reputation in critical moments like these (such as earthquake reporting, or terrorist attack information and safety instructions) must be negotiated almost instantaneously. Unlike traditional offline news identities, there are no presuppositions of identity.

In a space where news sources are both distributed (in both sense of the word: “distribution of power” and “fragmentation”) and largely anonymous, reputation becomes the sole metric for validity. This is the problem that this paper tries to address.

Reputation is extremely complex. There is no single way to define it:

• It can take the form of a hyperlink between two places, abilities, or powers. In other words, reputation is a way of describing the link between two entities.

• It can be transitory, especially online, where reputation serves as a social construction only as long as it’s needed, depending on data flows, proximity to events, or distance between individuals. In other words, reputation is a dynamic system of situated knowledge that sorts social interactions.

• It can be a handshake, in a sense that both parties must agree to open up and exchange something valuable for a trust-relationship to happen. In the business realm, for instance, this action has been formalized in the act of exchanging business cards.

• It can be measured or tracked as an overlay on a series of data points showing relations and trust.

• It can be measured or tracked as factors that individuals share in common. More shared things will lead to more shared beliefs, value systems and judgment, and generally could better reputation.

Measuring Reputation

A new metric is thus needed in order to quickly determine credibility and reputation in the event of a crisis. Note that this paper does not aim to search for and establish the most accurate metric, but rather, one that provides the user with an idea about the situation, then leaves the ultimate value judgment in her hand. In other words, to be both economically and timely achievable, the metric has to have enough ‘fuzziness.’

“What you want is a durable perception of person”, says programmer Anselm Hook, “one that allows one to quickly understand whether a piece of information from a source is reputable or not in the fastest way possible”. One way is to wait for a backup vote. Robert’s Rules of Order say that a statement must be seconded before it can be voted on by many. But in some cases, waiting for a second is difficult, because there may be only one person next to a data source or event that is capable of reporting it.

In order to determine a valid metric, one must define a few key elements of the online experience:

Interest and Power

Power is created by interest. This is the most easily observed in online environments, where the creation of value and interest is most fluid. The fluidity of value creation and exchange.

Interest Groups

One could call an interest group a demographic. Demographics are those with specific lifestyles that influence interest, and also support those who create products or services that fulfill these interests.

Crises and Social Networks

During a crisis, interest groups tend to converge upon a single topic or news source. The creation of validity in a news source in an online social network is often very fast, and generally not a traditional news source. Network users who were formerly low-level nodes can suddenly become major nodes of traffic if they begin to provide data that has proxemic, relational, or newsworthy value.

Those nodes that can provide the fastest information have tremendous power over those who have recently turned to follow them.

Point A marks the status of normal social network conditions and interest groups.

B marks the first appearance of crisis in the social network.

C signals the ramp-up of information awareness among social groups not in the social interest group of the initial reformers.

At point D, the crisis becomes a topic of collective interest. Networks of trust re-broadcast the news to un-informed groups until the network is saturated with information from all groups capable of absorbing the information.

At E, the discussion of crisis decreases due to crisis resolution of exhaustion of topic. The crisis falls out of common interest and formerly melded interest groups diverge once again.

F marks the final resolution or disappearance of the crisis. The crisis falls almost completely out of social network conversation.

One of the problems with social networks during crises is quickly finding the nodes with the most valuable information a voice in an efficient way, and promoting them to the top of a social network so that all that need that information can find it.

Micromeasurement

On May 11th, 2008, a earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale hit China. Several of those who experienced the earthquake Twitter user @dtan Tech Reporter Robert Scoble was able to rebroadcast the message to (at the time) approximately 40,000 followers.

But how did Robert Scoble know that @dtan’s Tweets were valid?

Was it the architecture of Twitter? A trust economy, established by the rapid exchange of everyday data on Twitter helped to. But Scoble’s reputation process takes a while.He has to first follow @dtan and through direct or indirect exchange determine the user’s reputation to report on an emergency.Of course, later on, additional reports from other people in China who also experienced the quake arrived. But it took CNN hours later to report on the event. This demonstrates the agility, relevancy and accuracy of non-traditional nodes as news sources.

As an aside, tools such as Google’s translation engine allowed @dtan’s Tweets, which were written almost entirely in Chinese, to be translated into English, and passed on to a more global

Improving Data Flows in Crisis

All individuals have social bases. There are an increasing number of individuals who use social networks as social bases. However, these bases are not necessarily the same. Social networks record relationships in different ways.One who uses the photo-sharing website Flickr as a social base interacts with data differently than a Facebook or Twitter user. Robert Scoble was able to transfer authority and power to @dtan very quickly, but rapid, local news of the earthquake was constrained to Twitter.

There was no system that looked at Twitter as a database and pulled out information. Neither was there a system that added Twitter’s earthquake updates to other relevant information coming out of mainstream news sources and other social networks.

To improve data flows in crisis, there is a clear opportunity to transcend data silos and aggregating data streams into a more accessible and unified databases, so that users of different social networks, or limited social networks, can quickly access relevant information.

This calls for either:

• The establishment of an open standard for disaster reporting across networks.

• The use and appropriation of existing open standards for reporting.

For instance: the DiSo project is an initiative to facilitate the creation of open, non-proprietary and interoperable building blocks for the decentralized social web.

Another other alternative (besides traditional media) is to rely on many ‘Scoble’s’ on each social network who talk to and inform each other on current happening at all times. This is highly impractical and very costly.

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Additional Sources:

For more information and a full analysis of the Twitter Earthquake reporting, please visit: http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/05/12/twitter-and-the-chinese-earthquake/

Search Engine Reputation Management

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About

Amber Case is a Cyborg Anthropologist and Tech Consultant from Portland, Oregon. She studies the effects of technology on the ways in which communities are built both off and online. You can follow her on Twitter @caseorganic.

I’ve been interested in data visualization for a very long time — it intersects with a lot of very interesting things that are going on in the world, and thus is definitely worth studying. Happily enough, we now have whole boatloads of data — because the Internet has given this to us.

We have free tools and programming skills to mess with the data so that we can relatively easily turn it into something useful or interesting without puling teeth or renting computer time from 3-6 in the morning an hour’s drive away at the nearest State University.

It is because of all of these things, and what I feel is becoming an essential next step in the development of trend prediction and the very useful implementation of data and information, that we’ve decided to start having some meetings around this sort of thing.

The first Portland Data Visualization Group will be held on Monday, March 23, 2009 from 6–8pm at Webtrends.

851 SW 6th Ave.
Portland OR 97204
(map)

View the event on Calagator, Portland’s Tech Event Calendar.

Event Description

Researchers have long said that the material published on the Web amounts to a form of “collective intelligence” that can be used to spot trends and make predictions.

Using his 20% time, a Google employee discovered that during flu season, many ailing Americans enter phrases like “flu symptoms” into Google and other search engines before they call their doctors. When he mapped this data, he was able to discover where flu outbreaks would strike up to two weeks before traditional news sources were able to report them.

This is an example of a time when merging a specific type of data to its geographical coordinates resulted in a unique insight. However, there is much more to do with data and visualization. What was found at Google is only the tip of a very large iceberg. Now that we have access to so much data on the web, we’re going to see an increasing need to understand and present that data.

Agenda:

The first meeeting of the Portland Data Visualization Group will serve as an introduction to what’s going on in the world of data viz. It will be freeform, so if you would like to demonstrate something you’re working on, please be prepared to do so. Micah Elliott will be showing uGraph and Ed Borasky will do a GGobi demo. I’ll be covering what already exists in the ecosystem and what might become useful in the future. We’re dealing with a rapid communication method here. Something that, if done well, compresses the time and space it takes for us to understand something.

If you’re interested in Data Visualization, please come to this event. It will be the first Portland Tech Event at WebTrends besides Web Analytics Wednesday. It’s our chance to try out the space and see if it is a good fit for this group or potentially for other groups in the future.

Google Group:

Ed Borasky recently started a Google group called pdx-visualization. As the name implies, it is a group for Portland-area people interested in languages and techniques for visualization of data. http://groups.google.com/group/pdx-visualization

Flickr Photos:

I’ve been collecting interesting data viz photos for a while now and posting them to Flickr. They’re all accessible on my Flickr account in this set. Most pictures contain descriptions and links to the viz sources.

I hope to see you all there!
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About

Amber Case, (@caseorganic is a Cyborg Anthropologist studying the interaction between humans and computers and how our relationship with information is changing the way we think, act, and understand the world around us.

Originally posted on Calagator, Portland’s Tech Event Calendar.