Beer and Blog Portland

No excuses, you’re coming to Beer and Blog this week. Because you love beer, and Saul Colt, the Smartest Man in the World and Head of Magic at FreshBooks, wants to buy you one. Yes, we are very stoked to announce that FreshBooks, the fastest way to track time, organize expenses and invoice your clients, is sponsoring this week’s Beer and Blog.

But wait! There’s more. After the usual Green Dragon festivities, FreshBooks has generously offered to throw an after party at Grand Central Bowl. Beer+Blog+Bowling = best Friday night ever.

But wait! There’s more. They also want to give you one month free of FreshBooks. Sign up for your free month here. Why, you ask, is FreshBooks being so wonderfully, fantastically magnanimous? Because we are just that awesome (not lying, that’s the response they gave us)! And because they’re pretty awesome, too.

We’ll see you Friday, as always, from 4-6pm at the Green Dragon. The beer is first come, first served, so get there early to secure your free pint!

I was excited and honored when Justin passed the Beer and Blog stein to me a few months ago.  Becoming the Portland Chapter host was a good fit for me, but unfortunately time got in the way.  Before I decided to move forward as the new chapter host I did not realize all of the changes would happen in such a short period of time.  I decided to start the Portland Ten and work on Taplister full time leaving me little free time to commit to anything else.  So Justin and I are in the process of finding a replacement and I plan on helping out when I can.

Cheers and I will see you at a future Beer and Blog once things slow done for me.

Kerry

A few weeks ago Justin passed the Beer and Blog Stein to me.  This means I am now your new chapter host.  I already know most of you and look forward to meeting new people and learning about their cool tech projects.  Since I have some big shoes to fill I need your help.  I want to know what you like and dislike about Beer and Blog.  Please fill out the survey here.

Cheers

Kerry

This Friday WebVisions is buying a round for everyone to celebrate their 10th anniversary show. Show organizer Brad Smith and crew will be there to offer a special Beer and Blog discount code for tickets.

About WebVisions

WebVisions is a Portland institution. For the last decade they have been bringing in some of the biggest names in the web world to lil ‘ol P-town. They describe the show as:

WebVisions explores the future of design, content creation, user experience and business strategy to uncover the trends and agents of change that will shatter your assumptions about the Web. Be ready to network, share ideas and be inspired by an all-star lineup of speakers.

This year’s show is May 19 – 21, 2010. They have speakers from Facebook, Twitter, Adaptive Path, and more. As usual, it will be held at the Oregon Convention Center and you can RSVP on Upcoming.

About the drinks

Look for Brad Smith and his team as they will have drink tickets. It’s 1 per person and first come, first serve. Come join us for a toast to 10 years of WebVisions!

Unless you’ve been living in a Christmas tree these past few weeks, you’ve heard of that totally ambitious charity fundraiser called 30 Hour Day. It’s been featured on The Square and in the Huffington Post. It has attracted a legion of die-hard elves who toil away into the wee hours of the night to get things ready. And, according to the paparazzi, it features a really, really big tree.

It’s that “cockamamie scheme concocted by Cami Kaos of Strange Love Live and Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist” in which they vow 30 consecutive livestreamed hours of online auctions and entertainment to raise money for charities like Free Geek, Oregon Food Bank, and Toys for Tots.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for cockamamie schemes. All of us at Beer and Blog are! We want to help make 30 Hour Day a landslide success. That’s why I’m very happy to report that after much begging and pleading, Rick and Cami have agreed to let us help!

This Friday, when you come to Beer and Blog at the Green Dragon with an unwrapped toy or non-perishable food donation, you’re in for a 30 Hour Day treat: a live video feed, anchored by Mr. Brian M. Westbrook, that connects us to those cockamamie schemers Cami and Rick!

Now…here’s the part that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside: the first item on the block is the apron I handmade and wore for the 2010 Get Naked for a Cause calendar. (I’m July, of course!)

With the apron comes a mediaChick-autographed copy of the calendar. (That’s me!) Many of the models in the calendar will be there to scribble in Sharpie, including our Ms. Cami Kaos and her man Doc Normal. (They’re October, of course!)

Mr. Westbrook and I will be on-air together at the Green Dragon for the apron/calendar auction at 5:30pm. Bid high, folks. It’s for charity!

Cami and Rick ring the opening bell for their live online charity auction this Friday December 18th at 4pm on 30hourday.org, and they’ll be accepting bids even before livestreaming begins. You can find more info on the online auction via 30hourday.org.

BONUS FUN! After Beer and Blog there will be a 30 Hour Day karaoke party with @MizD and @ChefChopper. We’re still encouraging people to bring down toys and food.

And PLEASE don’t forget to bring a new, unwrapped toy and/or non perishable food to Beer and Blog. It’s important!

I’ll see you on Friday!

P.S. You know you want that apron…

Today

Wow friends! It’s a beautiful day to socialize and network outside on the patio with cool drinks and good people! @xolotl is planning a good game of hideNtweet. @geekygirldawn is talking about an 8pm run for @Whiffles fried pies. I think I’m going to share a laugh with @turoczy on his comment on a Facebook invite for a $25 Happy Hour Workshop on The Holy Triad of Social Media Marketing

From now on

Last week I was working with Nichole installing a blog for her father. She is also an attorney and we discussed someone from her firm doing a talk on IP law as it relates to blogging and social media. That’s when a couple thoughts came into my mind that I realize come up frequently now:

1. It’s too loud to do talks at the Green Dragon these days, and;
2. We could do it somewhere else, but the offsite Beer and Blogs cause confusion.

These are problematic issues because a big part of what Beer and Blog is all about is helping each other for which talks work great. We could change venues, but Green Dragon has been a great home to us. It’s tough to find locations that meet the requirements for a good meet up spot: happy hour, good food, nice selection of drinks, reliable wifi, order at bar when busy (compared to table service only), and a staff that cares we’re there. The location is convenient and parking is easy. Finding all of that *and* a separate room with A/V support for talks is a fantasy land at the moment.

So, let’s do this:

1. Always meet at the Green Dragon every Friday with no exception. (I can see @kenefsky’s and @reidab’s heart breaking for Blog and Beer)
2. We’ll do the talks as offsite events at different times than Friday’s from 4-6pm.

These changes will not only address the two concerns about where we’ll be and ability to hear talks, but it will also begin to build connections with other groups. At our talks, we’ll do two discussions: one lead by us and the other by the group we’re visiting. This gives us a chance to teach and learn with other groups while expanding everyone’s networks. We have an opportunity to expand the spirit of helping each other beyond the tech scene in a way that leaves *us* more well rounded in our knowledge of the world outside of tech. As I write this there is a discussing taking place on Silicon Forest with 3 Oregon Venture Capitalists. They are talking with many of our friends about funding startups. This is an exciting time for all of us and now is our moment to reach out to the larger business community and the even greater Portland community with the offering of tech in our hands and to do so as a group. Beer and Blog can participate in this movement by helping spread the knowledge of blogging and social media. I plan to ask you, the attendees, to lead our talks for the other groups. This is a particularly good opportunity for folks to share baseline information that might otherwise be perceived as too basic for the more advanced tech scene. Let’s talk more about this stuff tonight and on the network.

I also realize that Beer and Blog serves another important function, which is to be one of the groups that brings play and the social into our group. So we’ll continue to do fun field trips, but those too will be outside of our regular meet ups. We need to go to more Twicnics with @donpdonp. Take more magic bus rides with @podcasthotel. Organize outdoor movie nights with suggestions from @pdxflaneur. Participate in more hideNtweets with @xolotl and @yuetsu. Sing more karaoke with @mizd and @rockstarbrother.

I posted this on Upcoming and Calagator even though it’s practically start time.

So much is going on, and I’ve just got back from Vegas to blog about it all! Speaking of Vegas, Christine and I attended Beer and Blog Las Vegas this past Thursday while we were there. We had an awesome time and they had a great turn out with at least 30 people attending!

This Friday we’re going to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of our first Beer and Blog meet up. Naturally, this calls for a celebration!! So, we’re going to have a cake and maybe some party hats

At this Friday’s meet up, Legion of Tech asked if they could set up to record 15 Seconds of Flame videos for the upcoming Ignite Portland 5. They wanted to make it easier for folks that want to make a video, but may not have the equipment or the skillz. I told them hell yes we want you guys to record some 15 Seconds of Flame clips!! So, make your hair look pretty and wear your Friday best cause you might have enough beers to feel like stepping in front of the lens.

Also, this Saturday we’re holding a mini job fair at the OTBC from noon to 3pm. I will do a follow up post with more details either later today or early tomorrow. If you know people that are hiring, have contract work, or are looking for sweat equity opportunities; have them contact Michelle so we can give them 2 minutes to share their opportunity with our attendees. Similarly, if you know someone looking for a job, project, or opportunity; please invite them down too.

As usual, you may RSVP on Upcoming or Calagator.

Attendees of End Bloglessness can do these three things to help us start quickly:

1. Buy your hosting package and domain name. Not sure who to use? Try Bluehost.com. Domain name is free with a 1 year purchase (we don’t get any money from you hosting with them).
2. Download the plugins we’ll be installing at http://www.beerandblog.com/plugins.zip
3. Download the theme we’re going to start you out with http://getk2.com/download/

Ok, looking forward to seeing you all soon!!

So, the hosting talk was difficult. Not for the reasons that I expected, however. I was anticipating a lively debate over what hosting package was right for a new blogger. Instead, it was hard to hear and tough to follow. Sorry about that!

I’ve heard complaints before about it being hard to hear. A lot more people are showing up these days and it’s impossible to hear now. I was thinking about what to do. Christine mentioned getting another venue. I pointed out that a lot of people talking is noisy no matter where we are. We agreed that we didn’t want to make people stop talking or split the room up as solutions either.

Then it occurred to me. The only time people are working on anything is in the beginning before most people show up. And, it’s quiet then. So, we’re going to start doing topics earlier at 4:15 when you can hear and are still sober. Then as more people show up, the topic will divide into the many wonderful discussions that makes it too hard to hear later. And, if you weren’t there to hear the points shared earlier, you can ask about them from the folks that were there, which gives you the chance to continue the discussion with your fresh perspective.

I felt like a smart monkey coming up with that one. What do you think? Good idea?

* No the kitty in the beer doesn’t relate to the story, but it’s pretty cute, huh?

At the last Beer and Blog I said hi to a new face, Jim, and we talked about a friend of his that works with the homeless on blogging. So, from that serendipitous meeting raincoaster media is now bringing us some beer! This is Beer and Blog afterall

About raincoaster media

Tagline: 49 degrees latitude, 360 degrees attitude.
Ten Second Pitch: Social Media with a side of Awesome.

Much thanks to Jim for introducing us to Lorraine! And, much thanks to raincoaster media for your support of End Bloglessness!!