Category Archives: People

By Miiko Mentz (@miikomentz)

Geeks on a Plane (GOAP) are at it again and this time they’re off to Hawaii for a week of fun in the sun and great talks and networking around technology, business, sustainability and life. The GOAP team and friends are part of [re]think Hawaii, which starts today and runs through November 5.

[re]think Hawaii is a week of events that is bringing together an international group of people — who might not otherwise meet — to rethink technology, business and sustainability. One of those events is Share Your Table’s Farm to Table Lunch that’s an invite-only luncheon of green, tech and business leaders who will feast on a lunch that’s 100 percent sourced from Hawaii, which is quite impressive given 85 percent of Hawaii’s food is imported. Sustainability is a critical issue that affects all of us, and I hope that [re]think Hawaii helps raise awareness not only in Hawaii’s own efforts to support its sustainability, but also globally.

[re]think Hawaii participants will attend a host of other events this week from Venture Capital Secrets and Startonomics Hawaii to BlogWorld’s Social Media Business Summit and the What They Don’t Teach You At Business School workshop that will be given by Duck9 CEO and Businessweek Blogger Larry Chiang (@larryChiang). Larry is also a guest writer at Bubblicious.

One lucky [re]think Hawaii participant is Mugasha CEO and Co-founder Akshay Dodeja (@dodeja) who we caught up with recently at the TechCrunch50 conference. Akshay was the lucky winner of the Girls in Tech [re]think Hawaii raffle giveaway that was conducted during TC50. Proceeds from the raffle went to Girls Inc., an organization celebrating girlhood and inspiring and supporting young girls to become tomorrow’s leaders.

Check out our interview with Adriana Gascoigne (@afgascoigne), GOAP co-organizer and Girls in Tech founder, talking about Girls in Tech, Girls Inc., GOAP and [re]think Hawaii; and at the end of the video we captured a few comments from lucky winner Akshay.

GOAP organizers are Dave McClure (@davemcclure) of Founders Fund and Startup2Startup, Brady Forrest (@brady) of O’Reilly, Adriana Gascoigne of SGN and Girls in Tech (GIT), and many others. Dave McClure, Larry Chiang, and Flowtown Co-founder Dan Martell (@danmartell) are the hosts of GOAP Hawaii. And [re]think Hawaii is organized by Christine Lu (@christinelu) and a unique group of people from around the world.

#rethink #GOAP

On Saturday, I had the fortune of attending and being back stage at the Bridge School Benefit Concert in Mountain View, CA. Before jumping into the concert, I want to share a bit more about the Bridge School and the impact that this benefit has on the students.

The annual concert, now in it’s 23rd year, is the primary source of funding for the Bridge School. The school was founded in 1986 and opened to students in 1987 and my brother, Peter Schlegel, was a member of the inaugural class. Founded by Pegi Young and Jim Forderer, the school was created to meet the needs of kids with severe speech and physical impairments. A group that is marginalized more often than not, the focus on these kids prepares them to lead fulfilling lives.

The concert itself was an amazing musical experience. This year, the show featured Neil Young, No Doubt, Chris Martin (of Coldplay), Jimmy Buffet, Sheryl Crow, Monsters of Folk, Fleet Foxes, Wolfmother and Gavin Rossdale. Adam Sandler is scheduled to perform in place of Jimmy Buffet during the Sunday show. What’s unique about this benefit is that the artists all perform acoustic sets.

No Doubt was by far my favorite performer of the day. Students from the school are seated on the stage behind the artists, which presents a challenge for the musicians, performing for both the kids and the audience at Shoreline Amphitheater. Gwen Stefani and her band were the most successful with that by singing to both the kids and the audience throughout the set. Chris Martin was also amazing. As a solo performer, singing Coldplay songs, he had the unique challenge of using just his voice and a piano to woo the 20,000 or so people in the audience. He did it beautifully and was joined by a violin-playing friend of his after the first song. He was funny, making jokes about his bad choice in hat (which had a “where’s Waldo?” feel) and sharing an incredible musical performance.

Earlier in the evening, Jimmy Buffet took the stage with his happy island music and all had a good time dancing to songs like “Margaritaville”. Sheryl Crow shared an emotional set featuring a lullaby she composed for her son. Monsters of Folk and Fleet Foxes were new bands to me but both impressed the crowd, making the most of the acoustic sets. I was a little late so I missed Wolfmother and Gavin Rossdale but I heard good reviews from the people around me.

This is the one show I look forward to every year. The tickets seem a little pricey but you always get your money worth and it’s all for a good cause. I realize that this post has absolutely nothing to do with social media but is an event that I want to share with the community, especially bay area based people who may be interested in attending next year.

To learn more about the Bridge School, please visit: http://www.bridgeschool.org/

To check out the videos I recorded at the concert head over to my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/schlegelsteph

By Miiko Mentz (@miikomentz)

Panasonic’s ‘Living In HD’ (LiHD) Insider contest is in its final hours. Five of the ten finalists are friends of Bubblicious and we’d like to enlist you to help one of them win by voting today. The contest ends tonight at 11:59pm EDT.

Check out each of their videos and then cast your vote for your favorite at http://lihdinsider.livinginhd.com/. And if you tweet it, use hashtag #lihdinsider.

The LiHD Insider winner will receive a full content creator suite of Panasonic HD products to fuel their creativity and share their life in HD across the social Web and within the LiHD community. In addition, the newly crowned LiHD Insider will receive a Panasonic LUMIX G1 digital camera to give away to one person within their own community of friends, fans and followers.

So vote now for your favorite and if he or she wins then you might have a chance to win the Panasonic LUMIX G1 digital camera. To read more about the LiHD Insider program and see the suite of products that the winner will receive, check out the social media release at http://pitch.pe/23965

Sarah Austin (@pop17)

Cathy Brooks (@cathybrooks) and Truman Brooks (@trumanbrooks)

Erin Darling (@ErinADarling)

Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber)

Michael Sheehan (@HighTechDad)

Once again, voting closes tonight at 11:59pm, so VOTE NOW!

By Miiko Mentz @miikomentz

Today at the BlogWorld New Media Expo in Las Vegas, CNN Anchor Don Lemon (@donlemoncnn) talked about an idea he and BeEverywhere Co-founder Tamara Knechtel (@tamaraknechtel) came up with a week ago when they were out to dinner discussing the power of social media. Together they came up with the idea to use social media for social good and set a record using social media while raising money for cancer research.

Tamara contacted Guinness World Records and a few companies and got them to sign on and participate in this contest to set a record for the most tweets using the hashtag #beatcancer in a 24-hour period and raise money at the same time.

The #beatcancer contest is a great demonstration of how social media is changing the way people receive information, raise money, and give to charity; so whether you are at BlogWorld New Media Expo or not, take a second and add the hashtag #beatcancer to all your tweets, Facebook status updates or blog posts.

Check out this video of Don talking about the #beatcancer contest, and check back later to watch our interview with him.

#beatcancer  #bwe09

The Register is reporting today that Michael Dell doesn’t think you’ll like your little netbook.

“If you take a user who’s used to a 14- or 15-inch notebook and you say ‘Here’s a 10-inch netbook,’ they’re gonna say ‘Hey, this is so fantastic. It’s so cute. It’s so light. I love it,’” Dell told Silicon Valley’s tech-obsessed Churchill Club during an appearance Tuesday night. “But about 36 hours later, they’re saying ‘The screen’s gonna have to go. Give me my 15-inch screen back.’”

Right. I’ve had my netbook for exactly a week, which is longer than 36 hours, and I beg to differ. The only thing I dislike about my Dell Mini 10v is the trackpad, and that’s easily fixed with a tiny wireless mouse.

First off, I can’t imagine marketing these little machines as primary machines. If that’s been Dell’s strategy, then they’re nuts. These are not good primary machines unless you a) need very little computing power and b) intend to hook it up to an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Now, Michael Dell does mention that these are good as secondary machines, and that is indeed how they should be marketed. If I know I’ve got an hour between appointments, I’ll make sure to grab my Mini on the way out the door to spend working wherever I can find some Wi-Fi. When I travel (and it does seem to be my Year of the Suitcase), I intend to take only the Mini. It’s a huge weight difference from my 15-inch Macbook Pro and much, much easier for me to deal with in my carry-on. I chose the 10v over the 10 because the “low-end” 10v has a VGA port, making it my primary machine for the countless PowerPoint presentations I give. It’s just easy to deal with on so many levels.

Is it my primary machine? Of course not. The trackpad is a pain and it’s got a 10-inch screen. I’m not crazy. But while I was killing time in the salon while my hair color baked onto my head, I was able to get a little work done on the Mini I pulled out of my purse. When I’m in my family room watching a movie and I need a quick answer from IMDB, the Mini is a lot easier to deal with than my large Mac.

So, Michael Dell, I respectfully disagree with you. I love my Mini, but I love it for all the reasons it should be used, and not the reasons it shouldn’t.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.