heathervescent

Ignite3 Line-up

I'm really excited about our 3rd Ignite here in Los Angeles on June 7th. We had a record number of absolutely AMAZING submissions. It took a lot of deliberation to select the speakers. Our only consolation for those awesome submittions not on stage this month, is ... you're on the short-list for IgniteLA4!

A note about our venue, V Lounge. We selected a larger capacity venue from our previous Ignite. We loved CineSpace, but wanted to offer a longer program and increase attendance capacity. However, even with the increase, we expect standing room only. We encourage you to arrive in plenty of time and we're working on an even larger venue for next time.

The event is FREE, but please register and support the event by having a cocktail or some snacks at V Lounge, they're donating the space. Space is first-come, first-serve. (Registering helps us plan future IgniteLAs.)

When: June 7, 7:30-11pm, talks start at 8:15pm
Where: V Lounge, 2020 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403 (in West LA)
Cost: Free to attend, but you are responsible for paying for your own food/drinks.
Parking: Valet or neighborhood street parking (decent)

To spark your interest here's a partial list of our June 7th topics and speakers:

• Directed Evolution, Frances Arnold, Caltech
• Another Earth, Amir Give'on, NASA JPL
• Write How To Make The Best Of Living In A War Zone, Liz Grover, Writer/Filmmaker
• Financing the Future, Glenn Yago, Exec Dir of Financial Research, Milken Institute
• An Amazing History of Awesome Stuff Underground, Molly Steenson, Design Researcher
• Asking a girl out with PPT, Jason Porath, Professional Effects Artist and Technical Director
• Mechanical Olympics, Xtine Burrough, Media Artist & Asst Prof CSU Fullerton
• Meditation and Consciousness, Pedram Shojai, Taoist & Qi Gong master, Wellness Expert
• Collaborative Filmaking, Sheila Hardy, Filmmaker,  Eve's Lime
• Teaching Kids Programming, Lynn Langit, Microsoft Evangelist & Digigirls
• The Internet in China, Christine Lu, CEO, Affinity China

If you've been sparked by the above topics, we hope you'll join us on Monday, June 7th at V Lounge to hear about interesting projects by passionate people.

The IgniteLA Organizers,

• Dan
• Heather
• Michael
• Social Animal

Hbombtastic Events

I can't stop myself. I am compelled to create these spaces, these experiences. I hope you'll join me if you are into these same things.

• June 7: Ignite 3 in Los Angeles
• June 12-13: Humanity Plus Summit (ps. I'm speaking!)
• June 15: Geek Dinner REDUX @ Canters
• July 24: Save the Date for Xmas in July

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Ignite3

When: June 7, 7:30pm
Where: V Lounge (2020 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90403-5608)
What: 5 Minutes. 20 Slides. 15 Seconds per Slide.
Cost: Free
RSVP & Details

Speakers get only 5 minutes to give an amazing, inspiring talk. In LA, there are tons of different communities at the intersection of tech, academia, art, green/sustainability, entertainment, unique lifestyle design, entrepreneurship, digital/collaborative media, and social action that don't know each other but should. Think of Ignite as a set of trailers for exciting projects people are doing that you should know about.

LA Geek Dinner REDUX

The LA Geek Dinner returns for one night.

When: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, starting around 7:30pm
Where: Canters Deli, Mid-Town on Fairfax near Melrose
What: People who self-identify as geeks
Details

How does it work: Show up, order a drink, some food, be open and friendly, meet some new people, have some interesting conversations, eat some pastrami. It’s a chill scene. No uber networking, self-promotion or company promotion. Just be cool. We’re all friends you haven’t met yet. RSVP on our old friend Upcoming

XMAS in JULY: Santa Needs A Vacation

Save the date for Xmas in July: July 24th. Suggestion: Santa like red bikini's! Planning meeting soon.

Ignite Returns to Los Angeles: March 1

IgniteLA is back in LA after a short hiatus. I helped launch Ignite in Los Angeles last year with Dan Gould, the local wrangler, Brady Forrest from O'Reilly and Matt Forrest, (yes they are related) at Social Animal.

Starting Monday, March 1st, we in Los Angeles are kicking off Global Ignite week. That means cities across the world will host local Ignites. We have a great lineup of speakers here in Los Angeles. But first, the details:

• Monday March, 1st, starts at 7pm until 9pm
• Location: Cinespace in Hollywood (1st 50 folks who registered (and show up first) get free valet), 6356 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (map)
• Tickets are Free, but please register.
• On Twitter: @ignite2la
  
• Ignite LA Facebook Group
  

And now, our wonderful speakers (in no particular order):

• Karen North, USC, Social Media
• Eric Gradman: Through the Cloudmirror
• Adam Sadowsky: OK Go & the Grand Machine
• Mike Flynn: Something really cool
• Chad Catacchio: How Crisis Commons is Helping Haiti & Chile
• Sasha Chock: Something really neat
• Kasey McMahon: Breaking the Mold: Pattern Recognition, Art and Nanobot Housecleaning Services
  
• Lisa Remmington: Social action through film
• Sekou Andrews: Spoken Word
• Dena Plotkin: Working with difficult people
• Kurt Daradics: Something cyborgy
• Jenny Funkmeyer: Remote Viewing
• Chris Spurgeon: Mapping India: A True Tale of Balls-out 18th Century Science. With Tigers.
  

Note: If you are any of the above speakers, contact me to add your bio and link to your site.

Ignite2LA is organized by Dan Gould (@dgould), Michael Liskin (@rhetor), moi, Heathervescent  (@Heathervescent), and Matt Forrest.

It is co-sponsored by USC's Annenberg Program on Online Communities (@APOCusc) and Social Animal who are graciously managing production--and will put the talks on the YouTube.

Ignite was started by Brady Forrest at O'Reilly. This event is part of Global Ignite Week, March 1-5. As part of Global Ignite Week, there will be Ignite events on six continents in 60 Cities with 600 Talks, encompassing 10,000+ Igniters.

Who's Geeky? She's Geeky!

Attention Geeky LA Girls!
If you are worth your geekiness - you should join me at She's Geeky next weekend in Mountain View. Take a look at the groups that are represented:

• Linux Chix
• Dev Chix
• AnitaBorg INstitute for Women and Technology
• Digital Sisters In,
• Girls in Tech
• Glass Hammer
• Women 2.0
• Girl Geek Dinner
• BlogHer

It's two days of "make your own agenda" goodness. Just check out the pictures from last year. I had a blast last year and connected with some old friends and made a ton of new ones. Take a look at the proposed agenda topics and you will be blown away. How can you pass this up for less than $70 a day?!

• X Steps to creating a Strategy for Dominating Search Engine Results - Laura Lippay
• Entrepreneurship, How do techies find their business savvy partner? - Icis
• Letting Go/Saying No
• More visible role models in the community -- encouraging more girls + women to embrace their inner geek
• Experiences of other women and their secrets to success in a man's world
• Quantum computation
• Debugging code
• How to decide which blogs to follow, mailing lists to read, meet-ups to attend: sorting through the cacophony
• And a lot more!!!

In addition Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners is kicking off She's Geeky with a Thursday night dinner. Angie has promised geek girl swag that will make your friends jealous.

If that's not convincing enough, here are five more reasons:

1. Build relationships and even partnerships across disciplines.
2. Learn something new from other geeky women.
3. Find answers to the questions that matter to you.
4. Consider business issues related to the technology industry.
5. Be exposed to new ideas for making and keeping technology relevant.

So see you there! (ps. let me know if you want to carpool up from LA.)

Announcing GeekDinner.org

You may have noticed the lack of geek and tech coverage on the ole heathervescent blog - and that's for good reason, I'm taking back my blog as an expression of myself and segmenting my geek dinner announcements over on the brand spanking new Geek Dinner Blog!

So go check out the work in progress, subscribe to it's RSS and let us know what you think in the comments!

I may have tech coverage over here from time to time, but I plan on keeping my creative edge active over here. I also have another blog announcement coming up soon... so stay tuned!

2 Years of LA's Geek Dinner!

Next week will be the 2 year anniversary of the LA Geek Dinner. This is really exciting for me, because tech communities and bubbles come and go. I lived through the first bubble 1.0 in the Bay Area and watched it blow up and then blow out. I've worked really hard to make the geek dinner sustainable and long-term. Two years doesn't seem that long, but it is big landmark!

Anyway, come on down to an awesome geek dinner. Just be sure to buy your tickets in advance.

---

The Geek Dinners are a monthly gathers of Internet technology lovers in Los Angeles. Anyone who has an interest and passion for technology, the internet, internet technologies, software or you just know you're a geek is welcome.

OUR LOCAL SPONSORS
Mike Prasad of Bullspot is covering the drinks: http://www.bullspot.com/

Boris Epstein of BincSearch is hosting the "Ask a Recruiter" table and bringing cupcakes. Check out: http://blog.bincsearch.com/
-------------------------

You must buy a ticket to attend. http://geekdinner24.eventbrite.com
$20 and good karma in advance, $25 and bad karma if you pay at the door.

This month we're at BLANKSPACES - LA's 1st co-working space.

It's also the 2 year anniversary of the LA Geek Dinner!

GEEKEST T-SHIRT CONTEST
We're also having a "geekiest t-shirt" contest with prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. So wear your geekiest t-shirt!

Update: The Winner will take home a $50 gift certificate from Threadless. So you can increase your geeky t-shirt collection even more!

And we're having some exciting press coverage, so come and celebrate with us.

Purple Tornado Sponsors ROFLcon

I like to put my money where my mouth is and support things I think need to happen - ROFLcon is one of those things, so threw down some of my cold hard earned cash (from PT, my company) to help make it happen.

Anyway, here’s another triumphant and relevant coup for ROFLCon - Purple Tornado, a great marketing company in LA, is helping us out for realz! They focus haaardcore on internet marketing and have a real solid understanding of the potential for new media advertising and PR. They’re also just cool people, and will be coming to the ‘Bridge to schmooze and mingle with all y’all in April. Just six weeks to go. Yeah seriously. We’re so stoked, and you should be too. Link.

Maybe see some of you there.

Feb Geek Dinner Recap

Was that really last night? It feels like a week ago (must be my busy day). Anyway, that was a rocking time we had at uWink last night. If you didn't make it - you did miss out.

In addition to
> drinks on Nielson Media (Thanks Lambie!),
> ipod/iphone giveaways from Wm. Marc Salsberry and MStation | mophie
> free Community Next ticket
> 20% off Community Next code (geekdinner) good until 9pm on Thursday
> a free SXSWi ticket (thanks Hugh!)
> and uWink t-shirts

we played a lot of games, had some food and generally everyone had a great time. (And we only crashed the system once I think)

Anyway, the big winners were

Cliff Allen for CommunityNext ticket
Bino Gopal for SXSWi ticket

Congrats!

The Streamy Guys took in several of the uWink t-shirts (gamers!)
and we 8 of you got ipod and iphone covers courtesy of mophie.

Thank you again to Nielson for the drinks and Thank you to YOU who came out. It was fun fun fun.

See you at Canters on March 18 - where I will have more conference passes and giveaways (from my most favored guru!)

<3,

-Heather

ps. use your CommunityNext 20% pass by 9pm tomorrow (thursday) and see you there!

Feb Geek Dinner 2nite!

It's the geek dinner tonight. On the board are some super-duper awesome giveaways!!!!

• One ticket to SXSW interactive - yup you heard me. SXSW wants you.
• One ticket to CommunityNext - coming the end of March
• A super sekret special code for CommunityNext if you didn't get the winning ticket. (Avail only at the geek dinner! Even better than ones posted on the barcamp list)
• Free drinks from Nielson Media!

And it's at uWink - the geekiest restaurant in California (take that Silicon Valley!)

See you there. Details and RSVP (sorry guest list closed).

uWink

 

    Westfield Promenade, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd. 2310
    Woodland Hills, California 91367  

Geek Dinner is Tonight

Are you excited? I'm excited. Tonight is going to be a really fun geek dinner. We're having a blind date with dorkbot. Do you have butterflies in your stomach? I do. I've been preparing to make sure everything is just perfect.

We've got some great prizes to give away, a white-elephant for those of you who bring something, and some really great catering that has omni-vor, vegi and vegan offerings for only $15.

Dessert is brought to us by SK Telecom. Machine Project will have the floor bar open. You won't want to miss this. There is a hole in the floor. You push a button, and a silver hand comes up. You put $3 in it and it goes away. Then it come back with a beer. Totally cool!

I know there are going to be other surprises, so join the 50+ of us for dinner tonight, down at Machine Project.

<3,

-Heather

Dec Geek Dinner - El Texate

The word is out. The December Geek Dinner is on Tuesday, Dec 18th at El Texate in Santa Monica.

Location (map)
316 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Get Directions(310) 399-1115

Starts at 8pm. RSVP on Upcoming

The Winnies 2007

The Winnies 2007 0985.jpg
Originally uploaded by luismi1985.

Yet another winnies photo.

The Winnies 2007

The Winnies 2007 1415.jpg
Originally uploaded by luismi1985.

Jennifer Fader and I pose at the Winnies. Thanks Irina - you kick ass in my book.

Hawt! An n9593 on Ice

Andrew Maskin put an n93 on ice for the NYC mobile barcamp.

If you missed the MobileBarcampLA, check out the recap here. There's also a google group you can join. My favorite items were:

• One World. No Borders. 3 Billion Connected People. Claim Your Piece. - David Harper
  Dave Harper, CEO of Winksite, a suite of tools to immediately create and support mobile communities, gave an hour-long session sharing his experience on what it takes to scale mobile applications to 189+ countries and over 5 million hits per month. After providing tips and tricks on mobile advertising and mobile SEO, Dave showed and explained QR Codes and their real-world applications using a plethora of examples. People got really excited about this and again, ideas were bounced back and forth and were discussed far beyond the session.

• halfbaked.com - Entrepreneurial Improv - Alexis Rondeau
  Each team selected 2 random words and got 20 minutes to come up with - and pitch - the next mobile killer application! Besides having the very nice side-effect of making people play and interact, the resulting mobile startup ideas ranged from outrageous ("Zombie Hook-up") to VC-fundable ("Car Watch"). After every team presented their startups' product, revenue model, marketing plan, tagline and logo the most promising one was selected. The winning team was completely speechless when we gave each of them either an N95 or an N800. The unpacking of the boxes ensued immediately and everyone was flocking around the devices. In total we gave away 10 devices in this session (including the very cool panel of judges).

• MegaPhone Demo and discussion - Dan Albritton
  Dan Albritton from playmegaphone.com gave the first workshop in the morning showcasing their mobile real-time multiplayer game engine. MegaPhone is an interactive installation where any cellphone becomes a game-controller by placing a phonecall. Within 1 Minute Dan had the crowd punching their phone-keypads ("Peow-peow!P-p-p-eow!") to score and shouting into their mics ("Grabgrab! Grabgrabgrab! Grab!") to reach the Top 10 of the game. After an overview of the underlying technology and showcases, the group went into a long conversation on creating new applications of the project.
• (recap bullets written by Andy Maskin, Source)

And the In N Out Burger truck in the parking lot. And I don't even like In n Out. ;) I also enjoyed the 1-2am drive around Hollywood to Santa Monica, where we QR tagged In n Out on Sunset, saw a car go over the cliff on Mulholland, looked at the lights of the Valley and Basin from the hills and drove like a race car driver taking the freeway curves at an increasing speed utilizing centrifugal force with the top down.

Now that's a day in the life of LA.

Who are you? Online?

If you're the least bit interested about how integrated identity is going to pan out online - I suggest you head to the Internet Identity Workshop - B in Mountain View the first week of December. Most of the conversation is about making identity platforms work with each other (like OpenID, Higgens, CardSpace, SAML, Liberty Alliance, etc, etc), but there are lots of other fascinating topics. I'm specifically interested on how people use identities online (well, I know how people use identities online) but how the technology facilitates or makes it difficult for people to have single or multiple identities online.

Unlike the real world (meatspace) there is no corporeal body to anchor you online (unless you create one). This online anchor is most often a website,sometimes a blog, and rarely incorporates the various personalities one has. So I'm going to watch, learn and think about this online anchor for your (and mine) online identities.

Reviewing the technology, gives me lots of ideas for fleshing out, using and extending your/mine/my clients online brands. I believe we are at the tip of the iceberg on this. And of course, I expect to find methods of enlightenment and self-actualization buried in the technology.

BarcampLA4 Preso

Here's the preso I gave at BarcampLA 4. It spans online branding, blowing shit up, doing things and how to get your heart's desire. As in all things, be authentic, manage risks strategically and be safe KICK ASS.

xxx

-Heather

ps. I'm a kick-ass integrator.

 

| View | Upload your own

ps. photo credits in the preso go to Kmo and Jenna.

Add a listing of LA Tech events to your blog or site

Want to keep in touch with the events happening in the LA tech scene? Then check out Option:LA - an online event calendar. If you're into Facebook Apps, here's the Option:LA facebook app. You can also add a widget display the upcoming events on your own blog or web site (grab the code here). It's easy, and free and you'll help build and participate in the LA Tech Community. It looks something like this:

BarcampLA Calls

Another weekend of tech craziness. LA is smack in the middle of it's geek event explosion. I've got mixed feelings about all the events.

On one hand, it is awesome to see the popularity, the success, the desire and thirsting for this tech connectivity. On the other hand, my biggest concern, my biggest fear is too many tech events are happening with participants spread thin. Back on the other hand, I'm excited and delighted that so many leaders are taking the torch. On the other hand, how do I know they are looking out for the community? On the other hand why is it up to me to decide what's good for the community? It's not. I just had the vision last year and have been carrying the torch. The diversity and different methods, attitudes, goals and people make for a diverse vibrant community that serves the community. That's all good.

But I've worked so hard, for what feels like often nothing, to get here. To this place where these events are even happening - I'm not the only one carrying the torch. I don't want them to be flash in the pans. I want them to be successful, sustainable - for each organizer/leader and the community. But for them to be sustainable, they must each hold on their own, and within the community. And I'd like to hope that all events contribute the building and visibility of the LA tech community.

Why do I even care? A couple years ago I only wanted to blow shit up, express myself and make my life the most awesome thing in the world. What's the difference now? (Maybe I've blown enough stuff up, expressed myself enough and have a dream life - and teach you too how to have a dream life.)

Because I see the need, and I have a bigger vision.

But let's get beyond the big vision and talk about today. I'm thinking about chucking my online branding with bonus enlightenment preso, for a guide on blowing things up in a fire or do-ocracy or how to get your heart's desire. Which is more interesting? Or should I cram all 4 into 1 sessions called the heathervescent show?

She's Geeky Session: On Do-ocracy

I lead a session on do-ocracy at She's Geeky last week. Denise Gearty was kind enough to take notes during the session and here they are - to hopefully inspire you to do things. Do-ocracy is a tricky thing - but you just have to go in and do it. :)

Did you miss the conference? There are tons of awesome notes here.

 

_____________________________________

Do-ocracy Session // Tuesday, October 23, 2007 // 10:30 AM

Do-ocracy (definition on board)

Do-ocracy is a summary term for consensus management on a non-authoritarian, classical anarchist model emphasizing voluntary involvement and actual results, where those with an actual involvement make the decisions.

GTD = Getting Things Done (www.davidco.com)

How to Get Your Hearts Desire, a six step process outlined

Heather found Do-ocracy based on experience in mostly volunteer environments (e.g. large Burning Man camps www.burningman.com). From here she developed experience and transitioned to the LA tech community.

Key learning:  solicit/ask for help from trusted friends and colleagues 

Question: What if you are not clear on your vision?  How do you check this? How do you know?

• Need confidence in yourself
• Don’t always be a perfection tied down by details
• Allow yourself failure every once in awhile

 
How do you start the community?  -- Ignite action?

• Start with something small (a small vision) even something material and practice
• Don’t forget to be direct and ask for help, feedback, etc.
• Sometimes you just have to ask
• Consult with your friends
• Know feedback verses criticism

Find a Space to Stretch In -- find it, encourage it. A safe space to practice do-ocracy.

Creativity allows the development of ideas and enables action

Julia comments that Australia and New Zealand follow do-ocracy in the workplace. It must be a cultural phenomenon. From her experience it fostered honesty and a successful project

Ryanne (video blogging)does large scale events/video blogging practiced do-ocracy

Heathervescent comments on her same experiences.  She recommends that you have to be aware of others who want to step in and take over responsibilities.  By engaging others you open up growth and opportunity.

Cultivating Leaders: Pay attention and take note of others to get involved.  Sometimes you have to ask people to play certain roles.

Heather Newman "There is no fucking book!"  ~ Comment on where are the guidelines or rules?…where are the mentors that direct me?

You need consensus when working in teams; so, you have to communicate to get things done . . . to move forward.

Partner with people who compliment you, may be opposite of you  -- they can make you shine

There is a difference between "what you are good at" and "what your strengths are" -- Know this!

References:

Book: Strength Finders

Site: Positive Psychology - there is a test on the site

Book: The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield

Reference: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development for Smart People

What about when Do-ocracy goes wrong?

• You end up doing it all yourself
• Volunteers that are hurting (process, team, decision-making, etc). Sometimes you have to "fire" volunteers
• People don’t communicate and/or holding resentment can poison the success overall
• Be aware so that you can catch this early in the game
• One approach is to categorize late resentment comments as "data invalid"  -- they should be presented at a relevant point when action can be taken

If you want something, put it out to the universe but as specifically as possible

What about commitment?

Are you hearing the advice given?  Are you at a point where you are capable of hearing the advice? This is key.

She's a Geek, I'm a geek

A great video with all the awesome women at She's Geeky!

Headed a North

Tomorrow morning, I'm jumping on a flight to San Jose to attend/participate two days of girl on geek action, or rather, geek girl action.

I'm super excited, because there are some familiar names and lots of new ones. I'm really excited to learn from everyone! But I am also a little disappointed. My original dream was to bring a crew of LA Geek Girls to represent! I sent out emails and tried to rally the troops, but things didn't work out. There's one other woman (Lynn) who is going, but everyone else I emailed can't make it. In fact, only two people responded to my invite.

I wonder why that is the case. Do they not care about women's representation in the geek scene? Do they have day jobs they can't get away from? Do they not have disposable income to attend? Are they too busy with other things in their life? Do they hate me and not want to have anything to do what something I am affiliated with?

I'm sure the reasons are valid, but it comes down to priorities and what they are willing to make happen. I don't fault anyone for not responding. (I myself have emails I have been meaning to reply to since August - sorry to those waiting on a response!) And I myself an extremely busy. (In the next 7 days I am attending 3 unconferences, all three of which I have contributed  a large chunk of my time to helping organizing, although not the lead organizer in any of them, thanks gods!) Ultimately, we are each limited in what we can do. And that is part of the challenge of living, and living out your dreams.

More Geek Events: She's Geeky & StartupLA

Update, update, update! More geek events, more geek events to announce!!!!!! Here's what I'm doing the last week in October.

First I am going to kick it in Mountain View at the Computer History Museum with a bunch of geeky girls at the She's Geeky unconference!I'm wrangling up a crew of SoCal ladies to represent to the Valley. Here me NorCal - we're gonna Represent.

More details here!

And a little closer to home: it's Startup LA hosted by UCLA on Friday October 26th and Sunday October 27th. Registration is open and if you are fast, you can snag a $25 ticket.

Have you noticed that Silicon Valley and the Bay Area get all the attention when it comes to entrepreneurship and technology? Well, things are about to change, and you can be a part of it. Different that other conferences for entrepreneurs, students, and investors, StartupLA is one that is structured yet free flowing, blending scheduled speakers and presentations with open topics that guests can sign-up for the day of the event.  Attend panel topics ranging from pitching to VCs and raising money, to legal startup advice, to marketing. You can enter the business plan competition or just come to network.

StartupLA is a new conference committed to building the startup community in Los Angeles.

I'm personally really excited about StartupLA because it's taking my vision of creating a sustainable LA technology community to the next level. Plus I'm excited to check out our panels.

Geek Dinner Group Shot

Geek Dinner Group Shot
Originally uploaded by eecue.

And here we are all.

Photo by Dave Bullock / eecue

Pi @ the Geek Dinner

Pi
Originally uploaded by eecue.

I missed the pi smack down - apparently Mark Michael could recite it to 40 places. Me - I just bought pie.

Photo by the awesome Dave Bullock / eecue

I Get a Standing Ovation at the Geek Dinner

Heather Vescent Gettting a Standing Ovation
Originally uploaded by eecue.

Since this is my blog, for my own memory, I collect photos that have been taken of me. I gave up taking photos a couple years ago when I decided to focusing on doing the activity and leaving the photography to these awesome photographers - like eecue - Dave Bullock!

This is from the mixed bag - but still a great time geek dinner this week. Dave also has more awesome photos from the evening. Did I mention - awesome? It was in so many ways. Thanks Dave!

About Last Night - g33k d1nner recap

The geek dinner last night was a mixed bag. It was awesome to be back at the Electric Lotus. The food was great, the tables were overflowing with over 20 different dishes, our waiter Arthur kicked ass and there was pie! Dave Bullock also took awesome photos! (Can't wait to see them! I still owe you that drink.) There were 3 in attendance (other than myself) from the original LA geek dinner: Crystal, Jory and Sam.

Yesterday I wrote a post collecting the geek events happening in SoCal through the rest of the year. There are 15 events on the list and I forgot to include LA Flash Stuff and CodeCamp. Two years ago, I could not find one geek type event. Today, there is something happening almost every week in all areas of the LA Metro Area. This is AWESOME and a testament to our community.

But it's not all good. We have growing pains. Last night, those growing pains came in the form of 20+ no shows to a $20 price fixed dinner. They didn't update their RSVP or even email me to say they weren't coming. (This doesn't include the two people who were physically ill and contacted me. I had people waiting to attend and people took your places.)

$20 x 20 = $400 to cover the no-shows. In addition, some people didn't pay their bar tabs and/or didn't tip the waiter. The total additional we had to cover was about $450!!!!!

Which we did it thanks to everyone chipping in additional $$ with Sanjay and Bino covering the majority. CJ took care of the shirked bartabs and tips. You guys totally rock!

But the situation did not rock. It showed a lack of responsibility and was unfair to those who did show up by increasing the cost of the dinner.

20+ people flaked on their commitment. Almost 50% of the RSVPs. Other people didn't pay for what they consumed and the community had to cover their ass. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE behavior for ADULTS! Instead of unleashing my wrath (remember, I'm into guns, fire and unicorns) on the no shows (many of whom I am friends with), I want to ask the community, what should we do about this?

I have the names of everyone who RSVPed. I printed the closed list and checked off everyone who showed up and paid. I know who flaked. Should I -

1. Contact the noshows and ask them to paypal $21 ($20 + fee) to pay back the people who covered their ass.
2. Publish the names and publicly humiliate the people who didn't show up?
3. Take a chill pill and say, "It's just money."
4. Give me a better option

I try to make the geek dinners as accessible as possible by keeping the cost down and as easy to attend. I organize this event without any remuneration, using time from my billable hours (I'm independent and don't have a corporate day job). I do this to build the community I want to participate in.

Should I enforce pre-pay? Should we skip dinner and move this to a drinking/bar environment? What can be done to make sure this doesn't happen again? And please let me know what we should do about the no-shows. I don't think it's fair that we had to come up with $450 to cover their asses.

LA Geek Event Roll-up

The LA Tech scene has, like, exploded in the last few months. This time last year I organized the second BarcampLA and the geek dinner at uWink. This year we have.... (and I'm not organizing all of this, thank gods!)

• Sept Geek Dinner - Tonight!
• Ewan's in LA Dinner - Sept 25th, location TBD
• PodcampSoCal, Ontario - Sept 27 - the day before NewMedia Expo
• New Media Expo, Ontario - Sept 28-30
• Community Buildrs on Sept 27
• Oct Geek Dinner - Oct 16
• Community Buildrs - last week of Oct
• StartupLA - Oct 26 & 27 @ UCLA
• MobileCampLA on Oct 28
• BarcampLA 4 on Nov 3 & 4
• Launch a Startup geek event on Nov 9-11
• Barcamp San Diego 2 - Nov 10-11
• Nov geek dinner on Nov 13
• Community Buildrs - sometime in Nov
• Twiistup3 on Dec 3
• Dec geek dinner on Dec 18

I also happen to know there will be another Lunch 2.0 soon, and Community Buildrs usually happens the last Thursday of the month.

And yeah, I know we need a calendar. I'm working on it. Until then, just check back with my blog/this page or join the list.

ps. Did I miss something? Let me know and I'll add it.

Sept 18th g33k d1nner: almost full

Well, well, well, it's time again for geeks to eat en mass again. The September geek dinner is back at our original location: The Electric Lotus.

Deets for Tuesday, Sept 18th.

• Dinner starts at 8pm. You can come early for drinks.
• Electric Lotus, Los Feliz, 4656 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, California (map)
• Valet parking in the back
• Price fixed dinner (inc tax + tip) for $20, please bring cash. Drinks are on your own.
• We're supposed to be in the side room.
• Reservation under "Heather"
• RSVP on upcoming. We're limited to 50 people and about to hit that.
• Bring your geek gear to show off. I've got a new phone (that's not an iphone - so take that! ;) )

New for this geek dinner: Directions from your Phone!
Dial Directions is a new service that lets any cell phone user call "DIR-ECT-IONS" (347-327-4667 on their keypad), request any destination address or store location, and receive directions instantly by text message. No GPS or web plan needed.

Tuyen Ho at Dial Directions has been kind enough to set this up for our dinner on Tuesday. Check it out. From your cell phone,
- Dial 347-328-4667 which spells DIR-ECT-IONS
- Say event "LA Geek Dinner"
- Say your start address (or intersection).
- Receive instant driving directions by text message.

Let me know if you try this out.

Disclaimer: I'm pimping this because it sounds cool and usable to us. DD did not pay for mention, although I do think they should sponsor a future geek dinner... ;)

I'm a tech Vixen!

According to this article in Wired about Lunch 2.0!

Search company ThisNext hosted the first ever Lunch 2.0 meetup in Los Angeles on Friday. The company's Santa Monica office, built for a staff of 12, was swamped with over 80 people all stuffing their faces with free food. Los Angeles, it seems, has a strong startup community that's itching to take on the Valley.

Well, I wouldn't say take on the Valley, but I would say leverage our assets. And yeah, LA has a lot of assets - all the way from a thriving VC community, content creators, tons of ideas, great weather and beautiful (and smart) people.

---

ManJose,

We got your new gig and girlfriend down here. Not only will you blow us away with your insane coding skills, you can surf or rock climb or ski or hike, catch awesome movies @ the Arclight, pretend to care about the Hwood club scene or eat any kind of authentic ethnic food. You won't necessarily have to work on the weekends, so you'll have plenty of time to visit Fry's for your side project. You'd better move fast though, cause our housing prices are coming close to Bay Area levels.

If you need any additional convincing, just drop me line.

<3,

-heathervescent

Reminder: Lunch 2.0 on Friday

Whew - I'm probably back and still covered in dust, but I wanted to remind you of the inaugural Lunch 2.0 - yes - yet another geek tech event has landed in LA. (Go LA geeks!) Thanks to Andrew Warner  for motivation and initiative and ThisNext for hosting. Looks like there are going to be about 100+- people in attendance. Way to go!

Details:
Friday, September 7 @ 12:05 PM

ThisNext's Office (map)
1409 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA 90401 Map
310-463-9345

RSVP here: http://www.mixergy.com/r/?lk=LpxAyOXrijuczHh

About Lunch 2.0:

Lunch 2.0, the popular Silicon Valley get-together, is coming to LA, thanks to ThisNext. Let's all meet at ThisNext's office to eat their lunch. It'll be a good place to really get to know other ambitious SoCal techies.

Reminder: Community Buildrs Mtg tomorrow

Just a quick reminder about the Community Builders Mtg tomorrow. Details:

When:
Thursday August 30th, 2007

Where:
Rich Media Institute
525 Venezia Avenue
Venice, California 90291
Map & Contact Info

Agenda:
6:30 - 7:00 Arrive, Greet, Chat
7:00 - 8:30 Meeting on topics TBD
8:30 - 9:00 Individual Discussions

I'm really looking forward to this meeting and building on the momentum as a group from the first one! I've got some thoughts on discussion topics for this meeting. Here they are:

1)  What is the single most effective means of building participation that each of us has found so far?
2)  How much damage (if any) do monetization efforts cause the spirit of a community?
3)  Can we as a group produce a "Quick Start Guide to Community Building" to share with others?

I will not be able to make it because I have been on the playa for about a week now, but you should go and post the recap in the comments. Thanks to Kirk for hosting/organizing.

Vote for my SXSW Panel

OK, so it's not really my panel. Ian Muir put it together, but he asked me to be on it and talk about the kicking ass geek dinners and what's worked to create the LA tech community. I think we have an awesome community here and I'd love to share what's worked for us to help others create vibrate tech communities outside of "the valley."

Description:
BarCamps, Geek Dinners and other events are changing the face of the web community. Rather than relying on blogs and forums, these events provide communities with an opportunity to share and learn in person. The panel will be provided by several BarCamp organizers and will focus on the organization process and the effect on the community afterwards.

If you like the idea show the love with your vote.

Geek Events tonight

Two tech/geek/blogger events are happening tonight.

1. Bloggers Live - 6:30 pm @ Tangier. (I had a great time @ Leah's LA Angst)
   
2. Facebook developer's garage - from 7 to late in the night. You must RSVP on Facebook.

I'm going to try to stop by, if my truck is mostly packed.

Lunch 2.0 in LA

Lunch 2.0 is coming to LA and the awesome people at ThisNext are hosting it. Details:

When: Wednesday, September 7th, 12:05PM-
Where: ThisNext, 1409 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica
RSVP on Mixergy

See you there!

LAVA - It's Hot!

LAVA isn't what you think it is. It's not boiling hot magma from a volcano bursting in LA threatening to destroy the city. Nope - LAVA is Los Angeles Venture Association and it's doing anything but destructive. I joined their yearly VC panel presentation at 7AM!!! yesterday (Tuesday the 14th) to get the scoop.

It had been some time since I was in a room of such professionally dressed individuals. I was the only one with purple hair and I enjoyed being back in executive black. Teacups of coffee, milling about - networking - taking my seat as the panel began. On it was Ted Alexander of Mission Ventures, David Dennis of Pacific Venture Group, Greg Martin of Redpoint, Phil Ressler of Clearstone, Dana Settle of Greycroft and Brody Stout of Maveron. The panel was co-moderated by Douglas Burke and Ric Kern.

For a recap including VC Characteristics, Pitch turnoffs, VC Distortions and the VC view of SV vs SoCal - click through.

Geek Dinner Rocked the Cucina

Last night's geek dinner (of over 50 people) rocked the house. The was swag to be had, hot garlic knots, pasta, pasta, pasta, new faces, familiar faces, great conversation and Tiramisu from our anonymous sponsor. (Thanks Anon!)

We're back at our original location - The Electric Lotus for our September g33k d1nner on September 18th. RSVP here (on Upcoming) and add your name (if you like) to the participants list on the wiki. Sorry about the multiple RSVP lists last time - I've learned from that confusion and you only need to RSVP on upcoming - not the wiki. The wiki is our collaborative document of the evening.

Here are the dinner details

• Date: September 18th, 8pm dinner, The Electric Lotus in Los Feliz Area (where we had our very first geek dinner!)
• 4656 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, California map

See you there!

<3,
heathervescent

ps. where are the photos?

Aug Geek Dinner 2morrow

Whoo-hoo. It looks like another awesome geek dinner is gonna happen tomorrow night. 69 people have RSVPed. Check it out - geek dinner is one of the top events on upcoming in LA for tomorrow. geeks <3 LA!

I'm gonna bring a box or two of swag and we have an anonymous sponsor for the Tiramisu! See you there!

ps. Barcamp LA 4 is also rocking it. Go Barcamp LA!

LA Geek Dinner close to being sold out - 3 more spots

Wow - the geek dinner is almost sold out. RSVP on Upcoming if you haven't already.

CommunityBuildrs Recap

I missed this meeting (there are tech meetings happening ALL the time now!!!) but Kirk wrote up a great recap and they're meeting again soon.

First and foremost I want to thank everyone who attended for participating in the conversation and sharing your thoughts and perspectives on community building.  As this topic continues to grow in importance and transitions from "what the kids are up to" to "vital business channel" and "vital grass-roots channel" it is nice to know we can share the journey.

Go to the full details and get involved yourself!

Build a Startup in 3 days

Announcing another LA Tech event! Build a Startup in 3 days over labor day weekend.
(I would so be there but I will be burning unicorns at Burning Man... bummer)

Concept:

The concept is to create an internet startup in a long weekend. Gather a group of enthusiastic people who are all founders of the startup that will work to launch the startup prototype over the Labor day long weekend. You may ask why this is being done. It is to get a bunch of super enthusiastic people together and try to transform an idea into a product and eventually a business.

Who can participate?

Enthusiastic, no-nonsense people that think they have what it takes to last a long 72 hour drill. Hey - there will be no time for office politics for sure.

Anyone that meets the need described in the "Register Now" section above and lives and works around Los Angeles, California. Sorry, you need to be local to carry this forward.

More information and to register (it's free) go here.

Announcing August G33k Dinner

The next LA Geek Dinner is on August 14th at C & O Cucina in Marina del Rey.

Cost is $20 per person for food (not including drinks). Please bring cash. More details and rspvlist are on the geek dinner wiki. Please RSVP on upcoming for the final headcount - we are limited to 45 attendees.

• Date: August 14th, 8pm dinner, C & O Cucina
• C & O Cucina, 3016 Washington Boulevard, Marina del Rey, CA. One block West of Lincoln Boulevard at 3016 Washington Boulevard at Washington and Thatcher in Marina Del Rey.
• Reservation under "Heather"

Sponsorship for desert or drinks is still available for a very cheap $150!

* Photo by Adam of Travis getting applause for sponsoring the beer (we love our sponsors!)

She's Geeky - No boys allowed

Announcing, Announcing, Announcing - She's Geeky - and girl geek unconference in Mountain View in October.

Shesgeeky invites a diverse range of women working in information technology (broadly defined,) those aspiring to work in the industry AND those who have retired from the industry.

This is an ‘agenda free’ conference about women in technology. This is a women’s only event. Why? Because there is a certain quality of conversational space that is created in a women only environment.

DATE: Monday and Tuesday October 22-23, 2007
LOCATION: Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

Who Should Attend?

Sheesgeeky is for women of all ages who self identify as geeks. You don’t have to code. You can like and use the tools…or maybe you just care about the issues facing women as they work in or around technology development….

Women who are passionate about building technology that’s useful for people and believe that passionate, geeky women’s presence in our industry leads to more opportunity, a more supportive and civilized environment and better technology goals for all.

Sheesgeeky will include women working in:

• Open Source
• Web 2.0
• Biotech
• Hardware companies
• Enterprise IT
• The Nonprofit Technology Sector
• Portals
• Search Engines
• Social Networking Sites
• Research for and about technology/people
• Startups generally
• Product building/management in large organizations
• Your definition of geekiness (if you don't see it here add it)

Sheesgeeky will explore a range of topics designed for our mutual learning.

Sorry, no boys. Register here! $25 bucks. I know a cheap hotel in MV too.  I think us LA Geek Girls should rent a limo and show up in style. hehe.

Oh and this will probably be an ass-kicking time - especially since Kaliya is a fan of openspace - and I think open space kicks ass.

Oh, in other girl geekiness - Blogher is going on right now. Unfortunately, I am not there, except in spirit. Although I might try to attend in Second Life!

g33k d1nn3r recap

I had dinner @ Galanga last night and was a little worried if they would let me back in. You see, Galanga is where we had the geek dinner last week! I knew the patio was going to be a little tight if all 30 people showed up. Well, that ended up being a moot point because we had over 40 people show up!

It was an awesome time. Over 40 geeks - lots of new faces and old ones. Travis from Verse brought plentiful beer and we took turns at table space. I actually enjoyed standing up and had great conversations with so many people: Michelle, Kirk, Devin, Jeff and Adam, DJ Drue, Nathan and more. And by the end of the night I convinced Sponge to create an algorithmic version of me. (That's what happens if you forget to pay your bill.)

So, when's the next one? And where? Well, it's west side August. Twiistup is happening on August 8th and Aug geek dinner is on the 14th.  I don't have a location yet, but it's going to be in Santa Monica area. And it needs to seat like 40 people. And project ppt karaoke too. And I'm looking for a kick ass sponsor! Ping me if you're game!

ps. Galanga did indeed let me back in, and they were thrilled that I had so many people show up. Whew.

pps. here are some photos.

Reminder: g33k d1nner 2morrow

Just a quick reminder that the geek dinner is tomorrow night in West Hollywood. RSVP.

Pimping: Adobe Air Bus in LA

Adobe is bringing their AIR bus to LA. They are currently in the hot hot desert on their way to Vegas. I'd tell them to stop @ the Mad Greek, if I could figure out how to text them... Anyway, they will be in LA in a few days. Check it out.

The event is a free one day mini conference where you can learn how to leverage the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) to bring your web applications to the desktop.

On Upcoming. For more info.

Photo by Mike Chambers stolen from airbus Flickr site.

Updated: g33k d1nner July 17 - Galanga in WeHo!

Mah geek homies! It's that time of the month. The reminder for the monthly geek dinner. I know, you have many choices when it comes to geeking out - with Mixergy's web feedback hour, the ruby on rails meetup, the demo hour, the drupal meetup, the podcasters at the brewery, bloggers read, etc, etc. That's all good, but let's just get our geek on and eat what I think is the best Thai in LA - Galanga.

When:

• July 17th, 8pm

Where:

• Galanga in West Hollywood. 7440 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046
• Free easy parking
• We'll be in the back patio

If you're new to the concept:

The Geek Dinners are a monthly gathers of Internet technology lovers in Los Angeles. We are loosely affiliated with BarCamp - because many of us met there. Anyone who has an interest and passion for technology, the internet, internet technologies, software or you just know you're a geek is welcome. Come play with us.

Last month, uWink was nice enough to host us (and Twiistup bought us dessert) and everyone had a great time. I think we had some of the best pptKaraoke. So come on out to West Hollywood and let's do it again. Word has it, we may just have a drink sponsor Verse Studios is buying drinks, so be sure to RSVP! This especially wonderful because Galanga does not usually serve alcohol.

RSVP to the wiki and/or upcoming. We'll have the usual crew, name tags, announcements, etc. It should be fun. Did I mention free easy parking and the best thai in LA? We've got the entire back patio to ourselves.

ps. I still have swag, so I'll be bringing stfuff!

Feeling Angsty?

I remember when I learned what the word angst meant. Or actually the first time I heard it. It was being used to describe some kind German angst or something... I think it was about the time I ran away from Germany in Europe and had Interpol looking for us. That's another story. (Teaser: I was 17 at the time and visiting my best friend in high school who was studying abroad outside of Hamburg. It was a dare gone awry... in a not so bad way - basically we did it for the adventure and to prove we could actually go through with things (we were pretty noncommittal those days).)

Anyway, besides introducing me to Campari (which was my favorite drink until I was 25), the Germans introduced me to angst. According to dictionary.com, there is good reason I associate angst with Germans.

angst [(ahngkst)]

A kind of fear or anxiety; Angst is German for “fear.” It is usually applied to a deep and essentially philosophical anxiety about the world in general or personal freedom. (See existentialism.)

Ah, yes, my old friend existentialism. Love ya Sartre. Simone de Beauvior. Camus. Depeche Mode. The Cure. Etc. Needless to say I was a very angst teenager. Actually, the angsty part of me has changed very little, matured a bit, doesn't come out as often. Any given day you could come home and find me pondering the nature of reality and depressed at how little the evolution is happening (I did that already on the blog today).

Anyway, the point of this blog post is PIMPING this cool event that LeahPeah is putting on called LA Angst. Actually, it's the second LA Angst.

LA Angst is a monthly reading series hosted by Leah Peterson in the greater Los Angeles area. We gather together to read our most embarrassing, humiliating, angst ridden and otherwise absolutely wonderful writing from our youth. Every month, selected readers comb through their middle school and high school writing and pick something that represents how completely impossible it is to grow up without looking back in shame. Join us for some entertaining, therapeutic and hysterical fun!

Yeah. Maybe I can even wrangle up some angsty teenage heather prose from that running away from Germany trip. Or minimally the first time I was in Brazil. Come along to Tangier - they have great pots du creme and martinis.

geek d1nner takes over uWink

That was fun. First off - the announcements:
- Did anyone notice LAists coverage of the geek dinner? Here's a little ego-rub (no I did not pay her to write that. I am not that clever.

Thank Heathervescent for bringing LA's true geeks together in a social setting and for two years straight. Heather brings together some of the most interesting, talented and fun geeks in town to eat, swap demos and sometimes even grab some swag.

- Twiistup 2 announced for August 8th in Venice! Your's Truly is gonna host! (Twiistup also sponsored dessert for the geek dinner! Woo!)

- BarcampLA4 is October 6 & 7 @ Little Radio (that the weekend after PodCast Expo in Ontario, California)
- geek dinners are now available for sponsorship. I'm offering very affordable sponsorship options to help
build the LA Technology community. Contact me for details.

- Next geek dinner is July 17th @ Galanga. More details coming up.

And now, onto the fun. We had a great turn out and seven brave souls took to the stage (ahem chair) and did PPT Karaoke which was projected on the wall. I passed out swag and had great conversations with lots of familiar faces. Rizwan was awesome liasioning between us and uWink. The system was a lot more stable from our previous visit, even getting a networked game of trivia going. We also had the flickr stream projecting photos of past barcamps and geek dinners. Riz even took us back into the cooler, ahem, server room and showed off the servers. I heard that Nolan stopped by for a bit, but I missed him. Brent was off in China, and missed the fun. Beyond that, the restaurant was packed. uWink is doing a good business and there are plans to open up additional locations - some closer to the usual geek dinner locations. So we are definitely staying in the loop.

Thanks to everyone who came out! That was a lot of fun.

PPTs for tonight's g33k d1nner meeting

I am about to jump in the car and drive to Woodland Hills for tonight's geek dinner, but first, here are the ppts that I've queued up for tonight's fun.

Reporting Web Analysis
An Introduction to Second Life
Why we wait for the babel fish
Venture Capital post web 2.0
Logo digitage web 2.0
Using and Enabling the emerging GeoStack
Disruptive tech lifestyle
GeoBlinki!
KFC
Que es la web 2.0?
Social Software for Robots
Web 2.0 and mashups

Ok, that's probably enough. But wow, we're gonna have to do this more often. And it's a great way to get caught up on those conferences you missed. Now, that gives me an idea...

Even if you can't make it tonight, these are some good presos to check out. Thanks to slideshare.net!

May LA g33k d1nner 2nite in Chinatown

Just a reminder that tonight is May's geek dinner in Chinatown.

• Plum Tree Inn
• 913 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 613-1819 

We'll be back in the party room. I've got a bunch of swag from Twiistup, so come on by! We've got the usual crew of regulars and newbies. Don't be shy, come out from your terminal. :)