Ignite Corvalis 2, a.k.a my Thursday Night

I'm checking out my twitter feeds yesterday afternoon. I notice a number of tweets from a "Beer Bus" mentioning that many people from Portland are actually on a bus with beer and wifi that is Corvallis-bound. My first thought was "they have to offer Portlanders beer to entice them to come to Corvallis". But then, I became curious as to what exactly they were coming for. Answer: WIN09 and Ignite Corvallis 2. Click the link to find out exactly what was going on... but I was very interested.

I had seen twitter-fuss about Ignite Corvallis 2 about a month ago. From the website I got the impression that this was the MOTHER of all WIBC events (for the newbies, that is "Wouldn't It be Cool", WIBC). Basically, people from the community get 5 minutes to present a 20-slide powerpoint that is on a 15-second timer. The topic: anything that you feel like talking about. Presentations need to be compelling, entertaining, punchy, and not-necessarily-meaningful. I really wanted to give one (I'll hold my subject for the eventuality that I will get to present someday)! But, I had missed the call for applications. And at the time, I put it beyond the back of my mind and that was that.

Then I see the message about it being last night! A mind-check of the things I have to do suggests to me that there is nothing that can't be put off until tomorrow. I love it when this happens, makes me feel so important (not!). I peace out of work around 6:00 and head over to WIN09... conveniently located on OSUs campus for my walking pleasure. At WIN09, I munched on baked brie, chicken skewers, made a salad out of the dipping veggies, and perused the room for interesting people to talk to. I met a guy who works for Korvis Automation, a company that makes Affymetrix machines (very interesting to dorks like me). He was excited that I knew more about the technology than he did (in all fairness he was an engineer from a different arm of the company and was also great fun to chat up). I received some yummy treats (pumpkin chai cupcake) and unsure-of-the-yumminess-factor treats (bacon cupcake) from a woman that is trying to open Rocket Queen Cupcake shop in downtown Corvallis (still needs a little financing).

After the poster session/chattyhour, it was time to set Corvallis on fire... er, Ignite Corvallis 2. Most presenters did not disappoint. One guy offered a Masters in IT in 1,680 characters by boiling down the 12 classes of his Masters program into 12x140 character tweets (I now have a masters in IT :-). Another guy introduced us to "train porn"... the cult practice of trainspotting, no, taking good pictures of trains. His was especially entertaining because every slide could have been turned into a "that's what she said..." moment, by design. Even the mayor got up there for his 5 minutes... comparing our community to a garden (not a huge stretch of the imagination given the number of gardens in this community!). Other memorables included a woman talking about her mid-life crisis spent couchsurfing around Europe and a guy who compared social networking to sex with a funny yet clear message that the best social networking (sex) is achieved by giving, listening, learning, relinquishing some control, and ending everything you say with the words "in bed", as if you were a fortune cookie.

All-in-all. Funny, fantastic night... amazing to be surrounded by so many people who embrace the WIBC spirit! Sorry you missed it? Ignite Portland 7 is Nov. 18. And even better, there will be a Beer Bus w/wifi going up from Corvallis. I'll try to post info about this when I hear it. And I hear that Ignite Corvallis 3 is in the works. They probably need help making it bigger and better... so get your proposal ready!

Things that make you go... hmmm

Just now I tried to send a NYtimes article to a friend of mine through the on-line forwarding service. You know the one: Click the button that says "E-mail this". And instead of interfacing with your e-mail application and popping out a new message window, you get to laboriously cut and paste your friend's address into the little blank, type a short (limit 200-300 character usually) message to inspire your friend to go and read it, and then try and decipher some ghost-like wobbly mix of characters that make you cross-eyed just looking at them:

What does that say... is that an "x" or a "k" at the end of that word that I am hoping begins with an "R"? I failed this one, and the next one. But, on the third try I successfully convinced the computer that I am not a computer.

Now I just hope that my "e-mail" from the website isn't shuttled to junk mail, or worse, spam!

Bright Ideas with a Latin theme.

It's time for the latest edition of "Wouldn't it be cool..."

I'm going to focus on friends (and a friend of a friend, a foaf if you will) who turned a WITBC into a reality that benefits others (and not just increase the level of coolness in the world... though they certainly do that).

The first shout-out goes to my beloved friends from Boulder, Tate and Paola. Paola is a professional Latin dancer and Tate is a sometimes business/marketing/PR guy with a penchant for professional triathlon (a slashy!). They decided not too long ago to produce a latin dance showcase called En Fuego Evolution. It's an extraordinary array of latin dance performed by talented performers living in and around Boulder. It'll be the best $20 you spend this year. To read more about what Tate and Paola are up to, check out the creators page.

My second shout-out goes to a friend of my friend Molly. I always knew that she surrounded herself with smart, creative and incredibly motivated people (feeling very lucky that she considers me a friend..... Hah!). But she is currently traveling through Latin America with the Central America Foundation (CAF). Her friend, Kelley started the charity to bring educational opportunity and medical resources to Central American kids. Check out the CAF projects page to see how you might help... some of the things they are looking for as simple as stethoscopes. And, if you are feeling a little wonderlust and want to try an alternative vacation, apply to volunteer for one of their trips!

And finally...The "Woudn't it Be Cool..." Award for embracing this motto for your whole life, goes to my friend Lauren in the Peace Corps. Not only for being un-PC in the PC, but also for riding the entire Rim Rock Trail in Moab, UT, competing in Ironman Triathlon, and previously teaching elementary school (no small task). Anywho, for this chica, it wasn't enough to just dedicate three years of her life to charity and poverty... she had to kick it up a notch. She is involved with the Friends of Ecuador charity that is run by Peace Corps volunteers. Their big project right now is GADraffle... at $1.50 a ticket... it is used to send girls to high school. Seems weird to have to pay for something that we just assume happens for us!

So, there you are. I've just had so many people telling me lately about the things they have gotten themselves into that I wanted to share the awesomeness. These folks give new meaning to the term "slashies".

To vacuum or not to vacuum, that is the question.

It's time for another edition of "Wouldn't it be cool....", an occasional topic that arises from news stories, conversations over frothy beverages (beer or latte, you pick), the blogosphere, or just things I overhear.  Today's idea is dedicated to my roommate, who told me last week that one of his goals is to not vacuum his room for the entire time he lives at our house.  9 months and holding strong.  Even in the face of my new you-can-see-what-you-are-sucking Bissell vacuum cleaner that I bought to honor my friend Tom Zirbel, awesome cyclist and member of the Bissell Pro Cycling team.

So, in the spirit of seeing just what might be lurking in his carpet, I set out on my mission and found the jackpot.  Not only did I find info on the creepy crawlies that grown in household carpet (warning, you might never want to walk on your carpet barefoot again after reading this...then again, there are probably worse things growing in your shower), but I stumbled upon a blogger who has the solution: Future carpet.  A concept similar to what might happen if you got gum in your hair, or dyed it a color you don't like.  It would grow a little and you would then cut it.  Voila.  But, see then, you would have to have a lawn-mower contraption for your carpet, thus defeating the whole purpose of not having to vacuum.

Some things in life are just lose-lose.