April 11, 2008

Zappos.com and Twitter



Zappos.com is using Twitter. It's refreshing to see a company using Twitter "correctly" (IMHO, of course).

"Correctly" = an actual person committed to updating the account; not just a river of news; not simply re-broadcasting an RSS feed.

April 6, 2008

Rock Chalk

Rock Chalk
Rock Chalk, originally uploaded by .Nida.

Feeling the Jayhawk love today.

In case you're not following NCAA men's basketball, my beloved University of Kansas Jayhawks won the national semi-final last night against the University of North Carolina (not to mention against KU's old coach of 15 years, Roy Williams)!

My dad has this same figurine, and I'm nearly positive it was my grandfather's. While none of the kids in my generation attended KU, the crimson & blue blood runs deep.

Here's to an amazing championship game on Monday night. It will definitely be one heck of a game as the two teams play very similarly and are really well matched.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!


April 3, 2008

Good People Day - April 3, 2008

Good People Day is a "flash holiday" (props to @pistachio for that term) started by Gary Vaynerchuk as a way to give a little back to the amazing people that inspire us, who we learn from, and love.

Listing all my Good People here would be impossible, so I've decided to limit my shout outs to people who've made an impact on my life in some way in 2007. As I just twittered, 2007 was the year I stepped out of my home office and into the amazing geek community here in SF. It was also the year that I finally put the SXSW deadline on my calendar and made sure to get a hotel room early so I had no excuse for missing it. I met so many wonderful, inspiring, and talented people at SXSW -- it's like a Good People meetup!

On with the post...

1st, my wife Anna (@abrownie), for being an amazing, righteous, huge-hearted, wicked smart, beautiful gal.

2nd, I recently twittered that I was having dinner with three of my favorite people in the universe. One was Anna, and the other two were Pippa (@drpippa) & Jodi (@jsperber). You two make life a little brighter.

3rd, the two main reasons I've been able to meet so many cool SF geeks this year: Citizen Space and Laughing Squid. I've met Scott (@laughingsquid) a few times, and his generosity to and passion for the techie community in SF is overwhelming. As for the folks at Citizen Space, all I can say is a big, huge Thank You. Getting out of my spare bedroom and my coffee shop office, and out into the world changed my life. Chris (@factoryjoe) never ceases to amaze me with his thought leadership and insight. And Tara (@missrogue) continues to be an inspiration and has become a good friend.

5 people I met & got to know a bit in 2007: Tara (@missrogue), Larry (@lhalff), Todd (@toddsieling), William (@v), and Colin (@cbrumelle)

5 Bay Area people I met in 2007 but hope to get to know a bit better in 2008 (i.e. concerts, dinners, parties & skiing/boarding in our future!): Willo (@willotoons) & Ali (@spangley) & Aubrey (@aubs) & Ryan (@rk), Daniel (@dburka), Juliette (@linoleumjet) & Mark (@trammell), Kevin (@kevnull) & Coley (@coley), Cindy (@cindyli), Kristy (@kristywells) & Chris (@chrisheuer), Andy (@andykaufman), Rob (@robknight), Tim (@planspark), and Matt (Kid Kameleon) -- Ok, I really cheated on that one.

5 gals I'd want in my corner on any project (who haven't already been listed): Erica (@ericabiz), Erica (@ericaogrady), Gwen (@gwenbell), Laura (@pistachio), Silona (@silona) -- and SO many more!

5 of my favorite new "conference friends"*: Andrew (@andrewhyde), Colin (@cdevroe), Marcus (@marcusnelson), Matthew (@organ_printer), Robert (@rhjr), Angela (@spunkygidget), Jacob (@jacobsayles) and the IndyHall crew (@alexknowshtml, @johnnynines, @themartorana, @dbanana, @designgeekgirl, & more) (cheating again, I know)

*conference friend = someone who would undoubtedly be a good bud if we lived in the same city; but since they don't, hanging out at conferences will have to suffice.

And finally, and not simply because we wouldn't be blogging, vlogging, and twittering about this if it wasn't for him -- Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee), you rock. It was excellent finally meeting you at SXSW and I truly hope to get to hang with you again soon.