After seeing fellow Portland writer Steven Walling’s post Changes Afoot, it occurred to me that I should update my status to reflect my recent changes also.
I am no longer covering the weekend news beat at ReadWriteWeb. In my situation, the amount of time I had to spend writing and covering breaking news during the weekend was not conducive to a harmonious family life. I do hope I can continue to be useful to RWW in the future, as working there has been one of the great experiences of my life and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. It’s hardly possible to properly thank Marshall Kirkpatrick and founder Richard MacManus for the opportunity they have given me. Working with the whole RWW team has been a worthwhile experience for sure.
Right now I am continuing to work as a freelance writer and I’m beginning to specialize in social media and community management. I have been writing various articles for newspapers and magazines as well as online and lately have been putting out some feelers, looking for a “real job”. I love freelancing, but the feast-or-famine nature of it is stressful now that I have a family to support. There are at least a couple of exciting opportunities I am looking into and for now I am keeping my options open.
I am determined to do what I am passionate about for a living, that’s just how I roll. This is a exciting and challenging time for me, I’ll keep you posted.
This thing actually kind of sucks because I can’t add links when I post this way (from the “Hi, douglas. Whatcha up to?” box in this theme). What’s up with that and why didn’t I notice it before I installed the P2 theme? I guess it’s because I don’t really post here much.
My personal blog was supposed to be a real thing of beauty, my ticket to blogging super-stardom. In reality it’s kind of a piece of crap. I try to do this shit for a living and frankly this site doesn’t pay me, so I don’t work on it much.
Well anyway, just testing this out writing things nobody will ever read.
This is an excellent presentation from Digital Journalism Camp PDX 2009. KGW Live @ 7 producer Aaron Weiss and StrangeLoveLive.com producer Mike Gebhardt (@drnormal) show us their best software and editing tricks to produce, edit and post videos on the Web.
I had occasion to remark yesterday about how cool I think Web archiving startup Iterasi is. My wife, owner of our small multimedia company, had discovered that one of the Websites she designed and built for a local sign company had been changed. There was apparently a spat between the owners about money and someone did not want to pay for any more Website changes or updates. They were happy with Robin’s work, they just thought they could save some money on Web maintenance. You know how that goes, right? Some secretary or intern has a Facebook page and maybe a cool blog and convinces the boss that they can update and maintain the company site for a lot less money. Anyway, the end result is that Robin can no longer use that site in her portfolio because it’s a mess now. Most people I bitched to about this problem told me to try Wayback Machine, an internet archive for researchers, historians, and scholars. The Wayback Machine is great, but there were no matches for this particular local small business site. It’s not really that big of deal, she has plenty of good Websites for her portfolio, but I feel kind of dumb for not archiving it myself. This whole mess could have been avoided if we had archived the entire site in Iterasi.
Some of you may be unfamiliar with Iterasi and what it does. I am not going to review it here for you now, but I will tell you it is one of my favorite internet apps ever. Rick Turoczy described it best when he called it “your own personal Wayback Machine”. Admittedly, I haven’t used it much lately, but that’s going to change. I mostly use it to archive my own writing for various outlets and other projects. You can check out my public archives here.
Basically the company has “retooled” its technology, updated its site and added some functionality for tracking and archiving traditional and social media sites. The cool part is that it’s using good ‘ol RSS to feed its archiving engine. According to Iterasi CEO Pete Grillo:
We really didn’t have to look too far to find the best method to monitor and capture interesting stories on the Web. Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is both simple and ubiquitous. It is simple in that it exists on virtually every news source, blog, search engine and social media source. Most browsers identify RSS feeds automatically. RSS has emerged as the de-facto technology used throughout the Internet to pass information. Think of RSS as the silk that makes the Internet into a Web. From simple tools like browser-based readers to complex programming tools like Yahoo Pipes, RSS is the answer to subscribing to information flow in the Open Web.
To learn more about Iterasi and its exciting new changes, be sure to check out the Iterasi blog. While you’re at it, follow the company on Twitter @Iterasi and definitely go bug CEO @petegrillo for his latest omelette recipe. His own personal archived pages on Iterasi are pretty darn interesting also, you can pick your way through those here.
Here is a correspondence with a person looking for some help building a Website. I don’t know why I am making a blog post out of it, it just seems interesting. Nobody reads the crap I write here anyway, right?!
Hi,
Word on the street (actually a Twitter update from @XXXXXXXXX) is that you may be looking for some help with WordPress. I have some experience with WordPress and I could help you out and even teach you about it if you want. I have included my contact info in my signature, feel free to email or call me anytime.
Thanks,
Doug Coleman
Freelance Writer, Social Media, Multimedia, Web and Communications Specialist
Blog: http://dougcoleman.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @dougcoleman
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/dougcoleman
Phone: (503) 912-1446 (503) 869-3416 (cell)
I got this response:
Hi,
Thanks for your interest in our project. I’ve heard from a bunch of folks interested in the re-design so I need to winnow. Any ideas on how to choose a web designer? I’d love to hear them. Thanks.
and I responded…
Hi Gary,
I would say right off hand to look at that person’s portfolio of sites they have designed. Do some research to see if their cost fits your budget. Speak with others that they have done work for. It sounds like a no-brainer, but meet that person face-to-face and simply see if you like them. A good designer should also have good communication skills as they need to communicate with those providing the content and administrators. You should have some sort of written contract that provides a timeline and spells out what is expected from both parties involved. I would say go local, there are many good Web designers in Oregon and the Portland metro area.
Ultimately, the success of a site is up to you (or whoever is in charge of it). You need to be very clear about your goals and expectations. It doesn’t hurt to meet with a consultant about the Web and what social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) could do for your business. It’s not as expensive as you might think to hire a consultant and most businesses really benefit from it.
Here is a search page about choosing a good Web designer. Look through these, there is some good info here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=eDQ&ei=d1d3SoezMo7gswPh26TVBA&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=choosing+a+good+web+designer&spell=1
I hope this helps, good luck.
Doug
I helped a little, right? I answer people’s questions like this all the time, on lots of different networks. I think I would make a great community manager…just sayin’.
Make it great. Colleagues and clients always want results sooner. How can you deliver without compromising quality? In this workshop, Leah Buley will show you how to use design sprints and lo-fi design techniques to achieve remarkable productivity in relatively short time.
This subject is close to my heart. I have been thinking about the future of newspapers for many years now and in fact, I am convinced that I have a series of solutions that could save the news industry. I know that’s a bold statement but as I begin to outline my ideas, it will become obvious to everyone. Read the rest of this entry »
I have repeatedly neglected my blog. Which is not that big of deal because I write this blog for me, not necessarily you. But like I’ve said to you before, I have good reasons. The main reason is that I have taken my first professional blogging gig. If you haven’t heard, I am writing for ReadWriteWeb’s new website, Jobwire (I haven’t updated my “About” page here yet). This is challenging, but it is no excuse for not posting on my blog.
I have been wanting to re-do my blog for some time now and I’m not sure which direction to go. I am still contemplating my next move. Until I get it figured out, I am going to try to post more often, even if it is just links to other people’s cool stuff, videos, etc.. I also plan to write a series of posts about my wonderful experiences working with Marshall Kirkpatrick and our super-smart, supremely talented Jobwire team.
I am also going to start posting what apps I am using lately and probably post some screencasts and demos, so look for that. Look for new, functional additions to the Multimedia Misfit real soon, like my recently added FriendFeed badge. Please feel free to contact me with tips and suggestions.
You’re probably saying, “dude, another video? Don’t you ever write anymore?” Well screw you, because this is brilliant. Portland’s own Legion of Tech made this video and put it up in their blog about Ignite Portland 4: http://www.igniteportland.com/sponsorships/
Another challenging and exciting year is about to begin and I want to welcome you to the Multimedia program at PCC.Our Multimedia Club’s officers have stayed in touch this summer and we plan to make this our best year yet.But before I tell you about our big plans, I want to give you some advice.
I can sum up my advice to students in the Multimedia program in two words; GET INVOLVED.I can’t stress enough how important it is to be involved in something besides your studies.The field of multimedia requires equal parts study, networking, collaboration and volunteering.Luckily, PCC’s Multimedia Club has got you covered.
Beginning October 6th, 2008 we will be holding “Multimedia Mondays”.During these gatherings there will be presentations (social media, technology, what’s hot, etc.), networking opportunities, brainstorming sessions and just plain fun.But wait, there’s more!Each one of our club’s officers has made a commitment to help fellow students all year long, through our (unofficial) mentoring program.Some of us “old salts” will be available to mentor new and returning students throughout the year.We not only have experience with the courses, but insight into what’s happening in the real world.
Other plans this year include various fundraising projects (we like to help charities), joint meetings with other PCC clubs, event hosting and much more.Feel free to give us your ideas.Show up to a meeting, contact us with your ideas, or simply stop me in the hall or lab.PCC Multimedia Club wants you!
1de·tour : a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure; especially: a roundabout way temporarily replacing part of a route
Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do, just to pay the bills. I find myself in that very position right now. I am taking a 40 hour a week job as a maintenance man at three downtown Portland buildings. That is not what I went to school for, nor is it what I want to do for a career. But right now, paying my bills and supporting my wife (and our team), especially while they are going to school, is important to me.
My wife, myself and two friends from school started a multimedia company earlier this year and it has had some success. But so far, it does not support my family. We are all still students and still have not found our niche’s yet. Those of you that have tried to work for yourselves can appreciate my situation. That’s just the way it is sometimes. I knew when I chose to go back to school and try a new career, it would not be easy. But you know what? My situation is not dire and in fact, I am going to make this work for me.
The company I am going to work for manages two new buildings in the South Waterfront development and one in the Pearl District. They are in a pinch for maintenance personnel now, but I was told that a person with my skills could be hired as a concierge. That would be closer to what I want to be doing. I had a strange thought that I could combine a concierge position with social media and rock both. OK, maybe that’s a stretch, but it would not be such a bad gig. One thing is for sure, the company that hired me made a good choice. I appreciate the work and will give them my best. If the stars align just right, I will be able to work for this company and work in my chosen field.
Now, just because I’m going to have a “straight” job for a while, does not mean I will be going away.I will be taking a couple of classes this fall and otherwise studying my multimedia/tech/web/writing/film producing/social media/creative ass off. I am still going to be the President of the PCC Multimedia Club, where we have big plans. I will still show my face at most of the geeky gatherings and I will still blog. I am very excited about a XXXXXXXXXXX project that is about to happen (more on that later and no, it has nothing to do with iPhone development). After all, my new job is only 40 hours a week, right? That leaves another what, 30-40 more work hours?
Note*** To establish proper context for this post, please read my original editor’s note. To be fair, I should point out that Apple’s NDA clearly did not stop collaboration between iPhone developers, as witnessed by thousands of attendees of iPhone DevCamp 2 from all over the world.
Portland iPhone DevCampers
DAY ONE:
It was a great first day at the iPhone DevCamp 2 satellite event being held in Portland. Despite being under construction, Jive Software is a first-rate venue. The setup at Jive includes a spacious main area, where a live satellite feed from the San Francisco main event could be viewed on a giant screen. There were tables to work at, electricity and wi-fi internet access for camper’s laptops, comfortable seating and access to a well-stocked kitchen. Separate meeting rooms provided a quiet place to work or chat. The whole place has an energetic, hip urban vibe about it.Jim Goings and Jive Software are wonderful hosts. Employees of this local software company should really appreciate these diggs. When construction is complete on Jive’s downtown Portland headquarters, the renovated old Federal Reserve Building will be something to behold. I can’t wait to see it.
Ten first day attendees arrived shortly after 9:00 am, set up their laptops and introduced themselves. Developers and coders are not known for being morning people, so fresh coffee and things to eat for breakfast were quite welcome. After some discussions went around the room about what people wanted to gain from this event, it was time for the opening keynote forum from San Francisco via Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro. Merlin Mann led the forum, alongside Mike Lee and Brian Fling. I’m sure it was a fine keynote forum, but it was really hard to follow from a satellite feed with seven other cities and I lost track of what was going on. That was alright because the Portland team was itching to get started on their entry in the Hackathon contest. A basic team of four people began discussing how to build procedural wallpapers for the iPhone. Work went on into the late night and other than lunch, the rest of the day was uneventful.
DAY TWO:
A crack team of Portland iPhone geeks decended upon Jive Software, bright-eyed and ready to go for day two of iPhone Devcamp 2. From the night before, much of the XXXXXXXXXXXXX for the Hackathon entry had been built using XXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXX. The team, led by Andrew Pouloit, assessed what had been done and what was still left to do. XXXX XXXXXX had XXXXXXXX the XXXXXXXX by XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. This was especially difficult because XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. A simple fix was to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. As you may know, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. This a common problem and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is a real time saver.
So, with the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, there was still much work to do. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX need to be adressed when dealing with any XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. In order to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, you should always XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
So much was learned by XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. A XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX should be in every coder’s vocabulary. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXX are reliable fixes for a problem that is shared by many when trying to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
By now, the XXXXXXXX and XXXXXXX were XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. A basic work flow for XXXXXXXXXXXX is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, according to this group’s experience. So much was learned by XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
Portland wins the Hackathon for best app among the cities attending the event via satellite!!! Details are still being discussed about what I can say about it. Stay tuned.
SPECIAL THANKS:
When our original event venue became unavailable shortly after we announced our event to the world, Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist put the word out for us and the very next day, we had three offers. Jive Software stepped in right away and said we could use their offices. They not only offered their space, but made sure we felt welcome, even making event posters for us. We should feel fortunate to live where there is such support for the tech scene and give these people some love whenever we can. Thanks to all of the attendees for making this a successful event. Next year’s event should be even bigger and better.
**EDITOR’S NOTE** I am very excited to be covering an event like this year’s iPhone DevCamp for my new blog. But due to Apple’s iPhone SDK Non-Disclosure Agreement, not much can be said about what is (or is not) going on with applications being developed for the iPhone.
Developers and programmers who rely on a free exchange of information in order to learn to build new applications, are being asked to remain silent about the company’s iPhone Software Developers Kit. That’s the word on the street and I’m sure they have their reasons.[Note to self;another post on those reasons]
I have been warned that the mandatory minimum sentence for violating Apple’s NDA is a thourough ass-beating from a couple of Steve Jobs’ thugs and if I live through that, they would excommunicate me from the Apple cult community and banish me from the internet. The rebel in me sees this as a challenge. After all, I can take (or give) a good ass-beating. Even the threat of getting the bejesus sued out of me doesn’t really scare me because, as Jim Goings (who is not my lawyer) pointed out; “you don’t need no stinking NDA”. He’s right. I haven’t yet signed up for the iPhone SDK, so I am under no obligation to abide by its non-disclosure agreement. The fact is, any attention I might get from Apple, especially negative attention, could gain me lots of readers for my blog.
If I want to write for a living, I need that attention. And whileany gonzo journalist worth his notebook should jump at this perfect chance to stick it to the man, I have reasons for playing this one straight. My main reason is that I do not want to jeopardize any person’s chance to make money on their applications. These people work hard, often in obscurity, to get a chance to make some real money for themselves and their teams. The other reasons also have to do with respect. Respect for Jive Software, who provided the venue for this event. Respect for those who organized and attended this event. And above all, respect for a community that has nurtured and been very kind to me in my new career. For these reasons, I purposely choose to puss out and provide tomorrow’s content censored according to the iPhone SDK’s NDA . DC**
Thanks to the efforts of iPhone visionary Dean Martindale and Portland tech community supporter Jive Software, iPhone DevCamp 2 is holding a satellite event in Portland. This event isopen to the public and isfree.
For those of you who are not familiar with iPhone DevCamp, here is a brief explanation from iPhone DevCamp.org:
iPhoneDevCamp 2 is an upcoming not-for-profit gathering to develop applications for iPhone and iPod touch using both the native SDK and web standards. This is a follow-on event to the first iPhoneDevCamp, held in early July 2007.
iPhone DevCamp Portland will take place August 2nd and August 3rd at Jive Software Map Link. Here is what will be available at our satellite feed event:
2 projectors (more if we really need it) – each connected to a MacMini (or your own computer)
Wi-Fi with fast, redundant Internet feeds
Seating for 40 (but probably less once tables, etc are setup)
Beverage cooler with drinks
Coffee
Food is still being planned and people will not go hungry
Additionally, there will be a meet and greet on Friday evening August 1st, from 6pm to 8pm at the Living Room Theaters across the street from Jive and Powell’s Bookstore.
Participants will be able to participate in this year’s Hackathon!! Track up-to-the-minute updates from San Francisco at iphonedevcamp.org.
I am excited to announce that iPhone DevCamp 2 PDX has an new venue! Thanks to Jim Goings and the wonderful people at Jive Software, iPhone DevCamp 2 PDX will be held August 2nd and 3rd at Jive’s Stark St. offices in Downtown Portland. Here is what the space has to offer:
2 projectors (more if we really need it) – each connected to a MacMini (or your own computer)
Wi-Fi with fast, redundant Internet feeds
Seating for 40 (but probably less once tables, etc are setup)
Beverage cooler with drinks
Coffee
Food is still being planned and people will not go hungry
Additionally, there will be a meet and greet on Friday evening August 1st, from 6pm to 8pm at the Living Room Theaters across the street from Jive and Powell’s Bookstore.
I would like to thank those people who responded quickly with venues and ideas for help when we were in crisis. I would personally like to thank Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist for spreading the word on his site and on Twitter when I lost all of my followers suddenly. Rick is a rockstar in this town, and a great supporter of the tech scene here. You should follow him: @turoczy.
I know. A link to a video in a blog post instead of an actual embeded video is cheesy. But if you are a regular reader of the Multimedia Misfit, you know that sometimes that’s how I roll, dog.
This week the Open Source convention OSCON 2008 is in town and together with the recent release of the iPhone 3G, mainstream media is taking notice of technology and business. In a report titled “Your Money, Your Business: Old iPhones Selling For New Prices Online”, KGW Newschannel 8 reporter Joe Smith interviews @ravenzachary, @jabancroft, and @turoczy about iPhones old and new.
Enthusiasm is high about an iPhone DevCamp 2 satellite event being held in Portland. However, PCC Cascade informed us today that we will not be able to use their facilities to host DevCamp 2 PDX without paying almost $1000 in security and overtime fees. Disappointing news, because plans have been in the works for weeks now and we have already announced it to the world. This leaves us without a venue to host this event that is only a week and a half away.
If Portland iPhone developers show enough interest in this event and if we can find a suitable venue, iPhone DevCamp 2 PDX can still happen. Keep in mind that we want to keep this a free event and we have almost no budget, so we need help!
A suitable venue would be large enough to host possibly 20+ people, have Wi-Fi access, a projector or other means of viewing a live satellite feed and an area for people to mingle and eat.
iPhone DevCamp 2 is Friday August 1st through Sunday August 3rd. Friday evening would be for meet & greets and would not have to take place at the event venue.
The largest gathering of iPhone owners at the iPhoneDevCamp in San Francisco. Can Portland beat this?
Good news! iPhone developer geeks do not have to travel all the way to San Francisco for DevCamp 2. There will be a live satellite event at Portland Community College’s Cascade Campus that is open to the public and isfree. For those of you who are not familiar with iPhone DevCamp, here is a brief explanation from iPhone DevCamp.org:
iPhoneDevCamp 2 is an upcoming not-for-profit gathering to develop applications for iPhone and iPod touch using both the native SDK and web standards. This is a follow-on event to the first iPhoneDevCamp, held in early July 2007.
iPhone DevCamp Portland will take place August 1st through August 3rd on the Cascade Campus of Portland Community College Map Link.
This will be a satellite event, linked via streaming video with the main event in San Francisco. The event will be held in three rooms of PCC’s state-of-the-art Multimedia Lab. The venue offers free Wi-Fi and access to 40 Mac Pro terminals running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
Food, meet and greets, and other considerations are being planned and anyone interested in providing sponsorship for this event should contact myself dougcoleman1@gmail.com or Dean Martindale. Look for more information and breaking news about this event right here on the Multimedia Misfit.
Special Thanks to Dean Martindale for putting this together, visit his blog: webguypdx.com
Like I mentioned before, Portland is full of things to do if you are a geek. There is a meeting or event virtually every day, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few choice events I will be attending this week and next. Students, pay attention. It is important to use events like these to network and learn things they don’t teach you in school. I keep track of these events on Upcoming.com :
The Portland Lunch 2.0 saga continues at flex term office space provider souk , once again in Old Town on July 16, 2008. We won’t stop until we have Lunch 2.0 at every, single business in Old Town…
In this workshop by Al Polito, we will explore personal branding. Branding goes deeper than your slogan; it’s about knowing the value you bring to your clients/customers, and expressing it powerfully…
Cre8Camp Portland is a BarCamp-like unconference with a creative twist–it is for creative industries professionals. There is no charge to attend, but participants can opt to pay for a $10 box lunch…
Marshall Kirkpatrick is a Lead Author for the very popular web apps, web technology trends, social networking and social media website, ReadWriteWeb. He posed an interesting question on Twitter;
marshallk “Thinking of writing a story about whether startups need community managers. Thoughts?”
In his own blog, Marshall said that he got twenty people to reply. There were some great responses. Look for his article on ReadWriteWeb. Here is what I had to say:
If by “community managers” you mean someone that keeps track of what is happening in a certain community, then yes, startups need a community manager. Especially if that company pays attention to social media. Social media is so important for many companies these days, but the sheer volume of information that is shared can be a problem for them. I think it takes at least one person in a startup to “keep an ear to the ground”. That person should be reading feeds all day and paying attention for appropriate information and content. That person should be writing a blog and listening to their other networks. A social network community manager should learn about what is happening in that company’s field every day and report it to their team.
Doug Coleman
If anyone out there is looking for a community manager, I am looking for a job. Feel free to contact me at: dougcoleman1@gmail.com
You do not have to go to an expensive state or private school to get a great education in multimedia. Portland Community College’s Multimedia Program offers accessible and affordable training in multimedia design and development. After all, your education is what you make of it, regardless of where you go to school. In fact, I have seen other more expensive options that offered far less.
From an email by PCC Multimedia Coordinator Greg Walters :
“The PCC Multimedia Center recently upgraded it’s computers and software to the latest and greatest that our industry has to offer. Brand new Apple G5 Towers, 20” flat screen monitors, 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors, Final Cut Studio 2, Adobe CS3 Design Premium, and much much more. We also recently got state approval of our Video Production Certificate this past month, which we will begin offering to students along with our current Multimedia Certificate and Associates of Applied Science degree in Multimedia. What better time to be a multimedia student, eh?
If you have any questions about classes, events, degrees, and/or advising here in the Multimedia program, please don’t hesitate to contact us. All of our current information is available online at: www.pccmm.com ”
However you choose to pursue a multimedia education, be sure to network with fellow students and become involved in your community’s multimedia network, or “scene”. One great way to do this is join the PCC Multimedia Club. We are still sorting through administrative issues on our website, but you can contact meand I will get you set up. Look for more posts about the exciting things we are doing in our community coming soon.
I know my thousands (ok, maybe a dozen) of readers will not know what to do this week when I go camping and become unplugged. Don’t worry people, I’ve got you covered.
First of all, if you live in Portland, for god’s sake people go outside! We get precious little sunshine around these parts and if you are as pasty as I am, you need it. Geeks can find wi-fi in many outdoor locations in Portland. Or better yet, give yourself a break from it. The night after I went offline for an entire day once, I slept like a baby. But if you just can’t pry yourself away from the ‘ol “Google Box”, here are some cool things to do this week:
1.Join my club!- PCC Multimedia Club needs new blood. This summer we are volunteering at FreeGeek to build computers for needy students and have big plans for this fall. You do not need to be a student to join. Contact Greg Walters, PCC Multimedia Club Coordinator and get started. I hear the club President is really cool!
2. Geeky Gatherings- Like I said before, Portland is a great place to be if you are into multimedia/tech/internet. There are at least three events that I would go to if I were going to be in town:
Substance Summit , ( Wednesday July 9th, 3:30pm, Lucky Lab beer hall )
The first in a series of conversations with the Portland creative community to help each other understand how we can be more inclusive, collaborative and effective.
CHIFOO Meeting: Understanding the Multi-User Experience ( Wednesday July 9th, 6:30pm, Techtronix Building 38) Presented by Jen Young & Matt Arnold, Second Story. “Jen and Matt , members of the stellar Second Story Studios team, will show how understanding people’s needs and tendencies—and the learning curve for people that must be managed in multi-user experiences—can be squared with innovations offered by ever-changing technology and hardware, design obstacles and opportunities, and the desire to wow visitors while offering designs that are appropriate to the content.”
“In celebration of the iPhone 3G & App Store launch, join members of the Portland iPhone community…”
* Check out the new iPhone 3G
* See demos of App Store applications
* Meet members of the local iPhone community
3. Investigate the Portland geek scene: Portland is literally crawling with ambitious, creative and talented geeks. There are several local blogs and websites I have discovered lately and read every day.
Silicon Florist is my favorite local blog lately, and not just because they used some of my coverage of Demolicious, but because they cover Portland tech news that may slip through the cracks of Read Write Web, TechCrunch, etc.. The “…Willamette Week for the Portland tech scene”, if you will. Rick Turoczy, a big player in the Portland tech scene, writes this blog.
Portland is Awesome is …”a celebration of the many fun and interesting things in Portland, Oregon. Many of the Portland blogs just seemed too corporate, so I thought it would be cool to start a new group blog where people can blog about anything related to Portland. It doesn’t even have to be “awesome”; we can talk about anything happening in Portland.” Super-blogger Dawn Foster writes this blog and also writes another great local blog, Fast Wonder.
PDX Web Innovators is “…a technology-agnostic group where you can meet like-minded web people without the excuse of a networking-only event.” They do great things for the Portland web scene. I am looking forward to their next event and using their great website resources.
Twitter is how I keep in touch with what is going on in the PDX tech scene. Some my local favorites are @brampitoyo (this kid has his finger on the pulse of the PDX scene), @marshallk, @geekygirldawn, @turoczy, @caseorganic, and others. Check out my page and see who I am following. My very favorite so far is @corvida
4. Put up a page or join a group on PortlandNeighborhood.com: “Portland neighborhood social network. Meet other Portlanders, view Portland pictures & videos, join a group, have a discussion, and more!” This is a very new Portland site and has much potential.
5. Leave Me a Comment: Let me know what you think of my blog. Let me know what you would like to hear about in this blog. If this is all unreadable crap, let me know that too.
There you have it, something geeky and fun to do until my next post. Look for more good stuff next week.
If you are a relative newbie to the whole multimedia/tech scene like myself, Portland is a great place to be. If you look hard enough, you can find a geek gathering almost every night. I found such a gathering this evening, put on by PDX Web Innovators. Demolicious showcases…”the great stuff your fellow Portlanders have been working on. Several ten minute demos of new products and side projects”. Tonight there were five demonstrations:
Kevin Chen (MetroSeeq):
Any product that grew from a college student’s free food association is alright in my book. MetroSeeq uses Google maps to provide users with targeted, local information about businesses in your neighborhood offering coupons, discounts and deals. Both business owners and users can aggregate coupons and deals. Having trouble deciding what to have for dinner? Spin MetroSeeq’s “Wheel of Meals” for several cheap options.
Don Park (Do It Yourself FriendFeed):
Those of you whores with thousands of friends need a way to find those friends on other networks. I am still new to social networking, so I will let Dawn Foster explain…”You can manage your own friend lists with rel=”contact” in a regular html page, and you can also use rel=”me” to connect pages that describe you. XFN Spider can look at those me links, spider to the friends listed on those pages, create an OPML file and get all of this information in an rss reader”. (Fast Wonder)
Matt King (Interface Content Management Framework):
Coming soon from Instrument, a “CMS (content management system) that builds CMS’s” or a CMS framework. For someone like myself that is interested in building content managed sites, this is cool. It should make my life easier. I will look for it when it is released.
Mounir Shita (GoLife Mobile):
GoLife Mobile is open source technology that “…lets software developers easily create useful, useable, personalized mobile software that run(s) on any of our user’s phones”. (GoLifeMobile.com) Their built-in advertising generator automatically generates revenue for your applications and objects and shares it with you.
Lev Tsypin (Green Renter):
Once again, Portlanders are leading the way in the whole “green” movement. Green Renter provides information about green residential and commercial rentals in the Portland metro area. They also allow building and property owners to promote their properties and provide detailed information about what makes their properties green. Green Renter hopes to be the resource for sustainable living in Portland and plans to expand to other cities.
There are so many exciting things happening in Portland. I am happy to be part of such a thriving, creative and nurturing scene. I am looking forward to the next event put on by PDX Web Innovators.
I have been slacking on my blog lately. It is not because I have nothing to write about or nothing cool to show you. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Since the day I really discovered blogging and other social networks at WebVisions 2008 , I have thought of little else. But there are other issues to consider when you enter the blogisphere, and I got a little spooked until I was able to sort it all out for myself. The main issue I had was about privacy. But instead of writing a post about privacy issues on the internet, I will just let you know the conclusions I reached about privacy:
1. I don’t care if the world knows everything about me. As long as I can keep my bank account, financial and medical records safe, I am not too concerned. Otherwise, my life is an open book.
2. I will use my own name. After all, Doug Coleman is my brand right now.
3. I will put my resume and contact information in my blog. I think a blog is a great tool to get work.
So, there it is. I am not so spooked anymore. Like I said in an earlier post (Why Have a Blog?), I am still very new to the whole social media scene and I have much to learn. And I have much to write about.
Besides WebVisions 2008, I have had been to a number of events and gatherings that have given me a lot to write about. At a DevGroup NW event, I heard Greg Rewis, the Group Manager of Creative Solutions Evangelism at Adobe Systems, Inc.. I also attended the Cascade Siggraph “Get a Job in Computer Graphics” event. My PCC Multimedia Club has been busy building computers for needy students at Free Geek, and we just had our end of the year party. I am fresh out of some interesting classes with Phillip Kerman, Scott Mazariegos and Mark Dustan. I was not able to attend Ignite Portland 3, but I followed it on a Twitter feed (that was cool!). I recently discovered Beer & Blog and met some great people. I still want to review some great tools and techniques I use for multimedia projects. These are but a few of the things I want to write about, not including my other interests.
In other words, I have no excuse for slacking on my blog. Get Busy, Dude!
Why would any self-proclaimed website designer like myself use a WordPress blog template? The answer is easy. Because they do a pretty darn good job of designing their blog sites and that frees me up to concentrate on content. Besides, the type of website “design” I do is not really pure. By that I mean that I don’t usually start with a blank page, lay it all out, write the code and attach a CSS file, etc. I usually start with a template in Adobe Dreamweaver , choose a color scheme (COLURlovers monitors and influences color trends), choose an appropriate font and start plugging in content. Choosing fonts for web use is easy. There are only about seven fonts that really work in all browsers, so I use one of them (Arial, Comic Sans MS, Georgia, Courier New, Tahoma, Times New Roman and Verdana). This is hotly debated among font nerds but trust me, these are best if you want everybody to be able to view your pages in all browsers. Remember, computers can only display the fonts that are installed on that computer. The average internet user does not have all of your fancy fonts installed on their computer.
Once I find appropriate places to put content, I go to town. Making graphics, finding and linking pages, writing, taking and optimizing photos, making animations, video editing and music are the fun things I like to do. It is usually pretty easy to insert these things into an html page.
When I run into any trouble with the inner workings of a page (often), I call upon my trusty sidekick, Robin (after all, I am Batman). She tidys up my mess and makes it all work. If my design isn’t working then it is easy to plug the content into a new design. This is also what having a WordPress blog site does for me. I can concentrate on content and leave the real design to the pros. I have designed a couple of pretty cool looking websites by slicing up a Photoshop document and importing it into Dreamweaver. There are many perils accociated with this method, so I warn against it. I will write about that in a future post.
Until I can get my hands on a copy of Adobe Thermo, or until someone throws a big pile of money my way, that’s how I roll, dog.
I am taking a course right now at Portland Community College that is called Multimedia Review, Test and Delivery. It is a two day, 1 credit course that I need for my MM degree. I must admit, I was not looking forward to it. My weekends are precious to me and this is on a Friday and Saturday. However, I have changed my mind after attending the first day. The instructor, Mark Dustan, works for Jupiter Systems, who supply…”visualization solutions that help customers respond to the complex operational demands of security, defense, transportation, public utilities, education, and business communications”. They are “The Display Wall Company”. Without filling this post with Mr. Dustan’s entire history, I will say that he has worked for Sarif, Smart Technologies, Planar, and other multimedia companies and is a very informed expert on all things multimedia.
In the course we are going to test and deliver our Adobe Director projects from an earlier course. One of the main ideas about this course is that you can re-purpose content for other applications. To show us a little example of this, Beth Fitzgerald demonstrated how we can make our .dir files and convert them into .dcr (Shockwave) files that can be used on the internet. I was familiar with how to do this, but the point about re-purposing content was well taken. A good example of this is that more and more content is being used and produced for mobile phones and devices. It makes sense for me to learn to make some of my web related projects useful on these devices also.
In this evening’s class, we learned who is using multimedia. The list of multimedia applications and the spaces they occupy is staggering and continues to grow every day. Airports, banks, news channels, casinos, briefing rooms, corporations, visitor experience centers, lobbies, conventions, grocery stores and gas stations are only a few of the places we are likely to see multimedia.
We were also reminded of a couple of important tips for anyone in a creative field like multimedia. I will write more about these tips in later posts because they deserve their own attention.
It is important to note that multimedia and technology is always changing and we need to keep up those changes. Mr. Dustan turned us on to the IEEE Video Blog, a video blog especially for the multimedia community. I urge everyone to check out these videos made by experts who are on the bleeding edge of multimedia and technology.
I will be sure to write a full post about what I learned when the course is complete. Stay tuned
Hill Pig was the band I was in the last couple of years. Hill Pig was the greatest band that nobody every really saw or heard. The song is in this video is called “Carnivor” and was written by Jon Reinemann and the late Dave ‘Death’ Bjorkland. Jon Reinemann is on the drums and vocals, Kelly Brown on rhythm guitar, Lance Denny on lead guitar and myself on bass. I have some footage of a few live shows but not much good live audio. What you hear is camera sound recorded at Outlaws Bar and Grill. What you see is footage from about three shows there plus some ripped-off footage of a Slipknot crowd at the beginning. Outlaws was on East Burnside in Portland, next door to Doug Fir Lounge. Not too bad of a place to play. Three stories tall, the top story was a strip club. They had a pretty decent stage, decent sound and great lights. The building is still there but is some other dive bar or something. We played a couple of mostly forgettable shows there, playing with Dirty Little Fingers, AK47, Crazy Train and some others I can’t remember. Come to think of it, I’m not sure we got paid for the last gig we did there.
Someday I will render the footage of Hill Pig (then called Mean Visage) at SummerSlam 2006 and post it. Read the Crave Magazine review and see our name on the cover of the mag, right below Zack Wylde (get out your magnifying glass!). The video tape is Hi-8 and I don’t have a machine (or the camera) that I can render it with. SummerSlam was our first real gig together and it was a crazy outdoor festival with free camping, food and yes, free beer!! The footage of that is particularily cool because the background of the huge stage were the mountains of the Pacific Coast Range. Other video footage froma show at the Roseland is still missing, which sucks because it was probably our best live show, our best venue and our best crowd. Brian Harrison from Dirty Little Fingers and who manages Clackamas Guitar Center asked us to play his wife’s 40th birthy bash at the Roseland.
Jono and I are still jamming together. This time I am playing drums and he is playing guitar and singing. I will keep you posted on that because it might yield some cool songs. We are recording some things now. I might also post some of the long-lost Hill Pig studio recordings. There is some really great stuff there. I may not have full permission yet, so we’ll see.
I never really gave blogging much thought until a few months ago when I was asked about setting one up for a school’s trades and industry program. The director of the program obviously understood the power of the blog. I had to decline the offer because I knew virtually nothing about blogging, but it got me interested in how blogs and other social media can help businesses and education. Meanwhile, I was busy with other projects and sort of put that on a back burner. But I kept hearing about social media’s importance to business and education. I also began reading a lot of blogs. A couple of my favorites are boingboing.net and technorati.com. Blogs are a great way to display your portfolio and there are some pretty good ones out there. I was beginning to get the picture. But then last week I had the opportunity to see Jim Turner speak at WebVisions in Portland, Oregon.
Jim Turner is an inspiration to me. Jim is a well-respected professional blogger, mentoring others to become professional bloggers and leading companies through successful online campaigns. Jim is a leader in the new industry of social media and business blogging, and is well connected in advertising, public relations, marketing and other business circles. He told us he began blogging about four years ago as a “daddy blogger”, writing about issues related to the stay at home father. He also told us that he made a very comfortable living blogging and that many of us could too. His best advise to get started was simply to have a blog (duh!), and so here I am! I love to write and I love the internet, so this makes perfect sense to me. Check out Jim’s website: http://www.bloggersforhire.com/ . Here is the introduction for his presentation at Webvisions 2008:
“Blogging For a Living: Taking your skills to the Next Level-
Blogging has been a new phenomena and companies and businesses are now looking to make this a part of their marketing, advertising and public relations plans. Bloggers are now taking their newly learned skills and translating that into a career. The skills of a blogger, like basic knowledge of blog design and development, analytics, copywriting and other facets are making it possible to earn a living as a professional blogger.” *Webvisions 2008 Program
There are other reasons I want to blog. It will give me an opportunity to do some of the things I love to do. I will use this place to display my portfolio of various multimedia projects. I will try my hand at posting my own tutorials of cool things I know how to do. I am going to interview some of the smart, interesting people I have met in school and around the Portland multimedia scene. I plan to report on geek conferences, presentations and club meetings. I also want somewhere to post podcasts of these things. This will also be a place to house some of the best sites, blogs and news stories I have found on the internet as well as other things I like. Stay tuned.
Doug Coleman is a multimedia student at Portland Community College, dual-enrolled as a communications major at Portland State University. a writer/researcher for the ReadWriteWeb site Jobwire writer at ReadWriteWeb.com and Series Producer and Website Editor for The Conversations Network. He also does freelance web work for his wife Robin’s new ... Continue reading »
