Likemind.orl and Drupal June 19, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Drupal, Events, Coffee, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl, Teaching, open source , 2 commentsIn about 10 hours a group of likeminded folks will get together for good coffee and conversations with friends and strangers. We do this once a month at the Lake Eola Panera Bread.
Likemind Orlando is part of a larger group of events which started in New York with two guys who were having good conversations online, and decided to move them to the coffee shop. Their friends in other cities liked the idea, and now, Likemind groups meet in more than 50 cities around the world on the same day every month.
Chris Scott will now be officiating over Likemind with me, since Alex left and got himself a house and a life on the East Coast (of Florida). Congrats and best of luck to Alex and Kathryn.
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Also coming up in the next few days is the 3rd installment of he Florida Drupal User’s Group. Myself and Mike Anello will be teaching classes on CCK and Views, respectively. You are all certainly invited to check out this event and ask tons of questions - we have left ourselves 4 hours to cover these topics, as each of them is kind of a big deal on its own.
You can get information and directions about how to get to the MindComet offices on groups.drupal.org/florida - the office is in Maitland.
Florida Drupal Group
Saturday, June 21st
1pm - 4pm
MindComet - Maitland
May is a Kickass Month for Arts Events in Orlando May 15, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Orlando, Music, Drupal, Events, Film, Fringe, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl, OrlandoScene, Arts, bloggingfringe , add a commentWhy is May such a great month for holding events? Sure, for our Northern friends, it means the end of bad weather, the opening of roller coaster parks, and a change in the scenery as the trees and flowers start to show their summer colors, but here in Florida, it’s more like the start of the summer’s hot, humid, rainy monotony, the arrival of the tourists, time-share owners, kids on summer vacation, religious zealots protesting Gay Days, and of course, bad drivers in rental cars.
The main reason I look forward to May every year is the arrival of the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival (Thursday the 15th through Monday the 26th). Every year, theatre companies, dancers, comedians, clowns, musicians, improv actors, writer/directors, solo acts and large ensembles, exuberant teenagers and road-hardened veterans alike grace Loch Haven Park with their creativity and energy, and Orlando gives every ounce of it (and more) back to them as many of the national and international acts begin their Canadian Fringe circuit, which brings them to a new city every two weeks. Show prices range from free (as in free software) to $10, and all shows require the one-time purchase of a $6 festival button - 100% of your ticket money goes to the artist. This is one of the only unjuried, uncensored events I know of in Orlando outside of a few open-mic nights, and even some of those are passing judgment on the performers (the other best example here is BarCamp).
18 months ago, I started gathering a group of my friends together every third Monday of the month for an event called Florida Creatives Happy Hour (Monday the 19th, 6PM @ Loch Haven Park). Now, those original 8 friends are hardly in the same room, but the group has grown to something resembling a small political party representing the creative professionals and hobbyists here in Central Florida (with a group getting started in Jacksonville as I write this). This month’s Florida Creatives falls during the Fringe Festival, so at 6PM on the 19th we will be descending upon their “Green Lawn of Fabulousness” to have a beer and some soul food and socialize. At 7:45, we will be attending American Squatter, starring Barry Smith, the creator of last year’s sell-out hit Jesus in Montana. Tickets are $10 plus your $6 Fringe button.
Despite the fact that Fringe starts on the same day every year, another festival seems to think they are better than the Fringe, by starting on the exact same day. Yes, the Florida Music Festival runs Thursday the 15th through Sunday the 18th this year, at pretty much every available venue downtown. In past years, you’ve been able to buy a one-time pass that gets you in to all the shows for the whole weekend, as well as nightly passes - buying a ticket to just one show will hardly do such an event justice. The festival also has a short film as well as an art contest, check these out too if you can find the time in between all of the other events happening at the exact same time.
What other events? How about that bizarre craft bazaar held semi-bi-anually at Stardust Video & Coffee, Grandma Party? (Saturday the 17th, 10AM to Sunset) For some reason they opted out of celebrating Earth Day in favor of overlapping with FMF and Fringe this year - the reason why is left as homework for the reader. Actually, if you find out, please try to explain this one to me too. At G-ma Party, you’ll not only find loads of handmade goods, like the cereal-and-eggs inspired work of the Breakfast Bunch, but trendy t-shirts, buckets of buttons, live music by some of Orlando’s best local bands (at least those who are friends with the festival organizers), a bal-looney community pool, and of course rummage piles and raffles.
Not as culturally significant, but still worth a mention, the second ever Florida Drupal User Group meeting will be held at the offices of MindComet in Maitland this Saturday (May 17th, 1PM). Check out the event and any follow-up at groups.drupal.org/florida.
Still more to come in this round-up of events, because I couldn’t write such a blog post without mentioning the Corazon Art and Music Festival being held at the Orlando Brewing Company (Sunday the 18th, starts 1PM, All Day). As I’m writing this I don’t have access to any listings, but I know tickets are $5, and I can give a serious recommendation, as this event is being thrown by Robert and Jonathan from Gamble Records, the folks who brought us the ELLA Music Festival in October. I expect you will see lots of singer-songwriter type acts, and you can trust Robert Johnson’s rolodex to bring you some great music (and art?).
There must be more happening during the next two weeks, but isn’t that enough? Of course, we can’t forget about this Friday (May 16th, 8AM-11AM) and the Likemind Orlando coffee meetup at the Lake Eola Panera Bread. This month there will be free coffee and hopefully a few free copies of a book called Murketing - I don’t have a lot of details about it, but I know the publishers of the book are sponsoring the coffee and snacks all over the US, so they get serious props.
If I’m missing anything here, please leave a shout-out, and I’ll try to include it in the next bulletin. Until next time, have a great May!
For Post’s Sake! April 23, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, News, Blogging, Orlando, Links, Drupal, Events, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl, OrlandoScene, Friends, Petentials, PopSci , add a commentFeeling like I haven’t blogged in a while, so here are some things that have happened.
I saw (and played a bit at) an awesome marathon show by marc. with a c. on Saturday at Stardust. I used to be in the band, and I remain a fan. Marc just released his latest album, Linda Lovelace for President
We had a super-awesome Florida Creatives Happy Hour last night - HUGE thanks to all the first-timers, and of course our repeat offenders. If you haven’t seen or registered for the new site yet, surf on over and create a group, get organized, or otherwise try to toss some useful information in there.
Went to an inaugural Refresh Central Florida and Orlando PHP group (seperately). Refresh may or may not be the “tech association” that everyone has been hububbing about - there was talk of turning it into a “United Arts for Geeks”, supporting local groups and individuals. Actually, I was thinking of using United Arts as a channel to have a Florida Creatives professional grant that gets specified in all the same ways the regular UA grants go, just sponsored by us.
Things have been going gangbusters for pet dating site Petentials.com in the last few weeks our US ranking for Alexa is hovering around 100K (we’re more like 400K globally). We’re currently on the second page of Google for “Internet Pets”, but not too high for “pet dating”, hence the googlebombing you may or may not want to participate in… ha!
We’re planning a downtown Orlando photowalk as part of an episode for OrlandoScene.TV - this will be either May 10th or 11th, barring weather, number of RSVPs and other factors. Bring your SLR and your eyes. We’ll be doing interviews with photographers and linking to photosets and whatnot. The idea is to get a little co-promotion on, and get a hold of some much-needed production stills for Orlando Scene. In the AXIS Mag article, well, globe with a network cable… yikes.
Did I mention the kick-ass Drupal meetup we had last week? That was a fun time. I signed up to talk about Drupal Theming with Zen and… I think Views sometime this summer, but I know for certain that our next meetup will be held May 17th in Maitland. Check the Florida Drupal Group page for more info.
Ah, let’s not forget Likemind - we ARE still doing that - now we’re back at Panera Bread by Lake Eola. The next one of those should be May 16th. I have a picture of that somewhere… check the Ryan Price and the Media feed for those bonus Flickr pics you get in there from time to time.
I’m sure I’m missing lots and lots and lots. I have been SO busy lately.
BTW, over at Bonnier (the makers of PopSci) we’re hiring a MySQL Admin. If you are an experienced database administrator, or you have several years of experience with MySQL, send us an email.
P.S. I almost forgot! If you like the movie Clue, Improv Comedy, theatre, mystery, games, or if you’re my friend then you MUST MUST go and see “Murder We Wrote” over at Rollins College this weekend. YOU WILL THANK ME.
Interesting Brits and Aussies (and Floridians, Michiganders) February 2, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Orlando, Links, Quotes, Events, Trends, Travel, floridacreatives, London, Likemind.orl , add a commentI’ve certainly noticed the work of Russell Davies before, but somehow I thought he just blogged about food, because he’s written a book about 50 great cafés around the UK called Egg, Bacon, Chips & Beans with an accompanying café blog, as well as one called a good place for a cup of tea and a think.
Then I was talking to Chris Wojda (woidah) from Jacksonville Likemind today about Pecha Kucha Night (more on that later, I promise), and we talked a bit about Florida Creatives and Likemind and a few other fun things. Then I told him I was going out of town, and it came out that I am going to England tomorrow. He absolutely insisted that I email Russell and go have a chat with him while I’m in London, so I started looking into it a bit.
Looks like Russell is an advertising guy, and my friend Chris knew him/ learned about him via Portland, OR. Now Russell writes about all kinds of stuff and has a consultancy with offices in 4 different parts of the world, Sydney, Amsterdam, London and New York. Wow.
Why did Chris think I needed to talk to Russell? Because we have similar goals? Social change? bringing people together? building communities? exploring technology and the future? Yeah, I guess so, but Russell also organizes this event called Interesting. Here’s a great idea. It’s simple. It scratches an itch.
The TED conference has just finished in Monterery. Sounds like a fantastic lot of speakers. I was lucky enough to go last year and I’d put aside the money to go again this year. But, a while ago, it occurred to me that I could take that money and we could maybe organise a conference of our own here in the UK, which might be even more interesting. Or at least easier to get to.
So this is the plan:
We’ve booked the Conway Hall for the 16th of June. Which is a Saturday. It’ll be about £20 to get in. I want to make it something almost anyone can afford.
The plan is to have all sorts of speakers speak about all sorts of stuff. Not brands, advertising, blogging and twitter but interesting, unexpected, original things. I’m hoping to find fascinating people and to just ask them to speak about something they care about. I want to replicate the experience of clicking from one really good blog to another, ranging across sciences, arts, musics, jokes and whatever. There will be 20 minute slots and 3 minute slots. Some people will play music or sing. And some people who can’t be there will be asked to send three minute videos. Perhaps. I reckon we can squeeze a lot of interestingness into a day. And then have a party afterwards.
But it’ll all be down to the goodwill and enthusiasm of the speakers anyway, because I won’t be able to pay any of them.
There’s been the problem with most of my ideas to date, or the execution of group ideas: too much thinking, too many discussions, too much of everything. This event gets down to the core. No sponsors, nothing frivolous. Just interesting people talking.
Maybe that’s why Florida Creatives works so well. I used to go to these great events in Detroit, but the whole lecture and the product demos and the committee meetings and the agendas were so complex, people would sit at most of the events and then go home right after, but they were missing more than half of the experience by not socializing at the bar across the street.
At my first SEMAFX event, I was begged to come hang out at the bar, but I hadn’t made plans to, and to be honest, the talk was not that interesting. We all tried to get people interested about going to a conference we had all just returned from, but the next event was a year away. I met some cool people and I wanted to network and hang out, but they were asking me to go somewhere else with a group of strangers where I was an outsider, and I didn’t get it.
The next month I went to both parts - the lecture and the socializing at the bar - what a huge difference! There was time for talkback with the presenters, meeting the important people who ran the organization, drinking beer, eating exotic foods, it was great!
In Orlando, the local SIGGRAPH chapter holds 3-4 events a year. At least one of them involves people who work at huge public companies like Pixar, LucasFilm, Electronic Arts or NASA. Before the events they have an hour of socializing, but it feels more like a minature expo, because companies buy tables and there are soft drinks for a dollar and a nice college student smiles and reaches into the ice to grab you a Sprite or a Diet Coke, and people wear nametags and give powerpoint slideshows or bring demonstration hardware for their video compressor/decompressor. Then when the lecture is over, everyone drives home, a bit more educated, but none the more stimulated.
In late 2006 when I was talking to John about doing an important cultural event in Orlando, we soon realized that we had neither the time, the influence or the healthy community to pull off such a grand event, so I tried thinking smaller. What got me motivated about the events at SEMAFX and the local SIGGRAPH? Why had I joined 2 community service organizations at school? I wanted to socialize, I needed a safe haven to be surrounded by likeminded people and think things out, and I’m sure loads of other people had the same desire.
So Florida Creatives became an event where we didn’t care about whether you were a hacker or a filmmaker or a blogger or a photographer or an improviser or a poet or an advertiser or a designer or whether you didn’t professionally, or if you were just getting started, or… anything. Come as you are. Don’t wear a nametag. Join the gang. Feel the embrace of the community. Cory writes about it a lot, and I really appreciate that outspokenness.
Chris (remember, from Jacksonville) started talking about doing a Florida Creatives up there, so it’s been on my brain. I’ve spoken to a few other people about doing an event where they are, but I think in order to be qualified, you need to be missing the community you once had in another town or at another school, or even at a bigger company. Maybe that’s the only qualification: to have an empty place that only your peers, superiors and protégés can fill.
I’ve been noticing particularly this week that a good idea must get harder and stronger and bigger simply by sharing it with people: the idea of having to sell someone on a thought you had in a dream and the subsequent brainstorm becomes difficult if they are critical, or if they play Devil’s Advocate. I’ve always known Florida Creatives should go to other places, but I guess I haven’t had to sell too many people on starting their own, and particularly people that fill the only qualification.
Russell, Chris, John, Cory, Alex, Jake, Scott, Randy, Brad, Jason, Charlie and oh so many others, thanks for getting me here.
Ryan Price and Julie Norris on Front Porch Radio September 21, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Podcasts, Orlando, Music, Events, Earth, Fringe, Radio, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl , add a comment
Julie hosts new locals only show on WPRK 91.5 | Dandelion Communitea Cafe
Front Porch is a weekly radio show hosted by Julie Norris, Proprietor of Dandelion Communitea Cafe, and focuses on all things local. Each week features a different guest making a difference locally with eclectic blends of local music and various ramblings about what is happening in OurLando.
Tune your dial to WPRK 91.5 or listen online at wprkdj.org every Wednesday at noon.
Front Porch Radio is now a podcast as well.
Florida Creatives Happy Hour 6/18 June 15, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Markteting, Podcasts, Orlando, Events, Beer, Coworking, Coffee, Trends, MySpace, Liberatr, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl, Facebook, Virb , add a commentThird week of the month, the two events we host come around, and I blog/email/post the hell out of it! First of all is likemind.orl at Lake Eola Panera Bread, that happened already this morning, but it happens every month. Alex Rudloff and Ryan Price (that’s me) host this event for… well… anyone in Orlando! The likemind.us fellas in New York got a very nice company named Anomaly to send us some coffee/bagel money, so come for free coffee and good conversation.
Now, for the big news - Florida Creatives Happy Hour is turning 7 months old! Officially our baby is 27 weeks along in its development (but been drinking since day 1? ouch!). I’m really hoping we will be able to get some presence in the local schools once the next year gets started, so I’d like to have a short directed discussion about that, maybe record it, when we feel like we’ve got “quorum” (enough people to make decisions). John Rife is supposed to be returning from his trip this week, so I’m sure he’ll have stories to share. I’ve also spent the last 2 months on a big recruiting push, and just sent a couple of fresh emails today to local illustrators/podcasters. Not to mention the social networking groups and doing lots of outreach there too. If you’re on Upcoming (meaning you have a Yahoo ID), Facebook, VIRB or MySpace, join the groups. Don’t forget the mailing list.
Event Page & RSVP
Monday, June 18, 2007
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
crooked bayou
50 E Central Blvd # D
Orlando, Florida 32801
If you’ve never been to a happy hour, all you need to know is BE YOURSELF. We have a very casual atmosphere at Florida Creatives, and we are mostly made up of people who want to make some friends who are passionate about the same things they are. In addition to likeminded friends, we are most of us interested in learning about other disciplines, so we are here to learn as well. Last but not least, there are some of us who want to see this community thrive, and what we can accomplish by getting organized. Admission is free, business cards are plentiful, discussion is honest and friendly. Check us out.
Florida Creatives Updates June 6, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Orlando, Events, Beer, MySpace, Web Sites, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl, Facebook, Virb , add a commentFirst let me remind you that we have an event coming up on Monday the 18th at the Crooked Bayou, our home now for 4 of 7 months of Florida Creatives Happy Hours. As usual, meet and greet will be from 6-9PM officially. I have often stayed far past 10 o’clock myself, but you’re welcome to come and go when you like.
Also, If you haven’t seen already, a Florida Creatives group now exists on several major social networking sites. If you have friends living elsewhere in the state, get them to join these groups and meet some other creatives in another commmunity.
Mailing List - 51 members - http://groups.google.com/group/florida-creatives
MySpace - 151 members - http://groups.myspace.com/floridacreatives
Facebook - 21 members - http://ucf.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2731760310
Upcoming - 9 members - http://upcoming.yahoo.com/group/2967/
Virb - 5 members - http://virb.com/groups/15363582
I’ve also just spent a bit of time writing an About Page at FloridaCreatives.com - check it out, let me know if it needs clarification or updating.
Hope to see you all on the 18th! Thanks for supporting Florida Creatives.
Orlando Weekly Interview - Thanks Omar May 4, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, News, Site News, Career, Markteting, Blogging, Podcasts, Orlando, Music, Video, TV, Trends, Fringe, Liberatr, Radio, Newspaper, Web Sites, floridacreatives, Entrepreneurship, Likemind.orl, Orlando Weekly , 1 comment so farHere’s the transcript from my interview with Omar de la Rosa for the Orlando Weekly. It went to print this week on page 30 - the cover story is “Spellbound”.
> 1. When did you decide to start this and the other related local-based web
> projects? (like FloridaCreatives)In late 2005 I was listening to lots of podcasts and reading lots of blogs, so I started talking to my friend Emily about doing a talkshow. (pfalliance.blogspot.com) On the show we had two musical guests - marc with a c, whose band I later played in, and Mumpsy. Marc and I experiemented with doing a live music show (live.liberatr.net), and I did some coverage of the Florida Film Festival (short.liberatr.net) and the Orlando Fringe Festival (bloggingfringe.com). I also started a channel to highlight creatives and entrepreneurs, but the concept was never complete in my head (meta.liberatr.net). The film, art::meta and music channels are going to be dissolved soon, but they’re important to the history (if you’re going to mention web addresses in the paper, don’t mention those 3).
I realized I was hitting on some particular themes, but I saw the opportunity to do more than just a podcast, so I scheduled the first Florida Creatives Happy Hour in December. Now I am focusing on Florida Creatives, Blogging Fringe and getting more independent talent involved with Liberatr - bloggers, personalities, and most recently television-style hosts - we’ve produced some pilot episodes for a show called OrlandoScene.TV. The show is comprised of short 1-10 minute videos, each highlighting something in or about Orlando that is less obvious than the theme parks.
Why? I grew up and went to college in Central Florida, and I still didn’t feel like I knew the area as well as I should. I started exploring and discovering things around the same time I got into podcasting, so I decided to share it with others. I’ve also got some friends of mine involved as well - Kyle (thestudentofthegame.com), Marc and Nicole (zanzibar.liberatr.net), Aleshia (bingoinsmoking.com), and Katharine (robotofleisure.livejournal.com).
> 2. I noticed that you’ve done some podcasts for local musicians and
> presented Mumpsy’s performance at the grandma party, are you planning more
> collaborations with local musicians and other artists? What other future
> plans do you have for Liberatr (or even “ryanpricemedia.com”)?See above, but as for Ryan Price Media, that is my personal blog. There I can set up my identity as a web developer and consultant, an individual as opposed to an organization like Liberatr.net - your identity on the internet is becoming very important, and I want people who type “Ryan Price” into Google to see that site.
> 3. How has the internet’s potential for community building changed in the
> recent years? (both online communities and offline, local communities)Internationally, the potential for community is infinite. Podcasts and blogs are bringing together likeminded people from every country speaking every language, a true exercise of the First Amendment. Sites like Meetup.com (Orlando has about 200 meetup groups), Likemind.us, FloridaCreatives.com, even several of the aforementioned blogs and podcasts are leveraging the online community to bring people together physically - here in Orlando, check out BlogOrlando.com, or even the Orlando Fringe Festival’s online efforts this year, who are creating the community online with the sole purpose of attending a convention or festival. I’m hoping these connections I’m making in town will lead to gigs like the one Mark Baratelli has with the Fringe - online community manager. I have one project like this coming up that I’ll talk about in more detail when they’re ready to.
> 4. How do you think podcasts differ from radio? How do you think blogging
> differs from … whatever came before… newspapers?If you look at the birth of the printing press or the radio, you’ll notice an explosion of creativity, self-publishing and community building. The difference was that printing presses and radio towers had a rather large cost associated with them - the internet has thousands of free options available to bloggers, podcasters, video producers, community-builders, anyone looking to broadcast a message. The internet model of pull (subscribe) as opposed to push (tune in) is what maintains the choice.
> 5. Who are your heroes? (Feel free to include fictional ones)
My ultimate role model is Jim Henson - he took nothing, added a TV camera, a little fabric and tons of love, honesty and a message, and by doing so he created an empire. More recently, it’s been those people who have laid the groundwork for something similar with podcasting or internet media - Leo Laporte, Kevin Rose, Jason Calacanis, Evan Williams. These are all people who have had their 15 minutes of fame and said to themselves “what’s next?”, could have easily taken their winnings and left the poker table, but decided to play another hand - or several.
Mr. A for Effort 3/27: 1938 Media March 27, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Blogging, Podcasts, Orlando, Links, Quotes, Events, Video, Coffee, Reviews, Trends, MySpace, Web Sites, Mr. A for Effort, floridacreatives, podtech, Revver, Likemind.orl , 4 commentsRyan Price with a Beard gives a shout out to Loren Feldman from 1938Media.com and a handful of people on my personal A-List. I also reveal my discovery of Likemind.us and therefore part of the inspiration to start my own group is thanks to Loren. How crazy is that?
I thought about using R*vv*r to post this video, but when you even post their URL in MySpace it comes out like … instead of what it should be, and I occasionally re-post to MySpace. For Orlando Scene TV it is worth the effort, but not for these.
For the uninitiated, here are the Alex and Gavin I name check in the video - they do cool stuff like Emurse and the pop-ification of Twitter. If you don’t know Josh Hallet yet, just go subscribe to his blog - don’t think twice. He put on the BlogOrlando UnConerence, which was a huge pot-stirring event here in town.
Loren and I also have another very obvious thing in common: “Media.com” — 1938Media.com, RyanPriceMedia.com, eh? Keep up the good work, man
