Posts Tagged wordcamp
Campin’
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, events, social media, speaking on January 25, 2011
I wrapped up the one-day WordCamp Victoria 2011 on Saturday, January 22nd. And, without pause, tickets went on sale for Social Media Camp 2011 – with a goal of putting on an absolute top-notch, world-class Social Media event right here in Victoria.
If you were at the last Social Media Camp, the next one will be even better! And longer, with two full days of speakers, networking, workshops and more!
When I got into the tech business 20 years ago, I honestly never thought I’d be organizing events like this. It’s a lot of hard work, but I really do love it!
This past one was the third WordCamp I organized in Victoria, Victoria’s largest to date, and the largest WordCamp in British Columbia history, with about 165 people in attendance. We had 2 panels, 17 presentations, a busy Genius Camp and a busy coffee lounge.
The very cool part was the way people finally started getting the “camp” concept. It’s not a conference; you get what you want out of it, and you help other people learn. In previous WordCamps here, people would make their way from session to session, doing very little networking and very little one-on-one or small group sharing … I saw this totally change this time, and I was so thrilled to see things take shape.
In the feedback, many people mentioned how they enjoyed the Genius Bar the best.
I can’t wait for the next event … June 3rd and 4th at the Victoria Conference Centre. See you there!
Learn WordPress, Support A Great Cause
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, events, social media on December 14, 2010
The Cridge Transition House for Women
If you are even half as excited about WordPress as I am, please join!
In conjunction with the upcoming WordCamp Victoria on January 22nd, I am presenting an Introduction to WordPress workshop for our inaugural meeting.
The meeting fee is $20, to be split with the new group, and The Cridge Transition House for Women, an important local charity in Victoria.
So, if you want to support a great cause and learn WordPress all at the same time, this event is for you!
Camping…
Posted by Paul Holmes in business, events, personal, social media on October 5, 2010
Social Media Camp is now a done deal. See my wrap-up post here.
The short version is that it was fun, and we had lots of great feedback. I can’t wait to do the next one, but want to sleep a little bit first. Just a little though; I don’t slow down much!
My next big side-projects…
- Foodie.ca – Launching November 1st, 2010.
- WordCamp Victoria 2011 is coming up on January 22nd.
Of course, I’ll still be busy with the day to day operations at IdeaZone.ca. We are now celebrating 10 years of website design in Victoria.
Social Media and San Francisco
Posted by Paul Holmes in business, internet, social media on February 24, 2010
I started thinking about San Francisco, as I was planning to go to WordCamp San Francisco this year (and I organize WordCamp Victoria).
I have also been one of the organizers for Social Media Club Victoria, and SMC has it’s global home in San Francisco.
We already know that San Francisco is the center of the universe for social media, but I had no idea just how much so. Here’s a short list of companies based in that part of the world (you may have heard of a couple of them):
- Facebook (Palo Alto) – Facebook, FriendFeed
- LinkedIn (Mountain View)
- Google (Mountain View) – Buzz, Wave, Blogger, FeedBurner, Google Connect
- Yahoo! (Sunnyvale) – Flickr, Meme
- Digg
- Automattic* – WordPress.com, PollDaddy, IntenseDebate, Gravatar, Akismet
- eBay (San Jose) – StumbleUpon
- Posterous.com
- Ning (Palo Alto)
- Technorati
- Flixster
- Plaxo (Mountain View)
- Photobucket
- Seesmic
* Automattic claims to be from everywhere, but I included them on this list because a large number of their people are based in the San Francisco area.
New York has a few companies that have made an impact in the business – Vimeo, Tumblr, Meetup.com, and Foursquare to name a few.
For science fiction geeks, San Francisco is also the headquarters for both Skynet (Terminator), and Star Fleet Academy (Star Trek).
Which social media companies did I miss? Add to the comments.
WordCamp Victoria 2009
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, events, internet, social media on November 4, 2009
After attending WordCamp in Surrey recently, I decided it was time to organize one in Victoria.
And what a HUGE response there has been! We already have over 60 people signed up, have 7 sponsors, and 98 followers on Twitter at @yyjWordCamp. All this in a couple weeks …
If you use WordPress, or want to use WordPress, you should check it out!
Social Media Club, Victoria, British Columbia
Posted by Paul Holmes in events, social media on September 24, 2009
Not very long ago, as we were delving into the intricacies of the social media revolution unfolding before us, my long-time friend, and now colleague, Catherine Novak and I decided it was time to launch the Victoria chapter of Social Media Club.
If somebody had told us then what this would lead to today, we would not have believed it.
After only 7 monthly meetings, we now have over 145 signed up on Facebook, 93 on LinkedIn), and 218 followers on Twitter. Turnout at our last meeting broke all previous records, and it continues to grow each time.
Now, before SMC Victoria came on the scene, there were many Tweetups already happening. These are great events – usually small gatherings, and often, but not always, informal and social.
The idea with introducing SMC to the mix was to identify and build a much larger community of social media enthusiasts within Greater Victoria, and to draw together a great deal of talent and information sharing, both within the community, and from abroad.
While SMC Victoria has attracted some amazing speakers, it has done something else. It has become something of a “hub” of activity, a catalyst in organizing and promoting many other great ideas.
Earlier this month, Twestival Victoria raised nearly $5,000 for a local charity, Power To Be. Despite Greater Victoria having the 15th largest metropolitan area population in Canada, we raised more money for Twestival here than any other city in Canada, save Toronto (which, by the way, is the 1st largest). Much credit for this is due to the boundless energy of one Janis Lacouvee. This said, part of the inspiration for Janis was coming to, and being part of, the Social Media Club. SMC was also a great venue through which to promote the event, as well.
Now, Victoria is also getting it’s own WordCamp, in November, and there is talk about bringing other charitable and community-oriented events to Victoria.
I feel very honoured to have had a small part to play in all of this, and will continue to work hard to promote Social Media Club, here and elsewhere, as an educational and inspirational hub to the community.
Share on Tumblr
Posted by Paul Holmes in blogging, internet on August 22, 2009
I’ve been playing with Tumblr for awhile. It’s really cool, and the interface is amazingly simple, but I could never quite figure out exactly what to do with it.
Then I went to WordCamp in Surrey and listend to Lorraine Murphy from Raincoaster, and she described it as a “terrible blogging tool”, but a “great scrap-booking tool.”
The lightbulb went on!
I was using DiggBar a fair amount for this, but “scrap-booking” is not really the point, and because of the “social” aspects of Digg, you have verify your humanity every time, which slows the process down considerably. Then, going back and finding your Digg later isn’t rocket since, but it’s not dead simple either. This is not an anti-Digg post (they did send me a free t-shirt, after all), but I would say that Digg is best used for it’s intended purpose (same goes for StumbleUpon and Delicious).
Retrieving links from Tumblr is 100% idiot-proof, since it’s a public blog – no logging in, no messing around. Since it’s “blog-style”, you just need to remember the date you added it, or search for it.
I installed the “Share on Tumblr” bookmarklet (not button, widget or plugin), and already find myself “scrap-booking” all sorts of stuff.
I’m off to the races!
When you login at Tumblr and create your first Tumblog, go to the Account menu (top right) and select “Goodies”. Click on and drag the “Share on Tumblr” button to your bookmark bar (yes, it even works in Chrome).
After that, you’ll be tumbling like a mad tumblr!
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