Author Archive

Meetup, November 11, 2008: Celebrity UFO Crashes

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

A great time was had by all tonight. Our monthly meetup was back at Pyramid Alehouse, and it was just like old times. Great, wide-ranging discussion; a lot of food for thought, chased down by some smooth Pyramid Porter.

If you were at the Pyramid tonight, please leave your name and URL (if any) and any links or comments that you’d like to share by clicking on the EasyEdit button, below, or by leaving a comment.

(Note that you’ll have to register as a user on the blog, then come back to this page in order to leave your comment. Sorry for the extra steps, but at least you’ll only have to register once.)

Help us collect Seattle podcasts

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Well, it’s high time we got around to doing some updates here at the homestead. The Seattle Podcasting meetup’s been in full swing for about three years now, but our website has been suffering for lack of attention. New media tools have gotten incredibly sophisticated over the last few years, but unfortunately no one has developed an application that can put more time into the day. (Although I hear Google’s working on that, along with a hyperdrive, a transporter, and a unicorn repopulation program.)

The first thing we’d like to do is to update our list of Seattle podcasts and podcasters. Who’s out there? Who should we know about?

To help us gather the information, we’re trying out a brand new tool from Wetpaint. Just below this post is an embedded wiki that you can edit right here within this post. Just click on the EasyEdit button, register for this site, if you haven’t already, and then come back to the post and add any local podcasts to the wiki. (Of course, you can leave suggestions in the comments section, if you prefer.)

Podcasting in Plain English

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

I know things have been quiet here at the blog for a while*, but how could we not post this?

Our friends Lee and Sachi LeFever at Common Craft have once again managed to explain a core technology of the modern web in language that anyone can understand. The question of how to describe podcasting to our friends, families, clients, and colleagues is a frequent topic of discussion at our monthly meetups, so I hope Podcasting in Plain English will become a resource you can use to kick off productive conversations.

Lee and Sachi have a growing library of videos at their Common Craft site describing other technologies such as RSS, Wikis, and Twitter in the same approachable, bare-bones style. The videos are free to post on your blog and share with friends, and there are reasonably-priced licenses available for using the videos in presentations or on your intranet.


*Speaking of this blog being quiet, we are hoping to kick things into gear again soon. Travis and I, prompted and assisted by a few of the regulars at the podcast meetup, are exploring some alternatives to the blog that will promote and encourage other Seattle podcasters to participate and connect online. If you’re interested in helping to move this process along, drop us an email or join us at the next meetup.

June ’07 SPN Meetup – Brainstorming & Link Swapping

Wednesday, July 4th, 2007

Ugh. Could I be any more of a slacker in getting these Meetup notes posted? Mandy even made it easy on me by taking notes.

Well, apologies all ’round to Paolo, Harry, Matt, Pakio, Luke, Leif, James, Mandy, and Omaha Sternberg (hands down the best name in podcasting). Travis and I really appreciate that y’all came out to join us for another fun evening of chatting, consuming, and camaraderie.

As usual, the discussion ranged all over the place. Paolo had some questions for the group about how to promote a new project he’s working on. Suggestions for sites he should check out flew fast and furious, and Mandy did a great job of writing them all down. So, I know this is kind of random, but check out the following list of cool conferences, sites, and services:

Someone also mentioned Elizabeth’s Podcasting News, but I couldn’t find a link. If someone could leave that in the comments section, I’d be much obliged.

Thanks again, and see you in July. (Which is already here! Yikes!)

April ’07 SPN Meetup – What We Did On Spring Break

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

Thanks to all who came out to last night’s Meetup at Pyramid Ale House. We had a very relaxed, low-key discussion. So relaxed and low-key, in fact, that I completely failed to take any kind of attendance. I’ll try to remember everyone who came, but please forgive me if I forget someone. (Or, feel free to leave a comment to remind me.) Let’s see… Regulars who showed up last night included Travis (natch), Leif, Weave, Luke, Andrew, and yours truly. Newbies included Harry, Nick, Sam, and Dan. As always, the talk was as satisfying as the food and beer. Hope to see y’all there in May!

SPN and Ignite Seattle… a Meetup mashup!

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

Bre Pettis at Ignite SeattleOnce again this month, the Seattle Podcasters’ Meetup ventures out of the friendly confines of Pyramid Alehouse and into the friendly confines of the CHAC, the Capitol Hill Arts Center. We’re taking the opportunity to attend one of the coolest new events in Seattle, and we’re giving our members a chance to get hands-on with the podcasting gear, and up close and personal with the local Geekerati.

Ignite Seattle is a series of geek events hosted by O’Reilly Radar‘s Brady Forrest and Make magazine‘s Bre Pettis (a Seattle Podcasting Meetup-er). The premiere Ignite event back in December was a blast. Over 200 people packed into the lower level of CHAC to build popsicle-stick bridges and watch a PowerPoint presentation format called Ask Later. Now, if the idea of watching a PowerPoint slide show doesn’t excite you, consider that each speaker has only 5 minutes to present 20 slides, and the slides are automatically timed to advance every 15 seconds. 24 different speakers will present their ideas over the course of an evening, so you’re sure to find one or two topics that will really catch your attention. (Check out the video archives from the first Ignite Seattle here.)

For those of you who’ve been thinking about trying out podcasting — as well as those of you with established podcasts who want a chance to create a podcast that wouldn’t be appropriate for your regular site — we invite you to come out and help contribute to SPN’s “podcast coverage” of what is sure to be a terrific event. Bring your own audio gear or borrow some of ours and conduct roving interviews onsite — to be edited and posted to the SPN podcast and blog later in the week. There is no experience necessary and this will be a great way to get your feet wet in podcasting.

Click on over to our meetup page and RSVP. Hope to see you there!

September ’06 Seattle Podcaster Meetup – Zug Cam

Sunday, September 17th, 2006

Bryan ZugThe September Meetup of Seattle Podcasters was held on Tuesday the 5th at the Pyramid Alehouse in Seattle. Our guest speaker was Bryan Zug of eLearningSkinny.com and the Lucille Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Bryan joined us virtually, through the magic of the Sightspeed videoconferencing software.

Despite some technical challenges with our video chat setup, Bryan laid the groundwork for a lively and freewheeling discussion about informal learning, the current state of new media tools, and the challenges of introducing podcasting and blogging into a traditional corporate setting. Bryan’s notes from his talk, including links to a number of screencasting tools are available here.

Thanks to Bryan and everyone who came out on the day after Labor Day to make it a great meetup! In attendance were:

Podcast: Youth Media Institute

Tuesday, August 15th, 2006

Travis and I were fortunate enough to spend some time today with the folks at Youth Media Institute here in White Center. These guys are learning how to create their own media, and we’ve been talking with them about the podcasting scene. But, of course, the best way to learn about something is to just dive in and do it, so we’ve recorded a short podcast with the group here. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Seattle Podcasting Network Meetup – August ’06

Tuesday, August 1st, 2006

The August Meetup will be held at Pyramid Alehouse on Tuesday, August 1st. Details are still being worked out, so check back soon!

Pyramid Alehouse
1201 First Avenue South
Seattle , WA 98134
206-682-3377

Click here to RSVP!

July ’06 Seattle Podcaster Meetup – We get Pluggd in

Sunday, July 16th, 2006

We welcomed several newcomers and lots of old friends to the July Meetup of Seattle Podcasters at the Pyramid Alehouse in Seattle.

In attendance were: