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At PICnet, we like working with the best of the non-profit technology community, from CRM providers to graphic designers. So when our friends strike gold, we’re ecstatic. This morning, our PICnet DC neighbors, Free Range Studios, received front-page coverage from the New York Times on their video “Story of Stuff“, an acclaimed production with inspiration and direction from Annie Leonard. From the NY Times’ lead:
Congratulations to the Free Range Studios team on this terrific achievement! Happy hour celebration in DC this week? There’s few countries that have embraced the power and promise of open source software as much a Brazil, so I’m more than excited that I’ve been invited to speak at CMS Brasil and Fórum Internacional de Software Livre 10 (FISL), along with my Joomla! colleague Anthony Ferrara.
With more than 3,700 registered attendees, I’m sure it’s going to be an awe inspiring site of open source at work. You can follow the conference’s events on Twitter. Of course, with the co-founder of Pirate Bay and Richard Stallman in attendance, you can expect some interesting discussions on the conference floor. Looking forward to seeing our Brazilian (and worldwide) Joomla! friends at these great events. Ping me if you’ll be there.
I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the following topics:
My fellow panelists include:
The teleconference is free open to staff of OneWorld partners. Each year, the Non-Profit Technology conference (NTC) provides vendors and consultants an opportunity to stand out and show their true colors. We tend to find ways to stand out a bit more than others, and thought we’d share a little behind the scenes look at our work. Remember, your goal is to be memorable, so push yourself beyond your comfort zone. Don’t make a booth, make an experience You want your visitors to feel your booth. Literally, give them something to touch. Shed the typical corporate schwag, focus on something fun You can give away pens and buttons, but sometimes, going a little further is helpful. How about a 3 foot tall inflatable penguin that can make anyone a hero for their favorite kid?  Penguins rock the PICnet booth (credit: Chad Norman) Dress the part If you’re going to show up with a penguins, you’re probably not going to be able to arrive in a button-down, embroidered company shirt. Take it to the next level, and shed the corporate duds.  Catching a cab to the NTC 2009 Make an entrance that stands out There’s no better way to complete the full science fair booth scene than to make a strong entrance to your booth. So there you go, a little wrap-up of the making of the PICnet Science Fair booth. Looking forward to seeing your ideas in 2010! In what was a terrific non-stop event, PICnetters from across the country descended on the 2009 Non-Profit Technology conference (NTC), April 26-28. The events started with the Science Fair on Sunday, an opportunity to share with the community the offerings different companies and organizations have for the sector. We at PICnet have tended to avoid the typical corporate booth, and instead opted for a little spin on the event. Penguins, traveling more than 20,000 miles to make it to the NTC to remind folks the power of Joomla! and open source software!  PICnet NTC 2009 Science Fair Booth It’s not an NTC with some help from our flightless friends from Antartica. Despite the recession and the macro economic woes in their way, the penguins pushed north to San Francisco for another year of hijinks. Nice to have Eben Moglen speaking to the NTC crowd the day of the penguin mass arrival.  PICnet penguins hold court at the NTC 2009 With our focus on Joomla!, CMSes, and integrations, I wanted to make sure we had a chance to spread the word at a variety of sessions. While at the NTC, I spoke at the following sessions (more follow-up soon!):
We’ll be posting more of our feedback on the different sessions we attended and participated in shortly. The NTC 2009 was yet another example of the terrific work of the NTEN team and the great leadership of Holly Ross! I’ve just returned to Washington DC after a great 5 day trip to the UK for the Joomla Day UK 2009 event, and while I might not be at SXSW, I’m happy I made the decision to head to Maidstone for this terrific event. When I first met Andy Wallace at the LinuxExpo Live in late 2008, I knew he was excited to put on a Joomla Day event for the UK; however, little did I know that he’d combine a terrific venue with more than 110 Joomla users, developers, and designers for one of the best Joomla Days I’ve ever attended. There’s lots I could say about the great sessions, but all that fun can be found by Twitter searching for #joomladayuk.
An email I’ve already received from one of the attendees sums it up best:
Totally excellent. Well done, Mr. Wallace and my fellow presenter friends. A tip of my hat to all of you. Photos you ask? Check out Hagen’s, Peter’s, Sander’s, mine (hard to take photos when you’re running 6 sessions), and of course, me with a PICnet Penguin that found a new home in the UK. See you at Joomla Day Las Vegas?
Andy Wallace, our gracious host and terrific leader of the event, will be putting me to work running six sessions slots during the two day event (a snapshot of all the sessions for the convergence are posted as well). Here’s a little preview of the sessions I’ll be running:
In short, this is a must attend event if you’re in the UK! With the success of our booth at the LinuxLive Expo London, I’m excited to see the turnout at this Joomla!Day. For registration and more information, head over to the Joomla!Day UK Web site. SxSW will play host to what can be considered a cage match of three powerhouse CMSes: Joomla, Drupal, and Wordpress. Two PICnetters (myself and Kevin Devine) will be contributing our support and development skills to help complete a 100 hour project, as defined by the creators of the Ultimate Showdown of Content Management System Destiny (I’m betting the original reference is this catchy video).
This event will be taking place virtually during the next few weeks, but the panel presenting it will be held at SxSW 2009 on Monday, March 16th in Austin, Texas. Amy Stephen is leading up the effort in the Joomla world, and she’ll be supported by a cast of Joomla experts, including Arno Zijstra and Stephen Fisher heading up design and usability, PICnetter Kevin and Amy focused on the application end of things, and Mitch Pirtle focusing on communications. For those in the Twitter world, keep track of their work on the #joomlasxsw tag. Go to it, team Joomla!
One of the most therapuetic tools we have at PICnet is a 6 foot long artificial turf putting green with three holes. This putting green, along with our trusty left-handed putter for an extra challenge and a pitching wedge for the long shots from the sand, is the perfect therapy tool for my tough days. I’m not a great golfer by any stretch of the imagination; however, there’s something about focusing intently on hitting that hole-in-one that seems to let the day’s worries slip away into the fog of obscurity. When I hop off a tough phone call, or finish a marathon of proposal writing, the folks in the “big room” next to me can hear my foot steps as I make my way to the putting green. A few missed putts later, and the occasional chip, I’m relaxed and my shoulders seem to move back down into their comfortable position. I’m ready to get back to work after a few minutes of putting. The green also works as a nice discussion zone. Rather than plopping down a conference table, that separates individuals from each other, a nice 6 foot patch of turf seems to go a long way to promote water cooler-ish discussion. My recommendation: if you’re having the mid-day blues, picking up a putter and focusing on something simple, like sinking a hole-in-one, might be a better stress relief than turning on the cable TV news. With three offices and multiple PICnetters working from home offices, it’s not too often that our team gets face-time together. On October 14-15, PICnetters from across the country will do their semi-annual migration to the PICnet DC office for our end of the year meetings. During this time, we’ll be exchanging ideas for new services for our community most of day, but available to help extinguish emergencies. A little background. When the company was starting to grow, it was clear that there were three cities we were going to focus on: Washington, San Francisco, and New York. This setup was obviously going to spread our team thin across the country. With my belief that the water cooler (virtual or otherwise) are where great ideas start, I knew that we needed at least a few times a year that our team physically met in person. Each year, we have at least two major events that help facilitate in-person meetings among PICnetters. The annual retreat provides a remote location for idea generation from the year’s vision and goals as set in January. The semi-annual meeting in October is an opportunity for us to review our year’s work, provide course corrections where necessary before the end of the year, and to have a good time over food and drink. We’re looking forward to meeting up and discussing new ways to serve our sector! |
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On March 13 and 14, Joomla developers and users from across the United Kingdom will be traveling to Maidstone for the upcoming
Health care costs are rising. Fall season brings changing weather and cooler temperatures. Stress from what is supposed to be a joyous holiday season brings headaches. Where can one go to get away from it all? How about the putting green at PICnet DC.
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