dangerouslyawesome

This is the weekend to end all weekends.

I’ve recently turned a quarter century old, and decided that it’d be appropriate to spend the weekend with good friends and full of debauchery!

The weekend begins…well…NOW, as Tara Hunt (of Citizen Space) and Matthew Wettergreen (of Caroline Collective) are both moments away from arriving in Philadelphia. There will be wining. There will be dining.

But the rest of you can join us throughout the weekend:

STRANDUP PHILLY

In a 30-second speed-dating style meetup hosted by Strands and IndyHall, you’ll have a chance to meet some of your future party-going comrades. Led by Drew Olanoff and myself, this is bound to be a good time. Come, enjoy, make friends. 6:30-7:30pm, Saturday August 30th, at IndyHall. Let us know if you’ll be joining us with your RSVP system of choice: Facebook & Upcoming.

THE PAR-TAY: INDYHALL TURNS 1.0

This party is not to be missed. We’ve all worked hard to get where we are, and one year after our grand opening, we’re celebrating with: EVERYBODY!!! Starting at 6pm on Sunday, August 31st, we’ll be taking over Triumph Brewery at 2nd and Chestnut. There will be food. There will be drinks. There will be celebrations. This party is not, I repeat, NOT to be missed. Come meet the IndyHall community, come meet your neighbors, come meet our out of town visitors. Maybe even some celebrities. Internet or otherwise. Alexis Bledell came to the Caroline Collective opening in June, so hey…anything could happen.

We’ve got visitors coming from all over the country for this one (Matthew and Tara didn’t just drop by for my birthday, after all). Please, don’t make me beg. Come to this party.

WEREWOLF

It’s been promised that there will be at LEAST one game of Werewolf this weekend. If at no other time, it will take place AT IndyHall after the party at Triumph. Why are we playing Werewolf? Because Geoff is addicted and it’s a sure fire way to attract a certain Vaynerchuk.

SEE EVERYONE THIS WEEKEND!

I’ve historically been one to avoid the polarization of ideas. Even when there’s a clear good vs. bad, I find myself in the position where it’s been best to keep cool and simply act as a mediator, since I’m good at that task as well.

More and more, I’m finding myself not only comfortable, but confident enough in my opinions that I can, and do, take a stand.

I’m no longer fearful of being high contrast. I’m realizing that my contrasting opinions to the majority are what will continue to set me apart.

And as such, the newest edition of dangerouslyawesome.com takes that into account, both content-wise as I flesh out some new concepts of my own, and from a visual standpoint.

Welcome to Dangerously Awesome Dot Com : High Contrast Edition.

Somehow, the month of September has gotten pretty nuts, and it hasn’t even begun yet. Since some of you follow me, you may be interested in my whereabouts. So here’s the plan:

August 31st: IndyHall Birthday Blast

This one’s a year in the making. If you’re on or near the eastern seaboard, you should probably check this out. Sponsorships are still available, too.

Sept 4th-9th: @amyhoy and @madrobby get hitched

I’m flying to Vienna, where I’ve never been, to enjoy the company of two very good friends wedding. I will also hopefully have some time to tool around Vienna. Are you nearby? Perhaps we can meet up. Vienna twitter meetup while I’m in town? That’d be badass.

Sept 12th: I’m going to the dentist

This wouldn’t be worth announcing except you can be sure that I’ll be tweeting from the dentists chair. Last time I did that, the tweet ended up getting printed in the Orlando Sentinal. Lets see if I can get some national press this time.

Sept 16-18th: Web2Expo/Web2Open in NYC

I anticipate that I’m going to be sharing a presentation about coworking in the Web2Open with some of the NY Coworking champions. I’ll also be tooling around the conference and catching presies from some of the folks in the industry that inspire me the most. Interested in joining me? My friend Janetti hooked me up with some coupons for $100 off. Just use the code: webny08bd24. Look out for my name on the Web2Open grid, as well.

Sept 19th-21st: BlogWorldExpo

Leaving (possibly straight from) New York, I’m heading to Vegas for a reprise presentation with my buddy Jake “community guy” McKee. Jake previously was the community development manager for LEGO (how cool is that!), and last year we shared the stage at a pre-conference session at BlogWorld hosted by B5 Media about our community building efforts.

This year we were asked to return, and this time, as part of the conference’s “Bleeding Edge” track. I’m stoked about this event as it was a great time, and I made some fantastic connections.

Plus, I get to hang out with the B5 crew (read, Darcie) which always rocks.

I also want to give a major shout out to conference co-organizer Rick Calvert for helping Jake and I through a potentially confusing situation that may have comprimised our ability to attend. Without getting into details, Rick went above and beyond, and I can’t thank him enough for being such a rock star. I hope to bring that same degree of rockstar, and then some, to our presentation in Vegas.

Catch us on Saturday, 9/20 from 12:15-1:15. Our session title is: “Taking Smart Risks with your Online Personality”

“Blogging opens endless doors for exposure and growth of your identity and your brand. But someone has to forge the path to determine what might constitute too much exposure. Jake and Alex talk about some examples of openness and identity online and share some tips and examples of taking the *smart* risks when blurring the line between your work and your life”

I have discount codes available for up to 5 other registrants, 20% off. Leave me a comment or contact me if you are interested.

September 25-28th: BlogOrlando

Back for only a few days, and then back out the door again: this time, to BlogOrlando! Also a reprise event for me, Josh Hallett asked me to return and to run a session about keeping endurance in community-powered initatives. I had a BLAST at this last year, and was totally blown away by the Orlando scene. Looking forward to seeing a lot of friends again, and some crazy shenanigans with Alex Rudloff. If there are universal bucks to be had, we’ll be sure to make the most of them.

Some sort of hibernation

Holy crap. I’m tired just thinking about this. Plus, I’ve got client work along the way.

I hope to see many of you at these events, and have lots to bring back and write about on the other side.

My buddy Lachlan Hardy was recently featured in the Sydney Morning herald answering some quickie questions about hot new web tech. He put the questions out to his friends and readers. I realized I was about to cannibalize his comments section since he got me hot with the questions, so I began crafting my own post.

The three questions are:

1. What are the three things online that are exciting you most?
2. What gadget do you never leave home without? And given most everybody will say their phone or their laptop, why?
3. What will be the Next Big Thing?

Read my answers, and then respond with your own!

1. What are the three things online that are exciting you most?
   • Viddler.com Custom Branding & API – A totally customizable player. Colors. Brand badge. Clickthru link. And the among best quality with no file/length limits. Oh, and the only player with time tagging and commenting. Via their API, you can build your own site powered by Viddler’s video engine. You can even build your own viddler.com if you want with Viddler’s B2B API. These guys are nuts and I love it.The video space is among the most compelling on the web right now, and I love everything that Viddler is pumping out for it’s users.
   • Pandora. If this service goes away I will lock myself in my bedroom and cry listening to The Cure on repeat. Why? Not just because I’m depressed, but without Pandora, I’d have no idea what to listen to anymore. It’s a vicious cycle.Really though, the saddest part of the possibility of Pandora potentially closing its doors is the fact that there are people in this world who have not yet experienced it, or are just getting around to it.
   • Twitter. I know it’s not new. In fact, I can’t believe I’ve been on this service for nearly 2 years. But it’s certainly at a critical mass where things are more interesting, both socially and technically, than ever before. All of these presence/messaging apps are interesting in general. Really, really interesting. Watch this space.
2. What gadget do you never leave home without? And given most everybody will say their phone or their laptop, why?
   • I’ve always got my iPhone, and more and more, I’m carrying my Flip Mino. My iPhone is a must have because even though I hate talking on the phone, I’m an info addict and the iPhone fuels that addiction. The Mino is a badass new addition to my pocket arsenal, and is becoming increasingly valuable as I get better at remembering to capture some of the brilliant (and often ridiculous) conversations we have around IndyHall and with the IndyHall members out and about in Philly. Even the ability to quick snap a video while walking to/from work, or to/from a client site, just to capture my thoughts, is fantastic. Partner that with Viddler, and I’m in heaven.
3. What will be the Next Big Thing?
   • What, you mean besides me? JUST KIDDING!That’s a hard problem. That’s like asking “whats the next problem you’re going to have”? Whatever solution solves the biggest problem for the largest number of people…that’s the next big thing. I’ve got LOTS of itches that need scratching. Do we share an itch? Are we the only ones? If we share one, we’re probably not alone, and we should talk.

Earlier this week we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the first day in IndyHall. Amazing how far we came from sitting on the floor to packing the house and tearing up the Philly Scene on a regular basis.

Enjoy!

Clearly, I’m learning! Normally I don’t do anything to plan for SXSW until a month or two before. This year, I’m turning over a new leaf!

Last year I submitted a panel about coworking with the help of Patrick Tanguay from Station-C Coworking in Montreal. The panel ended up taking the form of a core conversation, which ended up being a huge success! This year, my 3rd time to SXSW, I’ve managed to get myself involved with a BUNCH of panel submissions, rather than just one at the last minute. Here are a few I was involved with, either as a submitter, a panelist, a moderator, or a general supporter of the idea.

Before I ask you to vote (actually…after, since the title of this post kinda hinted at the call to action), I want to remind you that this support is HUGELY appreciated. There’s a number of reasons that I did not join the barrage of twitter requests, not the least of which is the fact that voting and commenting only counts as 30% of the placement of a panel. At the same time, I see the panel picker as more of an advertisement for our panel ideas, and your votes have a degree of influence over what makes it to the SXSW panel board’s field of vision.

Furthermore, I believe that the quality of SXSW does not come from the panels that are picked, it comes from how we pick the panels that we attend.

With all of THAT out of the way, PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT ON THESE PANELS!

Do Well by Doing Good – Civic Entrepreneurship

Geoff DiMasi and myself

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1471

Working Alone Sucks: Join the Coworking Revolution.

Diverse representation from across the global coworking community.

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1292

Regional Whuffie Building: Attracting Innovation to Your City

Tony Bacigalupo, Geoff DiMasi + others

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1171

An Urban Plan for the .edu

Geoff DiMasi & Rick Banister

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1462

Social Influence: Empowering Your Customer

Panel proposal by Marcus Nelson. To include myself, Tony Hsieh from Zappos, Amy Muller from GetSatisfaction, Chris Brogan. This one’s going to be a firestorm, should NOT BE MISSED!!!

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1381

Other Panels worth looking at (list will grow as I find more I like. Want me to look at yours? Leave it in the comments!):

Amy Hoy & Erik Kastner – Building Micro-apps for fun and profit

Finally, a bit of exciting news:

Tony Bacigalupo from New Work City and I have set forth with some preliminary planningon how to integrate coworking even deeper into the SXSW conference. For those who are familiar with the BlogHaus, we’re looking to riff from that idea and create a space conducive to doing. You know how SXSW is great for making connections and getting inspired. How many times, though, does that get followed through on? We hope to use coworking as the vehicle to guide those ideas into being materialized.

More on that as soon as we sort out some details. Stay tuned, Coworking is going to ROCK SXSW09!

Today, 8/10/08, marks the 1 year anniversary of Geoff and I signing the lease and acquiring the keys to the office at 32 Strawberry street that myself and a few dozen others have come to fondly call home. That home has allowed for the cultivation of one of the most exciting and impactful communities I’ve had the privileged of being a part of.

In less than a week, it will be the two year anniversary of the first time I blogged about coworking. (note that in that post, I hyphenated co-working. ha!). That’s right. Two years.

I’ve been talking about coworking in Philadelphia for longer than Snakes on a Plane has been out.

I talked about coworking in Philadelphia before Steve Irwin passed away.

I was still in school when I started down the path of founding IndyHall.

Longer than Viddler has been publicly available.

A year and a half’s worth of Juntos.

Two SXSW‘s, both times changing my perspective on an industry and opportunity.

Longer than most of you have been twitterholics.

Longer than John Gruber has been avoiding me.

The last 24 months feel like a blink of an eye.

I’ve been talking about this coworking thing for a long time, but I’ve been immersed in it the whole time, not just talking about it. Action has been everything. My inability to sit still has been my greatest asset.

Thank you to everyone who’s inspired and encouraged me. This past year has been truly astonishing, and I’m so proud and thankful to be surrounded by so many brilliant, motivated, hard working, and life-loving individuals.

It wasn’t easy.

In retrospect, it seems easy, but it wasn’t easy. I gave up a lot. I’ve turned almost every aspect of my life upside down. Each step of the way, no matter how difficult, came easier and easier because of a combination of fantastic mentors, and trusting myself.

Where will I be in another 2 years? Where will IndyHall be in another 2 years? So long as I keep following my heart and my intution, I’m confident that wherever it is, I will be happy.

IndyHall’s office is almost 1 year old. We signed our lease on August 10th, 2007, began occupying the space on August 13th, and over the next 2 weeks, built out our intial office. At the end of August, we threw our inaugral party.

It’s August 2008. That means we’ve been at this for a year, which still blows my mind. It’s time to celebrate.

There are 31 days from today until the end of August. In the next 31 days, we’re going to put our birthday party together, but we’re not going to do it alone. Just like IndyHall came together as a community, so will our first birthday party.

So here to explain what we’re doing is…well…me!

OK! So you have 1 week from today to give us your best connections to the raddest venues in Philly.

The constraints are:

• Hold lots of people
• Serves alcohol
• A stage/sound system would be really helpful for some of our other ideas
• Outdoor is cool, but remember the weather is unpredictable!

Send your venue connections/ideas to me or leave us comments here or on the IndyHall blog.

You have one week to complete this challenge, if you choose to accept it. Let’s make this the best birthday party ever by open sourcing it and powering it by the community that makes Philadelphia a place we love to call our home!