Yes, once again I’m a part of the WebVisions conference and if you do anything involved with knowing what’s up with web / mobile / technology / design / nerdy-stuff you probably ought to join me there.

May 15-18, Oregon Convention Center, Portland Oregon

—> http://www.webvisionsevent.com/portland/

In addition to the conference sessions and the workshops, you can enjoy a super selection of fabulous and totally free events, from Studio Tours to a Visual Effects panel with industry experts!

Studio Tours
Get on our tour bus to award-winning advertising, design, motion graphics and interactive studios: Second Story, Fashionbuddha, ISITE Design, tenfour agency and Ziba Design.

Hackathon for Social Good
Strut your design and programming chops and build web and mobile apps to help non-profit groups. Do-goodery in action!

“Color Me Obsessed” + Replacements Tribute Band
Gorman Bechard’s revealing documentary film on the infamous indie band The Replacements.

Business Innovation and Education Lab
Hear lightning pitches from leading startups and VCs plus a panel of leading educators in a discussion of the Digital Future of Education.

VFX Revolution: How the Internet and Digital Devices are Reshaping Visual Effects and Film
Join Jeff White (Industrial Light and Magic), Ramiro Gomez (Hinge Digital), Fred Ruff (Bent Image Lab) and Jim Clark (Hive-FX) for a panel that reveals the secrets of visual effects for film, with a pre-event party sponsored by Yammer.

Webvisionary Awards + Presentation Karaoke
Be a Powerpoint demi-god in competitive rounds of Presentation Karaoke, followed by our fifth annual Webvisionary Awards ceremony with Chad the Robot and our hilarious MCs.

Chad the Robot says, “check it out, human!”

—> http://www.webvisionsevent.com/portland/

The WebVisions Mascot

I’ll be helping run this Hackathon – join up today!

When:
Tues., May 15th from 9:00am – 5:30pm

Location:
ISITE Design
2030 NW Pettygrove Street
Portland, OR 97209

Join web and mobile experts on Tues., May 15th in an all day Hackathon for Social Good. Hackathons are events when programmers and designers meet to work collaboratively to build programs and applications.

The day will begin with short presentations by educators and non-profit organizations, followed by informational sessions on building sites and web applications to help benefit non-profit organizations.

My Way Home Dog Rescue:
An organization created by a group of people who are committed to improving the quality of dogs’ lives. Their goal is to make a difference by pulling dogs from over-crowded shelters, fostering them in volunteers’ homes, and finding them great forever homes.

Nursing Mother’s Counsel:
NMC is dedicated to the support, promotion and protection of breastfeeding, and they provide free prenatal breastfeeding education classes, including teen parent classes, free peer counseling phone support, and low-cost breast pump rentals and lactation consultant visits for low income breastfeeding mothers.

p:ear
p:ear creatively mentors homeless and transitional youth. Through education, art and recreation programs, p:ear builds positive relationships with each young person to affirm personal worth and to create more meaningful and healthier lives.

Read more and sign up here! http://www.webvisionsevent.com/portland/session/hackathon-for-social-good-p2w2/

Aztec

How to Thrive in a Hostile Environment: Leadership Lessons of Hernán Cortés

Tonight, 3/15 @ 7pm at SAO Ignite! Steve Peters expounds on how to take on impossible tasks, such as taking on the New World.

Think you’ve got it tough? 600 men, 15 horses and 13 muskets versus the largest armies of the biggest empire in the Western Hemisphere. Limited supplies. Traitors in his leadership team. Even his boss was trying to fire him. How did this guy become the most successful figure of his generation. Do you have the huevos of Hernán Cortés?

SAO Ignite! is a free event at the Alberta Rose Theater in NE Portland, Oregon.

Click here for more information.

Can’t make the event?  Ignite will be streamed live here http://www.justin.tv/saopdx.

Steve takes the stage at 7pm.

We helped organize the Hackathon for Social Good at WebVisions NYC – http://www.webvisionsevent.com/new-york/session/hackathon-for-social-good/

How did it go?  It went great!  Big Thanks to the Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 team who provided the funding support to make this event possible.

Kin Lane, one of our volunteers provides a good review here: http://www.hackweekends.com/2012/01/27/hackathon-for-social-good-in-new-york-city/

Here’s what people had to say:

I now know all hackathons are not created equal. I appreciate the commitment and expertise of the developers who participated in the first hackathon I attended. But you need more than coders and subject matter experts at the table.

The Hackathon for Social Good brought together a dynamic group of programmers, subject matter experts and designers. The mix of people matters. The progress was incredible. Frankly, I was blown away by how much was accomplished. It’s so refreshing to have access to solution-oriented people who can tackle a problem and tear it apart.

I left New York City with more than a prototype for the Cost of Freedom App. I left with a website, something to which I can point volunteers and potential funders as we solicit resources to develop the app. I also left with a core team of concerned citizens who love democracy. You can’t fake passion. So I want to give a special shout-out to Kin, Jack, Lori and Alexa.

Thanks Microsoft and WebVisions for making it happen. You rock!

– Faye Anderson, Cost of Freedom project

I feel honored to have volunteered for Hackathon for Social Good. How lucky I was to help serve a group supporting military families, a cause close to my heart, and to do this with such a lovely group of strangers-turned-colleagues. The event was very well organized, without being restrictive. I made friends, learned tons, and, I hope, helped a group I will continue to help in the future. Thanks to WebVisions for organizing this!

– Martha Garvey, volunteer

Punchy!

Web Nerds Unite!

The WebVisions conference brings together the best of the nerdy worlds we live in – web stuff, mobile stuff, neato design, crunchy tech and entertaining media.

…and if you’re lucky I’ll buy you a beer!

http://webvisionsevent.com
January 18, 19 and 20
Hudson Hotel, Manhattan, NYC

I am organizing a hackathon for non-profits that jan 19th and I need you (yes, you) to spread the word and get us volunteers to do good work for good people.

What are you waiting for?  Don’t you need to be smarter?

Web, mobile and interactive people – take note!  Tiki:Mojo has a hand in making the WebVisions conference happen.

It’s for people who need to stay on the leading edge of web & mobile design, technology, user experience and business strategy.

WebVisions Atlanta – November 17th and 18th

Speakers for WebVisions Atlanta include:

• Nathan Shedroff, a renowned user experience pioneer and author of Make it So and Design is the Problem. His keynote address entitled “Make it So” explores the influence of SciFi on interface design and user experience.

• Bruce Wyman of Second Story Interactive Studios (http://secondstory.com/), a company that has done award winning work for PBS, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, Gettysburg Foundation and many others. His session is “The Permeability of Place: Looking into the Future of Interactive Media”.

• Thor Muller of Get Satisfaction, an audience favorite at WebVisions, is presenting on “Get Lucky: The Business of Planned Serendipity”.

• Russ Unger of Happy Cog will share his insights on “The Right Way to Wireframe” and do a short session on “From Muppets to Mastery: Core UX Principles from Mr. Jim Henson”

Don’t delay – check it out today!  http://webvisionsevent.com

Every year we host the Mondo Croquet World Championships and Mad Hatter Picnic.

We’ve been doing this since 1996 and along the way we’ve been chosen as Best of Portland by Willamette Week!

What is Mondo Croquet? Simple – Croquet, American style with bowling balls and sledgehammers!  Best of all, it’s darn good fun.

• When: July 31th, High Noon until about 5pm
• Where: (new location!) North Park Blocks – NW 8th and Everett
• What to bring: Yourself and your sense of fun

How to prepare yourself:

• If you have a bowling ball or sledgehammer, bring it along.  If you don’t we have plenty to lend out.  We’ve never run short.
• It’s likely to be hot.  Bring something cool to drink.  You may wish to enjoy a lawn chair.
• It’s also the Mad Hatter Picnic – bring a snack to share!
• For maximum fun it’s recommended to dress appropriately in traditional lawn whites (see here) or appropriately inappropriate in something unusual yet fitting for a Mad Hatter Picnic.  Let the Mondo Croquet photo archives be your guide:http://www.mondocroquet.com

Above all, prepare to enjoy yourself.  Winning is nice, but having a good time is the best revenge.

We hope to see your there!

Contact lordpeters@tikimojo.com for more information.  Feel free to call 503-575-0815 on game day.

Dig Facebook?  Here’s our Facebook event page.  Here’s the Facebook group for the World Mondo Croquet Federation.

Want to hear about Mondo Croquet games happening in Portland and around?  Email lordpeters@gmail.com to get on the mailing list.

Yes, it’s that time again – the time for the Really Big Show!

WebVisions has been happening in Portland for 11 years now, bringing the big thinkers and doers of the Web and Mobile world to Portland.  As usual, Tiki:Mojo will be behind the scenes helping make things happen.

May 25, 26 and 27 at the Oregon Convention Center.

Click here to learn more!

Bring your extra bowling balls and sledgehammers for a game of Mondo Croquet, this year being held in honor of the late Mr. Paul Bingman. He was in attendance for so many of our spring and summer games, even when the clouds would not stop raining, and I cannot imagine he’d want us to skip a year for any reason – lame or otherwise.

Paul Bingman

Long time Tiki:Mojo collaborator Paul Bingman was recently taken from us.  He leaves a big hole in the Portland tech, movie and intellectual community.

There will be a memorial service April 17th.  Contact us for the details.

You may also be interested in the Facebook page for Friends of Paul Bingman

So long my friend, you will be missed.