WordPress Austin group growing

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Just under two weeks ago I created a new group on Meetup.com. The purpose of the group was to get people together to talk about WordPress.

I’m very happy to update everyone that the WordPress Austin group has a total of 13 members. This is mostly just a a word of mouth effort. I just find it amazing how people come together. Thank you to everyone who has joined. We are still a few weeks away from the initial April 23 meeting.

If you are new to this conversation please checkout the Meetup.com group page http://wordpress.meetup.com/173/, The Upcoming.org Event page http://upcoming.org/event/168004/, The new Google Groups page http://groups.google.com/group/wordpress-austin or just keep you eyes on this site for more information.

The end of SXSWi 2007

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So it’s more than a week after SXSWi 2007 and I’ve not reported on any of the events. Really whats the point. As I sit here on a Saturday morning drinking a cut of coffee and reading my bloglines feeds of other’s experiences during SXSWi I agree it was as expected, fantastic.

Sure I enjoyed the many sessions offered and as usual I really wanted to split myself in two sometimes due to key sessions offered during the same time slot. Thankfully the podcasts for the 2007 sessions are starting to already role in. I think by next year we should be seeing videos of the conference.

So here are some of my highlights for this year.

  • Thursdsay evening drinks with Peter-Paul Koch, Alex Jones and Ryan Joy at 219 W. Good times had by all.
  • Saturday, the first full day for Interactive. Spent most of the day just following the crowd and mesmerized by the Twitter screens. Watch as many others pulled out their cell phones and post a twit just to watch it on the big screen. Wonder if this was the precuursor to twittervision.
  • Sunday, concentracted more on a specific session track. Wanted to learn all that could about cell phone and mobile use. Great sessions.
  • Monday and Tuesday were also great just being together with other like minded folks. I meet so many interesting people every year.

I still have about 20 pages of notes I’ve not had a chance to review. Client work seems to be taking it’s priority position. Darn clients.

Help Save Paramount Theatre

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I received an email today that concerns me. It was from the Paramount Theatre here in Austin. The Paramount Theatre is a great historic venue here in Austin. Of the many things going on are the regular movie opening by local actors and/or directory. I attended the Austin opening for Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City, Matthew McConaughey’s Sahara. Just this past November 30 the great Dave Brubeck came to Austin.

The theatre has recently see some very bad weather, as most other places in Austin. It seems the roof of the theatre is in question and there is a campaign to get donations to repair the roof.

So come on Austin. This is part of our wonderful history. Open your wallet and give.
http://www.austintheatre.org/site/R?i=fDQnaEJD7k_10hYptStXRQ

Ready to start 2007

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As I mentioned in one of my last posts from 2006. My employer closes shop the last week of the year. This is a terrific bonus for the staff. So after the break I was back in the office for two weeks then Sondra and I took off for a week long Western Caribbean Cruise. This was our third trip on the water and third trip to the same islands. The one difference is this was out of Galveston Texas. So a short drive down to the Gulf on Saturday and board the ship on Sunday.

That same weekend back in Austin the weather was getting nasty. From the reports we saw on CNN the temperatures in Austin dropped below freezing with snow and ice. Since we rarely get that type of extreme cold the city shut down for the first three days of the week. All the while we are enjoying the sun and drinks on the way to Key West, FL, Grand Cayman, BWI and Cozumel, Mexico.

It was a great trip but I’m glad to be back in the office. I think the first two weeks of the year didn’t really count for me since I was about to be off again on vacation. It mentally was hard to concentrate and get involved with projects. Now I’m back nd guess what? I’m dreaming we are still on the ship ordering buckets or Red Strip on Deck 10. Good times.

Look for the pictures soon on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/codehooligans/

Austin Bar Map

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I found a very cool site, Community Walk. This site lets you create maps. For example I’m creating a map of all the bars and restaurants I’ve been to in the greater Austin area.

Check it out http://www.communitywalk.com/map/60084