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18Jun/10Off

Why I Deserve to Tungle with Chris Pirillo at Gnomedex

As an entrepreneur trying to get a fledgling startup off the ground in these challenging times, having the opportunity to meet and interact with awesome people is essential to spreading the word. There are many events in the local Seattle area and the tech scene is alive and well.

However, each year, there is one single event that rises up above them all. While I've only had the privilege of attending one of these events, I can tell you with certainty, that Gnomedex is a special event. Chris Pirillo takes it to new levels each and every year. Now granted, there have been some controversial talks, and heated discussions in years past, but what he's put together over the past 10 years is truly special (has it really been that long?).

I was quite upset that I missed the opportunity to attend last year's Gnomedex event due to a conflict with my summer vacation. That said, I'm definitely going to be around this year, and look forward to attending.

The reason why I feel I deserve to Tungle with Chris is that I'm pouring every last bit of effort into getting my startup (StratusQ) off the ground. We are self-funded at this point, and our battle-scarred team of four are pouring every extra penny we can spare to grow the business. As such, it's harder and harder to hop on the conference circuit without having the backing of an employer or other source of funding to help subsidize costs. I'm not a serial entrepreneur, but I've been waiting patiently for over 10 years for this opportunity (see: The Art of Bootstrapping in 2010) and having the ability to network with other like minded individuals at an event like Gnomedex is what I live for.

I also happen to be a user of Tungle.me (see: http://tungle.me/brianeisenberg) , which hopefully puts me in a favorable position to win a free pass to Gnomedex. If not, I'll continue to save my precious pennies and maybe scrape up enough $$ to purchase a conference pass.

Kudos to Chris and the rest of the Gnomedex volunteers for putting together the 10th installment of this special event.

Respectfully yours,

Brian Daniel Eisenberg

@infinitelymeta

16Jun/10Off

An Open Letter to Mike Arrington

Mike -

My dad (http://ischool.uw.edu/directory/faculty/detail.aspx?id=3116)  is the Dean Emeritus and Professor at the UW iSchool (http://ischoool.uw.edu). We were talking over dinner just last night about how to bring more of the entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation to the city. The iSchool is rapidly becoming THE premier school in the country for Information Science. My dad, and a colleague - Kevin DeSouza - (http://ischool.uw.edu/directory/faculty/detail.aspx?id=6894) are looking to put together an exclusive board/advisory committee focused on bringing in external players into the UW to help raise $$$, fund scholarships and endowed chair positions.

I told them that I thought you might be an EXCELLENT candidate for such a position. This could be just what you are looking for, judging from the recent press regarding your attendance at the Tech Flash event last night. I really think you might enjoy transitioning from the commercial side of things and putting your energy into helping support growth and expansion of innovation and entrepreneurship in the PacNW.

I would be happy to broker a meeting between you and my dad and others at the UW if you are interested. Please let me know if you are interested.

Regards,

--Brian Daniel Eisenberg

@infinitelymeta

206.227.8535 (mobile)

3Jul/09Off

Streaming LIVE ALL WEEKEND from my rooftop in Eastlake, Seattle, WA USA

Happy 4th of July!!! We'll be streaming live all weekend. Come join in the fun and watch the fireworks over Lake Union. This stream has a pretty clear view of the fireworks barge.

The hashtag for this party/event is #july4eastlake and we'll also entertain the Friendfeed crew in this new group I just created: http://friendfeed.com/july4eastlake

2Jul/09Off

Everything is falling into place for the 3nd Annual Eastlake Associates Tenant Appreciation BBQ & Fireworks Extravaganza. Here are the details.
When: July 4, 2008, 12pm - ???
View from my roof.
View from shore of Lake Union.

Where: 2218 Franklin Ave East, Seattle, WA 98102 USA (Lake Union)

What: A party of course. BBQ, drinks, food, & FUN!

Food: Assorted burgers, hot dogs, skirt steak (for carne asada), salmon, chips, dips, cherries,. Don’t see anything you like, then bring you’re own.

Drinks: BYOB - I'll have some beer, wine, soda, but highly suggest you bring your own if you're going to be hitting the sauce hard this weekend.

What to expect:

* Great people, food, drinks, etc. You’ve heard of “block party”. This more like “neighborhood party”. There are pretty much parties at every house for a 10 square block area. Riley hosts the infamous party down on Minor St. - this year I think they have water slides planned and I'm sure they'll be doing other assorted craziness.
* Fireworks - all day, all night. For the big event, those brave enough can climb the ladder and get on top of my roof for an UNABATED view of Lake Union, the fireworks barge, and Gasworks park. It’s insane ...the view. I’ll be streaming it live on UStream and also recording some HD video.
* Tons of traffic. If you want to come early, it is highly suggested. Street parking fills up by about 2pm. I have no off street parking available, so if you can use public transit or ride a bike, that’s the best way to get around.
* They close the streets to through traffic for like 10 square blocks around my neighborhood so don’t count on being able to take the side streets.
* If you are planning to stay and watch the fireworks, plan on staying LATE. If you thought it was bad getting into Eastlake, wait till you try to get OUT. There’s no rush, so if you are planning on driving down and then driving back, expect to get out no earlier than 1am.

I think that’s about it. If you are in Seattle and in the Eastlake neighborhood, I highly recommend you stop by and at least say hello. Great old article on Eastlake Community / neighborhood - http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910425&slug=1279531

Call me on my mobile @ 206.227.8535 if you have any questions or get lost.

Happy 4th Everyone! Despite what everyone else around the world thinks of US, I am still DAMN proud to be an AMERICAN.

24Aug/08Off

Gnomedex – mind blowing electricifying neural stimulation transends geospatial dimensions and teleports us to the fifth dimension

OMFG. I can't muster the energy right now to capture the energy, passion, class, & inspiration that is Gnomedex. Until I come down off cloud 9, here's where my attention's currently at.

Follow the Friendfeed conversation.

#gnomedex

20Aug/08Off

Space time issues

As I continue to juggle what is roughly the equivalent of three full time jobs, I'm starting to run up against that magic barrier that is the space - time continuum. I'm going through a significant amount of change right now at my day job, am having to go through an eviction process with one of my tenants (night job), and I'm still feverishly trying to get Infinitely Meta and YTranslate off the ground. Needless to say it consumes nearly every waking hour of my life. I'm not complaining, as I am already hyper-efficient in managing all of the things I CHOOSE to spend my precious time on.

I think right now I need to continue to focus, not lose track of what is most important, and constantly assess and re-assess my priorities in how I spend those 24 hours each and every day.

With that, I'm off to meet Sarah Lacey and friends for her User Generated Book Tour - SEATTLE.

Tomorrow I have a VERY special meeting with one of my advisors who is going to give me a personal tour of what he is working on. I'll take lots of pics, ask questions, and blog it when I get back. Then it's off to the Tweetup and finally the Gnomedex 2008 kickoff.

Hopefully this torrential rain will let up soon. Currently looking strikingly similar to the Pineapple Express weather pattern that we had back in 1997. Time will tell. Personally, I don't mind the rain. What I do mind are the CRAPPY Seattle drivers who seem to not know how to drive in it.

Onward!

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28Jun/08Off

Awesome day, trending on awesomer!

Today happens to be the nicest day of the summer thus far here in Seattle. It's roughly 80 and sunny with a light breeze blowing in from the Puget Sound. Pretty much woke up did some light work, cleaned up my place a bit (it's still bordering on out of control) and then headed down to Elliott Bay Books for the Gary Vaynerchuk book signing event @ 2:00 pacific.

Got there a bit early so had nice iced american and half turkey sandwich in the Espresso and sandwich bar. They set up a nice room for Gary with about 50 or so seats. I went and grabbed my seat in the back right corner and setup my gear - Ultra Mobile PC with Logitech Quickcam Fusion as I was planning to stream the event live (and record it) on UStream. Elliott Bay Book actually has free wifi, so initially I was psyched to be able to stream it over wifi as its a bit better than using my Cradlepoint 802.11 > Verizon 3G EVDO USB card. Unfortunately the room the signing was in was pretty much in the basement of a brick building and I lost conection to their wifi and was unable to get a signal with my Verizon card.

No worries. I setup both my Logitech and my Panasonic AVCHD HDC-SD1 video camera to record the event *offline*. I was able to get about an hour of HD content that I need to import and also the recording from my logitech, which was at much lower quality.

I'll do my best to get it posted soon. I'll let you watch the whole thing as soon as I can get the videos posted, but let's just say that Gary killed it yet again. He is so much fun to watch/interact with. I'm looking forward to tonight, where I'll be heading to Gary's drink up event at Purple, a wine bar in downtown Seattle. I've never been there so will see what its all about. Looking forward to a great evening.

Oh I almost forgot - Debbie (tenant) stopped by to drop off her check. Her boyfriend works at Hales Ales in Fremont. They offered to "sponsor" a free keg of tasty Hales Ales for our 2nd Annual Eastlake Associates Tenant Appreciation BBQ! I LOVE MY TENANTS!

If you're in Seattle and you want to come watch the fireworks over Lake Union from our prime Eastlake, stay tuned. I'll be sending out more details in the coming days and will post the event to Upcoming. Parking sucks, but all are invited. The whole neighborhood basically turns into a 6+ block neighborhood party. It's really quite fun. :P

Awesome day, trending on awesomer.

As I tweeted here, "I love it when a plan comes together!"

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