As many of you know, I said my goodbye to Macworld Expo last year and I meant it. I didn’t speak a peep about it not because I thought Macworld was dead but simply because my focus had shifted and IDG didn’t do a great job convincing me to come back (not that they should have, i mean c’mon I’m just a dude with a blog). Anyway, my friend Victor who is an editor at TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) sent me a DM via Twitter before the show and asked if I could stop by their booth to say hi and do a quick video cast about my thoughts on this year’s show.
I picked up my free expo badge acquired almost a year ago after the 2009 show and spent 15 minutes cruising the show floor as fast as I could and talking to a few of my long time friends to see what their thoughts were regarding this year’s Macworld Expo. Then, at around 2PM PST I hopped on the stream with Victor and he whispered to me, “a few thousand people are watching.” Oh boy!
The video came out great aside from the obvious fact that I was severely nervous now that thousands were watching so my normally calm voice turned into a frightened teenager and I started talking very very fast. Either way, you can make out most of what I said.
It was only a few short months ago that I shared some links to purchase the documentary known as MacHeads on Amazon & iTunes. It was available as a DVD or digital download. The film’s creators did a great job capturing the past, present & future of the Mac community. I was very lucky to be asked to appear in this film. It was shot in 2007 and I played a small role as one of the MacHeads.
The interviews took place at San Francisco’s Moscone Center & at my favorite bar, Swig here in SF where I held my 3rd or 4th annual Macworld Party. Keep in mind, I was only 20 at the time and boy how much I’ve changed since then. Below are some clips and a link to watch the entire film.
Hulu is only available in The US. Sorry to those of you that are overseas
Clip 1 (My Annual Macworld Party)
Clip 2 (The Apple Brand)
Photos: Making the movie and screenshots w/ Me
Like I said, these are both really short and I’m just lucky to have been included. You can watch the entire film on Hulu [LINK].
I’ve been very lucky to have been included as a speaker in many conferences and barcamps in the past year. I’ve also been lucky to have been featured, interviewed and talked about on national news networks, newspapers and national radio stations. While teaching people about Twitter through my blog, coaching and speaking, I’ve always felt that things could be better. I could teach more, do more and reach a broader audience. Last week, my friend Jacob Morgan came to me and had the idea for doing a Twitter Coaching Session to a group of people. It’s funny because half a dozen people in the past year have told me the same exact thing. Jacob and I do similar things in our day jobs and each of us have the background & experience to lead such a class.
Instead of waiting around for someone to come to us, we decided to get a sponsor, find a space and do it ourselves! An Introduction to Twitter & Micro-Blogging is the first of many sessions involving Twitter and similar sites and how to use them. This session will be one hour long with an additional 15-30 minutes for questions on the basics of Twitter and how to use the service for work, play or connecting with people. It’s going to be a ton of fun so if you’re in the area, I suggest you drop in and soak up the knowledge!
We were lucky that Zannel stepped up and offered their fairly large space. They also commited to offering up drinks and home-cooked BBQ! Yes, they have a grill and yes there will be BBQ! The admission is $15.99 which covers the expenses and, in my opinion, is not too bad considering you get an hour of instruction and 2 hours of food & drinks with people of like minds. It’s going to be a fun time and I hope you’ll sign up and tell your friends.
This may be my first tag-team coaching session to a group that I organized but its’ not my first rodeo and I know everyone will learn something new & exciting (even the power users).
I’d like to start with a little history about my experience as a member of the Apple community. My first experience as an Apple user was in early 2003 when my Mom purchased a 17″ iMac 1.25GHz from CompUSA. We waited an hour before the store opened the day that the new computer went on sale. It was her first Macintosh and I hooked her in after buying my iBook 600Mhz G3 a year before. Since then, I’ve made the habit of lining up every chance I have for the latest Apple product but it’s not because of the product, it’s actually because of the community. Many times, I’ve stated that Apple’s products don’t truly wow me but the community has been something of awe as I’ve made friends, found work and built a community around my love of The Macintosh.
From 2003-2009, I lined up every year for IDG’s Macworld Expo just to see Steve Jobs’ keynote and from 2007-2009, I was in the same line to see Apple’s WWDC Keynote. In 2002, 2005 & 2007 I lined up for the release of Mac OS Jaguar, Tiger and Leopard (respectively). In 2007, 2007 & 2009 I lined up for the iPhone and I could go on and on at the amount of lines I’ve been in. All in all, if my math is correct, I’ve lined up about 16 times for an Apple-related announcement but I’ve never been first. This time, I was.
You can say that I’m crazy for lining up so early but I was only in line for 8.5 hours. My longest lineup was in 2007 for the first iPhone when I get in line for over 20 hours. This was actually only the 5th longest time I’ve stayed in line but analysts love to poke fun at how long you were sitting there. It’s not too bad and the time flew right by. Being first meant I was “the guy” that every reporter spoke to. There’s tons of content online as I was interviewed over 40 times but I managed to find a few things that featured me and I’ve linked / embedded them below. There were over a dozen people that helped me find these videos & photos. I owe all of you a huge thanks!
Heavily watermarked photos from Associated Press: (1) (2) (3)
SFIST was kind enough to reprint my photos taken on that day.
I wanted to personally thank everyone in line, online and in person that kept me company. It was a fun time and I hope you all enjoyed it! Keep an eye out for my iPhone 3G S review coming in a few days.
Last week, while I was at SDForum[PIC], a very friendly broadcaster named Alison approached me and asked if I wanted to do an audio interview for her web based audio cast. I’m going to call it a “podcast” since that’s the most common term for these shows nowadays. Alison’s show called, “Fresh Dialogues” is a short podcast that features leaders and innovators in Silicon Valley with a strong emphasis on green or clean tech companies / products. Until speaking with her, I hadn’t put much thought into my green contributions to the world but our 10 minute chat was fun and had me answering questions that I was not usually asked which is a breath of “fresh” air.
I’m so accustomed to the standard questions regarding my career, story, recent projects and what I do but not about how my actions affect the world. it’s something I think about daily but never say out loud so I was able to reaffirm my beliefs about being green and leaving a small carbon footprint.
Alison posted part 1 of our interview and promises to post part 2 very soon (which I’ll add below once it’s available). I really enjoy listening to her program and think she has real potential at starting a very positive trend of highlighting the positive contributions people & companies are making toward our environment.
Adam Jackson is social media expert and coauthor of the upcoming style guide for Twitter fans – “140 Characters, A Style Guide For The Short Form” which was recently reviewed in the New York Times
I met him at the energetic SDForum Teens Plugged In Conference at Hewlett Packard on May 13, 2009 and we found a quiet corner to talk about: How to become a green influencer
This is the second in our weekly series: Fresh Green Minute
Look out for the another Fresh Green Minute with Adam, when he discusses how Twitter is going green and how employees use software like Skype to be green.
On May 1st, I announced that I was invited to speak at this month’s SDForum and I was pretty excited about it. It’s not TED or Macworld but I am lucky that anyone wants to hear what I have to say and of course I didn’t turn down the opportunity.
First of all, the day conference was larger than I thought, very well organized and the staff was professional, friendly and they knew exactly what was going on so I really enjoyed being involved. The food & coffee was fantastic and the session before mine was excellent as well. I didn’t stay all day but I think I’ll be going to more SDForums when if my schedule allows for it.
The panel was great and I was in between two individuals who really knew their stuff! I always have a problem telling people what I do for work. I try to be broad and then it just sounds confusing but if I tell people what I do on a basic level, people scratch their heads and ask, “why is this guy on a panel?” Despite always having a disappointing opening line, I always find myself making up for it with answers to questions that I myself stop and go, “damn Adam; that was a good answer.”
I had a Flip Ultra Camera with me which only records standard video and the audio wasn’t perfect but I like putting something up to prove that I was there (like this clip from SMC 4/09) and there might be a couple of quotable items in there if anyone wants to sit through it. Furthermore, the panel was an hour long but I just edited it down to just me talking. No I didn’t do it to be a complete jerk face. I did this because I can’t cut up a video into 6 parts, wait for it to upload and then embed all 6 clips.
Tonight went very well as I drove down to Mountain View to be a part of a panel consisting of Tara and Clara. Both women are highly respected authors and I was lucky to be a part of the panel. My friend Chris Heuer moderated the panel and John Hagel, who I had never met before was simply fantastic. His insight and vision of technology in the past decade is astounding and I can’t wait to read his books. It was great because Tara’s book just came out today so this was her first speaking engagement with a book that is on store shelves so I’m sure she was excited as well.
The conversation only inspired me to write and blog some new things for you guys so stay tuned for that. I always leave these panels feeling inspired and with sparks that contain new ideas and perspective and this panel was no exception. Laura was kind of enough to record it for me. The talk lasted 49 minutes. My part was only 5 minutes and I embedded it below. Thanks everyone for your support and I can’t wait to do more of these.
I had the honor of being interviewed for the 100 Interviews series at SXSW 2009. My new friend, Derek Overbey thought of me for this wickedly awesome video series conducted in Austin, TX. The premise is that they pick 100 people and interview them over the course or 3 days. Great work team and my interview is embedded below.
I’ve been very lucky to have been included as a speaker in many conferences and barcamps in the past year. I’ve also been lucky to have been featured, interviewed and talked about on national news networks, newspapers and national radio stations. While teaching people about Twitter through my blog, coaching and speaking, I’ve always felt that things could be better. I could teach more, do more and reach a broader audience. Last week, my friend 
Last week, while I was at 
