Since deciding not to move to California, I’ve realized that we need to grow a geek community that I can associate with here. I feel so isolated and alone as far as work is concerned, so I decided to spearhead BarCamp here in Utah.

I am in the process of setting up montly meetings for BarCampUtah. BarCamp is a meeting that started up in San Francisco in reaction to FooCamp, which was an invitation-only party given by O’Reilly. Some of the people who weren’t invited to FooCamp, set up BarCamp.

What I’m trying to create is a geek community in Utah. I want to have a monthly meeting where we can “show and tell” or maybe just “hack together.” This video, created by Ryanne, is my inspiration. I want BarCampUtah to be like Super Happy Dev House.

We don’t have a spot where things can go all night, but at first, I’m just hoping for a few hours where everyone can talk and share ideas. This video, also by Ryanne, shows what our little meetings could eventually evolve into. BarCamp in San Francisco is a full-blown conference with sponsors and hosts and lots of ad hoc sessions.

I have been struggling for a good venue that has wireless Internet and room for us to grow. I think I have found us a spot, but I need to wait to announce it until I get the application back.

In the meantime, if any of you have been wishing for a geek community in the Salt Lake area, we are growing it right now. Please send me your information on my Contact Me form, including your full name, email address and phone number and I will make sure that you are included.

It looks like a group of about a half a dozen people are working to get BarCampUtah off the ground:

• Pre-planning thoughts for doing BarCampUtah in conjuction with BarCampEarth. - DevUtah

They are meeting monthly at dinners and the next one is July 26th, 6:30 pm at Brick Oven (111 East 800 North, Provo, Utah). If any of my Salt Lake City readers are interested in creating a dynamic geek community here, this is where we need to be. I have left an email with Phil B. Burns, the organizer to see what I have to do to make this a reality.

Not only are hugely successful Geek Dinners already set up, he has set a day for the BarCampUtah conference: August 26th - 28th, 2006. I am so happy that all of this is coming together so nicely!

I’ll keep you posted.

Today I met with Phil Burns about BarCampUtah. It looks like we are going to be able to get this going!

BarCampUtah will be August 26-28th, 2006.

For more information:

• BarCamp / BarCampUtah

• Main Page - BarCampUtah

• Phil B. Burns

• DevUtah

If you would like to help us set up, teach a class or get more information about BarCamp, please fill out my contact form here:

• Pick Me! » Contact Laura Moncur

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music - Variation on Egmont

Update 08-08-05: You can embed this video into your weblog using Google Video: BarCampUtah: Setting Up Camp

If you don’t know who Robert Scoble is, you’re not going to understand how Internet Famous he is and why going to this lunch was like breaking bread with a rock star. M. David Petersen made a podcast of the lunch and recorded all the amazing things that Robert Scoble had to say.

• GeekCast - Robert Scoble and Local Salt Lake City Geeks Not-So-Anonymous - O’Reilly XML Blog

I have about fifty minutes of video from the lunch. While it’s tempting to just post it all here, I’ve edited it down to just under two minutes of the coolest things that were said.

This is one of those rare times where I filmed the event, but didn’t live it through the LCD screen. I was able to just hold the camera and still enjoy the moment. Some day, the camera will become so much a part of me that I won’t even realize when I’m filming.

David took pictures and he snapped this photo of Mike and me. He happened to capture me looking incredibly bored and sad. I’m not bored. I swear it! Do I always look this sad? It’s not the way I was feeling, I can tell you! I was totally stoked to be there!

I carefully chose my shirt that morning. I wore JETRIS from Threadless. I thought a pixelated Jesus was a completely appropriate shirt for Robert Scoble’s visit to Salt Lake City, Utah.

A special thank you to all who came to the lunch:

Robert Scoble - PodTech
Patrick Scoble - I didn’t hear. Who are you working for?
Gilbert Lee and Tad Giles - The LDS Church Website (These guys have 10 hours of content to translate into almost 100 languages every six months. They totally ROCK!)
Ryan Hawley
Jared L Smith
Tim Stay - Know More Media
Michael Hoover
M. David Petersen - Thanks for recording the entire thing!
Me and Michael Moncur - Starling Studios

P.S. There are three two people who came to the lunch and didn’t get on this list because I didn’t have a card. If you are one of them, contact me and I’ll put you on the list.

I procrastinated working on the Geek Dinner video because I thought that the audio wouldn’t work. I was imagining going through all 60 minutes of audio and thinking, “Man, he said a great thing. I wish my camera could have caught it.” Instead, I had so much good footage that I had a hard time picking and choosing the best. In fact, the interview with Carolyn was so awesome that I am editing that for its own video tomorrow.

It took a lot of ruthless cutting to get this video down to just under six minutes. It’s a long download, but these Utah Geeks (and one nerd) have so much to say about the community here and Utah technology in general. I asked them why the Geek Dinners are so cool and what they thought about the Utah Tech industry.

The best answer: Watch Out!

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music - Variation on Egmont

You can also embed this video on your own webpage:

• YouTube - Utah Geek Dinner: July

• Google Video - Utah Geek Dinner: July

A special thank you to Phil Burns from DevUtah for setting up the monthly Geek Dinners!

Those featured in the video (in order of appearance):

James Carroll
Matthew Reinbold - mutednoise and BloomBurst
Tom Gregory - alt-tag.com
Susie Gregory
Gary Thornock - Gary Thornock’s Weblog
Niki Thornock - Audio Conversions
Robert Merrill - Utah Tech Jobs and SOS Technical
Richard K. Miller - Richard K Miller dot coooooooooom and More Good Foundation
Jordan Gunderson - Jordy Blog
Chris Sandberg - Business and Technology and Answer Wiki

Update 08-08-06 8:05 am: Robert Merrill posted pictures from the Geek Dinner on his weblog: July Geek Dinner Report– Utah Tech Jobs

Update 08-08-06 12:18 pm: The August Geek Dinner will be August 22 at the Los Hermanos Restaurant in Lindon (Google Map) at 6:30 pm. See more here: DevUtah » Blog Archive » August 2006 Geek Dinner

Carolyn Duncan had such an interesting story at the Geek Dinner that I had to do a video just for her.

If you are interested in the Utah Geek Dinners, you can find out more information at DevUtah.

Carolyn’s “real” weblog can be found here: The Carolynn Blog

The weblog she talks about in the video is here: Why Provo Labs Is Hiring Carolynn Duncan

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music - Variation on Egmont

This month’s CodeAway was awesome! I wish I had gotten more video of our conversations. Dave Turnbull showed us his Google Map Mashup for the Pete Ashdown for Senate website. He added my house onto the map of Pete supporters.

Matt Reinbold talked about his two awesome weblogs, mutednoise and BloomBurst. We brainstormed ways to enhance the interactivity and to drive more traffic to them. His coverage of the remix culture on muted noise is excellent. If you like cool videos, go there and see what he has gleaned for you.

I was working on new ideas for The Quotations Page and they suggested some great ones like a MySpace widget that allows MySpace users to post The Quotes of the Day on their page. Halfway through the evening, we realized that Mike’s entry on The Gadgets Page (10 Ways to Make Your Digital Photos Last Forever) was only four diggs away from getting on the front page of Digg.com, so we went online and gave it our three digs and Gary Thornock gave us the final fourth to get us on the front page. Thanks, guys!

Next month, we might be meeting in a more public space that doesn’t need to be super secret and undisclosed. If you were wishing for BarCampUtah, you should come to next month’s CodeAway. It’s like a mini BarCamp!

Update 08-21-06: Matt has posted his recap of the August CodeAway here: BloomBurst - August CodeAway Recap

The date has been set for next month’s CodeAway: Pick Me! » September 2006 CodeAway

Matt Reinbold has set the date, time and location of next month’s CodeAway. So that we don’t have to meet in a super-secret location, we are having the CodeAway at The Sprague Library in Salt Lake City:

September 2006 CodeAway

Saturday, September 23, 2006 1-5pm

Sprague Library - 2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City, UT - Google Map

Downstairs Conference Room

Free wi-fi courtesy of X-Mission

You can RSVP via Upcoming.org:

• Upcoming.org: CodeAway at Sprague Library (Saturday, September 23, 2006)

Last month’s CodeAway was so much fun that I’m looking forward to going to this one!

Just a reminder that the August Geek Dinner is tonight. Here are the sordid details:

Tonight at 6:30 pm at the Los Hermanos Restaurant in Lindon (Google Map).

See more here: DevUtah » Blog Archive » August 2006 Geek Dinner

I loved attending last month’s Geek Dinner, so I’ll definitely be there tonight. Mike has been feeling sick, so he may or may not come. We’ll have to see. If you have been reading my blog and want to meet me in person, show up to the Geek Dinner and introduce yourself. I’ll be wearing my “Fractions Speak Louder Than Nerds” t-shirt from Threadless.

The August Geek Dinner was less of a networking opportunity this week because Phil had Pete Ashdown come speak with us about Net Neutrality. Pete is running for the U.S. Senate against Orrin Hatch and is particularly well versed in Internet issues because he is the founder of X-Mission, Utah’s oldest ISP. Here is an edited video clip explaining his position on Net Neutrality.

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music - Variation on Egmont

Pete is running his campaign on a very different platform than other candidates. His website has a collaboration wiki and he is writing a blog (or campaign journal). Any Utah Geek that doesn’t vote for Pete has forgotten how important it is to have a senator in Washington who actually understands what the Internet is.

You can see the complete and unedited video (47 Minutes) here on Google Video:

Thanks, Phil, for bringing Pete to the Geek Dinner. It was a great meeting and I’m looking forward to September’s Geek Dinner.

To find out more about the Utah Geek Dinners: DevUtah

The September Utah Geek Dinner has been announced. You can see the official announcement here:

• DevUtah » Blog Archive » September 2006 Geek Dinner

Here are the details:

Date and Time: September 20, 2006 6:30pm
Location: Los Hermanos Restaurant - 395 North State Lindon, UT 84042 Phone: 801.785.1715 Google Map
Dinner Format: Networking - Our tables will be groups where we allow each person to talk for a couple of minutes. The groups will be mixed up a couple of times so that you eventually get to meet everyone.
RSVP: Add your name to the wiki or add yourself to the Upcoming.org page.
Join: To hear about these events in the future, join the mailing list.

Phil is looking for restaurants with private dining rooms that will hold a reservation and allow us to be by ourselves in it. If you know of any, please comment here or on his site.

Matt Reinbold’s CodeAway is tomorrow! It’s at the Sprague Library.

September 2006 CodeAway

Saturday, September 23, 2006 1-5pm

Sprague Library - 2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City, UT - Google Map

Downstairs Conference Room

Free wi-fi courtesy of X-Mission

You can RSVP via Upcoming.org:

• Upcoming.org: CodeAway at Sprague Library (Saturday, September 23, 2006)

Bring your laptop, your friends and your bragging shirt and come show us your best!

CodeAway
Saturday, October 21st 1pm - 5pm
Whitmore Library: 2197 East Fort Union Blvd. Google Map

In order to get online, you will need to have a valid Salt Lake County Library Card, so get yours now if you don’t have one!

If you want to learn more about CodeAway, you can here:

• codeaway.org

I LOVE it! So come on over to the library!

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music - Variation on Egmont

Last month’s CodeAway turned out pretty well. We had a great turnout! Sadly, the Salt Lake County libraries aren’t going to work for CodeAway. Their firewall blocked so many sites that few of us could get any work done. I can understand why they might block logging into a server, but sites like Yahoo!, Flickr and del.icio.us were inaccessible. They tried to blame it on Yahoo!’s servers, but I logged into Yahoo! using my cell phone and that worked just fine.

November 2006 CodeAway

Saturday, November 18, 2006 1-5pm

Sprague Library - 2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City, UT - Google Map

Downstairs Conference Room

Free wi-fi courtesy of X-Mission

Be there and be filmed!

Tim Westergren of Pandora fame is visiting Salt Lake City and having a meetup at the Salt Lake City Main Library. It’s a beautiful location with wireless access provided courtesy of X-Mission. I met Tim at SxSWi last year and he was very personable. He’s a great speaker and an even better listener. Here are the specifics of the meetup:

Where: Salt Lake City Main Library, Auditorium
Address: 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City UT 84111 (801) 524-8200 Google Map
When: Thursday, January 18th at 7:30 PM

If you have ever used Pandora and want to give him feedback about your likes and dislikes, now is the time! If you haven’t, then try it! It’s a free Internet radio station that is a great tool for finding new music that you will like. I reviewed it on The Gadgets Page here:

• The Gadgets Page » For Those of You Missing Radio, Here’s Pandora

A special thank-you to Braidwood for introducing me to Pandora. I have enjoyed its continuous music and software improvements thanks to her!

I wrote an entry on the CodeAway blog about the January CodeAway at the Pandora Users Meetup. It was an awesome experience for me and my mind is still reeling from it:

• CodeAway » The Pandora CodeAway Meetup

Next month’s CodeAway has been announced:

• CodeAway » February CodeAway

Here are the details:

February 2007 CodeAway

Saturday, February 24, 2007 1-5pm

Sprague Library - 2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City, UT

Google Map

Downstairs Conference Room

Free wi-fi courtesy of X-Mission

Hope to see you all there!

After months without a Geek Dinner in sight, Phil Burns has finally announced a Geek Dinner.

• Phil801 - Geek Blog » Upcoming Geek Dinner - with Jeff Barr

He will have Jeff Barr from Amazon.com come speak and it’s a great opportunity to network with other Utah Geeks. I really enjoy the Geek Dinners because it makes me feel less alone in Salt Lake City.

Here are the details:

Date and Time: Thursday February 8, 2007 6pm
Location: Los Hermanos - 395 N State Street Lindon, Utah 84042 Google Map

Restaurant website:

• Los Hermanos Mexican Restaurant - Located in Lindon & Provo, Utah

Los Hermanos is a decent Mexican restaurant with typical food for the area. More importantly, this is the first time in months that we’ll be able to get together with a crowd of other technical people.

CodeAway is coming in a couple of weeks. The Sprague Library is a great place, but we can’t really meet there anymore for a variety of reasons:

• CodeAway » March CodeAway: SupaSecret Location!

We need a place that has power, Internet connectivity and allows food. Finding a place that allows all three is difficult, so Mike and I are opening up our house. At least I can depend on my place.

The problem is, I don’t want to post my address on the Internet. You can probably understand why. Here are the details for March’s CodeAway:

Date and Time: Saturday, 03-31-07 1pm-5pm

Location: SupaSecret Location! Contact Laura Moncur to get the address.

Bring: Your laptop with wireless or ethernet connection (we can work with both), treats and snacks, other Utah Geeks

SXSW was so amazing! Last year at this time, I was so depressed because I felt like all my friends were scattering across the country again. This time, I remembered all my great Utah Geeks and I was eager to come home to you guys and tell you everything I learned! Can’t wait to see you!

If you need a little camaraderie, you can find it at the Utah Geek Dinner this Thursday. Here are the details:

• Blogger-Geek Dinner this Thursday, April 26 - Ash Buckles - Blog

I am really enjoying these Geek Dinners and I’ll be there for sure!

Utah Geeks!

It has been too long since we last got together for a CodeAway, but you only have to wait a little while longer. Our next event is in a few weeks.

If the weather is good, I thought we could create CodeAway t-shirts. I did something like it this month:

• Pick Me! » How To Spray Paint Your T-Shirt With A Stencil

Bring a blank t-shirt and we’ll have some supplies available. If you want to blow everyone away, create your own logo for CodeAway and bring it along as a stencil. I’ll have a few stencils to choose from by then, so if all you want to do is bring a t-shirt, then you can look like one of the cool kids!

Here are the details for the October CodeAway:

Date and Time: Saturday, 10-06-07 1pm-5pm

Location: SupaSecret Location! Contact Laura Moncur to get the address.

Feel free to bring treats, your laptop, your Nintendo DS and your buddies! See you in a couple weeks!

Here are a couple photos from July’s CodeAway:

More photos here: CodeAway: SLC Geeks - a photoset on Flickr

I’m feeling so tired right now. We had a really busy weekend with CodeAway and an early Thanksgiving with my family. I still haven’t finished taking the folding chairs down to the basement. I’ve got one more to go and I’ll take it down next time. For now, it’s just sitting in the living room.

We are at a turning point with CodeAway. It’s getting too big for our tiny house. We are continually tempted to upgrade to a bigger house and this might be the impetus to get us to do it. Voluntary Simplicity is something I have to focus on to achieve. The idea of just getting a bigger place is so tempting right now.

At the Utah Geek Dinner last week, Joseph Scott brought Wordpress t-shirts. I scrambled past anyone in my way (sorry about your toes) to get one. Ever since Nicole Lee showed off her very cool red Wordpress t-shirt, I have wanted one.

Thanks, Joseph!

Start saving, folks. Every penny you earn right now might keep you alive during the Second Dot Bomb.