Utah Tech Spotlight

Utah Tech Spotlight Events

Reminder: Utah Tech Spotlight at the Bohemian tomorrow

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 19

We just wanted to shout out a reminder to Bohemianeveryone about the Utah Tech Spotlight event, secheduled for tomorrow, April 20th at the Bohemian.  We have the whole upstairs reserved, and we’re buying the drinks. 

Also, we want to make sure that everyone is aware that we are actively taking submissions for technologies to be spotlighted.  Have a Utah technology that is cool?  Know of one?  Be sure to tell us, so we can make sure everyone else knows too.

Date: Friday, April 20th
Time: 3:00 - 4:00
Location: Bohemian Brewery And Grill
(94 East and 7200 South, right off of State Street, SLC) Feel free to RSVP for a reminder
Or we’ll just see you when you get there.

Also, we encourage you to bring a thumb-drive to this event.  You’ll see why when you get there.

David Politis speaks out on Utah

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 19

Politis
In this episode we met with David Politis, from Politis Communications. David has been an icon of the Utah valley, and has been instrumental in the success of many Utah based companies. Listen along as we compare notes with David on Utah, where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going, and what all of it really means.

Listen Now (31.2 MB, MP3)

Blogging to Learn… Learning to Blog

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 19

It’s funny, but as much as I try to network, be it by attending events, meeting with people, Thinkingor consuming blogs, I find that the more I learn, the more I come to grips with how much I don’t know.

Many people think of blogging as a chance to be a voice… to be heard.  But while that is true to an extent, I think that to really get the most from blogging, or communicating in any way, you really have to check your ego at the door. 

To that point, I wanted to share some really valuable information that I gleaned from a couple of blogs that I follow religiously.  Jason Alba, who has been a huge help to me in many ways, writes on the blogs JibberJobber and on JasonAlba, recently found a real gem if you want to learn how to do a better blog (which, for those of you who read this article… bear with me… I will be taking much of this advice shortly :) )

 Additionally, Janet, who writes for the blog Newspapergrl recently pulled together some other exellent materials on how to ensure that your blog gets the “google juice” that you really are hoping for. 

Want a slick looking Blog?  The article from Jason couldn’t be better.  Want people to find it?  Thanks to Janet for passing along how to do it.  These two posts really do pull together more valuable information than any blogging self help book I have seen.

Want to learn more?  Another blog that seems to consistently have great info on the subject can be found by Alister Cameron.

Politic 2.0: Utah takes politics to the next level

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 12

Okay, so if you are reading this post and expecting to hear that Rocky Anderson and Sean Hannity are going to be fighting in a pit of Jello with spiked clubs, then I am sorry to dissapoint (although on a side note, I would pay to see that… hmm…)

I wanted to write  a review on a new, and intriguing event called Politic 2.0.  I attended the first event, along with about 40 other local bloggers, and various people yesterday.  So here’s the gist of it:  Folks on-line, andthose of at the event were all in front of computers.  People could submit questions, comment on other people’s questions, and vote for or against questions real-time during the event.  As all of this was happening, Chris Cannon would work with the spokesperson to answer the most requested questions. 

Was the interface absolutely perfect?  No, it’s just temporary for this first event.  Was the process of determining who should attend flawless?  Not even close (as I am sure a few outspoken folks out there will be more than happy to moan about).  But wow.  The concept, itself is awesome, and the fact that the folks running it were able to get Cannon to come and participate is great.  We were the people.  We were there.  We were empowered, and Chris was answering what we wanted, and allowing us to respond back to him (I’m the bald head right in front of Chris for any of you who got to see the video feed :) ). 

Kudos to Chris for having the guts to be there,  Kudos to the bloggers and others who chimed in, and Kudos to the camera guy who somehow controlled the glare off of my head.  I hope that this is just the start of what this will really turn into.  I will absolutely be at any future events like this.  I know a few people have moaned about the warts, but dangit, I’ll kiss this frog all day long!

Seth Godin comes to Utah

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 12

Seth Godin, acclaimed auther, blogger, and basic Marketing God is on his way to Utah.  This is a huge opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about marketing from one of the most outspoken, and looked to voices on the subject.  So who is Seth, and why do you want to hear from him?  Well, if you are into marketing, you probably already know.  If not, google will give you just over 2 million gems to choose from on the topic.  Alternatively, a good summary I found can be accessed here. 

So why is Seth Coming to Utah, well obviously he must have heard that the Red Iguana is the best dang Mexican food that can be found.  Or, more truthfully, we have a real local mover and shaker, Phil Burns to thank for this.  Please click over to Phil’s blog and see how you can participate in the event.   This is a real opportunity, and I thank Phil, and those who are making Herculean efforts to make sure that Utah gets this kind of exposure, and opportunities like this and so many of the other exciting upcoming events they have in the hopper.

 Want to see what other Utahns are saying about this?  Check out:

codeAway
KitchenSinkWebMarketing
Newspapergrl
Phil801
WordMob

Google Goes Yellow

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 10

Well… yellow pages at least :) .  I know it’s not Utah based technology, but I just couldn’t pass this one up.  I was just reading a post about Google’s new, free phone directory service.  Really cool stuff. 

Basically, you just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (Or 1-800-466-4411 for those of us who might be reading this on a Blackjack :) ), tell it your city and state, then a business name or category.  Now, it’s the category part that really intrigues me… I would love to know how it chooses what businesses to list, and in what order.  If this service takes off, I think you may well see a new facet of marketing by companies, who attempt to adjust their “Goolge Juice” as it pertains to phone searches. 

Thanks to NewspaperGrl for cluing us all in on this one.

Coding Deathmatch 2.0

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 09

Devin Knighton and Josh Coates from Berkeley Data Systems have put together a pretty cool event.  We wanted to blog about it here and make sure everyone is aware of it.  We will also be following up the event wiht a podcast to hear a bit more about how it went.  So you think your Kung-Fu is better than everyone else?  Wanna put your keyboard where your mouth is?  Check it out:

Here are the details…

-         The deathmatch will take place Saturday, April 14.
-         It’s free to participate – Winners receive $20K in prizes compared to last year when it was $10,000
-         The purpose is to incentivize the Utah’s technical talent and promote growth
-         The competition will begin online (http://contest.mozy.com) and finalists will compete at Berkeley Data Systems headquarters in American Fork

Last year’s deathmatch was a success:

1.       Well over a hundred participants
2.       8 finalists split the $10,000 prize because all came up with equal solutions to the complex technical problem
3.       4 contestants accepted job offers
Couple extras to note
-         The driving figure behind the competition is Drew Major, co-founder at Novell. BDS had considered offering 10K in prizes, like we had last year, but Drew dropped $10K of his own money in the pot because he wants to do something good for Utah.
-         Berkeley Data Systems is one of the up and coming technology companies to watch. The company has more than 170,000 customers worldwide using its computer online backup service, and in just the last 90 days it signed up more than 2,500 business customers to its recently launched business backup service – MozyPro.

Utah First Friday: April event

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 06

This morning I attended the April Utah First Friday event.  This is my second time attending Utah First Friday, so I wanted to put up a review of the event here for anyone who might be interested. 

The location is nice, plenty of space, and having a separate room with lots of seats for the presentation is really a big plus for this event.  The folks running the event seems very professional and prepared (they did have some problems with the RSVP phone number and email address, but I am told they are working those out).  Attendance is also good.  Though I didn’t count, I would guess there were around 70-80 people there.

As to the downside, I have to say, that this may be a matter of preference, or my personal desire as to what I wanted from the event.  There seem to be an awful lot of one-person-businesses there looking to get going.  Now part of this is likely because the location itself is intended to be something of an incubator.  But for me personally, I think I might get more value out of interfacing with companies a bit more established.  The business types were also all over the board, from window washers, to insurance, to office supplies, massage, technology, law, etc. etc.  Again, this may be a pro or a con… it really comes down to what you want out of the event.

As to the speaker: Craig Bott, from Grow Ventures Utah spoke on New Business Growth Strategies.  To me, the presentation really seemed to come down to “I see a lot of Entrepreneurs, and the ones that focus on these three things seem to consistently succeed.”  I felt it was very informative and insightful.  Craig has obviously dealt with a lot of businesses and Entrepreneurs, and I thought he did a good job of cutting to the real heart of the issue.  Of course I don’t want to steal Craig’s “three things”, so I’ll see if I can get him to comment here, and post them himself :). 

There were also some good comments from the crowd (as a side note: several comments came from Rand Bateman, an IP attorney here in town.  I have never used his services, but he has been at several events, and seems not only really tech savvy for a lawyer, but always has really insightful comments.  Clearly a bright guy.)

 As an overall opinion, I think the First Fridays folks do a good job.  The crowd is larger than most other events, and the speakers seem good.  The mix of companies is not as valuable to me as I might hope, but that may well be my personal bias, so take it for what it’s worth.

Code Away

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 05

For those who may not be familiar with Code Away, Matthew Reinbold at Voxpop Design hosts a blog, and event dedicated to getting developers together to brainstorm, network, and do the kind of stuff that developers do (although I must say that I have not read any posts on the event yet that even mention Doritos… hmm…)

Anyway, Matthew and several folks involved in Code Away have been great to have at the Spotlight event, not to mention a huge help to me personally.  So thanks to Matthew for pointing folks our way, and I would ask that everyone be aware of, and supportive of Code Away as well.  

Matthew, can we get a review of the latest Code Away event that we can link to here?  I would love to link to any reviews of Fight Club locally that anyone is aware of as well.

April event: Bohemian Rhapsody

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 04

The April Utah Tech Spotlight event location has been chosen.  We will be meeting at 3:00-4:00 on Friday, April 20th.  The location has changed however.  We have reserved the upper floor of the Bohemian Brewery And Grill at 94 East and 7200 South, right off of State Street, on the south side of the road. 

Drinks are on us.  We hope to see you there.

« Previous Page — Next Page »