Hats off to Barcampnashville!

I was very impressed with this event that I only found out about 2 days prior thanks to my wonderful friend Katie Middendorf of StudioNow. Bar Camp is a digital festival/conference that landed in Nashville at the Exit/In yesterday. The event started at noon with a full schedule of presentations lasting til 10p, at which time the stage was given to Tommy and the Whalers and then Aaron Winters. The point was to bring together members of Nashville's music, technology, marketing and design communities in an effort to promote education, innovation and collaboration. If you have any interests in new media, design, online marketing, technology etc. you would have enjoyed this event. It reminded me of an event Leadership Music puts together once a year with the same purpose all centered around digital music called Digital Summit. I was lucky enough to sneak away from work to see the first three speakers and because I was the most interested in the first couple of topics. Plus, I got a goody bag! : ) First, Chris Houchens from Shotgun Concepts talked about Social Media and Blogs in Corporate Marketing. Bryce Wells from Athlon Sports then discussed the traditional publisher's Audio and Video Podcasting experience. Up next was keynote speaker Mitch Joel's SIX PIXELS OF SEPARATION: The New World Of New Marketing presentation which was very thought provoking and entertaining with all the clips that were shown. My favorites were - Ask A Ninja: Special Delivery 1 "What is Podcasting?"

and then closed with the phenomenon of the Free Hugs Campaign.


Check out barcampnashville.com for more info and see you there next year!

Music You Should Know or Remember:

CRANK by CATHERINE WHEEL

I heard this song on XM and it made me nostalic...I've always loved music and this was truly one of my favorite songs back in 1993! So long ago, but it's always nice to remember I had the CD and not a tape. Catherine Wheel was a Brit-Pop style band in the 90s. This song Crank was on their sophomore release, Chrome. The lead singer Rob Dickenson put out a solo project in 2005 that I still haven't picked up, Fresh Wine for the Horses. I say 'picked up' cause I still enjoy buying the actual CD and try not to buy so much from iTunes. There's too much good music and not enough TIME!

enjoy....

What is WEB 2.0?

Like a child, can you tell I yearn to know more? But let's start from the beginning and then we'll dig deeper. And yea, it's as simple as, what is WEB 2.0? When I first started reading magazines like Business 2.0 I saw it all the time! Business 2.0, Web 2.0, are they referring to something they made up, is it another magazine from the same publisher, is it a totally different version of the world wide web (ha!); I had no clue. The reason for this post is because I know that if I asked those around me if they knew what Web 2.0 is, they would give me that 'I know I've heard of it' look and then probably follow the same train of thought I did OR there are you webheads out there that would just think I was a joke for asking. This term defines the world we are living in right now more than ever and so much so that that's probably why I felt the desire to start a blog. Web 2.0 refers to using the web as a platform and the second wave of investment we are living in today that was projected a couple years ago.


This straight from Wikipedia...


"Web 2.0 is a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2003 (and later popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004) in reference to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites wikis and folksonomies — which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. O'Reilly Media titled a series of conferences around the phrase, and it has since become widely adopted.
Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to Web technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use the web as a platform. According to Tim O'Reilly "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”

They're here!

That's the momAgenda or for gals like myself myAgenda!

I manage a store in Nashville, TN called AshBlue and I'm sure you will hear plenty more about it! Anyway, we were excited to discover these momAgendas because they have a cult-like appeal to mommas. Imagine how phenomenal the word-of-mouth effect of soccer moms or any gossiping gaggle of stay home moms will be about this product, that's the idea i guess! This daytime planner begins in August and follows after the school year, not the traditional calendar year. It offers unique week-at-a-view format with space for mom and up to four children, features monthly views as well. If you're a guy and you're reading this, wow, thanks...no really, ever since I graduated from college I have been stuck on the school calendar mentality that's why myAgenda works for me. After playing all summer it's a good time to make some changes and set some goals for the remainder of the year. Lastly, I think this company gave its everyday product a creative purpose (and design of course), differentiating itself from any average planner.

I did it!

I decided to start a blog. So what can you expect to find here? Well anything I find worthy of noting, from music to design. I will definitely be sharing my passions:

*DESIGN - whether it's in the form of artistic expression or functionality, it fascinates me. I enjoy discovering new artists as much as admiring clever products.

*MARKETING - I will be sharing praise of good looking packaging (my fav) and marketing of products from fine china to candles.

*ANYTHING RETAIL - great stores and their products. Pretty much anything related, it tis what I do ya know.

*MUSIC - new artists to watch out for, nostalgia about my old favorites, any discoveries in general, persuassion to attend certain shows I'm sure and hopefully my account of some live shows as well.

*WHATEVA - ME! You might see coverage of events including conventions here in Nashville,TN to exhibiting at the Hampton Classic in NY. I also try to read a couple different magazines on a regular basis so I will probably be relaying my favorites excerpts to you. I gravitate towards business mags with a techy twist in 'em, ie WIRED and Business 2.0 (not anymore : ( ), Lucky and Domino and then there's my favorite, the home decor mags: Elle Decor, Metropolian Home, Dwell, and House and Garden!

*PER REQUEST of ......! A suggest from a friend!

-until next note!