I’ve arrived in Austin, TX for the famed nerd mecca, SXSW Interactive. I’ll be blogging a bit from here–sharing some of my experiences, thoughts on panels I attend, and hopefully convincing at least a few of you fine readers that Austin and SXSW is the place to be in mid-March!
All the nerdly goodness starts tomorrow at 2PM. Until then I’ll be emptying my swag bag, charging my mobile devices, reviewing the schedule, and attempting to choose which panels to attend (already there are no less than 5 sessions I’m interested in for the 2:00 time slot).
My most pressing decision at this moment, however: food and margaritas in downtown Austin or the last full night’s sleep I’m likely to get in the next 6 days?
If you missed last week’s Agency Primer about gaming & advertising, there’s no need to worry you get an extra life right here. We’ve got video and the slide deck from our one-hour conversation with SnowOwl Studio, a game design company on the topic of gaming as advertising. Some of the things covered in the presentation include:
10 reasons gaming is good advertising
Who’s playing: an overview of modern gamer demographics
A survey of gaming platforms and their relative development costs
Tonight only, the Minnesota PHP user group graciously yields it usual first-Thursday-of-the-month slot at The Nerdery to make way for tomorrow’s Minneapolis-St. Paul Wordpress group meeting. Please note that Minnesota PHP will return to regularly scheduled programming in March.
Minnesota PHP, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 6-9 p.m.
PHP 5.3- Mike Willbanks will go over new features in PHP 5.3 (major and some minor you likely wouldn’t know about unless you troll the release logs) as well as anything to watch for in migrating.
Zend Framework Introduction to Zend Application- Nerdery rockstarJustin Hendrickson discusses Zend Framework and utilizing Zend Application.
When The Nerdery announced a couple weeks ago it had invited 16 (rather than 12) teams of web development volunteers to the Overnight Website Challenge, some who’ve been in the 24-hour needy-meets-nerdy room for extended periods scratched their head while recalling their experience. “That’s a lot of people – and twice as many feet – in some mighty close quarters,” some said.
“The Nerdery went a bit nuts here, even for them,” said one industry observer.
So, while we draw up schematics for the new-and-improved seating chart, here are the 16 (rather than 12) nonprofits coming to the 2010 Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge (listed in no particular order, other than alphabetical)
Bloomington Chorale
Centro Campesino
Child Protection International
Common Ground
Dakota Wicohan
DesignWise Medical Incorporated
Homeward Bound
Kinship of Greater Minneapolis
Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health
Yesterday the Vikings moved to within just one more glorious win of the Super Bowl. Separation Sunday was easier than expected for them, but it was tougher than ever imagined for the selection committee tasked with picking a dozen teams of volunteer web pros for the next Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge – the Super Bowl for web nerds.
At stake for the hopefuls is a blind date with a bunch of nonprofits (who’ll bring no money for this date). With 218 volunteers on 22 teams (an embarrassment of riches) vying for just 12 spots, the sequestered selection committee cleared its calendar, took no calls, spurned incoming bribes and contemplated indecent proposals as they stewed over their decision. Then, they punted.
A bigger boat – hey, that’s it! No, wait, what if we stuffed even more well-meaning nerds and needy nonprofits into our existing boat? Is that even safe? Who cares!
No, a nerdy dozen or even baker’s dozen will not do. Introducing The Sweet 16:
So, if your team is on this list, get some rest. If not, please accept a sincere Nerdery thanks for stepping up. It’s gratifying to see so many takers for our ongoing needy-meets-nerdy mad science project.
And, if you’re a nonprofit with an application in, your odds have just improved. On February 1 we’ll announce 15 selected nonprofits (remember, RREAL already has its Golden Ticket).
Nerdery Interactive Labs’ agency primer series of free webinars continues next week with Content Management Shootout. This cordial smack-down between two popular content management systems features in this corner: WordPress, and in that corner, the challenger: ExpressionEngine.
We’ll cover designer-friendliness extensibility and add-ons, as well as budgetary and timeline considerations with both systems.
The webinars will be at 10:15 a.m. (Central) on Tuesday, January 19 and at 3:15 p.m. (Central) on Thursday, January 21.
RSVP to join us ringside as we talk about the strengths of each CMS as part of our ongoing agency primers geared at helping our partners pitch, win, and execute interactive projects.
If you missed Tuesday’s Agency Primer on Mobile Friendly Web Design, don’t worry there’s still time to sign-up for tomorrow’s primer (that’s Thursday, December 18, at 3:15 p.m. CST). Still can’t make it? Well, we have the second best thing the slides from the primer as well as a video you can watch to go along with them. Sure you won’t be able to ask your own questions, but you know that you can always contact us if you want a live-action private session for your agency, right? Well you can.
This week The Nerdery continuse its series of Agency Primers with Mobile-Friendly Web Design where you can learn what you need to get your clients’ big message to the small screens of millions of on-the-go web users.
RSVP for one of our public sessions held on Tuesday December 15th at 10:15 a.m. CST or Thursday December 17th at 3:15 p.m. CST. If you’re interested in a private session, the contact information is on the RSVP page.
This primer offers a one-hour tour of the things your agency needs to know about when it comes to making your web projects mobile-friendly. We’ll cover:
Sizing up the mobile web market.
Understanding the difference between mobile users and “normal” users.
Technologies available to enhance the mobile web experience.
Common mistakes brands make in the name of mobile-friendliness.
Do you want to learn Python but don’t know where to start? Have you heard about Django, Pylons, or Google App Engine and wonder if it is for your next project? Have you been using Python for a while and just want to talk shop to other Pythonists? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you should come to The Nerdery tonight for PyMNtos, the Python Users Group of Minnesota at 7:00 p.m.
Tonight’s meeting is meant to be an introduction to Python for anyone new. We will introduce everyone and let anyone ask any questions they have. And don’t feel left out If you have a couple years of experience with Python under your belt. Someone has to help answer questions.
Finally, please RSVP at http://pymntos.eventbrite.com, so we have a good idea of how many plan to attend. This helps with getting enough snacks and drinks. If you have any questions about the meeting tonight, Python, or PyMNtos, feel free to join the Google Group at http://www.python.mn and ask away.
It’s time! Nonprofits and nerds alike can register for this year’s Overnight Website Challenge starting today. But get going while the gettin’s good, the application deadline for nonprofits and volunteer nerds is January 8.
