Japi's Blog

Vote for South by SouthWest 2008 Panels

We usually send several people from our office to South by SouthWest (SXSW) in Austin every year.  We are hoping to have our CEO, Ed Schipul, be on one or more panels at SXSW 2008.

If you are reading this blog, I would really appreciate your help in getting his panels selected for next year's event.  If you want to help, please follow these steps:

1. Create an account on the SXSW Panel Picker site (it's free)
2. Go to the Panel Picker page and do a search for these panels:

• We Heart You!! -- Growing Your Business From Within (vote)
  Your employees are your company's heart and soul -- do they know how much you love them? Our discussion will give you some insights on how to improve the lives and brains of your greatest assets, giving you a strong competitive edge and a win-win environment for your company, your employees and your clients.
• iPhone in the Enterprise (vote)
  The iPhone hit the cell phone market by storm in mid 2007. A phone to solve your every need. And one heck of a new user interface paradigm focused on your fingers as an input device. No more windows, only view ports. The Safari browser and Webkit became relevant again. We're giving away an actual iPhone at this panel, so come ready with questions and ideas.
• Pimp My Non Profit (vote)
  Non profit groups struggle with funding and public support issues on a daily basis. Yet many have overcome the odds and made a splash online and offline by using the latest Web technologies -- for pennies on the dollar. This discussion will center around the stories, strategies, triumphs and challenges of innovative non profits with a passion for change and the cajones to rock it out online.
• The Art of Visual Thinking (vote)
  Kelsey’s panel - Visual Thinking is the art of using pictures to solve problems, think through issues and communicate messages clearly. Visual communication has long been used by indigenous cultures in art, storytelling and history. This has helped shape languages and communication styles around the world. Find out how to present ideas visually, cut through the clutter to help explain things in a more concise and understandable manner.

I very much appreciate your help with this... I know it's somewhat of a shameless plug, but I am certain many of the SXSW attendees will learn a bunch from Ed - he's a phenomenal and knowledgeable speaker.

Saturday in Chicago... ASAE Conference

My first day in Chicago has been fun... I went to McCormick Place early to register and was AWED by how gigantic this convention center is.  On the ride from my hotel, the taxi driver (in a strong slavic accent) kept asking me which building I wanted to go to... I didn't understand what he meant until we arrived... WOW!  IT'S HUGE (I can hear my 16-year old boy saying "that's what she said"). 

The taxi dropped me off at the main building and since the ASAE National Conference is expected to have about 7,000 attendees, I figured the main building was a safe bet.  But I later found out that this convention center could easily hold over 200,000 attendees.

NOTE for Houstonians reading this: McCormick Place Convention Center has 3 buildings (North, West and South - I imagine they are working on an East building)... and each of those buildings is larger than the George R Brown Convention Center.

I registered and looked at the event schedule.  The next session that pertained to me wasn't until 2:30 PM today - the first-time attendee orientation.  So I went back to the hotel to get my bearings on the surrounding areas. 

This was cool because I found out that 1 block from my hotel, the newest Batman movie (The Dark Knight) is being filmed.  So I walked over with my camera and took a few shots, check out my Flickr photos to see them.

I've organized my schedule for the next few days to optimize the sessions I attend.  Let's hope there's a lot of good information and I make great contacts at this event.

Terrifying movie... Dead Calm

I woke up earlier than normal this morning and could not go back to sleep, so I turned on the TV and one of the most terrifying movies I've seen was on... you may think Dead Calm is not considered a scary movie, but it is to me.

Dead Calm is Nicole Kidman's first major role (in 1989) as far as I can tell and she did a great job of making me feel horrified of being in her shoes.  Nicole is gorgeous, but she's also an outstanding actress.

This movie is about a couple (Nicole and Sam Neill) on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean.  They are enjoying life until they come across Billy Zane who seems like a nice enough guy... but ends up being a maniac.  I don't want to ruin it for you, but there are several scenes that are terrifying - like the scene where one of the characters is in a hopeless situation: in the middle of the ocean, no life vest, no boat, just floating, waiting to get to tired of staying afloat, sinking and eventually drowning.  Another scene shows one of the actors locked inside a sinking ship... watching this person trying to breathe and find a way to survive is exasperating and (as I've said several times) terrifying.

I've seen many other really scary movies, but this one scares the living daylights out of me because of the way it's written, acted and directed... in my opinion, a truly great movie.  I recommend it.