I can’t remember exactly what year it was; in many ways, it seemed like it was last week. The crowd was… a mixture of people. I may have been the only one who got to see all of the sessions. The best thing about it was that it was FREE. It’s the Pixelated conference, or, as others have called it… Conference in a Box. Some of these are organized around a theme. The ones I attended relate to communication and telling interesting, compelling stories.

And it’s free for you, too. You see, this particular conference is being held online. RIGHT NOW. In this blog post. Grab some popcorn, sharpen your pencils, and get ready to learn!

Garr Reynolds, presentation expert, shares his experience and perspective on changing the way presentations are done.

Next up is Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world (20:03)

This session is one that convinced me to look at gaming differently. And why I jumped into my first MMORPG, StarCraft 2.

Seth Priebatsch: The game layer on top of the world (12:23)

I’ve been fascinated by the stories that data can tell. Hans Rosling is one reason why: Hans Rosling shows you the best stats you’ve ever seen (19:54)

Finally, behavioral economist Dan Ariely asks “Are we in control of our own decisions?” (17:23).

It was a great conference. What would you like to see in the next series? Want to create your own? Chris Brogan has some ideas.

Related articles

• No one makes data sing like Hans Rosling (alliancepayroll.wordpress.com)
• Pixelated – Your New Business Conference Starts Online (twistimage.com)
• Marketing Conference in a Box (marketingovercoffee.com)
• The Concert That Changed My Life (matthewebel.com)

Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

Organizing New Media Cincinnati events has been something that I’ve grown into, ever since the very first one in October 2007. I sincerely appreciate the NMC Steering Committee members who have been volunteering their time to help make New Media Cincinnati the best version of itself in the area that it can be, and I hope the community can feel their influence and impact.

Back in 2007, these events initially were extremely informal meetups where we’d let people know we were meeting and would see who’d show up. Eventually, we began having more structure around a certain topic, and it gave me a chance to explore different sorts of events. Some of these were conducted well, and these were certainly some great learning experiences.

I’ve been thinking about different types of events I’d somehow like to be involved in, whether organizing, running, or just participating.

5-Minute ‘JOLTS’

In March 2009 I opened it up to the New Media Cincinnati community, looking for five people who wanted to talk about something they were passionate about. I vividly remember back then, when I was doing everything: emceeing, recording, live streaming, etc. I really enjoyed this type of event because not only was it a great opportunity for more people to share from their areas of expertise, but also it provided more variety than one person talking about a single topic.  I also recorded them and posted them to the New Media Cincinnati website.

Pecha Kucha

Similarly, in November 2008, we tried out Pecha Kucha (20×20: 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide), in which three of us, Angelo Mandato, Brian Monahan, and myself, each gave 6:20 presentations about something we were passionate about.

CreatorCamp

I first heard about CreatorCamp from Bob Goyetche and Mark Blevis on the Canadian Podcast Buffet podcast.  Although I’ve never met Mark and Bob in-person, I’ve learned a lot from their community-building expertise over the years. Bob mentioned that he’s become weary of the marketing-heaviness that many of the social networking events have been. He put forth the idea of just coming to an event to create something. Mark took his idea and set up the CreatorCamp.org website, which includes a free e-book based on the learnings they had from the first CreatorCamp Ottawa.

Again, the idea is that the event is organized around creating. What can we as a group create during our time together? Whom could we invite to demonstrate something creatively and give us insight into their creative process?

In early 2008 I invited Cliff Ravenscraft to show us how he produces his podcasts, and he brought his portable recording system to the Panera in Tri-County, where we’d met. Cliff gave each of us an opportunity to say something as he recorded us and then released it as an episode of his Podcast Answer Man series.

Roundtable

Organize people into tables and give them different topics to discuss for about 15 minutes. Then a representative from each table would report on the discussion to the entire group. We did something like this in 2009.

A similar, but different approach: set up sections of the meeting space where people have already agreed to be the Champions of discussions about different topics, and let people choose for themselves where they want to go, À la Podcamp‘s “Law of Two Feet”. The Law of Two Feet, you might recall, means that if you’re not getting something from a session or discussion, you’re free to go find and/or create a discussion of your own.  A big thing we learned about doing this in 2009 was that we need to have a Champion to be responsible for keeping the discussion “on track”.

What ideas for events would you like to organize, help run, and/or participate in?

Related articles

• Three words for 2011 (danieljohnsonjr.com)
• YES!! A Cincinnati area networking events calendar! (newmediacincinnati.com)
• Duke Center woos meeting planners this week (news.cincinnati.com)
• 192 Podcast Answer Man – Podcasting While Driving – Can You Give Away Too Much For Free? – And A WHOLE LOT More! (podcastanswerman.com)
• HR Becoming Social…My Pecha Kucha (thehrjuggler.wordpress.com)

Today I participated in a NOREX member TeleForum on Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Warehousing (DW). I’m including my notes taken here:

• Started off by defining BI and DW. I like the Wikipedia definitions myself. Also discussed what Master Data Management is; i.e., managing data that has become aged and may or may not be needed as much as current data. (The company I currently work for doesn’t really think of what I do as BI and DW, but developing Decision Support Systems (DSS) is really at the crux of what I do here.)
• Two polls on where participants are in implementing BI and DW in their organizations. Most are either currently using or evaluating, versus implementing.
• Discussed scope of data definition and data modeling that should be done before getting into BI/DW. One caller will be building theirs from scratch versus buying something that was developed for someone else in their industry. (I wonder if different BI solutions have been developed for different industries.) Data cleansing is so vital when doing modeling. (Amen to that!)
• Discussed risks in software selection and implementation. Licensing brought up as part of risk. Making sure that appropriate number of licenses (user vs site) important. How solution builds report cubes (pre-calculated or built at run-time) can affect performance and user experience. sBase(?) mentioned.
• Practical support from vendors also brought up as consideration. Everything works great at the demo, but on the implementation there could be issues. Ask for references. NOREX mentioned that’s part of the service they provide for members.
• Discussed tools that are used, and pros and cons of each. One member mentioned Sybase IQ. Others are using Business Objects, SQL Server Reporting Services, and Oracle tools. Crystal Reports also mentioned.
• Someone asked for experience with the Obvient strategies tool. No one on the call mentioned having any experience.
• Any local government entities using data mining tools? No one on the call had any comments. Topic to be passed on to the government members outside the call.
• SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services – how is it being used, other considerations. Has a lot of capability and interacts well with Visual Studio. Another member, however, saw a demo at Microsoft- some problems with creating a cube and error messages hard to decipher.
• Discussed how to implement SQL Server Reporting Services through Sharepoint. (We use Windows Sharepoint Services as our company’s intranet and are looking at how to do this.) No one on the call had any expertise to offer.
• Discussed whether anyone uses Excel 2007 as a BI client. Some of the new functionality of Excel lends itself to an entry-level BI implementation. Some accountants in one organization using Excel to manipulate data from their other BI system. No one taking advantage of the BI capability yet. Concerns raised about quality of data, security, and versions.
• Poll on whether anyone using SAS to access Star Schema data: dimensional modeling vs entity-relationship modeling. (Not really applicable to us in our organization.)
• Release management best practices from Dev and Test to Production environments sought. How to manage things that are not necessarily files that can be version-controlled? Really speaking about reports and dashboard components.
• One member mentioned his process is such that a developer will create a report and work from it at his desktop. Then when it’s ready for deployment, he will publish it.
• Other members mentioned a more rigid change management structure with development, QA, and production environments. (I guess it depends on the specific tools and systems being used.)

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr

This Saturday I and my family will be attending the very first PodCamp Ohio. This will be my first time at a PodCamp.

I was reminded by Chris Penn of Jeff Pulver’s method for preparing for an upcoming conference.

JOIN the Community. I’ve been involved in promoting the event and am speaking in one of the sessions. I’ll be there representing New Media Cincinnati, of course.

Set your GOALS. I am looking to connect with other bloggers, podcasters, and folks in social media and re-connect with folks in Cincinnati. I am especially looking to connect with people who have been successful in merging programming skils and new media technologies in their jobs, since that is where I’m heading.

Say HELLO. Hi there. There are several ways you can get in touch with me. Here are a few:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook
• E-mail: danieljohnsonjr AT danieljohnsonjr DOT com
• Phone: 513-373-4442

Here’s a recent picture of myself, just in case you’re wondering what I look like. In fact I just took this picture!

CHANGE your eMail Habits. I definitely won’t be checking email much – if at all – during the event, but I’ll try to stay in touch where I can. The best way to track me down is via telephone or a direct msg on Twitter. Call me. I’ll catch up with emails when I get back home.

STUDY the Map of the conference. Google Maps says it will take us about 2 hours to get to PodCamp Ohio from our home. We’ll probably allow 2.5. Gonna print out what I can to take with us.

Be AWARE of the Event Schedule. Be in CONTROL of your Schedule. ALLOW for serendipity. The session I’ll be conducting is in the first time slot. Aside from that, I like that the event is occurring in one spot, which means that it will be easy to move around from session to session if I want. It also means that there will be opportunities for serendipity to happen.

Don’t be SHY. Contrary to what I might convey online, in a crowd of people it still can be easy for me to be shy. I’ll make an effort to meet and talk with as many folks as I can, understanding that a single conversation will still make a difference. I’m not going to be one of those guys who constantly scans the crowd for the next person to talk to.

BRING Business Cards. Taken care of. If you want a business card, come and meet me.

Understand some meetings will not HAPPEN. This is something I’ve sometimes struggled with whenever I attend meetings like this. I’ve sometimes hesitated even reaching out to others because there is so little time. Nevertheless, I hope to keep realistic expectations.

ENJOY yourself. Okay then. Our family is considering this a mini-vacation. Sort of.

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

Related tags: daniel+johnson+jr podcampohio podcamp+ohio conference unconference

Over the next few days I’ll be attending a conference in downtown Cincinnati. I’m really glad that I’ll be able to catch the bus instead of driving the hour commute to Dayton.

The conference is being conducted by Thinkware, a vendor that has — and I’m probably oversimplifying this — customized Microsoft Great Plains for Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs). I look forward to learning more about the latest versions and seeing how I might be able to use it on my job.

I may or may not provide updates here.

June 7th Update: I found out it’s not until today. More to come later perhaps!