August Capital Food Porn: Bring it On

August Capital held their annual bash this week at their Silicon Valley's Sandhill Road headquarters. They did a fabulous job curating the best of the best in the industry, which equated to a wealth of interesting conversations.

Of course, they are notorious for making sure the food and wine is top notch and as always, they didn't disappoint. Below is a visual journey of what was on the menu, thanks to Taste, based on Third Street in San Francisco. 

While I typically have spent my time capturing photos of attendees and fun, social group shots, this year, I only focused on food porn, likely due to the increased time I've been spending covering food, wine and culture over on We Blog the World. (besides, food is a whole lot more fun to cover than gadgets even if I am a part-time geek).

Starting with the fresh peach prosecco spritzer, we then moved onto white wine (chard and sauvignon blanc) to go with some of the lighter appetizers.

There were the the petit lobster rolls with avocado, jalapeno & key lime aioli and the guava and brie empanada with basil, as well as the scrumptious salt code escabeche with roma tomatos and silicon olive oil on crostini and the Vadouvan spiced eggplant on pinenut biscotti.

They also had an oyster bar with two different kinds to choose from - both from northern California's coastline.

Passed plates included tamarind glazed marin sun farms pork belly, sauteed okra with pimento peppers and sweet corn, roasted local sea bass with compressed melon and cucumber salsa cruda and fried green beefstaeak tomatoes. (yes, time to move onto the Merlot and the Cabernet from Napa).

I loved the hand cut (homemade baby) pasta with summer chanterelles (very fresh), the sungold tomatoes, peas & marjoram and my two favorites of the savory dishes all night: the chilled corn soup in demitasse with chive and la tourangelle avocado oil on the top and the smoked spanish paprika flank steak with arugula and salsa rossa.

Did I mention the desserts?

New York's 140 Conference: Photos, Webdocs, Interviews & More - #140Conf

Jeff Pulver’s 140 Conferences are growing. He has held these conferences in all the popular American spots such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco but he’s also had them in the Midwest, is working on one in Canada and has gathered people in London, Israel and other interesting pockets of the world.

Where there’s passion, an interest in a conversation about social media and people doing remarkable things, Jeff will find them.

One of the things he is exceptionally good at, is curating an incredible mix of people who have a lot to say and operate from the heart, but may not necessarily have anything else in common.

Where else can you go to a technology or social media event or any event for that matter and hear an ex-convict, a Graffiti artist, Craig Newmark, a cop, a school teacher, a dating coach, a major Fortune 500 brand strategist, AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong, The Today Show’s Ann Curry and Sesame Street’s chief social media guru all on the same stage within the same day?

Tear Down Those Walls:

On the first day, betaworks CEO John Borthwick (@Borthwick) talked about fragmentation, which he says is not just happening across the web but also at the network level as well. “This is the area that is concerning me most,” he said. “Facebook feels like the old early days of AOL – they’re a citizen of the Internet and yet they own and control too much. They need to integrate more with the web.”

He thinks we need to see companies and creators embrace the Internet much more than what we’re seeing today.  “The network is important,” he says and ends his talk with a few words for Mr. Zuckerberg: “Tear down that wall.”

Curation:

Curation continues to be a strong topic of discussion and its relevance and need is only growing more critical as the amount of data coming our way continues to explode.

Curation is so important because we’re trying to combine and recombine things to make sense of things. We need to be able to move and transition data seamlessly across devices. Refer to Steve Rosenbaum's talk on the need for clarity above and beyond more information and data. Human curators are a big part of the upcoming revolution. Video clip here.

Do You Have a Revolution?

“What’s your revolution?” Ja-Nae Duane aka The Sun Queen (on Twitter), asked the audience and added, “why aren’t we highlighting the social good more than we do?”

She shared a handful of amazing stories which have come out of Detroit and Dallas among other places. As the founder of Wild Women Entrepreneurs, she is passionate about accelerating women’s growth and personal revolutions.

Listen to this video on why she started her “movement.” And check out a webdoc created on her raison d'etre during the 140 Conference here.

Jeff Jarvis' talk: Tweeties have attacked the sanctity of the article. See webdoc here.

Below is a smattering of photos I shot during the speaker talks, the networking breaks and the after parties:

Dan Gillmor on life and ethics in "new media..." Refer to a webdoc that includes links, tweets and information about his book.

Foursquare's Dennis Crowley

The Webdoc team rocks it in the demo room. Check out their webdocs of the conference here.

AOL's Tim Armstrong talks about community and the importance of connection, social media input and regional/local content (Hatch.com).

Jeffrey Hayzlett in his normal charismatic self.

Sesame Street's Dan Lewis on how and why Sesame Street "tweets":

NPR's Andy Carvin

Craig Newmark talked about leaving your mark online by contributing and giving.

The Today Show's Ann Curry gets "very inspirational" during her 10 minute turned 20 minute talk. Love htat sixties style flower-child dress: she just makes it work.

Mashable's Adam Ostrow interviews Foursquare's Dennis Crowley

There's a singalong in honor of Jeff Pulver at the end of day two at the funky venue 92nd Y on the upper East Side.

New York Times Jennifer Preston interviews NPR's Carvin

Webdoc's Vincent Borel and Stelio Tzonis with Magnify's Steve Rosenbaum and his new book: Curation Nation

Paintings created on-site, proceeds of which go to breast cancer -- announced by Jeffrey Hayzlett on-site. For more information, check out Gaby (aka @Gaby407) and be sure not to miss Toronto cop Scott Mill's story (aka @GraffitiBMXCop). See webdoc for more information which includes links, videos, photos and more. His story includes work with graffiti artists Kedre Browne (@BubzArt) and Jessey Pacho (@ArtOfPhade). Their message will inspire the lives of many young people around the world and provide proof that graffiti can paint a positive message, not a negative one. Nicholas Maharaj aka @Twittnick is also a “student” of Mills.

Ann Curry in a moment of blissful expression as she gets authentic with the audience.

Bombshell coach Gigi Belmonico on the Bombshell factor and not letting Twitter become a "popularity contest." See webdoc on her work here.

Disclosure: I have provided some consulting to Webdoc who was one of the 140Conf sponsors.

Viral Media Experiment #Swagapalooza Hits San Francisco Again

For the second year in a row, I attended the quirky consumer and technology blogger event called Swagapalooza, which they call an experiment in viral media.

In a dark club in San Francisco (DNA Lounge), some of the top bloggers, tweeters, and digital influencers in the areas of mobile, tech, food and lifestyle gathered to watch and judge five-minute auditions from the creators of cool new products, largely targeted at mainstream consumers.

The key here is that the products are actual physical products rather than services and websites, which you so often find at similar events. Some of the products I had a chance to see and play with are listed below:

• Waboba Balls - They bounce off water, so that you can play catch in the pool or ocean. Video of product in action: http://bit.ly/gNw7kQ
• Mimi IQ - Like go fish, but with silly facial expressions. Will be available on Amazon in a few days.
• Crumpled City Maps - Lightweight, waterproof, 12 cities. More info here: http://bit.ly/f0dh2Q
• woDegrees - For every nutrition bar you buy, they give a nutrition pack to a hungry child.
• Sabøteur - The world's first tailored waterproof blazer.
• Transcendent Man - A documentary film about the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil
• Boom Boom! Revolution - A card game you play by performing 'underground acts of guerilla goodness'.
• Grubwith.us - Eat with interesting people!
• FlingsBins - Pop-up recycling and trash bins.
• Stunner of the Month - A subscription sun glasses service that sends you a new pair of 'stunners' every month.
• Fizzies - Instant soda in a tablet, relaunching after 40 years.
• SwipeGood - Round up your purchases. Donate the change to charity.
• SourFlour - Building community through bread. (I just finished my loaf and I have to say, it went fabulously well with my homemade chicken soup I had waiting for me at home).

Silicon Valley Women of Influence 2011: #SVWOI

I attended the Silicon Valley Business Journal 2011 Women of Influence event in Santa Clara last week. Each year, they choose 100 women of influence and celebrate them at an annual dinner and awards gala in Santa Clara, CA. (this year, it was held at the convention center).

Speaking to a number of them over the course of several hours, the range is diverse, from engineers, high-profile lawyers, venture capitalists, space scientists, to healthcare leaders, technology pros and nonprofit executives.

One honoree, when not in the valley, lives in a rural village in Belize; another leads trips to the back country of the Sierra Norte and Sierra Madre. One honoree formed a nonprofit organization for the Muslim community to help give them a voice after 9/11 backlash.

I met another woman who is helping Muslim seniors find resources when they don't know where else to turn. Below is Moina Shaiq who founded the Muslim Support Network based in the East Bay. (She also runs a restaurant specializing in food from Pakistan).

Below is founder of Mylawsuit.com Michele Colucci accepting her award on the main stage.

Mary Furlong, who has been instrumental in helping the aging population and empowering the 'age boom' was also on the list. For the full list of women, check out the SV/SJ Biz Journal piece: Meet the 2011 Women of Influence | Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal.

Each woman had to deliver a 'thanks' and what/who inspired them in 10 words or less. (not even sure if that's quite 140 characters.....certainly a challenge to do). One Thai woman had the audience in stitches when she said, "I'd like to give myself a pat on the back for selecting my parents wisely."  

To hear some of the fabulous other thanks and kudos, check out the video below for a myriad of female voices doing remarkable things.

Snapshots From #LAUNCH11 in San Francisco

Below are some random shots from the LAUNCH Conference held at the Design Center in San Francisco this past week.

Jolie O'Dell, Marshall Kirkpatrick and Heather Meeker

Above photo credits: Kris Krug 

Below Tim O'Reilly, Renee Blodgett, Francois Nadal (myERP.com)

Above photo credit: Jean Baptiste-Su

Below Robert Scoble and the Domo guys geek out over fun mobile apps and new Motorola Tablet

Meeting Max Swisher for the first time, a 7th grader who is running / writing the Good Morning Geek blog and website. What were you doing when you were in the 7th grade?

Below, Dave Mathews talks ToothTag on the Launch Stage (wins best technology by judges)

The Domo guys certainly have passion even if you can't exactly figure out what they do

 
The TripBod Team....YAY, Women at the Helm.

The ViralAge Team show their new Launch.Forum platform, soon to be launched.

Some of the judges below. Full listing can be found here.

While most people were in T-shirts, some folks were a stylin' such as the sneakers Addreoid's Head up from LA. When someone dresses well in the Valley, you know they're either over from Europe, in from New York or Miami or up from Los Angeles. Not a priority here but writing k-a code sure is. :-)

C'mon, Go to TEDxBerkeley if in the Bay Area or Can Be: Feb 19

TEDx VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL: Give your sweetheart the gift of a creative mind. Take them to TEDxBerkeley next Saturday, February 19, 2011 at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA. Experience the romance of new ideas and deep connection. If you don't have a Valentines Day sweetheart, then bring a friend. Buy 2 tickets and get 25% off.

For special go to http://tedxberkeley2011.eventbrite.com/ and enter the code bears11. And while you're at it, become a fan over on Facebook and follow along on Twitter.

Photo credit: Heather Garland

Tunepresto's Video Music Maker

I met with Tunepresto's marketing guru Owen Cooney in Dublin and our briefing was a bit scattered, but in a good way: partly over food and partly under an umbrella on a walk through Dublin. The guy knows more about the history and myths of Ireland than the last country tour guide I encountered. And, more  importantly, is passionate about it. (graffiti, art, legends, and murals too). 

Currently, Tunepresto, a video 'music maker,' is a Mac download only, although it is slated to be a web-based solution later this month. Essentially, Tunepresto uses the colors in your video to create royalty free music, perfectly timed to your video or slideshow. I can think of tons of places where you could use a solution like this, so the value-add for me was immediate.

While I haven't tried it yet (waiting for the web version), it's so damn easy to understand the benefits. Additionally, their website walks you through every possible scenario where adding music via Tunepresto would give you a 'win' to a creation you're working on. Refreshing.

How many times do you go to a website and know immediately what the company is about and how to use their product? Tunepresto's site makes it incredibly easy to figure out: left is a download, right is a learn more video. Also, they have this fabulous screenshot which walks you through different ways to use their product.

More when the web version is ready. I'm eager to try it out.

And Then There Was 2010 BlogWorldExpo: #bwe10

I’ve been going to BlogWorldExpo since it began. An event dedicated to all things blogging, online content and social media, it gathers bloggers who flock to SXSW in the Spring, mom and parenting bloggers who flock to BlogHer in August, and geek bloggers who flock to (or should I say are addicted to) social media and technology events every month.

The event, now at over 3,000 attendees, also attracts generalists, travel bloggers, marketing execs, blogging solution & tool vendors, and big brands trying to make an impact on the blogosphere on and offline.

A few highlights: I sampled saffron paella fresh off the Jenn-Air stage, met celebrity chef Manoushka Guerrier (Single Serving) of Food Network's Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, and sat next to interesting and engaging Erik Trinidad at a dinner who came up with a creative blog brand: Fancy Fast Food. His USP? He essentially takes fast food and makes it 'look' fabulous. Food had a bigger play this year at BlogWorld. Check out my summary post on We Blog the World, listing some of the topics and speakers.

One booth souped up dark chocolate espresso and gourmet coffee and Macallan Single Malt Whiskey was giving away samples, who btw, had two hired guns manning the booth, one of whom was not a whiskey drinker and a second who drank another brand. 

Held in the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay, several tracks take place simultaneously down 3 long hallways, while activity buzzes in the exhibit hall nearby. Adjoining the exhibit hall is what they refer to as a New Media Lounge, where podcasts and video interviews took place and bloggers connected for live posting, photo uploads and managing email overflow.

In from around the world were bloggers from Japan, Australia, New Zealand (Darren Rowse from ProBlogger), Scotland (Ewan Spence), Germany (Nicole Simon), Ireland (Irish Polyglot), Poland, Argentina and hundreds of others. Babette Pepaj from Bakespace co-organized the food track which also drew lifestyle and travel bloggers, including travel blogger Gary Arndt who I rarely get to see but thanks to this annual blogging event, we were able to catch up. Below, Dave Peck with the Meshin folks at the Jason Falls meet-up.

I ran into Technorati’s CEO Richard Jalichandra and a bunch of blogger pals from LA who cover everything from relationships, sex, boomers, aging and fitness to politics, entertainment, music and travel. TWIT’s Leo Laporte was conducting interviews as was Marsha Collier on the show floor for a few hours each day. Below, Renee Blodgett, Leo Laporte and Barbara Rozgonyi.

Panel discussions were broad, ranging from photography tips, SEO for blogs, digital crisis communications, money trail, podcasts, social media policies, Internet Radio, blogging platforms and travel videos to non-profits, politics, education, parenting, mobile vlogging, Social CRM, travel pornand creating a blog network.

Barry Moltz spoke on how to utilize the speaking game to leverage your brand and blog, how to capitalize on it by using speaking to the blog revenue pie. He emphasizes three things everyone 'must have down' - what's your bio, what's your brand and what's your promise? Video of the session to follow tomorrow. Below Joseph Morin who did a bang-up job with Social Rewards all week and Steve Hall.

Countless official and unofficial parties were held every night, after all….it is Las Vegas, so it’s a great opportunity for sponsors to tap into the no rules policy or at least limited rules, where drinks can be served into the wee hours of the morning, people can drink on the streets and leave restaurants with a glass of wine in their hands, and people’s inhibitions are fluid and loose at best.

Below a little glitz and glam at the Techset opening party.

Party hopping is part of the blogging conference culture and not unlike SXSW, I got the sense each and every night, that attendees were desperately looking for the next bash after each one ended. Social Rewards held Luxor suite receptions and scavenger-hunt like exercises were an integral part of participating. Thanks Luxor & Joseph Morin.

You were given clues and links to scour through and questions to answer and ultimately you were given information albeit vague, about where the party was held. It had a fun, gaming kind of flavor to it, which was perfect for any Las Vegas venue and brands like the Las Vegas Luxor, Sony, Ford (kudos to Scott Monty -- @scottmonty -- who won an award this week), PopChips and others were able to tap into the subsequent buzz that flowed from the events each night.

Whoah, Gregory Feinstein has his hands full at the Mashable bash. So did everyone else btw.

Client CarWoo!, an inexpensive, private and efficient way to buy a new car online, threw a women’s blogger event, to celebrate their launch at Digital Dealer, a car event which started a few days earlier at the Mirage. Below Heather Meeker and Marsha Collier arrive from the massive black hummer limo.

The hummer limo picked up the girls at the Mandalay Bay for a little off-site food, champagne, wine, make-up from the team at FRESH and poker tips from Shore Slocum. Below, inside the limo, 25 or more of us were packed in with champagne bottles and glasses. Oh yeah and note the fabulous pair of red boots. Below, Renee Blodgett, Beth Kanter.

Below, the FRESH team 'refresh' attendees.

Below Pepsi's Social Media guru Bonin Bough at the Mashable party

The Bellagio’s Yellowtail Restaurant hosted a tasting for some of the food, wine and travel bloggers, so I couldn’t resist.

Award-winning chef Akira Back put together a myriad of dishes that included Jidori chicken with potato puree and garlic cream, Scottish Salmon with yuzu lemon, duck prosciutto with pickles and micro beets, seared Hokkaido Scallops with cherry tomatoes and mustard potato puree, Alaskan King Crab with rock shrimp, spicy-citrus aioli, grilled walu with shiitake mushrooms & pearl onions and braised kobe beef short ribs.

A more in-depth review of the tasting can be found here, including a handful of fabulous food photos I took on-site. Thanks Lightgroup -- @lightgroup and @bakespace. 

PopChips also drew in some of the foodies at a nearby after bash, where they promoted a Twitter quiz to get the word out about their brand.

Keynotes this year included Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, Jim Louderback, Susan Bratton and Dermot McCormack, Karen Hughes, Reid Wilson and Dick Glover. The last panel of the event was a cross between a talk-show format and a Q&A. Moderated by Rob Barnett, Adam Carolla, Penn Jillette from Penn & Teller, Mark Malkoff, Cali Lewis and Jeffrey Hayzlett discussed what works and doesn't with new media.

They were all bluntly entertaining about new media, old media, and where online is heading. Penn said of Twitter on-stage that it is one of the most intimate vehicles we have today to communicate, connect and engage.

He overtly compared it to the countless impersonal and often fake physical exchanges we have with people at cocktail parties and other events. Intimacy at its best he feels and goes on to explain how he uses Twitter.  He says that he tweets all of his own stuff and rarely retweets other people’s thoughts, one of the reasons he thinks he has a popular and widespread following (@pennjillette has over 1.6 million followers at last check). 

I would bet it also has a little to do with the fact that he is a national if not international entertainer celebrity, not to mention has a very sarcastic and in-your-face, bold personality. It’s so surprise that America eats him up, since yanks are typically drawn to the eclectic, the brash, the tough and the bold in my experience. Check out this video from the floor and this blog post that captures nearly all of the panel discussion in a three part video -- subsequent videos can be found in a separate blog post and on YouTube. 

Thanks for the encouragement & your conviction Andrea Metcalf - @andreametcalf. (Taken at the Palms).

Tech Karaoke closed the event on Saturday night at the Palms Hotel. It was held in a large threatre with cinema-like chairs perched on an angle and the stage was roughly 4.5 feet from the ground, giving those brave enough to sing in from of their blogging peers, plenty of space and height to really feel their 3-5 minutes of fame.

Chris Noble did a little Elvis, Amanda Coolong did a little PINK and the iSocket guys did a little exercise – impressive push-ups and all. Looking forward to next year. Kudos to Rick and his team!

Below, the tech karaoke audience get a 'little' excited and take in the energy from on-stage.

On the stage, participants play full out. For example, who knew that the iSocket guys were so talented (and so strong?)

Lewis Howes, Renee Blodgett and Larry Benet in the Southwest Airlines booth on the show floor.

There was definitely a little Las Vegas energy and color at the Mashable bash. And, Liquid didn't close until 5 am. (there's a reason shows are more interesting outside the Bay Area)

Girls will be girls.

Leaving the Klout party to go hang out with Jason for a bit.

We all danced on stage (well sort of) at the Mashable bash which was still roaring when I left at nearly 2 am.

Inside the Venetian Hotel along the strip.

Sugar Jones and Marla Schulman

@Zaneology wore these incredible nylons that were sure to make a statement and then some not to mention being incredibly appropriate for a blogging conference.

CarWoo's CEO Tommy McClung at the end of a very long night.

Kris Krug, Deb Shultz

 

@Dadarocks

Thanks for shooting the girls Calvin (@mayhemstudios) and for organizing Babette (@bakespace). Taken at the Bellagio on a gorgeous night.

More Mashable fun. Ben Parr was missed (@benparr).

Mashable's Brett Petersel and TechZulu's Efran Toscano

@drnatalie rocks!

Sugar Jones, Ask Dave (Taylor), Oliver Starr, Renee Blodgett, Roseann Higgins

Chris Noble (@cfnoble) graced us with Elvis. (really good Elvis - who knew he could belt out a tune like he can?)

More late night tech-karaoke at the Palms.

 

 

Go Sheila Dowd. It was indeed a lot of work but a helluva lot of fun too! :-)

Because Ken Yeung (@thekenyeung) shoots as much as I do and then some. And he's really good. Smile.

At the Techset bash, David Spark, Renee Blodgett @magicsaucemedia, Pat Jenkins of Uptake and Michael Tchong of @ubercool.

Digg's Emily Crume on left.

The iSocket guys:

  

The PopChips Event.

Photos Galore of BlogWorld's Mashable Bash & Tech-Karaoke: #bwe10

The Mashable late night bash at BlogWorldExpo in Las Vegas this past weekend.

Steve Hall:

 

For more photos from the Mashable bash, check out the We Blog the World Flickr stream. Below are some shots from the late-night tech-karaoke party at the Palms. For more shots of the Tech-Karaoke, go to the same stream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MC Hammer & Dancers HOT on Stage

Imagine you're into rap, hip hop and dance. Imagine you're into creativity, fabulous footwork and high energy. Imagine being able to move, jam and jive among a group who live and breathe this? I recently had an opportunity -- together with a few dozen others from the Silicon Valley technology community -- to jam with MC Hammer and his rivoting dancers on stage. (and I mean rivoting on top of being beautiful and perfectly sculpted!)

MC Hammer took the stage at the Google-sponsored Techcrunch Disrupt after party this past week in San Francisco. The shindig was partly to celebrate the AOL acquisition of Techcrunch (congrats to Mike, Heather & TC team) and partly, just to have fun and perhaps prove that techies know how to jam and more importantly like to. As a lover of dance and dancer myself, there is no better joy than to be what I refer to as "in-zone" -- on or off-stage.

When the music and energy takes over, nothing else exists except you and the music.....you and the beat. I was so caught up in the beat at one point that I didn't even realize MC Hammer was rapping and dancing right next to me until I saw video clips of it later.

MC Hammer hasn't lost his edge and both his female and male dancers are so impressive, so engaging and so passionate about their art, that you can't help but tap, move, clap and shout. You'll see what I mean by taking a look at the random shots of MC and group in action I took from front-row center below: