Such fun this past week....Sunday's ah ha was on the Met roof gazing through the Anthony Caro sculpture especially noted for their engagement with the public; then dashing like a bandit down the stairs - once forbidden - to snap the "neighbors" in the galleries.
Tuesday, I checked into the CarstenAvedaInstitute. Enroute, on the Upper East Side, Dulce Vida Café appeared with Colombian food - perfect to surprise Miss Gloria, the salon manager, a Colombia native. The treats were so authentic, they prompted her immediate call, “Do you deliver to Union Square?”.
Then the stylish Amadeo offered a complimentary manicure while telling me about his 2nd job with kids after work at Harvey Milk Public School, before going to a 3rd gig, performing whenever he can at Roseland.
Wednesday, I joined Jeff Pulver’s NY for NYers #140 On Board for a guided tour by NYC fun fact specialist Jason Schuman. One gem was the story of how Manhattan’s first luxury high rise got its name. Evidently, architect Henry J. Hardenbergh had a sense of humor. When teased that his new creation was as far away as the Dakotas, he just used it.
Standard and Poor's appearance in the window, prompted a boo from the busload of #140 characters. Lady Liberty sighted aboard the Zephyr on Manhattan's “blue highway" hushed the same crusty New Yorkers pausing to see her “enlightening the world with freedom”.
If the hawkers of scarcity intend to keep hording at the same rate in this town, they best adapt their refrain. This land grows the inspired. Always Count the Cost - American Proverb
The other night at the NY Web Performance Meetup organized by Sergey Chernyshev, I had the opportunity to hear software engineer Michael Bolin, (Google Calendar, Google Tasks, and the Closure Compiler) step a room full of speed hungry developers through build steps outlined in his book Closure: The Definitive Guide http://amzn.to/GuideClosure and then introduce his tool to further speed the process, plovr http://www.plovr.com/.
Admittedly, Sergey’s 101 intro, set it up but still. That I could follow this stuff was attributable mostly to Michael’s thoughtful, methodical delivery, but partly I think to cold immersion. You see “back in the day” at the SF convention center, I also took a seat in the front, then to absorb Java. Sometimes its useful to imagine oneself in a foreign country immersed in a new language and culture. Something always sticks.
Here’s what stuck. This web performance crowd are driven to speed your sites. Yes, the advertising model is pushing them but there’s another thing. Something observed later when free tech books were handed out. Rather than a raffle, Sergey required a brainstorm. Then you saw it, pure pleasure in thinking up better answers - the books were an excuse. We are getting our better, faster user experience but they get the real charge.
Tuesday Nov 23rd NY Web Performance meets for SPEED RSVP bit.ly/aciIJY 7pm at Logic Works.
Prompted by Ad:Tech at Javits Center this week, following the usual intros, Owen Brunette facilitated a rangy discussion about location offerings. Around the big table at Taralucci E Vino, consultants in finance, development, analytics, architecture, video and marketing weighed in on various applications and suggested hotter versions. Pepsi's Refresh promotion, re-enforcing their generations old, new generation branding, is giving innovation grants and one recipient sounds like it may have legs. It combines foodspotting, a location feature like Foursquare and Group on-like discounting. In NYC, there have been increased sightings of the on-the-town, going-out crowd shooting pictures of food back and forth so as not to spend time with ugly food.
Not at the show, by invitation only, another fun application now in beta, Honestly Now is for the same crowd before going out. This time for sending photos of themselves back and forth. NYC-OC member, Bob Petrie is looking for user feedback. Honestly Now let's you can check-in beforehand with friends about what you are wearing to get the real truth. As getting ready is the most reliably fun part of going out..more buzz back and forth ought to make it more so.... What do you think? This is a weekly meeting for entrepreneurs, investors, and people who love start ups. Part of a world-wide network of Open Coffee Clubs, started in London; here in NYC we've been meeting since March 2007. Find Open Coffee clubs in other cities around the world here. Usually around 10-15 attendees, sometimes more; we try to maintain a group discussion format (think roundtable or seminar) rather than a presenter/audience split.Contribute to the Twitter Conversation: #opencoffeenycRead the Twitter Conversation with Twitter Search
Business development and marketing strategist based in New York. Specialty in new offerings,ventures and media. Interests include: Built environment, Life Sciences, Wellness, Culture and NYC.
