Kingston’s first meetup – Small, but wonderful

September 29, 2007 By

So this past Monday I made my way down to the Kingston Brewing Company for Kingston’s first local new media meetup!

Originally I sent emails to 3 people and posted it here and on Twitter. It looked for the longest time that all 3 invitees were attending… But life happened and the meetup consisted of Francis and I hanging out and talking. Was great to get to know another new media type in town. I’ve only got one left to my knowledge

Some stats of the night:

  • We switched tables no less then three times.
  • 3 add-ons joined us, all awesome people… None in the new media space. Meant for even more fun. :)
  • 1 pizza and 1 poutine were consumed.
  • 2 meals (Before the post-drink snacks) were eaten

Overall, the night was a great success. I’m working on the next one. Tentative date is October 22nd. Feedback and ideas wecome and encouraged.

Filed Under: Appearances, Archives, Events, LNMG, Local

Next week’s busy schedule (Meetup details!)

September 19, 2007 By

So I have a really busy schedule outside of the office next week – and I want you to be a part of it! If you’re in the Kingston or toronto areas, and want to get together, I’d love to meet up!  I’m looking for other social media folk, bloggers, podcasters or TalkShoe users. Hope to see you!

Monday, September 24th: Kingston’s first new media meetup is taking place at 7:00pm at the Kingston Brewing company at 34 Clarence st. We get started around 7, look for the bright tie-dye frog shirt. I’ll be noticeable. I promise. We’ve got a few confirmed to this already, so it’s shaping up to be a pretty good event. No runtime planed, but expect a couple of hours.

Tuesday, September 25th: I’ll be waiting in the Atrium on Bay’s food court around 4:30 to gather folk and find food. We can stick around the food court (lots of selection, easy to add people to the group) or will be wandering off to the decided food source around 4:50. If you work in the 9-to-5 world and still want to meet, get in touch and I’ll make sue you’re updated on where we end up. No planned runtime on this, but I’d like to wrap it around 7:30 if it runs that long.

Wednesday, September 26th: I’ll be attending Adobe’s On AIR stop in Toronto ALL day. No time to meet people on this leg, but if you’re going to be at the event, look for me and say hi!

Filed Under: Appearances, Archives, Events, Local, Social Media

Kingston’s First New Media Meetup: Sept 24th, 7:00pm

September 17, 2007 By

So shortly after this morning’s post I sent an email to the local new media folk I know, and am now making details available publicly.

Kingston, home to the Podcasters Across Borders conference, is long overdue for a smaller-scale meetup. And that’s changing on September 24th. I’m going to be at the Kingston Brewing Company (34 Clarance St) from 7:00 until at least 8:00 that night, wearing the bright shirt visible in the sidebar of my blog. I’d love to get a handful (or more) local folk who are interested, or knowledgable, in this new media space together to form some connections between us and begin building the local conversation.

Francis Wooby has already commented that he’s going to attempt to make it, and i’m hoping he can bring tales of Podcamp Philly.

So come down, bring your business cards, ideas, stories and some friends if they’re interested and participate in the first of what will hopefully become regular events in Kingston!

[RSVPs not required, comments welcome]

Filed Under: Archives, Events, LNMG, Local

Going Local At Last

September 17, 2007 By

So I have never hidden the fact that I’m from Kingston, Ontario. Been here all my life, in fact. And while I adore Toronto, and love Ottawa… I’m likely going to stick around Kingston for quite some time. Now, Kingston’s not a small town, we’re up around 115,000 according to the last census, but we’re not overly huge, either.

When I found out about PAB 06, in July of that year, I couldn’t believe I had missed the event. Worse yet, I don’t believe there was even a Kingstonian present (Someone correct me on this? Was Don Edwards there last year? Someone else?). I was floored. An event like PAB 06, happened in Kingston, and nobody, at least that I could tell, local there.

I, amongst others, fixed that this time around, but I’ve felt very … lonely in social media since then. Being that I don’t drive, it’s hard to get together at the various meetups or geek dinners in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or London… I have mastered playing the at home game though and made the trip down to the Podcamp that took place in Pittsburgh in August

For the longest time, searches for new media folk in Kingston returned one person – me. Then I found (and met) Don. And then I learned of Francis Wooby. And now David Bailey (Who was, go figure, at PAB 07 too).

I think it’s finally time that I reach out locally and work to bridge connections between us. Kingston may be small on a world scale, sure, and I’m sure some folk fear competition locally, but there’s no reason we can’t all get along. After all, we’re working in the social media space.

Folks in Kingston’s new media space – expect emails soon. And put forward the word… Kingston’s first new media meetup is in the works.

Filed Under: Archives, LNMG, Local, Social Media

Attending PAB. And the repercussions of that.

June 24, 2007 By

First, the next of my portable office series is being pushed to Saturday of this week. So I skipped a week. It was worth it, and you’ll read all about why … later.

For the readers of mine who have been living under a rock and missed this, I’m attending the Podcasters Across Borders event this weekend in Kingston, Ontario. Hooray for low travel costs.

I’ve got a lot of notes for a lot of posts that will trickle out over the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to take this time to get something up right now.

This event, for me at least, has been the best new media type event I’ve attended. Not necessarily from an information point of view, not that the information (And the dense schedule of sessions) isn’t great, but from a people and community point of view. Being that I have mostly attended American events, and simply listened to shows from the Canadian community, I often felt more like an American podcasting community member, and not so much like a Canadian or global member.

This weekend, for me, has changed that. And it’s been awesome.

As promised, details to follow once it wraps and I return to the “real world”.

Filed Under: Appearances, Archives, Local, PAB

Coming to Kingston? What PABers need to know.

June 13, 2007 By

Podcasters Across Borders is a three-day podcasting and new media conference happening right here in Kingston on June 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2007. I’ll be there, with 159+ other people, talking tech and new media and having a blast.

The guys over there made a post on the blog with an advance welcome to Kingston, and I thought I’d throw a few things on to it. Here a few things you need to know when coming into Kingston for the weekend:

  1. You’ll be in the downtown waterfront during our First Capital Days celebration. Known to very few, Kingston was, very briefly, the first capital of this awesome country and we celebrate it for two weeks every year. Find out more at http://www.firstcapitaldays.ca
  2. History buffs take note! Being that the conference is happening downtown,in the heart of the city, there are lots of things to see and do. Within a 5 minute walk of the hotel is city all and the tourist information centre (Originally our train station). City hall gives guided tours all day and a 1hr tour trolley (Think Mr Roger’s Trolley) leaves from the information centre every hour.
  3. There is GREAT food in the downtown area. If you’re confused and want somethign to eat – ask! There are restaurants specializing in pizza, fajitas and Italian near by, and countless restaurants whose menus span the food groups. All in a 10 minute walk.
  4. ALL FIVE banks are within a few blocks, though some are farther then others. The Holiday Inn has a generic bank machine in the lobby. Being a happy little PAB attendee though, I only give directions to the TD Canada Trust.
  5. Want proof you were here? The information centre has a bunch, and S&R (One of Canada’s oldest department stores, on the opposite corner of the Merchant) has some too.
  6. Kingston is the ‘Limestone City’ and as soon as you look around, you’ll see why. If you get a break and wander the downtown, be sure to note the number of buildings that use limestone as part of the building. Count them I dare you.
  7. Leaving the downtown area? Cab it. Kingston’s awesome city… But the transit sucks. At best. It’s less of a headache … and WAY faster.

Any other Kingstonians reading this and want to add? How about PABers? Any specific questions you want addressed before your arrival? Anyone need a map?

Filed Under: Archives, Events, Local, PAB
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