Internet Geek Girl

The TechSet does Manhattan! We started in LA, hit Silicon Valley and San Fran, and now we are in the Big Apple during Internet Week!

Internet Week is spotlighting the influential and expanding Web community in New York and The TechSet is all set to contribute. Join me and Brian Solis, bub.blicio.us and PR 2.0, as together, we celebrate The TechSet, the people who are actively defining the new Web landscape and contributing to the lucrative and industry-defining social economy along the way.

The TechSet is everywhere, online and offline. The TechSet is you.

On Saturday afternoon, we’re going to bring the rooftop parties from the West Coast to the Right Coast while bringing together NY-based entrepreneurs and those in town for Internet Week. Special guests from the blogosphere as well as VCs, developers, and founders will take over the rooftop of the stylish Hotel Gansevoort in the chic part of NY made popular by the Sex and the City franchise – well, we’ll take over what we can!

Who said techies can’t be glamorous too!

But wait, there’s more. Co-authors Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis will also be signing copies of Now is Gone. Bring your book if you have it, otherwise books will be available for $10 on-site. (whoops.. that’s $15 sorry, cmon.. support a blogga!)

See you chic peeps next Saturday at the ROOFTOP bar (Plunge)! 

RSVP on the Facebook Event Page, grazie.

As you can see, I’ve got my Internet Week mojo on. The week is chock-full of parties and yes, I will be attending a bunch of those. Stay tuned for my “must-do” list of Internet Week social events. Again, the full list of events is here. I’ll also be posting my flickr shots and providing Twitter coverage throughout the week, so please follow.

I think it is really important to recognize that there are many substantive gatherings planned, in addition to the networking events and parties. Internet Week is shaping up as an opportunity for “old media” New York to come face-to-face with the movers and shakers that are driving the evolution of the social media economy. Brand managers and media planners will get to meet with the start-ups and social media”rock stars” that are pushing the envelope of online marketing. I think this connection is critical. The geeks are coming to NYC and as Hugh MacLeod reminds us, it’s important for all marketers to “think geek.”  According to Hugh:

“Whatever industry you are in, there’s somebody who is geeked out about your product category. They are using your product [or a competitor's product] as a Social Object.”

Big brands can tap into this energy.  This is the focus of the Conversational Marketing Summit, sponsored by Federated Media (FM), which I’m really looking forward to btw. FYI - it’s not too late to secure access to the conference being held at the Ritz Carlton Battery Park on June 9th and 10th. FM has kindly provided InternetGeekGirl readers with a special discount code: Sign up with GeekGirl15 and save 15% on registration.

I really love the Federated Family of sites (including gapingvoid). Such great content backed by really smart, effective people. The event has quite a round-up of speakers, including: John Battelle, Chairman & CEO, Federated Media, Henry M. Blodget, CEO, Silicon Alley Media, Wenda Harris Millard, President, Media, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia & Chairman IAB, Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Director of Insights, Edelman Digital, Jason Kilar, CEO, Hulu, Martin A. Nisenholtz, SVP – Digital Operations, The New York Times Company and many more.

I look forward to seeing you in the Big Apple…big brands and small brands alike.

Internet Week New York (IWNY) starts next Tuesday, June 3rd in New York City. Not nearly the size or stature of its inspiration, Fashion Week, Internet Week will undoubtedly grow quick given the level of moxie and motivation of the NYC tech crowd.

For those of you that don’t know (and I expect that is a lot of you, since the press coverage of this event has been anemic so far), Internet Week is a week-long festival of events celebrating New York’s thriving Internet industry and community.  Started by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) in cooperation with the City of New York and the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting, it’s billed as a celebration of digital media industry and community. There are great people backing this venture.  You can get the  quick facts here and check out the Executive Council list here.

I live and breathe the digital media industry and community (in New York, in California and beyond). As a active member of the NYC tech world for the last 10 years, I have experienced that growth through my own professional and personal journey.  Of course, in New York the “community” aspect gets lost a bit, due to the general size of the pond and all the other industries that call NYC their nerve center. When you’re in the Valley, you can’t walk 10 feet without hearing about the latest tech news or start-up. The community is everywhere.  Both environments have their pros and cons.

The New York tech crowd is known for its passion, marketing savvy, business acumen and access to Madison Avenue and Wall Street (both of which fuel the technology industry overall). I know that this inaugural event will catch fire in NYC and most likely take off in other cities.  I’m here to support making that happen.

Now, I’m not saying we’ll be Fashion Week overnight (or ever). I think Fashion Week, I think of hot models, catwalks, non-stop parties, sexy people hanging out at the Gansevoort pool and Devil Wears Prada-esque drama everywhere (oh yes, and cloths).  Let’s face it people, we are not that cool. We don’t even have a wikipedia page — yet. Now that’s kind of ironic, huh?

But there is a jam-packed schedule of events for Internet Week NYC. And each will be filled with exciting, cool, smart, successful geeks helping to evolve the next wave of Internet marketing. That is our community. Stay tuned for some additional posts highlighting the events and parties I will be attending. Plus SAVE the date, because, the TechSet is presenting in Manhattan! Brian Solis and Geoff Livingston co-authors of the new book Now is Gone, will be in town for a book signing. And Brian and I will be hosting TechSet NYC , gathering our east coast friends who are all actively contributing to the evolution of the social economy and new web.  

According to Amanda Fortini in the Brief History of the Fashion show, Fashion Week got its start in NYC in 1943, and then took on it’s current form in 1993 (fifteen years ago!) Let’s take a moment to imagine what this event could look like 15 years from now. In fact, I can imagine it being a much larger deal in even within 3 - 5 years. I’m so grateful for all the tech communities I get to hang out with across this country. Big shout out to my peeps in: LA, Philly, Chicago, Boston and so many other cities I can’t even list them all. I feel an idea in the works.

It’s a good time of the year to join a club. A good friend of mine is doing a “21 Club” - 21 days of yoga in a row. And now we have Blog 365.

What a great idea. I’m a little late to commit to the whole 365, but I really do want to make sure that blogging becomes more of a daily routine (it is if you add Twitter in, but that is a theoretical discussion for another time). Here are the suggested “rules” of the Blog 365 group (which is on Ning incidentally):

Rules:
- Blog everyday for 365 days.

- Feb.29th is a Free Day and will be the Blog365 day of rest!
(Thanks Leap Year)

- You do not HAVE to post to the same blog as long as you post everyday.

- No internet? Write your post locally and post it once you are back on the grid.

- Computer Broken? Grab some paper and do some old school blogging.

- A post is a post, not everything has to be in writing. Photos, YouTube videos, and the like are all considered content.

- Have fun, because that’s the whole point!

Note:
If you post offline work, consider changing the date on the post to reflect the day you actually created the content

Hmm.. I’m thinking of making another club. Call it…BlogOm! Let’s try 30 days in a row of doing yoga and writing a blog post everyday. Now that sounds heavenly. Any other yogi bloggers out there want to join me?

BlogOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Happy New Year friends. May 2008 be filled with good karma and many blessings. And may we all be new and improved every year.

I realize it’s a bit late into the year here for New Year greetings (or is it)? I was chilling in Florida for a bit, and I’m just getting back into the groove. But I couldn’t be more excited for 2008. Stayed tuned for many exciting announcements in the coming weeks.

But let’s start here, with Karma - Twitter Karma to be exact.

Let me explain because this is truly great social media story.

Dossy is my Twitter friend, he’s also a rad developer who lives here in New Jersey (go Jersey!). Back in December I was musing on Twitter about how I wish I had a tool that easily allowed me to figure out who is a reciprocal twitter friend and add followers to my list. As many of you know, I really love Twitter and more and more, I find it to be the most satisfying of all social networks. [Facebook is getting spammy - let's fix that people]. And surprise, surprise, Dossy made it happen. He built the thing!! I’m honored to have helped select the name btw. How very cool. Here’s the full announcement on Dossy’s blog.

I am amazed by the inspiration I find on Twitter, and the swirl of ideas that live in the petri dish of our online social networks. One person’s 140 character phrase is another’s software feature. Give to receive my friends, and please go give Twitter Karma a WHACK!

Peace Out!