I'm still blogging

Yes, I'm still blogging. I'm here most of the time. Drop by and say hello.

What I'm up to

Hi. Thanks for dropping by. Obviously, I'm not posting to New Media Nashville as often as I have in the past. In fact, I'm really only using Dave Made That as "Dave H.Q." now.

You can see some of my latest blog posts below. Please drop by and say hello.



Cheers,
Dave

Join the first Nashville Geek Breakfast

After a great response from my initial tweet about interest in a geek meetup over breakfast in Nashville, I've created a Facebook Event. Geek Breakfasts have been popping up in many cities lately, so why can't we do the same right here in Nashvegas?

Geek Breakfast is not about drinking beer first thing in the day, it's about getting together with like-minded folks over bacon, eggs and plenty of coffee. It's an opportunity to meet other people who are interested in all things geeky. Topics will likely include: blogging, podcasting, new media marketing, open source, programming, un-conferences, social networking, design, tech careers, and a series of tubes.

You should come along! Bring a friend or come alone. Bring your wallets, cause breakfast ain't free ya know?

Date, time and location is here: http://urltea.com/2816. Please be sure to RSVP, so I know how much room we'll need. You'll need to be logged in to Facebook to RSVP.

See you there!

[tags]Nashville Geek Breakfast, Nashville events, Nashville new media[/tags]

** FOLLOW UP **

I want to let you know that Luke hosts BNAGeek MeetUps in Nashville. You should check too.

Nashville geeks, piano rockers, nacho eaters unite!

Big meet up tonight in Nashville with Cali Lewis from Geek Brief TV. Drop by here for details: http://urltea.com/1oxq

Nashville BarCamp - giddy up!

I am so excited about the big Nashville BarCamp meeting coming up on June 12th @ 12th South Taproom, 2312 12th Ave. S. 615-463-7552.

If you're in Nashville and you dig new media you should seriously consider http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifattending. This will be an opportunity to join a dedicated group of folks who are set on creating a kick butt bar camp for Nashvegas.

Hit this link and sign up today: http://conference.meetup.com/3/

Still curious about what a barcamp is? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp

Official BarCamp Nashville Wiki here: http://barcamp.org/BarCampNashville

Shift Happens - Invest in New Media research now

This video is a wake up call. As this becomes more and more viral and more eyes see it, I believe many senior executives and HR people will begin to re-think New Media. It's time now to hire New Media professionals. As a long term investment in the growth of a firm, it would be nuts not to pay serious attention to this video.

Thanks Matt.



Citations Here

Viva NashVegas

I must admit, people back home in Toronto repeatedly asked me why we were moving to Nashville. When I tell people in Nashville where I'm from, they often ask why I moved?

Toronto is definitely a world class city. "Hogtown" has everything you could want in a city: museums; galleries; restaurants with food from every country imaginable; hot weather; cold weather; major sports franchises; live music every night; film festivals; live theatre; etc...

What brought us to Nashville are a few things:
* my wife is from Tennessee
* we had two children in 11.5 months
* we would be closer to my wife's family (who could help with the kids)
* we would have an instant group of friends with kids (most of my wife's girl friends are now married with children)
* we can afford to live in Nashville (Toronto cost of living is getting WAY too high)
* Nashville is a top digital city (jobs for Dave?)
* entertainment and broadcasting is huge in Nashville (my background)

I'm even more excited about moving to Nashville after the news today that Gaylord plans to open 1.2-million-square-foot convention center just south of downtown.

According to an article in the Tennessean:

...could catapult Nashville from a second- or third-tier city for convention business to among the top 15 cities in the U.S. That would take Nashville out of the middle tier of cities, competing against places like Indianapolis, Charlotte and St. Louis," said Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It would put us back where we were in the early 1990s, competing against places like Atlanta, New Orleans and Orlando."

While it may appear that Gaylord own just about everything in Nashville, I'm certain that's not the case. Perhaps locals feel differently?

Either way, more conventions equals more tourists, which in turn means more jobs and more money for the local economy. This is all a good thing.

What an exciting time to be in a city that is getting it right! Viva NashVegas!

Dave's million dollar T-shirt idea

It pains me to see teenagers walking around with old/new band tour t-shirts like The Allman Brothers. When I would buy t-shirts from shows it would be as a souvenir from the show. Today it's trendy to buy t-shirts for concerts you've never been to, for bands that broke up before you were born. Of course, trends change.

There is a transmitter you can buy for an iPod called an iTrip. The iTrip brodcasts the music to your FM radio; then it plays your music over it's airwaves. The Zune can actually send the MP3 file to another Zune player, so you can share the music with your pals (temporarily, as the file goes bye-bye after a few plays without purchase).

Here's my BIG idea.
We create a small transmitter to plug into any MP3 player that will send the files ID3 tag information, for example the artist name and name of the song, directly to your t-shirt!

Picture a scrolling LED light, like the one below:

Now imagine the light you see built right into your t-shirt or other piece of clothing. You're walking down the street as you're listening to "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols. As you're listening to the song, "Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen" scrolls across your chest.
A tweak could possibly include the album cover art, like most MP3s in iTunes.

Strangers walking passed you would nod in approval, or turn away in horror. Either way, you'd know who your friends (and enemies) are straight away.

So what do you think? Crack pot idea or pure genius? Should I have used Country Music as an example instead?

Who wants to finance it? We'll be millionaires.

Dave