Thursday, August 12, 2010

Rocking the vote

Lan?

We learned this week that there is a good chance we'll be part of a panel discussion on Technomadism at SXSW next March.

If you are thinking, "Techno-what-ism at xyzzy HUH?" I'll try to explain.

SXSW stands for "South by Southwest" and is an annual festival in Austin, TX. The organizers call it a

...unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies...fostering creative and professional growth.

Translation: a big party. Spring break for nerds. We've heard really great things about SXSW and have had a hankering to go for a couple of years. For, uh, the professional growth.

Technomadism, coined by Chris and Cherie, is a portmanteau of technology and nomad, and means the lifestyle of geeks on the road. Nerds to go. Buses and RVs and boats full of computers, GPS and other digital goodies. Karen Nace describes a technomad as "someone who lives a fully mobile lifestyle while using technology to make that possible." Hey, we know a few folks doing something similar!

Cherie and Chris have put together a proposal for discussing exactly that digital-on-the-go lifestyle at SXSW, and asked us to participate. Karen will be on the panel, as well as her partner Ben, and the Boyinks family.

Since lots of panels are proposed for SXSW, community support is vital to the selection process. Will you please vote for our panel and help get it approved? The voting page is HERE. Just click on the "thumbs up" icon at the top of the page to show your support. You don't need to register just to vote, but if you'd like to leave a wildly enthusiastic comment you will need to create an account. Comments help the selection committee choose the final panels. Even if you have no plans to attend SXSW, the committee wants to hear from you. According to the PanelPicker FAQ, "Rallying your friends and associates to vote for your panel proposal demonstrates energy, motivation and organizational ability. All of these skills are important when it comes to organizing a successful panel for SXSW."

We're looking forward to seeing Ben, Karen, Cherie, and Chris again in Austin, and meeting the Boyinks for the first time. If you think you might be at SXSW, leave a shout-out here in the comments. And please, please vote. Thanks!

(Edited on Saturday: The panelpicker page seems to be down. If you get an error when you try to view our panel, please try again later.)

2 comments:

  1. As a reader of Cheri's blog, too, I already voted but I put in a comment raving about you, too. I hope you all win!

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  2. Although this all is a tad foreign to this rancher in the mountains, I think that you two would be perfect for this sort of thing! I did go to the page to give you a thumbs up, but it looked like I might need to sign in. Felt kind of silly doing so, being a non-nomad and all, so I hope my vote counted!

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