Category: Carrboro

Techies Building Community in RDCH

So I told you about the creation of SocialCarolina.org the other day. Its a google calendar and blog about local tech events here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. (That includes Cary, Carrboro, RTP, Morrisville, etc.)

Well.. some of the coolest events recently have been happening at the new Refresh the Triangle. They are organized by the folks over at Viget Labs. A new web design consultancy in Durham. Last night they had an event. Sadly I couldn’t attend. Next time hopefully.

So far there are seven people who can add events to this calendar. Today I added Peyton Crump to that list. He’s the Creative Director over at Viget Durham.

I’m blogging about this seeming mundane activity because I think its a milestone. Why? COLLABORATION! A bunch of cool people who organize amazing events are working together to inform a ton of people.

You would think this would be an easy thing to do. What with all the web 2.0 collab software out there. But… its not. I mean try to get a bunch of people to meet on a regular basis. Its hard. Syncing individual schedules is tricky. A group calendar is a good step towards making this easier.

In some ways the fractured nature of community is ok. Individuality is an important concept. We all have individual lives. But the concept of community is important too. I’m looking for a balance between the two.

To see the desire of people to get together and build community is awesome. We can all benefit from our collective intelligence. The more we come in contact with each other the smart we all become.

We have so much going on around here and lots more ways to find out about it. Very exciting times to be living in this part of North Carolina!

Props to the Refresh the Triangle folks for making a cool website for their events. Social Carolina isn’t a unique idea. I’m glad many of us are on the same page.

Cowork at our house 1st and 3rd Thursday

Join us to get work done at our house in Chapel Hill on the First and Third Thursday of each month. 9am to 5pm. Free WiFi, Coffee, and Lunch! Come meet new folks and expand your business network. Contact me for directions.

Join the Google Group for the latest on Carrboro Coworking. Soon to be a coworking space in downtown Carrboro, NC. Learn more at CarrboroCoworking.com.

Also keep up with all the events in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area at SocialCarolina.org. We have a google map there and blog. Plus a Twitter user to follow to get updates on your phone. twitter.com/rdch. Thanks to Wayne for keeping up with all the local events!

If you read this today come on down!

Social Carolina: Tech Events Calendar

Wayne Sutton is on top of local tech events in our area. So a couple of us asked him to create something to keep track of these events. He set up a blog at socialcarolina.org and I created a google calendar. Plus we have the Twitter user RDCH to follow and stay up-to-date.

Know about a cool event that involves technology of some kind? Is it happening in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area? Then contact us with the blog form. We’ll put it up on the calendar and promote it. We already have a few cool events up there. Check it out.

Elections are Over Yeah!

I get excited over local elections. Ever since I met Ruby and moved to Chapel Hill I’ve been hooked. I love learning about this whole process. One of my favorite bits this year was Ruby’s election coverage videos. (I’m a bit jealous actually. I want to do vids like this!) She made these with her Palm Treo 680 and a audio headset.

This is great citizen journalism that gets the info out there. Yes I said journalism. Ruby has publicly said many times she doesn’t consider herself a journalist. But she is providing information people want and need. She is trusted by many and scorned by others, but such is the life of a politico with a strong opinion.

One Lesson from Startup Weekend Chapel Hill

I had a good time at Startup Weekend Chapel Hill. It was exhausting but a worthwhile experience. Here’s one lesson that I learned.

Find Data then Write an Web Application For It

When we brainstorm ideas for creating web applications we think about what you can do to data. Like how to present it, manipulate it, rearrange it, etc.. That seems to be the logical way to go about it. We take for granted that there is data out there to use. But is there really? Where is it?

For example: messaging, IM and SMS, is experiencing a serious surge in popularity. Web sites like Twitter.com are gaining mass use and expectance. The mobile web is another big frontier being explored by web developers. When we think of new applications to build we base our decisions on what we’ve used and what is popular. This can be a good strategy because it positions your app in a highly visible place. (ex. Pownce got bought by Google after cloning Twitter.) Plus if one app is popular there must be a reason for it. So why not make something like it.

The problem with this approach is not the lack of originality its the direction with which we think about it. Lets think about the data first. What data will our website application use? Where will we get the data? How much data do we need? And most importantly HOW CAN WE CREATIVELY PRESENT THE DATA TO MAKE IT UNDERSTOOD AND USEFUL?

At the end of the Startup Weekend Chapel Hill we came to a realization that their wasn’t enough data. For people looking for a place to work you need data about those places. For someone who wants to advertise a place you need data about people who want it. I believe the core team who will take on WorkPerch.com will find the data and put it out there. Lack of data is why the site was released as a invitation beta. A wise move IMHO.

The spark that got me thinking about this was Jake’s comment that we should purchase some data to fill in the database to start with. I didn’t know there where companies that sold data like this. But it makes perfect since. Sadly I don’t think we can buy quality real estate and user data we need. That is up to the community who will use WorkPerch. They must provide this so it can be useful.

My suggestion to future Startup Weekends and web app developers in general is to brainstorm your app idea but then collect a bunch of data first. With so many people working on a project you could easily distribute the effort to find data. Thirty people could gather a ton in a few hours time.

Then the team could verify who owns the data. Is it in the public domain? Do we need to license it? How much will it cost? Next the data could be shared and merged. Once its in a common file format like xls or cvs the data could be put into a relational database. Then the structure of the web app could be determined. How will the user navigate this data (flow)? How will the web app logic parse this data and represent it? (graphs, print to screen) How will the web app users add to the data or manipulate it?

This way of looking at web apps isn’t new. But just having another angle to think and to apply I found really constructive. Thank you Startup Weekend Chapel Hill participants for creating an environment where we could learn so much.

Oh and one more thing. Chapel Hill Startup Weekend was in The Town of Carrboro. That is NOT Chapel Hill. No matter how you parse it. I don’t care that its a few feet away. You can not lump RTP and Carrboro together. You can not lump Chapel Hill and Carrboro together. You can not dismiss the creative vibe of this small Town. UNC may be next door but its Carrboro where cool companies like Blog Ads flock. So much more than semantics. Dig it! 😀

Shared Space for Creative Work

UNC student run newspaper the Daily Tar Heel has a article today about my Coworking business plan. Its called Resident plans shared space for creative work. It does a good job of describing what I want to do and has quotes from the wonderful Tara Hunt of Citizen Space (a huge influence of mine) and James Harris of the Town of Carrboro. A big thanks to Tracey Theret, the DTH Assistant City Editor, for writing this story.

One small correction: The article says I’m a resident of Carrboro. Actually I live in the Town of Chapel Hill. Like I’ve said before I love both of these sister cities. I’m excited about doing business in Carrboro.

Don’t forget I have a Carrboro Coworking website with a survey up. Please go take it. If you want to keep up with what’s going on please join the Carrboro Coworking Google Group.

Carrboro Coworking Survey

For a few months I’ve been writing a business plan. I’m at the point where I need some data to fill out the plan. So I’ve created a online survey to gather market data. If you have a few minutes please head over to CarrboroCoworking.com and take the survey. Thank you! Please tell others.

Carrboro Creative Coworking is a professional shared working space with a cafe-like atmosphere. It is designed to be a welcoming environment for freelance professionals, home-office workers, entrepreneurs, startup business owners, tech workers, graduate students, writers, and others. Subscribers of the Carrboro Creative Coworking space will receive access to a reliable office space inside a unique modern community.

Share the Chapel Hill Wireless Map

April/May of last year (2006) I created the WordPress blog and Google Maps mash up Chapel Hill Wireless. The goal was to help people find wireless hotspots in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina. Since then Anton created Durham Wireless and Zach created Asheville Wireless. Plus lots of other things have happened. Now we are on the cusp of the first Town of Chapel Hill public WiFi pilot project. I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg. Public WiFi is just the beginning.

But today I added all the locations I had on ChapelHillWireless.org in a new Google Map. You can go to this Google map page, click on share this link, and copy the code to embed it on your site. Hopefully this will be a good way to spread this valuable info.

Now that editing this map is super easy I plan on adding lots more info to the little pop up box. Maybe even photos and video. 🙂

View Larger Map

If you misplace this post you can always find it on a page linked at the top of the site.
http://www.yesh.com/b2/chapel-hill-wifi/

Note: WiFi hotspots on the UNC campus are not included on this map. Those hotspots are not open to the general public. (People not directly affiliated with UNC) When I find a map of WiFi on campus I’ll blog about it.

Millian tries to kick out Sheehan

WCHL reports that mall manager Nathan Millian attempted to throw Cindy Sheehan off Carr Mill property when she was meeting with Mark Chilton and impeachment activists yesterday. Eventually Shehan was allowed to stay at Panzanella. Here is the MP3.

Regardless how you feel about Ms. Sheehan’s politics, is this any way to treat a nationally-known guest? It certainly no way to treat anyone else.

What motivates Nathan Millian to butt heads with a Mayor’s lunch guest? I don’t buy the disruption of business argument. Ms. Sheehan brought a lot of free publicity to Carr Mill and the Town of Carrboro. Why did Mr. Millian squander it by being so rude?

Cross posted from Orange Politics