Who’s Coming? - BarCamp Philly | November 8, 2008 @ The University of the Arts

Who's Coming?

Are YOU coming to BarCamp Philly? If you want to be featured, please answer the following 5 questions:

Who are you and what do you do?

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?

Tell us one random fact about yourself.

Where can we find you? (url/twitter)

Email your responses to barcampphilly[at]gmail[dot]com!

Gabriel Weinberg, Serial Entrepreneur

November 2, 2008 – 2:41 pm

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Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, my name is Gabriel Weinberg. I am a serial entrepreneur based out of Valley Forge. I am currently the founder of Duck Duck Go, a recently released general purpose search engine.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
It seems like interesting people will be there–I can’t have much other reason since I’m still not really sure what it is!

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Hmm…I’m really at a loss here. I suppose I could lead a session about parsing Wikipedia. Or perhaps a session on deploying fast Web applications.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
Here’s two. I love Coca-Cola classic. And I grew up in Atlanta. These facts go hand in hand.

Where can we find you?
http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/
http://duckduckgo.com/
http://twitter.com/yegg
http://twitter.com/duckduckgo

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Duck Duck Go, Gabriel Weinberg, Serial Entrepreneurship | Comments (0)

Phil Charron, User Experience Design Director

November 1, 2008 – 9:38 am

Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Phil is unable to attend BarCamp Philly this Saturday. We’ll still be keeping tabs on all of his Think Brownstone adventures, and hope to make his acquaintance one day soon!

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a User Experience Design Director for Think Brownstone and an adjunct faculty member in Philadelphia University’s Digital Design and Instructional Technology programs. I work primarily on interactive media projects for corporate clients - assessing user needs, business needs, information architecture, UI design, Instructional Design, video production and designing and leading Usability and Product Evaluation sessions. I’ve been teaching at PhilaU since 1996. Sometimes I think I learn as much from my students as they do from me. I also am a founding member of the After School Specialists - an independent group of frustrated filmmakers who occasionally enter short film competitions just for the heck of it.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
I’m simultaneously jealous and suspicious of left-handed people. I’ve been working on creative teams in one shape or form for a long time. There’s always a left-hander in the room. I try to pay special attention to them.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about what “creativity” is - some people think it’s just about aesthetics, some think it’s just about design, I think it’s about problem solving and diversity of thought. Give a team of diverse thinking styles a well-defined problem and access to people who will answer their questions and they’ll solve your problem in ways you could never dream of.

That doesn’t solve the problem that I’m right-handed, but at least it gets me in a room with them so I can pretend I’m like them and try to infiltrate their secret society. There will be left-handers there, right?

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I’ve been having discussions with more conservative corporate clients about user-generated content. Most large corporations are a few years behind web trends because it takes them a while to figure out how to protect themselves legally. I’d be interested to hear how progressive companies let go of the fear.

OR we could do a session called, “Teach Phil how to draw a face.” Most faces I draw end up looking like potatoes. Really bad potatoes.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
When I was a kid, I burned off my eyebrows in an accident involving a coffee can, denatured alcohol and a tennis ball.

Where can we find you?
I work for http://www.thinkbrownstone.com
We blog at http://www.thinkbrownstone.com/blog
I’m a member of the independent short film collective http://www.afterschoolspecialists.com (we rarely update our site)
I twitter as @pfilbert

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Phil Charron, Philadelphia University, Think Brownstone, User Experience Design | Comments (2)

Charles Lenchner, Democracyinaction.org

October 31, 2008 – 7:27 am

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a social change engineer who uses online communications. it’s all about defining targets, advance planning, using appropriate tools and aiming for well-defined goals. Some people call it ‘online organizing’ but we don’t have such a thing as an ‘offline organizer’ or a ‘telephone organizer’ so why use that definition? My paid work has to do with helping the Democracyinaction community of Salsa users integrate our tool into their organizing efforts in the best way possible.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
BarCamp Philly is the reason I’m attending! I used to live in Philadelphia (2003-5) and I’m hoping to get to know more people there. It’s possible that some of those people I meet are future members of the ‘community of practice’ I’m part of: users of online software in the nonprofit and political worlds to promote social change.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I’d like to lead a catch all session on advocacy tools and CRMs. A lot of folks with a web design, programming or IT infrastructure skill set are called upon to choose, install or operate these tools. Let’s talk about best practices, best sources of information, dos and don’ts, and strategy. There are so many products out there, but the conversation needs to be about why CRM in general is a powerful method for organizations of any size. It’s about taking the power of online marketing and understanding how we can harness it for good causes like ending the war in Iraq, raising funds for the homeless or taking power from salaried staff and transferring it to the membership.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I was a refusenik in Israel, which means I went to prison after saying NO to my officers in the army.

Where can we find you?
http://www2.democracyinaction.org/about/team#charles
http://middleeast.change.org/

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Charles Lenchner, Democracyinaction.org, Social Change | Comments (0)

Scott McNulty, Almost Internet Famous

October 29, 2008 – 1:03 pm

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Scott McNulty and I am almost Internet famous. By day I tend a flock of servers, and at night I write, mostly about Mac stuff, for a variety of Web sites (most notably Macworld.com). I’m also one half of the most popular cooking podcast based in Philadelphia starring me: Fork You.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
If you promise to keep this between just you and me… I am attending BarCamp Philly in a desperate attempt to fit in. I heard that all the cool kids were going, and I thought I might be able to sneak in.

Oh, and I always like to hang out with a bunch of smart Philadelphians. But, mostly I want to be cool.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I suppose I could lead a session about why Social Media isn’t really a new idea, or how the word ‘friend’ has been so watered down that it is essentially meaningless… or I could take about podcasting (that’s much more upbeat!).

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I hate talking on the phone (Call me!).

Where can we find you?
Blog: http://blog.blankbaby.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/blankbaby/
Fork You: http://forkyou.tv/

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Fork You, Macworld, Podcasting, Scott McNulty | Comments (1)

Seth Nenstiel, Student @ York College

October 28, 2008 – 12:57 pm

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Seth Nenstiel and I am currently a full time student at York College of Pennsylvania. I am a bit of a quandary scholastically because I don’t play by the established rules, rather I study my interests. I am currently an Entrepreneurship major, but have an interest in Computer Science, Digital Media, Photography and Languages. I like everything web and hope to converge my online dabbling with my entrepreneurial spirit to someday become profitable.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
I am attending BarCamp Philly to gain some perspective. I hope to hear about everything from personal branding to jokes about coding. I am trying to live by a quote from @anniemal http://twitter.com/anniemal/status/858735491 — right now I am watching and listening. Oh and social networking of course!

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Educational Social Networks. Where are they? We have educational resource networks–universities sharing library books, research papers, etc. Why isn’t there a Facebook for education? Students and teachers at one school should be able to interact with students and teachers from another school in order to share ideas, knowledge, and new perspectives on learning. Imagine what we could do if all the education hubs — if you will — got together and tried to streamline the best education methods, or if students at the University of Pennsylvania were sharing teaching methods with students at UCLA in a well organized and documented manner.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I built my own solid-body electric guitar in 11th grade.

Where can we find you?
You can find me on Twitter @pyrosarco.

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Seth Nenstiel | Comments (0)

Whitney Hess, User Experience Designer

October 27, 2008 – 2:42 pm

Who are you and what do you do?
Hello campers! My name is Whitney Hess and I’m an independent user experience design consultant based in New York City. Yes, that’s a mouthful. It basically means that I help make digital products easy and pleasurable to use. I quit my full-time job at a financial software company in August to do the independent thing and so far I’m loving every minute of it. Companies large and small hire me to do user research and usability testing, develop personas and scenarios, draw sitemaps and wireframes, and write functional specifications — all to help visual designers and developers create the best possible experience for the user.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
Mostly because Matt Knell is attending! But also, I really enjoyed meeting everyone at the Philly tweetup I helped to organize in August and realized that we could be doing much more to connect the NYC and Philly tech scenes. We live so close and there are a lot of complementary efforts going on in both places — why not join forces and make the East Coast the tech center it really deserves to be?

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I’d most naturally be able to talk about networking in a Web 2.0 world, evangelizing yourself and your specialization, and building an impactful personal brand. I tend to get a lot of questions about how I used my blog and Twitter to grow my professional network to the point where I could do independent consulting full-time, and I’d love to share my experiences if it would help other folks get out of their shells.

Talking to companies about focusing on the user experience would be a no-brainer, too. I live and breathe it every day!

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I have a ridiculous collection of PEZ dispensers — more than 350 at this point. Some are on display in my old bedroom at my parents’ house, but most are just packed away in storage.

Where can we find you?
Follow me @whitneyhess on Twitter (I’m rather prolific) or check out my blog Pleasure and Pain at http://whitneyhess.com/blog. I love comments

By Roz Duffy | Tagged User Experience Design, Whitney Hess | Comments (0)

Jon Cabiria, Psychologist

October 26, 2008 – 7:35 pm

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Who are you and what do you do?
Hi. My name is Jon Cabiria and I am a psychologist who, among other things, researches the interaction between media and behavior. My special focus is on identity redevelopment using online social communities and networks. In addition, I teach psychology in both traditional and online settings. I also have a successful consulting/coaching business. My other identities include companion to my five rescue dogs, avid gardener, bicycler (as time permits), vegetarian, and public speaker.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
Curiosity is the driving force, and meeting other people to see what synergies come of our conversations is my main motivation.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
How we are constantly constructing, deconstructing, reconstructing our identities, and the role that various media tools have in that process.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I lived a simple, nomadic life for several years, hitchhiking around the country without an agenda and meeting really incredible people with amazing stories to tell.

Where can we find you?
Twitter: jcabiria

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Identity Redevelopment, Interaction, Jon Cabiria, Psychology | Comments (0)

Phil Baumann, Registered Nurse

October 25, 2008 – 11:57 am

Who are you and what do you do?
Hello. I am Phil Baumann and I’m all sorts of things. Officially I am a registered nurse with a background in corporate finance and accounting. My hope is to improve the healthcare system by helping to bring the industry into the 21st Century. I believe that enterprise technologies can play an important role in the healthcare industry, from hospitals to pharmaceutical companies.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
I’m interested in exploring social media within the healthcare industry. I’m not passionate about social media; rather I’m passionate about getting it right. I’m not an techie, but I do have a passion about emerging technlogies and hope to connect in person with the cool kids. Twitter’s cool, but there’s no replacing face-to-face.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
This is my first experience at BarCamp so I would like to warm up to the scene. I am open to spontaneity and am comfortable speaking publicly. My main focus has been on how to properly approach social media beyond the standard conversation about marketing. Enterprise applications of social media will become increasingly important. I currently focus on Healthcare industry and the particualr ramifications and consequences of using social media in that industry. ROI is a topic much talked about, but I think it’s an important topic that anybody passionate about social media must be able to address. There are two main schools of thought with respect to social ROI but I believe that there is a third. That’s something I’d like to discuss and explore questions.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I love cannolis.

Where can we find you?
Twitter @Phil Baumann
http://philbaumann.com/

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Healthcare, Phil Baumann, Social Media | Comments (0)

Far McKon, Hacker Extraordinaire

October 24, 2008 – 4:27 pm

Who are you and what do you do?
0) I’m Far McKon.

1) I like to make (and break, and hack) for fun and profit. When I’m not doing that, I’m helping with TheHacktory.org

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
II) I’m attending Bar Camp to get some of the Software geeks to come over to the dark side, and work on Hardware! I’m going to seduce them to the dark side by bringing along some great little hands-on projects for folks to build. They’ll be soldering before you can say ‘Ruby’ ! muwhahahahah!

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
3.14) I’m not going to lead a session, but I’ll be hauling around a bunch of electronics to play with and build, and willing to teach or learn, or both at the same time.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
42) I’m named after a greek religion.

Where can we find you?
The Hacktory
@FarMcKon

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Far McKon, The Hacktory | Comments (0)

Livia Labate, Information Architect

October 23, 2008 – 7:44 am

Who are you and what do you do?
Hello. My name is Livia Labate (livlab)

I’m Principal of Information Architecture for Comcast Interactive Media (CIM). I’ve been in the User Experience field for a while; I’ve played on the technology side, the business side and the design side. Information Architecture is where my heart is because it allows me to do a little bit of everything. These days I am interested in issues like what social media can mean for organizations, how to innovate within a large company and how multi-disciplinary teams can work well together.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
I want to connect with a more diverse local crowd and get to know people. There are a lot of smart people in Philly that I see online but have no good excuse to interact with so, BarCamp is it! Let’s face it, being in the UX/business field is fun and all, but I miss hanging out with people who code too. Nobody gets my sci fi jokes in the other contexts.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I could speak about how to learn from end-users - the fast, cheap and dirty tricks - while you do your thing (whether your thing is code, design, market or something else). I could also do a show & tell of the methods that information architects and researchers use that don’t sound like they make a lot of sense to most people (personas, usability testing, ethnography, etc).

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I’m Brazilian and I can’t samba to save my life.

Where can we find you?
livlab on twitter and anywhere else
http://livlab.com/thinkia

By Roz Duffy | Tagged CIM, Information Architecture, Livia Labate, UX | Comments (1)

Dave Konopka, Web Developer

October 21, 2008 – 8:15 am

Who are and what do you do?
I’m Dave Konopka and I work as a web developer for the Wharton School. My group creates applications for students and faculty. We work mostly with Adobe ColdFusion and Flex. Lately, I’ve been learning the ins and outs of a brand new technology: my four month old son.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
I’m excited to hear about the creative things people are doing in this city. I’ve never been to a BarCamp, and I’m happy to experience it first in my hometown.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Maybe a session on setting up a web server and other helpful tools for people who want to play with web apps on their own computer, no experience required.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
Before getting connected to the internets, I used to frequent Philly BBS’s under the handle AcidPlum. Back when a 386 computer with a 2400bps modem was the hotness.

Where can we find you?
My web dev blog is I Make Web Junk
Follow me on twitter @LifeLikeWeeds

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Dave Konopka, Web Apps | Comments (0)

Beth Harte, Marketing, Communications & Social Media Consultant

October 20, 2008 – 11:11 am

Who are you and what do you do?
Hi there. My name is Beth Harte and I am a marketing, communications and social media consultant. I am one of those marketers that sees the art & science in marketing and am always looking for the next marketing challenge. I am also an Adjunct Professor at Immaculata University where I teach PR & Social Media. I guess you could say that I am a tad bit passionate about marketing!

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
Because all the cool Philly kids will be there. But, seriously, coming from a corporate perspective, UnConferences were a bit strange to me at first. But now I find them extremely valuable. It’s amazing how much people have to share and will share with you…if you just give them a platform to do so. Philly has so much talent and BarCamp is a wonderful way to meet great people and tap into the brilliance that comes out of an UnConference.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
I am planning on doing a session on the RO[I] of Social Media. Why? Because I think a lot of people want that “I” to stand for Investment (as in money spent), but it goes so far beyond a monetary investment. I think it will be a really great conversation and I am looking forward to hearing what people’s perspectives are and how they are interpreting the “I” in ROI these days.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I collect cowgirl boots and scarves. Odd combination for a Philly Girl, I know, but there you have it.

Where can we find you?
You can find me daily at my blog: The Harte of Marketing, on Twitter (@bethharte), or on Plurk (@bethharte).

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Beth Harte, Marketing, PR, Social Media | Comments (0)

Arpit Mathur, Software Engineer

October 19, 2008 – 10:31 am

Who are you and what do you do?
Hi! My name is Arpit and I am a lead software engineer at Comcast Interactive Media (CIM). I specialize in Flash as a technology and rich user experiences. I am also a big believer in open source technology and have been leading the charge on that within CIM (see code.cimians.com for some of our open source projects). I also have an artistic bent and used to freelance as a cartoonist / illustrator before I got into programming.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
Think of it as recharging my passion. I am very passionate about the web and social media and I am really looking forward to meeting other people with similar interests. I also love the whole grassroots nature of Barcamp. It should be fun

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Probably on how to get buy-in for open source within traditionally closed-source companies. In the last year, CIM has released 3 open source projects (with more on the way) Currently one of our core infrastructure (Flash) frameworks is being developed completely in the open and thats a huge milestone. The last few years have definitely been educational on that front and I would love to share the stories.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
I have been a week away from starting my own web comic for the last two years.

Where can we find you?
developer blog: http://www.arpitonline.com/blog
personal blog: (opinions on the web mostly): http://www.arpitmathur.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/arpit

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Arpit Mathur, CIM, Comics, Flash, Open Source, Social Media | Comments (1)

Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent

October 18, 2008 – 12:08 pm

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Valeria and I was made in Italy. I’ve been called a communicator, a marketer, and a Renaissance person. I’m *the* Conversation Agent. I have been involved in social media ever since Fast Company magazine published its first issue where they declared that computing is social and work is personal. Using my experience in marketing communications, customer dialogue, and brand management, I’ve come to define modern business as a long and open conversation. As curator of the Fast Company community and social network I have created 98 free events with the help of volunteers in the Philadelphia area from 2000-2007. My blog, ConversationAgent.com is recognized among the world’s top online marketing blogs. I also blog at FastCompany.com, Marketing Profs Daily Fix and Marketing 2.0. I work in corporate America.

Why are you attending BarCamp Philly?
I’m attending BarCamp Philly to learn, share ideas, connect, and build community in the area. This is a powerful initiative for the city.

If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Some of the popular conversations I facilitated are around personal branding tips - for example how to use social media for career development opportunities; blogging and social media for business; integrating social media with other marketing and public relations strategies; the rise of content marketing in social media; engaging detractors in conversations.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.
Made in Italy - my hometown is where they make Ferrari cars and balsamic vinegar.

Where can we find you?
http://www.conversationagent.com
http://twitter.com/ConversationAge

By Roz Duffy | Tagged Conversation Agent, Fast Company, Social Media, Valeria Maltoni | Comments (0)

Who's Coming?

Gabriel Weinberg, Serial Entrepreneur

Phil Charron, User Experience Design Director

Scott McNulty, Almost Internet Famous

Seth Nenstiel, Student @ York College

Whitney Hess, User Experience Designer

Jon Cabiria, Psychologist

Far McKon, Hacker Extraordinaire

Livia Labate, Information Architect

Dave Konopka, Web Developer

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