GregFalken.com

Thoughts on humanizing technology

Social Media: Learn by Listening

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Hey ListenWebdancers and APS Solar are pleased to present a free seminar on using the power of social media to listen, as well as to speak.

At this fun and informative event, you will learn how your organization can:

  • Stay current with news in your field
  • Monitor discussions of your brand
  • Better understand your market
  • Tap into crowd-sourced knowledge

In the hyper-connected world of social media, it’s tempting to jump straight to telling your story, making your case and getting the word out. In this free seminar, we’ll discuss the building blocks of social media, with special emphasis on the importance of listening online. Using free tools from Google, Twitter and TweetDeck, you will learn how to monitor blogs and social media platforms for mentions of your brand, industry, competitors or anything else, to help you meet your business and social media goals.

When: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 12:00-1:30 PM
Bring your brown bag lunch — drinks provided

APS SolarWhere: APS Solar
19472 Village Drive
Sonora, CA 95370

Contact: (209) 532-5925 or (209) 591-8505
Please RSVP (space is limited

Download the Learn by Listening Flyer

Hey Listen photo by Quinn Dombrowski.
Cross-posted on webdancers.com.

What’s next for the web: A kid’s eye view

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Latitude and ReadWriteWeb recently partnered in a study, in which kids 6-12 years old were asked to share their ideas on future web development concepts. Latitude also produced this video, summing up the key findings and illustrating the kid’s tremendous capacity for innovation.

http://vimeo.com/14000733

The written results were published in two parts, plus a study summary:

Check it out and you’ll come away with an appreciation for the ideas that come from young minds that are unrestricted by the unconventional or the “impossible”.

Cross posted on webdancers.com.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: American Originals

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I was surprised when I looked back over previous posts here and found that I hadn’t written anything about the amazing duo of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. I first became aware of Gillian Welch with her duet of I’ll Fly Away (with Alison Krauss) in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou. I later saw her perform with David Rawlings at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, in San Francisco and I was thoroughly hooked.

While Gillian has been more in the foreground, David’s contribution as singer, producer and guitarist extraordinaire make the pair into an inseparable whole. Their music is often quiet and introspective but also displays a full range of emotions. I actually find this performance of Caleb Meyer to be frightening in its intensity.

A new project, The David Rawlings Machine, puts the musical emphasis on David’s voice and songwriting. In this short set for the NPR’s Tiny Desk series, Gillian and David perform 4 songs. The first, I’m on My Way Back to the Old Home by Bill Monroe, actually starts out as their sound-check but turns into a full and thrilling version of an old standard.

The sound geek in me notes that this session was recorded with a single microphone and the “mix” we hear is Gillian and David themselves drawing on more than 15 years of performing together. Note too that David’s instrument of choice is the 1935 Epiphone Odyssey arch-top that he plays in both of these clips.

Rediscovering The Simple Web

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The Simple WebI recently pulled out an e-book that I first read back in 2008, when I started blogging regularly. It’s titled The Simple Web: A web philosophy for getting what you want, by Skellie. I find that it’s every bit as relevant now as when I first discovered it and I’m happy to be able to share it here. You may download it, with the author’s gracious permission, by clicking on the link above.

In a concise 27 pages, Skellie asks and answers the following question:

The Question

How can I get visitors, subscribers, comments, inbound links, and people saying good things about what I do?

The Answer

Evaluate every action, every possible change, and every existing feature of your blog or website, and ask: Is it gripping? Can the reader resonate with it? Does it make it easy (and rewarding) to interact? And most importantly: is it easy (or rewarding) to talk about? That’s all you need to know. Do these things, and you’ll get everything you want.

The remainder of the e-book is devoted to each of these four elements: Gripping, resonating, interacting and talking. Each section includes concrete suggestions for things to try on your website or blog and strategies for evaluating a site you may already have.

The Simple Web philosophy suggests that we simplify our websites by doing and adding things only if they help us to achieve our goals. Skellie suggests that we qualify every action or element of our sites as either +1 or -1. It either grips or distracts, resonates or bores, interacts or preaches, talks or is apathetic. There is little or no neutral ground.

The belief in zero, in certain things being neither one nor the other, and therefore acceptable, causes us to waste time and visitor attention on actions and elements that simply don’t contribute to the growth of your site.

Try evaluating your current site, or the one you are about to build, in this light and you may find it becoming much smaller, simpler and more effective.

Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Cross-posted on webdancers.com.

Summer Evenings in Tuolumne

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Bandstand
Our little park in Tuolumne (too•ol•um•ee) has a bandstand. On Wednesdays in the summer, it also has a weekly farmer’s market. The two together make for a great way to spend an evening, especially after one of  those hot summer days, when shade and a nice breeze are a welcome relief.

Upsprout Farms

We usually have four or five local farms selling whatever’s fresh, some artisans selling their wares (my son is partial to the rock and gem guy) and a couple of food vendors. The market gets going around 4, the music starts at 6 and the evening wraps up at 8. It’s friendly and local; a cross-section of our entire community.

The musical lineup has something for everyone, from country to rock to swing. Here’s the schedule for the rest of the summer:

  • 07/07/2010 – BAYOU BOYS
  • 07/14/2010 – SEQUOIA
  • 7/21/2010 – COYOTE HILL
  • 07/28/2010 – SWING GITANE
  • 08/04/2010 – CRASH LANDING
  • 08/11/2010 – ALL 4 THEE
  • 08/18/2010 – JAMES AND THE JUKES
  • 08/25/2010 – DOSSI ON THE ROCKS
  • 09/01/2010 – BLACK IRISH BAND
  • 09/08/2010 – DOUBLE TROUBLE KARAOKE
  • 09/15/2010 – BIG NATION
  • 9/22/2010 – JESSE JAMES & THE OUTLAWS
  • 09/29/2010 – HILLS BROTHERS

This past Wednesday featured the elder statesmen (sorry guys, but it’s true) of our local rock scene, Crazy Ivan. Greg Noll (guitar), Mike Gonzales (bass) and Jim Anderson (drums) clearly loved  playing for a hometown crowd and the feeling was mutual. The video below was shot at another local event, the reopening of The Rock restaurant, in nearby Twain Harte.

If you’re in the area, come join us of a Wednesday evening in the park this summer. You’ll be glad you did.

Tuolumne Park on Google Maps.