Posts Tagged ‘ Utah ’

Open Letter To Utah Pulse

I submitted this to the UtahPulse.com feedback section earlier tonight.  Enjoy.

As a member of the Utah tech community I hoped to find UtahPulse.com as a place to connect, learn & find fresh utah oriented content.  Unfortunately that is not what I have found.  I hope this feedback finds a reader who understands that this criticism may seem harsh on a beta site but without such feedback this site won’t make it out of beta.

What I have found has been a drab site with little content (forgivable as its in beta) and what content I have seen does not grab the reader in any way shape or form. What I have seen is a press release aggregator. Zions bank is a great member of the community, but the link & image at the top of the page is more than enough to advertise for them, no need to reproduce every tech related topic from them and make UtahPulse look like a shill for them.  Additionally, there are no images for a story therefore making the content seem dry, newswire-like.

Integrating yourself into a community like the tech community of Utah will take much work but I don’t believe that it will be hard.  You need to get people into the community not just a site.  If you are to join the tech community of Utah then you must /join/ the tech community of Utah.  What I mean by that is that you should be networking with the networkers & utilizing the technology talent that is readily at hand.  Get local bloggers to blog about UtahPulse, get involved in the worldwide discussion. Join & use tech that excited the tech members of the state you are trying to grab the attention of.  What about a fan page on Facebook?  Thats pretty mainstream.  How about organizing a meetup using Upcoming.org?  Or how about getting really crazy and utilizing the bleeding edge that we are using like Twitter? Or how about grab a Qik account and broadcast live online from a cell phone some of the pivotal tech events that occur on a weekly basis.

The conversation is waiting for you, are you ready for it?

This message brought to you by: http://www.cluetrain.com/

2008
06/25
CATEGORY
Utah Bloggers
2 comments

Twitter: Above and Beyond

I sincerely feel as if I am beating a dead horse here and probably preaching to the choir in regards to the usefulness of the social networking tool known as Twitter.  But after seeing this article in regards to how a UC Berkeley student was able to notify his fellow students of his arrest and them in turn notifying the proper authorities to help him get out I don’t think I can say it enough. Oh, did I mention?  The guy was in Egypt.  Being arrested for taking photographs of a noisy demonstration.  And those authorities his friends notified?  Oh little groups like the embassy in Egypt and UC Berkeley itself to which they were able to provide legal counsel to get him sprung.

The ease of use for what was referred to in the article as a ‘wire service’ was probably pretty incomprehensible just a decade ago.  In addition to that it has much more real implications locally, today I found out about a meetup with a few locals and someone from Seattle that was in town just to sit and lunch and discuss whatever we felt like discussing.  This has particular interest to me because I am legitimately thinking of moving to Seattle or Portland or San Francisco (Live in one of those cities? Follow me on Twitter!).  And I just made friends with someone who lives in one of those cities.  When using networks like Twitter you’ve got to go above and beyond, you’ve got to think of the possibilities of how it can affect you on a day to day basis and how it can affect you in times of crisis.  So, I challenge you;  If you haven’t signed up for Twitter yet, then do so.  If you have already friend me up and then proceed to friend up someone in another city… You never know when they may come to yours or vice versa.

2008
04/16
CATEGORY
Chronicles of Youth
Job Hunt
Utah Bloggers
1 comment

Leading Communities

Earlier this semester I was approached by those on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ about leading the ministry. I have been a part of this group for going on three years now, ever since I moved to Utah. To be presented with the chance to help shape it for the coming semester did not sound like an easy task at all, especially with a full time job alongside it. I wouldn’t be alone in it by any means as I’d have a partner in crime to take on the task as well as any of the students to pull in as time went on. So, I accepted the role.

This would not be the first time I fulfilled a leadership role by no means. In my teens a few friends and I lead a large gaming tournament & community, after that I moved on to University where I landed in the role of team lead time and again. But this new opportunity of helping to lead a ministry such as it is was a different kind of responsibility. The consequences feel much more real, the rewards were as real as the consequences and time all the more ticking away. I find myself learning the art of volunteering individuals, balances of strength versus precision, and time with patience.  The questions I consistently ask myself focus more on the community as a whole instead of more selfish desires.  It is an interesting dynamic to slip from one role to the next.  To go from being an average part of a community (the member) to a role of leadership.  I’d highly recommend trying both roles at some point or another else you will never get to see the big picture.

2008
02/22
CATEGORY
Chronicles of Youth
Leadership
Religion
1 comment

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