I attended an event after work today at The Belmont, downtown on Sixth Street. It is billed as a “state-of-the-art music venue and private event space”. My event was relatively small, so I wandered around a bit and took some photos so you could get an idea of what the space looks like in case you have the inclination to see one of their upcoming concerts or maybe to attend a SXSW event there in March. Cheers!
The conference I went to last week got me thinking a little bit about crowdsourcing. By a Merriam Webster definition found in a Wikipedia article, “crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.”
One of my favorite speakers at the conference was Jessica Jackley . Back in 2005, she founded a company called Kiva, which is a “non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.”
The concept is a bit hard to understand at first, so if you have time, check out this YouTube video of Jessica’s Ted Talk in 2010.
I was amazed by her story as well as her ability to share her passion for helping others. To be honest, I am not sure if this will inspire me to be a better person or to use the Kiva website to help out someone in need, but I thought I would share the information with you so you can make your own decision.
I went back to the Fan Fest today for more music and fun. The best band of the day was Grupo Fantasma .
The Flying Balalaika Brothers put on a wonderful show if you get the chance to catch their blend of world music and original stuff.
I was invited to a luncheon at work today. The food was catered by Chuy’s and they brought fajitas for us. Yay! This little dude was hanging out on the table, and now he is hanging out in my cubicle until somebody decides to give him a better home…
Here are some pictures from a Social Media Conference I attended all day at The Westin Austin at The Domain . It was designed as an Unconference where the attendees set the agenda and lead informal sessions on topics they are passionate about. I liked the format, and it kept me engaged throughout the entire event.
earthrobert 