Gnomedex: Day One.

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You’ve heard the old joke about the guy that robs a bus full of Japanese tourists but the police catch the guy within 10 minutes because they had more than 500 photos of the thief. That was the first day of Gnomedex 5.0. Almost 400 people in attendance. All online, blogging every word.

But not smays. My Thinkpad wireless refused to work which might have been a good thing since I could pay attention and not worry about blogging the event. Pretty big announcement by Microsoft on how they’re integrating RSS in IE 7 and Longhorn. Looked pretty cool to me.

Gnomedex 2005

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Gnomedex officially gets underway tomorrow but there was a gathering of the geeks tonight at the opening reception. I chatted with half a dozen co-attendees and the common thread running through every conversation was a passion for blogging. I was reminded of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. All of these unconnected people (Steve Lacey, Steve Duncan, Jason Laskodi), irresistably drawn to this common location. They didn’t know what or why, they just knew they had to get there. Similar vibe.

Phineas

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Phineas is a nine-year-old parrott and has a life expectancy of about 60 years. All pets should live so long. Phineas is attempting to do a hand-stand despite not having hands. A real trooper. The woman in the background is probably not a bird person. [flickr]

Steve Mays West

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Just spent a fascinating two hours drinking beer with Steve Mays (we agreed that–when in Seattle– I would be the “other” Steve Mays). He’s a 42 year old attorney. Married. Child free. (Like me). He had a very successful radio career that started in Oklahoma City and wound up in San Francisco. (Sort of like me, except for the success part). He went to law school. Like me. But instead of dropping out after three months, he graduated and has a small but successful practice here in Seattle. And next week he joins a software company as in-house council.

Sitting in the bar waiting for him felt uncomfortably like a blind date. But after we sucked down a few of the delicious Seattle micro-brews, it was like…two guys with the same name. I was a little amazed at how much we had in common besides our name. My plan is to track down *all* of the Steve Mays’ and see what they’re like.

Jonathan Schwartz on executive blogging

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Jonathan Schwartz –president and COO of Sun Microsystems– on executive blogging:

“If you want to be a leader, I can’t see surviving without a blog. It’s as important as having an e-mail account and a mobile phone. It doesn’t count if you delegate the task of maintaining your blog to someone on your staff.”

Schwartz says that too often, communicating with employees and business partners is like a game of telephone. You speak to a group of people close to you, and they speak to their teams, and so on and so on. With a blog, “you hop through 12 layers of management to get directly to someone in New Zealand.” It also opens up a channel for receiving feedback and ideas from that employee in New Zealand.” [Fast Company]

I have been (gently) lobbying the COO of our company to consider blogging. He’s a smart and funny guy (neither necessary for blogging) and would be very good at it. But it is a bit like having a puppy. A lot of work and sometimes messy.

Perfect Day in Seattle

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No-sweat e-ticket check-in. Barely had time to take off my shoes before I was through security. Zero delay on the flight to Seattle. And now I’m sitting in the bar of the Edgewater Hotel, sucking down micro-brews (and free wi-fi). Christ, can life get any better?

On Wednesday, I’m meeting The Other Steve Mays for drinks. Tomorrow we do Pike Place Market. Watch for photos.

Screw you, pop (Dave Morris)

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Dave (dave’s window) gives us a taste from his new line of “dysfunctional greeting cards“:

Dad, I love you and all but I cant say you raised me, helped me learn to play catch, taught me to shave or any of those other Dad-ish things since we only met a few years ago… so thanks for your recent portfolio advice and thoughts on my impending retirement. Happy Father’s Day!

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

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“A teenage American girl, living in 1972 Amsterdam, comes across an ancient book in the library of her widower father, a former historian and now a diplomat. The book, blank save for an illustration of a dragon and the word Drakulya, contains a cache of faded letters all addressed to “My dear and unfortunate reader.” Thus begins a search for the truth behind the myth of Dracula, a search that crosses continents as well as generations.”

— The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova