On Thanksgiving day FoG has it's first guest post.
This is Kate Weatherby. I am writing my first blog post. Right now I am in Rosemary Beach with my family and my Nana is visting.
Today we are going to do lots of fun things.
On T.V we will all watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Then we will go to the beach and do the Weatherby Bowl. The Weatherby Bowl is our family football game. I always have a great time doing it.
At about twelve we will go home and start to prepare the turkey. I am going to help Dad cook the bird. While the turkey is cooking I will make a thankful tree. A thankful tree is two or more branches in a little pot. You put rocks or shells to hold up the branches in the pot. Then you get slits of paper with punched holes and write what you're thankful for on them. After that you slide the paper on the branches.Viola! A thankful tree.
Kate and her under 10 year old girls tennis team playing out of Morningside/Piedmont Park played for the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association City Championship today. They won, as did their 12 year old boy teammates.
She's very proud. She took her game 9 to 4 which pretty much sealed the win.
Over the weekend at BarCamp Atlanta nobody wanted to fill the opening slot in the main room. I ended up stepping up and doing an ad-hoc presentation on what is changing with 2.0 version of Atlanta Startup Weekend. There are some major changes in the works, all of which I think will add to the excitement. Here is a brief summary.
Multiple Projects
Perhaps the most exciting change is that instead of all the participants working on a single project we will be working on as many projects as the group wants to support. Since the new format was introduced at Boulder in March 6 - 9 projects have been moved forward in a typical (if there can be such a thing) weekend. Last year we experienced a problem with too many cooks in one kitchen that created some issues. This resulted in talented folks disengaging. I have great hope for the multiple project format making Startup Weekend a richer experience for all.
No Atlanta Startup Weekend 2 LLC Will Be Formed
Last year we formed a partnership with all the participants of Atlanta Startup Weekend getting shares in an LLC which then got a 50% ownership stake in the resulting company, Skribit. At Boulder 2 Andrew Hyde stated that this was taking place due to some blue sky law issues. Don't know much about that. What I do know is that the LLC component has created some complicating issues for Skribit as it continues to move forward. A change for the better. No Company Formation Requirement
As with the LLC, there is no requirement that a project team form a company around their concept. They can. They can agree to work on an ad-hoc basis. They can abandon their project all together. They can join another team that wants to push forward. The only requirements are to build the Atlanta startup community, learn, and have fun. Sounds easy enough. Less Hours
Last year we went from 6 pm - 2 am on Friday, 8 am - 2 am on Saturday, and 9 am on Sunday to 4 am on Monday. We launched a Skirbit alpha at midnight on Sunday and spent a few hours doing testing. I know the Atlanta Web community is very proud of the fact we launched on time with a great product (as it should be). This year the official hours will be Friday from 6-10 pm, Saturday from 9am-9pm. and Sunday from 9am-6pm. You can expect ATDC to be open for a few hours on each side of the official hours as needed. But there will be a bigger emphasis on informal project team meetings before and after hours.
More Fun
The multiple project format and lack of legal wranglings required is going to mean more fun. More fun because more people will be able to be involved (expecting 100 or so, mosey on over to the Atlanta Startup Weekend blog to learn more and sign up). More fun because we can focus on what matters. Building stuff that people want to use. Now if we can only get Andrew to join us...
Administrative note: Please go to the Atlanta Startup Weekend 2 blog and subscribe to the feed. Updates concerning the weekend will be taking place on a regular basis there.
ATDC is the host sponsor of BarCamp Atlanta 2, which essentially means I am spending the better part of the weekend with about 95 geeks and 5 geekettes.
Those that follow me on Twitter know that I used the service to crowdsource my presentation. I got the concept from a presentation that Chris Winfield created for SES Toronto back in June. I had a few requests to distribute the presentation and you will find it below. While the presentation was fine in the room you may need to view in full screen on SlideShare.
Thanks again for all those that participated in the making of a fun presentation.
I love Piedmont Park. It truly is the gem of Atlanta. Pre kids spent lots of time there. Not so much in the last eight years. But that is changing.
Not too long ago I met with Jim Moore and Norman McKay of the Piedmont Park Conservancy. The Conservancy is the nonprofit organization, working with the City of Atlanta to maintain and enhance Piedmont Park as a vital urban green space in the city. They asked me to join the park's Technology Committee. I accepted.
You may be wondering why a park needs technology. Well let me tell you what's going on.
Piedmont Park is undergoing a huge expansion. The park currently contains about 187 acres. They are opening up 53 new acres in the northwest portion of the park, a 40% increase in parkland. The first phase one of the northern expansion will lay the infrastructure and foundation for future amenities. I am particularly excited about this as it will create a new entrance to the park about 300 yards from my home versus the three quarter mile trek that I now have.
Future amenities planned currently include such
things as an interactive water fountain similar to Centennial Park,
lots of wooded trials, athletic fields, basketball courts, bocce
courts, a children's carousal (think Central Park, NYC), and a
skatepark that Jack is going to love. In addition to the expansion area features planned for phase two and beyond, the Conservancy has broken ground on a LEED-certified renovation to the historic bathhouse and pools. It is currently scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2009. I have seen the plans for all this. It is
going to be way cool.
So all these new places and things in the park need to be connected. What's the best way to connect them? The Internet of course. Or more specifically through fiber and wireless technologies that utilize Internet protocol to communicate. So I am helping the Piedmont Park Convservancy evaluate and select the appropriate technologies needed as the park expands. This not only includes the basic infrastructure but appropriate services that ride on the network once it is in place. This is going to be lots of fun.
And I am going to spending a lot more time enjoying Piedmont Park.
Over the weekend I finished reading The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. I purchased the book last year and let it sit until the heart of the football season. After you read it you will never watch a football game in the same way again.
The book is two intertwined stories.
First Lewis analyzes the evolution of football strategy over the past 30 or so years. The rise of the West Coast offense, the appearance of a new breed of defensive player such as Lawrence Taylor, and the resulting need for quarterback blind side protection. This ultimately led to other changes in strategy with the end result being the left tackle spot becoming highly valued with those playing the position generally being the second highest paid person on the field (behind the QBs they are protecting).
Second Lewis adds a layer of color tale of Michael Oher. Oher is a homeless Memphis ghetto kid taken in by
a rich white family with ties to Ole Miss and a Christian high school. At 6'6" and 350 pounds Oher develops into an top ranked left tackle prodigy
with every major college coach in the country recruiting him. Oher ends up at Ole Miss, under NCAA investigation, but with a bright future ahead of him in the league. This personal story brings fresh insight into how hard it is for an inner city kid to break away from his past as well as creates great interest for one to follow Oher's career.
The Blind Side is a fascinating book that is a must read for any football fan.
My name is Lance Weatherby. This is my blog. I am a technology entrepreneur and currently a Venture Catalyst at Georgia Tech. I help launch and build technology companies.
The opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone (with the exception of comments by others of course). They do not represent the opinion or position of any other person on entity. All postings adhere to my personal values.
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