There will be another PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 planning meeting on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 7:00 PM (note the later time) at the Creative Treehouse in Bellevue.
Topics to be covered will include:
The next meeting of Refresh Pittsburgh will at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, April 1 at the Creative Treehouse in Bellevue.
Refresh Pittsburgh is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of Internet developers in the Pittsburgh area.
To start the evening, Pat Collins will present “CakePHP: Rapid application development with PHP”.
Why learn a new programming language when you can use your existing PHP skills to become a better coder and increase your productivity? Let Pat show you how to build a blog application in no time, and how you can help!
Then, Val Head will be presenting “A, B, C, D-esign!”
Val’s presentation will be a discussion of the basic building blocks of design as they apply to designing fo the web. She’ll show examples of concepts like colour, typography and hierarchy and talk about how these fit in to a web page design.
As usual, if you would like to show off a recent project or pose a few questions to our group, please let us know and we’ll fit you in.
We’ll make sure to provide a good supply of coffee and cookies and other sweets to get you through the night.
Please RSVP to let us know if you will be joining us. We need to make sure we have enough seats and most importantly, coffee and cookies! And by all means, please forward this invitation to anyone you like.
My colleague Karen Bryant will be presenting an all-day marketing class at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management this Thursday. There are still a few spots open.
Marketing for Nonprofits: Five Keys to a Winning Marketing Plan.
Every nonprofit needs a strategic marketing plan to attract clients, secure funding and get noticed. This practical, how-to session presents the five keys to a winning marketing plan in easy-to-understand language with case studies, sample material, hands-on activities and a marketing plan template. Participants begin the marketing planning process in class and leave with the tools to complete and execute it. No budget is too small; these techniques and materials work for everyone.Presenter: Karen Bryant has over 25 years experience working in the nonprofit and corporate sectors. Today, she merges her corporate marketing know-how to help nonprofits to take advantage of marketing and branding strategies utilized by successful companies. Her Pittsburgh clients include YouthWorks, Inc., Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management, Elisco Advertising and Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh, to name a few.
Thursday March 27, 2008
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower
425 6th Avenue, Suite 2610
Downtown Pittsburgh
Fee: $100
Contact: Ivana Spehar 412-397-6000
The next meeting of Refresh Pittsburgh will at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 26 at the Creative Treehouse in Bellevue.
Refresh Pittsburgh is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of Internet developers in the Pittsburgh area.
Cynthia Closkey (that’s me!) from Big Big Design will present “Google-Friendly Blogging in Five Easy Steps.” I’ll talk about basic search engine optimization for WordPress, and by extension, for other blog tools as well. I’ll talk about misconceptions about SEO, and I’ll give some simple steps one can take to improve one’s search ranking.
Next, Jeff Hunter, organizer of Devhouse Pittsburgh will present an introduction to Ruby: what it is, why you may want to consider using it for your next project.
Full details are at the Refresh Pittsburgh website. Visit there and RSVP so we have a headcount.
There will be another PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 planning meeting on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 6:30 PM at the Creative Treehouse in Bellevue.
Topics to be covered will include:
As Justin says, “If you have any questions, concerns or cupcakes, please bring them to the meet-up.”
If you’re interested in new media/social media, the evolution of journalism, and how both interact with the political process, here’s an event you’ll want to know about. I received this announcement from Bob Mayo, a journalist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who also blogs at The Busman’s Holiday.
Digital Democracy is a special event happening here in Pittsburgh next month. This is a project I’ve been working on for months and I’m excited to let you know about it now.
It’s a conference that will explore how the digital revolution — including blogs, online video, websites and social media — is changing traditional news media coverage and citizens’ access to the political process.
The event includes national-caliber speakers who are coming to town on Saturday, March 15.
Its website is now online at: http://www.spj.org/pittsburgh
Our speakers include:
- New York Times Online Politics Editor Kate Phillips, who writes for and edits The Caucus, The New York Times politics news blog.
- Newsbusters.org Executive Editor Matthew Sheffield
- MediaMatters.org Senior Fellow & Director of Special Projects Paul Waldman
- Hearst-Argyle Director of Digital Media Content Jacques Natz
- J-Lab Executive Director Jan Schaffer
- Media Bloggers Association President Robert Cox
Other speakers include former USA Today reporter Toni Locy, who’s topic is “Subpoenaed For Her Sources”. She’s the subject of a contempt-of-court request for her refusal to identify sources who provided her information about the 2001 anthrax attacks and the subsequent investigation.
There will also be sessions on “Bloggers as Journalists and Journalists as Bloggers”, on new media skills and digital literacy for reporters, and on Open Records laws.
Digital Democracy is a Society of Professional Journalists regional conference, hosted by the Pittsburgh chapter. Region 4 covers Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, but the event can draw from beyond. Its something for all journalists — and you don’t have to be a member of SPJ. In fact, given the theme, bloggers, students, and others with an interest and involvement in the conference theme are welcome to attend. The Digital Democracy website has links for online registration and there’s a special rate for students and SPJ members.
Geek Night is a highly informal bimonthly gathering of people in the Pittsburgh high-tech industry. There is no dress code and no cover charge. Show up anytime after 5:00pm, and leave when you feel like it.
When: Thursday, February 7, 2008, 5-9pm and later
Where: The Church Brew Works at 3525 Liberty Ave in Lawrenceville
(geeks gather in the back section of the bar area)
How much: FREE
RSVP: email rsvp @ pghgeeks.org
Details at the Pittsburgh Geeks website.
There will be a PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 planning meeting tomorrow, January 23, 2008 at 6:30 PM at the Creative Treehouse in Bellevue.
Topics to be covered will include:
An upcoming event for Pittsburgh software and web developers, designers, and creative types of all sorts, plus entrepreneurs and more:
DevHouse Pittsburgh is back for 2008! Our second event will be held on Saturday, January 26th at the Creative TreeHouse in Bellevue. In true DevHouse style, we’ll be going all day and into the night, from noon until midnight! Bring your laptop, and feel free to show up for just an hour or stay for the entire time. Snacks and beverages will be provided for your hacking pleasure. For those of you new to DevHouse, this event is intended to provide a place to work on personal software projects, meet other people passionate about technology, and learn new things.
From 4PM to 6PM DevHouse Pittsburgh attendees who want to work on a volunteer project can assist local charities by developing a web-based application to facilitate mentoring programs. The beneficiaries of this endeavor are the Boys and Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania and the Rivers Club’s Young Executives Committee mentoring program for talented students in the Pittsburgh public schools. Share your tips and ideas on what makes sense, help the community, learn from your peers, and meet more of your colleagues.
At 3PM and 7:30PM, a series of lightning talks will be given for approximately an hour. If you’d like to give a lightning talk in either of these time slots, please send a message to jeff@devhousepgh.org. In the interest of lively discussion, the lightning talks will be be strictly limited to 5 minutes.
For complete details, please visit the DevHouse Pittsburgh website.
DevHouse Pittsburgh #2
Saturday, January 26th, 2008, noon – midnight
Creative TreeHouse, 517 Lincoln Ave., Bellevue, PA 15202
I missed DevHouse Pittsburgh 1, so I’m particularly looking forward to this one. I hope to see you there.
The next Pittsburgh BlogFest is scheduled, at last!
BlogFest is an informal and friendly quarterly gathering of local bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, and anyone who enjoys life on the Internet. It’s more happy hour than meeting: No talks will be given, no credentials required. There may be nametags, but that’s only because I’m terrible at remembering names.
WHAT: Pittsburgh Blogfest 13
WHEN: Friday, February 22, 2008, 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM and beyond
WHERE: Finnegan’s Wake (near PNC Park, 20 General Robinson St., North Shore, 412-325-2601), in the Pub Room
WHO: All local bloggers, vloggers, podcasters (and their friends!) and Pittsburgh Bloggers
Food and beverages will be available for purchase from Finnegan’s Wake, as always. Arrive when you like, leave when you must.
Please note that we’re gathering on a Friday evening this time around. We’ve received requests to vary the nights of these events, so that people who can’t go out on a work night can join in the fun, so we’re eager to see any new faces. And we’re equally eager to see old faces. Wear whatever face you have handy, and you will be welcome.
As always, if you plan to attend, please send an e-mail to “blogfest at-sign closkey dot com”. I hope to see you there!