Jen Consalvo » conference

big ideas, big action

Jen Consalvo — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:23:44 +0000

lots of us have ideas – it’s putting them into action that is often the biggest problem – or finding their biggest potential and getting the help we need to bring it to fruition. yesterday’s “biba” event (big ideas, big action) brought to life by istrategy labs with fedscoop, pulled together various groups of people from the federal government, local organizations, startups, creatives and more to discuss successes, challenges and useful processes. peter corbett (istrategy labs) and goldy kamali (fedscoop) hosted the day’s events, which started with a morning of inspirational speakers and then turned into the big ideas brainstorming sessions – where people with big ideas could be matched up with others to take them to the next level. the most popular breakout group seemed to be steve moore’s table that focused on revitalizing the h street business district. the day was filled with ideas, creative solutions and plenty of toys to stimulate ideation. the entire process reminded me of past ideo-inspired sessions (from my earlier corporate days) but with more cross-pollination since may people didn’t know each other and came from various types of industry. with so many interesting ideas floating around, i couldn’t help but focus on my own and challenge myself to think bigger and take more action.

one such action that peter announced is a new event in dc that i’m a part of. istrategy labs and shiny heart ventures are teaming up to create a digital capital week in dc this coming june. look for more information over the next few months, but know that it will be filled with events, ideas and inspiration around all things digital. it’s one of many opportunities we have this year to stretch our imaginations and abilities. we’re thrilled to be a part of it!

see more photos and read a more complete re-cap of the event on techcocktail.com.

see more images here on flickr. sign up for my email updates here.

october’s local tech events

Jen Consalvo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:21:32 +0000

fall is my favorite season.. but it seems to fly by the fastest. probably because it’s so jam packed with events. there were many others but here are just a few photos from some recent local tech events in the dc-area: blog potomac, twtrcon and a couple from last night’s “living proof” event put on by the gates foundation. note the tears of sadness and funeral garb for blog potomac’s last event. and of course, we collected a few thankfulfor statements along the way…

npr’s andy carvin speaking at blog potomac

shel israel was a morning highlight at blog potomac

sean gorman from fortiusone spoke at blog potomac later in the day

natalia luckyanova from imangi studios spoke about game development

a teary-eyed adam zand and shireen mitchell announce the “wake” for blog potomac (post-event happy/sad hour)

geoff livingston, the event founder, gives some final remarks at the end of blog potomac

shireen mitchell steals some quiet time in the theater’s balcony

scott harrison talks about charity:water at twtrcon dc

power users unite at table 3

the excitable social media panel at twtrcon dc

a group picture before leaving twtrcon for another local meetup

laura fitton (aka @pistachio) tells us what she is thankful for (awwww…)

scott harrison of charity:water tells us what he is thankful for

brian dresher from usa today tells us what he is thankful for

we couldn’t get close enough to bill gates to ask what he is thankful for, but let’s just guess (pardon the bad pic – taken with iphone!)

another pic of the stage at the gates foundation living proof project at the sidney harmon hall in dc

TechCrunch50: Year 3

Jen Consalvo — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:33:35 +0000

How time flies. I remember when Mike first told us he was going to host a tech conference and after that first event, we were all exhausted and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of entrepreneurship and creativity under one roof, not to mention the nonstop after-events. By now, I’ve learned how to better pace myself, I know lots of the other attendees and feel like the event has become a bit of a fall tradition. That said, it was still a whirlwind event with a surprise ending.

Here are links to the posts I did each day and some of the images I captured. Of course, for more complete coverage, the TechCrunch staff did an amazing job posting about all of the companies and most of the panels of experts. But while we’re here, let’s enjoy my take on things, shall we?

140 conference

Jen Consalvo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:32:43 +0000

it’s been a while between postings because, well, i’ve been busy. maine, milwaukee, taiwan, new york, chicago – all since the middle of may. that’s a lot even for me.

if you follow my flickr photo stream then you’ve seen some of the pics, but i’m still getting caught up – almost done! and with those pics, come blog posts. many are in draft form right now, but this first one is about jeff pulver’s #140conf that took place in new york city early last week. i think the best description of the event is jeff’s, from his post-event email:

One of my goals of creating and producing #140conf was to in effect enable what could be best described as: “Social Media Heterosis” (hybrid vigor in the social media space) and cross connect communities which are all using twitter as a platform in their business but would have otherwise have never had any reason to meet each or connect with each other.

heterosis aside – clearly it was the sheer variety of people who showed up and participated that made #140conf worthwhile. put even more simply.. there were lots more artsy people there than at your typical tech conference.

many other people wrote recaps far better than my notes would allow, so i’ll post some of my favorite images here and include links to some posts i found interesting or informative, below. the picture above is from a fun session where a group of us taught supermodel melissa haro (@melissaharo) about twitter. big thanks to jeff pulver for producing the event and getting us all involved.

and just a few pics that reveal my obsession with footware…

more images here.

recaps, opinions and such:

and of course, to be balanced, here are some strong thoughts on the weaknesses of the event by paul carr.
guardian.co.uk – series: not safe for work -and we’ll tweet at the end of the tour

TC50 personal favs

Jen Consalvo — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:42:24 +0000

i knew coming into this week that it would be intense and overwhelming, but also inspiring, which is what i was looking for. it gave me an electric feeling to be surrounded by so many smart, energetic and driven people – and their enthusiasm is completely contagious! but realistically, only a fraction of the startups here will really make it so i want to share my top 10 13 so everyone can check them out. admittedly, these may not be the best businesses, but they’re the ones i would sign up for and want to test out.

techcrunch50 conference

opentrace – traces product materials and related information and calculates their environmental load
other inbox -helps manage email overload by creating filters for every site that sends you email
adgregate markets – transforms online display ads into fully transactional micro-stores
popego – social lifestream aggregator taking it to the next level by filtering interests
tonchidot (once i have an iphone!)- “world camera” is a real world interface that connects the iphone to a virtual world allowing you to create and participate in both
fitbit -ultra-compaq wireless sensor tracks your personal activities and works with your personalized webpage to view and track progress on personal health goals
postbox – automaticaly detects, analyszes and catalogs all types of content from your email inbox, making it easier to find and use all your stuff
fotonauts – takes photo sharing to a new level, encouraging collaboration
birdpost – searchable, visual database and social network for birdwatchers (or for plants, fish – whatever)
causecast – helps make it easier to give back based on the causes you believe in
goodguide - the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products you use
goplanit – travel recommendations and planning on the go
iamnews – a global open newsroom powered by you

congrats again to Nir whose product, iamnews.com was the demo pit winner which earned him an unexpected spot on stage. very cool product.

TC50 Day 3…oy

Jen Consalvo — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:15:38 +0000

ok, so we were a little delayed this morning because it was a late night, but we’re here now and didn’t get the worst seats in the world. and we were still in time for the first presentations of the day which include videosurf, gazopa (presenting as i type), fotonauts and bojam. this mornings judges include robert scoble, sheryl sandberg, joi ito and bradley horowitz – not sure if they’ll be as feisty and fun as some of our previous judges but so far they’re giving the startups some great advice. for more pics and comments throughout the day check out my tumblr page.

for now, enjoy this pic i took of jason calacanis interviewing mark cuban. excellent interview – read the entire transcript on TechCrunch.

top 10 TC50 products i want to try as of day 2…

Jen Consalvo — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:17:37 +0000

i’ll update this after tomorrow’s presos, but here are the top 10 new products i personally would like to try.

angstro – day 1, memes & news
opentrace – day 1, enterprise
other inbox – day 1, advertising & commerce
adgregate markets – day 1, advertising & commerce
popego – day 2, collaboration
me-trics – day 2, finance & statistics
tonchidot (once i have an iphone!) – day 2, mobile
fitbit - day 2, mobile
postbox – day 2, language & platform tools
swype – day 2, language & platform tools

i luv this product – fitbit

Jen Consalvo — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:25:11 +0000

fitbit inspires people to exercise more, eat better and live a healthier lifestyle. they’ve developed a small clippable device called the ‘fitbit tracker’ you put on your body (pocket, bra strap, whatever works for you). it’s an ultra-compact wireless sensor that tracks all your behavior – making everything you do much more visible to you – how much activity you get, how much you eat, etc… it all gets sent back to your own page on fitbit.com to analyze and present the details back to you. it will be available in late december, early january for around $99 – accepting preorders now.

audience panel – thank you ladies

Jen Consalvo — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:46:29 +0000

last week’s trip to chicagoland for the tech cocktail conference flew by. to kick it off wednesday night, the guys organized a little meet-up so the speakers could get acquainted and prepare over cocktails. which was key because thursday was a total blur of activity. it was an impressive roster of speakers and panelists and i noticed more than a few people furiously taking notes throughout the sessions. congrats to eric & frank for creating such a great event (in your spare time – eh hem).

while gary, dick, harper and the rest were stellar, i’m going to give my props to fellow panelists blagica bottigliero and genevieve thiers, and our moderator shawn bolan, for a fantastic session on understanding your audience (the female perspective). it was a real challenge to keep the panel to the 30 minute slot – judging by our conversation wednesday night, i’m sure we could have easily gone another hour. the panel very quickly covered territory from doing primary, anthropological research to see how your users actually use the internet, to how women do research online, and how relationships & trust factor in to everyday choices and behaviors.

it was a great opportunity to spend time with women who are building their own companies, leading teams and inspiring others along the way – and meet so many great people from around the country coming together to learn and share from each other’s experiences. thanks for having us, asking great questions and sending great feedback!

TECH cocktail song

Jen Consalvo — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:49:40 +0000

tomorrow i’m heading to chi-town for frank and eric’s TECH cocktail conference – should be a great time and i’m really looking forward to being back in the city. and who else would create a song?? enjoy!