Josh Sager Media: Creative Technologies Blog

Tomorrow evening kicks off one of Pittsburgh’s biggest technology weekends of the summer. Starting with the Adobe onAir Bus tour Friday night and Podcamp Pittsburgh 2 Friday - Sunday.

The onAir Event is in the Strip and starts at 6:00pm with a keynote from Mike Chambers. The entire evening will be a show and tell for Air application development with Flash, Flex, HTML, and Javascript. Air, one of many new developments to come from Adobe Labs, is a great way to leverage desktop level application features using web technologies. I for one am very excited to have an opportunity to take part in this event. Air approaches web application development from a different perspective. Which will open the door for far more creative and rich desktop level applications.

Make sure to register for the event so the Adobe guys know how much beer and red bull to bring.

Podcamp Pittsburgh 2 is the other big technology event going on this weekend. This years Podcaster Unconference will be at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and already has about 200 registrants. If by chance you have yet to register, go to the Podcamp Pittsburgh website or register at the front tables when you get there.

As usual the 2 days are jam packed with quality sessions from New Media experts coming from all across the country. These internet evangelists are leading the charge to build stronger communities and creatively monetize while educating the masses along the way.

If you have ever thought about creating a blog, podcast, or videocast this is the event for you. If you’re currently creating any of the aforementioned media and want to learn tips, tricks, short cuts, and techniques to improve then this event is for you. If you like Free Hugs… well you get the picture.

Bringing the community together in person for events like these help to start or create new conversations that go far beyond technical issues. It humanizes what we do as we meet the people behind some of the coolest and creative technologies and content on the web. Putting a face to the url name if you will. There is value behind the tangible exchange of concepts, goals, and wisdom. You too can be apart of this exchange and it starts this weekend. I look forward to seeing you there.

1. Free education!
2. Meet the leaders of in new media both locally and nationally
3. Learn how to incorporate new media into your business
4. Lean about podsafe music
5. Get some Swag
6. Exposure to creative and cutting edge usage of new media
7. Get help with setting up your blog or podcast
8. Learn tips and tricks for branding your site
9. Expert advice in a one on one setting in the Mentors Lounge
10. I’m going to be there

Just in case that isn’t good enough I’m also giving away free hugs!

http://podcamppittsburgh.com
When: 9-4pm This Saturday and Sunday
Where: AIP on the Boulevard of the Allies
Cost: FREE

Whatever you have planned for Aug 17th cancel it right now!!!!! Adobe is coming to Pittsburghfor the onAir Bus Tour to talk about “Adobe Integrated Runtime”, aka AIR, formally known as Apollo.

So what’s the big deal? Only the biggest names in Adobe will be there. Like Kevin Hyot, Ben Forta, and Mike Chambers. How awesome is that? The cost admission is totally worth it too… because it’s FREE! Not to mention the free Beer, Red Bull, and coffee. So bring your laptops with ready for Flex, HTML, or Javascript apps that want to be AIR.

Tell all of your friends about it and lest show Adobe that Pittsburgh is a hub for Multimedia, Web, and New Media Development.
Register | Adobe On Air Tour

It’s going to be the start of the best weekend in Pittsburgh. The very next day is Podcamp Pittsburgh 2. I think my head is going to explode from all of the technology awesomeness!!

Last night I attended my first Refresh Pittsburgh meeting at the Kiva Han coffee shop in Oakland. Despite the hot and muggy weather it was quite refreshing.

Refresh Pittsburgh is all about bringing creative types together in all things design and technology. Last night I met mostly developer hybrids. People that were good with design but for some reason or another spend a lot of time coding. Be it HTML, Actionscript, or .NET

Jason Head and Pat Collins are the two guys heading up the organization. In Jason’s opening address he said that he wanted Refresh Pittsburgh to be an opportunity to share ideas from setting up your first RSS feed to accounting for freelancers. Basically all of the things you wouldn’t have really learned in school but deal with on a regular basis. He went on to say that he does not want this group to be a happy hour like so many other organizations in Pittsburgh.

I immediately identified with Jason a Pats vision and I was sold. More and more Pittsburghers are doing positive things around the city. It’s almost like a creative revolution if you will.

Since Podcamp Pittsburgh last November I have seen a tremendous amount of change in the mindset of the 20 and 30 somethings around town. More of us are communicating, reaching out, and most importantly doing something positive. Some of the negativity still looms but the momentum and enthusiasm of the creative scene is really infectious.

Get out there do something refreshing. Join a user group like the Flash Users Group, get involved with Refresh Pittsburgh, or the Creative Treehouse. There are young people out there in our city making a really big difference. And you can be one of them.

Over the last 4 months my website, stardotstarcomics.com has been receiving a lot of traffic. Which is totally awesome. I’m really excited to see that people are following the blog and checking out some of the comics.

Much of the traffic increase is as a result of social networking and participation in local events, like Podcamp Pittsburgh, Bootcamp Pittsbugh, Creative Marathon, Pittsburgh Flash Users Group, and The Creative Treehouse. Which has been terrific, but there’s one small problem.
Verbally saying stardotstarcomics.com is very difficult and is very confusing. It’s a very long name and the spelled out dot throws everyone for a loop. My only battle strategy is to say stardotstarcomicsPERIODcom, but a lot of people think the PERIOD is spelled out too. It makes for an uncomfortable conversation and the worst web marketing ever.

It really came to head that other night when my mom lost my web address and I had to explain to her what it was. That conversation lasted about 5 minutes longer than it really needed to. If I can’t simply tell my mom what my web address is, then I need to do something about that.

In 24-48 hours I will be the proud owner of sdscomics.com pointing to this website. Don’t worry I’m also keeping the stardotstarcomics.com name as well. sdscomics is much easier to say and to type. Hopefully this will make it easier for me to talk about and easier for you to get here.

PS I want to thank all of you reading my blog. This has been a great way to share really cool things going on in the creative and technology communities.

Me

My session is @ 12:00 in room 439/440. See you there.
ps it is totally FREE!

This Saturday I’ll be on a panel discussion for Integrating New Media into Existing Business, and it’s going to be awesome! I’m really pumped to be apart of the social educational network that podcamp has become. There will be Flickr images and blog updates all Saturday, don’t you worry.

My session is at 12:00 so don’t be late. Ohh it’s FREE!

For more information check bootcamppgh.org

So this morning I decided I would join the ranks of the rest of the world and I’ve joined Flickr. Honestly I don’t know what has taken me so long. Most likely it’s because my SLR is on the fritz and thinking about taking nice pictures bums me out.

Any how I put a flickr badge to the right, and I’m looking to post more images from the up and coming events like bootCamp, Pittsburgh Podcamp 2, and my PTI Brush up.

Ohh yeah and my wedding. It’s going to be a busy summer

Do you remember Podcamp? I sure do! It was a great event bringing the community together to learn more about new media. We had a ton a fun and learned a lot in just one weekend.

Well PodCamp2 is coming real soon(August of 2007). But if you’re anything like me you probably can’t wait to sink you teeth into all of the new media goodness. Which is why I’m totally pumped about BootCamp! So Mark your Calendars right now!!!! Saturday, April 21st 2007 is BootCamp at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

BootCamp is a FREE one day event designed to be a basics level version of Podcamp to get people prepaired for Podcamp2. This is a perfect opportunity to meet some local talent utilizing new media for their businesses, websites, and creative ventures. So if you’ve got some questions about what new media can do for you, don’t hesitate to stop by. Bring your laptop and bring your friends, this is going to a rocking good time.

• Meeting Scott McCloud
• On the Mac Break set
• Podcamp Pittsburgh 2007
• Advisory board meeting
• The new cool thing to me: The New Blogger

Audio File