New Year's Eve - 2013
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Big Data Evolution and Social Business...
Written by Kirsten Nelson 1321_ 12/3/12 - Defrag, a tech conference held each fall at the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colorado recently met for its sixth annual event. Bringing keynote speakers, CxOs, entrepreneurs and the tech minded, data driven together, what big ideas arose in 2012? Big Data and Social Business, of course.
Far from surprising, given that Defrag organizers Eric Norlin, Brad Feld, and Phil Becker began Defrag from their collective desire to discuss the innovative software and technological tools needed to sift through and analyze the mounting avalanche of information. The very nature of data, as evidenced by the descriptions and discussions of notable keynote presenters such as Kevin Kelly and Paul Kedrosky, has evolved, and continues to evolve, at an exponential pace. In similar fashion, so has the imperative for businesses, from the gargantuan to small start up, to utilize that data.
In the past, utilization prompted faint images or ideas of algorithms designed to sort, classify, and analyze data for application in finite areas such as product design and consumer relations – something the IT guys (and gals) could worry about. As evidenced by many of the keynote speakers, data utilization and our conception of it must undergo an evolution as well. An evolution that transforms not only how we think about data, but how we think about the role of data within business. True, meaningful utilization takes companies through the growing pains of becoming authentically social – not just in finite pockets of the infrastructure, but across all inter and intrapersonal relationships and interactions within the organization.READ More... RELATED LINKS:
C3 Writing ||
TechStars ||
Foundry Group ||
Defrag/blur Info ||
C3 Writing Channel ||
KEYWORDS: Defrag 2012, Big Data Evolution, big data, Brad Feld, Phil Becker, Eric Norlin,
algorithms, analyze, Kirsten Nelson, Paul Kedrosky, Kevin Kelly, data utilization
It is like taking a step into the future
1322_ 12/3/12 -
We're at the Blur Conference speaking with Nick Brewer of MakerBot, and we're learning how to print a cup holder for our car . The existing cup holder just isn't big enough to hold the coffee mug I'm using - So Nick can print a new one for me, with his 3 dimensional MakerBot Printer. He'll print a larger holder that will extend the size of the existing cup holder to handle my mug. See, it is like taking a step into the future, with a reality feature that takes your breath away.
Step back for some clarification, MakerBot is a company that makes 3-D printers, like the Replicator-2 which is a desktop 3-D printer. What that does? It takes a virtual file and actually creates a physical object out of it, using a plastic. Really, anything you can imagine, you can print! It is limited only by your imagination. Now when we say print, we're not talking about a piece of paper. The Replicator-2 takes a plastic filament, pulls it through an extruder - think of a hot glue gun - and it lays down, layer by layer, an object. So it prints / draws a picture, layer by layer. It actually builds up a 'thing'. So if you need an extended cup holder... or learning aids for school - or you want to prototype parts for a business... It is really mind boggling what people can do. Larry asked, "Nick, If we were talking just a few years back, we couldn't be talking about an affordable, desktop 3-D printer. What do you see for the future?" Nick replied, "It's kind of a 'wild west' out there. You have companies taking this technology and just running with it." Nick told us that their largest customer is NASA! He said, "It just blows my mind. The things we're doing in Brooklyn, my world is so small. But they're taking this technology and..." ...listen for more ...
RELATED LINKS:
MakerBot ||
TechStars ||
Foundry Group ||
Defrag/blur Info ||
PodCast Directory ||
KEYWORDS: Nick Brewer, MakerBot, 3-D printer, 3 Dimensional, Replicator-2, DefragCon
2012, Software, Entrepreneurs, Foundry Group, TechStars, NASA, Emerging Tech > bytes=4116796
LISTEN TO: Nick Brewer, MakerBot...
Exploring the enterprise social networking space
1317_ 11/26/12 -
Based in downtown Denver, this company is eight years old, with about 150 folks at this point, highly profitable and growing quickly, Newsgator is in the enterprise social networking space, and we are talking with JB Holston, founder and Chairman of the Board, here at Defrag 2012. Think of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter - but think of it as a private, for a company's employees and external constituents, based primarily on the Microsoft stack, but not entirely. About half of their business is outside of the U.S. and JB says, "It's been a great ride!" Larry asked JB, with all of his experience, over these past few years, "What do you think are the biggest challenges for businesses today?" JB said, "I really think of two as the primary challenges. One is talent. both finding and retaining, training, motivating, managing talent. If you're a software company in particular, the demand for software engineers is so great and so competitive, that you've got to be a wonderful company to work for. Challenge number two is aggregate demand. When I think about all the macroeconomic and political issues going on. Anything that slows down aggregate demand, uncertainty about the fiscal cliff, that sort of thing, tends to effect the pace of demand. And as long as that pace is allowed to grow unfettered than the business is continued to be terrific." JB sees so many opportunities for business today, particularly in the front range. JB has been very involved in the Denver Startup scene here in the last few months. They had over 1000 startup companies in the Denver area alone, who were associated with that event. He said, "I think the message from that is, it is incredibly easy to start a great firm today ...listen for more exciting ideas...
RELATED LINKS:
Newsgator ||
Foundry Group ||
TechStars ||
Defrag/blur Info ||
Software Channel ||
Blog ||
KEYWORDS: B Holston, NewsGator, Software, Enterprise Social Networking Space,
DefragCon 2012, Software, Collaboration, Entrepreneurs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Microsoft Stack, > bytes=4116796
LISTEN TO: JB Holston, Chairman of Board, NewsGator
Communicate more effectively with smart mobile device users 1320_ 11/26/12 - How many times have you called a company and gotten a long frustrating phone tree? Press one for this, press two for that. Just imagine if you could get a visual menu that would instantly show you, which was then tap-able... so you could get visual responses. Radish Systems is a software company that helps enterprises communicate more effectively with smart mobile device users. They share visual content, in call, while texting or talking with mobile users. Businesses find great value in improving the mobile user experience. They save money and make money in the process. It's not constrained to an automated self service system - it also works with live people in call centers who can communicate with you, send you visuals and complete the transaction much more efficiently. Theresa Szczurek, co-founder and CEO of Radish Systems attended the Defrag and Blur conferences and we asked her, a serial entrepreneur, what she thought were the greatest challenges businesses face today. "It's a really important question because businesses are looking for solutions that solve their biggest pain. Otherwise they're not willing to separate from their cash or spend their time. So, the biggest challenge in this economic environment is to get the attention and time of the enterprises and to identify really what their pain points are and bring a solution that's going to solve their problems." Switching gears to the greatest opportunities for businesses today, Theresa said, "We are in a global environment." The biggest opportunity is to take advantage of the world going mobile. What is the future of mobility within a business? "It's a great opportunity because there are about one billion people around the world who now have smart mobile devices." ...listen for more, Theresa has some advice to aspiring entrepreneurs... RELATED LINKS: Radish Systems || Defrag/blur Info || TMS World || Radish Sprouts || Software Channel || KEYWORDS: Theresa Szczurek, Radish Systems, Visual Content, Entrepreneurs, Mobile
Communications, Apps, Smart Phone, Mobile Devices, Radish Communications Systems, > bytes=5520303 LISTEN TO: Theresa Szczurek, CoFounder/CEO, Radish Systems
Sticking to it is going to be the entrepreneurs challenge 1319_ 11/26/12 -
Here at Defrag 2012, we are talking with John Minnihan, founder of Freepository. Freepository provides hosted source control to developers who are geographically dispersed. "We've been doing this since 1999 and were the first source code hosting site that was broadly used and we've been growing ever since" said John. He thinks the biggest challenge facing businesses today is pretty straightforward - sticking to it is going to be a challenge. Smart people have world changing ideas. Having the capacity to stick with their ideas through maybe some tougher challenging times. Normal stuff that you go through when you start a business, might seem more difficult. But you stick with it. In discussing the greatest opportunity John said, "By far it is the sheer cost of starting a business. It is incredibly low cost today as compared to ten years ago. A tremendous and broader way of either free or very low cost tools that provide immediate value to your business. Things like Freepository, hosted source control. You've got marketing solutions that are completely web based. You've got ways to broadcast your message - to get people excited about what you're doing through Twitter, through Facebook, Tumbler and other large, yet broadly seen media sites like that. So the low cost aspect of going from zero to something today is probably the single greatest opportunity for an entrepreneur." John's advice to an aspiring entrepreneur - "Go for it, just do it. You know, don't wait. Don't put off. Don't find yourself five years from today saying I wish I'd done this. Oh that great idea I had... Three other parties are doing it and they're just kicking butt." Your mantra should be, Do it! Do it! Do it! Listen now...
RELATED LINKS:
Freepository ||
Defrag/blur Info ||
In the News ||
w3w3.com Blog ||
KEYWORDS: John Minnihan, Freepository, Defrag, blur, Source Code Repositories, Open Source Project Hosting Sites, Eclipse, TortoiseCVS, WinCVS, CLI, Entrepreneurs, > bytes=3502814
LISTEN TO: John Minnihan, Founder, FreePository
A Gift for You ... Go Here
from w3w3® & Larry Nelson
Achieving Your Personal and Professional Goals in 2013
933_ Don't Let Another Year Go By - The Ultimate Win is Yours
- Larry Nelson has taught this material in seminars in over a dozen countries, from China to Canada, from Norway to Australia, from Germany to Japan as well as throughout the USA. He shares the results of his international research about the Characteristics of an Achiever and then goes on to help you lay out your "personalized blueprint" to personal and professional success. Larry is an internationally published author, has been a consultant to many Fortune 1000 companies and is best known for his train-the-trainer programs. ...listen now a complete step-by-step program including a downloadable manual and resource guide...this is an in-depth strategic planning and goal setting system for achievers.. The links below are valuable and extremely helpful to setting your course for the next year! And they're free. Related Links: Ultimate Win Resources || Training Trends || 3-Filters Technology™ || Podcasting Directory || Your Goal || Keywords: Ultimate Win, Your Goal, Training Trends, 3-Filters TechnologyTM, Setting Goals, Larry Nelson; 11/29/10 Chnl: Entrepreneurs
Pay attention to your own personal and leadership growth
1320_ 12/3/12 -
We have quite a history with our guest today. We're talking with Robert White, founder of Extraordinary People, LLC. and author of the popular book, Living An Extraordinary Life, now in its fifth printing. Robert has also founded a number of companies, best known for the experiential training company LifeSpring, here in the U.S. and then internationally for ARC International which was the largest training company in Asia. Heavily involved with the Innovation Pavilion, we asked Robert what was going on there and why he was so involved. Robert explained, "As you know, the Innovation Pavilion is an incubator primarily for startups, or early stage companies, and I just love what they're doing out there. I love supporting innovation and job growth." It is a challenge for startups and they have a program called the Executives in Residence, which is an opportunity to give back and support these startups, and to do so without a fee on the front end. Recently the Innovation Pavilion hosted a leadership program that Robert normally does in-house with intact teams, corporations and non-profits. It was great fun, lots of learning and the feedback was excellent. Larry asked, "With all the entrepreneurs out there, and of course the economic challenges - why is executive coaching and team development so important for these entrepreneurs?" Robert replied,
"Well most entrepreneurs are excited about a product. It's the latest, the greatest, they're passionate about it. Many of them have a technical or service background as opposed to a leadership and management background. So, the reason that companies fail, most often, is the people they choose. Are the people focused, are they aligned and is their commitment level equivalent? The absence or weakness in any one of those three, the people issues, can sabotage what otherwise might be a very successful company." They talked about how Robert has always been a 'giver' and involved with the community as well as offering some excellent advice for entrepreneurs. ..Listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS:
Extraordinary People ||
TiE Rockies Colorado ||
Charter Members ||
Economy Builders ||
KEYWORDS: Robert White, Extraordinary Life, Personal Growth, Leadership Growth,
Innovation Pavilion, Executives in Residence Program, ARC International, LifeSpring, Living An Extraordinary Life, bytes=6166050
LISTEN TO: Robert White, Extraordinary Life
Brace yourself for the HCI Revolution...
1323_ 12/3/12 -
Here at Defrag/Blur Conference 2012, we are talking with the director of the IDIA Lab, aka, the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts at Ball State University, and keynote speaker here at the Blur Conference, John Filwalk. We asked for an overview of what the IDIA Lab does. "IDIA is an interdisciplinary lab at the University. We work with architects and computer scientists, artists and designers - basically on 3D simulation of virtual reality projects." They do a combination of working with screen based technologies - something you would work with on computer. But also we are working with some technologies where you actually wear a headset and some more immersive virtual reality, like you've seen in the movies - that sort of thing. John says one of the things they're investigating is making it more scalable and accessible. "So, we're working with a couple of game engines, mainly the ones that we're most excited by are the ones that actually work with standard Internet browsers / web browsers. So that way the accessibility and being able to be immersed in the virtual worlds is much easier." John said, "We live in a 3D world and we find it makes more sense to be able to take information when you're teaching/learning, training, things like that, and have them happen in a three dimensional space as well. We're used to working in two dimensional space but even though we're used to it, it is more abstract to us then something like this where we are sitting at a table right now. We understand that spatially and that's a very different type of engagement. The truth is that we stand on the verge of a major revolution in the models of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). A revolution that will fly right past academic and into a world of retail, medical, gaming, military, public event, sporting, personal and marketing applications. From multi-touch to motion capture to spatial operating environments, over the next 10 years, everything we know about HCI will change." There's more...
RELATED LINKS:
IDIA Lab ||
Defrag/blur Info ||
In the News ||
w3w3.com Blog ||
KEYWORDS: John Filwalk, Ball State University IDIA Lab, Defrag, blur, Institute for
Digital Intermedia Arts, Interdisciplinary Lab, Human Computer Interaction, 3-D World > bytes=3502814
LISTEN TO: John Filwalk, Director IDIA Lab, Ball State University
Chris Pelley of Capital Investment Management is proud to announce the hallmark event surrounding the visit of Connie Duckworth December 3rd-4th.
6th ANNUAL BUSINESS / SOCIAL ENTERPRISE EVENT Connie K. Duckworth, Founder and CEO
Social entrepreneur Connie K. Duckworth founded ARZU, which means “hope” in Dari, in 2004 to empower destitute women weavers in rural Afghanistan and serves pro bono as Chairman and CEO. Starting with 30 weavers, ARZU has transformed into a learning laboratory for holistic grassroots economic development – today employing some 700 women, providing access to education and basic healthcare, seeding multiple micro-business start-ups, building community centers, preschools, and parks, and creating award-winning fair-labor rugs – all in a country ranked as “the world’s worst place to be a woman.” Ms. Duckworth retired in 2001 as a Partner and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, the first woman to be named a sales and trading partner in the firm’s history. For the past decade, she has focused her business lens in many roles as a corporate director, published author, activist, angel-investor, humanitarian, and blogger. She is the recipient of numerous awards for leadership, advocacy, social impact, innovation and global presence. RELATED LINKS: ARZU Studio Hope || CIMCO || Community Reach || Social Entrepreneurship || M&A Channel || ACG Denver || ACG Denver / CIMCO Annual Social Enterprise Event || KEYWORDS: Connie Duckworth, ARZU, Studio Hope, Social Entrepreneurship, Afghanistan,
Women, Philanthropy, CIMCO, Community Reach, ACG Denver, bytes=5276215 LISTEN TO: Connie Duckworth, Founder/CEO, AZRU
Mastering Change in the Midst of Chaos™1307_ 11/12/12 -
Here’s what you’ll learn in this 200 page book!
- Apply the Principles of A-to-Z Planning to
Build a Winning Team
- Tap into Your Team’s Mental DNA to
Increase Performance
- Understand Your Sector’s
History, Trends & Ground Swell
Regardless of the economy, application of these 3 initiatives will help you achieve your goals, meet your bottom-line metrics and accomplish incredible results. These 3 initiatives are Powerful, Proven and People-Oriented. Larry predicts there will be more significant changes in 2013 than in the last 10 years combined…across all sectors. Read More at Mastering Change .
Order now… It’s yours for $10.00 and we’ll pay the shipping in the US…
(limited supply)
It is easy to deploy software on top of cloud servers 1316_ 11/26/12 -
Welcome to the Cloud where you can rent a server by the hour! Now you've got a machine with a command line interface - but it doesn't have anything installed or running on it that is useful to a business person or even a developer... We're here at Defrag 2012 talking with Dave Jilk, founder and CEO of Standing Cloud - "The simple story is we make it really easy to deploy software on top of cloud servers like the application software, so that you can use it for something functional like Drupal for a website or a customer relationship management application" he said. Dave also told us that Standing Cloud has released some white labels with cloud providers. So, they work with the folks who actually do the renting of the infrastructure and provide their layer on top of them. The two that Standing Cloud has done since we last spoke to Dave... are VPS.net a share hosting company that has moved into the cloud and offer applications for their shared hosting companies. So you don't see Standing Cloud's name but when you go to their home page, that's how you launch applications. The other is also interesting, a company in Iceland called GreenQloud[.com], and they are in the only data center in the world that is 100% renewable energy - actually being sourced for the power, not energy credits. It's actually geothermal powered, because that's where all the power in Iceland comes from. Larry asked, "What advice do you offer to an entrepreneur now?" Dave replied, "The advice I'd give right now is meta-advice. There are so many organizations and sources for mentorship to entrepreneurs today. They're not all exclusive, TechStars and some of the other organizations out there - you've got to be selected. But there are also other opportunities for mentorship that are less structured. Back when Dave started his career nobody talked about mentorship, there was nothing formal available. Now, you're really doing yourself a disservice - you are much more likely to fail if you don't go find yourself some mentors..." Listen for more...
RELATED LINKS:
Standing Cloud ||
Defrag/blur Info ||
Foundry Group ||
TechStars ||
GreenQloud ||
Software Channel ||
KEYWORDS: Keywords: Dave Jilk, Defrag/Blur 2012, Standing Cloud,
Infrastructure-as-a-Service, IssA, Amazon, Customer Relation Management, Cloud, Software Providers, Foundry Group, TechStars, GreenQloud,
Independent Software Vendors > bytes=3982213
LISTEN TO: Dave Jilk, CEO/Founder, Standing Cloud
Google, Ask, Bing and Yahoo rank Colorado’s w3w3.com in the top 10 for the “Business Internet Talk Radio” show
They have millions of listings in our category. We are ranked in the top ten. The same is true for the category “Entrepreneurs Internet Talk Radio” show
Coming EVENTS w3w3® Media Network - Schedule & Plan 
1321_ 12/3/12 - Defrag, a tech conference held each fall at the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colorado recently met for its sixth annual event. Bringing keynote speakers, CxOs, entrepreneurs and the tech minded, data driven together, what big ideas arose in 2012? Big Data and Social Business, of course.
1319_ 11/26/12 -
Here at Defrag 2012, we are talking with John Minnihan, founder of Freepository. Freepository provides hosted source control to developers who are geographically dispersed. "We've been doing this since 1999 and were the first source code hosting site that was broadly used and we've been growing ever since" said John. He thinks the biggest challenge facing businesses today is pretty straightforward - sticking to it is going to be a challenge. Smart people have world changing ideas. Having the capacity to stick with their ideas through maybe some tougher challenging times. Normal stuff that you go through when you start a business, might seem more difficult. But you stick with it. In discussing the greatest opportunity John said, "By far it is the sheer cost of starting a business. It is incredibly low cost today as compared to ten years ago. A tremendous and broader way of either free or very low cost tools that provide immediate value to your business. Things like Freepository, hosted source control. You've got marketing solutions that are completely web based. You've got ways to broadcast your message - to get people excited about what you're doing through Twitter, through Facebook, Tumbler and other large, yet broadly seen media sites like that. So the low cost aspect of going from zero to something today is probably the single greatest opportunity for an entrepreneur." John's advice to an aspiring entrepreneur - "Go for it, just do it. You know, don't wait. Don't put off. Don't find yourself five years from today saying I wish I'd done this. Oh that great idea I had... Three other parties are doing it and they're just kicking butt." Your mantra should be, Do it! Do it! Do it! Listen now...
Nelson has taught this material in seminars in over a dozen countries, from China to Canada, from Norway to Australia, from Germany to Japan as well as throughout the USA. He shares the results of his international research about the Characteristics of an Achiever and then goes on to help you lay out your "personalized blueprint" to personal and professional success. Larry is an internationally published author, has been a consultant to many Fortune 1000 companies and is best known for his train-the-trainer programs. ...listen now a complete step-by-step program including a downloadable manual and resource guide...this is an in-depth strategic planning and goal setting system for achievers.. The links below are valuable and extremely helpful to setting your course for the next year! And they're free.
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