Death of an Icon
When I stumbled into my early teens, or maybe even before that, I had a strong draw towards music and more specifically bands. Being born in Seattle made me gravitate towards the scene there, even if I lived in Alaska. And what band is synonymous with Seattle? Nirvana of course.
Before the internet we had TV or magazines to get information about bands. Back then, MTV played music, on television. Hard to imagine such a radical concept now. Anyways, this brings me to the topic of the post – Rolling Stone Magazine. One of the first Rolling Stones I ever picked up was the one showed below. Walking by it in the store, I had to have it. As with most kids, this involved begging and pleading with Mom. Eventually I convinced her of all the reasons it was necessary for me to obtain this magazine and she caved.
I am a horrible blogger AND a decent hustler
I’m always reading these “how to blog” lists, well not so much of late, but I was reading them. They all say consistency is key!
“Blog on a consistent basis, if it’s one time a week, then make sure you do it…”
In reading that, it seemed easy enough – but nope! Anyhow, it’s retarded for me to even blog about blogging (no offense to the retards who read my blog). I’ve been so busy doing that I haven’t had time to really tell about any of it – so here goes.
The Choices We Face
The always on mentality – it’s a choice. The quality of your work – another choice. The quantity of your work – another choice. There is only so much you can control and the rest you have to let go and enjoy the ride.
Occasionally, I hit a speed bump. Something that doesn’t feel quite right in my gut, something that brings me to the uncomfortable conclusion, yes, I still have much to learn. Don’t over-extend-promise-deliver, all of these things get you in trouble in one way or another.
BarCamp Portland
Hello BarCampers, my name is George Huff, but on twitter, my name is georgehuff – nice to meet you. Over the course of this weekend I attended my first Barcamp. Well, actually it was my second, but only on the technicality that I caught the tail end party at SXSW in Austin. This was right before we played Urban Frisbee on the way to another party. Anyhow…
BarCamp is a (geek) conference built like a wiki, we can have a democratic schedule built on the fly. Want to discuss a topic? Any topic at all? Come to BarCamp and paste your topic and name in one of the many timeslots. At first I decided to be a fly on the wall and sort of take it all in, but then I changed my mind and decided to join up with Bram Piyoto and be an “assistant” presenter where design meets tech. Hopefully I come across as being less of a jackass than I really am, here’s to hope.
And then came Sunday, while sitting in on a panel discussing hacking existing WordPress themes I decided to address a need of how to build a theme from scratch. Because I once wrote a post detailing how to simply build a wordpress theme, I decided to build on the basic idea. But instead of discussing building Eleven3, I discussed my most recent project, HomeSkillet Records. As I did it last minute, I had a little tiny room with about 8 guests, it may have been light, but it sure was a captive audience! You’re sort of forced to listen with numbers that small – but I hope it was useful for people.
Mmmm Brain Power
Anytime a bunch of geeks get together there is a lot of brain power getting kicked around, so that’s pretty awesome. What’s great is the general goodwill everyone has. People are happy to be here and love a chance to have their thoughts and ideas expressed or learn new ones. Traditionally, other conferences are a little bit idol worshippy feeling, which is fine (cause I am so into Shaun Inman and Jon Hicks), but this one is the opposite. There are a few “names” here, but generally speaking everyone here is just here to geek out, prettttty awesome.
I had a blast and met many people who I have seen on Twitter – it’s always good to meet people in real life. I am not a stalker.
A Web Designer’s Education
I’ve talked about education before, but yesterday I was blown away (again) by someone who decided to forgo school (for the most part) and forge on with a self-taught design career. The first person I met that did this I worked alongside for a few years (at our first and only jobs) and was always blown away by his natural talent. I suppose I can “lump” myself in the self-taught category, but I did go to college, just not for design. I didn’t self-teach however, I borrowed, stole, and pillaged from a very talented design team.
SXSW ’08 – Saturday
Just like most mornings, I woke up and checked my Twitter. The night before put us at the Gingerman where we drank a couple of pints of Lonestar and conversed with several geeks – doesn’t get much better. Dustin Diaz, of JavaScript and Google fame, brought his big camera, to which I proceeded to make obvious “your lense makes me feel inadequate” jokes. Yep, that’s me – taking the obvious one-liners and using them for personal gain. It may have garnered a chuckle, I’m not sure.
Jeff and I got back to our room and I use the words “passed out” here, although it was somewhere between passing out and going to bed – do you know the difference? Anyhow, the alarm came quickly and we got up, showered, and headed down to the complimentary continental breakfast. We’re staying at the Hampton – shitty wi-fi, fantastic continental, take your pick. One more good thing about the Hampton is it attracts a lot of the industry “rockstars.” Shit, Jeff and I were there, and we’re pretty important. I jest, but the highly talented Shaun Inman was there and I did get to pick up the size medium American Apparel Mint T-shirts he brought. Thank you Shaun – it was an awkward moment, but it was never dull – my name is George.
After all this we made our way to the conference, what follows are my notes from the different panels/presentations, enjoy. Read the rest
WTM Reblog – Building Carefully
It’s difficult to tackle any web project and avoid attempting to, “shoot the moon.” Ideas are plentiful and examples even more so. I rep We The Media – that is my sole position. Finding work and finding talent are what I do by day, by night I design, code, and fight crime. I get to wear many hats, which is both burdensome and rewarding. Variety is the spice of life – and a busy life goes speeding by.
Speed is a trait of the entrepreneur, we make things happen quickly, we all think “I can do this or that.” It’s what makes us quit our jobs, it’s what makes us just start things for no reason other than our own thoughts, it’s also, as time goes by, a huge weakness. It’s super tough to rely on anyone else, but it is also absolutely necessary. Often times we think up a strategy and execute without consulting those who have proven valuable. Often times a knee-jerk reaction comes across as a painful execution and an even more painful blunder.
With the WTM website – I could have just designed and built the whole thing. But I know someone who can do it better – and without his help, WTM wouldn’t be where it’s at. It’s been a very slow rewarding process building out wtmworldwide.com piece by piece. We have more that we would like to do – but we are not rushing it. Well, maybe I am pushing it, but have realized a slow marinade is just what the site needs.
Why the entry then? We have carefully launched the We The Blog. WTB, I guess, is an aggregate of all We The Media member blogs. I’m already feeling the pressure because Nick Onken blogs way more than me – I need to keep up! It is just one more channel for us to spread our message of love for the creative souls out there.
Check it out.
SXSW 2008 – Pre-Trip
As many people know, SXSW is coming up this week and as all should know – it’s pretty much the place to be for a geek. Where else can every random conversation be about topics like design, user experience, and community building – geekgasm!
Anyhow – I’m staying at the Hampton Inn with my good friend Jeff Reynolds – we will be kicking ass in one way or another (but mostly just representing the up and coming group, We The Media). I’m also looking to get invited to some really pretentious, exclusive parties – like I would be ok being the only one that is allowed to enter the room. That would rock. If you’re staying in the Hampton Inn or close – let’s greet up – it’s time to meet some geeks baby! Oh yea, be sure to get our grey (purple) buttons – they are pretty much fresh to death.
If you aren’t going to SXSW and are disgruntled, sulk the entire week at your current job so that your employer really knows how badly you want to go for next year – or – come to this site and I will be posting daily updates and pictures of all the crazy happenings.
Hope the world is treating you well.
Networking and the Creative Soul
As a creative, I once looked wearily upon “networking.” Never because I thought the ideas generated between people or the relationships they had were inherently bad – I was skeptical of networking because it never felt natural to me. A forced relationship at most – brought about by people leveraging each other for personal gain – what good could come of that?
networking gives me tears
Moving from college where one has a pseudo-something to offer to a professional setting where one gains their real value – I have experienced some profound insight. No, nothing new or original – but my tendency to learn by doing and emulating has given me the real reward of what networking truly is – connecting others.
Making Leopard’s Spaces Work For You
When I first read about “Spaces” and saw the screenshots in OSX Leopard, I felt like it could be a huge potential productivity booster. Those from the Linux fold have been rotating cubes and “spaces” for quite some time – and of course when Leopard came out with it, they all chirped in to remind me, “that’s been on Linux for awhile.” Yea yea yea – but is it sold by an egomaniac who only wears black turtlenecks? Didn’t effin think so…
Anyhow, when I actually got Spaces – it ended up being anti-climatic. It didn’t really work how I thought it would (in my many pre-Leopard, about Leopard dreams) and it seemed like it was a bit buggy. I have seen many people turning spaces off, frustrated with it’s apparent shortcomings – but I am not one to let initial excitement die so easily – so I rolled with the punches for awhile. Fast forward three months and I am now moving from space to space like a Puppeteer on a powder day (sci-fi/drug connection makes reading all the better).
George Huff
peddler of ideas and all things that are good
I am a digital geek; equal parts designer, builder, and ideator. I am the co-founder of a interface design shop in Portland, Oregon called We the Media. We do amazing stuff running the gamut from systems design to application development to interface design. If you would like to work with us, drop me a line.
We recently started a new company around a product we're calling Opal. It's a way to build company cultures around delighted employees.
At this blog you will find stories about business, life, web design, & culture. You will also find a stream of what I find interesting on the web. Enjoy.