Monthly Archives: April 2008

Jason Calacanis Goes Techcrunch50-wild on uStream

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Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo and cofounder of the Techcrunch50 (formerly Techcrunch40) event where startup companies are given an opportunity to pitch their ideas and potentially get funded, lashed out at rival DEMO that offers a similar venue but at the cost of $18,000 for companies accepted into the program.

I regret not catching all of the rant, and he didn’t record it, but I think it’s notable to share his message with the DEMO folks (and you). The DEMO model is a travesty for any company that is not already well connected and can afford $18k. It is the ultimate in class warfare and does not give legitimate opportunity for great ideas to rise to the top and be funded.

Technosailor Maintenance Today

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To give everyone a head’s up, at some point today, this blog will go into “maintenance mode” while I move to a different server. While Technosailor has been a part of the b5media network, I also announced my departure from b5 last week and so the blog is moving to a colocated server at Defender Hosting. They have been gracious enough to work out a fantastic arrangement with me, and I’m happy to have my own box to be able to fiddle around on.

So comments will be going off at some point to prevent data loss and mail might bounce sporadically. I hope to do this as smoothly and as transparently as possible though. Probably this evening.

Interview: Social Media Fills the Need for Human Contact on the Net

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Kalen Jordan, a relatively recent connection on the intertubes, approached me last week about doing an interview. I think he thought I was going to say no or that he was going to have to really kiss my butt to get the interview. :-)

At any rate, we sat down to do a relatively short interview. It was pretty fun as we talked about b5media and the technology challenges we’ve faced as well as broader social media and the best tools to use and in which ways. A broad question, but at the end of the day, there’s something out there for everyone.

Interview with Aaron Brazell on Social Media

No, I'm not Really Going to Download Squad

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Thanks to Grant Robertson for instigating this prank, but no I’m not going to Download Squad – and you all should have known better. But thank you for biting – hook, line and sinker.

Here’s Grant’s video on the topic.

April Fools from Download Squad on Vimeo.

Thanks also to Mashable who rubber stamped this whole thing without knowing it. Welcome to accomplice hell. Shame on you! :)

What scares me about this whole thing is how well Grant and I (and all the Download Squad folks) lie so easily. :-)

Yes, I Really Am Going to Download Squad

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logo.png I did not want to write this today. I told Grant that he shouldn’t either but he’s so energized by his new role at the Shel Israel show that he had to talk about it on April Fool’s Day. and now I’m being inundated with questions.

Yes, I really am going to Download Squad as the new content editor. Grant has actually been talking to me since SXSW about taking this position and I’ve been super excited about the chance. The team at DS is engaged, awesome, funny and they write great content. We couldn’t talk publicly about this yet, but now that it is, I cannot deny that this is the new thing I’ll be doing now that I won’t be at b5media anymore.

Obviously, as a DC guy, one of the points of excitement for me was to work for a local company and what better local company is there than AOL/Weblogs Inc? I’m looking forward to jumping right in, initially splitting my time between my remaining time at b5 and my new role at Download Squad.

Grant, thanks for reaching out to me. Good luck on your new role at Fast Company. Tell Shel not to drink coffee on set.

Update: Everything you read above is a lie.