I don’t have much to say at this point other than… it’s here. Feel free to leave a comment, let me know how you feel about it, and after a while I hope to be able to offer a meaningful review.

• Why were there two RSVP systems?
• Why do I not see the SAO represented at any of the local events that have the momentum over the last couple of years (Ignite, Beer and Blog, WordCamp, etc)?
• Conversely, are there cool SAO events that I just don’t know about? Are there sources for this information I should be following?
• Why is the SAO’s social network a walled garden?
• Why are folks suggesting yet another committee/organization/board of directors? Is there something wrong with the leadership of the SAO and Legion of Tech, which are established groups that both seem to be working for the benefit of the tech community?

I understand that organizers are asking about what to do for the next event. In addition to trying to find the answers to the questions above, I offer up these thoughts:

• Bigger venue.
• If it’s going to be at mealtime, more affordable food/drinks. Call me cheap, but $9 appetizers and $6 pints turn me off.
• Organization or agenda. Preferably published. From talking to various folks, even the event planners weren’t entirely on the same page as to what was (or was not) going to happen.

Overall: meh. Too crowded. Too many formal/bureaucratic things being proposed. I don’t fully understand the problem. Can’t wait to hear what others have to say.

Obama’s campaign ran under the moniker of change but I suspect what’s happening is that he shortchanged.us.

*I’ve disabled comments on this post; I don’t want to start a political debate on this site. Feel free to comment over on shortchanged.us if you wish.

I made a comment that this would be a killer feature, since I’d love to have all of my podcasts automatically downloaded to the device. On further thought, I realized that would only work on the iPhone (the iTouch would need to use wifi and would probably be less automatic). Josh noted that it probably wouldn’t be fully automatic, but rather a notification that new podcasts were available, with the user able to choose which ones to download. He suggested that the “download everything automatically/continuously” device would/should be one’s PC.

Here’s the deal: I’m tired of having to use my PC as a middleman to get content from the cloud to mobile devices. For music, I need to run iTunes on a computer so that it can download from the internet and then push content to my iPod. If I want to sync my Blackberry contacts to any number of online services, I’m forced to use a PC (probably running Outlook) as a conduit to move data back and forth.

When can I eliminate the PC middleman and just have my mobile devices send/receive data from the cloud?

As TechCrunch points out, BillG announced support for OpenID as a concept a year and a half ago. Enabling Windows Live as an OpenID provider is a step in the right direction, but it’s the same halfway step that’s been taken by any number of big companies who want to say they’re going to support OpenID. Whether we’re talking about Yahoo/Flickr, AOL, or Google/Blogspot, the companies are quick to jump into the notion of folks using their account as an OpenID, but we have yet to see any real support where I can use an OpenID to authenticate to any of these services.

The Windows Live OpenID experience can be seen in a screencast at Dare Obasanjo’s blog and it appears similar to other OpenID providers. Actual security is provided by a standard username/password (it’s a Live ID) so it’s not as secure as a two-factor system such as Vidoop or VeriSign’s PIP, but that’s not directly an OpenID issue.

Windows Live IDs being OpenIDs is a good thing, but it’s hardly anything exciting or groundbreaking. Users aren’t going to learn about OpenID in any meaningful way. Call me back once a big corporation embraces both sides of supporting OpenID.

As someone who develops for a public sector agency that deals with sensitive (legally protected PHI and other personal) information I see a couple different barriers that will probably mean I don’t write any sort of Azure software anytime in the near future. The first is a concern, almost a paranoia, about privacy. Government agencies that deal with individuals’ health records or protected criminal history information (think juveniles) are going to be justifiably concerned about transmitting and storing that information in a hosted environment. Yes, there are security protocols and encryption and a bunch of technological solutions which can help ensure data integrity and protection, but there is a significant pyschological barrier to overcome.

The second issue will be one of (lack of) necessity; many of the line-of-business applications simply don’t need the reliability or availability which are some of the most compelling reasons to move to a hosted datacenter/cloud model. A site such as SmugMug can effectively utilize hosted services to maintain a high level of reliability (at an affordable price) for thousands of customers, but large number of smaller intranet applications aren’t likely to be cloud candidates.

It’s an exciting platform. I’m sure I’ll play around a bit. I love the idea of being able to write .NET codes and deploy to Azure. I’m just not sure that it will play out as a business scenario for government.

Perhaps these tips will be of interest to other event organizers.

• Plenty of wifi and power - bloggers need to plug in and get connected.
• Have a schedule; stick to it - we kept pretty much on track all day. I’ve run other events that have gotten behind schedule and it usually throws everyone off-pace and into a situation of uncertainty.
• Include an Unconference Component - even if you go for some pre-planned sessions, include an unconference-type component so that folks can gather and discuss topics that come up during the event.
• Length of the day - we scheduled our day too long (12 hours). Keep it shorter or folks will fade. I’d recommend two short days instead of one long day.
• Reliable volunteers in key roles - Delegate, delegate, delegate, and do it to people who will follow through.
• Cold, hard cash - we went for a revenue model that charged $10 per person, which covered about 1/4 of the expenses for the event. The rest was made up by sponsors. Even with a free event, you’ll need an organization to collect money from sponsors (and/or attendees) and disburse funds to vendors. Look for a local business that it tied into the community and see if they’ll help out.
• Sponsors - look for local businesses using WordPress or tied to the web development and writing communities. Secure commitments well in advance and then get paid in advance of the event. Pad your budget a little to account for unexpected last-minute needs.
• Vendors - ask around to get recommendations for vendors for food, shirts, or anything else you’ll need. Don’t leave things until the last minute. Something might go awry, and you’ll want to be able to recover.
• Location, location, location - you’ll want plenty of room. Ideally the location should have lodging nearby and be accessible via public transit (if that’s an option in your city).
• Technical setup - scout out and understand your technical needs. Projectors? Screens? Laptops? Adapters for MacBooks (they’re not all the same)? PA system? Batteries for wireless microphones? Spare bulbs for projectors?
• Speakers - if possible, have a couple well-known speakers that will help draw folks in, but be sure to also showcase some lesser-known folks that also have good information to share.
• Content Level - it’s hard to create “one size fits all” sessions that will be interesting both to the newbie as well as the advanced plugin developer. At WordCamp Portland I think we did a good job catering to the middle of the continuum but could’ve used more advanced content for developers as well as some very basic introductory material for the absolute beginner. Having a couple of tracks in the conference (at least for part of the time) will help for scheduling a variety of content for the audience.
• Lorelle - (she gets her own bullet point) She’ll probably give you advice on how to do things or offer suggestions on parts of the event. Listen to her. She probably has her finger closest to the pulse of the WordCamp community (arguably closer than Matt).

Feel free to chime in with thoughts about anything I’ve forgotten or if you think I’m full of bunk.

One of the new features in Will’s plugin is the ability for a WordPress blog to act as an OpenID provider. I know there’s some logic behind this feature, but it’s not for Joe Blow with a Blog to take over the world as yet another provider. My buddy Adam wrote a piece at Webmonkey titled Make Your Blog an OpenID Provider, but I respectfully disagree with that proposition.

In an OpenID world, my OpenID will allow me to access all sorts of electronic resources. Some of those resources might be of minimal security concern, such as leaving a blog comment or signing into a bookmarking service. Other resources might warrant tighter security, such as a core e-mail account, domain registrar, or financial institution.

A simple username/password really isn’t strong enough security for my most important information, yet that’s the security provided by WordPress if used as the OpenID provider.

Ideally an OpenID provider will offer some form of multifactor authentication involving something other than a simple password. Vidoop offers their image shield in conjunction with an activated, trusted web browser. JanRain offers a phone call system. Verisign’s Personal Identity Portal allows for a fob-based rotating password. If OpenID is going to be used to protect sensitive information, it should be done with a secure system such as these.

The wp-openid plugin does allow for delegation, meaning one could use their blog URL as their OpenID URL, while using the authentication services of a more secure provider such as the ones I’ve named. Using the plugin to allow OpenID login or delegation is excellent, and something I’d recommend, but configuring one’s WordPress blog as their ultimate OpenID provider is probably a less-than-ideally-secured step away from what I see as the long term goal of OpenID adoption.

A few years ago, Portland had a tech scene but it was mostly quiet with various groups hanging out in their own little silos. In the past two years, social media tools including blogs and microblogging have enabled a vibrant, public tech scene where online relationships have gone real-life, with crowds now meeting for a variety of events.

I’m going to explore how the local blog scene and other social media have brought folks together. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be talking to all sorts of Portlandy-types about their thoughts on our social media usage. Yes, that includes the Portland Twitter scene and of course #bacon. A big focus of my talk will be about how online activities have led to offline gatherings including group events like Ignite Portland, Side Project to Startup, and the Portland edition of Lunch 2.0. In addition to the formal events, services such as Shizzow and Twitter facilitate impromptu meetups.

The growth of the Portland social media and tech scene has been a fun ride, and I look forward to sharing it with the attendees of WordCamp: Las Vegas.

WordCamp: Las Vegas is January 10-11, 2009.