1 - Who are you, and what are you doing here?

I'm Tim Courtney, a Chicago-area (Wheaton) native who "grew up" on the Internet. I get excited when I see technology enabling people to connect in the real world on deeper, more diverse, and more meaningful levels.

Thus, I'm very interested in social technology and online communities that are changing the way we self-identify, select our associations, and interact in a face-to-face world. These trends are instituting large cultural shifts and we're just beginning to see the potential and the results.

To answer what I am doing; a few things. Most immediately, I'm co-organizing SocialDevCampChicago with Andy Angelos coming up on August 9th. It's a BarCamp-style unconference for people passionate about social networks, web applications, platform development, new media, identity management, and other related topics.

Through my employer XNet, I co-host Silicon Prairie Social; a popular tech networking event in the western suburbs. XNet is a a Lisle, IL-based boutique data center (colocation, dedicated, and managed servers), where I work and am responsible for marketing. We help frazzled IT people sleep at night, knowing their critical systems are in the hands of experts who are committed to the continuity, security, and growth of their businesses.

2 - You certainly are connecting people! What is an "unconference" either in general or how you see it and how you see SocialDevCampChicago unfolding?

An "unconference" is a conference where the attendees drive the discussion, and many times the discussion topics are decided at the event itself. SocialDevCamp Chicago is somewhat based on the BarCamp concept for unconferences. Here, we're allowing attendees to sign up for time slots for their presentations and panels, provided they fit one of two tracks: a Business & Culture track and a Technical track. We're also providing a Coding Lounge for people to relax and chat or code together.

Our goal with SocialDevCamp Chicago is to see people come away with a better grasp of the technologies and platforms driving web trends over the next few years, and be able to apply that knowledge directly to their pursuits; businesses, communities, causes, etc. We also hope attendees will come away with a better understanding of how social technologies are changing how people relate to and communicate with each other in their face-to-face relationships.

3 - Are you finding people are seeking to meet people to get to know more in person, or just more people to communicate with online?

With SocialDevCamp, I get the feeling that people want to come together in person and talk about their shared interest. Of the people I've talked to who are attending, they're coming to learn more about development and trends, while meeting people who are likeminded. I get the feeling they want to transfer online connections into in-person collaboration and relationships -- whether as partners, collaborators, customers, users, or even friends.

4 - What personal goals do you have for SocialDevCamp?

For several months, I've been thinking through how to apply the essential features behind social networks to niche interests such as my own interest in LEGO. I believe hobbies and interests can flourish if the online experience for users becomes an extension of everyday online activities. I'm looking to share some of these thoughts at SocialDevCamp and solicit feedback from other thinkers in the space.

5 - What have you been able to apply from your leading these events to your position at XNet?

SocialDevCampChicago really stems out of a personal interest in development of social technology. The three Silicon Prairie Social events, however, have had a direct tie-in to XNet. Arthur and I have used the Social events to build up the suburban technology community like many of the events in the city have done for downtown. As a result of rubbing shoulders with other service providers, integrators, and consultants at the Silicon Prairie Social, I've been able to take knowledge and insight of emerging trends back to XNet and shape the direction of what we'll offer in the future. We've also seen some promising partnerships begin to emerge from our involvement there.

6 - What is one question I did not ask, and what is its answer?

As a technology evangelist, what is your key focus?

When talking with others about technologies -- social or otherwise -- I really focus on design and usability. I've worked with developer groups over the years in open-source environments and seen the focus be on the software and the features. People use computers to accomplish personal and social ends, not to interact with technology out of its own right. Technology should be transparent if a platform or application is to reach as many users as possible. If you're looking to spread your idea via the web or via a social platform, make the interface intuitive to the user -- not to you or following a set of prescribed rules. For a better worded outline of the above, see this blog post by Aza Raskin summarizing the "Not the User's Fault" manifesto.

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6 Questions • Business • Technology • (2) Comments • Permalink

The next likemind coffee will be Friday, August 15, 2008 in dozens of cities around the world. In Chicago, it will be at Gallery 37 Cafe, 66 E. Randolph, at the corner of Wabash in the Loop in the Gallery 37 building. Note the cafe opens right at 8.

I call likemind a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines including Internet, advertising, art, et. al.

No RSVP is required but is always welcome, and you can by commenting to this post or at the likemind Chicago Facebook group.

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Announcements • Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

Whether you are in a big city or a small town, someone is trying to sell you something. And in many cases, it is something you already own. Marketers don’t mind this as much as it is reinforcing the sale. That is fine for broadcast media and billboards, but pointless and annoying when it is a direct sale, and the seller knows you have it, and they can’t sell you more of it.

My specific example of this is Washington Mutual Bank, which goes by WaMu now. I have been a very happy customer of theirs primarily because I have formed personal relationships with the management and staff at my local branch. Yes, you heard that right – a personal relationship with a bank! It never has happened to me before, and I hope it continues, but I digress. As a result of this personal relationship, I have remained a happy customer and have continued to do business with them.

Knowing the staff, I am spared sales pitches for services I already have. When I visit the branch for a transaction, an alert is presented to the staff to sell me on something, and in most all cases something I already have. They ignore the messages as they know me, and know our business relationship. Unfortunately I don’t have that luxury with WaMu’s online banking. Recently they began presenting a Web page right after I log in, selling me something. Most of the time they are selling me on a service I already have with them. There is no visible way to opt out of seeing these, not to mention the link to ignore it and move on is much, much smaller than the link to accept this needless pitch.

Annoyed by this, I sent a message to the bank via online banking, simply asking them why they are selling me on online bill pay when I already use it. I then got what I assume is an automated response instructing me how to enroll in online bill pay. Wrong! I then replied, asking if a human being read my original query. They then replied they were sorry they didn’t understand my question and to call them. Wrong again!

As WaMu is a large corporation, and I am a happy customer who tried to communicate with them, I am sharing this issue with the world. I am sure someone at their corporate headquarters has a Google Alert on the bank’s name and – hopefully – will read this. If so, awesome. If not, too bad for them. Unfortunately this is yet another example of a poor relationship model.

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Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

If you are a regular visitor to The Hot Iron you may have noticed a lull in posts for about a week. This was due to the arrival of my daughter, Margo. She is doing great and her Mom, my lovely wife, is doing awesome. Dad isn’t doing too bad either. Over the past couple of weeks we have been getting used to each other, and introducing each other into each other’s lives. As an entrepreneur whose corporate headquarters is at home, this means working all of our activities into each other’s schedules as well.

Where I am not driving Margo towards the computer, she is frequently in the office in some capacity, whether sitting in her papasan or on my shoulder (as she is as I write this). When I sat down to write this post, she for some unknown reason gravitated towards the keyboard and made motions similar to typing! I now present her first blog post:

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As you can see, she has a little work to do on her sentence structure. This will be a continuous process, and once she is ready, look for guest posts from her on occasion.

As bringing a baby into the world is a great learning experience for anyone, I know already there will be some resonance with what I do in my business as an Internet consultant. Where I don’t plan on filling posts here with cutesy stories about my bundle of joy, there will surely be some influence from her on thoughts I have in the theme of The Hot Iron around business and technology.

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Announcements • Diversions • (7) Comments • Permalink

There’s nothing like opening your email and hearing excellent news. Harpoon Beer, a local microbrew from Boston, is now being sold in Chicago. As a “Friend of Harpoon” from my days of living in the Boston area, I was informed of this the other day. Rather than attaching a photo or video of my reaction to this news, I decided to post this photo of a pint of Harpoon IPA I took on a recent visit to the Bukowski Tavern in Boston’s Back Bay, one of my favorite stops when I return to the Hub.

To launch the arrival in the Windy City, Harpoon is having an event on Monday, August 11 at Sheffield's Beer and Wine Garden in Chicago. Read more information on the event and pre-register. I’ll be there, and I know it will be a wicked pissa!

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Diversions • (0) Comments • Permalink