what's your 20?

Being in the know is a tasty thing.
During SXSWi Cupcake Camp founder Ariel Waldman tweeted locations for cupcake giveaways delighting festival attendees. Waldman partnered with Austin's Sugar Mama's Bakeshop to realize her cupcake experiment . Beyond the appreciation of fans, the effort also garnered the attention of cnet news and Reuters, who used Sugar Mama's Bakeshop + Mighty Leaf tweet-up as an example of how small business are generating fans by offering shared experiences.




Why the long line?
The L.A. based Kogi Korean BBQ has over 12,000 people listening for their next location on twitter. As recently reported by springwise and NPR, tweeted locations are met with long lines eager to pay a couple of dollars for tasty tacos. A festive atmosphere and the allure of a shared experience certainly add to the appeal of the affordable cuisine.



Beyond twitter
The rise of location based social networks such as brightkite , services like shizzow and mobile applications extend the possibilities of impromptu events. Curious to see what comes next? Me too.

photo by Vincent Diamante / Sklathill

Unintended Disruption

Please excuse me.

I do believe we are what we share.



Yet I've been busy framing my experiences in less than 140 characters (and content re-producing) on twitter.

Actually, there is more to the story. While you were away I was attending conferences, camps and organizing community endeavors.

I did my best to hang with the digitally fluent and geek-hipster crowd at South by Southwest interactive . Admittedly I got a little fan-girl but restrained myself from accosting Henry Jenkins with gratitude and tell me more.

Just prior to sxswi I attended my second cre8camp pdx Cre8Camp PDX 3 The third in a series of unconferences for creative industries professionals. The Portland community of camp-ers is providing a great example of how cross-pollination of ideas works. In the words of their wiki: "The magic happens in the interactions between participants." Inspired by their example, we are collaborating with Oregon Creative Industries to organize Cre8Camp Bend in Autumn 2009.

Finally, I was one of a group of volunteers that came together to stage the first Ignite Bend on February 12. The premise: crowd determined community participants share their burning ideas on stage for the duration of 20 slides that automatically rotate every 15 seconds. A nearly full poethouse was entertained with storytelling that blended humor, poignancy and education. We are currently planning the second event.


It seems I am providing you with a report of sorts. Actually, my intent is simply a re-dedication to

Show. Tell. More. Soon.

Above top photo of final cre8camp schedule by Steve Kemper @stevek
Bottom photo shot by Buck Heim Both photos used with permission.

Architects are the Rock Stars of tomorrow

In November, Influx Insights reported that Shoe brands turn to architects citing
Frank Gehry designing for JM Weston and Zaha Hadid for Lacoste.


Today, Swiss Miss shared the pictured story proclaiming Architects are Sexiest!

As we witness the rise of design who better to be the poster child than architects?

Metropolis Magazine provides good coverage of our ascending stars by focusing on Architecture, Culture and Design and is now available in digital format. Check out a sample of the January 2009 issue here.

rentalism

living, riding, fixing and even fronting are all feasible.


Stylish Souk in downtown Portland, Oregon is but one option for freelancers looking for a professional workspace and the opportunity to network and/or simply collaborate.

Bike sharing rental programs are the hottest urban accessory for metropolitan areas such as Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, Düsseldorf and recently, Washington D.C.

Philadelphia's Free Ride and other bike cooperatives provide a space to work on your bike including stands, tools and volunteers to problem solve.

Wikipedia lists tool libraries across the U.S.

Beyond the practical, there are all sorts of rental opportunities for those seeking status and lifestyle upgrades.

According to Fast Company, membership to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) includes eligibility for art rental program for as little as $17 a month. FC's article How to look good in a recession offers additional ideas for leasing luxe.

Has your perception of ownership changed?

Dear James Bond...

Why so serious? Your Quantum of Solace action sequences left me dazed and confused. What's happening? Who is doing what?

And James, though I still believe in you, you brood a little too much.

poster love

via Visual Culture

Cross Cultural Collaboration in Design

The October issue of Metropolis Magazine has two stories of artisans being paired across cultures to create unique creations for the marketplace.

In Pragmatic Idealism, Belinda Lanks interviews Docey Lewis. Now a design consultant for
3form, Lewis has over 20 years experience working with Aid to Artisans a non-profit that matches traditional crafters with international consultants and merchants.

Lewis shares her experiences coordinating collaborative projects and discusses some of the challenges that arise when balancing the demands of business, humanitarian efforts and design across countries such as Nepal, Senegal and Jordan.


Making Connections describes Andrew and Anna Hellman as professional matchmakers. As co-founders of Teroforma, a tableware company launched in August, the Hellmans travel the world seeking out talented designers whom they connect with traditional artisan studios. Andrew is quoted,"It's that relationship that we want to build and those stories that we want to tell through the work. There's a depth behind the pieces."

photo via Metropolis

multi-purpose

korean designer jaebeom jeong's cartrider.
photo via Core 77

Dumpster Diving Pt. 1

I love trash, is the title of a documentary I recently viewed during the '08 BendFilm festival. The production quality of the film was not great but the anti-consumption message had some resonance with the crowd.

For me, it brought back a faded childhood memory, that of dumpster diving. It was back in the 80's. I was just a wee lass visiting Bellingham, Washington along with my two younger sisters. Our favorite hippy Aunt T was responsible for us girls while our parents were on their own vacation.

During our stay Aunt T, a professional musician, had a scheduled performance. In order to take time to prepare for her concert, she left us in the care of her former flame, Otter (in truth, his nick name).

Otter was a capable but less than traditional care provider. He told my two younger sisters and I that he'd like to take us on a hike to pie land.

Pie land? We were intrigued. He led us on a trail down to the Bellingham Bay where he perched on a rock and rolled himself a cigarette. We watched him intently, afraid to ask if we had arrived at our destination.

Finally my sister Melissa, always the brave one, served as our spokesgirl. "This isn't pie land is it?"

"Right, pie land...Actually, we will have to return to the car to get to pie land."

Ah, the old bait and switch.

We soon hurried along back up the trail carrying hope that our trust in this Otter character was not misplaced and that we would indeed arrive at our magical sounding destination.

After loading into the car, Melissa asked "So, where is pie land?"

"Oh, not far from here."

Otter turned up the Simon & Garfunkel and sang off-key cruising along Chuckanut Drive. A few minutes later he pulled into a grocery store parking lot.

Oh, I get it, I thought. Now he's going to buy us a pie. Cute.

Instead of parking in front of the store, Otter pulled around back to the dumpster area.

"You see girls, a lot of good pies, cookies and donuts get thrown away every day. Hop out of the car."


Code red in my head. Yet, ever the obedient child I stepped out, as commanded. My sisters also followed and the three of us lined up facing the dumpster a few feet away.

Otter beckoned us all to join him as he lifted the dumpster lid up and pushed it back. He then began searching and sorting. Sure enough, he began showing us his prizes. Donuts indeed but without the pink box they usually lived in. He dusted off a sugar donut, took a bite and smiled.

"Yummy!"he proclaimed.

I remained frozen in my spot. Could we get in trouble for this? Maybe thrown in jail? What if our Aunt T had no idea where we were and we got stuck in jail?

"What will you have?" Otter looked at me directly, "Maple bar?"

"Um, no thanks, I'm okay." I made eye contact with my sisters non-verbally suggesting we get our asses back into the yellow VW.

"Oh, I get it. You think there is something wrong with this food because it's in the bin here. Well, let me tell you, it's perfectly fine." He made the statement simply and calmly, then returned his focus to the search.

Time passed slowly as I turned my attention to play the role of the lookout, just in case.

"Here we go girls!" Otter turned towards us raising his treasure high up in the air. It was a shiny-black-bottomed-hard-plastic container. And within it, a whole cherry pie.

Macro Trend: Frugality

Tree Hugger's October 6, 2008 Quote of the day goes to Paul Kedrosky: "Frugality is the new black". Kedrosky alludes to this prescient August '08 post from Merril Lynch Economist David Rosenberg.

Unsurprisingly the word pops up in many of the choice weekend reads. It's all over the NY Times. Style and Travel take the frugal angle:

Frugal New York

The Frugal Teenager Ready or Not

Tips at these sites:

Simple Dollar

Frugal Village

Share your stories and/or links in the comments. I expect many days of resourceful living to come.

Girard inspired designs

Inspired by mid-century textile and folk art designer Alexander Girard? If so, you are not alone.

Electra Bikes displayed two Girard designs at Interbike. Fresh designers at Dear Creatures cite Girard as influencing their design concept for Fall 2008 Collection along with Mary Blair and Scandinavian Folk Art.

Alexander Girard was chief textile designer for the Herman Miller Furniture Company, in the 1960's heydey that also included George Nelson and Charles Eames.

A modernist, Girard used color reflecting his affection for artifacts, toys and dolls of the southwest and Mexico. His collection was eventually one of the largest collections of Central and South American folk artifacts in the US and now resides in the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe.

Where have you spotted the Girard influenced designs?

Interbike 08: a non-techy recap

Let me be clear, I'm not totally bike fluent. I enjoy riding most any kind of bike but do not have a mechanic's appreciation of their inner workings.

The truth is, I enjoy an outsiders love.

Last week, I was fortunate to tag along for interbike, an annual event that takes place in the least bike-friendly city in the galaxy, Las Vegas. Below is a recap of what I saw:


the goods:

1. Chris King goes brown. Everyone else can continue their King bottom bracket discussion but brown (the 10th color) will be adding some flair to the bikes in your hood soon.

2. Commuters all over the place. I liked the Civia with bamboo racks.

3. Baggage: Chrome bags have held hipster appeal for some time but they seemed to catch fire with the show crowd. Everyone was rocking the buckle. Honorable mention: Rickshaw has a cool zero waste bag and a saweet beerdalero strap.

the peeps

1. There was another show going on in the bike storage area. It was interesting to see how the crowd spend their dollars and pimp their personal rides. From the ganders I took there was many a fixie in the keep, we're talking 50% or more (thanks to Rich at Interbike for suggesting a look-see).

2. What's up with the mustachioed? Was there a subtle HammerSchmidt guerilla campaign going on? There were a lot of stashes circulating and most appeared un-ironic.

3. Shimano's $100 shoe sale (was $350). A constant line and hundreds of blue boxes spotted in the crowd.

the events

1. Cross Vegas was WOW! Trebon controlled the race but Kabush's flyer with 4 laps to go kept things interesting as well as the chase group that included Johnson, Page, Wells and Craig. Loved that the suspense kept rolling till the finish.

2. Dirt Demo at Bootleg Canyon: cool breezes and good rides on a hot day. Spot SS belt drive 29er, dahon foldables and FS bikes with more travel than my Maverick offers. Favorite ride of the day was the YETI 575.

3. Social Media Panel Thursday: Nielsen stats, bike hugger and swobo-itude. Really good stuff.

4. Urban Legend. Bikes, Art, Fashion. Say no more. It was short and sweet on Thursday evening. Thanks to the Momentum folks for a job well done.

An insider's look

How you live is who you are.
The Sartorialist documents what the stylish are wearing, Cobra Snake documents how the cool kids party and The Selby documents the inspirational spaces of interesting peeps. Photos of Cheri Messerli and David Rager from the Selby site.

Mapping Stories

City of Memory is a mashup charting collective stories on a city map of NY. Open participation is encouraged at the site where contributions of stories, old and new, may uploaded to the interactive map.


According to PSFK, this is a Local Projects effort, the same group responsible for StoryCorps.

Do You Know Swobo?

A focus on design, clear understanding of personality, and utilization of social communication tools add up to a yummy brand.


Sky Yeager, designer for Swobo, foretold the rising appeal of city bikes. She has laid claim to the segment by offering form + functional rides that are influencing the industry–note the debut of the district from Trek.

Swobo's user-friendly and graphically fluent website covers the details in an interesting way.

Community is promoted at their blog How to avoid the bummer life. User contributions are encouraged but it is Stevil Kineval who gives voice to the brand, sharing stories and you tube links providing cues as to what it's all about.

Yes, I'm bike-curious, name another brand that makes themselves knowable.