tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79502652638085076192024-03-14T03:02:10.615-07:00Andrew LaRell FryHow do internet systems, the world wide web, online social networks, databases and client server technologies serve relationships and the arts? What are the consequences of putting so much data about ourselves onto the web, and how can we manage the impression and information that is given out?Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.comBlogger379125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-83786276441548014932021-10-05T11:06:00.001-07:002021-10-11T11:41:14.209-07:00Second Book of Short Stories Out on Amazon<p><span color="var(--color-text)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent);">During the last year I wrote four short read collections called the Three Twisted Tales . Today they are available in aggregate as The Clock Strikes Twelve. A 265 page paperback on Amazon. If you enjoyed The Rorschach Test you should enjoy this collection. The stories are slightly longer in length. Big thanks to Daniel Anderson who once again created a beautiful cover.</span></p><p><span color="var(--color-text)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent);"><br /></span></p><p><span color="var(--color-text)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent);"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span color="var(--color-text)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent);"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rrSQJZ2cIv4/YWSFHYsQxhI/AAAAAAAAQOc/yhtgLdXlXv0HjwXj9MlCrvQ0UcMf2neCQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1680" height="277" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rrSQJZ2cIv4/YWSFHYsQxhI/AAAAAAAAQOc/yhtgLdXlXv0HjwXj9MlCrvQ0UcMf2neCQCLcBGAsYHQ/w443-h277/image.png" width="443" /></a></span></div><span color="var(--color-text)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: var(--artdeco-reset-base-font-size-hundred-percent);"><br /><br /></span><p></p><article class="feed-shared-article feed-shared-update-v2__content" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; display: var(--artdeco-reset-base-display-block); margin: 8px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><div class="feed-shared-article--with-large-image" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><div class="feed-shared-article__description-container" style="align-items: flex-start; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: space-between; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); padding: 8px 12px; transition: background-color 0.6s ease-in-out 0s, border 0.6s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><div class="flex-grow-1" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; flex-grow: 1; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><a class="app-aware-link feed-shared-article__meta flex-grow-1 full-width tap-target display-flex justify-space-between align-items-flex-start" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FC86JVW/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk" style="align-items: flex-start; align-self: center; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: flex; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: space-between; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); width: 516px;" target="_blank"><div class="display-flex" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><div class="display-flex flex-column flex-grow-1" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><div style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><h2 class="feed-shared-article__title break-words t-14 t-bold t-black" style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.4rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.42857; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-line-clamp: 2; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; display: -webkit-box; line-height: 2rem; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); max-height: 4rem; outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: break-word;"><span face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Fira Sans, Ubuntu, Oxygen, Oxygen Sans, Cantarell, Droid Sans, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Lucida Grande, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 22.4px; font-weight: 400;">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FC86JVW/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk</span></span></h2><div><span face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Fira Sans, Ubuntu, Oxygen, Oxygen Sans, Cantarell, Droid Sans, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Lucida Grande, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 22.4px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div></div></a></div></div></div></article>Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-61514200906982546512021-04-20T12:23:00.000-07:002021-04-20T12:23:27.893-07:00<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Hopefully you have seen the press release from the EDB about
Infoblox renewing its lease in Tacoma for another six years. Growing from sixty
employees to over two hundred and twenty and counting is an amazing story. I
would like to take a moment to tell another one. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The company has many compelling reasons to extend their stay
and grow the company here. As Co-chair of the EDB committee on the five year strategic
plan for the recruitment and retention of the technology industry in the South
Puget Sound, I have been part of an initiative to identify and promote reasons
for dong so. One of top reasons for any company is the availability of a
qualified workforce and in particular those that are coming out of our
engineering programs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I came on board at the UWT over twenty years ago, I was
a member of industry (CEO of Free Range Media), teaching as an adjunct for a
group of students going through a computer science program. At the time, the
program was called Computing Software and Systems. I was also on Governor Locke’s
Council on the Internet, and it was not that long after that I came on board as
a staff member at the Institute of Technology. It was legislated into existence
and situated on the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Governor Locke
actually did the announcement during my class with the full contingent of UW
and State representatives on hand. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thinking about where we began, with a cohort of around sixty
Computer Science students, and where we are now, I am amazed and impressed. We
are now the School of Engineering and Technology at the UWT. (There were many
good reasons for the name change and I am happy to talk about it if you would
like.) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We continue to grow and add programs, serving more students
each year and hiring world class faculty. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So do this with me. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Have you ever gone through a tunnel as a kid (or with your
kids) and had a contest to see if you could hold your breath all the way
through until the exit of the tunnel?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Okay, take a deep breath. At the School of Engineering and
Technology we now provide a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Systems,
a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Systems, a Bachelor of Science
in Information Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in
Civil Engineering! Whew! Still in the tunnel, keep holding. A Master of Science
in Computer Science, a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Master of Science
in Computer Engineering, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a
Masters in Cybersecurity and Leadership. You can do it! I see the light at the
end of the tunnel up ahead! We offer Graduate Certificates in Software
Engineering, a Big Data Science Certificate and a minor in Applied Computing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oh yes, we also now have a Ph.D. in Computer Science.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You can breathe now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well over a thousand students are in our programs or are
prepping to enter them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As you can imagine, I speak with members of the technology
industry and economic developers multiple times a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would be happy to speak with you as well,
or exchange a few emails if you would like to know more about our students, our
faculty, our research or the companies that have spawned from the campus.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/set/programs">https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/set/programs</a><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-32444321018113654262020-04-24T10:50:00.004-07:002020-05-05T11:56:09.326-07:00Being Productive as an Artist<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="eob31" data-offset-key="2sqie-0-0" style="background-color: white;">
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<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have my book back from the copy editor and will be accepting the changes and making small revisions over the next week before formatting it for paperback and kindle. Which got me thinking about all of my creative friends. One of the reasons I STILL enjoy Facebook is the hundreds of creative people I follow on that platform. Authors, actors, musicians and artists. SO, here are three who have recently released their work. Take a look and maybe be a patron of their art. Musician Daniel Anderson, Author Eric Hanberg and Artist Kathy Traxler Anderson.
<b>Tarantula Tapes</b> - Released today.
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a3b90bc8-7fff-d8df-17f7-915e267258f4"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 129px; overflow: hidden; width: 345px;"><img height="129" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/76BZNUHr1O7Wb_5d4Jx2rc2aMCtcI6Tn_I1S02Di3j2XCz7dTD-uQWz0ylp6oRD9Xg9FvNm1vjF8mSpvM7WupgYQEpAg1PBAQ2Jo6_l4hQO8WdU-3DZWsz1v4YBCRR6KII6swxKT" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="345" /></span></span></span>
I was lucky enough to get an advance digital album of Tarantula Tapes from Daniel Anderson. It is an instrumental album of a genre that I was not able to pinpoint and I spent a half an hour talking to him about. Some of the cuts reminded me of the Twin Peaks theme, some reminded me of what would happen if bluegrass and smooth jazz had a baby, a few made me think about driving through the Utah National Parks. It is eclectic, hypnotic and absolutely thematic. He did use the phrase lo-fi hip-hop about one, and I have no idea what that is. What I do know that the guitar work is infinitely cool, and it has been a perfect complement to my taking walks around Tacoma and while grading homework. You may know Daniel from his days as part of the alternative rock duo Idiot Pilot or his recent Glowbug We may be sheltered in place but the amount of creativity and productivity is inspiring.
<span id="docs-internal-guid-695e9de0-7fff-9e07-be34-e7a1ca9db980"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 200px; overflow: hidden; width: 123px;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oe1CObgwrP0/XqMmVDQh-OI/AAAAAAAAPnc/MpVG7gcIMCgj0HabmWznVRdtUbJ_YgFwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/semihuman.jpeg" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><img height="200" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/DrgOtgEydF6xDkLIaswKovpuMB5k54hcBr7bJwl9Luu1BtnOl2VFFHeFCW9Icqko6LOvGgsr5qJONnWO54Jt8gKOBLdR18vStrFZiBS8IYtUX71XMK1pwOSO1Ix6nabsCiETFkZl" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="123" /></a></span></span></span><b>Semi/Human</b> - This YA sci-fi heist thriller is the latest release by author and all around good guy Erik Hanberg. I have known Erik for many years including several where we would gather as pat of a writers group to encourage each other. I read all of his mystery books, which were the first fiction that he published and this is the latest sci-fi work since he completed The Lattice Trilogy in 2018. As Kirkus Reviews recently stated <i>"Hanberg deftly combines convincing high-tech (plus some surprising low-tech) touches with believable, sympathetic characters. "</i>
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and his interpretation of the effects of A.I. on the workers in a dystopian society. He puts the auto in workforce automation. (a semi really but I wanted the pun).
<b>"Hope Grows Here" Project</b> - There is so much good will and great art being spread by the Hope Grows Herebeing spread by the Hope Grows Hereope Grows Here project and much of that is exemplified by the sevent rather large pieces that were done by Kathy Traxler Anderson. I have loved watching these pieces develop both on Facebook and on instragram. Right now on her Instagram page is a great shot that gives a perspective shot of a piece being drawn.
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Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-952870916815120102020-01-31T12:12:00.001-08:002020-01-31T12:14:30.329-08:00The Rorschach Test and Other Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have made quite a bit of progress since the end of NaNoWriMo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The event ended with my crushing the low bar of 30,000 words that I set (the official site wouldn't let me adjust anyway) and I finished with 53,000 words written.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This equated to 18 first drafts of short suspense, horror and/or supernatural stories. Since then I have dropped one but written two more for a total of 19 titles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My next effort is concentrating on piecing them together into a full collection under the title:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Rorschach Test - <span style="text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">and other tales of </span><span style="text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">suspense, horror and the supernatural</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It may be tough going for me, as they are different lengths, and some decidedly different tones in some cases. You might jump from a ghost story, to a gruesome tale to a comedic piece.</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My hope is that they will still hold together as a collection.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next step for me is to collect them all together in one document and list out all the stories, though the order in which they are presented is subject to change. The book cover is just an idea so far but I have a mock up using some tweaked graphic that I found online. The final cover will be an original piece.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am happy to have made progress beyond the original challenge and hope to publish before the end of August this year.</span></span></div>
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</span>Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-71329500128028758012019-11-07T11:34:00.000-08:002019-11-07T11:34:56.342-08:00<img alt="Image result for nanowrimo" height="200" src="data:image/png;base64,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" width="200" /><br />
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Looking forward to giving my first go at NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. Taking inspiration from my daughter Savannah who has successfully complete the event four times already, I am geared up and ready to go.<br />
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My launching point is the 30 short story ideas I generated in August of this year, with outlines for ten different stories.<br />
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The standard goal is 50,000 words, but I am setting mine at 30,000.<br />
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I have only found an hour to write per day so far, but have managed to do so for five days to date with a near 5,000 words completed. I will have to step up the word count to make my goal but I think I can do it. I should have at least six first draft horror/supernatural short stories by Novembers end. <br />
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Then I can use the holidays to polish them up.Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-87558301892092502532019-07-24T12:16:00.001-07:002019-07-24T12:16:33.449-07:00Savannah's Nine Years of BloggingI look back over this blog which I have had for SOOOOOOO long and marvel at the drop off of posts from year to year. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and so many other platforms, it is difficult to maintain any regular content.<br />
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So it is with great fatherly pride that I share Savannah Fry's ninth anniversary post. She has struggled, (slightly) to maintain posting but relates nicely in her post the reasons for this struggle as well as how she is refocusing.<br />
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Here is her <a href="https://playinginthepages.blogspot.com/2019/07/now-we-are-nine-nearly-decade-on.html">Playing in the Pages </a> post.<br />
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<br />Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-46462526417368520402018-01-04T10:05:00.001-08:002018-01-04T10:05:54.867-08:00The South Sound Entrepreneurial EcosystemI haven't posted in over a year. The last post was a guest blog.<br />
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This year is different. Stay tuned.<br />
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I am going to be posting at least once per month on the topic of the South Puget Sound Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.<br />
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From early education to accelerators, incubators and investment, I am going to assess where we are today and what we need to do to continue the momentum being established.<br />
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This post will be replaced by one with more detail, but first I need to teach my class.<br />
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Andrew<br />
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-47218248276526421652017-01-06T11:09:00.002-08:002017-01-06T11:09:24.872-08:00Guest Post from Author Erik HanbergErik Hanberg is guest blogging today. Check his site out at http://erikhanberg.com/<br />
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The Scorpion Extraction</h2>
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January 5, 2017 by Erik Hanberg,</h3>
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In the spring of 2015, a group of friends and I went to Portland, Oregon to “escape the room.” (An escape room, if you don’t know) is basically a chance to get locked in a small room with a group of friends or coworkers and have to figure your way by solving puzzles, figuring out clues, and then communicating with others in the room.
It was an absolute blast. I came away thinking that I wanted to create an escape room in Tacoma.<br />
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The idea of an immersive experience with a ticking clock and lots of puzzles really appealed to me. There are many escape rooms all over the country, and I knew it was a matter of time before one came to Tacoma. I wanted to be involved!
I started talking about it with friends, but soon realized that two kids, a business, several unfinished novels, and a seat on the Metro Parks Board might be too much to also add managing an escape room. Fortunately, my good friend Andrew Fry was eager to start one.<br />
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He created Adventures by Appointment and wrote a script for the business’s first escape room.<br />
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He called it The Last Escape. Using his connections in the theater world, he brought together a team to build a sumptuous set and an engaging mystery. I loved participating in The Last Escape in my own small way, but it made me even more excited to create a room with Adventures by Appointment.<br />
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So when Andrew approached me about a new room, I jumped at the chance.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-13H95uhFlOM/WG_rRR5c0rI/AAAAAAAACIo/fHrM0q2rSX0NJIHxQKVAF6anGWaWg9D-wCLcB/s1600/scorpionextractionpostershort-350x466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-13H95uhFlOM/WG_rRR5c0rI/AAAAAAAACIo/fHrM0q2rSX0NJIHxQKVAF6anGWaWg9D-wCLcB/s320/scorpionextractionpostershort-350x466.jpg" width="240" /></a>I’m happy to say that The Scorpion Extraction, the next room of Adventures by Appointment, is open and ready to go.
I wrote the “script” for it, which is a funny thing for an immersive theatrical experience. Basically it means I laid out the premise: here’s the general storyline, here are the twists, and here is the puzzle path that a group will have to follow to get out of the room. But that’s only a thumbnail of what’s needed to make a room work.<br />
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The production team at ABA are the ones who realized the vision.<br />
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My puzzle path was fun, but it was sometimes impractical (at one point the script would have required a loaf of bread be used for every run of the room, which is probably the very definition of impractical). Jen and Blake straightened things out and brought their experience from The Last Escape to bear on the creation of this room, which allowed us to jump over hurdles and figure out what would be workable and fun. And the actors who inhabit the roles needed in the story will make each show slightly different, depending on the mix of actors and the questions they get from the group trying to escape. So there’s a real improv nature of this kind of experience that I only provided the loosest of sketches for.
I got to participate in some of the tech rehearsals in preparation for opening, and it was a joy to see things in real life.<br />
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I’ve written a few plays over the years, but this was a particularly fun experience because so much of the joy of it comes from things outside the “script.”
So. The Scorpion Extraction is now open.<br />
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Here’s the story:<br />
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<i>You are part of an FBI recovery team getting ready to extract an informant who has been feeding information to the FBI on the dangerous and powerful mob boss known only by the code name Red Scorpion. However, when you and your team arrive, it becomes difficult determining just exactly who is who. Be careful not to side with the wrong person, as it could be a fatal error. Can you rescue the informant before the Red Scorpion’s henchman reach you? </i><br />
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I think it’s a blast. If you would like to book a group for either The Last Escape or The Scorpion Extraction, you can do it on the Adventures by Appointment website.<br />
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Good luck with your escape!
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-64097399904228646892016-09-07T12:22:00.001-07:002016-09-07T12:22:31.894-07:00Announcing the Next Escape Room (and a surprise)<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qaEKzsAnH3c/V9BoBv8K35I/AAAAAAAACHE/0R00JqdA_rQYYl7p58fNs6cvzffjzQKSgCLcB/s1600/The%2BDark%2BCount%2BTwo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qaEKzsAnH3c/V9BoBv8K35I/AAAAAAAACHE/0R00JqdA_rQYYl7p58fNs6cvzffjzQKSgCLcB/s1600/The%2BDark%2BCount%2BTwo.png" /></a>As we move into September we have had to make a decision on the small business Adventures by Appointment LLC. It has been fun and the response has been as much as I could have asked for. The month of August was busy and the month of September has filled nicely. This makes continuing the room on into the holidays and beyond an easy decision. After hiring the Jen York as the Managing Director it is time to get serious.<br />
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However, without the Spaceworks advantage on rent it becomes a little trickier, plus we need to satisfy all of patrons who pleaded for another room after finishing the first.<br />
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So what to do next?<br />
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Announcing the second adventure offering from Adventures by Appointment. This next room will be in keeping with the theatrical requirements of the escapes, with two actors in the room as part of the action.<br />
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Even more exciting is that Mystery and Sci Fi Author Erik Hanberg will be penning the script and puzzle path. Erik was instrumental in pushing the first room forward and a great sounding board for what was being created. So now it is his turn.<br />
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You are part of a FBI recovery team getting ready to extract your informant who has been feeding information on the dangerous and powerful mob boss who has been terrorizing the city. However, when you and your team arrive, it becomes a challenge determining just exactly who is who. </blockquote>
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Be careful not to side with the wrong person, as it could be a fatal error.</blockquote>
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Complicating matters is that you are under pressure to beat the clock, as henchmen are on there way and the consequences of there arrival are to be feared.</blockquote>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Can you figure out who the informant is and escape, or will you fall victim to "The Dark Count".</span></blockquote>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-6160449908138585672016-07-27T11:16:00.002-07:002016-07-27T11:17:30.956-07:00All Kinds of Escapes at Court House Square<div>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-go1i21M8ovw/V5j5qKElOBI/AAAAAAAACGU/eB8SnMb9DRYM33T-p8gJFXAPPVC4d0aPQCLcB/s1600/ABA%2Bsceance%2Bphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-go1i21M8ovw/V5j5qKElOBI/AAAAAAAACGU/eB8SnMb9DRYM33T-p8gJFXAPPVC4d0aPQCLcB/s320/ABA%2Bsceance%2Bphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What a month of July it has been for The Last Escape. We have seen birthday parties, family outings, tourists in Tacoma and company team building groups all come through the escape/puzzle room. Facebook has been active with followers and those interested in checking out what we have created, and engaged in requesting what kind of escape room we might build next.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We opened in June and had several small groups come through. Early adopters of a new business in the city, friends of The Last Escapers (what the actors, designers, techs and writers call ourselves at Adventures by Appointment) and even curious walk ups made up those first several runs. Among them was a reporter for The News Tribune <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article86350032.html">who came in slightly skeptical and left a fan</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">But it was with the publishing of the article that really opened the secret passageway, I mean door, to the room. All sorts of days and times popped up on the adventure calendar. We show four or so shows for ticket purchases each weekend in the month. This is for those who are looking to come have fun in sets of two or four or six, or an entire booked room of 10. Friday at 7:00pm, Saturday at 7:00pm (and 9:00pm at first but now 5:00pm) and 5:00pm on Sunday are the pre-scheduled times. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Pxlm_WnIcY/V5j532syvdI/AAAAAAAACGY/W5wfa6Wow-MF0VfWnzE2DPZtNOmvavxhwCLcB/s1600/aba%2Bstore%2Bupcoming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Pxlm_WnIcY/V5j532syvdI/AAAAAAAACGY/W5wfa6Wow-MF0VfWnzE2DPZtNOmvavxhwCLcB/s200/aba%2Bstore%2Bupcoming.jpg" width="185" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Then came the call for gift certificates so I had to figure out a way to provide the adventure ticket without a pre-determined time. I posted about how Adventures by Appointment meant that you can secure your own appointment for time and day. As soon as that became clear more phone calls came in asking for specific days and times. With enough notice and an actor and tech willing to do so, we could do a 2:00am show on a Weds. In what is supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in Tacoma! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Now we have Flex Tickets for Two People, Four People, A Private Party Escape and even a Team Building Escape that comes with lunch and a facilitated discussion following. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">And it has been fun. We have had to add additional tech folks to run the escape no matter what the time and day, more actors to be the Mediums in the room (Madam Dana and Lady Jade have been supplemented with Price Nicki and Otho the Magnificent). </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Finally and importantly, we will be starting a part time Managing Director of Adventures by Appointment in August and will be looking to expand to two and possibly even three different escapes to choose from.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">We are looking at a bank robbery theme, a prisoner breakout, CDC virus outbreak and alien autopsy story lines. Which would you like to see happen?</span></span></div>
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Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-68310345743205509822016-06-24T11:39:00.000-07:002016-06-24T11:40:44.416-07:00Set Up Your Adventure (by Appointment) for The Last Escape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pQrxl5yaXcE/V21103nDm8I/AAAAAAAACFg/VmDmSnzDbs8RoSnQgwRTLfA-DS3GhrWaQCLcB/s1600/Adventure%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BTarot%2BRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pQrxl5yaXcE/V21103nDm8I/AAAAAAAACFg/VmDmSnzDbs8RoSnQgwRTLfA-DS3GhrWaQCLcB/s400/Adventure%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BTarot%2BRoom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
And the room is now open! The first production of Adventures by Appointment LLC has gone through its trial runs, previews, beta tests or whatever you might like to call them and it has opened for business.<br />
<br />
So what is it exactly?<br />
<br />
I like the way Erik Hanberg put it.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">"Tacoma's first puzzle/escape room is a new kind of theatrical experience in the South Sound. The puzzle room challenges participants to race the clock and break themselves out of a room by solving a series of elaborate puzzles that lead a group through a narrative involving eccentric billionaires, a spiritualist medium, and the most famous magician in the world."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>
And judging by the feedback we have been getting since it opened, we have succeeded in creating a very fun and exciting experience.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">One of the best experiences. I took my 13 year old son and he loved it as well. If you want to experience something completely different set an appointment now."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Super fun experience! Easily the best Escape room I've done."</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">I had so much fun, by the end my heart was racing as we tried to bet the clock.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">The puzzles were well thought thru definitely providing a challenge while remaining fun. "</span></blockquote>
<div>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
Who would have thought that one year ago I would be looking through puzzle books and reading about Harry Houdini in order to try and write puzzle paths and a storyline that would hold up as an escape room adventure.<br />
<br />
Of course the reason it is an cool as it turned out to be has more to do with the sets, props and special effects. Blake York did an incredible job on creating the space that could function as a mediums parlor for tarot card reading and also keep unobtrusive the set lights, grid, false walls and other surprises. Jen York not only helped keep it on track as the director but found amazing talent to run tech and act as the medium, gamemaster, hintgiver and all around entertaining addition to the experience.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MmjUFllxQJI/V21-ENL4fvI/AAAAAAAACFw/OlDPP-zCs38TFyyDrq-tX9vzj7ris_mywCLcB/s1600/Andrew%2BMedium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MmjUFllxQJI/V21-ENL4fvI/AAAAAAAACFw/OlDPP-zCs38TFyyDrq-tX9vzj7ris_mywCLcB/s1600/Andrew%2BMedium.jpg" /></a>The show has three consistent running times and days. Friday and Saturday at 7:00pm and Sunday at 5:00pm. But we only need a commitment of 5 to 6 people who want to go through the room in order to coordinate a time and day of your choice.<br />
<br />
We just ran one at 3:00pm on Sunday because the group could not make any other time. One of our mediums was on vacation and the other worked, so I had to run out and get a new fake mustache, borrow a turban from our Tacoma Little Theatre friends and step up to the cards.<br />
<br />
Honestly the mediums we have Madam Dana and Lady Jade are practically one woman shows in their own right. I may have to dedicate the next post to them.<br />
<br />
<br />
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</div>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-62807723404999017242016-03-29T15:20:00.000-07:002016-03-29T15:20:02.673-07:00Another Step Closer to the Last Escape<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GTHlNpiQkjU/Vvr_FSTlJ8I/AAAAAAAACEA/Od3dJrht8QwzHBRxF-RBXLb_v5jA6d0VA/s1600/Adventures%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BPanorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GTHlNpiQkjU/Vvr_FSTlJ8I/AAAAAAAACEA/Od3dJrht8QwzHBRxF-RBXLb_v5jA6d0VA/s400/Adventures%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BPanorama.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
It is one thing to get excited about an idea and quite the
other to go about implementing all the necessary details to make it a reality.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Creating an escape room is a creative exercise that involves
writing, design, casting, directing and puzzle making. Fun!
Yay!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it still needs a home.
It has to exist in the context of ticket sales, leasing space, hiring
and licensing. It needs to be housed
within a business. Work! Not as much of a Yay!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That is the bulk of what I have been doing over the last
month and a half, and it is now bearing fruit.
It was also a major reason for taking the project on. Although I have been mentoring companies ,
sitting on advisory boards and teaching entrepreneurship at the undergraduate
and professional development levels, I haven’t walk the walk in quite some
time. It is easy to forget the anxiety
that comes with worrying over forgetting important details, finding funding and
waiting, waiting, waiting to hear whether a something that is a lynch pin to
your success will come through. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o9oriy9pYms/Vvr-yqDVx7I/AAAAAAAACD4/5VSKuuBeMQ4NytzBl2X91eLIGWlTWGmKQ/s1600/Adventures%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BLLC%2Bfor%2BAA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o9oriy9pYms/Vvr-yqDVx7I/AAAAAAAACD4/5VSKuuBeMQ4NytzBl2X91eLIGWlTWGmKQ/s200/Adventures%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BLLC%2Bfor%2BAA.jpg" width="131" /></a>Behold the LLC! <i>Adventures by Appointment LLC</i> is the
company that will be putting on the production of The Last Escape. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
That meant registering the company with the state,
registering the domain name (<a href="http://www.adventuresbyappointment.com/">www.adventuresbyappointment.com</a>) , filing for a
state business license, filing for a city business license and opening a
business bank account which also requires things like a EIN number and an
operations plan. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
That of course leaves the requirement of finding the right location. How about right in the middle of downtown
Tacoma? Yes, we have an address. 410 A Street, Suite 410, Tacoma WA. Many thanks are due to Spaceworks Tacoma for
their help in finding the property and arranging for the first six months at a
low rate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OnyHTkRrsZI/Vvr-O3bL_CI/AAAAAAAACD0/BajvGajGBdMr82abARF5ezUtjjTkrAEQA/s1600/Adventures%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BOffices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OnyHTkRrsZI/Vvr-O3bL_CI/AAAAAAAACD0/BajvGajGBdMr82abARF5ezUtjjTkrAEQA/s200/Adventures%2Bby%2BAppointment%2BOffices.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Occupation of the space will take place the first of April
and the serious, non-serious work of putting together the production with Jen
York directing and Blake York designing becomes real.<o:p></o:p></div>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-67772197032986869572016-02-13T11:44:00.001-08:002016-02-13T16:07:13.251-08:00Finding a Room to Escape FromAs a rule of thumb, it is difficult to create a puzzle and escape room without a room. Not just a simple office space but somewhere that you can expand beyond four walls to create little surprises and heighten tension.<br />
<br />
Location is always a consideration as well. Most businesses rely on foot traffic and those that have street front also benefit from the ongoing signage exposure to the public. But when you are serving six to ten people at a time and the adventure is by appointment then you have more flexibility as to your location. You also have more control over the tone you want to set.<br />
<br />
The one requirement I made for myself was that this enterprise was to be in downtown Tacoma. Close to hotels and restaurants and people, but just off the street enough to be a bit mysterious.<br />
<br />
I am no expert. Commercial space is not my forte. I needed help from someone or something. I am extremely excited to announce that I am a participant in the Spaceworks program.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Spaceworks Tacoma matches artists and creative entrepreneurs with vacant spaces to activate Tacoma. What a fortuitous match.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
They are an amazing team of people who are energetic, committed and hard working. I will also be serving as a mentor to some of their latest artists and entrepreneurs just now launching their businesses into new spaces.<br />
<br />
We have identified a location that I think is perfect. I'll need to wait for approval but if it works out, I am going to give details about it here.Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-81669958277291391182016-01-30T15:00:00.002-08:002016-02-01T18:52:23.036-08:00The Last Escape<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ccDqsFlzCU/Vq1QN7h3lHI/AAAAAAAACB8/yqz7wuKkqDE/s1600/TheLastEscapeResearch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ccDqsFlzCU/Vq1QN7h3lHI/AAAAAAAACB8/yqz7wuKkqDE/s320/TheLastEscapeResearch.jpg" width="320" /></a>Building a puzzle/escape room is one thing, and the story
that unfolds while escaping is another.
You may love a venue, (consider the interior of the Pantages or the 5<sup>th</sup>
Ave Theater), but it is really the show that stays with you. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it was important to me that the two be separated. “Adventures by Appointment” is the name of
the company that will put on the escapes, but the first puzzle room production
that will launch it is called “The Last Escape”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This all started close to a year ago in a conversation with
Erik Hanberg. He was the impetus for the
exploration for this kind of entertainment in the South Sound. He and Mary had just participated in an
escape room in Portland and had had a fantastic time. So for a few weeks we kicked it around, with
discussion of themes and stories and how something like that might be received
in Tacoma.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We missed a short window to visit a room up in Seattle and
then I was off on vacation to Sunriver, Oregon.
As is my habit, I bring a creative project outside of my daily routine
with me. This time, it was the
development of an idea for a story to become the basis for an escape. Being the obvious person that I am I
immediately thought of the greatest escape artist of all time, Ehrich Prach,
known to the world as Harry Houdini. I
bought and books, articles and even read his obituary. I began to research puzzles as well. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I returned I was ready to move this story forward and
create the production, which also meant building a company, finding a venue and
spending a lot of creative energy. Erik
has been a valuable sounding board and though he is busy with being President
of the Parks Commission, co owner of Side X Side Creative and releasing the
second book is his sci-fi trilogy “The Iron Harvest” I am hoping to convince
him to write and produce the second escape room adventure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I decided to approach this business like a venue for
theatrical productions in order to build a revenue model. Because the number people who attend a
production at any one time is very small, there are some limitations. Nevertheless, there are many similarities. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have a firm grasp of story and stage, as I have been in
over thirty five theatrical productions over the last ten years. Combined with my entrepreneurial experience, it
has provided me with the confidence to push forward. Unfortunately most of my experience is through
the guise of an actor. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily I know a few folks with a broader set of theatrical
skill sets. I have known Chris Serface
for years, since we first performed together in "My Fair Lady" at the Tacoma
Musical Playhouse, then "The Wind in the Willows" and "Urinetown" among
others. Chris became Managing Artistic
Director at Tacoma Little Theatre and now runs the show there along with Karen Christensen and Blake York and their board. All of whom
I have done shows with. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chris helped answer my questions about scheduling, budgets,
roll out of productions and really helped me translate how ticket </div>
sales and
audience estimates might work with what I am trying to do. Bottom line, less seats to sell means more
shows per week. Plus my overhead will be
smaller.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am happy to say that Tacoma Little Theatre will be
partnering with me on the first production.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eop-rr7AB4s/Vq1AaPfZu3I/AAAAAAAACBs/yOwcDIzdSN4/s1600/TLTXmasStory23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eop-rr7AB4s/Vq1AaPfZu3I/AAAAAAAACBs/yOwcDIzdSN4/s320/TLTXmasStory23.jpg" width="320" /></a>I mentioned Blake York, who is technical director of
TLT. He also played Ralph, the grown up
Ralphie and narrator for the recent production of A Christmas Story, in which I
played “The Old Man”. Along with doing a
great job with a ridiculous line load, he also designed and built a magnificent
set for the show and was responsible for sound cues. The set was truly a thing of beauty. He had also built the set for Fox on the
Fairway and at one after show cast party said he wanted to work with me on
something.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is that thing. I
am happy to announce that Blake York will be doing set, sound and light design
for “The Last Escape”. He is keen on
quality and understands how to make things happen on stage.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, once the script has been written and the venue has
been chosen, you need someone to direct.
I met Jen York during the production of A Christmas Story and loved
working with her. She was easy to
communicate with, is organized, detail oriented and very creative. She also has a wide range of experience in
all facets of theater. She asks the right
questions and can give firm instructions. <br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In meeting with her on the production she has never failed
to give me great guidance and advice.
Several elements have come into greater focus because of tasks she gave
me to complete. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jen York will be directing “The Last Escape”.</div>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-57817993870621452922016-01-26T09:51:00.003-08:002016-01-26T09:51:56.512-08:00RIP Marvin Minsky Artificial Intelligence PioneerWhen we are as connected as we are, (and when you are a media pig like I am) you are going to get constant notices of people passing. Glenn Frey and David Bowie as recent examples. I felt a little more nostalgic with Glenn Frey. When it is someone like Alan Rickman I feel sad because of the age that he passed and knowing his personal contributions are no longer available, though his achievements will have lasting effects. Leonard Nimoy was sad to me on a very nostalgic level. I also recognize he had a long and fulfilling life. <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This
rather long preamble is for the death of Marvin Minsky at the wonderful age of
88. <span style="background: white;">Minsky co-founded the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab in
1959. His goal was to mimic human perception and intelligence in a machine;
along the way, he created some of the first robotic hands with tactile sensors,
while also working to address the philosophical questions posed by the machines
he created.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
I met him once in my life and heard him speak twice. At one point as a youngster in the late 80's I was deeply fascinated with his work on artificial intelligence. He was a character. When AI fell into a bit of a slump, (and in order to be taken seriously you had to call the next steps Expert Systems), I am sure he was as prickly as could be. But at the same time I would have loved to hear his views on Deep Blue and Watson. I suppose I will have to look those up.<br />
<br />
Here is a snippet from an article today in Scientific America:<br />
<br />
""Why are you asking me this question?" Minsky growled. The concern that scientists will run out of things to do is "pitiful," he said. "There's plenty to do." We humans may well be approaching our limits as scientists, but we will soon create machines much smarter than us that can continue doing science.<br />
<br />
But that would be machine science, not human science, I said.<br />
<br />
"You're a racist, in other words," Minsky said, his great domed forehead purpling. I scanned his face for signs of irony, but found none. "I think the important thing for us is to grow," Minsky continued, "not to remain in our own present stupid state." We humans, he added, are just "dressed up chimpanzees." Our task is not to preserve present conditions but to evolve, and create beings smarter than us."<br />
<br />
RIP Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-71569222352482216182016-01-23T11:49:00.001-08:002016-01-23T11:51:48.990-08:00Juggling the Business and the Art<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NEewKvJtjSc/VqPWnz2dZiI/AAAAAAAACBA/bu2b1er67jY/s1600/TheLastEscapeResearch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NEewKvJtjSc/VqPWnz2dZiI/AAAAAAAACBA/bu2b1er67jY/s320/TheLastEscapeResearch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the research being conducted for "The Last Escape"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Whenever you work on a big project you have to accommodate the ever shifting requirements that will bring it to fruition. In the case of the puzzle/escape room under development there are several different tracks operating at the same time. The business planning is essential for many reasons, the most prominent in my own mind is the fact that I should be practicing what I preach. I am currently teaching two separate courses at the University of Washington Tacoma in entrepreneurship, one as an undergraduate course and the other as part of a continuing education certificate. Both use business planning as the infrastructure for building out your company on both an operational and a funding level. Plus of course it is an incredibly valuable tool for a successful outcome.<br />
<br />
So I am working on that. Finding a venue, creating a proforma, developing marketing materials, organizing and recruiting a team, procuring funding and performing recursive reality checks are all the plates spinning right now in my off time from my day job. I am really enjoying myself.<br />
<br />
Additionally, there is the creative element. The whole point of this was to produce something fun with theatrical elements. The balance here is going to be the practical flow of the puzzles that will be challenging, exciting and fun to do as a team, the story that needs to be told over the course of an hour that will have several endings based on how far the teams progress toward the escape, the characters who will inhabit the room from the gamemaster to the limited role playing that can be infused into the customers and how much historical accuracy can be integrated into what is a fictional situation. <br />
<br />
I am working on that. This requires a bit of research and experimentation. <br />
<br />
The good news is that I have the complete skeletal structure of the puzzle elements as they lead to locked boxes, strange riddles, brain teasers, hidden rooms and required tasks. When I write stories I often have it worked out completely in my head. Once I put it on paper I realize where I have holes to fill and characters to develop. It is never complete until the third or fourth rewrite (for me).<br />
<br />
In this case I have the story down. However instead of rewriting it I need to run it. I need to know the realistic time it might take ten people working together to finish each challenge. It can't be too hard or to easy.<br />
<br />
There are also several pieces that will need to be fabricated or procured. Then there is a set to build.<br />
<br />
My next post will talk about the people who are helping me get this done.<br />
<br />
<br />Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-38183403329700155632016-01-13T10:48:00.000-08:002016-01-13T12:24:40.721-08:00Bringing an Escape Room to the South Puget Sound<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-86kuwHbkKDM/VpabzyeLaSI/AAAAAAAACAw/79YBJQkK6CM/s1600/Houdini%2BProves%2BIt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-86kuwHbkKDM/VpabzyeLaSI/AAAAAAAACAw/79YBJQkK6CM/s320/Houdini%2BProves%2BIt.jpg" width="247" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Real life room escape games have been cropping
up around the United States with greater frequency over the last two
years. These stylized escape games which pit creative problem
solving against a ticking clock started in Hungary and took off in Japan where
they are extremely popular. In our own area there are currently no
less than five puzzle room companies in Seattle and at least one that I know of
in Redmond, with many in Portland as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Theatrically speaking there is a spectrum to
the experience. On one end of the spectrum there are simple puzzle
rooms that are filled with a variety of puzzle types. Small teams of
people work together to figure them out until each puzzle leads them to meta puzzles
which leads you to the means to leave the room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the other end of the spectrum are thematic
escape rooms. These carry a story or plot line along with the
necessary puzzle solving to make the escape. They are immersive to a
place or time and can heighten the urgency of the clock. Think a
prison break or escape from a mad scientist’s lab.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 12pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is this story driven type of puzzle and
escape room that I will be bringing to Tacoma (in conjunction with some great
local partners). I wanted to create something that would be a
combination of stage play and puzzle room, with the idea that
plotting, story line and stagecraft such as lighting and special
effects would enhance the experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At its core it will
still be type of physical </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">adventure
game<span style="color: #222222;"> in which people are locked in a room with
other participants and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of
puzzles, find clues, and escape the room within a set time
limit. But there will also be a plot, characters and a story line added
to the experience. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It would be possible
to put it together today and run a beta of it next week (and I was tempted to).
However, I would rather up the quality as much as I can. This means
more time and money to build a dedicated set, create special puzzles and
purchase props. So I am going to run a Kickstarter campaign to raise
funds for a higher end product through perks that will include first patron
advance ticket sales, puzzle sponsorship and hopefully some cool
swag. At the very least, this will give me the opportunity to spread
the word, find some beta testers and up the quality of the experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you are interested
let me know, and look for the upcoming campaign. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Know him, Hear him, See him, Free him" - Assisting Houdini in His Last Escape</b></span>Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-76891871993784389702015-11-02T10:02:00.001-08:002015-11-02T11:24:56.475-08:00The Virtual Scavenger Hunt 2015 Addition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uj8A8Mkl7mI/VjeoTZLssLI/AAAAAAAACAA/ivGyZo1T5L0/s1600/scavengerhunt15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uj8A8Mkl7mI/VjeoTZLssLI/AAAAAAAACAA/ivGyZo1T5L0/s400/scavengerhunt15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">About 12 years ago I was thinking of how to create an assignment that was both an examination of search tools and hopefully a lot of fun. I also wanted to open their eyes to how much personal information was available on the web. So for my class Living and Working in a Virtual World I put together a virtual scavenger hunt. Back in 2007<a href="http://andrewfry.blogspot.com/2007/05/holding-virtual-scavenger-hunt.html"> I wrote about it</a> here on this blog.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">I have been conducting the hunt once or twice every year since, depending on when I am scheduled to teach the course. Each year, as search technologies and specialized sites such as RedFin, LinkedIn, Twitter, Expedia, Amazon and Facebook further dominate our lives, the items on the list have gotten easier to find and retrieve. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">It may be a bit generational, but most people don't seem to care how much personal information they give out online. I myself gave up on the concept of privacy a long time ago. Erik Hanberg recently quoted me, probably quoting someone else, probably quoting Erik with this little gem. "The privacy you have today is the most privacy you will ever have". </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Where once the hunt would take an entire class period, with only one third of the items found by much the participating teams, it now takes only about one hour for several of the teams to find them all.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><i>UPDATE: This year one team found all 19 items in less than one half hour.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_pXJzOw6HAg/Vje4dgG2kyI/AAAAAAAACAQ/5LJNwN-RDjU/s1600/scavengerhunt152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_pXJzOw6HAg/Vje4dgG2kyI/AAAAAAAACAQ/5LJNwN-RDjU/s200/scavengerhunt152.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">And I have tried to make them more difficult. Some are items from the first hunt, which by virtue of being dated have become more difficult to find. But there is one in particular that I want to mention.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Item number 19 on this years hunt reads. "What is the married name of my middle sister?"</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Think about that. These students only know me as their professor, with only my name and affiliation with the university as a starting point. They need to be able to find out about my family, the order in which they were born and who they married. All in about 5 minutes, as it is the last item on the list.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Remember when "What is your mothers maiden name?" was a common password check? "The name of the best man at your wedding?". "The name of your first pet?" These are all common prompts today for password retrieval. Any of them are easy to find online.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">This year of the nine teams participating, I expect several will get the correct answer.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">You may not be shocked, you may be concerned, but for the most part, in the present day you should at least be aware.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">(much of the text for this post is from an earlier hunt)</span></span>Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-6279832704848380602015-10-07T08:56:00.000-07:002015-10-07T08:56:06.632-07:00Another Year of Growth for the Institute of Technology at the University of Washington Tacoma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dmvigxFyjoA/VhU9SUWBa4I/AAAAAAAAB_k/YQEfHZTMcYo/s1600/Program%2BBanners%2Bfor%2Bthe%2BInstitute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dmvigxFyjoA/VhU9SUWBa4I/AAAAAAAAB_k/YQEfHZTMcYo/s640/Program%2BBanners%2Bfor%2Bthe%2BInstitute.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The academic year started last Weds the 30th of September. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think back to when the Institute of Technology was just an idea with the starting point of 30 to 60 students enrolled in a computer science major that had the terrible name of Computer Software and Systems. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting in 2015 we have 750 plus Juniors, Seniors and Graduate students in five programs and two centers for research. More programs on the horizon.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px;">It has been an amazing journey with plenty of ups and downs along the way.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">Let's give the credit where it is due. The Washington Technology Industry Association, Ed Lazowska and true leaders of Tacoma like Herb Simon and others pushed for more high demand degree programs </span></span><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">and the UWT was the place to make it happen. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">I was happy to have served on the education committee for the WTIA (at that time the WSA) when the workforce report came out. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">The founding director of the Institute, Dr. Larry Crum, had a vision for a polytechnic with a large student body and I was lucky that he envisioned a position that would recruit someone out of industry with a strong tech business background. It was a very different type of position that required a title change and that would allow me to not only teach but to stay involved with young companies as well. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">Governor Gary Locke signed the legislation that funded the Institute and I was pleased he announced the initiative and made the official declaration in my Managing Technical Teams class. At that time a single engine train used to come through the middle of campus twice a week. It felt like a single A baseball team that needs to take an outfield wall down to let the local train cross through the field.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">The second director, Dr. Orlando Baiocchi, and Associate Director Dr. Larry Wear founded the Computer Engineering program, the second high tech high demand degree program that cemented the idea that the Institute wasn't just about computer science.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">Dr. Sam Chung and Dr. Ankur Teredesai founded the IT program. Sam and Barbara Endicott Popovsky created the Cybersecurity Center and Ankur presides over the Center for Data Science. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">The third Director Rob Friedman championed our growth at 20 to 25 percent over the last several years. The current director Dr. Raj Katti will no doubt see an EE program take shape by 2016 or so. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3" style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; line-height: 16.08px;"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2o.1:5.0.1:$comment10154241759134638_10154242824454638/=10.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end/=1$text0/=010">I feel like Woody Allen's great character Zelig, always appearing somewhere in the background.</span></span></span></span>Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-37193067007508190652015-06-05T11:42:00.000-07:002015-06-05T11:42:36.877-07:00SiteCrafting Expands into New Quarters in the (slightly tongue in check) Emerging Dome Tech DistrictCongratulations are in order to Brian Forth and all the folks at SiteCrafting. The company has been a Tacoma fixture for 17 years and they just moved into some very cool digs near Lemay and the Tacoma Dome.<br />
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First, the exterior is polished and professional. No messing around when it comes to knowing you have arrived at the offices. The companies logo, familiar from so many views on the web, looks great as the mantle about the door to the building.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRM84lBMnU0/VXHjLDJQCPI/AAAAAAAAB-o/Jj8XaTnI93Y/s1600/SiteCrafting%2BActual%2BExterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRM84lBMnU0/VXHjLDJQCPI/AAAAAAAAB-o/Jj8XaTnI93Y/s400/SiteCrafting%2BActual%2BExterior.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>
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Even more impressive is the open concept interior. The view from the loft, office at the top of the stairs gives an idea of how things are laid out.<br />
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The open beams remind me of the tech company vibe of Pioneer Square in Seattle. The walls have messaging on all sides. My favorite is the mission statement for the company (not shown) that appears on the dividing wall that separates a open lounge, meeting area and the kitchen.</div>
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I attended their open house on June 3rd and ran into many of the Tacoma community and technology crowd including Tom Pierson, President and CEO of the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, who said a few words and presided over the ribbon cutting. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DaBoj_JWqBQ/VXHpZlWAI7I/AAAAAAAAB-4/qjtSgH0XePQ/s1600/SiteCrafting%2BScissors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DaBoj_JWqBQ/VXHpZlWAI7I/AAAAAAAAB-4/qjtSgH0XePQ/s320/SiteCrafting%2BScissors.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Additionally and equally impressive was the roll out of a new LLC housed within SiteCrafting's building call GearLab. With an already impressive list of clients, they provide usability testing, user research, and content strategy.</div>
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From their web site:</div>
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TOP TIER FACILITY<br />
GearLab is equipped with the latest technology for testing across all platforms and screen sizes, including an eye tracking system that records the movements of a subject's saccades. The Lab is separated into two spaces - the lab itself and an observation room, creating flexibility to fit the testing that makes sense for your project.</blockquote>
S-Vidia is moving in to office not far from theirs and another cybersecurity company is housed next door. With four companies with technology grounding as part of their product services I am now going to casually throw around the phrase "T-Dome tech-district" whenever I talk about SiteCraftings new location.<br />
<br />Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-53080012941949351722015-04-24T10:10:00.000-07:002015-04-24T10:16:12.197-07:00Last Chance to Experience the Mysterious UWT Aural EventThere has been some excitement for the addition of a large W to the UWT campus at the top of the Grand Staircase. It will be located in an area that is considered one of the best views on campus.<br />
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Not only that, but discourse on the coloration of the letter, in association with the feel of the campus and the city (not my view but a common one) has been held. <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">UW Tacoma’s new installation will be eight feet tall and made of steel."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/04/20/3749940/matt-driscoll-its-time-to-come.html">http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/04/20/3749940/matt-driscoll-its-time-to-come.html</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tUXQQXJLsM/VTp14QnL-SI/AAAAAAAAB9o/-SlINTV8Rsk/s1600/UWT%2BW.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tUXQQXJLsM/VTp14QnL-SI/AAAAAAAAB9o/-SlINTV8Rsk/s1600/UWT%2BW.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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But note where it is going to be located. Great spot, right? Yes....but.</div>
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Something will be lost when it goes up, A little UWT secret that I stumbled across years ago and still present to anyone I am giving a campus tour to. Now, in no way I am advocating that a different location be selected. I think this is the right spot. </div>
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So I am telling you this now so that you can experience it yourself before construction and installation begins. To do so means that you will be privy to a soon to be forgotten University of Washington Tacoma audio anomaly. See the crossing lines below. Stand at the intersection, in the center of the cross. Exactly in the center facing outward down the staircase or it won't work. Look out toward the arch of the History Museum and say "Go Huskies!" or "Andrew Fry is an idiot" or anything you please. Experience the magic.</div>
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Now of course there is a simple scientific explanation, of which I will not give until after you have tried. I'll wait.</div>
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Most importantly, do this soon. As once the W goes up, the mystery will be gone. </div>
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Unless they place the W about two feet further out than the picture suggests.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9BsyW6hof6g/VTp3u0LbRnI/AAAAAAAAB90/Ohb4USd5F4k/s1600/Grand%2BStaircase%2BAudio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9BsyW6hof6g/VTp3u0LbRnI/AAAAAAAAB90/Ohb4USd5F4k/s1600/Grand%2BStaircase%2BAudio.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/04/20/3749940/matt-driscoll-its-time-to-come.html#storylink=cpy</div>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-63996996334988481802015-03-04T15:03:00.002-08:002015-03-04T15:05:53.626-08:00South Sound Technology Conference 2015 This Friday March 6th<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Friday, March 6th, William Philip Hall on the UWT
campus will be filled with hundreds of attendees to the South Sound Technology
Conference. Having chaired the
conference for 14 of it's 15 years I am pleased to say that Congressman Adam
Smith and Congressman Derek Kilmer are once again are honorary co-chairs of the
South Sound Technology Conference.
Congressman Adam Smith will be there in person to provide some opening
remarks in the 2015 addition of this 15 year running showcase for technology
and entrepreneurship in the South Puget Sound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The annual South Sound Technology Conference, which is
hosted by the Institute of Technology at the University of Washington Tacoma
and slated for this Friday, March 6th, brings together leaders from industry,
education and government from around the state to discuss and demonstrate
technological innovations and their ongoing applications.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year the conference will highlight information and
cybersecurity in its keynote addresses and some of the panels. Janine Teranno,
CEO of Topia Technology will be the morning keynoter and discuss information
protection in the cloud, and Bill Boni discuss protecting the infrastructure
and your information. Panel and keynote
presentations - including networking opportunities - provide a venue to
discuss, explore, understand and deploy technology as a solution, an
opportunity and an advantage. These panels will include entrepreneurial
networking opportunities, a discussion of the Kaufmann 1 Million Cups Tacoma
project along with success stories and how technology will provide solutions
for energy issues in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bill Boni is Corporate Information Security Officer and Vice
President Enterprise Information Security for T-Mobile U.S.A. An
information-protection specialist for 30 years, Boni joined T-Mobile in 2009.
Previously, he was Corporate Security Officer of Motorola Asset Protection
Services. Throughout his career, he has helped organizations design and
implement cost-effective programs to protect both tangible and intangible
assets. He pioneered the application of computer forensics and intrusion
detection to deal with incidents directed against electronic business systems.
He was awarded CSO Magazine’s “Compass Award” and “Information Security
Executive of the Year – Central” in 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">South Sound Technology Conference 2015 Program</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9 - 9:15 am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Opening Remarks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congressman, Adam Smith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congressman, Derek Kilmer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Institute of Technology Director, Dr. Rob Friedman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair, Andrew Fry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9:15 – 9:45 am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morning Keynote Address<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Janine Terrano, CEO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9:50 – 10:45 am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morning Panel: Securing Infrastructure and Information<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair: Bryan Goda: Panel:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merike Kaeo – IID,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike Hamilton – WA State Department of OCIO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steven R. Ketelsen - student in the Master of Cybersecurity
& Leadership<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10:45 – 11am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Break<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11 – 11:50 am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakout One -
Entrepreneurial Networking<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair: Lynnette Claire - TEN<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nara McDonald – Chamber of Commerce<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Lane – Crowdfunding Club<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kala J. Dralle – Monday Meet-ups<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy Sallin – Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakout Two – The
Role Of Technology In Bringing Clean Energy To Market'<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair: Graham Evans – Climate Solutions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joe Tellez – Tacoma Public Utilities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George Mobus – Institute of Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chad Condon -
Computer Engineering Student UWT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rogers Weed - VP Product Mgmt. 1Energy Systems<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12 – 12:45 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch Keynote Address<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bill Boni, CISO of T-Mobile<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12:45 – 1 pm - Break<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 – 1:50pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakout Three:
Military and Mid-Career Transitioning into Cybersecurity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair: Dr. Barbara
Endicott-Popovsky – Center of Excellence in Information Assurance and
Cybersecurity & Institute of Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panel:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scott Klauminzer – Tacoma Public Utilities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jackson Robinson – Microsoft<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morgan Zantua – Creates architect<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">David Shaw – CEO Global Business Analysis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 -3 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakout Four: 1
Million Cups Success Stories<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chair: Andrew Fry – Institute of Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panel:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim Kastama – Kastama and Associates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derek Young – Tacoma Runners<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris Shepard – Choose Vets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stephen Tibbets - FabLab <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Student Samplers – Poster sessions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 - 4 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conference Closing –
Birds of a Feather Launch</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-42357357156984481292015-02-27T11:46:00.001-08:002015-02-27T11:46:14.191-08:00Blue Black White Gold and RIP<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
"You're out of your mind, Bones! The dress....is clearly... blue... and black!!" - Kirk</div>
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"Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a fashion designer, but the dress is clearly white and gold"<br />- McCoy</div>
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"Light enters the eye through the lens—different wavelengths corresponding to different colors. The light hits the retina in the back of the eye where pigments fire up neural connections to the visual cortex, the part of the brain that processes those signals into an image. Critically, though, that first burst of light is made of whatever wavelengths are illuminating the world, reflecting off whatever you’re looking at. Without you having to worry about it, your brain figures out what color light is bouncing off the thing your eyes are looking at, and essentially subtracts that color from the “real” color of the object."</div>
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- Spock</div>
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RIP Leonard Nimoy</div>
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(and thanks for the explanation Jay Neitz, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington.)</div>
</div>
Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-77529896522813217852015-01-15T10:04:00.002-08:002015-01-15T10:09:56.331-08:00Creating Long Term Engagement with Outreach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pq5b5Z29oQU/VLgAjGBegsI/AAAAAAAAB70/432XEpTmOHU/s1600/fischer%2Bhouse%2Bteam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pq5b5Z29oQU/VLgAjGBegsI/AAAAAAAAB70/432XEpTmOHU/s1600/fischer%2Bhouse%2Bteam.jpg" height="196" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
The outreach engagement in service to the community starts with a project:<br />
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<b>Institute of Technology, Student Project with JBLM’s Fisher House</b></div>
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</div>
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Historically, military families traveling to Madigan Army
Medical Center at JBLM who wanted to stay at nearby Fisher House had to
download, print, and fax, or scan and email necessary information forms to
Fisher House for verification before being able to reserve their stay. The
process was slow and difficult for families who were often traveling and did
not have access to the technology they needed to be able to return the forms
quickly. Families can now submit their applications online thanks to a team of
UW Tacoma students who built online useable forms and a supporting database for
Fisher House.</div>
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</div>
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The project was an assignment in Andrew Fry’s “Managing
Technical Teams” course in University of Washington Tacoma’s Institute of
Technology calling on students to directly make a contribution to the community
utilizing technology.</div>
</blockquote>
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Though I go into the course with several projects in my back pocket that will meet the requirement of "Making a Contribution to the Community Utilizing Technology" ( a mantra in the class) my initial push is for the student teams to find the projects themselves. It is an opportunity for them to help an organization they have an affiliation with or support for. An example is that in college when I acted a a philanthropy officer I worked to raise money for the American Diabetes Association, as my father had the disease.</div>
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The most successful teams in the course are usually driven by a project manager(s) who has a personal interest in the success of the effort.</div>
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Such was the case for the group of students who gave themselves the team name of Altruistic Technologies. They have the matching T-shirts to further embrace their identity. There work on the Fischer House was one of the prime examples of how a student team can make a difference to a non-profit. The Foundation explains their service such:</div>
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Fisher House Foundation is best known for a network of comfort homes where
military and veterans’ families can stay at no cost while a loved one is
receiving treatment.</blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p>These homes are located at
major military and VA medical centers nationwide, close to the medical center
or hospital they serve. Fischer Houses have up to 21 suites, with private
bedrooms and baths. Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, a warm
dining room and an inviting living room. Fisher House Foundation ensures that
there is never a lodging fee. Since inception, the program has saved military
and veterans’ families an estimated $235 million in out of pocket costs for
lodging and transportation.</blockquote>
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At the end of the quarter the team presented the results of their project and announced that two of the students would continue the work through internship. The next quarter another student on the team took to baton and carried on the work to a ninth month of service. Today I found out that four students will be next up in created a phase two for the Fischer House as part of their Senior Project.</div>
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This all caught the attention of three star General Lanza, who came by yesterday to recognize the great work that these students were part of. Congrats team Altruistic Technologies Branden Hiatt (Retired Sergeant First Class), Chi Sennhotz (Army Veteran), Xiaoju Bin,
Kyle Veldhuizen, Sung Lee, Saurabh Singh and Nick Kravchuk<br />
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Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950265263808507619.post-6952801939606635572014-12-24T10:31:00.001-08:002014-12-24T14:28:33.271-08:00Tacoma Means Business on Business MattersDuring the month of December I am featured on the program Business Matters talking about "word clouds" in the Tacoma Means Business segment. In this segment, I am particularly ill dressed and my hair is quite disheveled. My fault of course as I took time off from a rather busy week of classes, work and family activity to record the segment. <br />
<br />
I generally do three to four segments a sitting, so I believe I am representing myself as somewhat slovenly for the months of Oct through December. I just wrapped up four more last week so at least I will be in a nice jacket with a reasonable hair situation four the first third of 2015.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c4-4O6AVn8Q/VJsD2lmwCVI/AAAAAAAAB7k/SElQr20OyAM/s1600/Business%2BMatters%2BWord%2BClouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c4-4O6AVn8Q/VJsD2lmwCVI/AAAAAAAAB7k/SElQr20OyAM/s1600/Business%2BMatters%2BWord%2BClouds.jpg" height="400" width="325" /></a></div>
<br />
I started doing the segment back when it was called Economic Gardening about five years ago. They changed the name when it became clear that too many people thought it was a gardening segment. I can imagine viewers writing in to complain about the decided lack of plants. At that time it was on a rotating basis with other industry experts. In all I have probably recorded about 35 or more segments to date thanks to producer David Gordon putting up with my winging it half the time.<br />
<br />
What is funny is that I never have thought about it much, other than I enjoy doing them, but when I was younger there was nothing more that I wanted than to be a television reporter. My first few years of working were with KIRO television in the news room as a floor director/chyron operator. I then went to the film room (yes, we would run film to be shown on television and I would trim down the movies and shows to fit the time period) and eventually worked for PM Magazine for a while. My first company out of college was a video production company before I changed careers and went into the field of software and application development.<br />
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At this point I am simply happy to be able to do what I love. Teaching, connecting people, organizing conferences and entrepreneurial events, raising a family and occasionally showing up on Channel 12 in the South Sound on <a href="http://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/City_Managers_Office/media_and_communications_office/tv_tacoma/regular_programs/business_matters/">Business Matters</a>, hosted by Mike Wark. <br />
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<br />Droid116http://www.blogger.com/profile/05434806942584240318noreply@blogger.com0