What we learned at our Fishbowl / A thank you

TP founders Brian James Kirk (left) and Sean Blanda (right) listen to suggestions from attendees.

A huge “thank you” from the bottom of our techie hearts to the roughly 25 people that came out last night to our Fishbowl and one year anniversary after-party.

With the help of Philly Startup Leaders, a mix of entrepreneurs, TP readers and PSL members all gathered together in at the University of Arts to hear our vision for the future of Technically Philly and to offer both praise and criticism.

At the event, TP told a condensed version of our history and outlined our six planned revenue strategies. Three of which (advertising, jobs board and events) we have made some sort of progress on. We then opened it up to the attendees and heard a wide spectrum of ideas that were of infinite value to us, both as journalists and as businessmen.

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Celebrate Technically Philly’s first birthday TONIGHT

As we announced last week, we’re excited to be celebrating tonight our first year covering Philadelphia’s technology community.

We considered blowing it out with Jägerbombs, shots and perhaps a mechanical bull, but that just doesn’t feel right. We have a lot more work to do, and with that in mind we’ve partnered with Philly Startup Leaders to host a business fishbowl at the University of Arts before we kick back with a few light drinks.

We want to discuss with you how to make Technically Philly a sustainable news product at a time when sustainable news products are struggling. Let’s talk about how we can best serve you and create a stronger portal and mouthpiece for the region’s technology community. Register here for that biz fishbowl. If the business part bores you, join us at the Irish Pub at 12th and Walnut for an after-party where we’ll talk shop over $2 domestic drafts and $3 well drinks.

We’re excited to see how things turn out in our second year. We hope you’ll join us to help plan it and celebrate with us 365 days, 600 posts and 1,800 tweets of local technology coverage.

Technically Philly to celebrate birthday with Philly Startup Leaders Fishbowl

As you may have heard, dear reader, Technically Philly celebrated its first birthday last week on February 9.

After twelve months of covering startups, investments, city government policy and general technology news, we are still hard at work trying to make Technically Philly a sustainable source of tech news for the region.

We have our own ideas about how this will look, making efforts to build up or Jobs Board as well as offering detailed advertising packages. However, we wanted to throw open our revenue strategy to you, our readers, and the community-at-large, for criticism and advice.

That is why we are partnering with Philly Startup Leaders to be the subject of the group’s next Fishbowl at the University of Arts on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. REGISTER HERE.

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Event Highlights for November 9 – 15, 2009

Good morning Philadelphia, I have excellent news for you: SEPTA has returned to work.

And just in time, as this week contains lots of events worth spending your hard earned tokens for.

First, meet up with The Innovator’s Club in the burbs to chat social media. The group promises the presentation will be mixed with some humor. But honestly, every time I hear a grown man say the word “tweet” I snicker a little.

Then, hop on over the Ben Frankline Bridge for the NJ and Philly Tech November meetup in a Cherry Hill bar possibly owned by Hillary Swank.

And lastly, get some sleep Friday night because Saturday is the all day party/un-conference that is BarCamp Philadelphia.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

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Friday Q&A: DIY Days founder Lance Weiler

Tomorrow more than 27 filmmakers, musicians, game developers, storytellers and tech geeks will speak to patrons gathered at the DIY Days conference, a free event being held at the University of the Arts, to talk about the future of the media entertainment business.

It’s a future that seems uncertain, yet exciting: the struggle and embrace between amateur and professional work. The transformation of storytelling. Creating sustainability in media.

But most importantly: Do-It-Yourself culture. A culture that the event’s founder and organizer Lance Weiler says is as much about doing-it-yourself as it is about community. And perhaps surprising to some, a culture in which technology is deeply ingrained.

Weiler got his break with The Last Broadcast, a low budget horror film that he and a partner cobbled together for next to nothing. The film ended up being the first desktop feature film made with consumer grade video materials, the first movie distributed via satellite, and grossed $4.5 million dollars through the years.

Some believe that the Blair Witch Project might have borrowed a few ideas from the film; both are horror films presented in documentary-narrative style about low-budget filmmakers searching haunted woods who go missing. Except Weiler’s was filmed a year before the latter (and featured Jersey instead of Maryland).

Out of that experience, Weiler learned how to self-distribute, negotiate with broadcasters, and taught himself all sides of the media business.

DIY Days, Weiler’s baby, is the result of a book deal gone bad. On his own volition, that is. Offered the opportunity to write about his self-made success, Weiler decided to create the same resource for folks free online. From that decision evolved the Workbook Project, a content-rich portal for digital creatives. DIY Days is what he considers physical manifestation of WBP.

We’d be lying if we said we weren’t stoked about it. After all, we’re doing it ourselves, too. So, we reached out to Weiler to hear the why’s, how’s and who’s of DIY Days. As it turns out, we don’t have to sell our computers to gain some DIY cred.

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Philadelphia Zoo and Laurel Hill Cemetery get tech exhibits

Two mainstays of Philadelphia tourism have added tech-inspired exhibit additions.

The Philadelphia Zoo and Laurel Hill Cemetery have both embraced clever technologies meant to help educate their customers in interactive ways.

The zoo has installed touchscreens with an interactive application that highlights the conservation of its prized Amur and snow leopard cats. Laurel Hill, on the banks of the Schuylkill River south of East Falls, now lets visitors roam its acres of gravestones with only a cell phone as a guide.

It’s innovative stuff like this that has us considering leaving our PCs. For a few hours, anyway.

Philadelphia has seen an increase recently in technology-based tourist attractions, including the Rosenbach Museum and Library’s Abe Lincoln iPhone app, which we reported on in May. Last week we offered a few of our own local recommendations in a top ten list of Philly iPhone applications that don’t exist but should.

But those are housed on a phone. The cemetery and zoo are encouraging us to get out of the house, which is a recommendation duly noted.

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