Well, the Bastard Christmas Party has come and gone but not without leaving an its own indelible mark on the hearts and minds of a broad swathe of SF locals.  When we first decided to hold the party on a Monday, some had reservation but we were fearless.  Seeing more than 50 people wander in over the course of a 6 hour celebration truly opened our eyes.

It really was one hell of a way to wind down the Holiday Party Season.  Special thanks are due to many:

• Damon White from Otis
• (dj) Mr. Grant and dJ Dom for their soulful spins
• Brian Solis
• The bub.blicio.us Crew
• My partners, Stowe and Ranvir

Of course, the most important thank you goes out to all our friends, extended family, and loved ones - what’s a party without you all?

Looking back, I moved to San Francisco a short 14 weeks ago and I’m beyond amazed at our warm the reception has been.  This morning I was reminded how wonderful my friends here are and how willing they are to be there for me - you get out what you put in.

Things are just getting started so expect much more in the months to come.  I’ll keep the pace up and the fires burning  - so hold on tight.

technorati tags:upcoming:event=130544, bastard+christmas, bastardxmas, bub.blicio.us, greg+narain, brian+solis, stowe+boyd, ranvir+gujral, joanne+wan

So Stowe has tagged me in this “Blog Tag” thing.  Apparently, the rules of engagement require that I tell “Five Things People Don’t Know About Me” - so here we go:

1. One of my earliest goals was to live on a monastery for a year
2. I had a real passion for photography, had a dark room in the basement, and even won a prize or two
3. I was born 45 days premature, 3 pounds, 8 ounces
4. I was accepted to 3 medical schools but opted to start a web design company, Firewall Media
5. I’ve never had a full-time job

I am tagging these 5 people:

1. Brian Solis
2. Peter Caputa
3. Daniela Barbarosa
4. David Quiec
5. Jeremiah Owyang

technorati tags:blog+tag, stowe+boyd, brian+solis, peter+caputa, david+quiec, daniela+barbosa, jeremiah+owyang

Just a quick reminder that the Bastard Christmas Party is tonight and promises to be a fun and entertaining evening.  While we’ve done our best to represent the Geek Community, we’ve intentionally colored outside the lines a bit and invites a swath of others who should spice up the conversation - and the drinks.

You can RSVP here.  Things kick off at 7pm.  Scroll down for more details.

technorati tags:bubblicious, gregarious+narain, brian+solis, stowe+boyd, ranvir+gujral, anthony+grant, bastard+christmas

Don Norman, as in the Nielson-Norman Group, has a truly interesting piece on the end of simplicity. He ponders about our perceived obsession with simplicity, despite the trend in the other direction.

Because the people want the features.

Because simplicity is a myth whose time has past, if it ever existed.Make it simple and people won’t buy. Given a choice, they will take the item that does more. Features win over simplicity, even when people realize that it is accompanied by more complexity. You do it too, I bet. Haven’t you ever compared two products side by side, comparing the features of each, preferring the one that did more? Why shame on you, you are behaving, well, behaving like a normal person.

Don Norman’s jnd.org / Simplicity Is Highly Overrated

The ultimate conclusion is that marketing wins in the end, as it rightly should.  The simple fact is that people make choices based on the features that are available - we’d be remiss to pay more for less, especially when our pocketbooks are opened.

This line of thinking is most interesting as it seems in stark contrast with the current trends in software design.  While there are no shortage of sites lauding the Less Is More Mantra, it is somewhat refreshing to still know we’re not all crazy for wanting just a little bit more.

technorati tags:don+norman, simplicity, design

Quick update. We’ve finalized our postcard for the Bastard Christmas Party.. here it is for your viewing pleasure:

There are a few things I think worth pointing out about the party:

• Monday - yes, indeed our party is on a Monday. You’ve had your day of rest and now it’s time to get out there and shake, shake, shake. Sure you’ve got work tomorrow, but has that ever stopped you before? Don’t mind that 9pm marker - we’re gonna blow right past that.
• bub.blicio.us - This is indeed the pre-launch party for bub.blicio.us. There will probably be one more before the official party, but that’s just the way things work - ok.
• Brian Solis’ Birfday - Our good friend Brian’s birfday is actually this Friday, but considering how busy things are this time of year, we’re bundling up parties.
• Gregarious - For those who are in regular contact with me, you know that my little buddy James Yu willfully applied the label gregarious to me a few weeks ago. After some thought and reflection, the name has really grown on me. How much? Well, it very well may be my real name. To celebrate my decision, we’ll also be kicking off the Age of Gregarious (as Anthony coined it).
• DJ Spin Off - I’ve had this idea that there are a few songs I’d love to hear mixed. Usually, you can hear only the popular things, but, fortunately, knowing the DJ does increase your odds of something new. I’m offering a bounty to our DJ partners to mix a song - chosen by us - into the night’s sound stream. The best mix wins. If you’ve got suggestions, pop them in the comments and we’ll elect the official song for the evening.

technorati tags:bastard+christmas, bubblicious, brian+solis, greg+narain, anthony+grant

Amidst all the madness that was Thursday night, I did have a very interesting conversation with a friend regarding her own pursuits in life and how her efforts could be enhanced, even multiplied. After listening to her initial description of the problem, it was clear to me just what the dilemma was - too much preaching, not enough teaching.

What, exactly, does that mean? Well, it’s actually a problem quite common to individuals who are extremely passionate about a particular subject matter - say entrepreneurs, activists, and others endowed with their own “cause”. Now don’t get me wrong, passion is a wonderful thing but it needs to be made actionable for it to spread.

Consider this example. I have another friend who is on the verge of making the move to the Bay to get his new company off the ground (much as I did just two months ago). I’ve been working with him for the past few months trying to get him to refine his pitch into something that a business-minded investor or partner might be able to sink their teeth into. In the course of this work, he’s constantly fallen back to some fairly lofty positions that, to be honest, just have little to bear on the conversation at hand. As I mentioned to my friend last night, pitch me the message you want me to leave with, not everything leading up to it.

The difficulty we have, as passionate beings insufferably attached to our own belief systems, is that we simply can’t deny the story leading up to our own conclusions. The problem, of course, is that all stories have their own lives, take unexpected twists and turns, and ultimately, terminate in places most unexpected - and most people don’t have the time for the drama.

The solution? Teach, don’t preach. It sounds quite simple on the surface but it is undeniably one of the more difficult skills to master. Why? Most people are not very good at being concise - it’s hard. I always remember this quote from Mark Twain, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Given enough time, I think most people can communicate some semblance of an idea - so long as their emotional blinders don’t prevail. Unfortunately, that also provides enough time, and rope, for them to hang themselves. Worst of all, though, is that most of us are too impatient to wait for the punchline - we’re quite impatient with these sorts of things.

To increase your odds of impression, it’s often a sound practice to learn how to boil down your ideas and remove the emotional angle. I’m not advocating being emotionless, nor am I denying the power of passion - but if you’re having a hard time moving your ideas forward, consider it might be the vehicle you’re using that’s getting in the way.

Naturally, the exact opposite of this argument is true as well. If the facts don’t sell the idea, perhaps you need to do a bit more preaching. I’ll leave that alone for another post.

technorati tags:sales, influence