Dopp Juice Archive

Just in time for SXSW, I am really excited to announce that Cerado (the firm I consult with) has launched a handy “Unofficial Pocket Guide” for SXSW. It’s a mobile-friendly widget based on the beta of Cerado Ventana, and it gives you quick access to:

– People (who are here)
– Agenda (of panels and parties)
– Books (that authors will be signing in the book lounge)
– FAQ (‘cuz we all get confused sometimes)

It looks killer on the iPhone, and other devices are reporting sexy UI as well.

For the People tab, we’ve built a self-reporting directory (instead of scraping the registration database for everybody’s information). Adding yourself is like adding a blog comment: enter info, click submit, see it immediately. No email addresses; just your name, photo, and URL.

If you’re here at SXSW and fancy yourself an Early Adopter, go ahead and add yourself to the People listing. Just click to the People tab, and hit the “+” button — that’s it. I’m a big fan of posting your blog or twitter stream URL, but you could also post your Facebook or LinkedIn or company website (or whatever) — however you want your SXSW peeps to keep tabs on you.

This is a clean and classy way to get some exposure and remind people that you’re worth checking out.

The homepage is here: http://sxsw.cerado.com

And you can jump directly to the “Add Yourself” form as well.

Takes two minutes. Tops.

Check it out. Here’s what it looks like:

However, when building this, we also realized that the whole world isn’t mobile. (Yet.) So, it’s also available as a widget that you can put on your blog. You can get that here.

I’m really excited about this project, and it’s already been a lifesaver for me in getting oriented to my week at SXSW. So check it out, see if it’s what you need this week, and grab the free publicity opportunity. People wanna know who you are.

Oh, and if you want to see any features added, just send me your wishlist. :)

As part of my consulting work over at Cerado, I’ve been helping the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) market their new certification program through community-building tools on the Internet. This has involved a whole lot of stuff, and my favorite piece just launched yesterday: The PAMA Global Challenge.

The PAMA Global Challenge is an online quiz that uses questions similar to the ones on the certification exam (which means they’re hard). For each question you get right, you keep your 747 in working repair so it can fly to the next city on its trip around the world. For non-mechanics (like me), it’s not a question of “Can I make it all the way home?” so much as “Where will I get stranded?”

This project was extra-fun to work on because:

• I got to collaborate with Jordan Eisenberg on the PHP code.
• The maps were built to emulate the style used in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• We were creating something fun for a serious industry.

Christopher Carfi has a nice writeup of the project if you want to learn more.

Here’s what really gets me, though: Despite the fact that I created the quiz and inserted the test questions, I still seem to only be able to make it to Tokyo. Seriously, now, I think I should be able to do better than that.

Do me a favor and give the challenge a run-through. My ego wants to know how far you can get.

Here’s what’s on my desk right now:

Dopp Juice – Maintaining this blog as a platform for self expression (supplemented nicely with Twitter).

Technificant – A tumblelog I started recently for collecting the random beautiful nuggets of “stuff” I find on the web. More fun than a barrel full of del.icio.us and ma.gnolia.com feeds.

Cerado – My favorite. client. ever. I’m handling project management, technical writing, and website development for the brainchildren of mad genius Christopher Carfi. He’s keeping me quite busy these days with brilliant undertakings, and is the reason I’m unavailable for your projects.

The Writ – Leading an initiative this year to migrate the site to a more stable system that better addresses the community’s needs.

Genderfork – A photo-a-day blog that explores the grey areas of gender, which up until recently was handled under a pseudonym.

Poetry Chapbook – I’m compiling some of my more challenging work (which has seen virtually no internet airtime) from the last two years and am going to make it available through Lulu.com soon.

My themes for 2008 are authenticity, identity, and community.

What are you up to? Post me a link to your roster.