I’m back from meeting up with tons of great video bloggers in San Francisco. It started off with a wonderful party sponsored by Blip TV at the House of Shields Restaurant, and then was just an endless opportunity to meet some wonderful folks.
(Click that picture for a slideshow.)
Network2 hosted a meetup at the Home Restaurant on Market Street (thanks to Stowe Boyd for suggesting it), and that was lots of fun. David Kowarsky from Focus and Network2 was there. Andrew and Ellie from Rocketboom came a little later, and Steve and Zadi from RSS News and Jet Set Show came too late to eat, but I was thrilled to host Josh Leo, Rox from Beachwalks with Rox, Hayden Black from Goodnight Burbank, Bill Streeter from Lo-Fi St. Louis, Jim Kirks from The Clip Show, Felicia (what’s your last name?) from The Daily Reel, Chris Haiser, Stowe Boyd and Greg Narain from Blue Whale Labs, Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells from the Social Media Club, and Shannon Clark from Mesh Forums. (God, did I miss anyone?)
That was fun, and we had some really interesting talks about the future of our industry. It sparked my interest enough to want to host more of these, maybe with a little less eating and a lot more meeting. I want to get to the bone.
The Vloggies were an interesting time, and I really enjoyed seeing lots of my friends honored. I wanted all my friends to win, and in some cases, I was surprised by the choices that were selected. That said, I’m happy to see Alive in Baghdad, Galacticast, Beachwalks with Rox, and Jet Set Show, as well as Goodnight Burbank take awards. Oh, and Rocketboom. (d’oh).
The afterparty was fun. We didn’t get much food, but that’s okay. We got some drinks. We departed that and headed to a New Wave dance club that featured 80s music. The kids had tons of fun, and I snuck out to hit the hotel. On the way home, I ran into Josh Leo and Bill Streeter roaming the streets, and that was nice. Kind of a topper.
Oh, I almost forgot: I got to meet up with Josh Kinburg of FireAnt, and his girfriend, Jennifer (who also produces film, and who I’ll talk with more about her projects). I met up again with Doug Arrison of FireAnt, too, and we had a funny moment and chat. Noodlescar and the Bui brothers, the Rey brothers. Boy… it was a killer time.
I want to meet and build the community more. Micki from Revver is a community developer, too, and we talked about starting some kind of communication between us, so that we learn what works, how to facilitate better conversations, etc.
It was a rockstar trip.
I was so happy to get home to my family, and we snuggled tons. I’m home with them today, doing catchup, writing up blog posts, getting video together for editing, and figuring out my expense reports while hugging, playing, and spending good time with them.
Next stop, PodCamp Pittsburgh.