October 24, 2008
Things I learned at the Nashville Geek Breakfast
Yesterday’s installment of the Nashville Geek Breakfast was another fun morning of tech talk. Though ringleader Dave Delaney was absent while caring for a sick child, the large and rowdy group carried on and made the best of it. (We missed you, Dave. Hope the Delaney family gets well soon.) Here are a few things I didn’t know before I darkened the door at Noshville 24 hours ago:
- Paul Van Hoesen has spent a lot of time in distant lands, such as Germany, Holland and rural Tennessee. Regarding the last of those locales, Paul’s company is dedicated to extending broadband access beyond urban areas to help reduce the digital divide.
- If you’re ready to dismiss that divide as insignificant, don’t. Would you believe that none of the students in a high school class Paul addressed recently in a rural Tennessee county knew what a podcast was? No one. Only four of them owned an iPod. Considering that we’re talking about a group of teenagers here, that’s startling.
- Dolphini Networks is the reason why Barcamp Nashville was able to use the Sommet Center for its site location last weekend. As a Preds sponsor (thanks, guys!), Dolphini is free to use the team’s logo and colors in its promotions, but not the faces of its players. Thank the NHLPA for that last part.
- Based on the location of her hometown in Pennsylvania, Julie Moore is practically Amish. Considering that she drove to Noshville for yesterday’s breakfast and that she works for Dolphini, though, she probably isn’t.
- Kate O’Neill can go to sleep at 2 a.m. and still attend a breakfast meeting at 7:30 the same morning. That’s impressive.
- Bill Seaver did not drive to Noshville in a car covered in its entirety with Post-It notes. But if he had, he knows what company would take credit for the idea.
It was good to see everyone as usual. See you next time!
![Rob Robinson](http://thinktrain.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/Rob.jpg")
Bill Seaver - MicroExplosion Media said,
October 24, 2008 @ 8:48 am
For sure. I wonder how many Post-It notes would stay on the car while driving down I-65?
Dave Delaney said,
October 24, 2008 @ 9:18 am
Awesome recap (as always) Rob, thanks! So sorry I couldn’t be there. I’m happy to report that while noses are still rather green and crusty/slimy, the wee ones are on the mend.
Thanks for the post. Interesting information! Startling to learn about those rural Tennessee kids without iPods and podcast knowledge. It does remind us that not everyone has home computers, without one you have nothing to sync your iPod with. That’s troubling.
See you soon.
Dave
Rob Robinson said,
October 24, 2008 @ 11:48 am
That I-65 experiment would be interesting, Bill, especially if the Post-It notes were strategically placed to be more aerodynamic. If the adhesive strip were facing forward (toward the wind), some of them might survive until the cops pulled you over.
You’re welcome, Dave. I always enjoy reporting back on who I talk to at these breakfasts. They’re a lot of fun, and I’m glad you had the idea to start them. I’m happy to hear that the little ones are on the comeback trail, too.
We definitely take the technology we have and enjoy using for granted. I think it helps all of us to look for ways to make technology more accessible for those who don’t already have it. The good news is that in some of the classrooms Paul mentioned to me, computer access at school is 1-to-1 and broadband. Things are slowly getting better.