Entries Tagged 'Texas' ↓

I’ve been tracking Gary Vaynerchuk of WineLibrary TV ever since the day that Dan Benjamin told me about the sale of Corkd to this sorta zany character with a wine show on the web.

First and foremost, Gary is a wine fanatic (and expert). If you have any doubt, just watch all 500 of his shows. But seriously, Gary has written a book, 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, and the book is fantastic. He goes into some depth about each of his top 101 most interesting wines for 2008 and even provides helpful tips for picking out a wine for Father’s Day or how to impress a first date. For the more adventurous among you, you may want to check out wines to drink with “Something You Shot” or figure out “How to Blow Your Stimulus Check”.

Gary’s message is one of reciprocity (with a tendency to overdeliver), finding your own voice, and always working to build your own personal brand. He stresses being “RAT”: Real, Authentic, and Transparent in business and in life.

Many thanks to Gary for making his way from to Austin when he had such a monster schedule this week. I appreciate Jeff Jones who dug in and made sure the event happened. I’d also like to thank Chuck Huffaker and his staff at Grapevine Market for inviting Gary into the store and setting up such an awesome event.

Our very own Cesar Torres now (thanks to Gary) has an entry pass (a $500 value) to the amazing SEED Conference being held in Chicago this weekend. The event is being put on by 37Signals, Coudal Partners, and Segura Inc. and is focused on sharing unconventional ideas about collaboration and business. It was just an awesome moment when Cesar asked and Gary answered. Boom. Done. I’m totally jealous.

Fortunately, I brought my Flip Ultra and I captured 60 minutes of pure Gary for your viewing pleasure. Keeping with the tradition of WineLibrary TV, these videos are unedited. Here’s the raw footage of a good portion of the event.

Video 1: Gary’s Opening Remarks

Video 2: Q&A 1/3

Video 3: Q&A 2/3

Video 4: Q&A 3/3

Additional Coverage Around the Intarwebs of Gary’s visit to Austin:

• Tim Walker wrote up a detailed recap on the Hoover Business blog.
• Cesar Torres captured Gary’s message on his blog.
• Addie Broyles of Relish Austin posted her writeup Gary Vaynerchuk brings the thunder to Austin on Austin360.
• Dane Hurtubise captured the “Austin Lightning Round“, a blind tasting including some Texas wines.
• Kristine Gloria wrote up her take on Gary’s message and a video snippet on her blog.

This just in from Chris Hyams:

The campaign is specifically looking for Ruby coders to help on the application that will be used for precinct captains throughout texas. They are also eager to have any tech help from anyone else who can pitch in regardless of specific tech skills.

and

The Obama campaign in Texas is trying to maximize the use of technology to empower supporters throughout the state. We are in need of more volunteers to help add technology enhancements quickly. Contact Anshul Amar (aamar [at] obamaca.com) if you are interested in getting involved.

Please include your phone number and the best time to reach you. We’re looking for enthusiasm and engagement more than any specific skills. Please also include your resume (even if it is not up-to-date) so that we can know where to get you started.

UPDATE: Obama staff in Texas is seeking help, not the grassroots group “Texans for Obama”. Updated the title. Thanks Mario!

Continuing the tradition of those who have come before me, I organized an introductory Rails and Ruby workshop before Lone Star to benefit charity. The evening went off without a hitch. We had a great turnout (probably around 70) for the event and we raised almost $3200 for 5 important organizations: Habitat for Humanity, Capital Area Food Bank, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Ruby Central.

Final Tally ($3,128):

Capital Area Food Bank  $1,122
Lance Armstrong Foundation  $410
Habitat For Humanity  $791
Muscular Dystrophy Association  $340
Ruby Central  $465

I’d like to thank Bruce Tate and his team at WellGood for making sure that the ChangingThePresent site had the features we needed to collect donations for the event.

I’d like to thank Jason Reneau and his team at MindBites for recording the event. The videos will be available on the site soon.

I’d like to thank Jim Freeze and David Bluestein (LSRC 2007 Organizers Extraordinaires) for providing us a venue and snacks. I know our attendees were thankful to have something to munch on.

I’d like to thank our incredible speakers: Hal Fulton, James Edward Gray II, Bret Pettichord, Marcel Molina, Jr., Bruce Tate, Bruce Williams, Rick Olson, and Robert Rasmussen. I appreciate them lending their many talents!

Finally, I’d like to thank those of you who gave so generously to our cause. I hope you enjoyed the show and learned something new about Ruby and Rails. Your donations are now helping to make a real difference in the world.