Feel good @breadpig moment (old thank you letter from @RoomToRead I just found)

Alas, Allison has moved on from Room to Read, but he's going on to do awesome not-for-profit things of his own! Copies of xkcd: volume 0 continue to sell quite well, especially now that we're available in meatspace retailers worldwide; oh, and we're still building plenty more schools with our profits, too.

You keep our winged porcine hero soaring, breadpig legion. Thanks.

Oh, California! Mini-speaking-tour comes to a close

Thanks to all of you who came out to hear me speak in San Diego at Clinton Global Intiative University as well as at UCLA (and bonus thank you to the dude who came to both). My friend Lia (from reddit) took some great photos proving I was in fact speaking at UCLA and by popular request I've uploaded my slides for you all to have. It was such a fabulous turnout and when one is speaking to a room full of such eager faces, it's all just way too much fun to be legal. Thanks again! You people rock.

Speaking on the Closing Plenary at National Conference for Media Reform 2011 (Sunday, April 10 at 12pm)

We’ll conclude the 2011 National Conference for Media Reform by connecting media and technology issues to the broader cultural shifts and the push for democratic change happening in the United States and around the world. Be sure to stick around on Sunday for a thought-provoking discussion with new media innovators, special guests, and an inspiring finale. This lively session will feature:

  • Craig Aaron, Free Press
  • Kim Gandy, Feminist Majority
  • John Nichols, The Nation
  • Rinku Sen, Applied Research Center
  • Rick Karr, Blueprint America

The centerpiece of the closing plenary will be a wide-ranging conversation on "Social Media and Social Change" with:

  • Cheryl Contee, Fission Strategy
  • Ben Huh, Cheezburger Network
  • Craig Newmark, craigslist
  • Ramya Raghavam, YouTube
  • Deanna Zandt, author and technologist (moderator)
  • Alexis Ohanian, reddit.com
    via conference.freepress.net

    I'm hopping up to Boston for the day to speak on a panel that's become a hot subject of late (and something I speak on regularly): Social Media and Social Change. I'm excited. You can expect mild profanity and lots of stories from reddit and breadpig. Hope to see you there!

    "Create something and the networking will take care of itself." - quoted on @Portfoliodotcom (and saying something about a bong)

    East Coast startups tend to have a stronger business focus, while those on the West Coast are more rooted in the product, Ohanian said. In Silicon Valley, the prevailing attitude is “pass the bong and here’s my checkbook,” he said to much laughter. But he said the west’s more devil-may-care attitude got a necessary wake-up call. “If the recession taught us anything it’s—shocker—business models do matter,” and it’s here that New York and Boston tend to be stronger since they’re more conscious of what failure means.

    Beyond the East-versus-West talk, the panelists—joining Ohanian were Lee Hower of Nextview Ventures, Pill Pesctello of Peacock Equity Fund and Comcast Interactive Capital, and Andrew Moss of BuyWithMe.com—offered advice that works on both coasts. Don’t get too enamored with meeting CEOs as you start off on a venture, for example, and instead focus on building a team and a product.

    “Create something and the networking will take care of itself,” Ohanian said.

    via portfolio.com

    Thanks to all of you who came up for this and to our hosts, Mass High Tech (the first mainstream media publication to write up reddit), for putting on a fun panel. I'm sorry I had to leave shortly after the panel, but I needed to catch a BoltBus back to NY for a poorly-planned flight to LA at 7am from JFK.

    I'm also definitely going to keep making marijuana references if it keeps getting me written up.