Hi all.  As you can see it’s been a long time since I have posted.  I never made a strict personal commitment as far as how often I would blog or exactly what it would be about, but I certainly have not intended it to be so few and far between.  I feel like I have missed some chances at documenting some really interesting moments in my life…and some non-interesting ones as well. I had the opportunity to go to SXSW this past March with Moontoast which was quite the whirlwind experience.  All my past lives seemed to converge all at once, which was shockingly awesome.  I felt like I had truly come full circle.  Oh, I also worked my ass off.

But, back to the title of this post.

I’ve been lucky enough to get really involved with the technology community here in Nashville through my job and various community/volunteer endeavors.  We’re still growing…which means lots of growing pains and changes.  It has been very interesting being a part of the evolution and learning about what makes this city tick in general.  Everyone seems to have an opinion on where “we” are going and what “we” need to be doing.  I wonder what we’ll think of these various groups, events, people and opinions a year (or ten) from now.

I made a conscious decision to dial down much of my volunteerism for the time being to concentrate on my personal life and my career.  To be very candid, I have spent more time in my life in service of others than of myself. Although this may sound ideal and selfless, it is, in the end, no good for you or me.  To lift others up, I need to lift myself up first.  I do have various ideas, events, plans, etc. swimming around in my head, but…I am trying to set them aside for now.

One of the reasons for this shift has to do with family.  My father was recently diagnosed with liver cancer, which came as a huge blow to my entire family.  He has beaten cancer before, but it was quite a fight.  I am planning on spending as much time as I can with him and my mother during this journey.  He is lucky enough to be a patient at MD Anderson in Houston, so I know he is getting the best possible care.

Time for me.  Thanks for all of you have reached out to me, offered to include me, introduced me, helped me and even those who have hindered me.  Time to reflect on all that and craft the big answer to “what’s next?”

- KK

I’ve never been a big “New Year’s Resolution” person simply for the fact that it represents a set-up for failure just as much as  a plan of action.  This year, however, I decided to be different.  Just a few simple things…I won’t share with you what they are, but hopefully they will be life changing enough so that I can look back on this post and say that being “resolute” pushed me a few inches closer to where I need to be.

Happy New Year, everyone!

(reposted from Remarkable Wit)

Marcus and I were lucky enough to attend and participate on panels in the recent Barcamp Nashville event. When Marcus co-founded this local Barcamp last year, I think many people wondered after it was over “This is great! Now what?” The digital community here in Nashville has been anything but cohesive and united. I think the consensus is that we all need to come together and galvanize the scene here, and I see that happening swiftly. It is indeed very pivotal time for Nashville, and we are excited to be a part of it.

Marcus sat on the “Getting Your Big Idea Funded!” panel along with Clint Smith of Emma, Nicholas Holland of Centre{source} and Debbie Gordon of Snappy Auctions. One of the questions posed concerned company growth and expansion from a financial perspective. It was interesting to see the different perspectives on this…Marcus used how I was brought on to the company as an example of how he handled growth and hiring staff. Marcus and I talked for five months before I came on to work at Remarkable Wit. We liked each other and had similar styles and ambitions and my background complimented with all of his business endeavors. For a while, it wasn’t clear how we would be able to come together, but eventually the stars aligned and we did. Meticulous over planning and massive resource allocation isn’t realistic for movement and growth in the arena we are playing in. But it wasn’t all entirely cosmic. The business grew, the money came, the projects came to fruition and a place for me materialized. It was an organic process that started on trust, dialogue and common vision and ends with high expectations and goals.

I’ll temper all that by saying as a startup company, Remarkable Wit believes in running lean and running smart. I think the world is a bit nervous know concerning money and growth with the current state of the economy. But, as has been pointed out to me in several of my favorite daily reads these last few weeks, now is the perfect time for startups, if they make the right choices. What I learned most by watching that panel (and through my experience in life so far) is that really there are no rules and there is no handbook. If you’ve got a passion for entrepreneurship, you’re going to find the path that works for you to bring your dream to fruition.

(I posted a few of my pics from Barcamp on our flickr page- feel free to check out my iPhone handiwork!)

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into who I am going to vote for in the presidential election.  Let me tell you, it’s hard being a self-proclaimed libertarian these days.  And is that even possible?  All I can gather is that Libertarian is just another idealistic concept right next to Socialism- the ideals are on the different ends of the spectrum, but they both boil down to the idea that people are going to either be completely self-reliant or completely dependent.  I just don’t know if either of those concepts work in practice anymore…there has to be something in between.

So, trying to decide who to vote for has been difficult.  I’m partial to voting for the two main contenders, but neither party platform really speaks to me.  I am generally fiscally conservative and socially liberal.  I have been keeping an open mind toward both candidates and watching all of the debates and pundit recaps.  I am glad that I have done my homework.  I’ve finally come to a decision that I feel happy with and I want to share it with you.

I’ve decided to cast my vote for Barack Obama.  Colin Powell summed up my own thoughts very well on last week’s Meet the Press:

“Now, I understand what politics is all about.  I know how you can go after one another, and that’s good.  But I think this goes too far.  And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow.  It’s not what the American people are looking for.  And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me.  And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift.  I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that’s what we’d be looking at in a McCain administration.  I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian.  He’s always been a Christian.  But the really right answer is, what if he is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America.  Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?  Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”

I need to vote for someone who I feel will make the right choice, because let’s face it, once faced with the real job and the full facts of whatever the matters may be, the decisions made as President will not (and should not) fall into line with the rhetoric we hear today on the campaign trail.  It’s about, as Powell put it, “intellectual curiosity”, learning, growing, evolving…doing the right thing.

So, perhaps no longer a libertarian, but still independent.  I hope that you all have put the same amount of time and thought into your choice.  Now- get out there and vote!

- KK

I’ve been silent lately because I have been waiting on something important to finalize.  Well, now I can start blabbing!

I’m happy to announce that I accepted a full time gig here in Nashville with Remarkable Wit. I’ll still be very active with Digital Nashville and supporting the new media and technology community here (so, don’t worry!)  RW is a great company- progressive, visionary and very dedicated to growing and supporting Nashville in general.  We all agree and believe that there are great things bubbling up here.  It’s an interesting and exciting time and I am so please to be a part of it.

I sealed the deal on my position on Thursday, September 11th- which marks the anniversary of a very life changing day for me (and a lot of folks.)  I organized a great, fun event for Digital Nashville during the Next Big Nashville event, and when I finally stopped buzzing around getting things perfect, I celebrated and I decided something.

Life is good.

It’s been a crazy few weeks…so crazy that I haven’t had the time or will to write.  I switched my header picture AGAIN, so, I guess this is officially and temporarily the picture blog.  Unintentional.  I promise to get back into the swing of things just as soon as it all slows down.  I’ve been busy consulting and working on Digital Nashville (did you read/hear all the great buzz about us???), but there is really no excuse for this:

I’ve lived here for officially a year this past Monday and during this whole year I have driven past the image you see above I don’t know how many times.  I have always been a huge fan of graffiti art/ street art.  It catches my eye wherever I go and sticks in my brain.  Does anyone remember the OBEY happening that was hot in the 90’s?  Maybe I am showing my age.  Every now and then I will still see some Andre the Giant stickers on a stop sign or a park bench, but I have yet to see any of this in Nashvegas.

So…for about a year I have driven on Old Hickory past an abandoned contruction site and thought “Muze Panda?  What the hell is that?”  I FINALLY stopped and snapped some photos last week.  Someone obviously poured a lot of time and effort into it.  I still can figure out what it’s referencing.  If you know, leave a comment, or else it will become the mystery of my life (right next to the meaning of it.)

I spent last Friday and Saturday at the GenTN Conference.  I can’t begin to tell you how many interesting leaders in the community (both old and established and new and starting out) I met.  It got me thinking…yes, just thinking.  Simple, but that’s always good in my book.

John Seigenthaler, Sr. gave one of the keynote speeches.  He was most likely the oldest speaker that day, but certainly the funniest and (I felt) most relevant.  At the end of his speech, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions.  One question was about some of the most interesting people he had the opportunity to interview in his career.  He touched on leaders in general, specifically Presidents.  One was George H.W. Bush, who had published an “autobiography” which consisted of personal letters that he had penned over the years.  Bush read most of the letters, while Seigenthaler then expanded upon with him.  Much of the correspondence was touching and personal, including a letter he wrote to both of his sons when they were governors.  Bush said he couldn’t make it through that one- he asked Seigenthaler to read it for him. Bush asked them to not live in his shadow or make decisions in his shadow, but to make their own decisions and conclusions. Despite their differences in politics and systems of belief, Seigenthaler sited this as one of his most memorable interviews.  The mutual bond of fatherhood can bridge many (troubled) waters.

Somehow Seigenthaler then segued into commenting on Tim Russert’s passing that morning.  Many people in the audience released a gasp of shock, but some of us had already heard the news (I happened to get a text from a friend.)  My father loved Russert for many reasons- he was tenacious, unbiased, informed.  I knew his death would have an impact on my dad, but I was surprised to hear how much when I spoke to him on the phone on Father’s Day.  I am not sure why it didn’t click sooner…they are both from western New York and Irish Catholic.  Like Russert, my dad has never forgotten his roots and where he came from.  Tim Russert represented a life of integrity, of family, of values and morals.  It is more than just his favorite news commentator passing on, it’s a mortality check. 

It’s difficult to fathom that Tim Russert is gone.  Why didn’t we cherish his place in politics and journalism when he was around? What an incredible loss. His death has rekindled an already existing appreciation for my father and for all fathers.  When my dad dropped me off at college, he told me “do the right thing- not the popular thing or the easy thing, but the right thing.”  I wonder if G.H.W. Bush had made that kind of clear point with his sons where we would all be right now…

But, the world moves on.  I am just holding on to the best thing said about Russert- “he lived a life of dignity.”  That’s it- that’s where I point my compass.

Go Bills! Go Sabres!

We all (hopefully) have that person in our lives that gave us the tools to learn and grow.  I worked my way through college, mostly in the library system at my University.  I had no idea what a great choice that was at the time.  I figured it was just an easy job where I got paid to do my homework and read.  It was there that I honed my research skills and first got exposed to the lovely internet.  I moved to work at the media libraryas a supervisor during my last few years at school.  I was not the most computer savvy person on the planet- my family couldn’t afford to have a computer when I was a kid, so anything I learned was in my beginning computer science class when I arrived at college.  I was interested, but needed some direction.  My supervisor there came from similar circumstances, so she spent a great deal of time with me so that I could expand my knowledge.  Her time and care truly made a difference for me; it made technology something powerful and helpful rather than intimidating and out of reach.

One of her favorite websites was lynda.com.  In the early stages, it was a design tips/hack site and now it’s a full blown online training site, with courses on everything you can imagine (not just design.)  Maybe I will take a course or two in her honor (and mine) sometime soon. 

The picture on the header of my site is one that I took at Graceland last fall.  Elvis’ estate has a meditation garden…which doubles as a family graveyard.  (Because when I think relaxation, I think dead bodies!)

I had the idea of switching out the picture every week, but seeing as that life is so darn crazy for so many people I know (including myself), I feel like it needs to stay there for a while.  Gas prices skyrocket!  Food prices go up!  Unemployment on the rise!  Sigh…I think we all need a group hug right about now.

I’m a driver!  I’m a winner!  Things are gonna change, I can feel it!

hello to you.  i am still trying to figure this word press thing out.  so far, it seems fantastic.

stay tuned for all my funny jokes, rants and raves.

-kk