Yes, I went there. My intent was to talk about what it’s like being a Jesus Freak in a Social world. This would have worked had I taken the time to prepare and allow the subject matter to marinate on the cognitive centers of my cortex. Sadly there was no time to let the Jesus justifying juices soak in and flow forth with wisdom and well thought out consideration.

I was a late entry and had thrown my presentation together late this week. Initial awe at getting the chance to do Ignite Denver 4 was tempered by the cold flash of reality that even at five minutes there’s lots of time to cover with 20 slides at 15 seconds each. This was replaced by abject fear and terror as the time grew closer today in anticipation of the sessions.

Would I say something wrong? Would I freeze up? Would I pratfall up the stairs and awkwardly catapult onto the stage in a mess of limbs and embarrassment? The latter obviously didn’t occur and I managed to avoid freezing up. If nothing else I can stand accused of talking too much. And in my case that can lead some real winning (and losing) witticisms. There’s two that hit twitter as I was speaking and they’re reaction is telling.

via Taj Moore:

And this from: Kevin Reynen:

I’m not sure if the silence was shock, interest in what I was talking about or just simple silent wondering if I;d lost my mind.  I’m curious to see what those that saw Ignite Denver live with me on stage would have to say about my presentation.  Feel free to be as honest and hard as you feel the need to be.  I’d rather hear the truth than some fake truth that simply enables my ego malfunction.

In truth I’ll have to watch the videos as soon as they hit to see what exactly I said.  I know I went off script a few times and probably said some astonishing things about The Church and the Future, but I’m pretty sure it was exactly what I believe that was spoken.

All in all it was a great event with great presenters, a sorta good band that’s still working on their thing and a good chance to meet people you follow on Twitter.

Now I’m off to bed.  It’s 3:15am and I’m liable to type something I’ll regret later,

Well, ain’t this something.  So I’m not sure how it happened but Comcast reached out to my folks and told ‘em they’d be around on Wednesday July 8th from 1pm to 5pm to install the line and do everything that had been scheduled for August 12th.  So the guy showed up on time and checked things out.

Get this.  He goes out to the box.  Checks the connection in the house.  Looks at me.  Asks, “Did he look in this closet?”  I shrug.  He opens the door.  Finds the cable that goes down in to the crawl space.  He goes out to the cable box again.  Comes back.  Says, “Um, well…there’s a connection for your unit out there and there’s a tag with a date of disconnect for us.  I tested your connection here…and it’s got a signal.”

Allow me to translate.

The contractor had it completely wrong.  No question.  I’m not sure he even read the cable box outside the unit correctly.  He could have installed it that day.  We could have avoided all this hullabaloo.  I shake my head along with the Comcast guy.  The contractor is the guy to blame in this specfic situation.

Wow.  So this guy who is in charge of fresh cable installs then has to do the job that any other Comcast guy could do.  It’s done in an hour and I’ve got internet and cable in three rooms ready to rock.

The original point of why have one guy to do fresh installs still stands.  When I talked to the Comcast guy he confirmed he was the one guy for Littleton, Highlands Ranch and Centennial.  I still wonder if there’s a better way to do that so that people don’t have to wait over a month for a new install.  Then again, new installs typically happen in new homes or places that you’re not set to occupy for a bit of time.

So there’s that.  All in all resolution was had.  I still don’t know if @comcastcares on twitter had anything to do with it…but I have to hope and believe social media played a part in this operatic tale of pain.

Original Incident frmo July 6th is below:

There are certain things in this world I cannot live without.  Food, water and shelter.  Electricity sure is nice and probably modern appliances would fall into that category as well.  After that anything becomes a nice addition to the package.  Phone service, cable, television and internet access are all luxuries as far as I’m concerned.

After I sent a year and a half in the Philippines I discovered I could live without hot water for over a month.  Sure didn’t enjoy cold showers in the morning, but I made due.  I came to treasure my air conditioning.  In other words I discovered that I had taken many things for granted over my life time.

Fast forward to today as I’m moving into a condo unit.  My parents and I are working through many obstacles in home ownership to get to a point where the condo is in good shape.  We’ve replaced flooring, tiled bathrooms and worked on the plumbing.  Most of that has gone according to plan (aside from one night sans toilets and shower) so we’re satisfied and content.

We had called Comcast earlier in the week to schedule someone to come out and install cable and internet.  The gentlemen dutifully showed up and provided his services above and beyond expectations.  Trouble was he couldn’t find a cable connection in the house.  Through his dutiful research he confirmed they would need to do a “drop cable” procedure in order to get my service online.  I stood there as he called Comcast Denver Operations on speaker and allowed me to listen in to the conversation.  The young lady on the other end confirmed we could do it on a Wednesday.  At the end of the call she said, “Ok, set for August 12^th.”  Promptly and before the Comcast contractor could say another word the line was dead.  She’d ended the call.

I asked him if he could recheck that and see if she’d maybe misspoken or made a mistake in the date.  That was over a month away.  I was flabbergasted.  He made the call and confirmed that yes indeed it would take a month to have someone come out and complete the drop cable procedure.

I thanked the installer and told him to cancel the order.

Why?  Why wouldn’t I have used my lessons from the Philippines to ease my stress and simply be patient enough to wait through the entire month of July for someone to come out and do the install?  Because even as I stood there the contractor was honest in saying that because he wasn’t Comcast he wasn’t able to say for sure if indeed the drop cable would work.

Via @comcastcares on twitter I asked for any help that could be provided.  They did their best, but apparently it just wasn’t enough.  They only do drop cable installs on Wednesdays and they have a limited crew that does the install.

And so the decision was made to go with Qwest.  I’m not a fan of DirecTV and Qwest has a host of customer complaints already tainting their image.  Hopefully they will be able to come out and make the install quickly.

In my mind it’s a culture issue.  When I worked in customer service (Circuit City, Verizon Business, United Healthcare) there was always this underlying culture of resisting change and going along with what had come previous to them.  Combined with archaic rules, regulations and often confusing interdepartmental interactions it was a comedy of Shakespearean proportions.  Only with less love, hilarity and actual problem solving.

The culture at big companies for the longest time has been, “We’re big, we’re bad and customers can deal with it.”  Only trouble is that as time has passed customers have been given more power, more recognition and even more important the tools to fight back.  The problem Comcast (and others) faces now is putting a dent in the near total negative press they receive via twitter and other platforms.  The crew with @comcastcares (and others) is part of this revolution of increasing ways and means of improving that relation that decides the bottom line.  The relation with the customer.

Banks, global companies and even mom and pop stores have taken to twitter to keep a gingerly cautious finger on the pulse of their customer base.  They recognize the power within perception.  If they can have even a small impact against the overwhelming tide of dissatisfaction there’s a chance they can ride the wave to successfully becoming a customer responsible organization.

Making the change and starting the open heart surgery within the company is the hardest choice.  Making sure the rules, regulations and processes are more customer focused is the first step.  Ensuring it continues is the next.  It will be painful and problematic over the next few months but once the cluttered and combustible is scrubbed new paths can be drawn up and the focus can begin to turn.  It might turn like the Titanic in being slow and stubborn but there’s a chance these companies can avoid hitting that iceberg that proves to be the tipping point.

For Comcast they’re lucky in the Denver area.  Qwest is the only major competitor.  Sure, there are smaller operations but less reliable.  For now, it’s the lesser or worse of two evils.

Got an email stating the obvious…yes indeed, the channel was back.  Name at the end was a new one, “John”.

Hi there,

Thanks for your email.

As requested I have reinstated your account. You should be able to login
again.

If you forgot your password, please click on this link to reset it:

http://www.youtube.com/forgot.php

Regards,

John
The YouTube Team

I then received an email with a survey about how this all went down.

And yes, I’m going to fill it out in full detail. Still no official response from youtube, nothing on their twitter, blog or anywhere else. Congratulations YouTube…you’ve failed, hard and fast.

If you need someone to advise you on how to respond to issues, concerns and troubles, ask Twitter. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Youtube loses to Twitter. How sad is that?

Pretty sad.

Update:

5awesomepeople is back. But it looks like others were hit. Mostly other 5awesome nerdfighter collaborative channels were apparently hit. Someone is alleged to have auto flagged them.

I’ve still had not had a response from my earlier email. The @youtube Twitter account has been silent all day. Nothing personal Youtube, but you botched it. Screwed the pooch. You jacked a part of your community. I’m annoyed that there have been no definitive answers since a large group was affected.

The fact that this is somehow allowed to happen without a reason/transparency is the most upsetting part. I know 5AwesomePeople isn’t a partner. We’ve not even crossed 115 subscribers. But we’re a collab channel with over 300 videos that has the involvement of seven people who care about it deeply. Trying to get in touch with Youtube was a pain in the arse in the first place.

Navigating the help site was not helpful. Getting the form letter email that told me basically, “You’re screwed, I won’t tell you why….oh and YOU CAN’T PLAY IN THE PLAYGROUND ANYMORE!” was very telling.

Youtube, I want an answer as to why this happened. I want to know how someone is able to level entire channels without nary an explanation.  So help me if you reference your TOS…

As a small voice in the crowd, I don’t expect a response. It doesn’t mean I’m going to shut up about it.

Irritatedly Yours,

Aaron

Earlier Today Before We Were reinstated…

I’m annoyed. I’m angered. I’m shocked. I’m a little peeved.

My collaborative channel with over 300 videos that’s been going for a year and a half has been permanently deleted due to what is described in the email below as “Community Guidelines”. Translated “5awesomePeople” is dead for the moment and YouTube zapped it without prior warning. Our account was in good standing, had only violated copyright on music once or twice that we immediately corrected. I repeat. Youtube, WHAT THE FRACK?!

Hi 5awesomepeople,

Thanks for your email. Your “5awesomepeople” account has been found to
have violated our Community Guidelines. Your account has now been
terminated. Please be aware that you are prohibited from accessing,
possessing or creating any other YouTube accounts.

YouTube staff review flagged videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week to
determine whether they violate our Community Guidelines. When a video or
account is brought to our attention we investigate and take action if
necessary.

We are unable to provide specific detail regarding your account suspension
or your video’s removal. For more information on our what we consider
inappropriate content or conduct while using YouTube, please visit our
Community Guidelines and Tips at
http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines and our Help Center article
at http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=92486.

My response is below. Please YouTube, help me understand what is going on here.

Youtube Support,

This was a collab channel with over 300 videos. We had not had any
troubles aside form minor copyright issues, which we resolved. We
just started season 2. You’re telling me that you are unable to tell
me what caused a over two year old channel to be permanently deleted?
I need a better answer than this form letter of an email.

Please help me. This channel means so much to the seven of us and
over 100 subs. I know we’re not a partner or even that big. But this
feels like there is a misunderstanding of some kind.

Thank you,

Aaron DeLay

And so he appeared from within the display case, a light house beaming as beacon of hope for a new phone and a new life on the train of tricked out technology. Palm Centro. Smooth and Black. I got a deal on him as I was reupping my contract. And from then on, we were best of friends. I carried him everywhere, depending on Google Maps, my mobile email and the connection to my parents I suddenly had with a powerful texting machine.

I dropped him on his head more than once. Yet Centro kept going, pushing onwards against the IPhones of the world. Like the little engine that could, The Palm never stopped chugging up that hill. And I never lost faith.

The first time he took a trip into water, it was old mildewy water that had failed to drain via the pump in the basement. A few keys went out, he tried to hotsync. Thankfully he came back from the first water baptism and continued to to fight on. Then winter came. He took a running leap into some street slush. I think he was tired of me by this point. Half the keys died. I was forced to use the touchscreen to message.

The phone was starting to show signs of sluggish behavior that would concern any mindful parent. I knew his time was coming. There was no question that Centro would either be struck by lightening (a la the story within Benjamin Button) or simply be taken up into cell heaven on a blingy chariot of fire and cell phone signals.

That moment came last Thursday as I was at the hospital. In a moment of weakness, Centro fell into a unmistakable puddle of after winter water. I dove after him and cradled him softly to my cheek as if to whisper, “It’s not time…don’t go towards the…”, at which point I mentally imagined a grandaddy cell phone from the eighties welcoming each heaven bound contraption.

It was his third encounter with the darkness known as liquid invasion. It was to be his last.

I looked odd cradling a Palm Centro and purring to it as if it was a child. Or a cat. Even a dog. People wondered if I had lost it. Those that know me will be saying right now, “That happened long ago.” I shook my head at their stares and wide eyes. They didn’t understand.

Moments passed as I watched as he began to have seizures of Hot Sync again and this time they didn’t stop. There was nothing to be done. The “battery charging” light had shorted and now stayed on all the time. It was the only sign of life from Centro. He was going fast.

I carried him to my car later that night in a funeral parade of one whistling eerily the dirge “Amazing Grace” as the parking garage provided great acoustics.

I called to have his casket carrier sent. His replacement…or “brother” as I’ve taken to calling him arrived a few days later and is already filling the space of Centro nicely. I will miss the old workhouse. It is unusual for a smart phone that endured such pain, abuse and such sarcrifice to last through the entire year.

To Centro…I will miss you. And if you can hear me beyond the signal grave…got any ideas for a good name for your brother?

WordPress has spawned Wordcamps worldwide. Over the years it’s been happening overseas which if nothing else exhibits the growing reach and strength of the software. Denver has been without since the start. Mind you, there’s no shortage of superstars of both the blogging world and WordPress in the metro area. If the line up at Wordcamp Denver was any indication we were almost overdue for one of these events.

I won’t bore you with the play by play of the day. I will give special props to the Denver Art Museum for being such gracious hosts. With over 200 people occupying the facility at any one time it was handled professional and with great courtesy. It was amusing seeing the stares of the patrons as the army of geeks came and went through the day. We even broke their wireless internet in the morning. They attacked the problem during the lunch hour and as we all returned it was announced the internets were working again.

The morning session was fairly typical and strong with good speakers. The founder of WordPress made his standard State of The Word and gave us a peek at the next version. Founder of the LOLCATS, Ben Huh brought down the house with his (count it) twenty two minute presentation that spawned intense discussion and brainstorming among just around everyone. His perspective on “Mr. Potato Head” as a method to putting together and creating a blog/image was fascinatingly fresh and inspiring. I won’t lie. I drooled a little bit as he spoke.

The website panel was a little dull for my tastes but I’m sure people in the audience appreciated it. I skipped out on Jane Wells and “Open Source Community” to grab food since I was an idiot who woke up late.

You can see a list of the speakers outlined on the web site here. The afternoon brought us the breakout sessions. Like a boy before Prom, I tried so very hard to understand the technical aspect. Sadly that breakout nearly broke my brain. I jumped back to the blogging session. The last three speakers in the afternoon were the most impressive. Gil Asakawa talked about blogging and the media. Gil used to run the old Denver Post Bloghouse (of which I was a link in the lower sidebar at one time) and he has some interesting perspectives.

His session was derided by a few on Twitter but I enjoyed it as it helped set a great foundation for understanding of the new world of media. How bloggers and the “real” media fit into that puzzle of prose is on an ongoing conversation. I’m a firm believer in the social media aspect becoming a larger part of not just media, but companies and organizations. The power of good writing and connective communities is for the moment a growing movement. This is something certain companies are learning. My example is AMC Theatres and the recent Oscar Showcase last weekend. They got bloggers, twitter people and even had a hashtag for the whole thing! (hashtag was #amcbps for those interested)

Later in the afternoon Dave Moyer stepped onto stage and at the (totally not) precocious age of sixteen pulled an Elvis in Hawaii by blowing nearly everyone in the audience away. I had no idea who he was and most of us were unaware of his product, radio show and contributions. After Saturday however, I can assure you his name is very much out there more than it ever was before. This young man was able to present a fully thought out presentation to a room off 200, answer questions, use humor and manage it all without throwing up. He’s ahead of me in at least that respect. Did I mention he’s 16? Benjamin Buttons got nothing on him!

I called him a toddler on twitter but it wasn’t meant with offense. I just was observing what it felt and looked like to a nerd like me. He out nerded me! My mild ego had a small seizure but recovered after a few strokes.

The last and some would argue best of the day was Micah Baldwin. Putting on the aura of a “regular Joe” he was the last to take the stage. It was a good thing as Micah ended Wordcamp on a pretty solid high note that left everyone pumped. If you were watching the twitter hashtag #wordcampdenver through the day you would have seen the twitterati talking about the event with those outside and inside the event. Reviews for most of the other speakers were acceptable.

The power of twitter was evident (and still is as the days pass since) as the specific strong moments in the talks were then thrown out into the twitterverse. The hashtag started trending mere minutes after the event started and it didn’t stop until it began to wind down. From what I can recall, we stayed on the top ten hashtag list all day. Sitting in a room watching everyone with a laptop (and there were a plethora of screens showing twitter and tweetdeck) as the conversation played out before me was a unique experience I can’t even begin to quantify. Surreal and thrilling are the words that probably fit the best.

Overall for a first Wordcamp in Denver it was a great start. Some things will need to be improved for next year. I’m intrigued to see what speakers we end up with and how different the WordPress World will look as it changes, morphs and evolves over the next 365 days. That’s the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to WordPress.

While other platforms stall, grow stale or simply stay with the times WordPress is on the move. Rocking and rolling down the superhighways of the internet, it’s an unstoppable train of geeks, nerds and whoever else is along for the ride. Long live WordPress.

Updated: PHOTOS!  here!

Preshow:

Milk Discussion Part 1

Milk Discussion Part 2

The Reader

Ben Button

Slumdog

And that’s ok.  You see, I’m ok with the uncomfortable glances and odd stares.  It shows I’m probably doing something right.  For those behind the ever moving eight ball here’s the basic idea twitter: Community and razor quick information disbursement all in one.  There are numerous articles out there that explain exactly what you can implement twitter for in your business and/or personal life and you should seek them out via a Google search.

I personally use twitter for a few things.  One is community.  I have instant communication with various friends spread all over the world.  I can @ reply to them with a 140 character message and within seconds they can hit me back with lightening fast accuracy. I also can use it to network with various people in various fields. I’ve got numerous podcasters, politically minded people, writing themed individuals, and countless others.

In the vein of community is where I was last night. The Denver Twitter Community has officially formed a Tweetup group. Said group meets about once a month at a preset location with the goal of getting to know new twitters that either you follow or follow you. It’s something akin to breaking down the fourth wall in movies. You’re separated by just a few kilobytes and suddenly you’re standing next to that guy talking about the stuff you know he did this week because you’ve breathlessly read his tweets (what a individual message is called).

That’s actually not really what happens, but it sure sounds like a creepy fun time for everyone!

The reality is you get to know people, understand what they do and see if there’s a chance you could be useful to each other. There is of course the chance you’ll really connect with someone and find a friend in the midst of the mob filled mania. I firmly believe that possibility exists, even if it sounds creepy. There are many mavens of the tech world at these events. You’ll find life coaches, business coaches, radio coaches and every other kind of coach as well. High end business types in suits are scattered around. New Media guys are always guaranteed to show.

For me I found several church bases guys that I’m interested in interfacing with (yes, I did just say that) and maybe even connecting with in a larger scheme. I also found several fellow radio hosts and others that simply just struck my fancy.

The point is that I found something at an event that I honestly expected to find nothing. I was expecting to be a wall flower and hide in the corner with my shifty eyes and Jack Daniel’s water. Indeed, that didn’t occur and I met many people that were fascinating in every facet. I’ve got some leads on people to follow up with and the next one is in February. I’m looking forward to more networking, more conversation and hell, just a fun time hanging out with fellow nerds.