My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Break time?, originally uploaded by dewelch.

Out for a coffee, and intellectual, recharge

A collection of interesting items I found in my daily reading.

• Chicken Katsu Curry – August 30, 2010


• Triple Threat Crispie Treats – August 30, 2010


• Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself – August 31, 2010


• The corporate conscience – August 31, 2010

- I have written about this in the past. We do things, and allow things to happen, within our businesses that we would never do, or allow to happen, as an individual. Corporations are sociopaths and must be treated as such. They will gobble up anything and everything they can. In fact, that is there job…to increase shareholder value. We, as people, though, need to inject humanity into the process.
• Email overload? Try Priority Inbox – August 30, 2010

- Sounds like a neat new feature I will interested in checking out. Gmail serves my needs very well and features like this could make it even more useful.
• Fire Escape Salad Bar – August 30, 2010


• Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed – August 30, 2010


• Honeyed Apple Peanut Butter Tart – August 30, 2010


• Founder Institute: How To Launch In 10 Steps With Less Than $2,000 – August 29, 2010


• Why social media gurus should be trampled by elephants – August 29, 2010


• Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu – August 28, 2010


• Jazz Up Your Next YouTube Video with Royalty-Free Music From Incompetech [Music] – August 27, 2010


• YouTube Rolls Out Full-Fledged Movie Section; Shares 400 Free Films [Movies] – August 27, 2010


• Stock Your Freezer – Tips and Tricks – August 26, 2010


• Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes – August 25, 2010


• Gutter Gardens – August 26, 2010


• Netflix adds iPhone and iPod touch compatibility in latest app version – August 26, 2010


• No-Knead Pizza Dough – August 25, 2010


• Educational Chemistry Crayons – August 25, 2010

- Way geeky and way cool!
• Educational Chemistry Crayons – August 25, 2010

Here are the books in my reading stack right now. I am a bit weird in that I read several books at one time, switching between them as the mood strikes me. This often includes moving from business books to history to fiction and back again over the course of the day.

I think everyone should have a least one book with them throughout the day. You never know when you are going to have to wait in line somewhere and reading even a few paragraphs can allow you to make productive use of that otherwise unproductive time.

• Weird Ideas That Work by Robert I. Sutton
  
• The Drunkard’s Walk by Leonard Mlodinow
  
• A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink
  
• Cracking Creativity by Michael Michalko

** For more book suggesting, visit the WelchWrite Bookstore

Photos from last night’s Frogtown Artwalk 2010.

Watch the slide show on Flickr

Cute video. I can recognize myself in this video from those days when we used to visit the playground a lot.

Link: Stock Your Freezer – Tips and Tricks

There are a lot of great tips for the kitchen in this post – so many that I am having to work through it slowly. Even though I regularly make large batches of pasta sauce, chili and soups to freeze, there are some reminder in here other great things to freeze for later, like bread and pizza crust dough and unbaked cookies. We already use the freezer to store bananas which are on the verge of becoming overripe. These are then turned into smoothies and banana breads whenever we are ready for them.

It is also a great idea to freeze fresh berries as they come into season so you can have some all year long. To make them last longer, and easier to use, we lay out the fresh berries on a cookie sheet and put that in the freezer. Once the fruit is frozen solid, they can be stored in a zip top bag or other container without merging into one large clump that must be used all at once. It is great to be able to pull out a handful of blueberries for a smoothie or batch of muffins.

* Originally found at Annies Eats via Stock Your Freezer – Tips and Tricks.

A collection of interesting items I found in my daily reading.

• Google Mobile Brings True iPhone Push Notifications for Gmail and Google Calendar [Downloads] – August 23, 2010


• Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken) – August 19, 2010


• How to Build a Temporary Wood-fired Brick Pizza Oven with Cheap, Easy to Find Materials – August 18, 2010

A collection of interesting items I found in my daily reading.

• Parmesan Roasted Potatoes & a book I can't wait to get… – August 16, 2010


• It’s Official: People In Power Act As If They Have Brain Damage – August 16, 2010


• Which Email Marketing Platform is Right for You? Here Are 3 of the Best – August 15, 2010


• Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits – August 11, 2010


• PLywood Report: Michael Gans Brings Texas BBQ To The Valley Via Smoke City – August 12, 2010


• Event: Franklin Canyon Campfire program – Wed, Aug 18 – August 11, 2010

If you follow any of my social media streams you will see an almost constant flow of information about the organization of a variety of unconferences such as CareerCampLA, CareerCampSCV and now, MediaCampLA. I have come to see the unconference as a great way of tapping undiscovered, local, real-world, knowledge on almost any topic. Whether the topic at hand is free-ranging like those of the typical BarCamp or specific and narrow like CareerCamp, unconferences allow attendees to glean great information from the under-seen and under-heard right in their own community.

Over the years, I have come to see that everyone is an expert in something. Perhaps they know the secrets of running a profitable retail store or how to brew a great cup of coffee or know how many/what types of lizards live in the San Fernando Valley and where they might be found. My definition of an expert is “someone who knows one more fact, or has one more experience, than someone else.” We are all experts in something and unconferences are a great way to tease out that information and make it available to others.

Buried deep within every company, every organization, every community, are people who have great ideas, great insights and great knowledge, but often these people have no way to share their knowledge with those who need it most. Instead of sharing that knowledge and helping those around them, their knowledge sits idle and unused. If we want to innovate and grow, we need to hear and see this knowledge. Knowledge needs to be acted upon, otherwise it is worthless. The fact is, sometimes we need to go digging if we want to discover this information gold.

I see now that facilitating this information exchange, through unconferences and in other ways, is one of my most important skills. I often say that “I am at my best when I am helping others” and organizing unconferences is one tremendous way to help others. All of my work — whether writing, computer consulting, podcasting, new media, unconferences – are all based around this premise. Sure, I don’t usually get paid directly for my organizing (although I am available to do that for your company or organization) , but I feel that I get some tremendous benefits from being in front of people and helping them with their hobbies, careers and lives.

In fact, that is yet another great advantage of unconferences. When organized properly, everyone wins! Organizers win expanded exposure of their knowledge and skills to a new group of people, readers, clients. Attendees win by gaining new knowledge and cultivating new relationship. Sponsors win by exposing their product, service or organization to a host of new, potential customers.

This is why I organize unconferences whenever I can, on whatever topics interests me most. Everybody wins in some way and buried knowledge is brought to the surface, where it can do the most good.

Want to learn more about unconferences? Want to help organize and unconference? Want to partner with CareerCamp or MediaCamp or act as a sponsor? Would you like me to give a presentation on unconferences to your organization or company? Ask your questions in the comments or email me directly at me@douglasewelch.com. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Pizza with tortilla crust, originally uploaded by dewelch.

Our quick pizza. My sauce, provolone and large flour tortilla for crust. It gives me the thin and crispy crust with having to make my own crust.