I'll be camped at Bat Country @ 9:30 & Esplanade.

I hope we cross paths serendipitously, but if you want to make sure we do, here are my scheduled events:

TUES:
HugNation
12 noon @ Bat Country
online: chat.hugnation.com

WED:
Pink Ride w/ HugNation
12 noon meet @ Bat Country

FRI:
HugNation & Wedding
12 noon @ Bat Country

NOTE:
Times are estimated. So are identities and societal roles. If we are fortunate enough to cross paths, please excuse me if I am not as you expected. I try to surrender to impulse in the desert, and sometimes that leads me down some reptilian paths. Forgive me if I do not recognize or remember you. I love you and hope we share a hug out there. But regardless, I'm grateful for your presence and what you bring of yourself.
See you at home.

Love,
John/Halcyon/Commander Happypants

http://chat.hugnation.com   Today at 1pm (pacific)!

last week's hug:

In addition to "touchy-feely" projects like HugNation, my company, Royal Pink Productions also does consulting for Fortune 500 companies.  I’m very lucky to have amazing clients and creative projects.
Recently, FreeCreditReport.com (responsible for a series of uber-catchy commercial jingles) asked me to help grow their Social Media network.

While in the process of pitching ideas, I found out a friend of mine had Cancer.  Since he is straight-up awesome, he decided to take his diagnosis and turn it into a fund-raising/awareness raising game. (See “BlameDrewsCancer.com")
As I was putting together proposals for marketing efforts, it occurred to me:

What if instead of spending the money marketing TO people, we ASK people to subscribe to our page and then give that money to charity?  If we could use social media to do the job of spreading the word, then the money earmarked for those ads could go directly to a good cause.

FreeCreditReport.com agreed to give it a try:

FreeCreditReport.com® is going to donate $1 to the American Cancer Society for every person who signs up as a new fan in honor of #BlameDrewsCancer. This charity campaign will end on June 23, 2009 at noon PT or until the total donation amount reaches $10,000, whichever occurs first.

AWESOME!! 

We launched it yesterday and the promo lasts for a week.  So far it is going much slower than I hoped (We’ve only raised $100 of the 10,000 allocated.)
I really hope the experiment works.  It would be so amazing to keep brainstorming cool ways to give money to charity. 

If you want to help raise some money (and show that the experiment works), please “Become a Fan” of the FreeCreditReport.com Facebook page.

Thank you!

http://chat.hugnation.com



topic:  "That's what I've got to work with." - Hedwig & The Angry Inch

Hug Nation is today at 1pm Pacific!  Join us!
http://chat.hugnation.com

Or check out the archive from last week.

I felt less like I was talking - and more like I was channeling. If you've never seen HugNation, this is a great one to watch. ((HUG))

I moved to a new place!

I spent a month blonde!

 I stopped by to see my brother yesterday as he worked from home for his birthday. While I was there, I got to see him being such an awesome dad. He & Jen are parenting superheroes. (Or super-reptiles)





Sorry I have been so  absent. I am still updating lifestudent.com, twitter and facebook.  I'll be better at updating here.

p.s. my birthday is on the 28th!  (I'll be THIRTY EIGHT!)

At SXSW I announced that I was dropping "Halcyon" from my name. Today I'll tell the story of how it came to be. What it meant to me. And why it is slipping away.

See you there! (If you can't make it, hug yourself at 1:15)
http://chat.hugnation.com

p.s. check out Spotman's badass itunes radio station!

The new NBC.com video is "SXSW Dreams," with Zadi Diaz & Steve Woolf* & Todd Huffman.



Although the days I spent at SXSW were FILLED with awesome moments,  I only managed to tape a few.

What can I say? I got caught up in experiencing the event.  (Thank goodness for photogrpahers like Lan Bui, Scott Beale, and Maggie.)

At first I was frustrated with myself.

I had planned on doing a bunch of short interviews.
I even had several cards printed up beforehand to make it easy for interviewees.
 

But I only managed to interview 3 people.  *sigh*  I told Skampy (FRD's producer) that I blew it.

But when I got home and watched the footage, I realized I had all the awesome I needed.

I kinda tricked Steve & Zadi. After they did an awesome interview with me, I put the camera on them.

Steve's answer was honest and sincere...but I didn't include it.

I asked him the "easiest" question I had, "What one meme/product would you banish forever."

I guess I thought SXSW'ers would love a chance to be snarky.   But Steve rejected the low hanging fruit.

Steve's answer was filled with a reverence for all things web.  With love & respect for the web's (occasionally annoying) diversity.

So while his answer helped me tremendously on a personal level, when I turned the camera to Zadi, I quickly switched to my other card, "What is your dream for the web."

So that is the subject of this video.

What is wonderful, is that to me, "Fears. Regrets. Desires." itself is a step towards my dream.  (Link to my original intro video).



The other person I interviewed was Todd Hoffman.
Todd was called, "The most interesting person at SXSW" by @acarvin.   And I agree.

From cryogenics, to body modification, to teaching tech in Afghanistan....the guy has a LOT to share.

(And before this week, I only knew him as a kickass Esplanade neighbor from Burning Man. )


Enjoy!

(Btw if you want to record your own answer on YouTube or whatever, definitely link to it in the comments!)