Las Vegas - Trip 2

On the heels of our trip to San Francisco, we stopped in Las Vegas on the way back home. Kate had never been there and I really wanted to go back with her.

On Tuesday night we stayed with a friend from college who happens to live there. We didn't have any big plans and it was a long day of conferences and traveling so it just made sense.

Wednesday morning we were able to check into our hotel early. We chose the MGM Grand as our hotel because they had awesome deals and easily one of the best pools there (has a lazy river). It was a great hotel because it had almost everything you needed and was centrally located.

Wednesday night, Kate and I went to go see Blue Man Group at the Venetian. I caught a couple of their DVD's on Netflix awhile ago and have wanted to see them for a long time. The tickets were expensive but we purposely didn't see them when they were in town twice to get that Vegas experience. The show was very impressive. Easily the best "show" I've ever seen. It's funny, original, entertaining, and just hits all the right notes for me.

Thursday was our big night out on the town. We had dinner at the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio to start, and then went to Jet nightclub at The Mirage.

 

Friday was basically our travel day. It was sad and I wished we would have stayed another day because I really felt short changed on the amount of gabling we did. As a couple Kate and I were up $29 playing craps and roulette. The trip was fun but too short. Looking forward to going back.

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steinerphotos/sets/72157617565656437/

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3KMU_hkzqY

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0CmcaLmR5k

Permalink Icon Sunday, May 3 | Comment Icon 0 Comments

San Francisco - NTEN 2009

I was in San Francisco this week attending the NTEN conference. It was held at the Hilton downtown which was really nice because we didn't have to commute anywhere. It's a pretty crazy conference, as it focuses on technology for nonprofits. Everyone there had a mobile phone (mostly iPhones) and just about everyone had a laptop (lots of netbooks). What was also interesting is that the conference fully embraced text messaging and twitter. Reviews and feedback were done virtually (very green initiatives). I attended sessions on virtual servers, IT budgeting and staffing, project management, and setting up secure remote infrastructures. Unfortunately none of the sessions got too detailed, but I did some great networking with other nonprofits (particularly food banks).

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steinerphotos/sets/72157617654574312/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H_I-4xhSHc

Permalink Icon Sunday, May 3 | Comment Icon 0 Comments

Fifth Element 10 Year Anniversary Concert

On Friday April 24th, I attended the Fifth Element 10 year anniversary concert at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. For those of you that don't know, Fifth Element is a contemporary college a cappella group that I helped start back in the spring of 1999. I graduated in 2002, but we recruited replacements and they recruited replacements and kept the group going.

I can't tell you how amazing it was to be sitting in the stands watching how the group has grown and improved upon our efforts. The current group was gracious enough to let us alumni join them on stage for 5 of our classic songs and everyone got at least a small solo.

Being in Fifth Element I met some of my best friends and had some of my best life experiences. I certainly miss being on stage (I'm working on that), but I've very proud of the group and their continued success.

Pictures from the show »

Video 1

Video 2

Permalink Icon Wednesday, April 29 | Comment Icon 0 Comments

SHH Hiring IT Specialist (Level 1 Help Desk)

My company has an opening (hard to believe in this economy, I know) for an IT Specialist (Level 1 Help Desk).  We have really been growing and I'm looking for a strong candidate to add to my team.  Here's a link to the job description.  If you, or anyone you know is interested, please contact me.

http://www.2harvest.org/about/employment/positions/IT%20Specialist.pdf

Permalink Icon Sunday, April 12 | Comment Icon 0 Comments

Social Networks

Just about everyone is talking about social networks.  HR recruiters are using them to find people.  Friends connect with old friends.  Distant family members find each other on them.  They are even referenced in movies.

So why are they so popular?  The tools have always been there for folks to use.  My guess is that it just makes things so easy.  A non-technical person can easily build a webpage for themselves and securely connect and share information with trusted contacts.  On top of that for us introverts you can communicate with folks you wouldn't normally talk to in person.

As a web developer, I've really fought and fought using the tools.  I have too much pride in my work since I built most of these tools awhile ago.  You can't deny the power of an internet community and getting to an audience.  I try not to let it suck the life out of me, but I do check most of the sites once a day just to keep in contact.  I thought I was smart and would turn on ALL email notifications so I wouldn't have to go to each site, but you miss out on some stuff.

Most of the social networks are pretty similar and can do the same things, but each one has its specialty and it's own network.  So you are really limiting yourself if you stick to just one.  What I have tried to is make matthewsteiner.com the central connecting point to all of them, and to link each of them to each other as much as possible.

You've probably noticed that I'm not blogging as much and the reason is because I'm interacting on social networks and that pattern will most likely continue.  I'm still encouraging you to check out this site because it's a central point of focus, but if you want to find me in a social network, here's where I'm at...

Permalink Icon Tuesday, March 10 | Comment Icon 0 Comments

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