Stoked to see that there was twice as many people at the Reno Bike Project Pancake feed this morning to support Bike to Work Day. Logan and I rolled down, ate some bacon, and then we rolled out to his school. We practiced his spelling words on the ride out, stopping at Walden’s Cafe for some more bacon. Thanks Kyle/Noah/Mikey for the bacon and griddle and Soma for flipping ‘them flapjacks.
So Myrna has a new look to her Blog. Cool! Loving that Reno’s #1 blogger dug-in and upgraded. Reno and its Discontents got a makeover over the weekend and it’s lookin’ great! Blog redesign can kill a person (or pay the bills for some, wink)…or at least drive you ”absolutely bonkers” which is what I think drove Myrna to write a post on economics.
Her post “On Capitalism” got me thinking about how much I enjoy social and political economic theory and why. Myrna asks the question:
“Come on, is there anyone out there who can tell me with a straight face that Milton Friedman or Karl Marx or John Keynes didn?t have certain agendas in mind while formulating their theories?”
Rather than give a straight answer (yes, I have a BS in Economics AND a BS in Finance, emphasis on “BS” hahaha), here’s a little story about where my passion came from:
When I showed up to UNR in 1988, I intended to be a Finance Major w/ Political Science and Marketing Minors. I wanted to go to law school then. Yeah…anyway…probably should have stuck with that plan, BUT:
My adviser was Mike Reed — a social economics professor then. Mike later went on to become Dean of the College of Business and is now basically the CFO for the Nevada System of Higher Education. He works for Jim Rogers & Crew now. What kind of sillyness he must witness in the name of education one can only imagine…but I’m jealous!
Because of Mike Reed I dumped my minors and ended up taking all of his classes, and incidentally, pretty much every one of his “arch enemy” Tom Cargill’s as well (who is a hidden UNR treasure). They weren’t actually enemy’s. I just like to think so. Cargill had a different approach. He’s a banking economist who I think predicted/nailed the whole EU unification/outcome in 1991 with an intense decade crystal ball accuracy… Smart dude, anyway…
There’s simply no better person to have a drink with in all of Nevada and have a conversation about economics and the social/political conundrum than Dr. Mike Reed. A hippie. A beatnik. A redneck. A artisan. A philosopher. An economist. A real human being. He’s the kind of social chameleon that makes him great at everything. Not only can he slide comfortably in to every social-economics conversation and actually ADD to it, he can — and will – challenge every belief you hold until you have no choice but to find empathy and a understanding of all perspectives. I’ve seen the most virulent of socialists tamed in to respect for Smith/Hayek. Conversely, he beat the Ayn Rand right out of me, while simultaneously introducing me to Ludwig von Mises v. Keynes, and then doubled-back with Schumpeter (hence my Entrepreneur bent). Then, just when I was all puffed up, he slipped in Marx, Kant, Hegel and Rousseau. (Ayn still tops in the book favs tho’.)
Yes Myrna, every economist has an agenda – visible, hidden, obfuscated or even more often subconscious. But we all do!
We all have agendas. We all have different worldviews. The greatest thing about Mike’s approach towards teaching economics was to encourage his students to discover these “worldviews” and navigate in-and-around them in understanding what made their approach tick, click or sick. BTW, agenda sounds evil - all these people were well intentioned passionate people deeply vested in trying to understand the world about them to the benefit of everyone…folks like Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Stalin, Che, Hitler, Castro, Chavez, Peron hacked certain economic theories for their impassioned Maslow-political marketing/branding strategy a.k.a. “an agenda”.
Because of Mike’s passion for his students, I was fortunate to be able to see Milton Friedman — not once…but twice before he passed away.
Anyway, Myrna’s post reminded me of how much value I got from my education as a result of Mike Reed’s meddling with my mind…and how lucky I am to have meet and see speak one of the great economists of our time. Speaking of (future) great economists…Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and Curator of TED and writer/creator of the Long Tail is still quite young/alive/kicking and just may be a recent example of great economic mind of our time…go see him speak before he dies in a WordPress makeover!
I personally think Clay Shirky is a potential great mind to be appreciated and agendacided…Robb Smith has a great post here on Clay Shirky. Clay’s Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags is a must read for ANY BLOGGER that is participating/creating/benefiting from the Web 2.0 economy. In fact, “Part I: Classification and its Discontents” sounds awfully familiar… hahahahah!
A note from the Adam Smith wiki worth digressing on:
On June 25, 2006, when Warren Buffet announced that he would donate his wealth to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he was presented with a copy of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations by Bill Gates.[12]
So, the two people that are most often maligned for being Capitalists donated 33 Billion buckaroos (now a 65B portfolio) to solve a lot of world ilk. Can anyone with a straight face tell me that whatever they’re 33 Billion dollars goes to, it doesn’t have an agenda too? That’s 64.9999999999999999Billion more than I have to help people out!
Anyway, When Mike Reed introduced Warren Buffet to UNR students celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the COBA, I couldn’t help but think that Mike Reed and Warren Buffet were two intellectual giants/peas-in-a-pod on stage. While Warren Buffet talked about how important people are to business and organizations and the empathy/ethics required to steward any organization, I realized I was fortunate to have experienced that philosophy first hand from Mike starting in 1988.
Thanks Myrna for finally triggering a post outta me!
I’m a huge proponent of professional social gatherings (a.k.a. parties) here in Nevada to bolster our tech/design economy. Lifelong experience has proven to me over and over that people do business with people and if you’re not out starting and maintaining relationships you eventually suck at your business and/or your career. And there you have it: business is largely about parties and meeting people hahahah!
From a branding perspective it’s ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that our Greater Reno Tahoe brand perception is that of a great place to party and hookup 
I’ll blog about why Reno’s burgeoning meat-market is vital on another post…just know that the 20-30 something tech/creative’s are in high demand everywhere on the planet and we need to hold on to every single one of them here locally. Frankly, my business cannot grow without them.
A long time a go (1999 - 2002) Michael Thomas (now at EDAWN) ran Greater Reno-Tahoe’s first technology oriented social-networking driven organization, the TechAlliance @ NewNevada. Perhaps the greatest boon to northern Nevada’s tech economy back then was what was then known as Cocktails.com. It’s where we all got together, got on the same page and built momentum with cocktails in hand.
I met Robb Smith for the first time at a Cocktails.com event and he convinced me to joined the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (then known as YEO) which has been perhaps one of my greatest professional life experiences. Back then there were startups like Ken Hawk’s iGo, CandyBarell.com, HardwareStreet.com, HomeSeekers.com and a dozen others. UNR’s Mike Reed, Nevada Bell’s Dick Bostdorf and Reno attorney Garrett Sutton were instrumental in the TechAlliance’s startup. More recently, thanks to EDAWN/Michael Thomas we’ve got the newly formed Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network kicking ass and an we’re on the world’s design radar with a fully legit and operatin cool AIGA chapter.
At the beginning, Cocktails.com events would last all night with everyone spilling out of bars, nightclubs and JK’s Nugget in the wee hours of the morning. It was a great time of forming a tech-community. Then: Dot.com bust…and as Paul Harvey would say “now know you know the story….”
Michael Thomas to came to work for Twelve Horses in 2002 and the TechAlliance eventually folded in to a newly formed state-wide effort known as Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (NCET.ORG). (DISCLAIMER: I’ve was on the founding board and am now the Chairman of this wonderful organization — so this is blatant promotion.) About a year-and-a-half ago under Dave Archer & Emily Lowe’s exceptional care, we brought back Cocktails.com as Tech Thursday’s. These events have been awesome, however, they’ve leaned a little too much on the professional and a little too less on the networking/drinking/have fun/hooking up. In perhaps kinder words, Tech Thursday attracts an “older behaving crowd”. Folks that have to be home before sundown.
WiFi Wednesdays are, by design, intended to be much more geared to the twenty/thrity-somethings rather that “all-inclusive professionals”. If people aren’t doing shots of Tequilla and YouTube jousting, we’ve failed at this experiment. I expect/hope that the Thursday mornings following an event to be just a little less productive among Reno’s tech/design class. But in trade for that, collectively we hope to have a larger pool of those workers to chose from. Now this doesn’t mean that folks over the age of 40 aren’t welcome. If you still feel and act like you’re twenty-six (that’s my personal maturity wall) then get your game on and come out!
Wi-Fi Wednesdays is the brainchild of NCET marketing manager Emily Lowe and Robert Payne/Josh Kenzer of Twelve Horses. The trio was looking for a way to expand their professional networks and was weary of the same old venues. Wi-Fi Wednesdays is intended to be a bi-monthly high-energy networking opportunity designed to serve the specific needs of and cater exclusively to the influential 21-39 demographic. Come help make it succeed!
Details:
August 22, join NCET and the Reno-Tahoe Young Professional’s Network
(YPN) as they put a modern-day spin on Greater Reno Tahoe’s networking with the launch of Wi-Fi Wednesdays: “Connecting the Connected.”
- Wi-Fi Wednesdays is a bi-monthly high-energy networking opportunity designed exclusively for the influential 21-39 demographic
- Held in wireless venues throughout Reno
- Entertaining high-tech networking tools
- “Speed networking,” a twist on the “speed dating” concept that helps facilitate numerous one-on-one introductions in a short period of time
- Brief presentations by successful young entrepreneurs and technology professionals.
The Chocolate Bar
August 22 - 5:30 – 7:30 pm
475 S. Arlington Ave, Reno
August’s Wi-Fi Wednesday features a YouTube contest where you get to vote on your favorite video. To enter, send links of your best videos (3
max) to Emily at NCET by Monday, August 20.
- Space for the August 22 Wi-Fi Wednesdays debut is limited and reservations are preferred.
- Cost for the event is $5 per person for Reno-Tahoe YPN members and $10 per person for non-members. RSVP@NCET.org.
NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, helps foster an environment within Nevada in which high-growth entrepreneurial companies can succeed and flourish. NCET has a strategic partnership with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. For more information on NCET, visit www.NCET.org. NCET is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Please join NCET on August 16 for Tech Thursday, Greater Reno Tahoe’s premier technology and entrepreneurial networking event! Find it on Upcoming.
This month, we’ll give you a preview of NCET’s many exciting programs and events, some brand new for 2007, including:
When: Thursday, August 16
5:30 – 7:30 pm, $10 donation at door
RSVP by Tuesday, August 14th
Redfield Campus -
Nell J. Redfield Building
18600 Wedge Parkway
Reno, NV 89511
(775) 850-2710
Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology helps foster an environment within Nevada in which high-growth entrepreneurial companies can succeed and flourish. NCET has a strategic partnership with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. For more information on NCET, visit www.NCET.org. CET is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
OK…so this is kind of old news (from CNET). Somehow I missed it…and if it did hit the local headlines, my apologies for my Google alerts to fail me. Anyway, since it’s not in Myrna’s RSS feed I’m wondering if the usual suspects for ballyhooing this about are too focused on John Edwards hair hahaha!
I was listening to this week’s episode (#107) of TWiT (This Week in Technology) while eating a bowl of Pho noodles and almost started choked when Leo LaPorte started talking about this news story. If it weren’t for TWit, I would have totally missed it. Listen to this clip of the banter of TWiT…too funny hahaha! (BTW, you should subscribe to TWiT. Best tech podcast.)
In what could be a whopping security hole, Nevada has posted the password to the gubernatorial e-mail account on its official state Web site. It appears in a Microsoft Word file giving step-by-step instructions on how aides should send out the governor’s weekly e-mail updates, which has, as a second file shows, 13,105 subscribers.
And just before anyone goes off claiming that this is endemic to a particular political party or something snidely silly like that, let me tell you first hand that for the last 16 years I’ve witnessed this type of stuff go down at pretty much every level of government on both sides of the aisle. For the one or two times that make it to the headlines such as this, there’s the ninety-nine other times that it does not…which is ultimately a good thing. It does get depressing when you think about all the folks who “run this place” who can’t even send or receive a simple text message or an email for that matter!
What we’re witnessing is the last days of the “un-connected” political elite. It’s still possible for folks to get elected without a Blackbeery in hand. But those days are numbered. The 2008 election cycle will prove that the luddite politicos are on the decline. Facebook and MySpace friends count more than ever. Luddlite politicians who can’t compete for the mindshare of the “media consumer voter” may not swing a lot of elections in 2008, however, by 2012 that will change. I predict it will be folks like Reno 911!’s stars (who partnered with Declare Yourself to produce satirical video shorts) that will begin to dominate the voter’s attention. Simply put, by 2015, Gen-Y will account for 1/3rd of the voting population.
Lastly, what is missing from most of the elected 1.0 is the self depreciating sense of humor about themselves that develops personal brand trust and connectedness with the media consumer voter under the age of 40. Al Gore’s figured it out…see that post here. John Edwards’ campaign should jump on the hairdo PR wagon and hand out mini-shampoo bottles with his mug on them driving them to his Facebook page. But alas they’re probably too busy fighting off hackers in Second Life!
Nevada Lt. Governor Brian K. Krolicki and Desert Research Institute President Steve Wells have joined the growing list of speakers at this year’s Silver & Gold Conference. The conference will feature more than 40 venture capital and angel investors and a wide range of presenting companies from Nevada and Northern California.
New this year is the Best of the West Early Stage Expo, which brings together all critical components of the early-stage value chain — entrepreneurs, angel investors, business and technology executives, venture capitalists and a complete range of critical professional services providers – in a high-energy, high-impact networking setting during the opening reception. Exhibit space prices start at $500. For exhibitor or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Dave Archer, Dave@NCET.org or (775) 315-7635.
Please click here for Sponsorship Brochure
Start-up and early-stage growth companies that would like to be featured at the conference must submit up to a 3-page executive summary via e-mail to entrepreneur@goldencapital.net. Entrepreneurs may begin submitting executive summaries on July 20. A maximum of 30 companies will be selected as presenters, so entrepreneurs must act quickly to be considered for a presentation slot, as qualified entrepreneurs will be also selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
On October 22, NCET, GCN and the Sierra Angels are bringing the exclusive “Power of Angel Investing – Angel Investing – An Overview” seminar, a program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Angel Capital Education Foundation, back to Greater Reno Tahoe for the second consecutive year. Angel Investing – An Overview is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of angel investing for private investors, including those with limited or no previous angel investing experience.
GCN is bringing its entrepreneur boot camp, “The Entrepreneurs’ Guide to Angling for Angels and Venture Capital” to the forum as a special half-day workshop on October 22. The boot camp, whose faculty will include success entrepreneurs, angel investors and, venture capitalist, is specifically focused on critical issues entrepreneurs who are in the process of – or will be in the future – will face when raising private equity capital to start or grow their ventures.
The 7th Annual Silver & Gold conference will also include a special investor-only dinner program on October 22, with details to be release soon.
Please visit http://www.goldencapital.net/Events/Reno_07.asp for more information.
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The 7th Annual Silver & Gold Conference is sponsored by:
Nevada Commission on Economic Development
NCET - Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology
Sierra Angels
Vegas Valley Angels
Northern Nevada Business Weekly
Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce
Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce
Photographer Amy Beck of the Reno Gazette-Journal was at the Reno Rodeo the night Logan and Cody went Mutton Bustin’ and she snagged some killer photos and audio for this slideshow. There’s a few shots of Logan and Cody in the Mutton Bustin’ section (about 2/3rds thru).
Stay tuned for the audio/video we took.
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