So let’s get together as the San Diego team representing at Southby. The experienced vets will show you how to Rawk, the newbies can take notes, and the onlookers can live vicariously through us.

If you aren’t going, or aren’t sure, come join us for a beer any way.I can’t guarantee much more than laughs and good people. Oh yea, Pitchers are $8.

You can RSVP for the Meet Up here.

We hope you can join us. If it’s nice out we’ll be outside, if not we’ll be inside near the bar.

:: disclaimer :: this is a no frills meet up. Don’t expect entertainment, seminars, speeches, or anything but good company.

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SDBloggers, prepare yourself for a night of fun. We are gathering at the The Currant (downtown), to celebrate, network, and to meet new people.

The evening is sponsored by morefocus and the Sofia Hotel. As a result, we will have happy hour prices from 7:30-9:30pm, free appetizers, and a toast provided by the sponsors.

Side note: I know. Some of you hate the downtown meetups. I will just say this: once in a while it’s worth it to fight the parking, get dressed up, and deal with the overall madness– this would be one of those times. =-D
Get out, be social, come have fun!

RSVP HERE. See you there!

p.s. This event is limited to 40 due to the size of the Currant, and there will be no more last minute additions. Please don’t RSVP unless you know you can make it.

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My development needs were:
* I wanted complete control the design of the site
* I wanted complete control of the data, and my database
* I wanted portability, but also a platform

My operational goals were:
* I wanted to facilitate greater marketing opportunity for local bloggers
* I wanted to create our own network where we could interact with each other exclusively
* I wanted something that could grow with the needs of the group.

I am happy to conclude that WordPress is the platform that best meets these needs. WPMu, which is a multi-user version of WordPress, coupled with BuddyPress, you have a social blogger network.

Enter sdbloggers.com

Please create an account and let me know what you think.

The next blogger meet up is at 7:30pm on January 26th at Oggi’s in Mission Valley.

http://blog.meetup.com/403/calendar/9332924/

I hope to see you there.

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I started the SD Bloggers meetup to create a place where local bloggers could interact and network with like minded individuals. Never did I image such a large group of passionate new media folks would call the group their own. I am very thankful for the support the San Diego tech community has shown our bloggers, and it is a testimony to our support for each other. So, thank you!

Another special thanks goes out to TechZulu and DiscoverSD for covering the event. I’ve also found a few links to some pictures from the meetup, but please post a link in the comments section if you know of any other galleries.

Richie Edquid – Facebook Gallery

DiscoverSD – Photo Gallery – (site is having database issues)

As I’ve stated before the event, the first 25 bloggers to write a post about the meetup, will receive a complimentary SD Bloggers T-Shirt. Just email me the link to your post, your T-shirt size, and mailing address, and I will take care of it. (There are both Mens and Womens sizes available.)

Last, but certainly not least, a very special thanks goes out to Modus for opening their doors for the SD Bloggers. Their staff did a great job serving all the thirsty bloggers and their venue was the perfect size. Because the event was so successful for Modus, they’ve graciously offered to send any blogger that attended the event (and ordered food) an opportunity to write a review and receive a $25 gift certificate towards a future dinner at Modus. Just send the owner Scotty an email with a copy of your blog post, mailing address, and he will send you a gift certificate in response.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and supported our group. The next event will be in North County on 11/18 at 7:30pm. Please check SDBloggers.com for details and to RSVP.

On a final note, the new SDBloggers website will likely be finished before the next meeting. We ran into a snag right before our big event and didn’t want to release something that was incomplete. I am sure you can respect that.

I hope to see you all at the next blogger meetup and if you are interested in hosting or sponsoring an event of your own, please ping me about it.

Cheers!

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Thanks to SDBloggers for all your feedback on the new logo. This is what we’ve come up with after listening to your feedback.

Any last minute suggestions?

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The SDBloggers room on FriendFeed contains all the blog posts from members of our local meetup. Not only does it serve as a master feed of all local blogs, but FriendFeed makes it easy for the popular posts to rise to the top. If you ‘like’ a post, or comment on a post, you’ll notice it moves back up to the top of the list. This is an excellent way for all of us to ensure our best content gets read.

To include your blog in this room, all you need to do is attend one of the upcoming SDBloggers meetups. Networking with local bloggers is one of the most powerful marketing activities you can do for your blog. We are leveraging our collective content to create a place where we will all gain more readers and exposure.

If you like to sign up for weekly email updates from SDBloggers, join our mailing list by submitting your info below.

Our next meeting is August 26th at Hennessey’s Pub (in the Gaslamp) at 7:30pm- we hope to see you there!

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A moment comes in ones life where we need to stop and reflect. Asking questions like, “where we’ve been, where we’re going, and what needs to change” are all good things to ponder. The last twelve months my life has had it share of ups and downs, leaving me with the feeling of not knowing what is right side up.

Here is a recap of top 6 events that has affected my professional career over the last year.

(1) Baby on the way, due next month, 9/14
(2) Attempted to remake our company brand, Integral Impressions, but later ‘we’ decided against it.
(3) Started SDBloggers meetup, and watched it grow to over 150 members
(4) Seriously pondered moving to San Francisco, but decided to stay in San Diego
(5) Founded another startup, helped secure funding, and resigned 8 weeks later
(6) Parted ways from long time business partner Chris Abad

With all these recent events leaving me somewhat discombobulated, I thought I would seek therapy the best way I know how, by blogging.

Here goes… oh, and excuse the lack of organization and jumbled sentence structure. (If you’ve read any of my previous work, you’re probably used to it by now).

Given these recent changes, I feel more confident than ever in the direction my career and company are headed. None of this would be possible without support from all of you. I must thank my family, friends, and colleagues for continuing to be the foundation I build my ideals upon.

These last 12 months have taught me more than any other year in business. I’ve learned key lessons that I am convinced, can’t be taught, but rather experienced. Here are just a few I’d like to share:

* Community matters
If you are building a website, product, application, or just playing with Lego’s, you need to build a community around your creation. If you don’t know why, you should add the following bloggers to your reader: Community Guy, Jennifer Van Grove, or Chris Brogan.

* The difference between venture funded startups and self funded companies is focus.
VC funded companies are focused on adoption and growing the user base, while trying to figure out a way to make a profit. Self funded startups are focused on cash flow and profits while trying to figure out a way to grow adoption.
I like the politics of the later, even though it means self funding often leads to slower growth rates, and limits the pool of ideas you can pick from. A blog that I really like that touches on this dichotomy is TonyWright.com

* How becoming a new father affects your perception of business
If you’re a Dad, you know what I am talking about. If not, I won’t bother explaining it to you. Here is a hint though: sleep, stress, love, and leadership.

* The importance of a leader
You can’t have management by committee. All organizations need one leader to exercise their best judgement and make strong decisions. Too many cooks in the kitchen means that no one eats! Not even the cooks.

* The power of bloggers and blogging
I find it odd that I have gotten more out of blogging than ever before, at the same time the influencers talking about how blogging is dying. For me blogging has been my ‘foot-in-the-door’ for just about every door I’ve wanted to pry open. Ideas form, get vetted, and implemented, via my blog- and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

* Social media is really about sharing experiences
I’ve been seeing a divide between the early adopters that use the latest social networks, and, lets says, the people that use MySpace. All of us share a common bond of wanting to share our experiences with others. At times, some of us even ‘over-share’. Either way, I’d like to see the classic ‘Ford vs. Chevy’ pissing contest die, as it relates to social media/networks. Don’t be elitist because you use Facebook or Twitter and others don’t or won’t. The world has much bigger issues to address. Like how to shut up Loren Feldman. Thinking about social media as shared media has been a big eye opener for me.

Thanks for reading this and allowing me to share my thoughts with you. As my knowledge and network continues to grow everyday, and my experience along with it, I am fueling my drive to chase the next plateau of my career. If you have a similar story you’d like to share over coffee, I am always interested in listening and meeting new people. Just hit me up: matt@integralimpressions.com or post a comment on my blog.

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About 25-30 citizen journalists, aka bloggers, gathered at Hennessey’s Pub to discuss some posts over some pints. @downtownrob helped tremendously by guest organizing the event; thank you Rob.

The group had a chance to introduce their blogs, mingle, and network. I am really excited about seeing the connections that bloggers are making at the group. To sign up for the weekly newsletter from bloggers around San Diego and you can do so here:

If you haven’t made it to a blogger meetup yet, I invite you to attend our next meeting, August 26th.

Shameless plug: The group is looking for food and beverage sponsors, if you know anyone, please send them my way.

And remember, please tags your photos, tweets, and blog posts with “SDBloggers”.

See you next month!

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I have hosted SDBloggers MeetUp for almost 1 year now. We have over 100 members and an average of 25-35 people in attendance at each monthly meeting.

We generally socialize, network, and talk about the latest conversations on our blogs. Matching a face with a blogger, is one of the best take-aways from the event.

I have experienced the power of connecting bloggers on a local level and I think there is a huge opportunity to unite local blogger groups everywhere.

MeetUp Alliance is a new site (currently in beta), designed to connect like minded groups. My goal is to connect all of the regional Blogger groups into one global Blogger Alliance.

I need help reaching out to Blog group organizers everywhere. If you know anyone, or you’d like to start a blogger group in your city, please contact me.

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