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FCF07 – Social Media Brought My Jacket Back!!!

Wow!!! On Friday when I posted about my lost jacket, I stated this:

Then I had a talk with security who informed me that there are multiple video cameras in the Grand Ballroom and if someone did walk off with it’s highly likely that they would be able to pinpoint the person especially since the room was 3/4 empty at that point.

Then you find out who your friends in the blogosphere are, Jeremiah Owyang mentioned it on his blog and verbally to several conference luminaries.

The rest of Friday I heard nothing and considered the jacket lost. Then on Saturday 44 hours after the time I lost it, an anonymous person turned the jacket in at the front desk and declined to be named when asked! When the Hilton called me I couldn’t believe it at first! While the blog posts and Jeremiah’s efforts were likely directly responsible, I must say that I’m pleased that whomever had it decided that turning it in was the right thing to do whether it was out of good intentions, guilt or fear being exposed by the videotape. It’s one of those events that strengthens my faith in the goodness of people and that things can turn out for the best – so in the end that is the positive message – be transparent, communicate and good things will happen!

I’d also like to sincerely thank Ray Stokes at the Hilton for his amazing helpfulness during this event, it will long be remembered.

Thank you everybody!

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Chicago’s 2016 Olympic Dream Takes Dagger From Disorganized Marathon

Apparently the City of Chicago can’t even execute the simple task of providing water, amazingly Chicago’s most abundant resource from Lake Michigan, to a group of marathon runners. I’m both terribly saddened and civicly embarrassed by this event, yet almost nobody seems to see a need for significant change in Chicago government leadership to people who can actually execute.

Rob’s Run To Remember stated it very clearly:

Mist stations? Stations? There was ONE…at about 25.5. Anything else was an opened hydrant or a caring spectator who had a hose spraying out onto the runners. Mist stations, my ass. I mentioned mist stations to one of the organizers at the Expo on Friday and he kinda looked at me as if to say “I wish…”

Based on this, I can’t see how Chicago can host the 2016 Olympics. If marathon organizers can’t supply enough water and gatorade, or at least try to ensure that there is some backup plan…

Many, many blog entries of others more closely involved than myself:

Second City Cop

Paul R Smith Dot Com

The Dogwood Report

Canada, Eh?

Kate’s English 304 blog

NPA Think Tank

Karen Got Wheels

Running Jayhawk

Montgomery’s in Manhattan

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Viewpoints.com Launch Party Friday Night

Matt Moog at Viewpoints let me in on a secret. There are a limited number of RSVP spots left for the Viewpoints launch party Friday night in downtown Chicago…

I am pleased to announce that we have officially launched Viewpoints. To celebrate we are holding a launch party on September 28th, at 6pm at (edit – location will be mailed to you upon RSVP). I hope you (and a few friends) can attend. We will have a T-Shirt for everyone who has written a review and special prize drawings (iPhone anyone?) for those that attend. Be sure to bring a print out of your review to claim your T-Shirt!

Through the beta period we have built an audience of more than 100,000 monthly users. Be sure to explore the site to see some of the great reviews that users just like you have written. We encourage reviewers to write about products and services that they are passionate about.

Check out some of these great reviews. Electronics, Travel, Home & Garden or on the lighter side see what TV Shows, Movies, Music or Books you could discover. Of course we also have a great section for Local Places that features local Restaurants, Shopping, and even local Doctors & Hospitals. Our mission is to bring the reviewers profile, passions and personalities to life. We believe that user written reviews are more powerful when the reader knows more about the reviewer.

To RSVP please email jolie AT viewpoints DOT com prior to 2PM Central time Friday – send this post link as a reference to how you heard about the Viewpoints launch party. See you there.

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Chicago TiECon ’07 Mentorship: Boosting Tomorrow’s Business Leaders

There are still a few seats left! TiE puts on amazingly high quality events, I greatly look forward to seeing you there! Sign up now, don’t delay!

TiECon Midwest is the premier event organized by TiE-Midwest held every two years. Join us in Chicago this October 5th for TiECon ’07 Mentorship: Boosting Tomorrow’s Business Leaders, a half-day event for leading Midwest entrepreneurs to share thoughts and ideas on business and innovation.

Over 400 attendees will hear a keynote address by local, successful, serial entrepreneurs Glen Tullman and Howard Tullman. Following the keynote, distinguished panelists will present topics aimed to increase Entrepreneurial IQ through a series of sessions. Panels topics are: Right Dollars at the Right Time, Business Model Refinement, Attracting and Retaining Talent and Executive Coach for the Entrepreneur. The event will conclude with a cocktail reception designed to foster networking.

TiE stands for Talent, Ideas and Enterprise and is a not-for-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals. Founded in Silicon Valley in 1992, TiE is an open and inclusive organization that has rapidly grown to more than forty chapters in nine countries. TIE Global is the world leader in cultivating and nurturing entrepreneurship.

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Chicago’s Enso Introduces New Beta Products – Web Search Anywhere, Translate Anywhere and More

Aza Raskin chatted me up a few minutes ago and shared with me that they are launching four new beta products Monday. These will complement the existing Humanized offerings of Enso Launcher and Enso Words which I’ve been using since shortly after I met Aza at Barcamp Chicago earlier this Summer. Enso is a useful tool, but you need to have an open mind to fully appreciate what it can do for it to be effective at it’s full potential. Just remember that these are beta products so they may have some unique bugs, but I like they way they’ve set up transparent feedback for each offering so that they can live the quotes of Peter Drucker and others in their actions.

I had a few brief moments to download it and bang on them a bit. So without further delay here is a quick and dirty rundown of the four new Enso beta products, you can download them here in a nice little bundle, I’ve ranked them in the order that they interest me and my typical readership:

Enso Web Search Anywhere v0.1 – Simply select your document text, hold the caps lock, type goo and presto a new browser with that query executed in Google appears! After doing that only three times, I kind of find manual entry or cutting and pasting to be kind of ancient and stone tablet like. A distant memory. Maybe even downright lame!

Enso Translate Anywhere v0.1 – Translate languages on the fly in Enso. With a little refinement, I think the last reason I ever visit Alta Vista will meet it’s ultimate demise!

Enso Media Controller v0.1 – Now you are getting it. It controls your media with ease.

Enso TeX Anywhere v0.1 Nothing to do with the lone star state, I think they state the value proposition quite well, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way of creating stunning equations quickly and simply?”

Again, this is just a brief overview, be sure to visit the Enso micro pages above for vivid detail and screen prints.