Florida Creatives

Since the beginning of Florida Creatives, the people have always clambered for a place to post and seek jobs. In the past, I have used the FLCreatives blog for this purpose, or some folks have used the Google Groups list: those days are over.

Florida Creatives Jobs

The ground rules:

Plucked off the wire via NFi Studios' latest update:

NFi is working with other techs and creatives in the community to support the launch of CoLab Orlando. CoLab Orlando is a Coworking Space for anyone looking to have a dedicated work area (desk or suite), and be part of a community environment. CoLab Orlando is located on the 6th floor of the Angebilt building and is a work in progress. The tradition of the Angebilt, Orlando’s most historic building, combined with the innovation of Orlando’s tech and creative talent, make CoLab an exciting project we can all share in.

Owner of the Angebilt, John Hussey, is calling on the communities feedback and support…
“Over the past several years I’ve seen the Orlando tech & creative community really emerge. As a commercial real-estate owner, I am proud to be part of Orlando Coworking. However, I know it’s not my vision that will make this space successful. CoLab Orlando is founded the community’s support and feedback. I ask for your feedback in what you want from CoLab Orlando, and with your support we will make this a success for our city. ”

- John Hussey, President/CEO, RealTrend Inc.
For more info on getting involved with CoLab Orlando, contact Sterling (sterling@nfistudios.com) or Dave (david@hydrastudio.com)

FYI, the Angebilt is the same building as the April BarCamp - at the corner of Orange Ave and Wall Street. It's a historic hotel, as well as the current home of the Downtown UCF Technology Incubator, Subway, Finhenry's, and several Wall Street venues. Easy access to the Library, lots of downtown eateries, bars, clubs, hangouts, coffee shops and the like. I couldn't think of many better places for Orlando's first official full-time 24/7 cow-orking space.

For those of you in the Merritt Island area there is a networking opportunity every Tuesday evening at the Chili's in Merritt Island. It goes from 6:30 to 7:30, it's free to visit, has free appetizers and 2 for 1 drinks. Around 15 - 20 business owners have been showing up the last couple of weeks and it's a great place to meet potential clients that need creative services.

Here is the web site for more info: http://islandstylesgroup.com

It's a Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce event but you don't have to be a Chamber member to visit.

Location(s)

Our meetings are an open forum where ideas are freely exchanged in a relaxed environment. Meet with people that use computers & the Internet for business. Get the answers to your questions about computers & the Internet in plain English.

Venue: http://ebizowners.meetup.com/169

Wiki: http://OnA1A.com

Contact: Mike Feravolo (407) 745-1545

I've thrown this idea out there in the past, but never put any serious time our thought behind it.

The Holiday Party in December was a pretty decent success, so I was thinking we could do a barbecue or Creative Picnic of some kind.

We have several new friends in Brevard, so for myself it would be nice to get out of Orlando and hit the coast for a little sea air and some good food, good conversaton, and geeking out.

The first draft of the Brevard wiki is up. For now, we are a one-page wiki called Brevard East Coast Creatives.

There's a list of the companies represented by our present members. New members, please go add your companies.

There's also a list of free wi-fi hotspots in Brevard. If somebody wants, they can add a list of subscription wi-fi hotspots separately.

If the page becomes too big, we'll start breaking stuff into separate pages.

Location(s)

Create Chaos 2008. One week. Ten shows. Thousands of creative professionals.

Create Chaos is a concept that speaks to the evolution of our industries — a “create-a-palooza” that will bring together some of the most interesting, educational and inspirational creative industry conferences simultaneously — and all in one location.

I have to step up on my platform, and call all of my Orlando pals to hear my speech regarding our "City Beautiful".

Some might wonder what types of things would we "meet" about so I thought I'd share my thoughts here on that.

First, please join the group and subscribe to the RSS feed (or the email link). We encourage lurking and realize that you may not be able to make the first 10 meetups due to the busy life we all lead, but by keeping in touch via those resources, you will be giving yourself a chance ("Just one chance!" as Braveheart would say) to one day hookup with the rest of us.

I'm jumping out on a limb based on a few conversations with folks around Brevard and starting this group in the hopes that there are others, many more others, of creative types equally interested in community.

Over the past year, I've been privately surveying various web companies and firms to see if they would be interested in having a get together one evening.

I've had all manner of responses. Some positive. Some very suspicious. Some literally threw me out of their office.

But I've begun to feel the time is turning.

Location(s)

Likemind.us just added a few more cities: Ankara (Turkey), Shanghai, Bucharest and Frankfurt. On the same day, people in these cities and 40 other places around the globe, other likeminded individuals will be getting together for some good coffee and conversation.

Coffee sponsorship ($25 is plenty) could be kindly paid for by your employer. Last month, we were given free copies of the "Buying In" (Murketing) book.

I will not be using this site's blog features. I have my own blog. If interested, you can always read my rants at:

http://www.shereerensel.blogspot.com/

If you want to view my art, go to:

http://www.wizzlewolf.com

Peace!
:-)
Sheree

Download Show 17
Length: 52:20

Location(s)

Every single 3rd Monday for the past 19 3rd Mondays, a group of geeks, artists, writers and other creative types have been gathering in Orlando for a networking event otherwise unheard of in this part of the country.

Folks from a wide variety of jobs - designers, poets, programmers, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters, painters, filmmakers, musicians, actors - plus plenty of friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, husbands, and acquaintances get together for some delicous Cajun/Creole food (plus hot tots and fried pickles), beverages, and discussion.

Location(s)

Creative people from Jacksonville and beyond will, for the first time on The First Coast, present their work in the 20x20 Pecha Kucha format at the first of four First Wednesday Art Walk Pecha Kucha Nights at MOCA. Actual show time is 8:20.

Official event info for Pecha Kucha Night Jacksonville

PKN Jax Facebook

I got an email today through a local creative named Tiffany - she asked about shared office space.

In my reply, I pointed her to the Orlando Coworking Wiki page on the Official Coworking Wiki and here on FLCreatives Wiki.

Obviously, you've got to know about the coworking mailing list as well.

To my knowledge, Marc Rapp, Chris Wojda and a couple of other folks got together in Jacksonville last week under the banner of Florida Creatives (or maybe it was Pangea Day?).

This is... awesome.

Chris is starting up a Pecha Kucha (pechak-cha) night in Jax that will be held at the art museum. Chris is also the Jacksonville organizer of Likemind, which is how we know each other.

Location(s)

A huge inspiration for FL Creatives was the Fringe Festival - seeing a community so strong after 17 years of existence, and how they come together in a frenzy for one week every year. FL Creatives will set up in Loch Haven Park by the Fringe Beer Tent, because Third Monday happens during the Fringe Festival, so we are having a special outdoor Happy Hour this month. Dozens of food and art vendors will be set up outside, and beer and wine are available with a small donation to the festival.

Location(s)

Likemind.us just added a few more cities: Ankara (Turkey), Shanghai, Bucharest and Frankfurt. On the same day, people in these cities and 40 other places around the globe, other likeminded individuals will be getting together for some good coffee and conversation.

Coffee sponsorship ($25 is plenty) could be kindly paid for by your employer.

Location(s)

Be ye photographers, videobloggers, people wanting to learn something about downtown Orlando? Are you interested in using your talents to showcase what the non-tourism-driven part of Orlando has to offer? The crew from OrlandoScene.TV will be taking the History Center's official walk of downtown, with dozens of historic stops all over the city.

We are asking photographers to come with us on a photowalking expedition, because our video piece will be about the photowalking trend and Downtown Orlando will be our setting.

At the end of the day we will be attending "Improv en Espanol" at SAK Comedy Lab. If you're interested in snapping some photos there, it will be their first anniversary doing the show on Saturdays, and I know they will appreciate it.

If you have any questions, please direct them to [info AT orlandoscene.tv]

Location(s)

Create Magazine invites you to party like it's 1499! Come be the spark to a new renaissance within the creative community, where creative professionals of all walks of life come together in a collision of ideas.

That collision of ideas began with Create Magazine, expanded with our Create Network and will continue to grow into 2008 and beyond.

Join us for a night of renaissance-themed fun to celebrate a new era in the creative community. Door prizes, delicious appetizers, interactive art, and first drinks courtesy of Shipyard Brewery - you won't want to miss this!

Where: The Beacon
Address: 100 S Eola Drive, Orlando, FL 32801
When: Thursday, May 8th from 6 p.m.-9 p.m.

Creative cocktail or renaissance-themed attire.

RSVP to [rsvp AT createmagazine .com] please!

Since I don't really have anything to report in a blog update, I snagged this picture and decided to make, yet another, random list of things to mention:

Dear anyone:

We need a little help with the Wiki - I have all the posts moved over, but there are two tasks yet remaining.

1. Copying the timestamps from the old wiki posts' creation dates to the new ones. Call me detail-oriented, but I'd like to see that happen.
2. Creating an .htaccess file in the old wiki subdomain with a bunch of 'redirect permanent' lines to all the new wiki pages. This is a simple yet tedious task. If you'd like FTP access, email me via the sitewide contact form.

I've just been reading an article from last month's installment of A List Apart - if you don't know it, you're not working on the web. They talk about lots of sticky situations and they get some of the brightest minds working on the web to tell you how they got out of the stickiness. They also often have articles like On Creativity by Andy Rutledge.

Here I am again. Unmotivated, unsuccessful, unpublished, undesirable, uneducated, unmarketable, unemployed me.

I applied for at least 50 jobs online today. The only phone calls I got back were from the phone company who had to change my service for me because I can't afford frivolous things like Caller ID, some credit card collection agencies and my mother.

I've had a few folks hem and haw about coming to Florida Creatives Happy Hour because we meet in a bar. they are uncomfortable being around drinkers. I always assure them that it's not a big drunken mess.

Can we do anything to help foster the family atmosphere, but keep to the core values? Socializing is pretty much priority 1, and creating a space for people and other meeting organizers to get together to make plans or hash out community stuff is invaluable.

There's lots more to say about this topic, but I just want to get the discussion going.

Location(s)

2008 will be the year the first Florida Creatives chapter kicks off in another city! If you are in touch with folks elsewhere in the state, we want to talk to them and get them excited about joining the community!

Location(s)

Likemind.us just added a few more cities: tokyo, shanghai, bucharest and frankfurt. On the same day, people in these cities and 40 other places around the globe, other likeminded individuals will be getting together for some good coffee and conversation.

Coffee sponsorship ($25 is plenty) could be kindly paid for by your employer. I think Rasmussen College is helping out this month.

OK, maybe not so shiny, yet. Rob has offered to help with that...

IF you haven't noticed, there is a new web site up at FloridaCreatives.com

For the last week this site has been getting updated with bunches of old stuff from the previous blog and wiki.

Lots of things will be broken for a little while as we make the transition, but this is a very exciting time.

Anyone can make a group for any reason and get some basic resources, like mail, forums, a wiki, member profiles, events (that repeat), rss feeds and free web hosting.

Should I say that again? Any group can host their entire group's data and conversations on this site, no questions asked. Please keep it legal, y'all. Any attempts to overthrow the government will likely get me arrested along with you so please be kind to the guy giving you the free hosting.

Quick administrative notes:

Florida Creatives Happy Hour is this Monday at Crooked Bayou
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/463563/

Likemind.orl is this Friday at Lake Eola Panera Bread
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/472759

More to come. It's after 3... again.

It's really simple.

1. Before you start your own group, ask around and do some web searches to see if there are similar groups, or people who seem like they might know about a group in town.
2. Create a group on this site if one doesn't exist. If one does exist, it may just be a placeholder. The resources here are free, and we have very open policies. If the group does exist, use the Contact tab on the group home page to get in touch with the person who created it.
3. Pick a time and a place to have a meeting or Happy Hour in your city.

Business

• Florida Venture Blog by Dan Rua: No-BS Venture Thoughts for No-BS Entrepreneurs.

Companies owned and run by FLCreatives members

eCommerce

• Grooveshark, everybody gets paid

Feel Free to add more categories and groups/links to this list as you see fit, that's why we have a wiki. If groups meet on consistent dates and locations (i.e. third Mondays @ Crooked Bayou, Central Ave downtown), specify what you can.

All-Purpose Groups

• Florida Creatives has no chapter in Jacksonville yet
• Brewgroup is the home for Likemind and Planning for Good

• ArtBeat

• Sun State Activist
  • Web site & event calendar
  • Editorial contact: jerry@sunstateactivist.org

• Community Events Calendar by Rollins College Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center
  • Submission form: http://www.pnlc.rollins.edu/CommunityEventForm.pdf

Newspapers

• Florida Catholic
  • Publication schedule:
  • Editorial contact:
  • Advertising contact:

Magazines

• Watermark
  • twice monthly
  • LGBT
  • Editorial contact: http://www.watermarkonline.com/content.php?action=staff
  • Advertising contact: http://www.watermarkonline.com/content.php?action=adrates
  • Classifieds contact: http://www.watermarkonline.com/content.php?action=classifiedplace

• Florida Trend
  • Publication schedule:
  • business

For content having to do with the state

Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.

Or, it's like this: start with a shared office and add cafe culture. Which is the opposite of most modern cafes.

When & Where

Currently, Orlando Coworking meets every single Tuesday during the day at Stardust Video & Coffee off of Corrine Dr, betweeen Baldwin Park and 17-92.
1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL 32803

A home page for coworking orlando, on the official coworking wiki.

video created for the internet

Podcast Networks

• imakepodcasts
• Liberatr.net
• Radio Rickshaw
• SomaCow.com
• OCPS Orlando Tech
• Parents Everywhere - Parenting Podcasts

Arts & Culture

• Orlando Arts Podcast hosted by Mark Baratelli
• The Arts Connection WMFE 90.7FM hosted by Becky Morgan

Tools

• Emurse, resumes improved
• Pudding, visual collaboration

eCommerce

• WineQ, create a list of wines, get new wines sent every month

Media

• Liberatr.net, Media Network - podcasts, blogs, Internet TV
• SomaCowMedia podcast network
• MarkBaratelli.com Podcasts, Blogs, Live Shows
• Brain Scan Studios Publishing, blogs, video

Community

Downtown

• Dandelion CommuniTEA 618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando near Colonial & Mills
• Daybreak Diner 3335 Curry Ford Rd, Near Crystal Lake
• Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar 444 N Bumby Ave, Orlando near Colonial Dr
• Pom Pom Teahouse and Sandiwcheria 67 N Bumby Ave, Orlando at Robinson St
• B&S Daily Market 47 E Robinson St, Orlando next to Kinko's downtown

For schools, classes, workshops & tutors

Feel Free to add more categories and groups/links to this list as you see fit, that's why we have a wiki. If groups meet on consistent dates and locations (i.e. third Mondays @ Crooked Bayou, Central Ave downtown), specify what you can.

Websites

• Apartment E hand-edited lists of awesome Orlando stuff
• Orlando Weekly local indie newspaper
• Red Chair Project Central Florida's Official Guide to Arts & Culture (event & ticket listings)

Please do not use this space for monthly meetup events - place those in the Networking section where applicable. Feel Free to add more categories and events/links to this list as you see fit, that's why we have a wiki. If events happen at consistent dates and locations, specify what you can.

Arts

• ArtsFest Every February in Orlando

Crafts

• Grandma Party (3rd Annual) Earth Day @ Stardust Video & Coffee

Film

Feel Free to add more categories and groups/links to this list as you see fit, that's why we have a wiki. If groups meet on consistent dates and locations (i.e. third Mondays @ Crooked Bayou, Central Ave downtown), specify what you can.

All-Purpose Groups

• Florida Creatives - 6-9PM, third Mondays @ Crooked Bayou, Central Ave downtown
• Likemind.orl third Fridays 8-11AM @ B & S Daily Market, Robinson & Magnolia downtown, hosted by Alex and Ryan

Really simply:

1. Go to node/add/group_home_page
2. Fill in a short, meaningful name
3. The description field will appear in the groups directory
4. Founding Date is optional
5. Meeting time can be something like "Third Mondays, 7pm"
6. The next box is for your mission statement or an extended description
7. You can set the membership type - I recommend "Open" or "Moderated"
8. Once people are a member of your group, they can post any blogs, wiki pages, forum posts, events to the group

Really simply:

1. Register
2. Go to node/add/book (book is Drupal's wiki module)
3. Enter a meaningful, short title - one or two words is best
4. Select a parent - this page's parent is "Help". Others include "Florida", "Guides", "Florida Creatives", etc.
5. Wiki pages use MediaWiki Syntax
6. Add you page to a group?
7. Please don't forget to check the "Public" box

Looking for answers? You've come to the right place.

Tampa Bay Area, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Ft. Meyers (for now)

• Tampa Bay & Company, The TB Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Film Commission
• Tampa on Wikipedia