A serial entrepreneur, consultant and social media maven based in Pittsburgh, Foo Conner can be found perpetually documenting his maneuvers in the local innovation scene as @iwasaround. In addition to being an activist and artist, Foo is a driving force in Pittsburgh’s recent cultural and entrepreneurial renaissance.
Monday, September 15th
12 a.m. – ? – Thrival Festival After Party
I’ve been assisting behind the scenes at Thrival Innovation + Music Festival. With the leadership of Luke Skurman, Bobby Zappala and Dan Law, this year’s Thrival saw thousands of music and technology loving participants across a handful of venues. With Green Velvet and Moby taking the stage hours before, who knows what the after-party has in store.
8 a.m. – 2014 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition
For the last year I’ve been covering energy issues as it relates to coal, natural gas and alternative energies. The conference hosts top industry leaders speaking to their strengths, where we’re going as a society and our energy consumption. I’m looking forward to “Barriers to the Electrification of the Automobile” and ” Impact of Renewable Energy Sources on the Power Scenario in Developing Countries” panels. Fun stuff, right?
6 p.m. – Editing Photos, Video and Sound at Thrill Mill
As most people know, I take a lot of photos throughout my life. I set aside time every day to get through the backlog and post the content that goes beyond the 140 characters of a tweet. These are usually photo series accompanied by live YouTube albums. Since the Thrival Festival took up most of my time last week, I’ll be swinging by Thrill Mill attending the post-festival support group.
11:30 p.m. – Kindle at Home
A few years ago, I hitched around the country traveling to see all I could see. I was awestruck with the Pennsylvania skies that glow. The small light of the Kindle reminded me of the stars above. It’s only fitting that I’m reading, On Desert Trails With Everett Ruess. The poetry of a adventurer who explored the wilderness of the wild west.
Tuesday, September 16th
8 a.m. – 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Summit
Another example of how cool Pittsburgh Technology is on the forefront, the 3D Printing summit is featuring speakers from Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh, Microsoft, PieceMaker Technologies and SolePower. One panel I’m looking forward to is “Home Fabrication and the Future.”
6 p.m. – Third Tuesday Happy Hour at Las Velas Mexican Restaurant
If you live, work or visit Downtown, Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corporation hosts a wonderful happy hour where professionals network about improving the quality of life in Downtown Pittsburgh. The only thing cooler than that is host John Valentine’s unending enthusiasm for the city.
7:30 p.m. – MaxMyTV Coast-to-Coast Launch Party at Social at Bakery Square
MaxMyTV is an Internet of things startup that is trying to serve as a hub for home and media center automation. Beyond that? I’m heading over to their launch party to get my hands dirty and review their product.
9 p.m. – Skull Kid and Driver House Show
Where is this? Ask a punk. This is a house show where several bands are playing until we collide with the city’s noise ordinance later into the night. Pittsburgh post-hardcore band Driver is playing a very special Acoustic set which I’m very excited about.
Wednesday, September 17th
All Day – Occupy Wall Street Anniversary!
Three years ago, I helped organized Occupy Wall Street in NYC with a bunch of crazy idealists. The Occupy Movement was a wonderful switch that ignited a new generation of activists that took to their communities after the camps dispersed. Throughout the day, I’ll be calling friends seeing where they are in life and how they’re changing the world now. I’ll be reconnecting with several at Sunday’s Climate March in NYC.
8 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. – 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Summit
More 3D Printing. Maybe a skateboard. Maybe some gifts for friends.
8 p.m. – 12 p.m. – Trundle Manor Double Feature Picture Show – Rockabilly Edition!
Anton and Rachel’s house Trundle Manor parlor and museum; I hang out there so often I sometimes feel part of their collection of oddities. Every Wednesday from April to October they project two movies on the side of their house for a BYOB ‘Drive-in’ for friends. Cooler still, is that they end every night with The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Thursday, September 18th
8 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.- 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Summit
Even more 3D printing! Most of this day will be editing photos and videos from the convention center.
6 p.m. – 8 p.m. – The Wine Opener
Following last month’s 50 Finest, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hosts “The Wine Opener,” a charity event featuring food and wine from Pittsburgh’s finest. Director of Development Mark Burnett has really expanded the fight of this disease setting record donations with this year’s events. I’ll be swinging by to say hi to old friends alike as well as covering it for Jekko.
8 p.m. – 10 p.m. – Yelp’s Burgh Bash
You can hardly go to an event without bumping into Rachel Carlson of Yelp; it’s her job. But in this case you can run into her as Yelp holds a burgh bash featuring drinks from East End Brewing, Wigle Whiskey and others. Not thirsty? There’s a long list for foodies including Lola Bistro, Piper’s Pub and Savoy.
10 p.m. – 12 a.m. – Love Letters with Slim Forsythe
Slim Forsythe joins Love Letters and Hellwood at Thunderbird Cafe. Slim is one of the best characters in Pittsburgh: lawyer turned musician and curator of the Slim Forsythe museum at Nied’s Hotel. Hell, even if you don’t like country, he’s a great performance.
Friday, September 19th
12 p.m. – 6 p.m. – Steel City Tattoo Convention
I would call this a mobile art gallery. The Steel City Tattoo Convention enters its second year, and the artists attending have some outstanding work. While some people may not consider tattoos “art,” they’re wrong; I’d pit some of the pieces against those showing at international galleries.
8 p.m. – The Hills and the Rivers album release with Captain Catfeesh, Douglas Fur, Endless Mike and the Beagle Club at Howler’s.
GO TO THIS. If you have never felt the heart-clinching music of Endless Mike, or the waves against your soul that The Hills and the Rivers push, you’re missing out on some of the best Pittsburgh has to offer.
11 p.m. – 2 a.m. – International Talk Like a Pirate Day Celebrations at Bayardstown Social Club
YARRGH. Bayardstown Social Club, a brilliant marketing plan to make money on a vacant lot by DeepLocal, will have rum and rum with rum at this pirate themed night. Don’t like rum? Too bad.
Saturday, September 20th
10 a.m. – Snaphack – A Social Hackathon
A few weeks ago, @leepngo and I set out to “hack” Tinder for better results. We wanted to see how subtle changes could increase the quality of the people we met through that and other networks. Sadly it was too successful and our phones became a symphony of notifications. Snaphack is an open party with no code requirement. The focus is on better use of your social networks with tweaks, modifications and hacks.
12pm – AlphaLab Gear
AlphaLab Gear is an accelerator which just started a new cycle of companies. They’ve been gracious to allow me to hang out and use their bandwidth to upload a lot of the coverage I post on Twitter and Jekko. Secondarily, I’m always surprised where the conversations go in the inventive culture they’re fostering in their East Liberty space. Want to change the world? There will be 10 ideas by lunch.
7 p.m. – Chris Calvin of Ghost Mice House Show
Where is this? Ask a punk. Chris Clavin of Ghost Mice headlines a poetry/comedy/folk-punk/whatever form talent takes show at a house somewhere in Pittsburgh. Abigail from Illinois will have a soft set of lo-fi acoustic music and Pittsburgh’s Stephin Lin will be performing spoken word. The DIY culture is “Pay What You Can,” with all of it going directly to the performers involved. It will be nice to see Chris again.
9 p.m. – Joy Ike Fall Tour
I Like Ike. You should too. She’s been an amazing friend and stellar musician. And as her solo career sky rockets, it’s been a while since I last saw her. I’m gong to head over to the Pittsburgh Winery to listen to her songs and stories.
Sunday, September 21st
People’s Climate March NYC – Tens of thousands of protesters head to NYC to have their voices heard. I’ll be heading to the front lines to experience all life has to offer.
3 a.m. – Bus leaves Pittsburgh for NYC
11:30 a.m. – The People’s Climate March Starts …
4 p.m. – Bus leaves NYC for Pittsburgh
Midnight – back home