I’m at SXSW again this year and I feel grateful, excited and ready for it!  Today was the first day (Friday) and as always, I arrived early so I could get settled in.  Good thing I did since my macbook is on the fritz again with it’s yearly hiccup over the hdd cable.  I also made a run to Whole Foods and to pick up shampoo for my friend KamKam.  All my roommates arrived by Thursday night and we finally went to sleep by 3am after a ton of laughing, eating and catching up.

Already went to two panels – the NewMe CNN Black In America panel with Hajj, Wayne, Hank, Jason and Solidad O’Brian.  Next up was my good friend Kim “Dr. Goddess” Ellis explaining the social phenomenon of Black Twitter.

Saturday morning I’m attending Cat’s panel on Technology Superwomen then seeing the Black Founders group talk about paying it forward with entrepreneurship.  That panel will include Chris, Nnena, Monique and Hadiyah.

My panel is on Monday – Race: Know When To Hold It and Know When To Fold It at Tech Conferences and I have a superstar lineup with Anjuan Simmons, Corvida Raven, Scott Hanelseman and Latoya Peterson.

More soon from SXSW!

Last night BlogHer announced they had formed a partnership with Google the 2011 Blogher conference in San Diego.  What does this mean?

The Google team will be doing demos of Google+ in the expo hall today and the three founders of BlogHer, Lisa, Elisa and Jory have 3,000 invites!  I noticed Lisa had connected with me on Google+ in the last few days.  I’d  already added Elisa to one of my circles.

This is the next steps in social organization around events and I’m glad to see this partnership come together!

Hi everyone,

I’m here in San Diego, counting down the last day or two to BlogHer ’11. The Tiki bar is buzzing. The hotel is gorgeous. The expo hall is…well, you won’t believe it.

I’m writing to answer a request from many of you: An invitation to join Google+. Google is now an official conference sponsor, and they are giving Elisa, Jory and me the capability to invite 1,000 people each, so that every BlogHer can join now.

Look for your invite from one of us in a few minutes!

Some of you already are on this exciting new social network. If you aren’t, Elisa, Jory and I decided that I should record this video that explains why Google+ so special that I have abandoned my previous position not to join any social network — and am now a very happy participant.

Here’s why:

More here: Who’s the Real You? Google+ vs. Facebook vs. Twitter

Now I’m no expert, but I can offer up a few tips for newbies to Google+ and a few tips on how to use it while at BlogHer ’11 this week:

(1) Want a Google+ lesson? The Google+ team is now an official BlogHer ’11 sponsor and will demo how to use the product at the conference. Here’s their schedule:

The Google+ team will do two extended demos in the Demo Area on the Expo Hall show floor on Saturday, August 6th:

10:25-10:45AM: The Google+ project — An introduction to Google+, including how to use Circles, Hangouts, and other features to connect with different audiences and people in your life. 4:30PM-4:50PM: Google+ User Stories — People are using Google+ in creative ways, not originally imagined by the development team. Learn about the fun and inspiring ways Google+ is being used.

(2) Create a BlogHer Circle. Add all the amazing people you meet at BlogHer ’11 to this Circle to stay connected all year long

3) Download the Google+ mobile app on any Android or iPhone to add people to circles as you meet them, post status updates, and share pictures using the Instant Upload feature

4) We don’t have to “Hangout” just once a year — the Google+ Hangout feature allows you to stay in touch with your circles, BlogHer Circle included, face-to-face all year long.

That’s it! I hope you’ll “plus” me, Elisa Camahort Page and Jory Des Jardins. We all hope you have a terrific BlogHer ’11 experience. I really look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

Best,

Lisa

Lisa Stone Co-Founder & CEO BlogHer, Inc.

p.s. I wrote this on my Motorola XOOM tablet using the WordPress app so please excuse the spelling!

A really bad week. Her nose is cold to the touch. Her tongue is a light blue most of the time now. When she drinks water, she has to stop and lay down because she gets dizzy.

Bluey my dog is dying of congestive heart failure.
Read More…

Some screenshots from the Installfest tonight for the Ruby on Rails Outreach Women’s workshop. About 60 folks here. About 40 women and 20 helpers (mostly guys).

Hello Xcode, hello Ruby!

Read More…

Photo Credit: adria.richards

Here you can see a bigger view of the room I’m staying in. It has a beautiful brick wall, a full bed and a bookshelf. There’s a large window in which I’ve put a desk up against.

Craigslist rocks!

It feels wonderful waking up everyday realizing I’m in California and not Minnesota because I know it’s going to be sunny!

In fact, according to an AARP article, San Francisco has 263 sunny days per year:
www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/healthiest_hometowns.html/…

Photo Credit: adria.richards

I’m getting settled into my new temporary digs here in San Francisco. I landed a great sublet via Craigslist and my roommate was very helpful in finding me a desk to work on.

It’s and IKEA Galant and has a glass top which means I cannot attach my Ergotron monitor arms.

My IKEA office chair arrived last Monday with all my stuff so I’m starting to feel more relaxed about this whole, “Pick up my life and move to an entirely new state” thing

Photo Credit: Ben Heine

Came across this photo today on Flickr looking for a goofy or interesting photo for a friend.

I love how creative and beautiful people can be!

Photo Credit: adria.richards

I found this in my Flickr photo set and it’s my avatar with a background of San Francisco.

I uploaded this August 2008 so that goes to show you that I’ve had my eye on travel/moving for a while…whether I consciously knew it or not.

I’m going to miss what feels comfortable here in Minnesota but also realize that I have a wonderful opportunity to immerse myself in my passion.

Thank you God for making this possible. Thank you Law of Attraction for helping me make my desires a reality. Thank you Twitter friends for helping me be brave. Thank you life coach Pete, SCORE mentors, and all those folks who are not on the Interwebz for your love, support, encouragement and ideas. Thank you clients for being awesome as well because without you, I would not reach as far without all your interesting questions!!!!

Love,
Adria Richards
Organic Technology Consultant

Photo Credit: adria.richards

Mark of the devil. How appropriate. Took my cat and dog to McDonalds after a visit to the vet. My order came to $6.66. I apologized to the woman who took my payment!

Photo Credit: adria.richards

This map was drawn for me in December 2009 by Michael Wood as I met with him and his girlfriend, Val, over coffee in SOMA.

They reached out to me through my blog, http://butyoureagirl.com when they saw I had a goal of relocating.

Thank you SO MUCH for your generosity of time and knowledge. Sitting down with you and Val over coffee helped me feel good about moving to San Francisco!

Photo Credit: Sarah Lucas Photography

Wow, I have no idea what a “ham egg roll” is but this looks like ham on toasted english muffins with some cheesy stuff on top.

#nomnomnom!

Photo Credit: adria.richards

Brandon (@sheatsb) sent this tweet last night: figuring I’ll never have another conversation with @adriarichards until May 5, 2011. which is the best kind of busy.

——————–

Sorry Brandon. Super busy preparing for my presentation at SXSW and my move halfway across the country to San Francisco. We’ll see each other next week at SXSW!

Photo Credit: adria.richards

Got to explain today that Foursquare (@foursquare was the virtual version of pissing in fire hydrants but for people

Photo Credit: smileys sweets

Cute yet confusing. Expecting meaty flavor but get sweet cream frosting?

mmm

Photo Credit: danakscully64_

Found this on flickr and although I’ve never eaten a snake, lizard or turtle, I would most certainly crack this one open, spread on some melted organic butter and a bit of my home cooked strawberry and banana jam!

#nomnomnom

My cat Turtle is 15 years old.  I have to confess that she has ended the lives of some small furry animals.  She doesn’t go outside by herself anymore but I do take her to the park once or twice a year.

She pretty much lays in the sun and rolls around in the dirt.

Eventually, I’d like for her to have a balcony she can use to get some fresh air and sunlight on a daily basis.

Shh, don’t tell her about the surprise!