Interweb Idols - Gregg and Jason from Rails Envy (live from Barcamp Miami)
You would think with 80 degree weather we would be looking for every opportunity to slack off….but not us! We have been working like crazy to grab for you, our beautiful readers, thoughtful and interesting interviews from Barcamp Miami and the Future of Web Applications Conference (FOWA).
So enjoy this taste of Barcamp Miami as Mike interviews Gregg Pollack and Jason Seifer from Rails Envy!
There is more to come so don’t change that channel!
Welcome to Miami!
As the poet that has defined our generation, Will Smith, has so eloquently put it:
Here I am in the place where I come let go
Miami the base and the sunset glow
Everyday like a mardi gras, everybody party all day
No work, all play, okay
That’s right folks. Mike, Saul, and I have landed in Miami and are partyin’ like it’s BarCamp Miami 2008. I’ve got my Hawaiian shirt on and I’ve experienced the joy and wonder of Mango’s Tropical Cafe.
So, let’s get this party started. Here’s the first installment of Roadburn!
Like the video says, folks, if you want us to interview an Interweb Idol here at BarCamp Miami, Future of Web Apps Miami, BarCamp Austin, and SXSW Interactive post a comment and we’ll track them down.
Today is Day Zero!
Can you feel the excitement in the air?
Yep, today is the day we fly down to Miami to begin our adventure. Starting tomorrow this blog will be filled with photos, videos and other good stuff from out trip!
Hope to see you here!
32 hours 7 minutes
32 hours 7 minutes is a pretty significant time.
No it isn’t the amount of time it is going to take us to drive to Texas from Miami (that is going to take us much longer) but rather the time it took Alex Roy to drive from New York to California. His goal was to break the existing speed record for cross country driving and he accomplished it by modifying a BMW M5 into a home made Batmobile!
Since our RV is only a rental we can’t really go crazy with our modifications so instead we just got Batman t-shirts and are going to pretend we are in the Cannonball Run!
We hope living in an RV is less stressfull than selling them
When I started telling people I would be spending almost two weeks in an RV I got all sorts of stories of how much fun it will be and how RV’ing is all about relaxation and clearing your mind.
This sounded amazing and I believed it…….until I found this video
*Warning Video contains some Bad Salty Language*
The real reason we are going to Florida!
It is less than a week before we get our motor running and head out on the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes our way! Since we will be covering a lot of ground in short time, I know there will be a lot of time in the RV to watch movies while we are on the road…..but not just any kind of movies….we are only going to watch road trip/long distance travel flicks.
Here is my list so far:
Road Trip – Tom Green meets D.J. Qualls. Amy Smart take off her top and hilarity ensues.
Planes Trains and Automobiles – John Candy meets Steve Martin. There is snow and hilarity ensues.
Midnight Run - Robert De Niro meets Charles Grodin. They get on a train and hilarity ensues.
The Burt Reynolds Tri-Fecta
Smokey and the Bandit - Burt Reynolds meets Sally Field. They love Coors beer and hilarity ensues.
Cannonball Run - Burt Reynolds meets Dom Deluise. Slaps him every time he forgets a line and hilarity ensues.
Cannonball Run II - Burt Reynolds meets Dom Deluise. Slaps him every time he forgets a line and hilarity ensues.
…and speaking of Burt Reynolds. You may not realize this but Burt (yes we are on a first name basis) was a big reason we are doing this trip. Yes, we want to meet our customers and Yes, we want to experience all that driving across the US has to offer and these points are super important but I really suggested this trip so I could fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum in Jupiter Florida.
The experience of walking in the same steps as Burt (and his firends) will be magical….or electric…..or a little of both.
Shoot, I may even grow a mustache to add to the experience!
…and you will notice we will not be watching the Robin Williams epic RV because…well…it would just be too cliché!
Let me know if there is any flicks I am forgetting so I can add them to our mobile film festival!
Setting a course for adventure!
Remember that little blog post about us getting in an RV and driving across ½ ways across the USA so we could meet a bunch of our beautiful FreshBooks customers?
Well, the RV is booked, the route is planned and most of the details are finalized….the only thing really left to do is get my MRV (Masters of Recreational Vehicles)
Confused?
After making our RV reservation I was instructed to watch three orientation videos on RV operation and I had no idea it was so technical. I’m a pretty smart guy, but even with my superior intellect I found myself stopping the video every now and then to jot down some notes!
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
So after watching this three times (and that is just part one of three) I am still curious about a few things:
- Why do they give you a 9volt Battery when you pick up the RV?
- If 80% is the maximum you can fill a propane tank why not just label the meter at full when it hits 80% because you have to stop there anyway?
Anywhoo…I now feel confident to be the “Captain” of this boat and am looking forward to setting sale on the open road.
FreshBooks is hitting the campaign trail!
There has been a lot of chit chat around the FBHQ (FreshBooks headquarters) about the U.S. presidential campaign. We don’t all agree on who we want to see win but we can all agree that driving in a bus from town to town shaking hands and kissing babies sounds like a blast!
So much so that we got to wondering out loud if we should pick someone in our office to run for president… but then we remembered that not only are we all from Canada, but only one or two of us are even old enough to run.
That being said we at FreshBooks are not quitters. Once we put our mind to something we pretty much run with it… so we have rented us a pretty sweet “large” RV and will be driving from the Future of Web Apps conference (February 29 – March 1, 2008) in Miami, Florida all the way to South by Southwest (March 7–11, 2008) in Austin, Texas with some very clear goals:
Meet as many users as we can, introduce the “south” to FreshBooks and what we offer, eat a Texas-sized donut, eat a country fried steak, get interviewed on a small town “morning show” (I am looking at you WPMI in Mobile, Alabama), pick up a hitchhiker, and of course, we want to be elected POTUS.
Keep checking the blog because in the coming weeks we will have more information on our trip! The tour is tentatively called “It’s Saul or Nothing” because I am trying to make everything in this office about me… but I have a feeling we may have a different name by the next blog post. So if you are going to be attending either show or you live somewhere along our route (which we will post soon), we would love to meet you, shake your hand and kiss your baby… if you have one… and if you say it is OK.
