Memphis Archive

BioWorks: Doing Everything Right

I have a much longer blog post I want to write about BioWorks, a foundation that's working to jump start innovation in Memphis-- and I have to say a highlight of my tour so far. But I have to run out to a lunch, so for now, just watch this.

Who Killed Baptist Central? from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

Do You Think My Brother and I Stopped at Alex's?

We also hit "the Cove," where I had to make up for missing my brother's birthday despite a raft of social networks to alert me it was Sept. 8. Enjoy.

Wish I Was at Alex's Now....

Hello, readers. I have to admit I'm a little beat from the last event-and-emotion-filled week. We just landed in Vegas not to long ago and fortified with a light meal and a few mimosas I'm trying to work through the amazing backlog of Memphis footage and videos. Annoyingly, I'm not poolside. Too hard to read the screen. What a nerd I've become!!

Speaking of, I kinda wish I was at Alex's right now. What's Alex's? Watch this. PS: at one point one of the ladies yell, "THIS GONNA BE ON THE YOUTUBE???" Unfortunately you can't hear it in the recording. But just trust me on this one.

UGBT: Keynote Angst? Done. Moving On.

The next emotional milestone (and a tiny one in comparison to Austin and the keynote) is going back to my hometown. I'm doing an event for Memphis entrepreneurs and Barney DuBois-- the man who told me I would be a journalist way back in my high school days and the publisher of my first gig, The Memphis Business Journal-- is doing my introduction tonight. I'm pretty unemotional, but I might tear up.

Also my hometown paper wrote about the event and -- I kid you not-- it was the first time my parents realized there was a controversy about the Zuckerberg keynote. That made me happy. Yes, they also had it clipped out and put it on the fridge. Bear in mind, I do not have gushing parents. This is highly unusual. They would only read what I wrote for BusinessWeek if I mailed them a copy with the page marked. (Also, I realized this morning that my father's uncanny ability to turn on the dishwasher the second I get in the shower has also persisted through time and space. Despite the shock of cold water with an eye-full of soap, it's nice to know there's an oasis of sameness in my ever-changing world.)

Tomorrow we take off for Vegas -- Blogworld!!!!! This was a late night Gnomedex addition to the tour, at the request of Mr. Brian Solis. We're signing books poolside at the TechSet party and only have about 20 so come and get 'em! $20 each. We will be grateful to stop lugging them around. Turns out books are heavy and cumbersome to travel with- Duh! Guess that's why the Kindle is almost a $1 billion business, right?

Saturday night, Tony Hsieh of Zappos -- sorry, ZAPPOS!-- and I are co-hosting a party at a very, very awesome spot that's a last minute Twitter surprise. So follow Tony or me if you want the deets! It's open to anyone and we'd love to see you there!! Tony knows how to party and Vegas is his turf so you do NOT want to miss this.

Then, Sunday night we come back to Memphis, just in time for a talk at my alma mater, Rhodes College, on Monday. That's incredibly weird. Typically your family and the people you grew up with are the ones who convince you you're not actually a big deal at all.

I've been saying for the last year that the incredibly life-changing year I've had was at some point going to hit me, and it's sort of hitting me this trip, between returning to Austin, doing my first big keynote, and now this hometown stuff. Anyway, below is a video Olivia and I shot after the keynote. We celebrated by going to a snooty restaurant Olivia worked at last year. She didn't have the greatest experience so we figured since I was going back and facing fears and stuff this trip, she should too.

Yeah, yeah, we'll get back to reporting on business soon. Again, just indulge us this month!

Post Keynote Confessions from sarah lacy on Vimeo.