Lost London Footage

It may not sound like a relaxing way to end a vacation to you, but believe me, the closer I come to  working through a back-log of Flipcam footage from the last month, the weight is just lifting off my shoulders. Now if I could only finish that BusinessWeek column and other secret project....ah well, that's what a long plane ride is for, right?

Among Flipcam gems I've found today are these two clips from London, featuring two of my favorite people Robert Loch and Paul Carr. In both, the guys have to hide how nice they're actually being to me, by kinda acting like jerks. But I see through it. They love me.

Lost London Footage #1: High Tea from sarah lacy on Vimeo.
Lost London Footage #2- The Launch Party from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

Me on Stage at a Strip Club. (Sadly, I'm Serious)

Here's some clips from my London book launch event, which in Robert Loch's infinite politically correct wisdom was held at the second oldest strip club in London. It sounds shadier than it was. It was actually an amazing venue and the proper business-y crowd and Fidelity Ventures sponsorship poshed it up more than my Minnie Mouse hairbow ever could have. If you've heard me speak, you've probably heard half of this before. If not, enjoy! Thanks again to Loch, Washy and Carr for an amazing event. Let's do, say, Germany next?

BREAKING: I Actually Like a Republican

So apparently there was some big Orange Festival-Carnival-Dance-To Do or something in Houston that anyone who is anyone goes to….the same night as my signing. Brilliant timing right?

Actually, yes. I’m always secretly happy for a small intimate crowd because you can actually have deep conversations with people. I had quite a few last night. One guy marched up, barked a few questions at me including “WHAT VCS DO YOU KNOW?” to which I blankly stared and finally asked how long he had. I mean, it’s pretty much been my job for ten years to know as many as possible. It’s a bit like asking an Eskimo to describe all the snowflakes he’s ever seen. Said guy also informed me if you had an innovative new drill bit you could start a company in Houston. Otherwise, you leave. Period. Not a single good software developer to be found in the city limits. He was there for “free babysitting” and then getting the hell out. And then he marched off. As someone who loves efficiency and bold statements, he was a man after my own heart.

Olivia and I also got personality tests that showed—among other things—we have no secrets and my husband is like candy to me: The sweetest part of my life, but it can also give me a toothache at times. Also, Olivia sees problems in life like a little chipmunk she can solve by patting them on the head. (Delusional!) I see them as a big grizzly bear on hind legs charging at me. What do I do? MACE THE BITCH! (Bad ass!) We lifecasted the “readings”….posts to come later.

But I have to say the single best conversation I had was with David Wallace, with whom I shared the event. David wrote “One Nation Under Blog” and is the former mayor of Sugar Land, Texas. He’s a Texas republican who was introduced to me by my new BFF Erica O'Grady as the man who will one day be President. Another republican Texan as President? You can understand my hesitancy to shake his hand.

But it was perfect at this moment in American history and my own life to do an event where politics and Web 2.0 were colliding. David’s book is about how Web 2.0 is determining the future of politics; my book chronicles the rise of those very technologies. He’s a politician who can’t stop thinking about the Web and its impact. I’m a tech reporter who can’t stop thinking about this upcoming election and its impact. We probably could have talked for about 45 hours, each wanting to somehow can-opener the other’s brain and just cherry-pick the contents.

From the conversations we did have, I have to say W has given Texas republicans an unnecessary bad name. David isn’t a fear-based, reactionary politician. Although terrified by the ugly side of the net-- think pedophiles lurking on MySpace and anonymous bloggers calling him a drug dealer-- as mayor David worked to understand the net and educate parents and schools how kids should be careful using it—not lobby banning it or somehow trying to regulate it. He’s also an avid Twitter user—writing his Twitters himself, not outsourcing it to a staffer. (Wait: does that mean he’s a terrorist?)

During our public chat—which is Qik’ed below—I prefaced a lot of obnoxious statements with “I’m just a crazy San Francisco liberal…” as my way of apologizing in advance for the jerky partisan statement-masquerading-as-a-question I was about to ask. (The recording stops before I go too far, sadly.) One of the things I just had to know was his opinion of McCain picking Sarah Palin as a running mate. He said he was horrified and said we could talk about it more later. We did. And I was impressed with how many issues a crazy San Francisco liberal and a Texas Republican politician could actually agree on. Perhaps the most important thing we agreed on: We both voted for Obama. Boo-ya. I left with a huge appreciation and hope that a non-Karl Rove republican party actually exists in America in larger numbers than it seems and that maybe Sarah Palin isn’t the future of the party—maybe people like David are.

I also got a copy of his book, which I’ll read and review once, um, Erica ships it because apparently I waltzed right out of Caroline Collective leaving it on the table.

October Is "Sarah Is a Sucky Blogger Month"

OK, here's the thing. I have about five or six things per day I want to blog about. I have never, ever sat down and thought, "I really want to blog, but what about?" I keep a running list of posts I want to write everyday. So why don't I write six posts a day? Little things called time, husband, sleep, Yahoo and BusinessWeek.

Lately, I've even gotten a few emails from readers asking me to blog about certain topics. That hurts about as much as when I came back from the September leg of my book tour and my poor cat, Mr. Vinnie (pictured here), greeted me with a bald spot on his back. (He'd started to rip out his fur from loneliness. It's grown back since, with much petting and about a bag of Greenies.)

I hate to tell you, but October isn't going to be much better. Last week, I felt like anything I had to say just paled in comparison to the urgency of the election and the crisis of the stock market. It all felt so trivial. This week--and going forward--I have a better excuse. I am writing again. For reals. None of this quippy blog post, video script writing. Chapter writing, bitches!

Once You're Lucy, Twice You're Good is not only debuting in the UK in November under the far more commercial-- and yet equally long-- title, The Stories of Facebook, YouTube and MySpace: The People, the Hype and the Deals Behind the Giants of Web 2.0. (Londoners: Come party with me and buy a signed copy!) But the paperback of the good old U.S. version hits in March 2009. That means a new chapter. A new chapter due, ahem, October 31.

Now, normally I am very deadline-oriented. I'm one of those few dorky authors who actually turned her book in early. But that was when all I was doing was the book. This time, I'm having to squeeze in intensive reporting and writing around an already crammed schedule. Yesterday, that meant a work day that spanned 5 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. and another 5 a.m. wake up today. Since I can't actually mint more hours in the day, this means I won't be able to blog as much as I'd like for the next few weeks.

But here's the good news: I really, really love book writing. I've always described the year I wrote OYLYG as the best year of my life, but really forgot the rush that came along with it until yesterday. Spending hours in deep, substantive conversation with entrepreneurs, seeing the chronology and scenes arrange themselves in my head as they spoke, witnessing the common threads and themes leap out in front of me, and of course, the sleepless night of sentences and paragraphs and structure working itself out in my half-awake dreams like some sort of alternate personality that won't shut up. As I told my husband, I've enjoyed sleeping over the past year, but the intensity? Well, I didn't realize how much I missed that until yesterday.

So even though I'm not quite sure how I'm going to find time to get this chapter done, (on the plane to Kona or on the beach at the Lobby might be necessary options!) I'm thrilled to be writing it and I think conceptually it completes the book in a very profound way. This is what I'm good at. Everything else, I'm just pretending.

(BTW: Yes, book two is in the works. More news when I have it. Meantime, wish me luck...)

Do I Know the Digg Guys or What?

Some of us (Read: those who don't plan/have a book to promote in November) choose to go to London at a different time than everyone else in Silicon Valley. So since I'm the only person in the Valley not at FOWA in London right now, I didn't hear Kevin Rose's keynote. But apparently I didn't have to. It nicely echoes what I wrote here: That Digg has picked a fork in the road and is ready to grow up and prove it can be more than a fan boy site filled with Microsoft ads. (Convenient timing for me too, since I'm updating "Once You're Lucky" for paperback.) As someone who has spent a lot of time giving Digg tough love, but also defending what Kevin and Jay have done well, I'm rooting for them.

(Sorry for the crowing, but I'm getting a lot of kudos on my latest Valley Girl column and am enjoying feeling like an actual reporter again today, less obnoxious self-promotional media persona. Well, except this somewhat self-promotional post and my upcoming interview on KQED's Forum in an hour...)

Yes, the Rumors Are True...UGBT Is Hitting London

Ok, it's not officially part of the User Generated Book Tour, but Olivia and I are indeed coming to London for a big, big Robert Loch-style party. [Update: Apparently also hosted by Paul Walsh who will hopefully not steal my Blackberry and write Twitters about how hot he is. Hrmph.] Why are we throwing a party? To launch my new book. (Ok, ok it's just the UK edition of the same book only with a far more commercially appealing title...)

We fly out just after we vote for Mr. Obama (holla!!) and hopefully land on Nov. 5 to UK papers trumpeting his victory. (If not, we may just stay in London.)

Now, several of you keep *harassing* me to come to London and have a big party so I fully expect you to be there and bring friends.

Stay tuned for party details...

UGBT Memphis: Let's Play to Our Strengths, Guys

I have a lot to say about the past few days I've spent touring the various nooks and crannies of Memphis and its entrepreneur scene. And as luck would have it-- I finally have a few hours to say it, er write it. A theme that has consistently cropped up during this tour is what each city means by entrepreneurship, and what they want to get out of building their own culture to give rise to it. Increasingly, it's the cities who never really tried to be Silicon Valley in the late 1990s that seem to really have an exciting and burgeoning scene. Why? Because they were forced to play to their strengths.

I'd put Omaha in this category. Omaha's entrepreneur scene is totally nascent and who knows what will come out of it. But it's endemically Omaha-like. Same with Portland, to a degree. And, I think, that's even more pronounced in Memphis. (More on that in a second.)

The corollary would be Austin or Seattle, cities that have followed a more Valley-like model with varying success and failure. The success is obvious: More venture capital money, more jobs from what big or mid-sized companies have emerged. But is there really a sustainable culture around entrepreneurship? Or is it about being a Valley-satellite? And frankly-- which would a city rather have? Because you can argue the first brings in more jobs, prestige and money.

But I argue, there's something great about a city that at its core has its own unique, scrappy entrepreneurial drive.

The Man Who Brought You Sarah Lacy (tm)

I was supposed to have lunch with someone an hour ago, but well, this person hasn't shown up. So I've been plowing through Memphis video footage. Here's an interview that meant a lot to me, because it's with someone who means a lot to me. The man partially responsible for me being a journalist in the first place, Barney DuBois. He introduced me at my Launch Memphis event-- which was fabulous, by the way. I said a few words, answered some questions and signed a load of books while I gave some of the local entrepreneurs advice. I only had to yell at one of them, who said "Why not blow some money on a
Superbowl commercial if you have it?"

Barney and Me from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

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.

UGBT Boston: Living the Good Life

Even with a competing Web event last night, we had a great turn out at our Boston signing and party. Olivia had loads to say about it afterwards, so I thought I'd let her handle the de-co. But here's a quick video we shot with two of the guys who made the event possible, Rich DiBona and Gradon Tripp. Oh, and just before we shot this a big, drunk Southie dude came up and told me he was single and owned a boat. That must be why this particular bar is called The Good Life.

Boston's Good Life from sarah lacy on Vimeo.