Hi all,

I just wanted to highlight some upcoming events that my company is sponsoring…

WordCamp
First is WordCamp SLC 2010, this Saturday at the University of Utah. Over 100 people have PAID, and many more will be there on Saturday! WordCamp is essentially a conference about the open source WordPress blogging platform for developers, enthusiasts, and marketing professionals (this site uses WordPress, and my companies’ other sites are in the process of being converted to WordPress). Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of WordPress will be the keynote speaker (and dozens of other speakers and presenters are attending from all over the country).

My marketing company, YEA-NAY, is one of the sponsors for the event, providing video production services to the organizers (the videos will be published on WordPress.tv). The conference is all about WordPress development, and we’re all very excited about it!

For more information on WordCamp, visit their site.

the Uber-Cool Video Workshop
This is the third workshop I’ve done, but this new workshop is a new and improved format that I think will get participants even better results in marketing. (yes, shameless self-promotion, absolutely!)

Visit this site for more information on the video marketing workshop.

You can also download/print our workshop flyer.

Grand Opening & Open House
YEA-NAY will be announcing some big expansions next week (which I will share here as well), but until then, I wanted to give everyone a heads up that we’re planning to offer an open house & grand opening ceremony at our new location in Salt Lake City. We currently have an office there, and the grand opening will be geared mostly toward the new studio we’ll be opening in that same building.

Visit this site for more information on the video studio.

Just finished this video a few minutes ago. It’s just a quick & dirty tour of the place (do NOT judge my video skills on this piece!). It was about 20 minutes of work from start to finish.

And here’s more information on that studio space.

Ok– something is REALLY bugging me and I’m just going to say it! What is wrong with building a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero? IMO: absolutely nothing. This nation was built on principles of religious freedom and tolerance, and the day that is gone… I don’t know what I’ll do! Yes, it bothers me that teachers can’t say Merry Christmas to a student, etc. (even the more liberal nations of Europe still close everything down on religious holidays other than Christmas and Easter)… but this isn’t even the same thing. We’re talking about building a mosque, a place of worship!

Don’t start lumping all Muslims into the same bucket either! That’s like saying Latter-day Saints and Catholics are the same as the Ku Klux Klan or the IRA (um, yeah- that’s exactly what it is). So we shouldn’t allow the LDS Church to build a temple down the street from a Baptist church populated by African-Americans because the Ku Klux Klan doesn’t like them? Preposterous! And this situation is no less different! This is a no-brainer to me. Should we label all Catholics as second-class citizens because leaders of that church killed people during the middle ages? No! They weren’t involved, and the church is far different today than it was then.

Many people say “well, lots of people died and this is an offense, a slap in the face, to their grieving families.” And I say to that: why and how? Again, refer to the above. It makes no sense whatsoever! It simply shocks me to hear on the radio this morning that 60-70% of Americans think it’s wrong to allow them to build–what has this country come to. If two blocks isn’t far enough away, what is? Should it be 8 blocks, or 5 miles? Where do we draw the line (oh, by the way: there are strip clubs the same distance away… but a mosque is SO much more evil than that…). Yes, I’m being sarcastic, but this is truly an outrage. This should be a non-issue! Grrr…

For being a Christian nation (according to some), we sure don’t act like it sometimes.

*end rant*

Okay– usually I won’t talk about politics, but I had to get that off my chest. I feel much better now!

I’m moving into a new office about 11 am August 14th (today– it’s just after midnight now). I’m very excited about this move, and I’ll tell you why after I’m all moved in (with a video tour of the location…). Yes, that’s right!

That brings me to my next announcement: I’m going to try video blogging for a little while to see how I like it. I’m really not sure about it yet– but it can’t hurt to try.

I’ve actually gotten a couple comments on my blog since I started posting, so I’m excited that people are actually paying attention!

Anyway– this random post in the middle of the night will be followed some time in the next few days by a post which will include a video about the new office!