No Snivelling

Avoid the Westin Casuarina Hotel in Las Vegas, NV

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:35:00 +0000

I recently had a trip to Las Vegas -- the hotel where I stayed, the Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa, was nice enough during the stay, and the quoted price was reasonable (~$75/night).

However, upon checkout, my bill included a $15/day Hotel Services Fee (plus tax, daily) -- when I asked what it was for, the manager told me it was for the pool, use of phone, and other services. Huh? Those aren't included in the daily rate?!? I asked her if I was able to opt out of these extra services, and she told me "no". So, why do this? Of course, it's so they can quote a lower daily room charge -- really, this is gross. I see a class action lawsuit coming their way. Of course, hotel guests won't benefit from the settlement, but some lawyer will, and Starwood Hotels will just proceed as usual.

Really, it's not about the extra $45 they charged me (3 nights) -- it's just the grossness of this type of idea -- that they said, "let's screw customers over with a fee that they can't do anything about, and then claim that it was in the fine-print on the order form." In the long-term, Starwood, you'll pay for this in customer defection. But, in the short-term, you're just making the world a slightly less nice place.

So... if you remember... try to avoid The Westin, and while you're at it, the rest of the Starwood Family of hotels (Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, Le M�ridien, The Luxury Collection, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, aloft, Element by Westin)

NOTE -- I'm not the only one with this problem -- you can see other unhappy customer complaints and bad customer reviews for the Westin Casuarina in Las Vegas here.

Great presentation on power of microfinance (gotta love Toastmasters!)

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:43:00 +0000

My friend, Gopi, shared this video of his Toastmasters presentation entitled "Ordinary People" -- it talks about how Gopi discovered microfinance through Kiva, and is a really effective presentation on the ways you can help to alleviate poverty around the world, right from your computer.

Gopi was at Wharton in the year ahead of me, and was a Toastmaster way back then -- he's taken it to all new heights, though, as he's one of 25 finalists in the national Toastmaster speaker competition -- go Gopi! (And, for those of you looking to become better public speakers, take a public speaking class!)

One final plug -- if you're energized by the microfinance story, and are passionate about education, I invite you to learn more about a new startup that I'm involved with called Vittana -- they're workign to enable education microfinance lending in developing countries.

TeachStreet expands to Chicago (metro #6) and adds $1.2 million in funding

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:19:00 +0000

It's been a tumultuous several months, with emotions running the gamut. But today's a great day, as we announce our launch of metro #6 (Chicago teachers and classes, here we come!) and also an addition $1.2 million of investor funding.

We've been running non-stop for the last year plus, and the launch of New York teachers and classes several weeks ago, plus the upcoming premium services launch (payments and more), has kept our hands very full -- we've recently been able to take a few days to reflect, paint the office, and refocus as a team, and that's been great.

One thing I'll share, that we found very motivating, is these two videos from Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos) -- if you can find 45 minutes, I'd highly recommend that you check them out -- they really highlight the type of company we're TRYING to build, with a mission-driven culture. We've definitely made some missteps along the way, but we're striving to continue to learn.

Walk the Geeky Red Carpet with me tonight

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Seattle 2.0

It's finally here -- the Seattle 2.0 Awards live event is upon us. And, Marcelo's asked me to present the award this evening to the Best Seattle-Area Venture Capitalist.

The finalists?

Of course, as an entrepreneur, I love them all pretty much equally... well, not really... Matt's actually cut TeachStreet checks, so I may call out his name regardless of what's in the envelope ;-) ).

But, the voters have spoken, so 3 will have to leave the island, and 1 will get to spend a weekend with me in Spokane -- it'll be wonderful.

Oh... if you'd like to participate in the event, but can't make it in the door (or, don't live in Seattle), they'll also be streaming the event live.

Dave Schappell is Seattle's Geek of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Oh, I'm so proud -- I have so many people to thank. My computer teachers, Mr. Fisher and Ms. Rothermel, who taught me everything I know about BASIC. Radio Shack, for developing and marketing the wonderful TRS-80 that I pined over. Texas Instruments for making the even more incredible TI-99/4A, that was connected to my tape recorder backup drive. My parents, for getting me my own phone line, to power my bedroom-powered bulletin board, the Magical Tavern. All of the engineers at TeachStreet, who I've taught so much to as we've built the site -- they've learned quickly and have taken well to my guidance and technical wisdom.

Thank you all -- I love you all.

Yes, I'm Seattle's Geek of the Week -- take THAT, Daryn -- who's your daddy now?!?

Awesome night in Seattle tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:10:00 +0000

Big goings-on tomorrow, with events at TechFlash (Palace Ballroom) and Ignite Seattle

Yes, I know this post is worthless -- I'm working on Blogger and Site Migration, so phlbbt!

More than 2 years of Twitter -- now what? Is it a Twubble?

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I was talking with @daryn about Twitter today -- I'm perplexed by it. I've been using it for more than two years, and I'm still not sure what I think about it. Why is that? Normally, I'd either be a fan, or be over it. Instead, I'm still somewhat confused. At many times, it seems like another instantiation of my overflowing inbox, much like what happened with RSS readers (which I've stopped reading entirely, because of that very fact).

In fact, I've pretty much stopped trying to read any of my incoming tweets, beyond what appears on the main screen. Instead, I read my @ and D replies. Which, really, is just like having public IM and private e-mail. Or, a lot like having my IM have public and private settings. So, is Twitter just more of an improved IM play, with the advantage that the public IMs bubble up to a really good real-time search engine? If so, that's great, and I'm pretty darn happy about that. And, if people are willing to make their IMs public in many circumstances, then we've got a much more well-connected world. But, if everyone stops following their @ replies (with a service like Tweetlater or a good Web/iPhone app like Tweetie or TweetDeck), then the service is pretty useless as a communications vehicle. Which means that people will stop contributing. Which means that it turns into a bubble that pops.

So, Twacquisition, TwIPO, or Twop -- which will it be?

I'm afraid of my e-mail

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:57:00 +0000

I admit it - I'm afraid of my e-mail. It's a neverending task engine
of sorts, with the horrible characteristic that it increases in
intensity whenever I reply or try to resolve issues. It gets to the
point where I don't want to open it at all, so as to leave it
dormant. Sadly, the beast is stirring, as Monday stealthily
approaches...

How to Invent Everything Important in Science

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Just saw this on twitter (from @seanpower and @hnshah) - just in case you get in your time machine and go back a few years, and need to invent a few things -- remember to file for patents :-)

Steven Johnson's book "The Invention of Air" is fantastic

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:36:00 +0000

I'm two-thirds of the way through Steven Johnson's book, The Invention of Air, and it's just fascinating.� It tells the story of Joseph Priestly, a man who prospered during the Enlightenment Age (during the late 18th century, along with contemporaries Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and others) -- and presents a compelling picture of a man who combined passions for Scientific discovery, Political discourse, and deep Religious belief -- that combination is extremely rare, as the author displays.� I hope that I can become more involved with Steven Johnson's work, at Outside.in and in other pursuits -- he seems fascinating, and someone who will inspire me, and others, to previously unexpected goals.

My Advice- Take Startup Advice from folks working in Startups

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Flickr Photo (solo_with_others)

For the record, I don't know Eric Ries, but he seems all the rage of late with my twitter-stream flowing glorious with his Web 2.0 Expo wisdom about running a lean startup. He's more than likely earned it, most recently as co-founder and CTO of IMVU. And, I bet that we'd get along wonderfully, and that he's a great guy (given the posse he travels with, and friends of friends).

But, last I checked, he's a Venture Advisor at Kleiner Perkins, and I'm quite sure Kleiner Venture Advisor's aren't working for extra equity right now, firing their own staff to survive the next 6 months, filing and resolvings bugs on weekends, or doing PR outreach late into the night to get a little extra traction from their most recent product launch.

My hunch is that memories are forgetful when it comes to doing whatever it takes to make it to your next milestone.

So, if you have to make binary tradeoffs on who to take your advice from, I'd recommend that you take it from someone who's in the trenches, like Glenn Kelman, Andy Liu, or Ev Williams (and here) as their feedback may be a little more moist, with recent blood, sweat and tears (that is, if they have time to talk with you -- my hunch is that you'll be more likely to get a 4 sentence e-mail, as they won't have the time to prepare for and attend a multi-day conference).

Coming to LA for Kelsey Group 'Local' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Normally I'm not a fan of lots of travel, and the next few weeks are no exception -- while I'm excited about all the people and ideas I'll interact with, my non-stop itinerary including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and LA will leave me pretty wiped out by mid-month.

At least I have a few days in sunny California to look forward to, though, as Peter Krasilovsky just invited to participate on a panel at the Kelsey Group's 'Marketplaces 2009 - Drilling Down on Local' conference, being held March 16-18, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, in Los Angeles.

So, if you'll be in that neck of the woods, I can't wait to catch up (please e-mail!) and if you're in the Local space, I couldn't more highly recommend the Kelsey Group Events and Conferences -- the one I attended in Seattle last year was fantastic, and I'm really looking forward to this one as well (notwithstanding the panel I'll be participating on ;-) ).

Onward!

Beers with Brad Feld tonight in Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:43:00 +0000

I admit that my blogging has trailed off as of late. What with Twitter, TeachStreet blogging and articles, and life in general, it's seemed less important to be posting on No Snivelling. But, a good amount of planning went into tonight's Brad Feld event, so just in case I missed any loyal readers, here goes:

Brad Feld will be coming to Seattle and tonight, he's doing an event called Beers and Boulder with Brad. He'll be talking about entrepreneurial communities, the critical importance of entrepreneurship and innovation today, TechStars, what we�ve done in Boulder to drive entrepreneurship that can apply to other cities such as Seattle, and why they're expanding TechStars to Boston. He'll then stick around until they kick us out answering any and all questions and talking with whoever wants to hang out.

I helped organize the event as part of TeachStreet's goal to help people "Learn Something New" -- in this case, how to get off your butt and start a company!

Three great sponsors � Beacon Law Advisors, Square 1 Bank, and Microsoft BizSpark are underwriting the event.

Brad Feld TechStars talk in Seattle - Feb 25 2009

View more presentations from Dave Schappell. (tags: vittana tamccann)

If you aren�t in Seattle tonight, the event will be streamed live. If you are in Seattle, come join us.

Great people I've met or spent a lot of time with in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:52:00 +0000

It's been a great year -- and, heck, I may just hit the Mega Million Lottery yet, and have it get even better (in which case, none of you... not even the people on the list below, will ever see me again... except maybe my wife and Zach the Dog).

As I reflect on 2008, I can't believe how many wonderful people who I've met, or become even better friends with -- really, the list below is in no particular order... and I'm sure I'll be leaving a bunch of great folks off... but it's a reminder of how great 2008 was:

Chris Hurley and the crew at Beacon Law -- you rock (although your bills kinda suck)
Bill Nordwall -- you and your hair are the highlight of any day
John Braseth at our downstairs art gallery -- you can chat with the best of them, and have some sweet art as well -- thanks for helping take the edge off of rough days
Dave McClure -- your new year's resolution should be to make scheduling of board meetings easier by about 18 e-mails each, but other than that, u da man
Jon Bischke at EduFire -- you continue to amaze and inspire
Scott, Matt, Ayush, Greg and team at Madrona; Melinda and Steve at Bezos Expeditions and the rest of our investors/advisors-- all I/we can say is thank you, both for your financial support and also for everything else you've done to help us improve (Note, if you're an investor and would like to make this list next year, you can contact me in many ways...)
My wife -- you are amazing. And, Zach the Dog, you inspire me.
Todd Sawicki - your mastery of all knowledge is awe-inspiring
Brian Westbrook - you really much find a job -- your twitter volume may be the root cause of the Fail Whale
Buzz Bruggeman - you're connecting abilities are inspiring
Denali Fitness - for keeping me under 190 pounds (and helping me to beat Daryn in the 31-day end-of-year weight loss challenge)
Karen Cho - you don't believe it, but we're all inspired by you
Twitter - for giving me another place to waste hundreds of hours
Bill Bryant - you do so much to support early-stage entrepreneurs - rock on
Barack Obama - I admit, that I've heard less from you since you asked me for money every day for about 8 months running, but I still think there's chance for a relationship
David Stern and Saar Gur - definition of supportive -- great meeting & getting to know you
Terri Fujinaga - world's greatest accountant and 4-th nicest person in North America
Dave Hanley - you've been there for us time and again -- now, see if you can convince that Amazon team to continue their torrid acquisition pace, OK?
Kushal Chakrabarti - you inspire us to try to change the world
Jeff Lawson - how did I miss the Rick Rolling phenomenon? Thank you for catching me up -- you're one of the best
Dave and Karim -- you're raising the bar -- I look forward to '09 and our collaborations!
Hanh - thank you for moving to Seattle -- now, take the bad weather with you back to Santa Monica, please
iLike Emily Glassman - rock on, girl
i also like Shawn Stewart - you power my streaming radio (don't tell the tech guys that I do this on our network, though)
Vikas and Reza -- you barely made the list... since I'm still awaiting my referral commission for Mikhail...
David Geller -- you continue to be a big supporter of the Seattle tech community
Mark Mader -- my '09 resolution is to win the Smartsheet football pool
David Eraker -- keep dreaming big, brotha -- schappell-show is behind you
Keith Schorsh -- tru-sera
Galen & Estately - you give us all hope!
Marc Barros at VholdR - I need one of them cameras for my snow shoveling -- it's action packed
Hanson Hosein and Kathy Gill at UW -- your passion inspires
The entire TeachStreet team -- really, to call any of you out wouldn't be fair... you've been amazing -- have seen me through highs and lows -- rock on

Then, in the Festivus tradition, here are people who have disappointed me -- best of luck in 2009 for you grinches:

you didn't really think I'd have anyone here, did you? seriously... i started the list... but, the caffeine high precluded publishing... we'll have to look forward to that in '09 :-)

p.s. If you weren't in the list above, it's because:
1) you weren't in my recent twitter feed
2) you didn't send me a JibJab Elf Yourself card
3) no money has arrived recently
4) you didn't work hard enough -- you can always increase your odds by purchasing gifts

Seriously -- am sure I left many off... just wanted to give a sense of how wonderful a year's it's been -- so many great people, new/old friends, and support -- couldn't have made it without all of you and your love/support!

Startup happy hour every Thursday - Hops and Chops

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:53:00 +0000

We've been doing this for 2-3 months now, so I guess it's a success -- if you'd like to catch up (and escape the office) sometime, pop by Linda's on Pine St. (on Capitol Hill) -- we're there every Thursday night from 6:30 til ~8:30pm. No real agenda -- just bloggers, startuppers, techsters, investors, and your occasional female as well (who'd a thunk?!?)

How did we come up with the name Hops and Chops? Really, you need to blame the engineer for that one -- sort of... drink some hops, show us your chops... yeah, I know...

Oh, and if you're into that Twitter think, you can follow Hops and Chops on twitter here:

http://www.twitter.com/hopsandchops

New Seattle Tech Blog/Resource - TechFlash

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:19:00 +0000

John Cook and Todd Bishop, of Seattle P-I Blogger fame have just launched their new Puget Sound Business Journal-based Seattle Technology News Source website, TechFlash.

Congrats to their team -- it looks fantastic.

TechFlash, plus the new Seattle 2.0 site make a perfect combination -- we've been desperately needing them both.

Please Vote Yes on Prop 2

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:02:00 +0000

I'm biased -- my wife is a landscape architect -- but I'm a huge fan of the city's investment in public parks, and I hope you all are too -- we're incredibly lucky to have spaces such as Discovery Park, Olympic Sculpture Park, Volunteer Park, Interlaken, Madrona Woods, and more.

Please Vote Yes on Prop 2, to keep it that way.

Find more videos like this on Seattle Parks and Green Spaces Levy Community

Web searching stretches your brain

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Fun lifelong learning factoid of the day -- using search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN actually helps to jumpstart your brain and keep it functioning at high levels. Who knew that all of our time online was actually fueling our brain cells?

Learn more about the Internet from Seattle teachers like Home Computing Coach via her web search classes!

My new lifelong learning blog is live on the Seattle P-I!

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Happy days! Several weeks ago, I applied to the Seattle P-I to author a Seattle lifelong learning blog, and I was approved! They do a great job of enabling Seattle reader blogs amongst their community, and we've pledged to keep it very open and inclusive -- so we'll be linking to great local teachers, classes and organizations that help improve local learning and the discovery of great Seattle-area teachers. If you have suggestions, please send them my way!

The kickoff post featured a Settle lindy hop class / Seattle swing dance lesson instructor named Chris Chapman, of Hepcat Seattle Swing Dance. My new swing dancing class starts tonight!

Great startup metrics conference in San Francisco this week

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:33:00 +0000

For those of you involved in the startup world, you're likely wrestling with metrics, metrics, metrics -- that is, "what to measure, how to measure it, and what to do with what you measure?".

A good friend and TeachStreet board member, Dave McClure, is running a startup metrics conference this week called Startonomics -- I highly recommend that you hop on a plane to San Francisco (or send you designated lieutenant) get your butt down there for this one -- unlike other events, this is pretty much single-track & single-focus. Rather than pie-in-the-sky vision stuff, it's tactical what-to-do/how-to-do.

Short preso & video below -- again, I'm a big fan:

Startonomics: Simple, Actionable Metrics for Startup Success

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: dealmaker.media 500.hats)

Startup Metrics (Ignite Velocity)

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: metrics revenue)

Happy Birthday to Me

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:54:00 +0000

I want to thank everyone for your well-wishes -- is amazing the impact that social networking sites have had on Birthday rememberances! Just received this "World's Greatest Birthday" card from Gregg... made me chuckle...

Try JibJab Sendables� eCards today!

Special thanks to the team for their TeachStreet birthday decorations!

New music sensation, Noah Horst

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Noah is the son of good friends, Gina and Pete, from high school (Schuylkill Valley). Sorry, Tpny G, for giving you second billing... but it's rare that backup guitarists get any cred!

My prediction -- Noah's going to have some extremely enjoyable college years :-)

Follow "The Path With a Heart"

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:03:00 +0000

I was just organizing/cleaning up my desk at home, and found this passage -- I love re-reading this often -- I hope you enjoy it too.

The Path With A Heart

from 'Don Juan a Yaqui Warrior'

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path, and there is not affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition.

I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old person asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was young, and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it.

I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart?

All paths are the same, they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. "Does this path have a heart?" One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

The trouble is nobody asks the question: and when a person finally realizes that they have taken a path without heart, the path is ready to kill them. At that point very few people stop to deliberate and leave the path.

A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

For my part there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length.

And there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.

Had a great summer in the San Juans

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:35:00 +0000

OK -- my blogging has been... err... intermittent. I get it. But, I've been busy -- really, I have. OK, get the violins out -- I'll tell you what I've been up to. In addition to lots of TeachStreet stuff, Karen and I rented a house in Friday Harbor (in the San Juan Islands, a bit north of Seattle). The idea was to get away as often as possible for weekends and maybe find a week or two to get away. Well, the latter idea never really happened, but we had a fantastic time popping up for weekends. The house we rented was fantastic (cozy, in-town, wi-fi, hot tub, no TV, etc.) and we actually made a bunch of new friends throughout the summer.

What that's meant, though, is that it put our Seattle life on hold a bit -- weeks were always busy (trying to work long hours to feel a little less guilty about heading north on weekends) and with the drive & ferry, most weekends ended pretty late on Sundays.

We look forward to seeing Seattle-folks a bit more... but we're also sad that we'll be seeing Friday Harbor and new friends a little less.

That said... we did some research today, and found two pet-friendly hotels, to accommodate more regular (monthly?) trips to Friday Harbor -- I, for one, have gotten a bit hooked on the lifestyle :-) If you're interested in making a long weekend, and would rather bring the dog along, check out Elements and Tucker House Inn, both in downtown Friday Harbor.

I'm in the newest JibJab Video (and you can be too)!

noreply@blogger.com (DaveSchappell) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:23:00 +0000

Watch for my guest appearance at the end of this election's big JibJab extravaganza -- and, after it's over, add yourself as well!

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!