Sara J Chipps

Making the Internet a Better Place

"What's your business model?" The words sprung from my mouth like rhetoric. Like "How are you?" and "Are you ok?" the phrase is a staple I use when discussing some startup or another, which is a semi-recent hobby of mine. While I was getting the elevator pitch during a meeting last week I asked this question, immediately noticing the douchiness behind it when the developer replied, "We don't have one." He went on to explain that they were very proud of their product and wanted to expand their user base before figuring out how to make money off of them. It's funny because I was often hit with the same question when working on Bundl.it, and I would answer "I don't have one, I'm just building a tool to make the internet a better place."

Like it or not we are the curators of the largest compilation of stories, ideas, pictures, and video that has ever existed (I like it a lot, and I bet if you're reading this you do too). Sometimes it's not about squeezing every last cent out of people that enjoy your work. Sometimes it's making life easier for users, or even developers, and not being concerned about what's in it for you until it becomes necessary.

I don't have ads on this blog. I've been approached by maybe a half a dozen companies in the past few months, and my answer has always been the same. I wont put advertisements on my site that are pictures, or images, I will only have ads when this blog gets big enough to attract the advertisers with the least offensive ads, the ones that are small lines of text that don't interrupt your reading experience and are an after thought. Why? I like you guys, and I don't want to pimp you for a penny. I feel like you are a guest here, and I don't want to make a quick buck by making your stay here less pleasing.  I'm trying to add to the value of the web by adding my opinion and thoughts, I hope it helps.

I love money just as much as the next girl (you should see my shoe tower). However, the place in my heart that the interwebs holds compares to no other. I consider it a career goal to make my footprint beneficial.

Join me? This is our internet, let's help each other enjoy it.

et tu, Iron Ruby?

The news of Iron Ruby possibly being euthanaized by Microsoft sincerely surprised me. I have long felt that the Iron projects are a nod to the real developer from a corporation that often panders to the drag and drop community. Pointing resources at an initiative that will never make them money (in a measurable way) caused many of us to believe that there was a part of MS that was inspired to give back to the people that have been building applications and bringing them Windows and SQL Server hosting fees for years. 

This comes on the heels of Microsoft.Data.dll and Visual Studio Light Switch being announced. It's very difficult to get a reputation in the development world as a skilled and knowledgeable contributer when your primary focus is .NET. Many look at us like bubblegum coders, not really able to tread water without our WYSIWYG IDE This type of progression does not help. 

I really hope it is not the intention of MS to phase out Iron Ruby and it is all just rumor and happenstance. I know that either way I will be continuing my pursuit to learn Ruby better and keep filling up my toolbox. I will be keeping a close watch as the rest of this story unfolds. 

In other news Rob Conery is working to rally the troops for a triage mission. If it comes down to it, it will be hard for me to say "If MS doesn't care about keeping this project alive why should I?" However, I do see IR as a valuable resource for diversifying the .NET community. I would love to be a part of this should the gauntlet be thrown.

Concept Camp 2010

    I have been waiting for this one event all year. Of all the conferences I have been to, this one last year was hands down my favorite. It was a weekend of software and s'mores, what more could a girl ask for? We hosted some amazing talks, we ate some great food, and we talked about the stuff we love. It rained all weekend, but that only made it more fun (you'll just have to take my word for it).

   I'm not going to sell it to you, there are 30 tickets being released, buy them while you can. 

   Without further ado, Concept Camp 2010. Pics from last year below:

  

  

Alright, Internet, give me your best

When I first started out as a freelancer it was very lonely. Steven and I spent many an hour staring at each other, and he never contributed anything of worth to our morning standups. Enter: New Work City, I had heard about coworking through some chatter on Twitter, I googled to find a space in the NYC area and found NWC.

I've been working out of NWC for a little more than a year an a half now. I have never fallen in love with a community like I have the one that works here. There are all types of people in different professions. We have developers (of course), but we also have startup crews, project managers, CEOs, and even a fitness DJ. One thing all these thing have in common is they are all extraordinary. Just walking in the room at NWC fills me with warmth and inspiration. It's such a privilege to be surrounded by people that want to do nothing less than make the world a better place.  

I've been actively involved in NWC's growth for the past year when I became a member of their board. We have been steadily expanding since I started. It became necessary for us to find a new location three months ago. As with everything else we do we turned it into something fun and exciting. We had a member scavenger hunt to find a new location. 

We found 412 Broadway, and we have some seriously ambitious plans for it. We are going to have classrooms (which we have already reserved for Girl Develop IT), we will have an event space for things like launch parties and different types of meetups, and we will have plenty of room for the spillover we are now getting from our packed house down the road. 

So, it's all hands on deck as our Mayor Tony Bacigalupo leads the charge to raise money. I want to do what I can, in getting us this amazing space, so I am laying my dignity on the line and giving it to you: Internet. A guy named Blake has made a web app called My Dunk Tank.  The idea is to allow folks to dare you to do things by donating money. The winning dare has to be done or the money is refunded.

I know you folks like me as much as I like you, so I'm not concerned that I will have to do anything embarrassing. I mean, you wouldn't do that to your favorite Girl Developer, would you? We go back so far!

Check out My Dunk Tank here, and remember, I'm a nice girl!