30 Grads in 30 Days: Eric Gonzalez

I was profiled in the University Press! Click here to go to the original article.

In anticipation of this year’s commencement ceremonies, June 12-14, we’d like to introduce some special people.

In daily installments, we’ll profile 30 extraordinary students who have achieved the honor of graduating from UC Santa Cruz, either with an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

They are artists and dancers, musicians and biologists, volunteers and activists, linguists and physicists, writers and filmmakers — and more. Some have struggled with adversity, with disability, or with steep obstacles to getting their education. All have triumphed.

They are tomorrow’s leaders.

They may be diverse, but to all of them, we offer the same: our warmest congratulations as they make their way out into the world.

Fiat lux.

Name: Eric Gonzalez
Age: 22
Major: Business management economics
Hometown: Camarillo, CA
UCSC college: Ten

Favorite class or professor and why?
My favorite class was Women in the Economy taught by Lori Kletzer. I like the way that Lori teaches her class. She understands where students are coming from but also makes her classes challenging by having very high standards. She always begins her class the same way. During the first few minutes, she elicits news items from students and then comments on them. It is very interesting how she connects current events to economics, and ties the news to what we are reading about in class. She is one of those teachers who connects the course material to real life and uses her vast research knowledge to illustrate her point. If I were to take a class again at UCSC, I would make sure Lori was the professor.

Most memorable experience at UCSC?
My most memorable experience happened recently when I was on a team for the first-ever Relay for Life at UCSC. Relay for Life is a 24-hour walk-a-thon that benefits cancer research. The event was completely student-run, and it was exciting to see the fruit of all the hard work of the students who put it together. I also enjoyed spending time with friends during the event.

Favorite spot on campus and why?
East Field. The view is amazing and there is always so much going on there. I usually go there to run or sometimes play a pickup game of soccer. It is never a bad idea to just go there and relax, especially at nighttime on a clear night.

How has UCSC shaped you?
UCSC has given me the opportunity to get involved in so many aspects of students’ experiences. Everyone at UCSC is very accessible, and students get the opportunity to make a difference. UCSC helped me branch out and discover new interests. I have come to realize that a small group of people can make a big difference, and I learned how to be dedicated to an idea and see it through to the end. Faculty, professors, administrators, and my friends at UCSC have shaped me in ways that will positively influence my actions for the rest of my life.

What are your future plans?
My future plans are to get involved in high-tech marketing or sales. I also plan on staying connected to UCSC and the city because people here are really trying to make a difference, and I enjoy being part of that.

How did you choose your college, and how has your college affected your education?
I chose my college based on its location because it is within easy walking distance to most places on campus. College Ten is a community where people have a wide range of views, but a common passion to make a difference. Our core writing class definitely opened my eyes to new things, but it was the people at College Ten who truly affected my education.

Accomplishments:
My greatest ongoing accomplishment was being president of the University Economics Association. At the completely student-run organization, I had the opportunity to put on many events that helped students make more of their education. Not only did I bring in some top companies like Smith Barney, Merrill Lynch, Cisco, and Seagate, but also I got to help build an organizational structure that will continue to improve the education of students at UCSC.

I also founded the first-ever business plan competition at UC Santa Cruz, bringing together top executives from Silicon Valley and officials from the university and raising over $25,000 in funds and prize money. I’ve seen so much excitement about the competition from students and from the community, and I’m so excited to see all the businesses that are coming from it. Every year I know the competition will improve, and UCSC will one day be the face of technological, socially responsible, green entrepreneurship, and I’m grateful that I got to be part of that progression.

Dear Ms. Pint of Sierra Nevada

Dear Ms. Pint of Sierra Nevada,

As I hold you in my hand right now, I smile. You are safely nestled in a pint glass that features logos for Coors and Fosters. I sincerely apologize. I do at times forgo you delightfully hoppy, yet smooth aleness to consume cheap, happy hour beer. But this is not because I don’t thoroughly enjoy you. It is because sometimes I have to mix it up. Its not you, its me, really. This letter is to express my deep feelings for you.

When we first met, I have to admit that I didn’t like you. You were too bitter for me. I was at my friend Chris’s house and his roommate Bobbie had you in 12 ounce form with 5 of your buddies. Usually I would call this a six-pack, but Sierra Nevada, you are too good to be in a six pack. You are an individual. You deserve more than to be bundled up with others. As I drank you for the first time, I couldn’t stand you. The bitterness swelled in my palate forcing me to give the beer back to Bobbie, “I’m sorry man, do you have something else?” I have never since ever given you away like that and I promise that I never will. That night I treated you like one of many instead of the special thing that you are.

Our relationship is much different now. We have grown together, shaping each other’s personalities. But this is a healthy relationship. We do not have any attachment issues as I have seen other people/beer couples. We enjoy our time together but I love how we both have our own lives and maintain our individuality. You have been there for me and I sincerely appreciate all that you have done throughout our relationship. It started off rocky but I’m so happy that we are where we are at right now.

We have hung out many times and you often come in different forms. I must say that I like it most when you get nice and sexy in a pint glass. There are those 33 oz monsters that you get dressed up at Woodstock’s and I like that too, but nothing compares to you in a simple, yet elegant pint glass that lends itself perfectly to my personality and yours. I also like when you get oldfashioned and wear your brown bottle with that green lables of yours, but I cannot keep you in those clothes for long. In minutes, I have you unclothed, poured into a pint glass of my choosing. Usually the pint glass is whatever is clean in the dishwasher, but I try to put you in something nice. Those 99 cent coca cola cups don’t do you justice. I’m sorry if I’ve ever put you in a situation that is not proper.

Your taste is smooth and refreshing. You start off sweet, but then the bitterness follows your beerness to the roof of my mouth, slowly filling my mouth with a hoppy taste that I can’t resist. I love it when you do that to me. The aftertaste you leave me took a while to get used to, but now it just reminds me of the last sip, tempting me to take another. The next sip is even better as your yeast sediment continues its decent to the bottom of the glass. This time the sip is sweeter, with less of a hoppyness on the roof of my mouth. Every sip is a unique experience. Thank you. You keep our relationship fresh and I feel like you really make an effort to mix things up. Relationships can get stale but you always try your best to make sure that ours doesn’t.

Thank you Ms. Pint of Sierra Nevada. I look forward to the next time we meet.

Deepest regards,

Eric

Never Ending To Do’s

Throughout college I have heard a recurring idea. The phrase must come from the circumstances of college life. My life in the past four years has basically been school followed by work, followed by a few meetings, followed by more work, followed by hanging out with friends leading to some late nights, followed by an early morning. Repeat. College brings with it many opportunities, but also many responsibilities. Work becomes necessary and school work becomes a looming presence: always threatening your happiness with a pending midterm or final.

The thought that seems to be at the top of everyone’s mind is that once college is done, there is no more schoolwork, or any work after your 9 to 5 is done. Apparently, after you get off work, you get to do whatever you want until the next workday. It shocked me how many people thought this when about a week ago, I heard three separate people recant this common idea to me on the same day.  First, a coworker commented that he enjoyed working and being a graduate because once work was done he didn’t have to worry about anything. Next, on the way to school I overheard someone saying the same thing to her friend. Then, on my way back home, a friend of mine told me the same thing when commenting on my recent graduation.

Honestly, I’m busier now then I’ve ever been, and looking back, I’ve always been quite busy. But it has always been in the back of my mind that when I graduate “things will slowdown.”

It occured to me on that fateful day that no, my life will never be as so many people have said. I thoroughly enjoy being a part of something challenging. I enjoy putting my all in something even if it means that I can only enjoy reruns of South Park with a laptop parked on my lap. I constantly fill my life with to do’s, whether it is something for school, work, volunteer projects, or spending time with friends or going to a party.

When I am part of the working world, I don’t think I will be satisfied just doing a 9 to 5. I am not in that point in my life right now. I have my passions, which include exercising, coffee shops, really hoppy beer and meeting new people, but I also like to be passionate about what I’m doing. First, I don’t think many people have a 9 to 5 anymore. And I would never want to be in a job that I did not enjoy putting in more work. Sure it is tiring to put in additional hours, but at the end of the day a job should be worth it, for any number of reasons.

Now, instead of looking for a transition from a hectic and busy life into a calm and serene one, I will be keeping my eyes out for a transition into a different kind of life. A life that instead of successful student projects and extracurriculars will be filled with professional success that make a diffference in people’s lives. There are many ways to make a difference and I want to take these never ending to do’s into the professional world.

Business Plan Competition Acknowledgements

A post I wrote for CruzBusiness…

The first ever UCSC Business Plan Competition is well on its way to meeting its goals of fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, creating lasting relationships between the campus community and entrepreneurs, and educating the student body for global entrepreneurship.

The competition had a very successful Semi Final Judging. Forty three teams submitted plans, which were narrowed down to the top sixteen. Those teams were then paired up with mentors that included industry veterans, entrepreneurs and executives.

Semifinals took place May 17th. A panel of experienced judges witnessed presentations from the sixteen semifinalists. Considering both the business plans and presentations, judges narrowed the field down to the top seven teams.

The final event will take place May 29th on the UCSC campus.

The competition would like to thank all the judges and mentors who helped make the competition a success. The mentors are very involved in industry and also actively participate in the Santa Cruz community. All mentors and judges are acknowledged below.

Judges evaluated student plans. From left to right: Bill Richter, Lafe Vittitoe, Shai Goldman, Doug Brackbill, Eric Mendelson, Michael Meara. Not pictured: Michael Gardner and David Smith

Finalists (Student Teams)
AskOurTechs.com
Lingua Earth
Pherica
Route Me 2
Sky is the Limit
Sustainabites Baby Food
XpertLinx

For more information click here

Keynote Speaker for May 29th Final Event
Philippe Kahn, Fullpower

Finals Judges for the May 29th Presentations
David Heald – Santa Cruz County Bank
Cliff Warren – RayTek
Judy Owen, Calumet Ventures
Mir Imran, Incube
Narinder Kapany, Famous Entrepreneur
Laura Bushnell, Latham & Watkins (IP Attorney)
Kittu Kolluri – New Enterprise Associates
Kumar Malavalli – Inmage
Chester Wang – Acorn Campus

Chirag Sharma of Sky is the Limit presents to judges during semifinals.

Semi Finals Judges
Shai Goldman, SVB
Lafe Vittitoe, SVB
Teresa Tomei, SBDC
Michael Gardner, Ketera
Eric Mendelson, Lighthouse Bank
Michael Meara, Pacific Mountain Advisors
David Smith, “Startup to IPO”
Doug Brackbill, Visto
Bill Richter, IP Lawyer

Teams mingle at NextSpace while waiting for their presentation time slot.

Mentors
Eric Ornas, Satori Labs, Mentored Sky is the Limit
Bill Jordan, SBM2G, Mentored Eco Diamond
Claire Schneeberger, Monarch Media, Mentored ACR
Jim Brock, Attributor, Mentored Xpert Linx
Jerry Sadin, Independent, Mentored Magic Hat
Marty Picco, Self, Mentored 33Link
Steven Olson, New Venture Support, Mentored Siris
Robert Blumberg, Soquel Group, Mentored EZAxes
Jim Graham, Jim Graham Public Relations, Mentored MacroHard
Doug Erickson, SugarCRM, Mentored Ask Our Techs
Matt Guerrieri, Opus, Mentored Tri Solar
Kai Pommerenke, UCSC, Mentored Pherica
Tom McKay, Tidal microWave LLC, Mentored Route Me 2
Robert Siegel, X/Seed Capital Management, Mentored Gallant
David Britton, SBN Association, Mentored Sustainabites
Nirvikar Singh, UCSC, Mentored Lingua Earth

Michael Gardner (right) and other judges watch the last of Semi Finalist presentations.

Other Mentors Who Volunteered Time
Reesa Abrams, Techno-Coach
Caleb Baskin, Baskin & Grant
Donna Fedor, The Arden Technology Group
Thomas Leavitt, Godmoma’s Forge
John Marshall, Market Motive
Andrew Mueller, Sagas
Margaret Rosas, Quiddities
Anil Sahai, AndesITUSA
Ian Stock, EntrepreLaw

Congratulations to the New Officer Team

Congratulations officer team!

Today we held our annual elections at the University Economics Association. I am very proud of all the outgoing officers and I am extremely excited about what the new team will bring. This year we have accomplished a lot and it looks like the new team will build on our successes and improve on our shortcomings.

The new officers are:

President: Alysha Pascua

Vice President: Lester Mopas

Director of Finance: Brandon Ellis

Director of University Relations: Nick Park

Director of Career Opportunities: Richard Shall

Director of Marketing: Diana Rosenberg

Director of Fundraising: Courtney Cox

Director of Community Relations: Charmaine Estacio

Director of Administration: Nick Chagniot

Director of Information Technology: Paul Atunov

Director of Graduate studies: Mateaus Tunstall

For a list of officer positions you can check out the UEA Website

CocoNOT

Yesterday, I bought a coconut and a lime. I was expecting to be taken back to my last vacation to Mexico when a friendly young vendor created a coconutty masterpiece for me with a machete for only 5 pesos. This coconutty experience cost me the equivalent of 33 pesos and was far from a “masterpiece.”

First, I am never buying fruit/coconuts at Safeway again. Their fruit selection is so boring (apples and oranges) and has at least 2 weeks left before they are ripe. The only coconuts I found looked like the picture posted. I was unsure of what I actually bought, but had no other choice due to the poor fruit selection at Safeway. I bought it only because a colorful label pasted to a plastic wrap informed us that this tan, oddly shaped, sort-of soft creature was indeed a coconut.

The coconut even came with some super easy to follow instructions. Cut off the triangular point and pry open the coconut. It sounded so simple, but once I figured out that this object was actually a coconut, I realized that it would be an impossible task. After 20 minutes of sawing away at the coconut we got to the juice.

The juice tasted like a bitter version of elmer’s glue. After all that work, 33 pesos and risking my fingers, I had the worst coconut experience ever.

…More like cocoNOT.

Maybe I should have looked at this site first.

When a Pack of Cigarettes Costs $222

A post from the Freakonomics Blog. An interesting way to think about the true cost of something.

Kip Viscusi, who teaches economics and law at Vanderbilt Law School, has written widely and well on the risky choices that people make, especially smoking.

A new working paper, co-authored with Joni Hersch, attempts to put a price on each pack of cigarettes smoked:

This article estimates the mortality cost of smoking based on the first labor market estimates of the value of statistical life by smoking status. Using these values in conjunction with the increase in the mortality risk over the life cycle due to smoking, the value of statistical life by age and gender, and information on the number of packs smoked over the life cycle, produces an estimate of the private mortality cost of smoking of $222 per pack for men and $94 per pack for women in 2006 dollars, based on a 3 percent discount rate. At discount rates of 15 percent or more, the cost decreases to under $25 per pack.

By comparison, eating a cheeseburger is much, much cheaper.

State of the New Santa Cruz Tech Scene

A post in Jeremey Nuener’s Blog. Lots of cool stuff happening in Santa Cruz. I’m so excited that the Business Plan Competition gets to be a part of this movement. If you are in Santa Cruz, get involved and make a difference!

The other day, I spent the morning hanging out with Margaret Rosas, Founder and Chief Strategist at the strategic web consultancy Quiddities. The Santa Cruz Sentinel had just run a story on Margaret and her team (we lovingly call them The Q-Mamas) about how their company—and our town—thrive on collaboration. As we washed coffee cups (a morning ritual at NextSpace), Margaret and I reminisced about the first time we spoke to each other over the phone in October 2007 and how we both lamented the lack of a vibrant, collaborative tech scene here in Santa Cruz. And then we marveled at how far our town and our amazingly innovative tech community have come lately.

So, inspired by my conversation with Margaret, here’s a quick (okay, not so quick!) run-down of what’s happened over the past 18 months regarding the tech scene in Santa Cruz. Please take a look. And if I’ve missed something, please drop a comment and let me know. Meanwhile, I think you’ll be pretty damn impressed with the state of the tech community in Santa Cruz….

Geek Dinners

It all started on November 30, 2007 with the inaugural Santa Cruz Geek Dinner. Local visionaries Margaret Rosas, Sean Tario, and Sol Lipman decided to put a stake in the ground, gather some talented people, and start building a community. One of the attendees, David Beach, predicted that this dinner would be the first of a series of events that would put Santa Cruz back on the tech map.  Beach’s words proved prophetic. Through the Geek Dinners, Beach met Sol Lipman. Together, along with Jakey Knobel, they started 12seconds.tv, the hottest social media start-up on the planet. I think that counts as “putting Santa Cruz back on the tech map.” The Geek Dinners continue to draw dozens of talented Santa Cruzans every month.

Santa Cruz Geeks

Hard on the heels of the Geek Dinners came the Santa Cruz Geeks, a virtual and physical community of local techies. Now over 250 strong, the Geeks form the backbone of the Santa Cruz tech community. Most important, the Geeks prove that this town is chock full of talented, innovative, successful tech professionals who are passionately committed to building great companies in Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz Design + Innovation Center

January 2008 marked the official launch of the Santa Cruz Design + Innovation Center. Recognizing that Santa Cruz is a hub of world-class design talent, the SCD+IC was formed as an advocacy group to promote that talent to the rest of the world. Over 300 people packed into an auditorium at Plantronics for the SCD+IC’s launch event, proving that the design and technology community in Santa Cruz was hungry for opportunities to organize, network, and collaborate. Aside: Plantronics is one of Santa Cruz’s great home-grown companies. They designed the headset that Neil Armstrong wore on the moon in 1969 and have been designing great products in Santa Cruz ever since. Rockstar/Boy-Genius Darrin Caddes is Plantronics VP of Design and is a huge (and remarkably humble) fixture in the Santa Cruz tech scene.

Santa Cruz New Technology Alliance MeetUp

Another local visionary, Doug Erickson, started the Santa Cruz New Tech Alliance MeetUp in February 2008. Like many of us in Santa Cruz, Doug has deep professional connections in Silicon Valley. But he knew very few of his fellow Santa Cruzans. Yet, he had a pretty strong hunch that there was a community-in-waiting of local techies in this town. So Doug started the New Tech MeetUp. He had three goals: create a monthly networking event for Santa Cruz high tech professionals, increase our exposure to new technologies that would tickle our geek gears, and stimulate beachhead startups. With humble beginnings (39 attendees crammed into the police department’s community room with no Internet access), Doug has grown the MeetUp into an organization nearly 600 strong.

Approval of the Delaware Addition

In July 2008, the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously approved the Delaware Addition project. Designed by local architect Mark Primack and spearheaded by Craig French from Redtree Properties, this 20 acre, LEED-certified, mixed-use, live/work development on the city’s Westside will provide the infrastructure that the next generation of Santa Cruz companies will need. Most important, the approval of Delaware Addition is the first major piece of public policy indicating that this community understands the direction that the local economy is heading: towards smaller, collaborative, environmentally-minded, high-tech businesses.

Freelance Camp

For a long time, the Santa Cruz tech scene has been famously decentralized. Many Santa Cruzans work as consultants, independent contractors, or telecommuters for larger companies in Silicon Valley and throughout the rest of the world. But independents lack opportunities for community, collaboration, and connection. So Shane Pearlman and Peter Chester (they run a company called, you guessed it, Shane & Peter, Inc.) decided to herd the cats. In August 2008, they hosted Freelance Camp for over 125 freelancers and independent consultants. This barcamp-style unconference provided yet another community-building opportunity as local freelancers shared ideas on how to run a one-person shop. Even better, Freelance Camp has become a home-grown national phenomenon, with similar conferences popping up in places like Miami, Houston, and Austin. Hey, just one more step in putting Santa Cruz back on the tech map.

Digital Media Factory

Santa Cruz is building a new digital information industry. And Marty Collins, CEO of the Digital Media Factory and thirty-year industry veteran, is leading the charge. In Marty’s words, “the Digital Media Factory is a multi-business facility for the design, development, production, replication, management, and distribution of digital information products.” In my words, DMF is pure genius. Why? Because Marty believes in community. He’s gathered over a dozen digital media businesses under one roof to share resources, talent, and opportunities. Even more important, Marty is leveraging the immense talent pool at UC Santa Cruz. He’s developed partnerships with UC Santa Cruz’s Digital Arts and New Media program, as well as the UCSC Baskin School of Engineering. Which brings me to…..

UC Santa Cruz/City of Santa Cruz Legal Settlement

Universities are amazing repositories of talents, ideas, and innovations. From an economic perspective, universities are fertile ground for new companies that can boost the economies of their host cities. Heck, Silicon Valley was practically built by Stanford spin-outs. Why can’t that phenomenon happen with UC Santa Cruz and the City of Santa Cruz? It can. And it will, especially now that the UCSC and the City have stopped suing the bejeezus out of each other over UCSC’s long-range development plan. The legal settlement, announced in August 2008, marks the beginning of what I call “The Great Thaw.” It’s high time for the UCSC to show some leadership in using its pool of talent to help build local business and the local economy. And it’s even higher time for the citizens of Santa Cruz to recognize that UCSC is a tremendous asset to the community, rather than a liability. I’m incredibly optimistic.

NextSpace Grand Opening

Amidst all of this excitement, NextSpace Coworking + Innovation, Inc. officially opened its doors on October 1, 2008. We started with a handful of true-believing early adopters.  But in six short months, our community of innovators has grown to over 100 strong.  What’s happening at NextSpace?  A lot.  Take a look at this post on The NextSpace Effect for a quick rundown. Mostly, I want to acknowledge that NextSpace would not be possible without the vision, passion, and hard work of all of the people mentioned in this post.

Radio Engage

New media? Old media? The smart ladies at Quiddities think you can have both.  They received a Knight News Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to fund their new project Radio Engage.  In their words, Radio Engage is a platform allowing public radio stations to create a web presence that will draw their local community in and invite them to participate through social media.  In my words, Radio Engage will totally revolutionize how public radio stations interact with their listeners.  Quiddities teamed up with Santa Cruz’s own KUSP as a test platform for Radio Engage.  As part of the project, Quiddities hosted Public Media Camp in November 2008, bringing  public media and social media experts from around the country to Santa Cruz to discuss the future of public radio.  Are you catching the themes that we’re building here: high tech, collaborative, community-based business and innovation.

Pilot Project for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Remember how I said a minute ago that I was incredibly optimistic about the emerging relationship between the City of Santa Cruz and UC Santa Cruz? Here’s the first proof point: The Pilot Project for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Hatched in December 2008 by Bonnie Lipscomb (City of Santa Cruz Director of Economic Development) and Nirvikar Singh (Special Assistant to the Chancellor at UCSC), PPIE brings together undergraduate business teams from UCSC with local business mentors. The first round of projects focused on bicycles and other forms of alternative transportation, a perfect fit for the tech-savvy, sustainability-focused crowd in Santa Cruz.

Launch of CruzBusiness.com

Peter Koht, the economic development coordinator for the City of Santa Cruz, is a man on a mission. Peter knew that the City offered plenty of economic development resources, but those resources were often disparate and hard to find. Seemingly overnight, Peter launched CruzBusiness.com, an interactive, community-based portal for information about starting and sustaining a business in Santa Cruz. Peter’s work is an important step in accomplishing his—and the City’s—mission of recruiting, attracting, and retaining great businesses in Santa Cruz.

The Envision Santa Cruz Summit

In March 2009, Sean Tario (man, that guy is everywhere!) hosted the first Envision Santa Cruz Summit at the UCSC University Center. Sean’s objectives for the Summit were to assemble thought leaders in local entrepreneurship and economic development, to celebrate the amazing companies and resources in Santa Cruz, and to inspire Santa Cruzans to take a more active role in building their local economy. Over 150 people showed up to discuss the economic future of our community. Decades from now, when someone writes a book about the economic history of Santa Cruz, Sean’s summit will definitely be one of the highlights.

Girls in Tech

The latest group on the scene is the Santa Cruz chapter of Girls in Tech.  Founded by Seana Sullivan and Victoria Crimmins, this group focuses on “engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology.”  Their first event brought author and journalist Sarah Lacy to town. More important, this group provides a much-needed acknowledgement and celebration of the critical contributions that women make to our local tech scene.

UC Santa Cruz Business Plan Competition

Right now, as I type, as you read, 16 business teams from UCSC are going head-to-head in the first-ever UCSC Business Plan Competition. The semi-finals are on April 17, 2009, and the finals are in late May 2009. Local investors, bankers, and business leaders are judging the competition. Remember how I said a minute ago that I was incredibly optimistic about the emerging relationship between the City of Santa Cruz and UC Santa Cruz? The UCSC Business Plan Competition is proof point #2. Stay tuned….

Right, so, that’s the low-down. This has been a long post, mostly because so many cool things are happening in Santa Cruz around high tech, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and community-based economies. We’ve come a long way as a community in the past 18 months. So where are we now?  I think the best benchmark is the number of companies that have started up or are ready to scale here in Santa Cruz.  Here’s a quick list of just a handful:  12seconds, UserVoice, Pergamum Systems, ProductOps, Intuvo, RideSpring, ZoomPool, Verdafero, Zazengo, Studio Cruz, Chime Interactive, Virtual Venues, Market Motive, and Digital Media Factory.  Not too shabby for this beautiful, brilliant, creative, innovative little seaside town.

As I said at the top, please comment if I’ve missed something in this lengthy round-up. Meanwhile, what’s next? I have some ideas. What are yours?

5 Goals for the Upcoming Election

The election of new officers is coming up soon. Today we are doing an election informational so that new members are clear on what expectations are. When I joined the University Economics Association (UEA), I saw many possibilities for improvement and many ways that the organization can change UC Santa Cruz. In some ways, the UEA has met its goal. In other ways, the UEA has much room for improvement. To you my young and aspiring officers I have some goals that the organization can surely achieve.

1. Get every officer involved: Ensure that each officer doesn’t bite off more than they can chew. It is not fair to the organization when an officer is involved in three other clubs. Officers who are involved and can set goals for themselves and the organization can accomplish great things. The best way to make sure that officers are involved is to elect those that will truly dedicate themselves to the organization. Officers, set goals for yourself and meet them. You’ll feel very accomplished and want to do it again.

2. Improve/continue Member involvement: Have more and better-organized socials. Call members to invite them personally. We did that a few times and it worked great. Also, meet all the members and introduce them to each other. Smile.

3. Get new companies on campus: There are many obstacles to improving recruiting on our campus. First, make friends with the protesters at our career fairs and encourage them not to protest on the biggest event of the year. Contact employers and personally invite them. Employers will be delighted to see the talent at UC Santa Cruz. Also, continue to run and improve our career and executive panels. They are a great benefit to students.

4. Continue the business plan competition and create new projects: The Business Plan Competition is a great opportunity for students and a great way to network. It also builds a vital connection between the students, university, city of Santa Cruz, and industry. Also, as you have seen, anything is possible. Work together to put together awesome projects. Eleven people working together can accomplish anything.

5. Keep in touch: Maintain UEA contacts. They will be some of the greatest connections we may ever have. I see the brightest students at our meetings and I know that each member will do something great in the future. Also, keep in contact with faculty and professors. They are a great help and will open many doors on campus.

5.5 Keep up the good work: You’ve done an awesome job and I know you can do even better!

What Happened to Investigative Reporting?

Last Thursday, as I was starting this blog in the late night hours, my phone stopped working. Someone had cut the fiber optic cables of AT&T. My phone is Verizon, but my service died as well. I went into work the next day and the Internet wasn’t working. I ate at Woodstock’s and they couldn’t take credit cards. 911 wasn’t even working. Pandemonium.

My phone, as well as those of everyone I knew, were not working until late on Thursday. Once I had internet access, the first thing I did was go on Google News to see the major headlines decrying how Silicon Valley was cut off from Society. Instead, the only news I was greeted with were articles from local papers.

I searched in Major papers for a mention and I came across this NY Times briefing. It totaled 103 words. What? Where are the stories of people’s dispair? The statistics on lost productivity? The implications on the war on Terror? There are so many good angles to write about, yet the major press has been hush hush about the whole incident. A curious phenomenon that certainly warrants more investigation, something our press doesn’t seem to be doing.