#LafayetteLives #LafayetteStrong #Love

2014 Evolve or Perish Becoming the CIO of the Future

Are you ready to be the CIO of the future? See the insights of Doug Menefee, a personal friend and fellow Lafayette, LA native 

Radio Radio & Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band @ Festival Internationale de Louisiane

Image Courtesy of Festival International de Louisiane

We recently celebrated the 2014 Festival International de Louisiane here in Lafayette, LA - truly one of my favorite reasons to be back living in Cajun Country.  If you weren't able to "come festival with us" this year, you missed out on an amazing celebration of french music, food, and culture - but don't worry you can come pass a good time with us next year when we do it all again!

I was only able to catch a few shows this year, but two of my favorite bands in the world happened to be playing and delivered amazing performances. In honor of both my own "patrimoine français" & this year's lineup, here's a few of my take-aways "en francsais," as Madame Price would remind me to say ;)

Birthday Wishes to Jennifer Kendrick & Joining the Comit Developers Team!

Are you talking to me?

So I've been contracting now at Comit Developers (and it's sister e-commerce company Ameda Direct / ACA Ventures) for almost a year, but I've recently decided to join the team as a full time employee.

I'm excited about the vision of our leadership team over at Comit Developers and I've been honored to have the opportunity to be a part of such an AMAZING group of individuals in the design, development, engineering, and internet marketing / SEO divisions within this keiretsu (i've always wanted to work that term into a blog post...).

One of the main reasons I decided to join the team at Comit Developers and Ameda Direct is their genuinely open culture and their commitment to assembling the best team possible from a diverse mix of people.  

It's that diversity and the distinct personalities and perspectives of all the members of our organization that allows us to attack problems from many different angles simultaneously and that same diversity helps us to develop truly innovative solutions to the challenges our customers face every day.

Billy Joel Plays George Rodrigue's Blue Dog Steinway During New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Fundraiser

Billy Joel stops into the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) to play the Rodrigue Steinway for the 2013 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Fundraiser Courtesy Musings of an Artist's Wife

Another inspiring post from Musings of an Artist's Wife - By Wendy Rodrigue, Wife of Artist George Rodrigue

This time of year is a wonderful time to be living in Cajun Country.  Not only is it Crawfish season, but for several weekends in a row we celebrate the amazing cultural heritage of our south Louisiana communities.

I'm particularly fond of the Festival International de Louisiane and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, having spent a substantial chunk of my childhood in both Lafayette and New Orleans.  In Wendy Rodrigue's latest blog post, she shares some of the ways music, art, and storytelling intersect through George Rodrigue's own past.

... AND Billy Joel stops by to jam on George Rodrigue's Blue Dog Steinway piano!

Festival International de Louisiane - Best World Music Festival - Come Festival With Us in Lafayette, LA

Parc International for Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette Louisiana

Free Event: Fiber for Breakfast :: Fueling Healthcare - See how Lafayette, LA is using innovative fiber-powered technologies to deliver new experiences in patient care.

Screen Capture - The Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) Center's Home Page

One of the reasons Sam and I were excited to move back to Lafayette from Austin, TX was the innovative things the community was doing around Fiber To The Home.

That's why I'm delighted to share this wonderful free event with you that is being held at the LITE Center in Lafayette, LA : Fiber for Breakfast: Fueling Healthcare.

During the event, there will be brief presentations from representatives from

• Lafayette General Medical Center
• Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center
• Acadian Companies
• Schumacher Group

I can assure you this is not an event you are going to want to miss....Plus if you're one of the first 25 there, you get a free lunch.

Louisiana Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne on hand for Premiere of World's First Tourism-Focused Multi-Touch Interactive Table Exhibit for St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission

Casey Deshotels (right) CEO of Teamwork Solutions Group demonstrates custom interactive software running on the 55" Ideum Pro Table for Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne (3rd from right) and onlookers - Image - DailyWorld

As many of you know, I've been incredibly lucky to have completed a year-long engagement working with a fantastic team of individuals over at Teamwork Solution Group, and they just recently unveiled one of the most exciting projects I've ever had a chance to work on.

Discover Level Up, Lafayette! Watch this intimate discussion of a revolutionary idea between a Mayor & the Youth of Lafayette, LA

* UPDATE * 

1. After some testing, I have confirmed that you can vote at least once per day per browser, so check back daily and keep voting for Level Up, Lafayette! #LevelUpLFT
2. Your mileage may vary, but if you want to support a fantastic idea, keep going back and vote as often as you can!
3. Voting Link - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/vote-mayors-challenge-fan_n_2716857.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

* UPDATE *

Lafayette, Louisiana http://www.lafayettela.gov residents will generate epic wins by creating and playing Community Enrichment Games (Level Up, Lafayette!) that will define awe-inspiring goals, missions, and achievements for the community at large. Gaming for social good meets "Innovation with an accent" as a new paradigm to tackle civic issues.

Epic Wins / noun / 1. Opportunities for ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Many cities have played games to examine solitary municipal problems (e.g. budget roleplaying). We want to establish a platform of community enrichment games, or gaming for social good, as a new paradigm to tackle civic issues.

Level Up, Lafayette! is our community-wide initiative to play multiple games, generate epic wins and increase quality of life for all residents - even those who aren’t playing (yet). Our idea is gamification at its best - applying game-design thinking and mechanics to non-game contexts (civic behavior).

Lafayette residents are primed for epic wins. We are developing a Comprehensive Plan to guide our municipal growth for the next 20 years. Level Up, Lafayette! will be the catalyst for implementation. Level Up, Lafayette! will address a range of everyday community issues including health, civic engagement, volunteerism, technology & transparency, and cross-generational engagement.

Lafayette has a long history of engaging residents to shape their own future. Most recently in 2005 residents approved bonds to create LUS Fiber, which has since provided 100% fiber optic access to all of Lafayette and nurtured technology entrepreneurs. Our civically engaged award winning business community has several strong subsets - including young professionals, French speakers, local food activists, and fiber junkies. Level Up, Lafayette! will thoughtfully use these talents and resources to develop Community Enrichment Games (CEG).

Level Up, Lafayette! exemplifies the stretch principle. Lafayette Consolidated Government (LCG) very deliberately included partners from other sectors beginning with the ideation process to ensure open communication and buy-in. A group of thinkers representing local and state government, education (K12 & higher ed), technology, advertising, medical, and nonprofit worked together to develop Level Up, Lafayette! Each person was excited about what they could contribute on an individual basis and what his/her organization could contribute at a systemic level.

Lafayette has incubated several projects that link resources across sectors, such as partnerships between universities and hospitals, local government and nonprofits, and combinations thereof. The impact and reach of Level Up, Lafayette! will be amplified by these types of collaborative relationships.

Level Up, Lafayette! is a creative way to engage residents of all ages and backgrounds to leverage each other’s interests and talents for public good. Level Up, Lafayette! will empower players to “improve the community” (an intangible concept) on a very personal, tangible, attainable level – through games. These early adopters will tag others throughout the community and Level Up, Lafayette! will grow to include as many residents that will play.

LCG’s QUEST: To develop and implement Level Up, Lafayette!: a scalable platform of a minimum of 6-8 (critical mass) different CEG structured around goals in volunteerism ; philanthropy, health, wellness, arts & culture, cross-generational engagement, technology & transparency, and civic engagement.

Activities

• Create framework for an LCG games team and core group of engaged residents (gamekeepers) who will collaborate with designers and business partners to create games such as (working titles) Land of Lafayette, Healthy Living Club, Bounce, Virtual City Hall, etc.
• Research established social interaction games; adapt and form partnerships. Build upon existing relationships with non-governmental partners (business, education, nonprofits) to create incentives and mutually beneficial game-related initiatives.
• Technically and programmatically develop games. Design missions, achievements, goals, rules, feedback systems (points, levels, progress bars). Create websites, apps, physical frameworks. Launch betas and pilot programs. Play
• Fine-tune player and community engagement strategies. Expand Level Up, Lafayette! to all residents via huge publicity push. Measure outputs, outcomes and impact. Develop endowment and sustainability strategy. Coordinate open-source sharing and wikis to help replicate Level Up, Lafayette! in other cities.
• Keep playing! Recruit other players for missions and quests that will translate into tangible impact in Lafayette Parish.

Vote for Lafayette! Help us change the way Government, Citizens, Students, Non-Profits, Businesses, and Civic Organizations engage to bring about positive social change!

Voting Link - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/vote-mayors-challenge-fan_n_2716857.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Full Writeup from LCG City-Parish President Joey Durel - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joey-durel/mayors-challenge-lafayett_b_2711335.html?utm_hp_ref=business

Background Info - https://www.facebook.com/beejhuff/posts/131621353670742

Official Top 20 Finalist Announcement from LCG City Parish President's office - http://www.lafayettela.gov/presidents/dpt120pressreleases.asp?id=7550

NextCity Article - http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/mayors-challenge-finalists-announced

Original Concept Breakdown for Finalist Application - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B61AoF0XVMZ-clY0cUprWUlkVWM/edit?usp=sharing

Musings of an Artist's Wife: Blue Dog, The Book George Rodrigue & Wendy Rodrigue

If you're a fan of George Rodrigue, you owe it to yourself to read this post from his wife, Wendy.  She chronicles the media explosion that they experienced right as they tied the knot and George got his first major book deal.  Follow her blog, it's GREAT!

Musings of an Artist's Wife: Blue Dog, The Book: “To find her you must lose her.   The Blue Dog knows the way.” – Blue Dog , 1994 In March of 1992 journalist Bridget O’Brian ...

the705 - Or How to Pass A Good Time While Getting Engaged in Your Community and Your Professional Development

So we all know it's not easy being  the "new kid."  When Sam and I moved back to Lafayette after spending almost 5 years in Austin, one of my concerns was getting back into the lIocal community while balancing school, an impending Marriage, and both of us taking on new jobs.

Whew, just thinking about those first few months makes me exhausted ;)

We were incredibly fortunate to discover the705 - Young Leaders for a Better Acadiana.  The mission of the705 "focuses on connecting, engaging and leading. Everything that we do as an organization must contain at least one of these components, and in fact, most events encompass all simultaneously."  As you might expect, they have LinkedIn and Facebook pages where you can learn more about them, their Board, and the membership.

It was truly refreshing to discover how welcoming the membership and Board were ...

Lafayette Zombie Competition (With a twist!) and another hit for AMC with "The Walking Dead"

I love it when my home town gets a mention for Zombies.  It happened once while I was in Austin, and now it's happening again in Lafayette, LA!

It turns out that a local Architectural Firm, Architects Southwest, is sponsoring a design competition for the best zombie-apocalypse survival shelter.  You can vote for the one you think is best, and you should do so IMMEDIATELY, if for no other reason than to support a local Lafayette firm with a great sense of humor and a clever knack for marketing in this web 2.0 world of ours.  There's a cool discussion starting up at the voting site, with even funnier ones in full swing on Fark.com and io9.com where I originally picked up the thread.

Did I mention that you should go vote right now?  I loved the boat concept, but agree that it might not be practical on the Mississippi, what do you think?

This has got to be the most well planned Zombie Survival Diagram EVER!

Swamp Romping

It's been awhile since my last post, but worry not, loyal reader(s?), I have been busy.

My most recent outings have been (mostly) documented by my trusty RAZR's phone-cam.

A few weeks ago, I was lamenting about how much I missed home. The music and the food are one of a kind, and I was longing for the spicy flavor of boiled crawfish and the funky chank-a-chank of Zydeco. I happened to be riding my bike in downtown Austin and came across the 2nd Annual Louisiana Swamp Romp.

Sweet! They had crawfish & Zydeco & Traditional Cajun music a-plenty. I really enjoyed it and was able to get some decent shots from the festival:


Fellow Passers of a Good Time. These two were cutting it up to a little Zydeco. Who was playing, you ask? Well, none other than Corey "Lil' Pop" Ledet, all the way from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.



Incidentally, Breaux Bridge is the self-proclaimed Crawfish Capital of the World. Although I'm not sure exactly what that means, if you ever have a chance to visit during their Annual Crawfish Festival, you should. It's pretty amazing - the food is unbelievable and the music is top notch.



The above two pictures are from The Bluerunners. They're a great band from my hometown of Lafayette, LA. I picked up their new CD, Honeyslides, which is pretty damn entertaining. You can check it out on their MySpace page if you don't want to buy the album now (but you should buy it anyway ;) )

Where You From? I'm from Cajun Country where there's Fiber To The Home in Lafayette, LA

For me, the answer to that question is the small Cajun Community of Lafayette, LA. I've spent most of my life there, and it is truly where I call home.

My small town was in the news today, covered by USA Today for it's struggle against BellSouth in providing Fiber Optic Internet to the parish. I'm so happy to see the direction that the community is heading in this area. It really shows a solid grasp of the long-term potential of these technologies and serves as a reminder that not all parts of the state are completely controlled by the "good old boys."

There's a great blog covering the blow by blow at Lafayette Pro-Fiber. You can obviously tell from the title of the site that it's going to lean in one direction, but I'm in favor of the project so go figure?!?!?

I just wanted to throw a little link lovin' and kudos to my friends and family back home who are fighting to give Lafayette a solid technological edge to compete economically.