Come to Zap instead of nextMedia: save money, relax, have fun!

Hey, guess what! There’s another conference happening on Prince Edward Island the same week as Zap!

Now it’s obvious from the nextMedia conference website that they’re working on a whole different level than we are with Zap Your PRAM. They’re well-funded, expensive ($450), pretentious (okay, we’re pretentious too), and have a website entirely contructed from PDF files.

We’re self-funded, cheap ($100), just as pretentious, and have a website that actually uses text and HTML like real websites do.

It will cost you $5,000 to sponsor the nextMedia official opening and luncheon plenary. We’ll let you sponsor a lunch for, say, $400, and we won’t make you say the work “plenary.” Ever.

If you go to next nextMedia, you’ll probably get to hang out with all sorts of people from Technology PEI. We can almost guarantee a completely Technology PEI-free event! We also promise not to use the word cyber. At all.

But I jest, as I’ve set up a false dichotomy: conferences like nextMedia are Prince Edward Island at its deluded “we can play in the bigs leagues” worst. They’re the Newfoundland cucumber factories of the cyber age. All we’re trying to do with Zap Your PRAM is to get some interesting, interested Islanders together with some interesting, interested people from away for a weekend of good conversation, good food and good fun.

So if your life is a PDF file, by all means nextMedia yourself. If you’re RSS, then get Zapped. And if you’re neither, well, feel free to watch from the comfort of home!

Friday, September 12, 2003 - 4:48pm

Comments

Submitted by Steven Garrity (not verified) on Fri, 2003-09-12 15:52.

My life is more RSS than PDF, I’m gonna Zap. That said, I can’t guarantee that I won’t use to term “cyber”. However, if I do use it, it will be as a stand-alone verb meaning “to have sex over the internet” (I’m not clear on how that works, exactly). We also won’t have promotional material with binary-screensaver-stock-photo backgrounds (we don’t really have promotional material at all).

Submitted by Peter Rukavina (not verified) on Fri, 2003-09-12 15:59.

While I can promise not to use the word cyber, I cannot promise not to use the term “information superhighway,” which has now fallen out of favour enough to be cool again, in a retro kinda way.

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Fri, 2003-09-12 16:34.

Hey - even Pat Binns figured out how to turn on his blog. What is up the ZapBlog? And yes, ISH is indeed so back.

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Fri, 2003-09-12 16:38.

BTW, Pierre, cukes comparison = gold.

Submitted by Steven Garrity (not verified) on Fri, 2003-09-12 16:39.

The Zap webblog is coming soon, peanut gallery.

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Fri, 2003-09-12 16:49.

[…scratch, scratch…]

Submitted by Ken (not verified) on Sat, 2003-09-13 13:08.

Alan, you are particularly piqued, what’s thrilling you lately, can you bottle it and send some to me? Faking it, as the government so often does with technology, is one way to real success. Imitation is a form of praise, and no doubt Binns begs the tech Gods to shine their favour on our province, these conferences are sacrifices on the altar of vanity - they feel good. So if PDF is square dancing and RSS awkward disco, where is the mosh pit conference that truly rocks like MIT in PEI?

Submitted by Clark (not verified) on Sun, 2003-09-14 00:49.

My God their whole web site is published in acrobat. I thought you were joking.

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Sun, 2003-09-14 08:58.

You see that way we can’t cut and paste and say bad things about them. Sign of the end times.

Submitted by Will (not verified) on Sun, 2003-09-14 13:50.

Well, you can always use the text select feature in acrobat…

Submitted by Lou Quillio (not verified) on Sun, 2003-09-14 14:30.

My God their whole web site is published in acrobat. “My God, it’s full of stars!”

Submitted by Lou Quillio (not verified) on Sun, 2003-09-14 15:32.

Anybody have any advice on reaching PEI in late October from Albany, NY, USA? The options in play are: Frequent Flier All my FF miles are on NorthWorst and U.S. Scare, so that’s out. Fly from Albany That’s cool, but all of the itineraries have at least three legs, some four. The threes don’t line-up well for weekend travel, anyhow. Much can go wrong. Fly from MontrÉal (J’aime MontrÉal!) Nice three-hour drive to Dorval, but the only direct AC flights are timed wrong. Beyond that there are connections through Halifax. Plus there’s a border to cross. Much can go wrong. Fly from Boston Decent four-hour+ drive to Logan, still no directs. Again connecting through Halifax, though it might make more sense to drive from there, a solution complicated by ferries. Much can go wrong. Drive I’m resisting this one, but maybe shouldn’t. It solves all airline- and ferry-issues, and the Bridge experience would be a bonus. It’s more expensive in time (primary factor), less expensive in dollars. Expedia says it would be 787 miles; figure 13 hours. Thanks to Toyota, almost nothing can go wrong. So if I pad the airport drives by, say, two hours for contingencies and whatnot, the driving legs are 5-6 hours. With connections and all, the flying parts are the same or more. I’m getting close to thirteen hours in any case, and that’s before airline SNAFUs. This is only a weekend, dammit; there’s no wiggle room. Okay, okay, so driving is all that makes sense — but also calls for a copilot, perferrably a nubile one with a chauffeur’s license, good attitude and a winning way. Unless there’s some experimental Canadian hovercraft or teleportation technology I should know about. Dirigible service maybe? Any suggestions on tasteful accommodations in Charlottetown, in case it’s wise to pad things by a day? Something close-in, unpretentious, walk out the door and you’re in the community. Small inn, B&B, that sort of thing. Others might want to know this as well.

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Sun, 2003-09-14 17:39.

Driving is easy. Head across the Mass turnpike to Portland Maine and up to New Brunswick. Hold your breath through St. John, NB. Stop at Fred’s at Cap Pele, NB - about 20 miles shy of the Bridge - for good fried clams. Take Dan James some Bar Harbour Blueberry Ale.

Submitted by Kevin (not verified) on Mon, 2003-09-15 11:31.

From Boston, with a really good lead-foot, you can be walking down Fitzroy Street toward the Shipwright Inn in about twelve hours.

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Mon, 2003-09-15 11:36.

13 with clams.

Submitted by Kevin (not verified) on Mon, 2003-09-15 11:46.

I held my last annual reception at the Shipwright to wonderful reviews. It’s a fabulous location for part of the conference if available.

Submitted by Craig Willson (not verified) on Mon, 2003-09-15 12:04.

Lou - in 29 years I have driven the route from Albany to Charlottetown 51 times. I know what I am talking about. Driving hard and fast, without consideration for any needs of nubile companion, 12 hours from Boston is accurate. My best time from here to Kingston (and hour south of you) was 10 hours 45 minutes. Plan on 14 hours and enjoy the ride. The air connection from Montreal is not bad - also have done it many times. I would suggest the drive. While I have little interest in the interesting people conference, I sure would welcome the chance to buy you an ale. You know where to find me.

Submitted by Lou Quillio (not verified) on Mon, 2003-09-15 23:43.

… I sure would welcome the chance to buy you an ale. No, it’d be my pleasure. But not blueberry, okay Bub? Anything you’d like from home if I can swing this (it’s kinda up to FleetBank at this point)? Maybe a Peppermint Pig from Saratoga Springs, the kind you whack at the table with the provided hammer, then eat the pieces. Nah, that sucks. Wait, I know: the almond horns from Bella Napoli in Troy or Latham. That’s the ticket. World’s finest cookie. Globs of almond paste in a sliver-studded, barely civilized crunchy container. Good with vin rouge, for those not challenged by dread acid reflux disease (ARD).

Submitted by Alan (not verified) on Tue, 2003-09-16 08:23.

Hey - its Dan’s vice, Lou. Willson, give the man one of mine if any are left.

Submitted by Craig Willson (not verified) on Tue, 2003-09-16 09:19.

Ah, most drink when they have bad days. Lou, I have a dozen of Alan’s best - stored in the dark of the cold room and saved for good days. If you make it here - we will finish them. As to what you can bring - if you wobble down to the Malta Branch of Adirondack Trust and invite Barb to come along you might be surprised!

Submitted by Ann (not verified) on Wed, 2003-09-17 09:31.

It all sounds great! Who’s cooking?

Submitted by Peter Rukavina (not verified) on Wed, 2003-09-17 10:55.

We’re working on Karin LaRonde.

Submitted by a (not verified) on Wed, 2004-07-21 19:31.

kevin is retarded