Meet Walmart Labs: Portland's Latest Mobile Powerhouse
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Aileen Jeffries, Cloud Four
Jan 24, 2012, 5:49:59 PM1/24/12
to Mobile Portland
Monday,Jan 30th. Doors open at 5:30. Please RSVP
[http://mobileportland.com/events/walmart-labs]
The news that Walmart had acquired local iOS development agency
Small Society surprised many people. Twitter was abuzz with
questions like:
* Walmart has an office in Portland?
* Why did Walmart Labs decide to locate an office in Portland?
* What is Walmart Labs and what does it do?
* Why did Small Society decide to join Walmart Labs?
Press Coverage:
[http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/01/
walmart_labs_acquires_portland.html]
For those familiar with Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer, these
aren't new questions. After many years working for companies like
Mozilla and Palm and starting the popular Ajaxian blog, Ben and
Dion finally struck out on their own and created a company
called SetDirection [http://setdirection.com/].
The company operated in stealth mode making many curious what Ben
and Dion where working on. But within a few months, Ben and Dion
announced that SetDirection had been acquired by Walmart and
that they were going to lead Walmart's mobile efforts.
Something's up at Walmart Labs. Well-respected mobile
professionals keep announcing that their careers have taken a
surprising turn. It is clear that Walmart Labs has been
assembling a fantastic team—many members of which call our fair
city home.
Join us at Mobile Portland where we will hear from Ben and Dion
what Walmart Labs does, what excited them about the opportunity,
and why they chose Portland. Then Raven Zachary and James Keller
, formerly co-founders of Small Society, will join Ben and Dion
and talk about their decision to sell Small Society and join the
Walmart Labs team.
***Doors open for networking at 5:30. Meeting starts at 6 pm.***
About the Speakers
Dion Almaer, VP Mobile Architecture, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/dalmaer]
Dion Almaer is a technologist who loves to code and build. He and
his long time partner-in-crime Ben Galbraith recently brought
their team to Walmart to power the mobile engineering efforts.
He enjoys sharing his passion for software production across
various communities, including a new property called
[http://FunctionSource.com].
Dion has been writing Web applications since it took over from
Gopher. He has been fortunate enough to speak around the world,
has published many articles, a book, and of course covers life
the universe and everything on his blog at http://almaer.com/blog.
He has been called a human aggregator, and you can see that in
full force if you follow him on Twitter @dalmaer.
Ben Galbraith, Vice-President, Mobile Engineering, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/bgalbs],
Ben Galbraith, together with his long-time friend Dion Almaer,
forms one-half of the dynamic "Ben and Dion" duo that founded
Ajaxian.com, headed Developer Tools at Mozilla, ran Developer
Relations at Palm and is now running mobile architecture and
engineering at Walmart.com after being acquired along with their
start-up team in early 2011.
Ben's been writing code since he was six and starting businesses
since he was ten; he's written books, given hundreds of award
-winning presentations world-wide, produced a few technical
conferences, sold three companies, and has held CEO, CIO, CTO,
and Software Architect positions in the medical, publishing,
media, consumer electronics, advertising, software and internet
industries. He lives in Palo Alto with his wife and five
children and blogs at [http://FunctionSource.com].
James Keller, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/semaphoria]
James Keller is a digital communications strategist and user
experience evangelist at Small Society, a small agency based in
Portland with a passion for the iPhone™ platform, dedicated to
helping organizations bring great ideas to life. Before joining
the Small Society team, James was at Wieden+Kennedy helping the
Portland office align client business goals and brand
experiences with emerging technologies.
Leveraging her extensive knowledge of interaction design,
business analysis, campaign analytics, and integrated marketing
communications, she has led multiple teams in creating efficient
and effective online strategies for top brands such as Coca-Cola
, NIKE, Procter & Gamble, Levi's, LAIKA Studio, Zipcar, and the
MTV Networks. She can frequently be seen at conferences speaking
on topics such as information architecture, social media, and
convergent culture.
Raven Zachary, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/ravenme]
Raven Zachary is President of Small Society, working with big
brands, established companies, investors, and startups on iPhone
strategy and product development. Raven directed the Obama '08
for iPhone application for the Obama Campaign, and has worked
with companies such as Whole Foods Market, Zipcar, CLIF BAR, and
Air New Zealand on iPhone application initiatives. He is the
founder of iPhoneDevCamp, a not-for-profit iPhone developer
conference. Raven is also a Contributing Analyst with The 451
Group, an IT industry analyst firm and works closely with
O'Reilly Media on iPhone and mobile technology related events
and coverage. He is regularly quoted by the press about the
iPhone market and is a frequent conference speaker on the topic.
**Meet Walmart Labs: Portland's Latest Mobile Powerhouse**
Monday, January 30th, 6pm
Doors open at 5:30
Urban Airship / Cloud Four
334 NW 11th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
RSVP
[http://mobileportland.com/events/walmart-labs]
Thanks to our Sponsors
Thanks to azad [http://www.azad.com], Urban Airship
[http://urbanairship.com] and Cloud Four [http://cloudfour.com]
for helping sponsor Mobile Portland this month.
About Mobile Portland
Mobile Portland is a non-profit organization dedicated to
educating, promoting and supporting the mobile technology
community in Portland, Oregon and the surrounding areas. We
gather on the fourth Monday of every month for presentations,
discussion and networking.
You received this message because you are a member of the
Mobile Portland Google Group. Manage your email preferences:
[http://groups.google.com/group/mobile-portland/subscribe]
[http://mobileportland.com/events/walmart-labs]
The news that Walmart had acquired local iOS development agency
Small Society surprised many people. Twitter was abuzz with
questions like:
* Walmart has an office in Portland?
* Why did Walmart Labs decide to locate an office in Portland?
* What is Walmart Labs and what does it do?
* Why did Small Society decide to join Walmart Labs?
Press Coverage:
[http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/01/
walmart_labs_acquires_portland.html]
For those familiar with Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer, these
aren't new questions. After many years working for companies like
Mozilla and Palm and starting the popular Ajaxian blog, Ben and
Dion finally struck out on their own and created a company
called SetDirection [http://setdirection.com/].
The company operated in stealth mode making many curious what Ben
and Dion where working on. But within a few months, Ben and Dion
announced that SetDirection had been acquired by Walmart and
that they were going to lead Walmart's mobile efforts.
Something's up at Walmart Labs. Well-respected mobile
professionals keep announcing that their careers have taken a
surprising turn. It is clear that Walmart Labs has been
assembling a fantastic team—many members of which call our fair
city home.
Join us at Mobile Portland where we will hear from Ben and Dion
what Walmart Labs does, what excited them about the opportunity,
and why they chose Portland. Then Raven Zachary and James Keller
, formerly co-founders of Small Society, will join Ben and Dion
and talk about their decision to sell Small Society and join the
Walmart Labs team.
***Doors open for networking at 5:30. Meeting starts at 6 pm.***
About the Speakers
Dion Almaer, VP Mobile Architecture, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/dalmaer]
Dion Almaer is a technologist who loves to code and build. He and
his long time partner-in-crime Ben Galbraith recently brought
their team to Walmart to power the mobile engineering efforts.
He enjoys sharing his passion for software production across
various communities, including a new property called
[http://FunctionSource.com].
Dion has been writing Web applications since it took over from
Gopher. He has been fortunate enough to speak around the world,
has published many articles, a book, and of course covers life
the universe and everything on his blog at http://almaer.com/blog.
He has been called a human aggregator, and you can see that in
full force if you follow him on Twitter @dalmaer.
Ben Galbraith, Vice-President, Mobile Engineering, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/bgalbs],
Ben Galbraith, together with his long-time friend Dion Almaer,
forms one-half of the dynamic "Ben and Dion" duo that founded
Ajaxian.com, headed Developer Tools at Mozilla, ran Developer
Relations at Palm and is now running mobile architecture and
engineering at Walmart.com after being acquired along with their
start-up team in early 2011.
Ben's been writing code since he was six and starting businesses
since he was ten; he's written books, given hundreds of award
-winning presentations world-wide, produced a few technical
conferences, sold three companies, and has held CEO, CIO, CTO,
and Software Architect positions in the medical, publishing,
media, consumer electronics, advertising, software and internet
industries. He lives in Palo Alto with his wife and five
children and blogs at [http://FunctionSource.com].
James Keller, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/semaphoria]
James Keller is a digital communications strategist and user
experience evangelist at Small Society, a small agency based in
Portland with a passion for the iPhone™ platform, dedicated to
helping organizations bring great ideas to life. Before joining
the Small Society team, James was at Wieden+Kennedy helping the
Portland office align client business goals and brand
experiences with emerging technologies.
Leveraging her extensive knowledge of interaction design,
business analysis, campaign analytics, and integrated marketing
communications, she has led multiple teams in creating efficient
and effective online strategies for top brands such as Coca-Cola
, NIKE, Procter & Gamble, Levi's, LAIKA Studio, Zipcar, and the
MTV Networks. She can frequently be seen at conferences speaking
on topics such as information architecture, social media, and
convergent culture.
Raven Zachary, Walmart
[http://twitter.com/ravenme]
Raven Zachary is President of Small Society, working with big
brands, established companies, investors, and startups on iPhone
strategy and product development. Raven directed the Obama '08
for iPhone application for the Obama Campaign, and has worked
with companies such as Whole Foods Market, Zipcar, CLIF BAR, and
Air New Zealand on iPhone application initiatives. He is the
founder of iPhoneDevCamp, a not-for-profit iPhone developer
conference. Raven is also a Contributing Analyst with The 451
Group, an IT industry analyst firm and works closely with
O'Reilly Media on iPhone and mobile technology related events
and coverage. He is regularly quoted by the press about the
iPhone market and is a frequent conference speaker on the topic.
**Meet Walmart Labs: Portland's Latest Mobile Powerhouse**
Monday, January 30th, 6pm
Doors open at 5:30
Urban Airship / Cloud Four
334 NW 11th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
RSVP
[http://mobileportland.com/events/walmart-labs]
Thanks to our Sponsors
Thanks to azad [http://www.azad.com], Urban Airship
[http://urbanairship.com] and Cloud Four [http://cloudfour.com]
for helping sponsor Mobile Portland this month.
About Mobile Portland
Mobile Portland is a non-profit organization dedicated to
educating, promoting and supporting the mobile technology
community in Portland, Oregon and the surrounding areas. We
gather on the fourth Monday of every month for presentations,
discussion and networking.
You received this message because you are a member of the
Mobile Portland Google Group. Manage your email preferences:
[http://groups.google.com/group/mobile-portland/subscribe]
Michael Harper
Jan 24, 2012, 9:12:46 PM1/24/12
to mobile-...@googlegroups.com
Any chance of webcasting the meetup?
Michael
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Seth Shikora
Jan 24, 2012, 9:38:57 PM1/24/12
to mobile-...@googlegroups.com
Abstract Machines
Jan 25, 2012, 10:15:20 AM1/25/12
to mobile-...@googlegroups.com, mobile-...@googlegroups.com
Howdy folks,
What do you all think of portland companies being sold to WalMart?
If this is off topic I apologize. I've run my own small business in portland for 11 years. I'm curious as to how selling a business to WalMart will affect our local economy.
Have a good day,
Amanda Machina
Sent from my iPhone
John Keith
Jan 25, 2012, 2:43:16 AM1/25/12
to mobile-...@googlegroups.com
And as always, thanks Seth. That webcast has saved me several times :)
Jason Grigsby
Jan 28, 2012, 9:11:23 PM1/28/12
to mobile-...@googlegroups.com
I suspect that part of the reason for the high number of RSVPs for Monday’s event is because others are wondering similar thoughts.
I know Dion, Ben, Raven and James well enough to know that their choices were well considered decisions. I’m looking forward to hearing from them their logic and thoughts.
Without that side of the story, it is too difficult evaluate. I encourage you to come on Monday to listen and ask questions. :-)
-Jason
--
Jason Grigsby
+1 (503) 290-1090 o
+1 (503) 502-7211 m
ja...@cloudfour.com
http://cloudfour.com
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Adrian Harris Crowne
Jan 31, 2012, 12:39:16 AM1/31/12
to mobile-...@googlegroups.com
Thanks to all for a great event. What an amazing turnout!
Congrats,
Adrian
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