DISQUS

How do I love edufire? Let me count the ways:

1) Jon Bischke's just the bomb -- you can't help but love the guy :-)

2) What's better than chatting with someone in real-time, halfway across the world? It's flat-out awesome

3) www.twitter.com/edufire -- nuff said

4) free lessons!

5) congratulatory blog posts -- gotta love 'em!

Oh yeah, I be twitterin!

http://www.twitter.com/daveschappell

Thanks for the good tidings, Jon -- wish you the best as well!

Now, off for a hike with my wife and Zach the Dog (TeachStreet's Security and Morale Booster)

TeachStreet couldn't agree with you more -- I use the Jon Bischke "turn teachers into rock stars" quote several times a week, I think! Hope the eduFire team's doing great...

Dave

Funny, but I didn't think of the event as being a PR-stage at all, so on that front, they probably won in a pretty big way. Having the celebrity effect (Mike Arrington) probably helped pull the larger crowd, but the topic was timely, and the discussion as a lot more lively than you get at most panel events, probably because so many of the folks in the crowd knew several people in the room.

Now that I know that there were several paid bloggers in the room, it makes me wonder a little, but really, I don't have a major problem with it -- at the end of the day, their coverage has to be based on the quality of the product and the perceived impact on customers.

Onward...

Was great meeting you last Thursday, and then seeing you again on Friday -- hope to get TeachStreet Team down there more often in coming weeks/months!

Dave
Founder and CEO, TeachStreet

Thanks for the TeachStreet coverage -- we really appreciate it. And, we're extremely excited about today's Portland launch -- reaction to TeachStreet in Seattle has been fantastic, and we're hoping of more of the same in the Rose City :-)

Happy Monday!

Dave

Was great meeting you yesterday at the expo, todd -- like I said, I'm a huge MyBlogLog fan, and look forward to staying in touch, and hearing about new things you work on. Ping me if you come to Seattle -- we'll get Sawicki to buy us coffee :-)

Dave

Hey Mark -- I'm not sure we actually provided the detailed instructions on how to raise the money -- that could take a few more hours, but I'd be happy to do that for a low hourly free :-)

Seriously, we're really happy with how the last few days post-launch have gone (system's stayed stable, and fast) and user feedback has been fantastic.

Lots more to build, obviously, but we wanted to make sure we had broad/deep class experience to evaluate features and uptake, and we chose our Seattle backyard for that, since it was easier to talk with teachers in person and to get usability feedback. In addition, we wanted to make sure our data collection process was working smoothly before investing in too many cities at once.

Hope to get to the Bay area soon -- later this summer?

Dave (founder and CEO)

p.s. I'm down in SF for Web 2.0 Expo thur EOD Thurs 4/24/08 -- ping me if you're around!

Jon -- this was a great post -- I actually started to read it several days ago, and then just saved it because I wanted to read it more closely. What we're building is probably addressing more of the disintermediation aspect (using the web to directly connect the parties) and what you're building is more removing the removal of physical boundaries -- I think they're all going to rapidly fall over the next 5-15 years (yes, that's a fast cycle!) and that we're all playing small/large parts of the shift. I really look forward to helping to expedite this transition.

Best of luck to EduFire!

Dave

funny... i saw depeche mode play as well, around the same time... in philly somewhere... can't remember the name of the place, but i felt quite cool going to see them... wearing my long black trenchcoat, black boots, and mini-mullet complete with gelled/spiked hair :-)

Hey Jon -- thanks for the link! Remember, the race is on to launch day -- last one to open beta buys the drinks!

We probably need some rules, eh? Public launch, accessible by folks without a private beta key :-)

Onward!

Wait... you can't hire Todd... he's supposed to be working for TeachStreet in a few weeks! Of course, as long as you agree to pay him, and we can just use his 'off-hours-time', I think we can live with the arrangement.

Seriously, great addition!

Bravo

My mind recently shifted a bit about stuff because of two things:
1) I started a company, and am stressing constantly about my declining net worth :-)
2) I read a book called "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert -- I forget all of the lessons the book imparted, but I remember the fact that there's a huge disconnect between how much happiness objects give you as compared to what you think they will, before you buy them

Onward!