Geek Girlfriends

Next week, I am off to Portland, Oregon to meet up with a group of my fellow tech-bloggers at Intel’s Upgrade Your Life event. Intel’s Alison sent me the agenda last week. But I only just had a chance to study it last night. It is such a cool lineup of talks with Intel insiders that I actually yelped with excitement. Then I tried to look cool and collected when my daughter came in to see what I was getting all happy about.

Do I really want her to know how much of a geek I am? I tried to think of a way to cover.

Finally I just admitted it. “I’m excited that I’m getting to meet with the people at Intel who play around with the new TV initiative, technology in education, green living, and - tantalizingly in the agenda - mad science. It was like they asked me what I wanted to see and set the whole thing up just for me.”

She gave me her best pouty look. I thought she was going to say something about me being too geeky for her social circle. But I guess that was my generation. Because she said, “I want to go to Intel, too!” She whined and pouted some more - because sometimes she gets what she wants that way. (From her father! Not from me.) “Why can’t I come?” She begged.  ”I want to eat the free food and play volleyball. I want to ride my bike around the campus. Why do you get to have all the fun?” I explained that the food and volleyball (and stuffed animals on desks and pets at work) was Google, where I went last fall. ”Well, I want to meet the guy who invented USB then. And the rock stars who aren’t like mine.”

Okay, I’m putting words in her mouth a little bit. She wanted to go as much as I do is the gist. And she hadn’t even heard the announcement that Google and Intel (and Sony and Logitech) are partnering to launch Google TV.

How about you? Sound like fun? Is there anything you want to ask the folks at Intel? I am happy to ask your questions while I am there. Or you can just follow along. I’ll be posting stories, gossip, photos, and video from the event whenever I get the chance.

And to give you a taste of the cool that is coming, here is a video (above) of Intel’s delightful anthropologist Genevieve Bell talking about TV, Intel, and the work she’s been doing figuring out how people use technology. Apparently her job involves going to people’s houses and watching TV with them. I’m clearly in the wrong line of work. She’ll be in Portland next week at this blogger meet-up, too, so fire away if you have questions/observations you want me to share with her.

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that Intel Corporation has covered my travel, accommodations and costs related to my visit to their Oregon-based offices.

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