shawnokeefe.com

Author: Shawn

  • A Bit of Belgium in Austin

    Cyclocross

    The 2015 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships arrived in Austin this week, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I was this excited about attending a sporting event. What I’m not excited about is the traditional Belgian weather that is accompanying the festivities — it’s freezing outside.

    While I don’t consider myself a photographer, I picked up my DSLR for the first time in ages to shoot the singlespeed championship races on opening day.

    Explore more of my photos and commentary in issue number 20 of Bike Hugger Magazine.

  • Gran Fondo

    Gran Fondo

    Since my jump to self-employment in late July, I’ve longed to take a cycling trip for some quality soul-searching. Nothing hits the reset button for my heart, mind and body more than a challenging bike ride. After ruling out overnight adventures due to my current schedule, I finally decided that November 25th would be the day for my big solo ride. The Tuesday before the Thanksgiving holiday.

    It turned out to be the most perfect of days.

    Inspired in part by Strava’s monthly Gran Fondo challenges, I selected a 70+ mile route that took me from Fredericksburg to Kerrville and back. I went just above the 130 km / 80.6 mile mark to unlock November’s Gran Fondo jersey, a motivational (and marketing) strategy that I find to be very appropriate for the cycling community.

    Countless cattle guards and low-water crossings, plenty of roadkill (mostly armadillos), herds of goats and alpaca, one minor mechanical issue, a mystical moment with three deer running alongside me, the most picturesque Hill Country views this side of the Guadalupe River, a few leg-breaking hills on the return — just a few of the sights and experiences that befell me on the road.

    A few tips and recommendations for this particular route:

    • The Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg has public restrooms. Parking at the Marktplatz worked wonderfully.
    • There is a Jack & Adam’s and Hill Country Bicycle Works in Fredericksburg for any last-minute supplies.
    • Make sure to carry everything you may need. There are long stretches where you won’t come across a convenience store, much less another human being.
    • Just to reinforce the above, bring plenty of water and food.
    • In addition to the usual items for more than one tire repair, make sure to bring your chain tool.
    • Even with next to no traffic in the middle of nowhere, it’s always a good idea to stay as far to the right as possible.
    • When in Fredericksburg, go German for your post-ride feast at the Fredericksburg Brewery.

    Overall a fantastic reminder that it’s the journey, not the destination, that counts.

  • Rock That Font Tees

    Sometimes you want to show your friends and associates that you are a font nerd, and sometimes you want to be a bit more discreet. The monochromatic, dark blue (Pantone 7546) on Indigo (Next Level Tri-Blend) Rock That Font t-shirt keeps things subtle and classy.

    Printed in Austin, Texas by our pals at Industry Print Shop.

    Want one? Head over to the Rock That Font store for details.

  • Apostrophe Cards

    I have an apostrophe in my last name. As a result, I have thwarted computer systems since birth.

    More recent parsing and coding techniques have fortunately helped my surname survive in the digital age, but it’s always mind-numbing to rinse and repeat: “Try your search without the apostrophe in my last name.” And not to mention: “Yes, the letter K is also capitalized.” Both thanks to my proud Irish heritage of course.

    After recently picking up a .industries domain and doing some research for my new company’s look and feel, I fell down into the typographic rabbit hole that is the apostrophe. I’m talking waaaaay deep into various Unicode characters, primes, acute accents and the long history of this somewhat controversial mark.

    “There is not the faintest reason for persisting in the ugly and silly trick of peppering pages with these uncouth bacilli.” – George Bernard Shaw, playwright and hater of the apostrophe

    It turns out that little key to the left of your “Enter” key really isn’t a true apostrophe. It’s a compromised mark that came into being with the typewriter for efficiency’s sake (a “typewriter apostrophe”). Computer keyboards inherited this character and expanded its usage to represent a number of marks. Encodings evolved. To now get a typographic apostrophe, you need to hit a few more keys on your computer keyboard. “Shift + Option + ]” on a Mac and “Alt + 0 1 4 6” on a number pad for Windows. #themoreyouknow

    Apostrophe Business Cards In developing new business cards for Apostrophe Industries, I wanted to make something that evoked creativity and perhaps had some value outside of just my contact information. Instead of a standard card, I decided to create a set of ten unique cards — each showcasing a particular typeface’s apostrophe (blown up to approximately 350 pt). Referencing FontShop’s 100 Best Typefaces of All Time, I selected a few of my faves that were visually distinct and of historic significance:

    1. Helvetica
    2. Bodoni
    3. Futura
    4. Times
    5. Gill Sans
    6. Univers
    7. Optima
    8. Franklin Gothic
    9. DIN
    10. OCR A

    I’m thrilled with how they turned out. The cards are a great conversation piece and often lead to a rather geeky discussion about my passion for design and projects such as Rock That Font.

    Just don’t get me started on “smart quotes.”

  • Taking Off the Training Wheels

    Sometimes I’m asked to write a few words on a particular subject or another. The crew at Bike Hugger once again gave me the opportunity to do just that for their digital magazine.

    “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain

    It’s amazing what your kid can learn, especially when the knowledge comes from others. Sure, my five year-old son is watching and absorbing a vast array of my own unfortunate behaviors — some of my more colorful language for example. But as soon as I rightfully took his training wheels off in an effort to teach him to ride a bicycle, he looked me straight in the eye with a “you’re unqualified for this” stare. And I’m concerned he might be right.

    As a result of our modest progress, I signed him up for a “Biking Class for Kids” with a local shop. On the subject of removing his pedals to first perfect his balance, perhaps he would trust Cindy, the professional mountain biker he met just three minutes ago, more than me.

    “You become a parent thinking you’ll teach your kids, but you soon discover they are the ones doing the teaching.” – The best advice my dad ever gave me (outside of how babies are made)

    The bike class occurred the day before his very first day of kindergarten. Life transitions abound. The thing no one tells you when you become a parent is how vulnerable you will become. How emotional you are when all your childhood fears and traumas of youth spill out. Your heart aches for what is ahead, as you can only protect them from so much.

    “Dad, what if I crash?”

    “Well, sometimes that might happen. But it’s how you’ll learn to become a better rider,” I explain.

    We buy a set of elbow and knee pads.

    “Dad, I’m scared of crashing.”

    “That’s okay… that’s normal. I was okay after I crashed in that race. Remember?” Come to think of it, I wasn’t.

    “Then can I get some gloves like you, Dad?”

    After quite a search for the right size, we buy a pair of gloves with flames on them.

    “You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.” – Grandma from the 1989 film, Parenthood

    “Put on your helmet,” I remind him for the seventh time. A lucky number.

    He builds up some speed, my hand on his back. His feet on the rotating pedals now. A gentle push.

    The letting go.

    He rides on his own about 30 feet down the sidewalk, loses his balance and topples hard on the concrete.

    My heart skips a beat.

    How we recover from the crashes in our life make us who we are. I’m at once terrified, proud and excited to see what he does next.

    Photo by Adrienne O’Keefe.

  • Dadtalk

    I am very honored to have participated in the latest Dads.Co podcast with Aussie and super-nice-guy Murray Galbraith. I could have rambled on with Murray for hours, but fortunately he kept me in check at about 45 minutes. You can subscribe and listen via iTunes.

    Some of the topics we discussed: SXSW, The Tour De France, Apostrophe Industries (my new consulting company), Rock That Font, The American Analog Set, littleBits, Sparkfun, Adafruit, Austin’s Pixelwood Derby, Knight Rider, The Internet of Things, Google buying Nest Labs and the future of your connected home.

  • A Chapter Ends, Another Begins

    Today is my last day in the SXSW office.

    After 14 years, I’ve decided to open a new chapter in my life and embark on an unknown adventure.

    I first heard mention of SXSW as an aspiring musician in my early 20s. During my only experience busking on 6th street on a particularly warm Saturday, I was courted by an LA-based producer who explained there was a music industry conference and festival going on. He repeated the name of the event three times before it stuck: South by Southwest.

    He had never heard of my then-favorite-band Guided by Voices, a fact I used as a good excuse to not send him any kind of demo. I knew in my heart it wasn’t the right opportunity, but I now know that I let the fear of failure get the best of me. This was around the time that Andrew Kenny brought me into the American Analog Set family, and I am indebted to him for those years that I toured with the band. I saw the country. I shook hands with many of my musical influences and heroes. I went about my youthful ways.

    A couple of years later, while finishing up in the Communications / New Media program at UT Austin, a teaching assistant recommended that I volunteer for the Interactive component of SXSW. His name is Dr. Wei Yeh (who joined the SXSW staff full-time in 2010). He and others in the department exposed me to the fast-evolving digital world — inspiring me to put down my guitar and pick up code. My new rock’n’roll.

    I volunteered for SXSW Interactive in March 2000, where I first met my future director, mentor and friend Hugh Forrest. Thanks to a strong recommendation from Wei, in November of that year I was hired to coordinate what was then known as the SXSW Web Awards. Back then the event attracted hundreds of registrants instead of the thousands it draws today. The Interactive team at the time was just Hugh, Jason McVearry and me (pictured above on a trip to the Webbys in 2001).

    Those days were quite a struggle for SXSW Interactive. Few understood the value of a generalist tech event that focused on creativity, whose identity was at the intersection of industries and somewhat lost in the bursting of the dot-com bubble. And no one at the company was all that concerned with what we were doing either. We operated like a skunkworks of sorts, throwing ideas and strategies against the wall to see what stuck. Experimentation and iteration. Rinse and repeat. That 2001-2005 period helped us develop the processes and brains to grow the event into what it is today.

    So many wonderful memories. Too many treasured experiences to share here.

    I’m proud of what I’ve helped build at SXSW Interactive, and the role it plays as a community platform. The Internet IRL. But more than anything, I’m proud of the team at SXSW. I’m eternally grateful to my soon-to-be former cohorts for all that we have experienced and learned together. It’s been one hell of a ride, and they already know that we will remain family. I’m also forever thankful to founder Roland Swenson and Hugh for their caring guidance over the years. They’ve seen me through the ups and downs.

    What am I up to next? Honestly, I’m not really sure.

    My son starts kindergarden this fall, so I plan to spend as much time with him as possible until the first day of school. I plan to go on more bike rides, clear my thoughts, remove a decade of stress from my body, and figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

    Otherwise, I’m keeping my eyes and ears open to new opportunities, possibilities, futures — as well as doing some consulting in the short-term.

    Now is the time for new efforts and fresh challenges. To cast away any fear of failure that once sabotaged the musician in me. To accept the range of wild emotions that I am feeling in this moment.

    The future is wide open. And right now, that’s the best feeling of all.

  • Smart People & Smart Cities

    I’m honored to head to Milan next week to speak at Wired’s Smart People & Smart Cities event. It’s shaping up to be fantastic with an intriguing lineup of speakers, a hackathon involving Audi / Enel / D-Share, a dance at the Museum of Science and Technology, workshops for families and much more. The hashtag to participate on Twitter or follow the action from home is #smartwired14.

    The current title of my talk is: “SXSW & Austin: The Internet IRL.” I’m excited to share some little-known facts about the evolution of SXSW and event design, some of Austin’s iconic street art, and what I see as playing the most important role in the future of cities.

  • A “Hello World” from Apostrophe Industries

    After years of conducting design services and creative consulting under various DBAs, I finally made things a bit more official with the creation of Apostrophe Industries, LLC in January.

    There’s an excitement that comes with starting something anew — all potential futures intact. My brain is already firing on all cylinders with ideas regarding the company’s look/feel/identity.

    Can’t wait to share more.

  • Intersections

    My personal resolution for 2014 is to be less concerned with following trends, and instead focus on working towards sustainable changes in my life. I’m betting the year 2014 will include some big transformations and challenges (not to mention turning “the big four zero” later this year).

    With the above resolution in mind, I was honored to once again present at Eurosonic Noorderslag in January and participate in the BUMA Music Meets Tech jury.

    While developing my keynote, I decided to incorporate my resolution into my talk at Eurosonic. Instead of just sharing emerging trends, I looked at industry changes through a framework of intersections between different sectors and what ultimately would have significant impact in 2014. As history indicates, once consumers get creative with a developing technology, it starts to really take off in surprising ways.

    My slides (4.5MB PDF) showcased a number of topics of interest including 3D printing, micro-controllers, DIY Internet of Things, wearables, augmented reality, personalized medicine, citizen science and more.