I waxed poetic (or maybe philosophic) on my blog about heading to Mesh.  It is sold out, but Jon and I will be there representing Qumana in all it's glory (Jon, please don't forget my business cards ... we just had spiffy new ones printed!).  I'm sure the shmoozing quotient will be high, but that is an important part of the whole conference thing.  Heck, it's a big reason why I go ... as I discuss here:

So what makes Mesh so great, so important?  Is it that it's Canadian?  Yes, partially.  Canadian innovation and technological leadership often gets overshadowed by our neighbor to the South.  Is it that it's in Toronto? Yes, again.  Toronto is the financial hub of Canada.  While Montreal used to claim that title, they umm, blew it.  But that's a Canadian history/politics thing.  As the financial hub, there is a lot of great business to be interacted with.  Is it the people that are going to be there?  Bingo.  That's why I'm really excited.  The people.  Catching up with old blogging buddies, meeting some people in the flash, and making new friends and connections.  Just like the blogosphere, it's about the people.

So I'll see you there.  I'm starting the journey this evening (one of those living on an Island things), but ya'll know how to reach me.

Catch ya in Hog Town!

Tags: Mesh, Mesh Conference, Toronto, BarCampTdot

One of the great things about working for Qumana is getting to work from home. After the Lycos deal was announced the local paper was interested in talking to be about blogging, the Lycos deal, and most of all how I've been able to do this from the Island. Here is the full-text of the article ... with the picture scanned in :) .

Attack of the Blog: Islander on home page of Internet craze
Salt Spring-based Tris Hussey rides tech-sector success wave

By SEAN MCINTYRE
Driftwood Reporter
When 36-year-old software designer Tris Hussey first encountered the world of blogging back in 2004, he predicted the new medium would mark a sea change rivaled only by Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the 15th century.

Today he’s turned what started out as a passion for technology and a love of communication into a modern-day tech-sector success story. And he’s done it all from a basement suite on Salt Spring Island’s north end.

“When I first got involved, I thought there was too much information,” he said during a recent interview. “Today, the amount of information out there is explosive.”

For the uninitiated, Hussey added, the sheer volume of data on just about any topic under the sun can trigger information overload. Knowing how and where to draw the line is an integral part of the learning process.

“It’s important to read outside your bubble, but you have to pick and choose who you’re going to read,” he said.

For millions of computer users around the world, the blogging boom is the best thing since, well, real living communities. Not only do blogs provide a space where people with varied interests can meet up, discuss and exchange information with each other, but anybody with access to a computer, an Internet connection and something to say can get involved.

“Blogs give individuals the ability to publish on their own, contribute to other discussions and find a place for their opinion,” Hussey said.

Blogs differ from more traditional home pages in that users can easily upload text, pictures, audio clips and even video to the Internet with only minimal computer knowledge. With help from free blog editing software like Blogger and WordPress, anybody can get in on the game and today’s blogs are published from all corners of the world in virtually every language.

The specific definition of a blog, or web log, is difficult to pin down since the medium is undergoing constant change. Wherever they’re headed, Husssey said, blogs have certainly come a long way from their origins as a collection of personal online diaries kept by small groups of computing enthusiasts.

Among the estimated 75,000 blogs started up on the Internet each day are an eclectic blend of opinions, interests and views on every topic imaginable. From relatively trivial matters such as where and how to drink your coffee, to the recent Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting from the heart of hurricane-battered New Orleans, blogs are here to stay. Even family blogs are popping up frequently as an alternative to the more conventional family album or scrapbook.

Hoping to capitalize on the blogging rush, Hussey, along with a handful of partners across North America, developed Qumana, a piece of software geared to help bloggers blog more efficiently.
Meeting with the company’s other partners via the Internet has not only allowed Qumana assemble a workforce from across North America, but allowed Hussey to work in an ideal environment, his home.

“Working out of my home lets me be flexible and spread things out throughout the day,” he said. “The commute to the office is also a lot shorter when you only have to walk across the room.”
After signing a major partnership last month with Lycos U.S., one of Google’s main rivals, Hussey said Qumana’s next goal rests on helping bloggers make a little money.
The online advertising industry is growing between 20 and 30 per cent a year and connecting bloggers with advertisers is already a lucrative business.

“While the vast majority of bloggers won’t get rich, advertising revenue may help them pay for their Internet connection or feed their latté addiction while doing something they enjoy,” Hussey said.

Tags: Tris Hussey, Gulf Islands Driftwood, Salt Spring Island, telecommuting, Qumana, blogging

Despite some computer company announcing yesterday that another company's OS could run on their machines, the buzz on the Blogosphere has been quite respectable. The BlogPulse search says it all I think. The commentary we're getting is pretty insightful. Sure we've been getting the w00ts! and congrats from friends, but there have been comments like:

In a landscape of hyper-acquisitions and VC bulimia, it's nice to see an old-school-netco-meets-web-2.0 alliance where both companies gain--and so do their end users, especially those million++ Tripod and Angelfire folks who now have easy access to a super-easy blogging platform.-- Jeneane Sessum

Wow, I get a day or two behind, and look what I miss. Lycos - one of the Big Names in Internet - and Qumana - one of the Big Names in blogging - have joined forces to present the Lycos-Qumana Blog Editor, and the Lycos-Qumana RSS reader. Through the Lycos-Qumana alliance, Lycos is also offering easy one-stop blogging through their Tripod service.

Want more hype? Try this one on for size. Wired News (a service of Lycos) bloggers are now posting more efficiently thanks to Lycos-Qumana. -- Frye

Other search firms are moving to explore the expansive web as well. Last month, Lycos announced it was introducing a number of self-publishing and distribution options for content creators. It recently entered the VOIP market with Lycos Phone and today announced the release of a desktop Blog editing tool, Lycos-Qumana. -- SEO Blog

Other mentions: C|Net, Blog Herald, WebProNews, Mark Evans

So, what else do we have up our sleeves? Well that would be telling wouldn't it? Let's just say we're not resting on our laurels and are going to stay as busy as ever.

Tags: Lycos-Qumana, Qumana-Lycos, Qumana, Lycos, Tripod, Angelfire, blogging, Q Ads, QReader

Yesterday was a tremendously special day for all of us at Qumana.  Arieanna and Ianiv got married yesterday in a lovely (and short!) ceremony out here in BC.  Boy, what can I say about it.  The location was amazing.  Arieanna looked lovely (as you can see ... and what bride doesn't?) and the reception dinner afterward, OMG it was awesome.  The food and coordination was top notch (I'm still stuffed).

Marriage is a wonderful thing.  It was beautiful to see two people so in love and so perfect for each other tying the knot.

For those of us lucky enough to be there, it was a lovely and touching and fun scene.

For some moments I won't soon forget ...

The Dutch "shoe quiz" ... Arieanna and Ianiv sitting back to back each holding one of their shoes and one of the others.  Arieanna's mom asked them questions like "who is the better driver, who cooks the best, who hogs the covers" ... Then Arieanna and Ianiv held up the shoe corresponding to who they though was ths one.  I don't know what was funnier, when they agreed or disagreed.  The best question ... "Who wears the pants in the family?" ... They each held up their own shoes.  I guess you could call it the "tie-breaker", but from Ianiv's family comes the Challa pull to decide this very question.  Arieanna and Ianiv each held the end of a giant challa (traditional, braided Jewish bread) and pull.  The one with the larger part, wears the pants.  Guess who won ... yep, Arieanna.  That settles that I guess.  Ianiv didn't feel too bad, his mom won too when his parents got married.  Tradition I think.

Now the dancing.  Given Ianiv is of Mexican-Jewish heritage, dancing is going to be a BIG part of the reception.  They danced and danced and yes, Arieanna and Ianiv were hoisted onto chairs and danced around (glad I wasn't on the dance floor then!)

What a sight, what great times.  We all wish them all the best, happiness, love, and joy for years to come

If you'd like to see the pictures from the wedding here is the link to Flickr where all the pictures should start turning up (some of us despite having to take ferries home have managed to get the pictures uploaded).

Tags: blogaholicswed, Arieanna, Ianiv, wedding

I don't think I'm looking forward to anything more in the near future than this event.  Why?  Because I'm going home to Boston to speak with amazing folks like Buzz Bruggerman, Robert Scoble, Bill Flitter, David Geller, and Rick Klau about RSS.  Yawn?  Hardly.  RSS might be the stealth technology of the Internet, but it is the most important (IMHO) and almost most crucial we have now.  I'm going to be on a panel about RSS, talking about using RSS for competitive intel (one of my fav subjects), and leading a hands on workshop after the conference proper (PDF version of the agenda I just got in my e-mail).

It's not too late to sign up and come.  Hey and if you're lucky you might even to get to meet my mom (I think my mom is just as cool as Chris').

See you in Beantown!

Powered by Qumana

Media Contact
Darren Barefoot
Capulet Communications
Ph: 604 727 5345
darren AT capulet.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Qumana and One By One Media Join Forces in the Growing Blogging Marketplace

VANCOUVER, BC – December 12, 2005 – Today, Qumana Software Inc, makers of the blog publishing tool Qumana and blog advertising network AdGenta, have announced a strategic partnership with One By One Media LLC, a blog consultancy and professional blogging service.  One By One will be Qumana’s partner of choice for blog consulting and professional blogging.  One By One’s Bloggers For Hire program hires writers to blog professionally for a variety of popular and corporate blogs. One By One's clients and professional bloggers will use Qumana's blogging tool and AdGenta advertising network to make blogging and monetizing content easy and painless.

This collaboration doesn’t just benefit Qumana and One By One, it’s for bloggers too.  Gold and silver Olympic medalist Scott Goldblatt is one of many Bloggers For Hire pro-bloggers.  Goldblatt is already using Qumana for his three blogs and has good things to say about it.  "Qumana is a multi-blog blogger's dream. It's easy to setup and easier to use.  At the same time, it gives me all the features I need, from WYSIWYG editor to their ad network.  After using Qumana, I'll never use anything else."

"This partnership makes all kinds of sense," says Jim Turner, Chief Managing Partner at One By One Media.  "We've got the expertise to advise new bloggers and a professional blogging network to supply content and experienced bloggers/writers, and Qumana has the right tool and ad network for our clients.""Often there is a temptation for a company to be all things to all people," says Fred Fabro, CEO of Qumana.  "We're focused on our blogging tool Qumana and on the AdGenta network.  One By One's track record makes it easy for us to point our inquiring clients in their direction.  Their network of professional bloggers also gives us invaluable feedback on our tool and ad network."

About Qumana
Qumana’s mission is to make blogging easier and more profitable for bloggers globally.  Qumana is run by Internet industry veterans, hardcore bloggers, software purists, and world-class designers committed to keeping things simple.www.qumana.com – blog.qumana.com

About One By One Media and Bloggers For Hire
One By One Media is a company that strives to help businesses set up blogs and trains them on blogs as marketing tools and revenue-generators.  Bloggers For Hire, a subsidiary of One By One Media, manages a network of professional bloggers and pairs writers with business blog owners to ensure optimal compatibility.www.onebyonemedia.com

Technorati Tags : Qumana, One+By+One+Media, OBO, Bloggers+For+Hire, B4H, blog+consulting, business+blogging

"Advertising is going to be big because advertisers are running out of good places to put ads, and blogs are such a good area," said Tris Hussey, a professional blogger and consultant. "It's going to be huge but it's untapped."

National Post

And this is so true.  Blogs are untapped, but also there is going to be backlash.  There are going to be lots of bloggers who resent seeing ads in posts and ads in feeds.  Well, there are lots of bloggers who are trying to make a living doing this, and writing commissions aren't the only solution.