Geoffrey H Wood

Hope has Fridays off this summer and today she decided to hang out with Graham downtown. He loves this Lion-shaped walker that my Aunt & Uncle gave him for Christmas last year but he doesn't have a lot of flat surface to walk with it in our house. Hope took the Lion downtown today and let him roam around the sidewalks in the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden. She sent me this image from her iPhone with him in front of the iconic "Nomade" statue.

Almost 11 months ago, my wife and I both quit our jobs in Indianapolis and moved to Des Moines. She was set to start classes at Drake Law but I wasn't quite sure how I would spend my time. Looking back, it's been a great year.

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I always cringe a bit when people ask me: What do you do? Typically, it's a filler question. It's one of those you're required to ask when you meet someone new. If what they do is interesting, you'll ask follow up questions. I hate answering it.

It's not that what I do isn't interesting (if it wasn't, I wouldn't being doing it) it just doesn't fit into a simple box like "I'm a lawyer" or "I'm in insurance".

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I've been a consumer of podcasts for several years. It started as far back as 2002 when I would download the Bob & Tom Show directly from their website(1) for something fun to listen to at work. I took a bit of hiatus from it for awhile and then picked it up in earnest about 24 months ago.

I now listen to a multitude of podcasts - from comedy, to educational, to sports - because it helps me feel like I'm not wasting any part of my day. I listen in coffee shops, I listen while washing dishes and I listen while in the car.

Last week, I made the jump from simply consuming this audio content to creating it. I teamed up with experienced podcaster Andy Brudtkuhl in Des Moines to create PrairieCast, a weekly discussion of and with entrepreneurs and innovators in Des Moines and on the Silicon Prairie.

We've recorded one episode and are set to record our second one this week. You can find PrairieCast at the link above or subscribe to it through iTunes. Additionally, Andy has a long standing podcast called "Managing the Edge" and he had me on as his guest last Friday. Check out that episode here.

(1)I don't think it was even called podcasting, yet.

My wife and I randomly decided to stop in to Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery on Saturday night for some food and drinks. We’d enjoyed lunch there earlier in the week and so it was top of mind in the typical “where do we want to go” debate.

As an avid Foursquare player, I checked in earlier in the week and when I went to check in this time I noticed a “Special Offer” tag that I didn’t remember from checking in before. It turns out that the good folks at Rock Bottom had decided to offer happy hour pricing all day long to whoever holds the title of Mayor at their location within the Foursquare platform. Upon checking in, this image popped up on my phone:

Sweet! Not my first Mayorship but my first one that actually provided a tangible reward. We stayed for a few drinks and an appetizer and walked out with a bill of less than $15!

I know that a lot of non-user folks don’t see the point of Foursquare but I’ve always found it fun. Now that it’s paying off, I’m all in.

Also, I was quoted in the Des Moines Register about Des Moines businesses using Foursquare. Check it out here.

I don't know the specifics but I'm guessing that I'm not in the target demographic for O, The Oprah Magazine. However, I caught a tweet today that announced that Oprah (or more likely one of her staffers) had decided Iowa (the state) was in fact 1 of the 100 "people, places, ideas, and stuff [the magazine is] loving more than ever."

Iowa clocks in at #32 and is one of three geographic places on the list (we rank behind formerly looted, ransacked and hurricane-devastated Oak Street in New Orleans and ahead of the hydrogen-bombed Bikini Atoll).

32. Iowa 
Legalizing gay marriage in 2009 + producing artisanal charcuterie (try La Quercia's organic prosciutto) + University of Iowa football landing among the top 25 college teams for the fifth time this decade + ranking second on MainStreet.com 's Happiness Index = one seriously happening Hawkeye State. 

Don't get me wrong, it's great for our state to get publicity. I agree that Iowa has improved and I'm in a somewhat unique position to see that since we moved back here last summer after five years living out-of-state. However, I do question their formula they provide above. The legalization of gay marriage is certainly worthy of such a determination (and, in my opinion, should be celebrated) but I question the other three.

Item 2 - Apparrently, we now produce "artisanal charcuterie". I admit, I had no idea what "charcuterie" is but according to the interwebs it's the "branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products". I've never tried La Quercia's prosciutto (nor do I have any idea where in Iowa "La Quercia" is located) but I bet it doesn't hold a candle to Mr. Porkchop on RAGBRAI.

Item 3 - Hawkeye Football. Really? I get it, Hawkeye football is good. I'm not a fan but that's neither here nor there. Quoting their ranking doesn't make a lot of sense since it's the judgement of external sports media (and coaches secretaries). Collegiate sports are divisive in this state; the Hawkeyes are no more the Iowa's team than are the Cyclones and it doesn't make sense to use either.

Item 4 - Mainstreet.com's Happiness Index. I s'pose it's a good thing that this website's subjective combination of "Non-mortgage debt as a % of Annual Income", "unemployment rate" and "foreclosure rate" for our state is more favorable than it is for 48 other states, it doesn't mean anything to me as Iowan.

As I said, cheers to Oprah for recognizing Iowa (although being on the same plain as a hurricane ravaged neighborhood and an American bomb testing location makes me worry about what she formerly thought of us) but next time dig a bit deeper and showcase our true accomplishments.

Local leaderboardWe’re now into our second week of having access to Foursquare in Des Moines(1) and I’ve seen enough to form some opinions on the service:

For more thoughts on how Foursquare is being implemented in Des Moines, see Nathan T Wright's post on the LavaRow blog: How and why I’m using Foursquare

And, for general Foursquare etiquette check out A guide to Foursquare etiquette on OldMediaNewTricks.com.

1. And everywhere else.