Last month we went to Thirsty Fellow after the meetup, only to learn that Wednesdays are Trivia nights. That made it tough to get a table. We’re going to give the Fellow another try after this month’s meetup as there are no sponsored events on Tuesdays. Now that Fall is here, the lows are starting to dip into the 60s, which might make the outdoor deck a possibility.

This Month’s Talks:

NoSQL for the Masses

Fred Alger (@_phred) – FoxyCart
What can I, a designer who doesn’t code, do with a NoSQL database? What IS this NoSQL thing? You probably know your way around front-end code and how to setup a basic CMS, but what if you need to store some stuff in a database and get it back out? Enter, CouchDB and MongoDB, your new best friends.

HTML Email and Double Rainbows

Julia Anderson (@Blueys) – Period Three
It’s a task that has been labeled the antithesis to joy and happiness. A job so brow furrowing that Mike Rowe has yet to attempt it. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? We are of course talking about HTML Email. Julia will explain the in’s and out’s of designing for the inbox and provide tips that will keep you sane as you develop your own full-on HTML Emails.

Featured Book:

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we give away a free book at each of our meetups. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Introducing HTML5 by Bruce Lawson & Remy Sharp. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in list, so be sure to show up and sign-in for a chance to win.

When: August 31st, 2010 at 6pm
Where: USC Swearingen Faculty Lounge – 301 Main Street (map)
Topic: NoSQL and HTML Email
RSVP: On Facebook

JOB SUMMARY: The developer will lead the integration of the company’s legacy technology with new and emerging technologies, to provide more efficient processes for day-to-day publishing of the company’s digital media content. These efforts must result in driving incremental revenue and traffic.

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Primary responsibilities involve the integration of the company’s legacy technology with new and emerging technologies and developing and implementing new digital media products and maintaining and improving upon existing products and sites. This includes but is not limited to setting up databases, manipulating open source code, writing database queries, and using PHP, CSS, HTML, XML, Flash, PhotoShop, Javascript, Django, Ruby, Python and other applications to enhance The State Media Company’s web sites, digital products and processes.

More details… (.doc file)

To apply, contact:
Matthew Ipsan
VP, Interactive Media
(803)771-8624
mipsan [at] thestate [dot] com

To record Tweets about posts made here, I’m using Twitoaster. This nifty WordPress plugin monitors Twitter for @Replies, RTs and links to this post and adds them as actual WordPress comments.

Woot!

That’s all for now.

According to WPBook, any post made here (assuming *cough* you’re reading this on the blog) will still appear in Facebook, but (and this is really cool) comments made on Facebook will be syndicated to the blog and vice versa. It doesn’t completely glue together the fractured world of social media, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Setup was very straightforward:

1. From the WordPress Plugins Page in Admin, click “Add New”
2. Search for WPBook and click “Install”
3. Click “WPBook” in the Settings Sidebar
4. Click the “Detailed Instructions” link near the top of the page
5. Follow this page word-for-word…

Yea, I know, that was pretty sad for a tutorial. There are a quite a few steps involved with setting up the Facebook application, adding the app to your fan page and configuring WPBook, but the directions are pretty straightforward. You can check out the Refresh Blog’s evil Facebook twin at http://apps.facebook.com/refreshcolumbia.

I’m not sure why this post didn’t get pulled in as a wall post on the Refresh Columbia fan page but as you can see below, comments from the blog and from the post on Facebook show up in both places.

Great, but what about Twitter?

I also just added the Twitoaster plugin which promises to pull any tweet that links to this post as a comment as well. Time to tweet it from the Refresh Columbia account to see if it shows up!

I’m excited to announce that we now have over 150 people subscribed to our email list and 128 fans of our Facebook page, but we typically only have 20-30 people show up at our monthly meetups. While we work hard to line up interesting and relevant talks each month, the main purpose of Refresh is to build a community of local web designers, developers, freelancers, project managers, business owners, animators, videographers, photographers and anyone else whose personal and professional endeavors focus on the web. If you’ve never made it out to one of our meetups before or if it’s been a while, we hope you can make it out this month. Since our meetups start at 6, we like to pick a place to hang out afterwards for dinner and drinks. This month we’ll be headed to Thirsty Fellow for some great local pizza and nerdy conversation. Even if you can’t make it to the meetup, feel free to join us at Thirsty Fellow around 7:30pm.

This Month’s Talks:

Access Denied

Will McCain (@aisyrn) – SC Assistive Technology Program
We all want the world to appreciate the work we do, but not everybody is able to get around the Internet with the same ease. That’s where Assistive Technology comes in. Will is going to give a brief overview of the primary standards for Internet accessibility. Next, he’ll give a demonstration of common problems that users with disabilities have to overcome along with examples of some of the technology that they use to deal with them. He’ll wrap up with suggestions on how to avoid common accessibility and usability problems.

Squarespace Superhero

Kris Black (@krisblack) – krisblack.com
When it comes to content management systems, there is no shortage of options to choose from. Kris has been using Squarespace to build websites for his clients since 2004, long before he was hired by the company as a customer support architect. He’ll be talking about what Squarespace is, how it differs from all the other CMS options out there & why you should give it a try for your next website project.

Featured Book:

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we give away a free book at each of our meetups. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Rework by Jason Freid & David Heinemeier Hansson. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in list, so be sure to show up and sign-in for a chance to win.

When: July 28th, 2010 at 6pm
Where: USC Swearingen Faculty Lounge – 301 Main Street (map)
Topic: Accessibility & Squarespace
RSVP: On Facebook

Reminder: There’s no meetup this week! We’re taking the month of June off, since Converge was last weekend. We’ll be picking back up again with our regular monthly meetups on July 28th. Seeya then!

Tickets for each film are $5.50 for AIGA members and $8.50 for non-members and can be purchased from the box office at The Nickelodeon (present your AIGA member card to receive the member discount) or online at www.nickelodeon.org.

For more details, visit http://southcarolina.aiga.org/

We are looking for a highly creative graphic designer to
immediately join our team in Columbia, SC.

As a team member at LoudDoor, you will enjoy our work hard/play hard environment. We are looking for a team player that is creative, articulate, and able to multi-task. This position will be under the guidance of our Art director, but can eventually take on more individual responsibilities. Must have extensive knowledge Photoshop and proficient in Dreamweaver, HTML, CSS, Flash and Illustrator. This position mainly involves web projects but does occasionally involve print.

About LoudDoor: We strive to solve complex problems with simple solutions through the development of web applications and services with a focus on social media and emerging technologies.

Requirements:

• Strong portfolio of web design work
• Experience: 1-2 years designing for web related projects
• Education: B.S./B.A. degree in an appropriate technology or business related field or any formal training

Location: This is a fulltime position in our Columbia, SC office.
Compensation: Very competitive salary according to experience plus health, dental, and other benefits.

To apply, send us an email (jobs@louddoor.com) and tell us about yourself and your work. Include a link to your resume and up-to-date portfolio.

This Month’s Talks:

IP Basics & the Knowledge Economy

Calhoun “Reb” Thomas – Thomas Law Firm & KnowledgeEconomy.com
If you have any questions about intellectual property, you won’t want to miss this talk. Reb will give a brief summary of Patent, Trademark, and Copyright law in the context of software and the Internet. He’ll also invite the audience to consider how they can get more involved in the Knowledge Economy, and answer as many questions as time allows.

Scaling your Site

James Martin – SouthernSavers.com
Over the last 2 1/2 years, James & Jenny Martin’s Southern Savers website has grown from a simple WordPress.com hosted blog about using coupons to a thriving web community with thousands of daily visitors. So what do you do when the traffic starts pouring in? James will be giving a technical talk about how to keep your load low, your data safe and visitors happy as you scale your website.

Featured Book:

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we give away a free book at each of our meetups. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in sheet, so be sure to show up and sign-in for a chance to win.

When: May 26th, 2010 at 6pm
Where: USC Swearingen Faculty Lounge – 301 Main Street (map)
Topic: Intellectual Property & Site Scaling
RSVP: On Facebook

Digital Ad Operations Associate (Ad Trafficker)

• Manage key lifecycle stages of digital media campaigns from creative asset testing and QA, to trafficking, troubleshooting, maintenance and optimization.
• Work closely with members of the Media, Creative and Account Service teams to maintain digital ads on all digital media plans.

Download full position details: bounce-digiadops-position.doc (45kb)

Digital Project Manager

• Managing custom digital media production’s initiatives including defining resources (internal and external), scheduling, and program implementation
• Using functional specs, work with creative, media and account service teams to oversee the production of digital media projects

Download full position details: bounce-dpm-position.doc (274kb)

For more information or to apply to either of these positions, contact The Bounce Agency.