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September 29, 2006
September 21, 2006 Dallas Meetup...
Nice to come back to Dallas. 90 degrees at 10pm... wow.
Thanks to everyone who came to Mark Cuban's Magnolia Theatre downtown. Great spot for a meetup. Learned among other things, that much of college radio is programmed automatically. Stunned me.
Hope we had a small enough size for her...!
Next stop Los Angeles...
Posted by Tim Westergren at 5:55 PM | Comments (20)
September 27, 2006
Meetup in Los Angeles!
Heading south to the city of angels... Come join us for a town hall meeting on Thursday night in Hollywood.
Details:
When: Thursday, September 28th, 2006 - 7:00pm
Where: The Silent Theatre
611 N. Fairfax Avenue (just south of Melrose)
Please rsvp to tour@pandora.com. Should be a great conversation - hopefully we'll have a good contingent of folks from the biz... We'll of course have our pandora gifts too.
Posted by Tim Westergren at 4:58 PM | Comments (12)
September 22, 2006
Tribute to the Triangle!
What a week! Charlottesville, Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill (plus Dallas last night, recap of that on the next post). Beautiful part of the country, super-hospitable people, and lots of music. Been a while since I've seen so much green.
Thanks to everyone who attended the various meetings and talks. I left town energized and armed with a bunch of great new ideas. I've posted some pix and thoughts below... if you have any you'd like me to add, please send 'em in - tour@pandora.com
First stop was Charlottesville, VA and UVA's gorgeous campus where I spoke to Prof. Fred Maus's music theory class...
Not a bad looking music building!
Very cool to hear that they're really integrating rock/pop music into the core curriculum. I learned how hard it is to keep chalk from squeaking when you write on a chalkboard...
Enjoyable lunch with Brad, the first luddite blogger I've met. He writes for thetechlounge.com. We both stopped by Plan9 Music store (clear favorite on the blog comments and emails - thanks everyone) to pick up some local discs. The impact of the DMB success is very noticeable - they've done a lot to promote music locally.
Raced across campus to Darden school to speak with a group of MBA students.
So much green everywhere... Thanks to Miguel and his entrepreneurs group for a stimulating discussion. Felt like something of an imposter given my rather lackluster educational history...
Drove back across town for a meetup at the Gravity Lounge - one of the best music rooms I've seen in a while. Paradise for an acoustic show - you don't find a lot of spots that are clearly built with a music-appreciating audience in mind. Low ceilings, rugs and nice absorbent bookshelves around the room. Took a picture of the venue pre-meeting.
About 50 folks showed up for a lively dialogue. Lots of discussion about how we create 'sets' on pandora playlists.
Ran out of steam, so skipped the clubs that night. Recovering the previous night's redeye.
Woke up bright and early the next day for the 4 hour drive to Raleigh Durham. Where I started the day at Duke with Prof. Marc Farris' advanced music theory class. Some sharp kids there - learned that a IV-I cadence is called "plagal". Suggested that modes would make for good genome genes - the "phrygian" construct of some rock is a signature style.
Spent the afternoon chatting with folks at Fuqua BSchool, followed by great dinner with some of the students. "I want to start my own company" was clearly the theme. The business discussions definitely are invaluable in stimulating thoughts about how to make this whole thing work. I also learned that undergrads campout for months to enter the lottery to get basketball season tickets... biz school students in RVs, ugrads in tents!
Another beautiful day on Wednesday, headed over to Chapel Hill with my wonderful host David - a million thanks to for being such an extraordinary host - driving me around, helping with boxes of hats and Tshirts. Can't thank you enough. Music communities are sure to grow with people like you.
Started at Kenan Flagler, the UNC bschool to speak to a group of entrepreneurs. Sharp questions.
Then met up with some undergrads on the main campus in the blendCoLab group. Really dug talking to the students - about 12 or so. Young and eager to become entrepreneurs. Also some interesting perspective on community sites. On the way out David and I stopped by SchoolKids Records (thanks all ye commenters) to pick up local stuff. There are clearly some consensus local favs - headed for the Music Genome.
Got together with about 100 folks at the Carolina Theatre that evening for a terrific meetup. People talked a lot about different ways to start stations - mood, genre, and a random start station... also a strong desire to be able to control the playlists through specific musical attributes.
Also a lot about commerce - how to fulfill more of our catalogue. We went for a couple hours, and kept rapping afterwards with some hardy souls. It's just so great to see such enthusiasm for music. Also very pleased by the reception of our new pandora gear! More options and finally some style :)
Topped the evening off with a great show from Calexico (thanks for rallying Jennifer!) at the fabled local Cat's Cradle (definitely the consensus favorite spot among the blog commenters). Cool room and great sound. Had to capture the wall-o-posters. THis is giggin' country.
Slept the sleep of the dead...
Up early and on to Dallas, TX... to be continued.
Posted by Tim Westergren at 1:29 PM
September 20, 2006
Dallas Meetup!
Moving on south! This Thursday, September 21th, we're meeting Pandora listeners at the Magnolia Theatre in Dallas. All the meetups this week have been really fantastic, and we'll be sure to share some recaps soon.
Details:
When: Thursday, September 21th, 2006 - 7:00pm
Where: Magnolia Theatre
3699 McKinney Avenue Directions
This is a FREE event. Seating is limited, so if you'd like to attend, please RSVP to tour@pandora.com with "Dallas" in the subject line.
Hope to see you there! Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 10:45 PM | Comments (10)
September 19, 2006
Durham Meetup!
Our fall tour continues! This Wednesday, September 20th, we're meeting Pandora listeners from the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill areas at the Carolina Theater in Durham.
Details:
When: Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 - 7:00pm
Where: Carolina Theater
309 West Morgan Street Directions
This is a FREE event. Seating is limited, so if you'd like to attend, please RSVP to tour@pandora.com with "Durham" in the subject line.
Hope to see you there! Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 7:51 AM | Comments (8)
September 15, 2006
Charlottesville Meetup!
Calling all Pandora listeners near Charlottesville! We're getting together for a Town Hall meeting this coming Monday, September 18th at the Gravity Lounge, a cozy cafe/bookstore/art gallery recommended by several listeners on the blog comments.
Details:
When: Monday, September 18th, 2006 - 6:30pm
Where: Gravity Lounge
103 South First Street Directions
This is a FREE event. Seating is limited, so if you'd like to attend, please RSVP to tour@pandora.com with "Charlottesville" in the subject line.
Hope to see you there! Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 10:00 AM
September 14, 2006
Philanthropy for Music Education
We're very excited today to launch our partnership with GlobalGiving. This is the begining of what will become a continual effort to weave music-based philanthropy into Pandora.
A central tenet of our company is a commitment to giving back to music and to the community. We intend to use whatever megaphone we have to support worthy causes and encourage others to do the same.
If you have a minute, take a look at the new site. Whether it's through us, or any other means, we hope you'll join us in this effort - we believe very strongly in the power of music to enrich and empower people's lives.
Thanks again for being such wonderful listeners...
Cheers. Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 10:13 AM
September 5, 2006
Flashify.. and Wikifi!! Blacksburg Town Hall
Well that just about sums it up. Thanks to everyone who showed up this evening for the Virginia Tech get together. Great lively discussion. Lots of very interesting thoughts and questions from about 150 students and Blacksburg locals in attendance. I was particularly struck by the interest in use of audience members to work on the genome. 'Flashify' the training and data input process to select the best analysts, and 'wiki-fy' the collection of musical information. There is certainly a strong current of enthusiasm for that approach - of which our process is most definitely not an example. It's a conversation I'm looking forward to continuing in the years ahead.
Tonight's event has me particularly excited about the upcoming college visits we have planned.
Sorry for those who didn't get hats/shirts - drop me a note and I'll make sure you get one. Also let me know if you have blogs/photos we should link to.
cheers to everyone. Tim (Founder)
Posted by Tim Westergren at 8:36 PM | Comments (41)
