Denver

Ignite Denver 37 is tonight!

February 23, 2022 by John Wilker

Whenever someone asks, “How old is Ignite Denver?” Or any variant of that question, I scratch my head.

You see, when I started Ignite Denver, we did a few a year. Then another nearby Ignite launched and started doing like monthly or every other month. So I did too. Despite the distance, the two cities share a lot of the same awesome people.

The problem is 6 a year is a death march. We didn’t it for long, the other city slowed down sometime after us.

Then we thought, “Ok, let’s just do quarterly” So we did that for a year or three… but even that proved tough. Sometimes not, but sometimes it was “Oh, god. We have to do this again so soon”

So we kinda settled on our current pattern. Three a year. Early (February-March), mid-ish (June-July), and late (September-October).

It works. The team and I have moved into a rhythm where Ignite Denver isn’t that stressful of a thing. We enjoy each other’s company, and love bringing awesome Denverites to the stage to share.

Join us!

The committee needs another member or two. Keep things fresh, keep the workloads light and evenly distributed. It’s fun, we meet a few times a year to eat and drink and talk about things, otherwise, it’s mostly over slack.

Oh, and we have hoodies… so there’s that. You know you want a hoodie!

Drop me an email!

Looking Back on 2021

December 29, 2021 by John Wilker

By most measures, 2021 was as crappy as 2020, possibly more. More people died this year than last. That kinda says something about the current state of our country. Armed with knowledge, many of us would rather die.

We’ve had the vaccine all of 2021. The Pandemic should have stopped by spring of 2021. By then regular folks without major health issues could get vaccinated. Summer of 2021 should have been a time of frolicking the sun. It was not. At least not for those who take public health and safety seriously.

We all know that’s not what happened. We ‘merica’ed ourselves. We’re still ‘merica-ing ourselves. Hopefully, in 2022 there will just be less of ‘those folks’ alive (Yes, I said it) and we can get on with things. They clearly don’t care about anyone else, they clearly don’t care about the country, so I’m ok with them no longer taking up space. Sorry, not sorry.

I’d say “Things can go back to normal” but that’s not what I hope for. That’s what I think will happen, but it shouldn’t.

Normal is police killing People of Color with impunity.

Normal is tech bros, well, being tech bros. NFTs, Crypto, the metaverse. Not solving problems, just creating new ways to shuffle money from one rich asshole to another, while the world starves and burns.

Normal is the richest country in the world, prioritizing the worshipping of the rich while people have no homes and starve on the streets.

Normal is a ‘democrat’ blocking policies that would help his overwhelmingly poor, underfed, undereducated state get a leg up and prosper because he’s in the pocket of the businesses that might suffer less profit.

This is our chance to try to fix things. I know we won’t, but at least putting it on ‘paper’ gets it out of my head.

So, year in review….

OK, now that that is out of my system, I wrote up Conferences, Reading, and Writing on their own.

So I’ll skip those. On the home front, we didn’t do much in 2021. We ordered take a lot. We worked out at home (until this summer when I started doing cardio again, with a mask on). We went to Vegas for a conference I was participating in and made it a little vacation. It was mostly fun but there was plenty of pandemic-related stress.

Earlier this year we lost Winston suddenly. It shook us up, is still shaking us up. We hug Paco a lot. Not that we didn’t before, he gets twice the hugs now. He isn’t thrilled.

2021 was pretty, well shitty. It could have been much worse for sure, neither of us has gotten COVID-19 yet. Nicole got a new job that she likes a lot. I was able to do conferences, and book sales have been better than any year previously.

Hope your year was as good as any could hope for in 2021. Onward to I hope an awesome 2022!

A Year and Decade in Review

December 30, 2019 by John Wilker

Welp, we’ve passed the Winter Solstice, and in just a few hours we’ll be saying goodbye not just to 2019, but to the 2010’s. I’ve never been a resolution maker but I do like to look back on what I’ve done, what I wanted to do etc.

So where are we (the royal we)?

The 2010’s saw the birth of my professional writing career. Technically I’ve been paid for my writing for years, as a copy and tech writer, a resume writer, etc. But fiction, that’s new. Plus I stopped selling my non-fiction writing services years ago. If you’d asked me ten years ago if I thought I’d be a writer that makes money I’d have laughed. If you’d asked if I thought I could ever make a living as a writer, I’d have laughed harder. But here we are.

On top of my writing the 2010’s were a pivotal and volatile decade for 360|Conferences.

On a personal level, Nicole and I moved from our downtown townhouse in the “Hottest ‘hood in Denver” (Blech) to just outside downtown to a neighborhood that doesn’t suffer year ’round construction, unannounced music festivals, and other nonsense. I haven’t had to step around vomit once, and it’s frankly glorious. Suck it RiNo.

We love our home and the neighborhood, we actually get out more to the nearby arts district than we did in RiNo where drinks came with a loan application and snobbery.

Nicole and I also visited some amazing places.

The Netherlands. We got to visit our dearest friends Mike and Judy in their awesome adopted home of Amsterdam. We’re overdue for another visit as they’re now homeowners!

Germany. We did Oktoberfest! The real one! It was amazing. We had a big group which was tons of fun, drank and ate lots, saw a ton of things. Did NOT snort menthol (which we thought was cocaine and that Australians gave zero fucks). We’re planning to go back in 2023.

Egypt. To close out the decade (sorta) in 2018 we spent 10 days in Egypt, visiting all the things, drifting down the Nile river. I wrote a large portion of Space Rogues 4 on the deck of a Dahabiya watching the Nile drift by. It was an amazing trip!

We Renovated our house. Thankfully we were in Egypt for some of it. But the house we moved into had a few less than perfect things about it. Namely, a kitchen that was too small, a dining room we didn’t need, and a master bathroom that was anything but masterful. So we gutted. We have an amazing open kitchen now that we love. We have a master bathroom that’s stunning and we couldn’t be happier. The house is much more ‘us’. It was neat to see the house torn back to studs and in the case of the first floor, the original brick. I’m so bummed we had to re cover it but someone in the past through you could nail plaster and lathe to brick… Same for the original hardwood floors (no I’m not Karen from the 80s, we put down new wood #carpetsucks).

And we will likely never do a renovation project again. That shit is stressful. But I did find a wizard staff hidden in the wall, so there’s that.

A few 2010s Numbers.

Number of Space Rogues books released: 5. 7 if you count the two short stories.

Number of non-Space Rogues books released: 0

Number of non-Space Rogues books written: 1

Number of eBooks sold: 23,197

Number of Paperbacks sold: Not many, Hard to break out past about 90 days, but about 200.

Number of eBooks given away: 46,552

Number of Books put to Audio: 1

Number of conferences created: 3

Number of conferences put out to pasture: 2

Number of moves for Nicole and I: 1

Writing.

I’m pretty excited that writing is going so well. People seem to really like the Space Rogue series. The 5th book was just released with the highest number of pre-orders yet. Book one has been hanging around the top 500 or so free Kindle books for the last two months (It’s going back to full price 1/1 if you haven’t grabbed it yet!). In 2019 I made about 5x more than I did in 2018. I don’t want to jinx things but can see “Full-time writer” as my occupation in a few years if things keep going well.

Mid-2019 I wrote what I hope is the first book in a new series. It’ll be released sometime around the first of the year, in addition to Space Rogues 6. I’m excited to try something new, to branch out, and I HOPE, add a new revenue stream to my business.

I decided in 2019 to start putting myself out there more in person, so I have been applying for author alley’s or paying for booths at conventions. I’ve written about that already so won’t rehash it here, but I’ve signed a couple of dozen books now for people, which is pretty fucking cool, even if I still haven’t found “my thing” when signing. I’ll be doing more in 2020.

The last bit of writing news is that I spun up a merch store. I’m still working on it, fine-tuning, but I’ve had enough readers ask about shirts and stickers and such that the couple hours it took to get it going, should be worth it. I mean I’ve already sold 2 shirts and a coffee mug so, ¯\_(?)_/¯ . I won’t lie, I’m looking forward to the day I see someone on the street in a Space Rogues shirt.

Lots of Eggs, Many baskets.

I’ve talked about being wide before so I will skip the details but here’s an update.

Amazon now accounts for ‘just’ 74% of my income. My hope is to move that closer to 50% or less. There are a few companies I trust with silos, Amazon isn’t one of them. My books are available on every device and in every store that sells ebooks.

While I dislike exclusivity, I am a bit locked in with Audible. Because I’ve set up a royalty share with my awesome narrator, I’m locked into Audible for 7 years. That’s unlikely to change, unfortunately.

Conferences

360|Conferences had it’s oh shit moment during the 2010s. Specifically, 2017, where attendance at 360|iDev dropped by 50% without any warning. The hard part there is when you plan, and commit to 400 ppl, and only 200 show up, hotels and vendors aren’t overly sympathetic. It was made worse by having already taken a significant loss in spinning up a new conference. Thankfully the Grand Hyatt (Where 360|iDev has been for 3 years now) are actually really awesome partners. 2018-19 were years of regrouping and figuring my shit out for the conferences. I’m happy to report I might have finally kind figured this out. Still pretty upside down, but not in a way that it feels hopeless.

One big thing for me was that I realized that while being the ‘biggest’ was neat, it wasn’t sustainable, and it wasn’t really what I wanted. Being the ‘best’ is what I want, and think we’re doing pretty good there. 2018 was a record profit year for all three conferences, and 2019 was pretty good (a few stumbles). I’ve made some changes for 2020 that I think will be awesome. Of course after 2017, all this “record profit” and “best year yet” stuff is just digging out a pretty deep hole. I’m thankful I was given a chance to dig out vs. walking away from debt and hosing a partner.

I’m thankful that 360|Conferences is celebrating a decade of existing, not many conference companies get to say that. The communities that I’ve had the privilege of supporting are amazing, and I’ve formed a ton of friendships by doing these conferences.

A Few Highlights.

360|Flex was put to bed. This happened pretty early in the decade. I tried to rebrand, failed. Tried to bring 360|Flex back as more niche, didn’t enjoy it. So I pulled the plug 100%. A shady travel company managed to grab the domain, then lost it, the new owner then stole the twitter account, fun.

360|intersect was born and died. I’m still convinced intersect was just ahead of it’s time, but regardless, as much as I loved it and the content, not enough people were coming. While all my conferences are near and dear, 360|intersect brought together some really awesome people to tell their stories.

360|AnDev was born. Dave and Chiu-Ki approached me about doing an Android event here in Denver. I was hesitant since I’d said Android wasn’t really for me, but with their help on the community side, we’ve created a world-class event.

Chicago Roboto was born. Ryan and Jerrell reached out after 360|AnDev about doing another Android event, this time in Chicago. I still wasn’t sure, but again, they managed the community aspect, and I executed. Chicago Roboto has quickly caught up to its sister 360|AnDev in terms of size and speaker quality. I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve done.

360|iDev has continued to lead the iOS developer event pack. A few more events have closed up shop (This ain’t an easy business!). I made the conscious decision that 360|iDev was a 200 person event. no more creeping up to 300, then 350, then 400. At 200 it’s sold out. The end.

AltConf is still THE community event at WWDC. I love working with Rob and Anna and the rest of the AltConf team. We execute a truly massive (Thousand of attendees, dozens of sponsors) event, that is free to attend whether you’re a WWDC ticket holder or not.

And of course (not 360|Conferences) Ignite Denver is still something I’m super proud of. The first Ignite event in CO, and the longest-running.

So…

That’s the 2010s for me. I’m exceptionally excited or 2020 and the decade it brings. I’m excited to see where the iOS and Android communities go. I’m excited to bring more stories to the world, who knows, maybe one day you’ll see Wil Calder on the screen (big or small).

Happy Holidays, Merry New Year, Successful Festivus.

Announcing the Denver Writers Slack Group

April 11, 2019 by John Wilker

Twitter and Facebook are… well, equal parts great for community and dumpster fire :)

I want to interact with more writers, especially those in Denver. Whether fellow SciFi folks or anyone else that is putting words to paper. Twitter and Facebook are cool, but something more intimate would be better (IMO).

Ideally it won’t replace the plethora of social media groups and hashtags, but will provide a less cluttered place for Denver folks to chat amongst ourselves. Whether that’s about Denver book stores, meetups, or the craft is up to us.

It’s “invite only” in the sense that you need to reach out to me, and I’ll invite you. I could set it up to let anyone join, but well, see the dumpster fire part up above. All are welcome so long as they’re writers.

Want to give it a shot, chat about indie bookstores in the area, writing strategies, plan the next NaNoWriMo? Reach out.

I’ll Always Vote Optimism

November 10, 2017 by John Wilker

I’ll never stop voting for hope and optimism.

There’s been a lot of discussion around the recent vote on Initiative 300 (feel free to read the initiative here and a great Denverite article, here).

It passed by a narrow margin and immediately the hand-wringing commenced. The Mayor opposed it, saying it went “too far too fast” That feels like Mayor Hancock’s motto as most of his efforts seem to be closer to “Do little, talk a lot.”

Here’s why I voted for it.

It’s not an amendment to our state constitution, so while some argue it’s wording isn’t great, it can be revised and adjusted as we collect data on its implementation. It’s the result of builders and the city giving no fucks about Denver’s future. When the government and “The market” aren’t listening, citizens act. Case in point.
It’s aggressively progressive, which I like. I find that the “Let’s be realistic” mindset is often the “let’s not do much” mindset in a more palatable wrapper. If you shoot for the moon and end up only getting to orbit, you’re still in orbit. If you say “the moon is too hard let’s aim lower”, you don’t leave the atmosphere, then try to sell it as a win.
I’m more and more tired of Denver’s government talking a huge game and failing to deliver. The list of those opposed to this initiative was evidence enough to me it was a good idea. Denver loves to give itself awards and back pats for things like our homeless-ness solutions, our bike friendliness, etc. Yet when you look at what we’re actually doing, we’re making homeless-ness illegal vs. addressing it. We’re adding car infrastructure far faster than we are biking. To name two.

i300 may not work out.

After six months (which to me is too soon as far as an option to simply repeal it) we can evaluate. My hope is the city uses i300 as the stepping stone to making Denver more green (environmentally, not color, which would likely be Mayor Hancock’s version) because saying we are is like painting white roses red. i300 should start the conversation that brings citizens, builders, and the city together.

Hopefully, any effort is better balanced than the Mayor’s Affordable Housing task force, of which 95% was builders, or people in the building industry (really, 1 neighborhood rep, and 1 “affected population” rep… really?).

I’ll never stop voting for hope and optimism, perhaps some of that is a little anarchist, because some change, especially the most important change is often painful, but nonetheless worth it.

Ignite Denver Turned Twenty-Five

February 20, 2017 by John Wilker

Last week we held another Ignite Denver, number 25. I hadn’t really given it much thought, we do three a year, the team is awesome and I love them immensely. This one was set to be every bit as awesome, we’d sold out, had great food trucks lined up, had great speakers ready to inspire and amaze.

Then.

Dan gets on stage and starts talking, and as I lean over to Vanessa, to ask why he’s vamping, and where’s Kat our emcee, I realize what he’s doing. This awesome group of people, behind my back, decided to bring me from the background to the fore.

Before I finish that story though. Ignite Denver is eight years old. In eight years we’ve held 25 events all around downtown Denver, from bars to event spaces to our current home, a 500 person old-timey theatre in the Highlands. The team has changed over the years; starting as just Nicole and I, then growing, then contracting over the years. This current committee is amazing and solid, and despite personality differences, busy (REALLY busy) lives, we get together and pull off an amazing show that leaves the audience laughing, crying, and inspired. They’re also stuffed with good food and beer.

We started in a small side bar at Fado, where the most memorable part was a robot falling off the bar. From there we hopped from bar to bar to event space, to bar. We landed at the Oriental a few years ago, when it was still more creepy than not; sections of the ceiling falling in, HVAC failing the day of our summer show, etc. The theatre has grown with us, now booked more nights than not, and Ignite Denver either sells out or gets close every event now.

Being a part of the Denver Community all these years has been awesome! Meeting so many amazing people with things to share, has been inspiring.

It’s been amazing, and more than once I’ve thought about throwing in the towel.

Ignite Denver 25

Ok back to the story, so Dan is talking about me, and telling me I have to go on stage. I get up on stage, and Dan proceeds to talk about Ignite Denver’s start, and the changes over the years, and the consistency of me. Then gives me two really amazing gifts, from him and the rest of the committee.

I’m not a whiskey drinker (that’s what that is right?) But it will definitely sit on a shelf proudly, because that label!

Also two special, “never to be made again” shirts :) We just ordered a new run of shirts for the team, and apparently we slipped these in.

To say I was (and still am) touched is to put it lightly. Ignite Denver has been a labor of love since I sent the first “Wanna do a talk that’s five minutes and the slides advance automatically?” emails eight years ago.

Here’s to 25 more!