Viddler

Rob Sandie (sandieman) recently stopped by The Chestnut Hill Coffee Company and did an interview with its founder John Hornall. Rob was thoroughly impressed with the place because while he was there he sent me an IM “You have to check this place out!”. Rob was able to get a thorough tour of the place, as well as interview John about his and the shop’s history. Take a look at the video:

Rob isn’t alone in his love of this place. Accolades for The Chestnut Hill Coffee Company have poured in from all over. Read some of this from a review by Bill the self proclaimed “dedicated coffee fanatic”.

The decor and environment struck me as extremely creative. There were two floors (rare) with a variety of ample seating. I think they were even voted Best of Philly Magazine for child-friendly space.

The coffee was really good. Very smooth and full-flavored. It seemed they only had a limited offering of coffees (I didn’t see anything else), though I’m pretty sure they roast their own and have more. They also seemed to focus on blends instead of single-origin, but I think they actually know what they’re doing when they blend…

The espresso was well-done and very tasty. The barista who did it (I think it was John Hornall) was definitely trained in the ways of good technique and timing.

Bill was right, they did win for best kid-friendly coffee shop from Philly Magazine. Here are some other words from Viddler user and coffee shop fanatic Chris Tingom:

“This is probably my favorite coffee shop I have ever been to. Not only do they have great drinks and make coffee experience feel like you were drinking a a $30 glass of wine but they have free wi-fi! If you live in the Philadelphia area, it’s a must see!” — (on Arizona Coffee)

Coming from someone that pretty much owns the coffee tag here on Viddler, I’d say that is high praise indeed. I can’t wait to visit The Chestnut Hill Coffee Company the next time I’m in Philadelphia.

Rob Sandie, President of Viddler, had the privilege of attending the “What does the future hold for video on the Internet” panel at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas last week. I’m upset I missed this one because it sure did seem like a lot of fun.

The panel was moderated by Eddie Codel of Geek Entertainment TV and the panelists included Micki Krimmel of Revver, Kent Nichols of Ask a Ninja, Scott Watson of Walt Disney R&D, and Kevin Rose of Digg. Be sure to check it out and all of their shows/services. Thanks for a great panel guys.

If you were at this panel, or have more information about it – please let us know. Thanks for watching.

Jeremy Keith and Andy Budd directed a panel called “How to bluff your way in Web 2.0″. Here is the video from the panel, with our thoughts afterwards.

Jeremy and Andy really made this panel a lot of fun. I think that a lot of times, especially when dealing with business, we all take ourselves a little too seriously. It was nice to see that, even though we’re making many moves towards making the Internet a truly “social web”, that we can have fun while doing it.

Thing is; the fact that everything that Jeremy and Andy says is true is what makes this all the more funny.

One serious note that I took away from this panel was when Jeremy got serious for a moment to ask that people stop using “umbrella buzzwords” like Web 2.0. He also asked that each individual product and service be judged on its own merit, rather than just saying whether or not it is part of Web 2.0.

From now on, when you are trying to describe a product or service, be specific. Thanks Jeremy and Andy, the panel was great.

Allen Stern, new media blogger for CenterNetworks and Viddler user centernetworks, took the time out of his hectic schedule for a quick interview.

Each time I was at a panel, I saw Allen in the front row. Each time I went to an awards ceremony, or a keynote, Allen was in the front row. This guy knows how to cover a conference. Be sure to check out his site and read his great coverage of SXSW 2007.

We’re just about to head out to the Ze Frank + BuzzFeed Party and we wanted to give you a quick update.

Sorry about the audio skipping a bit, I’m recording this through our recording feature on horrible Internet access at the Double Tree hotel on 15th street in Austin. Are you at our hotel? Near our hotel? Knock on our door and sign our tshirt!

What is going on at SXSW? What is Viddler doing here? All questions will be answered, as we’re having a great time and meeting alot of great people. Here is an update that Rob recorded at lunch today, more coming.

There is much more to come, but for now – I must eat before going to Ze Frank’s party later.

We’re covering SXSW by asking random people some random questions, and David Seah is our first victim interview.

David, thanks for doing the interview. Oh, and ladies – he is single and on the prowl!

If you would like to be interviewed while in Austin, Texas at South by Southwest, just look for the Rob and I, we’ll be wearing Viddler tshirts! Ask us for a button.