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<channel>
	<title>Riga Talk &#187; Rigans</title>
	<atom:link href="http://rigatalk.com/rigans/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://rigatalk.com</link>
	<description>The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</description>
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		<title>TEDx Viewing Party Focuses On Rework</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/tedx-viewing-party-focuses-on-rework/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/tedx-viewing-party-focuses-on-rework/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:48:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rigans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rework]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TED]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TEDx]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rigatalk.com/?p=439</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m sure most of y&#8217;all heard about TED – Ideas worth spreading – and have probably watched at least one TED Talk in your life. (If not, I guarantee you&#8217;re gonna find one that&#8217;ll become your favourite). Well, TEDx are kinda wannabe-TED-events, independently organized throughout the world. One of them was hosted in Riga today. Presented [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/tedx-viewing-party-focuses-on-rework/">TEDx Viewing Party Focuses On Rework</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m sure most of y&#8217;all heard about <a title="TED" href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank">TED – Ideas worth spreading</a> – and have probably watched at least one TED Talk in your life. (If not, I guarantee you&#8217;re gonna find one that&#8217;ll become your favourite).</p>
<p>Well, <a title="TEDx" href="http://www.ted.com/tedx" target="_blank">TEDx</a> are kinda wannabe-TED-events, independently organized throughout the world. One of them was hosted in Riga today.</p>
<p>Presented as a viewing party, the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/TEDxRiga/events/47402092/" target="_blank">TEDxBergaBazars</a> held at the coworking space <a href="http://satori.lv/gramatnica" target="_blank">¼ Satori</a> a.k.a. Birojnīca, focused mainly on <a href="http://37signals.com/rework/" target="_blank">Rework</a> and rethinking the ways we live and work.</p>
<p>The event kicked right off into viewing talks by <a title="Why work doesn't happen at work" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html" target="_blank">Jason Fried</a>, <a title="A kinder, gentler philosophy of success" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html" target="_blank">Alain de Botton</a>, <a title="Tribal leadership" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/david_logan_on_tribal_leadership.html" target="_blank">David Logan</a> and <a title="How great leaders inspire action" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html" target="_blank">Simon Sinek</a>, followed by discussion in groups and elaborating on each of the TED Talks.</p>
<p>And despite the lack of moderation (done on purpose?) I had a great time and even scribbled some inspirational notes which will be proudly tagged <em>motivation</em> in Evernote. Yes, there&#8217;s probably never too much of motivation I guess.</p>
<p>Next time around, I am even keener to join the TEDx in Riga, as <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/NatalieGorohova" target="_blank">Natalie</a>, one of the organizers, informed there&#8217;s gonna be a live talk they&#8217;re officially licenced to stream from the States.</p>
<p>What do <em>you </em>think? Let me know in the comments below.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-439"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/tedx-viewing-party-focuses-on-rework/">TEDx Viewing Party Focuses On Rework</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Latvia Crime Map Launched</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/latvia-crime-map-launched/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/latvia-crime-map-launched/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:25:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rigans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[criminal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[latvia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[laws]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[police]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thieves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rigatalk.com/?p=428</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Long awaited, anticipated and hated – it finally arrives: the official, state-owned Crime Map displaying law violations committed on the territory of Latvia. Provided by the government e-services web portal Latvija.lv, the map currently features crimes from January 1 2010 only, but definitely provides valuable informative insight. It is available in Latvian only and allows [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/latvia-crime-map-launched/">Latvia Crime Map Launched</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Long awaited, anticipated and hated – it finally arrives: the official, state-owned <a title="Crime Map of Latvia" href="https://www.latvija.lv/LV/LDV/EServiceDescription.aspx?catid=10_TIES_AIZSARDZ_IEPIRKUMI&amp;srvid=URN%3aIVIS%3a100001%3aEP-EP68-v1-0" target="_blank">Crime Map</a> displaying law violations committed on the territory of Latvia.</p>
<p>Provided by the government e-services web portal <a href="http://latvija.lv" target="_blank">Latvija.lv</a>, the map currently features crimes from January 1 2010 only, but definitely provides valuable informative insight.</p>
<p>It is available in Latvian only and allows searching by various types of violations including theft, burglary, assault, sex offence, fraud, as well as car accidents and DWI, plus fire cases throughout the country.</p>
<p>From what I see, the interface and functionality is lacking and far from perfect: ugly search fields, checkboxes,  non-Google map which updates by new search only, not much user friendly map icons.. These are just first impressions.</p>
<p><a title="Crime Map of Latvia" href="https://www.latvija.lv/LV/LDV/EServiceDescription.aspx?catid=10_TIES_AIZSARDZ_IEPIRKUMI&amp;srvid=URN%3aIVIS%3a100001%3aEP-EP68-v1-0" target="_blank">Have a surf yourself</a>, maybe for a better cause the disadvantages are bearable?</p>
<p>Will you use the Crime Map, and how?</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-428"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/latvia-crime-map-launched/">Latvia Crime Map Launched</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>New Comprehensive Map Of Riga Public Transit In The Making</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/new-comprehensive-map-of-riga-public-transit-in-the-making/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/new-comprehensive-map-of-riga-public-transit-in-the-making/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:47:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Rigans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tram]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transport]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[traveling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trolleybus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rigatalk.com/?p=420</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Thanks to the Riga Transport enthusiast Viteks Bariševs, Riga will now have a cool public transit map. The official carrier, Rigas Satiksme, has failed to introduce its own comprehensive solution for years, so the initiative is now in hands of a private creator. Currently, the map is available as preview only, on Viteks Bariševs&#8217; Facebook [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/new-comprehensive-map-of-riga-public-transit-in-the-making/">New Comprehensive Map Of Riga Public Transit In The Making</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks to the <a href="http://rigatransport.lv/" target="_blank">Riga Transport enthusiast</a> Viteks Bariševs, Riga will now have a cool public transit map.</p>
<p>The official carrier, <a href="http://rigassatiksme.lv/" target="_blank">Rigas Satiksme</a>, has failed to introduce its own comprehensive solution for years, so the initiative is now in hands of a private creator.</p>
<p>Currently, the map is available as preview only, on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2399545824925.2105695.1139404152&amp;type=1" target="_blank">Viteks Bariševs&#8217; Facebook page</a> (login needed).</p>
<p>Reportedly, smartphone applications for the Riga map shall also pop up in the nearest future.</p>
<p>Cool, huh? Eat this, Rigas Satiksme.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-420"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2012/01/new-comprehensive-map-of-riga-public-transit-in-the-making/">New Comprehensive Map Of Riga Public Transit In The Making</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Google Street View Cars Rollin&#8217; Out To Latvia</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2011/07/google-street-view-cars-rollin-out-to-latvia/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2011/07/google-street-view-cars-rollin-out-to-latvia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:35:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rigans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[streets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[streetview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rigatalk.com/?p=385</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Word on the street, is that Google Maps Street View Team is pumpin their tires and fillin up gas tanks to finally roll out to the roads of Riga and the rest of Latvia. Now it&#8217;s been some time (like a year or two?), since Google applied for the possibility to scan the city. After [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2011/07/google-street-view-cars-rollin-out-to-latvia/">Google Street View Cars Rollin&#8217; Out To Latvia</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Word on the street, is that <a href="http://maps.google.com/streetview" target="_blank">Google Maps Street View Team</a> is pumpin their tires and fillin up gas tanks to finally roll out to the roads of Riga and the rest of Latvia.</p>
<p>Now it&#8217;s been some time (like a year or two?), since Google applied for the possibility to scan the city. After battling all legal issues, it seems like they&#8217;re ready – at last.</p>
<p>So watch out for the Google car drivin past by ya, and make sure you <del datetime="2011-07-28T13:22:01+00:00">throw your sets up</del> smile on camera!</p>
<p><iframe width="562" height="314" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&amp;sll=53.231241,-4.128145&amp;sspn=0.002492,0.00449&amp;t=h&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=54.892777,-2.931948&amp;panoid=7kTyvjfvRf4ODM4goNuURg&amp;cbp=13,291.86,,3,12.28&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=54.892663,-2.931958&amp;spn=0,0.001507&amp;z=19&amp;source=embed&amp;output=svembed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&amp;sll=53.231241,-4.128145&amp;sspn=0.002492,0.00449&amp;t=h&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=54.892777,-2.931948&amp;panoid=7kTyvjfvRf4ODM4goNuURg&amp;cbp=13,291.86,,3,12.28&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=54.892663,-2.931958&amp;spn=0,0.001507&amp;z=19&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the vid explaining the whats and hows of the Google Street View:</p>
<p><object width="560" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H0_lTKDu0IY?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H0_lTKDu0IY?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<div class="shr-publisher-385"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2011/07/google-street-view-cars-rollin-out-to-latvia/">Google Street View Cars Rollin&#8217; Out To Latvia</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>1st Riga Twitter Meetup aka Tweetup Coming Up</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2009/06/1st-riga-twitter-meetup-tweetup-coming-up/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2009/06/1st-riga-twitter-meetup-tweetup-coming-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rigans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[event]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meetups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riga_tweetup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tweetup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tweetup01]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://rigatalk.com/2009/06/11/1st-riga-twitter-meetup-tweetup-coming-up/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Riga, Latvia Twitterverse, get ready!! Right about next Friday, June 19th 2009, when the time hits 6 PM &#8211; the event will unfold. Twitter users that happen to be in town are gonna gather up for an informal meetup at the one and only Pulkveža Brieža KID spot. The Friday night was chosen after a [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2009/06/1st-riga-twitter-meetup-tweetup-coming-up/">1st Riga Twitter Meetup aka Tweetup Coming Up</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Riga, Latvia Twitterverse, get ready!! Right about next Friday, June 19th 2009, when the time hits 6 PM &#8211; the event will unfold.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joanna_young/3194721235" target="_blank" title="Riga Tweetup | pic credit: Joanna Young, via Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3194721235_0e7fc72e8a_b.jpg" alt="Riga Tweetup 2009" vspace="3" width="350" align="left" height="160" hspace="5" /></a><a href="http://twitter.com" title="Don't tell me you don't know what Twitter is!!" target="_blank">Twitter</a> users that happen to be in town are gonna gather up for an informal meetup at the one and only <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=2+Pulkve%C5%BEa+Brie%C5%BEa+iela,+Riga+1010,+Latvia&amp;sll=56.946538,24.10485&amp;sspn=0.390991,1.235962&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=56.959016,24.105592&amp;spn=0.012214,0.038624&amp;t=h&amp;z=15&amp;iwloc=A" title="Click for Google Maps location" target="_blank">Pulkveža Brieža</a> <a href="http://www.restaurantkid.lv/" title="Restaurant KID" target="_blank">KID</a> spot.</p>
<p>The Friday night was chosen after a pretty hot <a href="http://arturs.jaffa.lv/2009/06/05/pirmais-tweetup-riga/" title="password: tweetup01" target="_blank">discussion on Arturs&#8217; blog</a>, who has taken the role of an organizer from the jump.</p>
<p>Word on the street is that some people from over the pond are gonna attend as well. Arturs reported that <a href="http://twitter.com/valdisKrebs" title="valdiskrebs" target="_blank">Valdis Krebs</a> (Cleveland, OH) is supposedly to make an appearance. And <a href="http://twitter.com/plumey" title="plumey" target="_blank">Marissa Plume</a> (San Francisco, CA) <a href="http://twitter.com/plumey/status/2107705367" title="plumey in reply to Lexxus" target="_blank">replied to my tweet</a> stating she&#8217;d like to join. Other non-local tweeps calling Riga their location next week are warmly welcome of course, too.</p>
<p>See y&#8217;all there!! Tweet!</p>
<h2>Pirmais Rīgas Twitter tusiņš, jeb Tweetup, tuvojas</h2>
<p>Rīgas un Latvijas Twitterieši, gatavojieties!! Tieši ap nākošo piektdienu, 2009.g. 19. jūniju, kad pulkstenis sitīs 6 vakarā &#8211; pasākums uzsāksies.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joanna_young/3194721235" target="_blank" title="Riga Tweetup | pic credit: Joanna Young, via Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3194721235_0e7fc72e8a_b.jpg" alt="Riga Tweetup 2009" vspace="3" width="350" align="left" height="160" hspace="8" /></a><a href="http://twitter.com" title="Tikai nesaki, ka nezini, kas ir Twitter!!" target="_blank">Twitter</a> lietotāji, kas pagadās pilsētā, sanāks kopā uz neformālu tikšanos vienīgajā un neatkārtojamajā <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=2+Pulkve%C5%BEa+Brie%C5%BEa+iela,+Riga+1010,+Latvia&amp;sll=56.946538,24.10485&amp;sspn=0.390991,1.235962&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=56.959016,24.105592&amp;spn=0.012214,0.038624&amp;t=h&amp;z=15&amp;iwloc=A" title="Atrašanās vieta iekš Google Maps" target="_blank">Pulkveža Brieža ielas</a> <a href="http://www.restaurantkid.lv/" title="KID restorāni" target="_blank">KIDā</a>.</p>
<p>Piektdienas vakars tika izvēlēts pēc visai karstas <a href="http://arturs.jaffa.lv/2009/06/05/pirmais-tweetup-riga/" title="parole: tweetup01" target="_blank">diskusijas Artura blogā</a>, kurš ir uzņēmies organizatora lomu jau no paša sākuma.</p>
<p>Vārds uz ielas ir, ka pasākumu apmeklēs arī daži cilvēki no otrās dīķa puses. Arturs ir paziņojis, ka ieradīšoties <a href="http://twitter.com/valdisKrebs" title="valdiskrebs" target="_blank">Valdis Krebs</a> (Klīvlenda, Ohaio). Savukārt <a href="http://twitter.com/plumey" title="plumey" target="_blank">Marissa Plume</a> (Sanfrancisko, Kalifornija) <a href="http://twitter.com/plumey/status/2107705367" title="plumey in reply to Lexxus" target="_blank">atbildēja uz manu tvītu</a>, ļaujot saprast, ka viņa arī gribētu pievienoties. Citi nevietējie čivinātāji, kas sauks Rīgu par savu atrašanās vietu nākamnedēļ, ir laipni lūgti, protams.</p>
<p>Uz tikšanos tur!! Čiv!</p>
<h2>Первая Рижская Твиттер-встреча или &#8220;Твитап&#8221; приближается</h2>
<p>Рижские и Латвийские Твиттеряне, готовьтесь!! Аккурат в районе следующей пятницы, 19 июня 2009 года, когда часы пробьют 6 вечера &#8211; мероприятие развернётся.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joanna_young/3194721235" target="_blank" title="Riga Tweetup | pic credit: Joanna Young, via Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3194721235_0e7fc72e8a_b.jpg" alt="Riga Tweetup 2009" vspace="3" width="350" align="left" height="160" hspace="8" /></a>Пользователи <a href="http://twitter.com" title="Только не говори, что не знаешь, что такое Твиттер!!" target="_blank">Твиттера</a>, оказавшиеся в городе, соберутся на неформальную встречу (тусовку, если хотите) в единственном и неповторимом <a href="http://www.restaurantkid.lv/" title="Рестораны KID" target="_blank">КИДе</a> на <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=2+Pulkve%C5%BEa+Brie%C5%BEa+iela,+Riga+1010,+Latvia&amp;sll=56.946538,24.10485&amp;sspn=0.390991,1.235962&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=56.959016,24.105592&amp;spn=0.012214,0.038624&amp;t=h&amp;z=15&amp;iwloc=A" title="Местонахождение на Гугл Мэпс" target="_blank">Пулквежа Бриежа</a>.</p>
<p>Пятничный вечер был выбран после довольно горячей <a href="http://arturs.jaffa.lv/2009/06/05/pirmais-tweetup-riga/" title="пароль: tweetup01" target="_blank">дискуссии в блоге Артура</a>, который со старта взял на себя роль организатора.</p>
<p>Слово на улице, что мероприятие посетит также кое-кто с другой стороны пруда. Артур сообщил, что вроде как подтянется <a href="http://twitter.com/valdisKrebs" title="valdiskrebs" target="_blank">Валдис Кребс</a> (Кливленд, Огайо). А <a href="http://twitter.com/plumey" title="plumey" target="_blank">Марисса Плуме</a> (Сан-Франциско, Калифорния) <a href="http://twitter.com/plumey/status/2107705367" title="plumey in reply to Lexxus" target="_blank">ответила на мой твит</a>, дав понять, что и она с удовольствием присоединится. Другие неместные твиплы, которые будут называть Ригу своим местонахождением на следующей неделе, также тепло приглашаются.</p>
<p>Там и увидимся!! Тви!</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-62"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2009/06/1st-riga-twitter-meetup-tweetup-coming-up/">1st Riga Twitter Meetup aka Tweetup Coming Up</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Shlesers for Mayor? Why not!</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2009/05/shlesers-for-mayor-why-not/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2009/05/shlesers-for-mayor-why-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 08:14:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Shlesers]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Last week, I found a free newspaper called &#8220;New Riga&#8221; in my mailbox. The piece of paper turned out to be a political advertisement, a campaign of LPP/LC party. Run, of course, by Ainars &#8220;Who Else Could It Be&#8221; Shlesers. The man is eying a chair of Riga Mayor, which prolly is a good thing. [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2009/05/shlesers-for-mayor-why-not/">Shlesers for Mayor? Why not!</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last week, I found a free newspaper called &#8220;New Riga&#8221; in my mailbox. The piece of paper turned out to be a political advertisement, a campaign of LPP/LC party. Run, of course, by <a href="http://slesersrigai.lv" title="Šlesers Rīgai" target="_blank">Ainars &#8220;Who Else Could It Be&#8221; Shlesers</a>.</p>
<p>The man is eying a chair of Riga Mayor, which prolly is a good thing. And looks like he&#8217;s fitting in just as nice.</p>
<p>I observe the Transportation industry in Latvia for several years now, that&#8217;s why former minister Shlesers&#8217; work has not went unnoticed. Perhaps because of my past in-depth interest in railways development and building of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica" title="Rail Baltica - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Rail Baltica</a> &#8211; my ex missuz, Olga, is transport &amp; logistics specialist, so couple years ago, when we were cooking the Masters work together, I had even been to a meeting in the Ministry of Transport, doing research.. Perhaps because I have went to sea myself, and am still interested in what&#8217;s going on in shipping, ports and around &#8216;em.. Perhaps because I like to fly and follow <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_International_Airport" title="Riga Int'l Airport - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Riga Airport&#8217;s</a> success.. Perhaps because Mr. Shlesers himself has managed to gain attention with his charisma, positiveness, targeted actions..</p>
<p>But perhaps, however, that is a perfect job of PR peeps. As a Communications Pro, I know of course what&#8217;s behind all of this. I know how this type of political papers and publications in those are being born. I know how thoroughly the questions to &#8220;ask&#8221; in the interview with Shlesers are chosen. I know how many times it&#8217;s thought and rethought back and forth, what and where, in what order to feature..</p>
<p>Nothing bad here though &#8211; a brand is being built, attractive package in the making, all for a good, quality product. Similarly like cottage cheese snack &#8220;<a href="http://www.karums.lv/" title="Kārums" target="_blank">Kārums</a>&#8221; or, for instance, &#8220;<a href="http://www.zeltazivtina.lv/" title="Golden Fish" target="_blank">Zelta Zivtiņa</a>&#8220;. Only that, here it&#8217;s essential for the product to be made as delicious when the time pass and not to change for bad &#8211; which sometimes happens with politicians. Promises given during the election campaigns often wind up not fulfilled. That&#8217;s why hopefully everything that Shlesers &amp; Co are talking about will be carried out in case of his win.</p>
<p>Gotta wish some luck, a good one, especially that there&#8217;s my Maritime schoolmate, <a href="http://slesersrigai.lv/lat/kolegi/51-pavels-rebenoks/" title="Pavels Rebenoks" target="_blank">Pavels Rebenoks</a>, proudly occupying #51 on LPP/LC election list. Big Time!</p>
<h2>Šleseru par mēru? Kāpēc nē!</h2>
<p>Pagājušnedēļ pastkastē atradu bezmaksas avīzi &#8220;Jaunā Rīga&#8221;. Šis papīra gabals izrādījas ir politiskā reklāma, partijas LPP/LC aģitācijas kampaņa. Pie ruļļiem, protams, <a href="http://slesersrigai.lv" title="Šlesers Rīgai" target="_blank">Ainārs &#8220;Kurš Gan Cits&#8221; Šlesers</a>.</p>
<p>Vecis tēmē uz Rīgas mēra krēslu, kas ir tikai apsveicami. Un izskatās, ka viņš ir ļoti atbilstošs kandidāts.</p>
<p>Jau vairākus gadus vēroju, kas darās transporta nozarē Latvijā, tāpēc Šlesera darbi arī nepaliek nepamanīti. Varbūt tāpēc, ka biju padziļināti interesējies par dzelzceļa attīstību un <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica" title="Rail Baltica - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Rail Baltica</a> būvēšanu &#8211; mana bijusī jaunkundze, Olga, ir transporta &amp; loģistikas speciāliste, un pāris gadus atpakaļ, kad kopā cepām maģistra darbu, pat biju uz tikšanos Satiksmes ministrijā, taisīju pētījumu.. Varbūt tāpēc, ka pats gāju jūrā, un joprojām interesējos par notiekošo gan kuģniecībā, gan ostu dzīvē un visapkārt.. Varbūt tāpēc, ka patīk lidot, un sekoju līdzi <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_International_Airport" title="Riga Int'l Airport - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Rīgas lidostas</a> panākumiem.. Varbūt, ka pats Šlesera kungs ir spējis piesaistīt uzmanību ar savu harizmu, pārliecību, mērķtiecīgām darbībām..</p>
<p>Bet varbūt, tomēr, tas ir izcils PR censoņu darbs. Kā komunikāciju profesionālis &#8211; protams, zinu, kas aiz šī visa stāv. Zinu, kā top šāda veida politiskās avīzes un publikācijas tajās. Zinu, cik rūpīgi ir izvēlēti jautājumi, kas <em>uzdoti </em>&#8220;intervijā&#8221; Šleseram. Zinu, cik reizes ir pārdomāts, ko un kur, kādā secībā likt..</p>
<p>Nekas slikts jau šeit arī nav &#8211; tiek veidots zīmols, tiek izstrādāts pievilcīgs iepakojums labam, kvalitatīvam produktam. Līdzīgi kā biezpiena sieriņam &#8220;<a href="http://www.karums.lv/" title="Kārums" target="_blank">Kārums</a>&#8220;, vai, piemēram,&#8221;<a href="http://www.zeltazivtina.lv/" title="Zelta Zivtiņa" target="_blank">Zelta Zivtiņai</a>&#8220;. Tikai, vienīgais, šeit ir svarīgi, lai pēc laika šis produkts tiktu ražots tikpat garšīgs un nemainītos uz slikto pusi &#8211; kā mēdz notikt ar politiķiem. Daži no pirmsvēlēšanu kampaņas laikā dotiem solījumiem bieži netiek pildīti. Tāpēc cerams, ka viss, ko stāsta Šlesers &amp; Co tiks arī īstenots viņa uzvaras gadījumā.</p>
<p>Jānovēl veiksmi, it īpaši, ka LPP/LC sarakstā #51 lepni aizņem mans jūrskolas laiku odnokašņiks <a href="http://slesersrigai.lv/lat/kolegi/51-pavels-rebenoks/" title="Pāvels Rebenoks" target="_blank">Pāvels Rebenoks</a>. Big Time!</p>
<h2>Шлесерса &#8211; в мэры? Почему бы и нет!</h2>
<p>На прошлой неделе в почтовом ящике обнаружил бесплатную газету &#8220;Новая Рига&#8221;. Этот кусок бумаги оказался политической рекламой, агитационной кампанией партии LPP/LC. У руля, конечно, <a href="http://slesersrigai.lv/rus/" title="Шлесерс - Риге" target="_blank">Айнарс &#8220;Кто Же Ещё&#8221; Шлесерс</a>.</p>
<p>Мужик метит на кресло мэра Риги, что только приветствуется. И похоже, что он &#8211; по-настоящему подходящий кандидат.</p>
<p>Уже несколько лет наблюдаю за тем, что происходит в транспортной отрасли в Латвии, поэтому дела Шлесерса не остаются незамеченными. Возможно потому, что я углублённо интересовался развитием железных дорог и строительством <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica" title="Rail Baltica - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Rail Baltica</a> &#8211; моя бывшая девушка, Оля &#8211; специалист по транспорту и логистике, и пару лет назад, когда мы вместе пекли магистрскую, я даже был на встрече в Министерстве Сообщения, делал ресёрч.. Возможно потому, что сам ходил в море, и до сих пор интересуюсь происходящим как в судоходстве, так и в жизни портов и вокруг них.. Возможно потому, что нравится летать, и слежу за успехами <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_International_Airport" title="Riga Int'l Airport - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Рижского аэропорта</a>.. Возможно потому, что сам господин Шлесерс смог привлечь внимание своей харизмой, уверенностью, целеустремлёнными действиями..</p>
<p>А возможно, всё-таки, потому, что это &#8211; отличная работа PR умельцев. Как специалист по коммуникациям &#8211; я, конечно, знаю, что за всем этим стоит. Знаю, как рождаются такого рода политические газеты и публикации в них. Знаю, как тщательно отбираются вопросы, которые будут &#8220;заданы&#8221; в интервью со Шлесерсом. Знаю, сколько раз думано-передумано, что и где, в каком порядке писать..</p>
<p>Ничего плохого, правда, в этом нет &#8211; создаётся брэнд, разрабатывается привлекательная упаковка для хорошего, качественного продукта. Также, как для творожного сырка &#8220;<a href="http://www.karums.lv/" title="Kārums" target="_blank">Карумс</a>&#8221; или для &#8220;<a href="http://www.zeltazivtina.lv/" target="_blank">Зелта зивтини</a>&#8220;, например. Только вот, здесь всё-таки важно, чтобы через время этот продукт делался бы таким же вкусным и не менялся в худшую сторону &#8211; как бывает с политиками. Некоторые из обещаний, данных во время предвыборных кампаний, часто не выполняются. Поэтому, будем надеяться, что всё, что говорит Шлесерс и Ко, будет реализовано в случае его победы.</p>
<p>Надо пожелать удачи, особенно, что в списке LPP/LC #51 гордо занимает мой однокашник по мореходке <a href="http://slesersrigai.lv/rus/kollegi/51-pavel-rebenok/" title="Павел Ребенок" target="_blank">Павел Ребенок</a>. Big Time!</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-61"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2009/05/shlesers-for-mayor-why-not/">Shlesers for Mayor? Why not!</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Riga riots were minor and ceased quickly</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2009/01/riga-riots-were-minor-and-ceased-quickly/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2009/01/riga-riots-were-minor-and-ceased-quickly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:08:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Mayn, ain&#8217;t nothing real overwhelming happened last night actually. Maybe I feel like that cause I was shooting hoops over in Pardaugava and missed some of the live action? TV, breaking news type of live action, I mean. The reporters seemed like nearly enjoying this mess. I don&#8217;t know but to me, this whole riot [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2009/01/riga-riots-were-minor-and-ceased-quickly/">Riga riots were minor and ceased quickly</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p align="justify">Mayn, ain&#8217;t nothing real overwhelming happened last night actually.</p>
<p>Maybe I feel like that cause I was shooting hoops over in Pardaugava and missed some of the live action? TV, breaking news type of live action, I mean.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tvnet.lv/zinas/galleries/gallery_new.php?gid=577340" title="TV*Net Gallery" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.tvnet.lv/article/zinas/120365.jpg" vspace="5" width="350" align="left" height="231" hspace="8" /></a></p>
<p>The reporters seemed like nearly enjoying this mess. I don&#8217;t know but to me, this whole riot thing doesn&#8217;t look like something crazy-violent-destructive civil disorder or whatever they might call it.</p>
<p>Some stores damaged on Smilshu street, broken Parliament windows, police cars overturned. And no tear gas (I mean I saw a cop on TV using a hand-held spray, but that&#8217;s about it), no plastic bullets or water cannons used against the rioters. <a href="http://diena.lv/lat/multimediji/dienatv/politika/video-grautins-vecriga-13-janvara-vakara" title="Diena video" target="_blank">Couple hours and it&#8217;s silent</a>.</p>
<p align="justify">I hear people saying that police were not ready and was kinda slow. But that&#8217;s because the whole riot was &#8220;slow&#8221;! There were no organized actions, the whole thing was chaotic, so I guess cops just stayed low-key on purpose, not to provoke the crowd. So it appears they did a pretty good job.</p>
<p>And after all, the rioters were several hundreds <a href="http://esports.lv/js/mediaplayer/mediaplayer.swf?file=http://video.esports.lv/163977_6miitings_nologo.flv" title="eSports' Kristaps Driķis' video" target="_blank">mostly drunk youth</a> who stayed in the Old Town following the protest on the Doma Square. Thousands of protestants who gathered on the Square demanding the Parliament resignation were peaceful and bounced away in a few hours.</p>
<p>Thanks God it&#8217;s all over though.</p>
<p>More than 100 arrested, tens hurt and hospitalized &#8211; and do we need it? If the Parliament resigns, will shit change? I guess it just stays the same.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-54"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2009/01/riga-riots-were-minor-and-ceased-quickly/">Riga riots were minor and ceased quickly</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Snowstorm causes power outages throughout Riga</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2008/11/snowstorm-causes-power-outages-throughout-riga/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2008/11/snowstorm-causes-power-outages-throughout-riga/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:14:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>The forecasters predicted this to be happening around last night. Major storm is gonna hit Riga, bla bla bla.. It was calm and not even windy at all yesterday. They just got the timing wrong. Well, with a lil bit of delay, a snowstorm is taking over the area throughout Sunday. I just came over [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2008/11/snowstorm-causes-power-outages-throughout-riga/">Snowstorm causes power outages throughout Riga</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.meteo.lv" title="Latvian Environment, geology and meteorology agency" target="_blank">The forecasters</a> predicted this to be happening around last night. Major storm is gonna hit Riga, bla bla bla.. It was calm and not even windy at all yesterday. They just got the timing wrong.</p>
<p>Well, with a lil bit of delay, a snowstorm is taking over the area throughout Sunday. I just came over from a basketball game and man it&#8217;s snowing like crazy. There was like 5 or 6 car accidents on our way to Daugmale and back.. Some of them are scary &#8211; makes me wanna remember my own New Year &#8217;08 ride to Daugavpils &#8211; thanks God I wound up alright..</p>
<p>And yeah, the snowstorm is on and poppin&#8217;! There are various reports of <a href="http://www.tvnet.lv/zinas/latvija/article.php?id=570727" target="_blank">power outages in Riga</a>. Let me post my own tho, quite funny one, the one that don&#8217;t happen every day..</p>
<p>We had a real hard hoops game today. 5-on-5, run &amp; gun type stuff. I tell you what, I even got prepped for this one &#8211; watched last night&#8217;s Celtics @ Wolves game, listened to Mobb Deep on my way, to get to the battling mood, you know.</p>
<p>And check this out, my team&#8217;s in possession, right. I&#8217;m a playmaker, trying to see the court.. The ball was not in my hands at the moment though but face it &#8211; suddenly the lights go out! Total darkness, you don&#8217;t see shit!!! Can you imagine that! I was around midcourt, somehow found my way to the sideline, but some of us didn&#8217;t even know where to go, totally disoriented, you know what I&#8217;m saying =))</p>
<p>Everybody screaming, but in about a minute or two we started seeing the gym&#8217;s windows. It was dark outside too so still &#8211; it was kinda hard to find the way.</p>
<p>The lights went back on when we were in the lockers. The game had to be cancelled..</p>
<p>Memories again. Last time I suffered a blackout I was on board LPGC Havpil. Captain&#8217;s mate, on the bridge, alone, I was in charge of navigation and all the stuff. Quite a piece of an action, really..</p>
<p>Aaight then, I&#8217;m out like power, wishing y&#8217;all who&#8217;s in Riga to stay safe. And yeah, hopefully you don&#8217;t have to light up the candles due to the power outage tonight &#8211; save&#8217;em for a romantic dinner, would you.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-53"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2008/11/snowstorm-causes-power-outages-throughout-riga/">Snowstorm causes power outages throughout Riga</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Dinamo Riga Goalie Masalskis Injured.. In A Street Brawl</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2008/09/dinamo-riga-goalie-masalskis-injured-in-a-street-brawl/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2008/09/dinamo-riga-goalie-masalskis-injured-in-a-street-brawl/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:07:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Rigans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ice hockey]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Latvian national ice hockey team and KHL&#8216;s Dinamo Riga goaltender Edgars Masalskis is out for 3 months with a broken ankle.. And shoot, I mean how lame is that? Looks like homeboy got into a street fight last night in Old Town.. Details of the accident are still unclear, no ambulance called, no cops, none [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2008/09/dinamo-riga-goalie-masalskis-injured-in-a-street-brawl/">Dinamo Riga Goalie Masalskis Injured.. In A Street Brawl</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Latvian national ice hockey team and <a href="http://www.khl.ru/" title="Kontinental Hockey League" target="_blank">KHL</a>&#8216;s <a href="http://www.dinamoriga.eu" target="_blank" title="Dinamo Riga">Dinamo Riga</a> goaltender <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgars_Masa%C4%BCskis" title="Edgars Masalskis - Wikipedia" target="_blank">Edgars Masalskis</a> is out for 3 months with a broken ankle.. And shoot, I mean how lame is that? Looks like homeboy <a href="http://www.dinamoriga.lv/lv/news/view/78" title="Dinamo Riga - News" target="_blank">got into a street fight</a> last night in Old Town..</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.dinamoriga.lv/img/upload/slides/49.jpg" alt="Edgars Masalskis - dinamoriga.eu" width="365" height="277" /></p>
<p>Details of the accident are still unclear, no ambulance called, no cops, none of that. Appears like Ed grabbed a cab ride to the hospital himself after 5 to 6 people have reportedly attacked and beat him to the ground. The ankle surgery is scheduled tomorrow.</p>
<p>Kinda unpleasant news for <a href="http://www.dinamoriga.eu/" title="Dinamo Riga" target="_blank">Dinamo Riga</a> who are having two days off right now after a good start to a fresh <a href="http://www.khl.ru/" title="Kontinental Hockey League" target="_blank">KHL</a> season. They performed well during a 14 days 8-game streak, including on the road, having won 4 games and climbed to the 2nd place in Kharlamov Division.</p>
<p>Masalskis was named League&#8217;s Goaltender of the Week last week,  plus this Monday he proudly set a new League record of 138 minutes and 54 seconds with no goal allowed.</p>
<p>Get well Ed, for real.</p>
<p>PS: I&#8217;m out to get me some treatment myself, been battlin&#8217; with sore throat lately.. One.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-51"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2008/09/dinamo-riga-goalie-masalskis-injured-in-a-street-brawl/">Dinamo Riga Goalie Masalskis Injured.. In A Street Brawl</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>OpenCoffee Meetups To Unite Idea Authors And Investors</title>
		<link>http://rigatalk.com/2008/05/opencoffee-meetups-to-unite-idea-authors-and-investors/</link>
		<comments>http://rigatalk.com/2008/05/opencoffee-meetups-to-unite-idea-authors-and-investors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 May 2008 04:28:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aleksandrs &#34;Lexxus&#34; Borovenskis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggin']]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[C.R.E.A.M.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[coffee]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investors]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[meetups]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[OpenCoffee]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>If you have an original idea / business model / startup to kick off on the web, but feel short in cash or resources, then the perfect way for you to nail down a potential partner are OpenCoffee format meetups, which are now going to take place in Riga too. That goes to investors as [...]</p><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2008/05/opencoffee-meetups-to-unite-idea-authors-and-investors/">OpenCoffee Meetups To Unite Idea Authors And Investors</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you have an original idea / business model / startup to kick off on the web, but feel short in cash or resources, then the perfect way for you to nail down a potential partner are <a href="http://www.opencoffeeclub.org/" title="OpenCoffee Club" target="_blank">OpenCoffee</a> format meetups, which are now going to take place in Riga too.</p>
<p>That goes to investors as well &#8211; now you have an opportunity, in a totally informal setting, to consider the ideas while sipping coffee with their authors and negotiating on a potential partnership.</p>
<p>OpenCoffee welcomes all industry professionals as well, those who care about online presence of their business and would like to brainstorm on fresh ideas or just meet the thinkers alike.</p>
<p><img src="http://rigatalk.com/wp-includes/images/Open%20Coffee.jpg" alt="Open Coffee" vspace="5" width="150" align="left" height="226" hspace="8" />Since the start of the last year, when <a href="http://localglobe.blogspot.com/2007/02/opencoffee-club.html" title="First OpenCoffee meetup" target="_blank">first OpenCoffee meetup</a> was held in London, such format meetings regularly take place all around the world. A few months ago <a href="http://www.journal.lv/blog/2008/01/14/barcamp_baltic_tour" title="BarCamp Baltic Tour" target="_blank">I had a chance</a> to visit the <a href="http://jkaljundi.blogspot.com/2008/01/opencoffee-juba-sel-neljapeval.html" title="Jüri Kaljundi blog" target="_blank">OpenCoffee in Tallinn</a>, together with <a href="http://www.journal.lv" title="Journal.lv" target="_blank">Maxim</a> and <a href="http://evgenymorozov.com/" title="Homepage of Evgeny Morozov" target="_blank">Evgeny</a>. There was very friendly atmosphere reigning in there, enterpreneurs were present, as well as people representing future and ongoing internet services (Skype, for instance), plus some bloggers and even a college professor. And last week, <a href="http://www.alexr.org/2008/05/14/opencoffee/" target="_blank">I heard through the grapevine</a> that <a href="http://www.alexr.org/" title="Alexr.org" target="_blank">AlexR</a> is getting the idea of <a href="http://opencoffeeclub.lv/" title="OpenCoffee Club Latvia" target="_blank">OpenCoffee in Latvia</a> through, which of course is extremely cool and hopefully this movement will become a tradition around here.</p>
<p>The OpenCoffee concept is as easy as it gets: in a previously agreed place, where good coffee and free Wi-Fi should be both a yes, on a previously agreed time, entrepreneurs, investors and all those who think they need to be there, are gathering. Usually, the place is a permanent venue, the time is also scheduled for no change (for example, each Thursday 10 &#8211; 12 @ Starbucks Elizabetes St.). It&#8217;s not important who comes, perhaps some days there ain&#8217;t gonna be anyone coming &#8211; people are just need to know that if they wanna meet, the place is here and the time is now. If you don&#8217;t make it this time &#8211; it&#8217;s not the end of the world! You&#8217;ll make it next time! That&#8217;s why these meetups should be regular. Maybe, if meeting each week for Latvia would be too frequently, then it could be, say, first Thursday of each month.</p>
<p><img src="http://rigatalk.com/wp-includes/images/Vanilla%20Hazelnut%20Latte.jpg" alt="Vanilla Hazelnut Latte, Starbucks" vspace="5" width="153" align="right" height="229" hspace="8" />At this moment, <a href="http://opencoffeeclub.lv/1stmeeting/" target="_blank">the introduction meetup of Latvian OpenCoffee Club</a> is scheduled for June 5 this year. As the time and venue are still discussable, I&#8217;ma vote for 10 AM. I truly believe that this type of gatherings will be way more serious and productive if we throw them up in the mornings, in spite of just the next one bloggers&#8217; &#8220;after work&#8221; beer drinking evening. After all we are talking &#8220;work&#8221; here, aren&#8217;t we? The <a href="http://sunsetbar.lv/" title="SunSet Bar" target="_blank">SunSet Bar</a> seems to be OK, if not one thing &#8211; during the fall/winter off-season it&#8217;s not gonna be open in the mornings, and there&#8217;s actually no.. &#8220;good coffee&#8221; in there =) This can be lived with though, but those who know more than two types of coffee (black and white) will surely understand me.</p>
<p>Alrightie, so meet y&#8217;all soon, at the OpenCoffee!</p>
<p>For the first meetup, to increase the attendance and interest, there is a topic set up: &#8220;The Web 2.0 Evolution or Where is the Web Rolling?&#8221;, as well as a visual presentation of a new project to be launched on Latvian market will be held.</p>
<h2>Встречи OpenCoffee объединят авторов идей с инвесторами</h2>
<p>Если у тебя есть оригинальная идея / бизнес-модель / стартап для реализации в интернете, но на его развитие не хватает средств или ресурсов, то идеальный способ, как встретить потенциального партнёра &#8211; это встречи формата <a href="http://www.opencoffeeclub.org/" title="OpenCoffee Club" target="_blank">OpenCoffee</a>, которые впредь будут проходить и в Риге.</p>
<p>Также, если ты &#8211; предприниматель и хотел бы инвестировать в перспективный веб проект, теперь у тебя есть возможность в неформальной обстановке выслушать авторов идей и, выпив вместе кофе, обсудить возможное сотрудничество.</p>
<p>На OpenCoffee приглашаются также профессионалы из различных отраслей, которые заботятся об онлайн присутствии своего бизнеса и хотели бы почерпнуть свежую ижею или просто встретиться с единомышленниками.</p>
<p><img src="http://rigatalk.com/wp-includes/images/Open%20Coffee.jpg" alt="Open Coffee" vspace="5" width="150" align="left" height="226" hspace="8" />С начала прошлого года, когда в Лондоне прошла <a href="http://localglobe.blogspot.com/2007/02/opencoffee-club.html" title="First OpenCoffee meetup" target="_blank">первая встреча OpenCoffee</a>, собрания такого формата регулярно проходят во всём мире. Несколько месяцев назад <a href="http://www.journal.lv/blog/2008/01/14/barcamp_baltic_tour" title="BarCamp Baltic Tour" target="_blank">у меня была возможность</a> вместе с <a href="http://www.journal.lv" title="Journal.lv" target="_blank">Максимом</a> и <a href="http://evgenymorozov.com/" title="Homepage of Evgeny Morozov" target="_blank">Женей</a> посетить <a href="http://jkaljundi.blogspot.com/2008/01/opencoffee-juba-sel-neljapeval.html" title="Jüri Kaljundi blog" target="_blank">OpenCoffee в Таллине</a>. Там царила очень дружественная атмосфера и присутствовали как предприниматели, так и представители будущих и действующих интернет сервисов (в том числе Skype), блоггеры и даже один профессор ВУЗа. В свою очередь, <a href="http://www.alexr.org/2008/05/14/opencoffee/" target="_blank">на прошлой неделе я узнал</a>, что <a href="http://www.alexr.org/" title="Alexr.org" target="_blank">AlexR</a> продвигает <a href="http://opencoffeeclub.lv/" title="OpenCoffee Club Latvia" target="_blank">идею OpenCoffee в Латвии</a>, что, конечно же, приветствуется, и, надеюсь, что это движение станет традицией и у нас.</p>
<p>Концепция OpenCoffee до нельзя проста: в заранее договорённом месте, где должен быть хороший кофе и бесплатный Wi-Fi, в заранее договорённое время, собираются предприниматели, инвесторы и все те, кто считает нужным там быть. Обычно, это место &#8211; постоянное, а также назначается конкретное время (например, каждый четверг 10 &#8211; 12 в Старбакс на ул. Элизабетес). Не важно, кто придёт, может, в один прекрасный день не придёт и никто &#8211; просто, людям необходимо знать, что если они хотят встретиться, то именно в этом месте и в этот час. Если у тебя не получается в этот раз &#8211; не конец же света! Получится в следующий раз! Поэтому эти встречи должны быть регулярными. Возможно, если для Латвии каждую неделю встречаться было бы слишком часто, то это может быть, например первый четверг каждого месяца.</p>
<p><img src="http://rigatalk.com/wp-includes/images/Vanilla%20Hazelnut%20Latte.jpg" alt="Vanilla Hazelnut Latte, Starbucks" vspace="5" width="153" align="right" height="229" hspace="8" />На данный момент, <a href="http://opencoffeeclub.lv/1stmeeting/" target="_blank">вводная встреча латвийского OpenCoffee клуба</a> намечена на 5 июня сего года. Так как время и место всё ещё обсуждаемы, я голосую за 10:00 утра. Считаю, что мероприятия такого рода будут более серьёзными и продуктивными, если будем их устраивать с утра, а не предадимся очередному попиванию пива &#8220;после работы&#8221; среди блоггеров. Мы же здесь говорим &#8220;про работу&#8221;, не так ли? Ну а <a href="http://sunsetbar.lv/" title="SunSet Bar" target="_blank">SunSet Bar</a>, кажется &#8211; окей, единственное, что осенью/зимой по утрам он будет закрыт, и там на самом деле нету.. &#8220;хорошего кофе&#8221; =) Это, правда, можно пережить, но те, для кого существует больше, чем два вида кофе (чёрный и белый) меня поймут.</p>
<p>Ну что, тогда встретимся уже скоро на OpenCoffee!</p>
<p>Для первого собрания, чтобы увеличить посещаемость и заинтересованность, назначена тема: &#8220;Эволюция WEB 2.0, или куда катится WEB?&#8221;, а также пройдёт визуальная презентация нового на латвийском рынке проекта.</p>
<h2>OpenCoffee sanāksmes vienos ideju autorus ar investoriem</h2>
<p>Ja tev ir kāda oriģināla ideja / biznesa modelis / stārtaps realizēšanai internetā, bet tā attīstībai pietrūkst līdzekļu vai resursu &#8211; tad perfekts veids, kā satikt potenciālo partneri ir <a href="http://www.opencoffeeclub.org/" title="OpenCoffee Club" target="_blank">OpenCoffee</a> formāta sanāksmes, kas turpmāk notiks arī Rīgā.</p>
<p>Tāpat, ja esi uzņēmējs un vēlētos investēt kādā perspektīvajā web projektā, tagad tev ir iespēja neformālā vidē uzklausīt ideju autorus un, iedzerot kopā kafiju, apspriest iespējamo sadarbību.</p>
<p>Uz OpenCoffee tiek ielūgti arī dažādu nozaru profesionāļi, kas rūpējas par sava biznesa online klātbūtni un vēlas smelties kādu svaigu ideju vai vienkārši satikties ar līdzi domātājiem.</p>
<p><img src="http://rigatalk.com/wp-includes/images/Open%20Coffee.jpg" alt="Open Coffee" vspace="5" width="150" align="left" height="226" hspace="8" />Kopš pagājušā gada sākuma, kad Londonā notika <a href="http://localglobe.blogspot.com/2007/02/opencoffee-club.html" title="First OpenCoffee meetup" target="_blank">pirmā OpenCoffee sanāksme</a>, šāda formāta tikšanās regulāri notiek visā pasaulē. Dažus mēnešus atpakaļ <a href="http://www.journal.lv/blog/2008/01/14/barcamp_baltic_tour" title="BarCamp Baltic Tour" target="_blank">man bija iespēja</a> kopā ar <a href="http://www.journal.lv" title="Journal.lv" target="_blank">Maksimu</a> un <a href="http://evgenymorozov.com/" title="Homepage of Evgeny Morozov" target="_blank">Jevgēniju</a> apmeklēt <a href="http://jkaljundi.blogspot.com/2008/01/opencoffee-juba-sel-neljapeval.html" title="Jüri Kaljundi blog" target="_blank">OpenCoffee Tallinā</a>. Tur valdīja ļoti draudzīga gaisotne un bija sastopami gan uzņēmēji, gan topošo un esošo interneta servisu pārstāvji (arī no Skype), blogeri un pat viens augstskolas profesors. Savukārt, <a href="http://www.alexr.org/2008/05/14/opencoffee/" target="_blank">pagājušnedēļ uzzināju</a>, ka <a href="http://www.alexr.org/" title="Alexr.org" target="_blank">AlexR</a> bīda <a href="http://opencoffeeclub.lv/" title="OpenCoffee Club Latvia" target="_blank">OpenCoffee ideju Latvijā</a>, kas ir ļoti apsveicami, un, cerams, ka šī kustība kļūs par tradīciju arī pie mums.</p>
<p>OpenCoffee koncepcija ir gaužam vienkārša: iepriekš norunātā vietā, kurā jābūt labai kafijai un bezmaksas Wi-Fi, iepriekš norunātā laikā, sanāk uzņēmēji, investori un visi, kam šķiet, ka viņiem tur jābūt. Parasti, šī vieta ir nemainīga, kā arī nozīmēts konkrēts laiks (piem. katru ceturtdienu 10 &#8211; 12 @ Starbucks Elizabetes ielā). Nav svarīgi, kurš atnāk, kādu dienu var neatnākt arī neviens &#8211; vienkārši, cilvēkiem ir jāzina, ka, ja viņi grib satikties, tad šī ir īstā vieta un īstais laiks. Ja tu netiec &#8211; nav jau pasaules gals! Tiksi nākamreiz! Tāpēc šīm sanāksmēm ir jābūt regulārām. Iespējams, ja priekš Latvijas katru nedēļu tikties būtu pārāk bieži, tā varētu būt, piemēram, katra mēneša pirmā ceturtdiena.</p>
<p><img src="http://rigatalk.com/wp-includes/images/Vanilla%20Hazelnut%20Latte.jpg" alt="Vanilla Hazelnut Latte, Starbucks" vspace="5" width="153" align="right" height="229" hspace="8" />Šobrīd <a href="http://opencoffeeclub.lv/1stmeeting/" target="_blank">Latvijas OpenCoffee kluba ievadtikšanās</a> ir nozīmēta uz š.g. 5. jūniju. Par cik laiks un vieta ir vēl apspriežami, es nobalsošu par 10:00 no rīta. Uzskatu, ka šāda veida pasākumi būs nopietnāki un produktīvāki, ja tos rīkosim no rītiem, nevis ļausimies kārtējai &#8220;pēc darba&#8221; alus dzeršanai blogeru starpā. Šeit mēs runājam &#8220;par darbu&#8221;, vai nē? Savukārt <a href="http://sunsetbar.lv/" title="SunSet Bar" target="_blank">SunSet Bārs</a> šķiet OK, vienīgais, ka rudenī/ziemā tas nebūs no rītiem vaļā, un tur īsti nemaz nav.. &#8220;labas kafijas&#8221; =) To gan varētu pārdzīvot, bet tie, kam eksistē vairāk, nekā tikai divi kafijas veidi (melnā un baltā), mani sapratīs.</p>
<p>Tātad, tiksimies jau drīz Open Coffee!</p>
<p>Priekš pirmās sanāksmes, lai sekmētu apmeklētību un ieinteresētību, ir nozīmēts temats: &#8220;Web 2.0 evolūcija, jeb Kur virzās internets?&#8221;, kā arī notiks kāda jauna Latvijas tirgū projekta vizuālā prezentācija.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-48"></div><p>Thanks for reading <a href="http://rigatalk.com/2008/05/opencoffee-meetups-to-unite-idea-authors-and-investors/">OpenCoffee Meetups To Unite Idea Authors And Investors</a>! Check back for more goodness at <a href="http://rigatalk.com">Riga Talk - The Blog About Everything Riga, Latvia</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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