TECH

Title: Connecting the Online, Offline

Words: Tyler Mongan

Pull quote: “We spend millions of dollars making tourism in Hawai‘i sexy, why not do it with tech?”

With the allure of sunny days and active lifestyles, Hawai‘i is probably one of the last places you would think of when it comes to web technology brilliance. But google “AOL,” “eBay,“ or “Tetris,“ and you will discover the subtle links these powerful brands have with Hawai‘i. 

About one hundred “geeks” fill the small auditorium of the University of Hawai‘i Art Building, listening to a morning lecture series on Avatar Reality, renewable energy, and astrodynamics as part of a one-day Tech Hui conference. The day continues with breakout sessions on rich interface technology, widget builders, wire frame lockups, content gathering kits, 3-D animation, online social media, wizi wig content management, landing page optimization, and other web development and web tool applications.  The quality of presentations and discussions rivals that of stuff you can find in areas like Silicon Valley and San Francisco.  It’s a sign of a strong tech industry in Hawai‘i.

Even with the growing interest in Twitter and online social media, Dan Lueck, founder of Hawai‘i-based Ikayzo, is quick to point out that web interactions are not a replacement for face-to-face communication. “The web is the new, but you need a holistic approach. Most companies are community oriented,“ notes Dan, who started Tech Hui to help bring the technology community together in Hawai‘i online and offline. The next step is to connect the tech community with Hawai‘i, so that people understand the value of web technology start-ups in supporting Hawai‘i’s economy, community, and environment.

Working from a plain office in the Manoa Innovation Center, Kevin Hughes is developing a simple-to-use and elegant web tool that is changing the way the world does business. His company, Sprout Inc., is one of the many organizations that call Hawai‘i home. What does Kevin like about his web work?  “It’s the most offshoreable, nonpolluting, high-skill, high-paying job type that I know of.” Kevin is a humble guy with a not-so-humble history. He is one of only six people in the World Wide Web Hall of Fame. Kevin would like to see the brain trust in Hawai‘i grow by increasing tech business start-ups in Hawai‘i. He questions, “We spend millions of dollars making tourism in Hawai‘i sexy, why not do it with tech?”

A world player in gaming technology, Blue Planet Software is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Tetris this year from a downtown Honolulu office.  Blue Planet Software’s founder, Henk Rogers, is also using his resources to help make Hawai‘i more sustainable. With the lofty goal of ending the use of fossil fuel globally, starting with Hawai‘i, Henk founded Blue Planet Foundation to help focus his efforts. Their current goal is to change the energy culture of the world. Starting with Hawai‘i. It’s a great way for the tech industry to connect with the local community and support positive changes.

Hoping the beauty of a Hawai‘i venue will help bring in some of the best in the industry, Seth Ladd is organizing a two-day conference covering topics about Ruby on Rails programming and web technology. The conference is fittingly titled Aloha on Rails and promises to bring together an all-star cast of web gurus to educate local web programmers and international conference attendees. Seth is hoping to put Hawai‘i on the map as a place for “web development knowledge and wisdom.”

The word is spreading through the wires that Hawai‘i has potential to become a tech mecca. New tech start-ups, like Mesiab Labs from Boise, Idaho, continue to cross the Pacific to see what these islands have to offer. “I sold everything I had and took a one-way ticket to Hawai‘i along with the rest of the executive team of Mesiab Labs.  My time is much taken lately with surfing and exploring this tropical island.  When I’m not doing that, I’m designing and developing websites and applications.”  If you’re interested in discovering the ins and outs of Twitter, Mesiab Labs is a great place to start.

With over 75,000 Twitter follows, Aloha Arleen (@alohaarleen) is one of the new social media experts.  Her tweets help to connect Hawai‘i with the greater online social media network. Arleen shares the aloha on her Twitter account to help initiate new relationships and connections. Over a glass of wine, she reiterates that “Twitter is a tool for social interaction, but real relationships are built offline.”

The unique value of web and computer technology is that, as Kevin Hughes states, “it deals with intellectual capital which is valuable anywhere and anytime.” Although Hawai‘i’s physical location is one of the most remote and isolated in the world, the web keeps us all equally connected. The key to tech success in Hawai‘i is to keep the intellectual capital in Hawai‘i, without exporting it across the Pacific to universities and cities. And what keeps the tech in Hawai‘i? Taking the time to drop the keyboard and iPhone for a day at the beach or an evening socializing offline.

TWITTER:

@DanLueck “Print still has the tactile experience that people want.”

@Aloha Arleen “I initiate relationships with Twitter, then build them offline.”

@LorenzSell “I want to use technology to inspire people to follow their passion”

@KevinHughes “we don’t care about credientials. Software engineering is a meritocracy”

@BluePlanetFoundation “we want to shape a new energy future in Hawaii”

@HonuGuide “we want to merge sustainability and technology in Hawaii”