Deborah Schultz

TravelingGeeks: Israel through the eyes of first timers

This weeks has been a whirlwind of interesting, absurd and hysterical moments as the TravelingGeeks have bumped around the country and the tech scene in Israel. It has been exhausting and amazing to watch these two worlds that I live in come together in such a unique fashion. I definitely have more thoughtful posts rolling around in my brain - for now here are some Snackbytes to whet your appetite:

• Picture a mini van with all of us smushed together three across with laptops open, evdo cards humming while twitters ricocheted amongst ourselves and folks and around the world

• Craig's intro to twitter by Scoble- perfect medium for a guy with the coolest driest sense of humor of anyone I know

• Lunch with local women bloggers at Nanoushka -gossiping about the difference between Israeli geek guys  and SF geek guys - yeah - I know you are dieing to hear all about it - but this Lunch was strictly off the record


• Amazing afternoon coffee stop with Ishmael Khaldi's family - where I got to be an interpreter between Jeff's wife Eileen and Ish's mother and sister that was both touching and endearing.

• The graciousness of Scoble - he has an amazing ability to focus and listen for hours - and always knows just the right questions to ask - never get to really see him in action till now

• The sheer enthusiasm of Sarah, not to mention our all too brief shopping trip in Neveh Zedek [tel aviv's hip little Soho-esque neighborhood] Glad it was not longer or more pocketbook damage would have ensued.

• The photography skills of Renee, Cathy's wit and Susan's joy at meeting Israeli women bloggers

Just got word that the day in Jerusalem was,  as expected - amazing and emotional.  I am sure there will be some heartfelt posts to come.  One more day to go..tomorrow should bring some more interesting experiences - including a meeting at Rogozin HS and the Peres Center for Peace.

Greetings from Heathrow - en route to Israel

I am en route to my annual jaunt to Israel and of course stuck in Heathrow, so what better to do than  tap into blog land.

Last year I was lucky enough to spend an entire month in Israel - visiting with companies and great people - it always energizes me.  This year the trip will "only" be 10 days but will be jam packed. It will include participating in Kinnernet [Yossi Vardi's Israeli version of FOO Camp meets a Jerry Michalski retreat], then The Marker conference and then courtesy of the Israeli consulate in SF, I will be touring the country with a group of blogger buddies [including Scoble, Cathy Brooks,  Renee Blodget, Sue Mernit, JD Lasica, Sarah Lacy and Craig Newmark ].   I will be both blogger and digital ambassador to the Israeli tech & cultural scene I know and love. The bus rides alone will be interesting in and of themselves.

There is a lot happening in the Israeli tech scene today - mostly around video and mobile.  There is noway we will be able to cover it all- but I am sure we will try.   We will be posting from the road - so stay tuned here on twitter , flickr and a group blog to be named later..;)

Of course, when it rains, it pours and I am also launching the private [for now] community for the P&G Social Media Lab that I have been working so hard on the past few months and hinting at here for an equal amount of time! I promise to share more on this in the coming weeks and months - it is truly an exciting program that I hope will raise the dialog on new business models for the social web that benefit both company and customer/user.

In the meantime, here are some photos from previous trips to Israel to pique your interest. 

      

 

For background on Israel tech scene, check out this  link to the latest 15 page article from the Economist on "Silicon Wadi" [tho I do not agree with their assessment].