One of my investment thesis is that the continued convergence of computing and communications technologies will drive innovation and adoption in the healthcare industry.  I’m a big believer in convergence and multidisciplinary science and technology.  In fact, you could say that I’m putting my money where my mouth is here.

If you’re similarly interested in such convergence, come to the next Orange County Venture Group event on July 21st to hear about health care information technology from several of the CEO pioneers and entrepreneurs who are surviving and thriving in this challenging market sector. We will swap stories about successes and challenges in customer adoption, and share assessments of opportunities and threats created by government regulations, health reform, and the economy (register at www.ocvg.com).

Oh-and there’s the $38B of U.S. Stimulus funds for “meaningful use” of healthcare IT.

There will be ample time for audience Q and A and we are expecting a PACKED house full of VCs, entrepreneurs, and various service providers.

Registration & Networking:

7:00AM - 7:30AM
Breakfast Served: 7:30AM

Featured Program:

7:30AM - 9:00AM

Pacific Club Newport Beach

4110 MacArthur Blvd, Newport Beach 92660

I spent an extended July 4th weekend with good family friends at Lake Arrowhead and returned to a partially flooded house.  Normally, I would have been irate.  Instead, I simply chalked it up to shit happening and have rolled with the punches this week for the simple reason that I returned completely relaxed (thanks Will, et al!!!).  In fact, a thought occurred to me while swimming up to the surface during one of our swims after discussing deep sea diving.  Whether or not you one needs it, “decompression” should be mandatory.  What do I mean?  I suppose it is a self-realization that stress accumulates whether we realize it or not so it’s good to release it frequently regardless of whether we think we need to or not.  I have always been even-keeled and tend to stay calm through any calamity so have never focused on relaxing.  Sure, I take vacations and spend time away from “work” but more and more of my time away from the office is spent intertwined with work such that I do not consider it work.  In fact, I would venture to say that I am doing exactly what I would do if I did not have to “do” anything and feel truly blessed for that fact.  So go out and do some decompression this week!

I had an interesting conversation this week about Twitter.  I explained to a friend that I have an account, used it for awhile, abandoned it for awhile, and have revived it in an attempt to learn more about it as a social medium.  Here is how I view it and my three self-imposed rules of thumb:

1) Utility - I only follow folks that might learn something unique and useful from on a weekly basis.  If I find that I’m not learning anything unique and useful on a weekly basis, I stop following them.

2) No Reciprocity - I don’t follow folks because they follow me.  In fact, I’m not sure why anyone would follow me as my tweets are rarely insightful (you can see for yourself here at http://twitter.com/ocvc if you’re so inclined).

3) No Location Details - I learned (the hard way) never to post with specificity my location in real-time unless I’m prepared to be approached.  Nothing like having a dinner out with my family interrupted by someone “eager” to meet me.  Yeah, I know…common sense here but I was naive enough to think all would be good.

I’m still not sure just how useful Twitter is to me but am giving it another go in an attempt to learn.  Wish me luck and if you have an interesting Twitter experience, please share it!!!

Happy Tweeting!

I have been blogging less frequently these days and spent some time thinking about the reasons why over the long weekend.  Before I get into that, I thought I’d reiterate the reasons why I blog in the first place.  I originally started blogging when I was at Intel as a way to inform my team and fellow travelers what I was up to, where I was, and what was occupying my then current thoughts.  I did this as I spent ~15 nights a month out of the country and the other ~15 nights so incredibly busy catching up here in the U.S. it was hard to stay in touch with folks.  I picked the proverbial pen back up after my partner and I got Okapi up and running as way to more effectively communicate to the masses (family, friends, fellow travelers, and followers) and share a bit of my life with them in our increasingly busy lives.  I suppose a secondary reason was to my small part to help increase awareness for the under-served SoCal VC ecosystem and just what was going on down here in the shadow of Silicon Valley.  Well, my reasons for blogging are changing so I find myself blogging less frequently.  Let me explain.

I’ve noticed that I’ve been spending more time with my family, friends, and fellow travelers and less time with the general masses at the various conferences and industry events so I feel less compelled to communicate through my blog.  Additionally, since I started blogging about the SoCal VC ecosystem and number of blogs written/maintained by “relevant” authors have sprung up to cover the area (just take a look at my Blogroll for examples).  Once again, I feel less compelled to showcase what is happening down here given the expanded coverage.  In light of these facts and feelings, my rationale for blogging has morphed.  I now see it as a way to dynamically interact with the SoCal VC community and regularly engage members of my audience and am having a blast doing so.  Maybe I’ll blog once a week, once a month, or once a quarter.  It will now just depend on how busy I am and how much time I spend sharing/communicating in person rather than through my blog.  Having said that, I have a few posts stockpiled from my weekend off the clock that I’ll now share…