Tengo mucho identities. Pass it on.
May 29, 2009 in This Week in Fun, current, net@night I've been meaning to update you (yes, you!) on all of my current projects, as there are many and I haven't been the best at keeping everyone in the loop here. The reason I know this is because on an almost daily basis I get emails and tweets from people of seemingly normal intelligence who don't know where I'm working, what I'm up to, or even how to find me online. I'm not going to go into why I think that's a little weird, since I'm the first result in a Google search for "Sarah Lane", "Sara Lane", "Sar Lane", "Shara Lane", and my personal favorite "Sarah Lame", to name a few. Instead, I'll just list my projects here (in order of inception because I love them all equally).
This Week in FUN
In December 2008, my friend Martin Sargent and I, both unemployed, had a lot of free time on our hands and decided to create a weekly show called "This Week in FUN" (AKA "TWiF") on the TWiT netcast network. It started out as a little experiment when our friend Leo went to France for a couple weeks and left us his facility and resources. Leo had recently given me an intensive Tricaster/mixer/etc. lesson, so I felt comfortable running the technical side of things. Since the TWiT network is so heavy on technical content, we thought a talk radio-style show about silly internet stories might be a fun diversion for TWiT's legions of fans. It was also nothing more than a fancy live stream... miss the stream, miss the show. No downloadable/subscribable anything.
Turns out, people really seemed to enjoy TWiF and we quickly realized that the live stream was great, but too limiting for many folks' schedules. Around episode 12, Leo and his team made TWiF an official TWiT netcast, meaning that along with our weekly live stream, we also started offering on-demand audio versions of the show.
We just taped our 20th episode of TWiF, and I'm really proud of the progress we've made. What started out as a bit of a joke has turned into a really fun project with a ton of really cool, dedicated fans who interact with us all over the internet. Coming soon: video downloads.
- Watch live: Fridays at 3 pm Pacific time at http://twitlive.tv
- Chat live: http://irc.twit.tv
- Listen/subscribe: http://twit.tv/twif
- iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311693613
net@night
In late January, net@night co-host Amber McArthur asked me to fill in for her on the show during her impending maternity leave, which I was thrilled to do since I 1) wasn't working full-time yet and 2) already loved the show, which centered around everything internet-related (my THANG). I co-hosted four episodes with Leo and had a ton of fun. Once Amber was ready to come back, she and Leo asked me to remain on net@night as a regular contributor and I was elated to be a permanent part of the team. Now, you can watch me live every week talking about my favorite new internet toy, or listen at your leisure!
- Watch live: Tuesdays at 4 pm Pacific time at http://twitlive.tv
- Chat live: http://irc.twit.tv
- Listen/subscribe: http://twit.tv/natn
- iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=101248932
Current
In mid-February, I joined the team at Current full-time as an online producer in the news department. The Current management was awesomely accommodating of my outside projects and even allowed me to start/leave early on Fridays to give me time to keep hosting TWiF (an hour's drive away from San Francisco in Petaluma, CA). Meanwhile, in my new position at Current I was enjoying learning a whole 'nother level of web metrics I had never really focused on in all of my past TV/production work. I also was making new friends! Really cool ones!
In early May, I was offered (and accepted!) the opportunity to move into an ideal role as the sole manager of Current.com's tech channel, which had amazing potential but had been sorely neglected in the past without anyone at the helm full-time. The tech channel is an utterly perfect fit for a tech news/app/service/gadget junkie like me and I'm pumped to make it an amazing destination for tech stories, videos, tutorials, conversation, and community. If you haven't poked around on current.com/tech and gotten familiar with it yet, please do. Don't hesitate to give me your honest feedback on what you like about it and what you want to see changed or added, because I'm not interested in making Current Tech a super place for me, I'm interested in making it a super place for as many people as possible. I also have some rather lofty, ambitious goals for the channel that both frighten and excite me, but also seem like the right next steps. As soon as I can tell you about them, I will. Video is involved. :)
- Main channel: http://current.com/tech
- Current Tech blog: http://blogs.current.com/tech
- Twitter account: @CurrentTech
If you're still reading this, you must really be interested in my professional life and for that I thank you a thousand times! I'm not going to actually write out "thank you" 1000 times here, but rest assured I'm saying it in my head. Perhaps even in Spanish. Now you're really truly up to speed.
Reader Comments (33)
Just like a kitty Sarah... you're always landing on your feet. current/tech is really coming along!
Jeff
Very cool! It's great to see you happy and busy. :)
Awesome, It's great to hear that you're keeping yourself busy and that you have a job. It seems to be really hard to find one these days :-\
Keep up the good work and creativity!
--
Rohan - A fan =)
So is it paying the bills???? That's the big question.
Thanks for the update. I agree with Jeff. You always land on your feet. Very happy to see things are working out so great for you. Congratulations!
Sarah, Usted tiene el pulso del internet. Por eso nosotros le seguimos.
Sarah I absolutely love TWiF and your picks on net@night are always surprising. I didn't know about the tech channel on current and that looks pretty cool too.
I made this little random little twif video http://www.vimeo.com/4931661
I'm glad you're experiencing some stability in this crazy time, girlie! You always keep us on our toes, following your sweet tech shenanigans. :)
Hey Sarah!
You can write a script that repeats "Thank You!" a thousand times pretty easily. =D Also, I have been watching you ever since the early Tech TV days and I think you are awesome, thanks for everything that you have given us.
-a loyal fan, Nate Lane (ntlane2004@gmail.com)
Me encantaría escucharte hablar en español en TWIF!
It's always great to hear that things are going well for you, especially professionaly (well maybe not ESPECIALLY). The Internet needs more producers like you, people who care about the content and not JUST the business model. I wish you the best, and hope to see much more of you in the future.
I really enjoy your work on TWIF with Martin Sargeant. You guys are funny. You did a great job substituting on net@night. Good luck with all your future work.
Fellow SFSU alumni(class of 73)--Go Gators--Do they still exist?
Tom
Awesome Sarah. I just added current.com/tech to my iGoogle page. It's so cool to see Screen Savers people thrive.
Congrats. It's great to see you doing things you enjoy that also just happen to be things we enjoy :)
TWiF is legendary and pure awesome. You and Marty are wicked. Keep it up!
Best
Bob
Way to go Sarah - good to see you're back on track. I'm sure lots of people will keep folowing you regardless of where you go. Well, maybe not Mexico.
Great news about our favorite gal! Will be following it all
Art
I hope Current realizes what an incredible resource they have in you and I hope to see regular video programming featuring yourself soon. TWiF is now officially my favorite video podcast (I haven't watched anything on Revision 3 since you left) and I'm glad that you're expanding well beyond that.
It's cuz we love you Sarah.
nice post.
you are a mighty woman of fearless courage.
pete
What color is your Bicycle?
and do you run a GPS on it?
we're with you every step of the way! you keep creating & introducing us to great content. the techtv days through TWiF, net@night & current today. love it! love ya!
Very cool stuff Sarah. I knew some of it, but it's nice to get a recap of it all. I'm still a fan after all these years and find your life fascinating. In a non-stalkerish kinda way.
Is that ALL you're doing? You sound lazy. Just kidding. :-)
Awesome! I'll be sure to check out Current Tech.
You should teach a course at the Community College level on how to use your bedroom & SUCK ASS abilities to rampage from Tech Tv to Leo's enterprises. You have made Net@Night un-listenable..... Please go away!!!!!!!
"True Blood", that's the most hurtful thing someone has said to me in a long time. Bedroom abilities? How mean.
Oh Sarah, be glad it was another hit on your blog. Most people think bloggers don't even check the comments section. Keep smiling, know that most people are smiling with you. Cause they are!
The funny thing is.. you actually beat out the actual Shara Lane of Tucson, AZ in Google-popularity.
Poor Shara.. it must be a little disheartening to have someone who doesn't even spell her name like yours to have more Google-clout than you.
thanks for bringing us up to speed.
Hi Sarah,
I'm not normally one to comment on blogs, but I felt compelled to respond after reading the nasty comment from "True Blood" above.
I just want to let you know that I greatly enjoy your contributions to Net@Night and work on Twif as well. I've enjoyed your work since the Techtv days. What is most remarkable, beyond the upbeat pleasantness you bring to all your shows is the fact that you genuinely know your subject. You are intelligent, engaged and well informed and bring that knowledge and insight to everything you do.
I've enjoyed Net@Night for quite a while, but now would find it hard to imagine the show with out you. Keep doing such great work!
New podcast idea for Leo - TWILF - Twits Who I'd Like To FOAD
Nice to read a little more about you and your travels. I think you add a nice extra dimension to to Net@Night. Interesting your career and Amber's appear to take producer-to talent roles with business savvy. Loved the session where you and Amber made the jokes about fishing off the company dock. I am sure there is lots of Kevin Rose to go around. He's a cool dude.
Look forward to following you or at least having a virtual wine tour with you. Add me on Twitter RobboM.
Congrats on your new position at Current...That's outstanding.
-Shelly
http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/category/science-and-technology/technology.html?pageNumber=1