MY URBAN KVETCH

What I Learned at Google (on the PICZ Geek Tiyul)

One of the geek highlights of the Geek Tiyul was our visit to Google, which made all of the PresenTense Institute innovators immediately think we were in the wrong business (we could "not be evil" by working at a multi-billion-dollar company with offices everywhere...plus--did I mention--free snacks? Oh, I guess I did.)

At Google's Haifa office, which shares a technology park plaza with companies like Yahooo and Microsoft, we met with Yoelle Maarek, originally from France, who opened the Google Haifa Engineering Center in July 2006, and is now its Director. "I assume you are all Google users," she said matter-of-factly, causing me to reflect on what it must be like to be able to correctly assume that everyone knows your product and is a user. (Personally, I know I would never say "Oh, I assume you all read MyUrbanKvetch.com," unless I were talking to my parents.)

Yoelle gave us a very enthusiastic presentation about what search provides, how Google works, and gave us some advice in terms of our approach to individual and team work. She explained the Google work ethic, which encourages employees to work on their own projects one day a week, noted that the biblical concordance was the ancestor of the contemporary search engine and told us that the Google search autocomplete function was created at Google Haifa. (Makes sense, since Jews have been finishing other people's sentences for years.)

So here are some of those lessons, followed by some of my elaborations/comments. (Plus your scrolling bonus after the jump, videos--not taken by me--that further explain what working at Google is like.)

• "You have to trust in the ecosystem."/"Know who your users are and make them happy." (Google as a company of users rely on their users to tell them what's working and what's not working--through usage, you troubleshoot, mend, and improve the final product. Because really, if the user's not using it, what's the point?)
• "Give trust to people of quality, and you get it back." (Having an idea is one thing, but trusting others to help you achieve your vision is another. By bringing on people who care about the product and have the skills to make things happen, you give them a personal investment in the company or product and empower them to speak in an authentic "we" voice, which creates an atmosphere of mutual commitment.)
• "Be funny and cool, and break the routine--that's part of the culture." (A culture of iconoclasts, against a background of chill humor. I'm in.)
• "We're a company of geeks, we really don't care about money." (Say no more...I shall rescue you, O Google, by removing said troublesome money henceforth and forthwith. No, no--you don't even have to worry about where it's going. I'll take care of it. You're welcome.)

Geek Tiyul: PICZ Goes North

Going on tiyul (trip) to the north is something that Israelis love to do, as they visit beautiful scenery, go on picturesque hikes and dip their city toes into clear, refreshing grottoes. It's a welcome respite from the day-to-day life of work, eat, sleep, start over.

On Monday, a group of intrepid Zionist innovators left their pied a terre in the somewhat-remote Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona and headed north for a slightly different type of tiyul: infused with the spirit of innovation, the young group of 20-somethings were on a pilgrimage to a different type of holy site, where new ideas find life and search engines reign supreme.

First stop was what I called a "hikelet," a small hike along a nature path that ended at a grotto, where pasty computer-addicted youngsters stripped off as much clothing as they were comfortable and waded into the refreshing waters. After this relaxing start, they took some group pictures and photos of the beautiful scenery, before heading to the first real stop of the day: Tefen Industrial Park's Open Museum, where they visited one of the companies that had been incubated in the park, Savta Jamila's soap company.

Then the group headed slightly south to Haifa, to visit the Golden Temple of Google and pay homage to colorful cafeteria/engineer play rooms, while liquidating the company of its bounty of holy, free snacks and developing a group case of job envy. Even a visit to the bathroom was different at Google: the "Testing on the Toilet" program (no, I'm not making that up) provides specific bathroom reading to employees, posting it on the inside of bathroom stall doors so that no moment is, um, wasted.

Back on the bus, they headed north to Rosh Hanikra, close to the border of Lebanon, visiting the home of a friend of the PresenTense Institute and enjoying a lovely reception and views of the ocean before heading back to Jerusalem.

But pictures are worth a thousand Google searches. (OK, they're not. But you get the point.) And therefore, I present the Geek Tiyul: A day in pictures.

"20 Things to Do With Matzah" Goes Bilingual

Cross-posted from ROI120.com

Remember Will and Michelle's "Matzah Song"? If your native language is Hebrew, maybe you didn't understand all 20 Things the first time. But now, an inventive independent translator took it upon himself to translate the famous "20 Things To Do With Matzah" viral video into the Holy Tongue. So check it out and enjoy!

בקיצור לדוברי עברית: הקליפ המפורסם עכשיו בעברית!!!

TV Show Nails the Religious Singles Scene in Jerusalem

If you've ever watched "Sex and the City" and thought, "I relate because I'm single, but none of them go to shul or make Shabbat dinner," you'll want to check out Serugim, a drama about religious single thirtysomethings in Jerusalem. (For the page about the series, click here.)

Originally, this show came to my attention because a new friend of mine, Shira, plays "neighbor Stacey" in this episode (and because I read about it on Israluv's blog). But I watched the whole thing and found it interesting, resonant, funny and disturbingly familiar (even though the post-denominationalist in me wouldn't define my affiliation as Orthodox).

Many of the same dating/relationship issues that New Yorkers deal with, religious Jerusalemites deal with: feeling like you already know everyone from youth movement, parents who sign you up for speed dating, meeting a potential and then having to compete with other single women for his attention, differences in interpreting the roles of men and women in religious Judaism, the dramatic role of Shabbat dinners, friends who tell you what you want to hear to spare your feelings...it's all in there. As the site notes:

בשכונות רחביה, קטמון, הנחלאות והמושבה הגרמנית התהוותה לה "הביצה הירושלמית", שכבה חברתית חדשה של רווקים ורווקות בסביבות גיל ה-30, חלקם הגדול משכילים ואינטליגנטים מאוד, שאינם מוצאים את מקומם במסגרות הדתיות הקיימות. הם גרים בדירות שכורות הפזורות ברחבי העיר, חלקם סטודנטים, חלקם כבר עובדים במשרות מכובדות וכמעט כולם מחפשים אהבה ומוצא מהמצב שאליו נקלעו – מצב המתנה זמני ("עד החתונה") שהפך להיות מצב קבוע

[Rough translation: In Rehavia, Katamon, Nahlaot and the German Colony is "the Jerusalem Swamp," a new social segment of single men and women in their 30s, most of them educated and very intelligent, who don't find their place in the existing religious frameworkd. They live in rented apartments throughout the city, many of them students, others already working in prestigious roles and almost all of them looking for love and finding that the situation they're in--a constant state of waiting "until the wedding"--has become a more permanent situation.]

Wow. Looks like I picked the wrong time to quit writing a Jewish singles column. Maybe it's time to start that book after all.

Deep Cover: ROI Incognito

I'm going deep undercover for ROI. If you want to keep up with the action, I'll be blogging at ROI120.com, and here when I can, but no promises. (Clearly, considering my absence of posts over the last week.)

It's not that I don't love you...

Catch you all on the flip side.

Tagged in TA: Defining Yourself at the Pulver Networking Breakfast

It's embarrassing that it took me so long to post about attending this networking breakfast in Tel Aviv, but I guess better late than never.

Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture, of a person I don't know? It's always hard to define yourself to other people, but at Jeff Pulver's networking breakfasts, they've found a way: name tags with your mantra or motto on them, and additional smaller tags that work the way tagging does on the internet.

At the breakfast, I met a few interesting people, including some whose names I knew but whose faces were new. Of course, there was Jeff himself, plus Israluv, Brian Blum (whose blog I read back before I was a blogger, if you can imagine such an epoch), and of course, Nir Kouris networking at the event with another one of his young CEOs from ecampIsrael.

Want a closer look at the whole tagging situation? Another photo plus additional explanation after the jump.

"Daily Show" Writer's Book Gives You the "Apocalypse How"

Comedy writer Rob Kutner (or as you might have heard me refer to him, "My Friend Rob Who Works at the Daily Show") has Emmys galore, and a lovely and funny comedy writer wife, and a phat pad in Manhattan. He's also one of the creative minds behind the annual "Shushan Channel" spiel extravaganza, which this year featured "Jewno." He obviously contributed to the wildly popular America: The Book. (Still no word on "America: The Book: The Movie.")

But now, Rob outdoes us all again by finally achieving his very own ISBN number with Apocalypse How!, a new guide about how to deal with the apocalypse:

Let’s face it: Our world’s gotta go sometime.

Whether it’s due to mushroom clouds, asteroids, a mad supergenius, Jesus, newly sentient iPods, or Pod People, everything about life on Earth is going to change.

And you should be psyched.

APOCALYPSE HOW is a comprehensive cataclysmic guide that walks you through the Nine Most Likely World-Ending Scenarios, and provides useful and inspiring advice on every aspect of surviving (and thriving!) in the new world to come. Covering everything from food, shelter, and relocation to social life, dating, recreation and career, APOCALYPSE HOW is the only book you’ll need – and just might be the last one left at all.

As this video points out, just because there's an apocalypse (which in this iteration, may include zombies), doesn't mean you should let yourself go. Exercise as you exorcise! I can't wait for the immensely practical and applicable-to-all chapter on "what to do with all your Emmys in the apocalyptic era."

Tel Aviv Intermezzo

Welcome to Tel Aviv!

We kicked off our tour of Tel Aviv with a trip to the beach, of course. Then we glammed up for a Tel Avivi party in honor of the publication of Tel Aviv City Guide, which was written by friend and journalist Lisa Goldman. It took place at Beit Kastiel, which we can best describe as a beautiful, fancy, high-end furniture store in a bad neighborhood (Florentin/S. Tel Aviv). I also met SavtaDotty and Liza from SomethingSomething, and had a lovely reunion with Harry (The View From Here, Jerusalemite). I believe it was SavtaDotty (although might have been someone else) who told me that Florentin today is like SoHo used to be back when it was dirty and dangerous. (Not her exact words.) This basically means that property costs are soaring and there are very few available apartments. What's the book like, you ask? It seemed cool, but since Ketel Vodka was sponsoring the event (which had begun with champagne and many unkosher hors d'oeuvre), I can't say that I actually remembered to pick one up...(At any rate, Kol Hakavod to Lisa.) Then we went out with Ori from Coolooloosh, which was really nice, catching up on the band's progress since the Israelity Tour over a drink at Bugsy's.

Then we headed out with a friend to the Ben-Gurion Museum, two places which we visited yesterday. We kicked off our day with the Pulver breakfast at Aroma at the Namal (that's the port of Tel Aviv), where we begin our morning sipping our "hafuchim" and networking with web-savvy, creative individuals. I met many folks, including Brian Blum, whose blog (This Normal Life) I've been reading since the early days, my new Twitter pal IsraLuv, Nir Kouris and one of his young partners at EcampIsrael, and others (apologies for not linking to all). We wore our names and catchphrases (ex, Lindsay's "I refuse to Twitter") and then with stickers, "tagged" ourselves with keywords (mine included "Blogger 4 Hire," "pop culture," "Jewish life," and others). Very creative and a good icebreaker. (Unite that with drunken brainstorming, and we could really have something!)

Other highlights included driving around Tel Aviv while listening to great music, dining at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the sea and with great views of the city, and hanging out with a friend and his kids at a campfire and learning Hebrew from Israeli children. (Best way to learn Hebrew, I'm convinced.)

Today we took an early swim and headed into meetings for the rest of the day before returning to Jerusalem. Or, as the TA locals reacted, "You're going back where? Why?"

36 Under 36: The Jewish Week's "Must" List

The Jewish Week has released its list of "36 Under 36," a list of young Jewish leaders you should know in the New York Jewish community. I don't have information on the listees, that will come in the Jewish Week this weekend.

Some of the names are really familiar, and others just sound familiar. Let the discussion begin...

The Jewish Week’s 2008 “36 Under 36”:

1. Sivan Achor
2. Wendy Amsellem
3. Rabbi Julia Andelman
4. Ronit Avni
5. Ariel Beery
6. Amanda Bilski
7. Sarah Chandler
8. Edoe Cohen
9. Menachem Ejdelman
10. Ben Dreyfus
11  Zoya Raynes Friedman
12.   Adam Gaynor
13. David Greenfield
14. Ben Hyman
15. Rabbi Jill Jacobs
16. Danielle Josephs
17. Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
18. Rachel Klapper
19. Dani Klein
20. Naomi Less
21. Caroline Arfa Massel
22. Jackie Miller
23. Jordan Rosenberg
24. Jennie Rosenfeld
25. Joshua Ross
26 Erez Safar
27. Todd Schechter
28. Dan Sieradski
29. Jacob Strumwasser
30. Ari Teman
31. Zachary Thacher
32. Joseph Weilgus
33. Rabbi Melissa Weintraub
34. Joey Weisenberg
35. Rabbi Chananya Weissman
36. Shmuly Yanklowitz

 

PresenTense Group Receives AVI CHAI Fellowship

The AVI CHAI Foundation has announced that it is allocating up to $1.15 million over the course of the next three years to four individuals and one team of two whom it has selected as the first recipients of The AVI CHAI Fellowship. It won't surprise any of you who follow the Jewish innovation beat to learn that the "team of two" is that of Beery and Horwitz--Ariel and Aharon are sharing the fellowship, with the goal of "expanding PresenTense Magazine and the PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism to form a corps of forward-thinking social and communal pioneers, specially trained for the Information Age."

The other fellows and their projects are:

Dr. Betsy Dolgin Katz, writing a book about the development of adult Jewish learning against the backdrop of contemporary America society; Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, who is working on the expansion of Yeshivat Hadar beyond its present parameters, allowing the institution to have a national and potentially global influence; Rabbi Dov Linzer, who is creating a rabbinical school curriculum for educators, allowing the Orthodox rabbinate to gain enhanced pedagogical training, so that they are better trained to be Day School educators; and Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, who is expanding innovative Jewish programming in the Philadelphia area.

This program constitutes the largest cash award -- $75K per fellow or team per year -- to emerging communal and educational leaders within the North American Jewish community. The award will go towards their proposed activities, the purpose of The AVI CHAI Fellowship is to advance and promote the individual winners as important forces in building a vital American Jewish future built upon these values.

More than 40 nominations were submitted by twenty nominators (18 located in the United States and 2 in Israel) and the seven members of the selection committee met privately over the course of four months. The AVI CHAI Fellowship was kept under wraps and the nominators and selections committee remained anonymous so that the integrity of the nomination and selection process not be compromised. Winners were informed of their achievement in late April.