Mahalo Archives

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Nothing like a Wednesday night at the Air-Conditioned Supper Club in Venice Beach California, hanging out with some of West LA’s biggest geeks and nerds.

The digital media space in West Los Angeles has subtly been growning for the past few years now, and things are no longer as quiet as they used to be. I recall Brian Deagan, reporter for Investors Business Daily, commenting more than two years ago, that West Los Angeles will become a digital hub of Web 2.0 media. From the sold-out crowd I witnessed last night, I’d say Brian’s predictions are right on target.

Among recognizable LA faces I saw last night were Crystal Williams (who I met at wordcamp 2007, and hadn’t seen since barcamp LA 2007), Mark Jeffrey (CTO of Mahalo.com and author of The Pocket and the Pendant), Elmer Thomas (CEO of ThemBid), Nicole Jordan (who was an incredible host when I was at Vegas Pubcon), Marwan Soghaier (of Rubicon Project – I love these guys!!!) and Shira Lazar (who was busy interviewing lots of folks at the event).

Shira Lazar interviews Elmer Thomas, CEO of ThemBid

There was lots of conversation and excitement revolving around like-minded groups getting together in the coastal LA. While some companies and representatives drove in from places like Riverside in Burbank, many conduct business in the local area. Mahalo is in Santa Monica, the Rubicon Project is now in the Marina del Rey area, and Planet Chiropractic has been in Venice, since the office moved from their downtown LA location in 2001.

Representatives from the Rubicon Project gave demos all night long

I picked up a few pieces of new shwag (which I’ll likely be mailing to schwag addict Tamar Weinberg) and had a great time getting reconnected with the guys and girls of digital media and Web 2.0 in Los Angeles.

by Michael Dorausch

I took lots of photos of different signs during my Christmas trip to Maui. The calling 911 sign was popular. Here’s a group of signs from around the island that say Mahalo, which is Hawaiian for thank you. Besides Aloha, it’s probably the most commonly used word in Maui.

Please Do Not Walk on Roadway Use Sidewalk – Mahalo

Photo taken outside of the Kaanapali Beach Club. This next photo was for a sign about an Congo African Grey named BoJo. We share a birthday so I took a liking to this bird. While tempted, I didn’t stick my finger into his cage to find out if he actually did bite it or not. I suppose that’s why the sign is there.

Mahalo for not putting your fingers in the birdcage.

Here’s a picture of Bojo…

What a beautiful bird. I bet he could take my finger off with that beak if he wanted to. This next photo was taken in the lobby of a hotel but I’ve forgotten the name of it. The wooden sign says Mahalo and shows a female dressed in traditional Hawaiian attire.

I took the following photo while exiting a shuttle bus on the way to Whalers Village in Maui. Nice and clean bus that made transportation easy and affordable along the chains of timeshares and hotels on that side of the island.

Mahalo from the Mayor and the Maui County Council for riding the bus.

This one says Mahalo for visiting with us (taken at one of the exits in Whalers Village).

This next photo was taken along a walkway that connects many of the major hotels and timeshares in the area of Whalers Village. According to the sign there is no Frisbie or ball throwing, skateboarding, rollerblading, bicycles, dogs, or alcoholic beverages. It also appeared the whole island was extremely strict on smoking.

For your safety, the following are prohibited:

This next photo was taken in the town of Paia, a historic plantation town in Maui. I was there on Christmas Day so almost everything was closed. Didn’t get a chance to see what kind of shoes there were to choose from.

Please Remove Your Shoes – don’t take better ones on your way out – Mahalo

These next few photos were taken in the town of Lahaina, Maui. The first is a thank you for not smoking sign using the no smoking symbol in the O of Mahalo. The second is of a T-shirt that simply reads Mahalo on the front.

Mahalo for Not Smoking

Maybe it says MaLLalo?

By the looks of this next photo it seems some smokers are not happy with the state smoking laws in Hawaii. The sign reads Mahalo for helping us comply with the Hawaii State Law by keeping Whalers Village smoke-free.

I took this last photo in the airport on my way back to Los Angeles. The trash bins in some of the airport food courts said Mahalo, and you’d be hoping people knew what the word meant by this time in their visit to Maui.