Whether you’re new to social media, or have been using it for a while, this workshop covers the what’s, why’s and how’s of social media and helps fill in the gaps in your overall strategy and implementation plan.

Date: Saturday, June 8, 2013

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei

Cost: $65

Lunch is included

Seating limited to 30

REGISTER NOW!

There’s a lot of social media activity around Hawai‘i these days. Usage of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest are at an all time high. Don’t be left behind!

Topics include:

• Getting started in social media for your business:
  • What is social media?
  • General principles and mindsets
  • The anatomy of a social media strategy
  • Do’s and don’t’s
  • What to think about when planning a social media campaign
  • Social media etiquette
• Why your website and your blog are the same thing
  • Introduction to the blog as the website
  • Where your blogsite fits into the overall landscape of your social media strategy
• High level introduction to the current popular social networks—setting up accounts, profile management and basic best practices in:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
• High level tour of some of the more popular social media apps on the iPhone and iPad.

Laptops welcome, but not required as part of the workshop. Bring them if you like using them to take notes. (This is not a follow-along workshop.)

Peter Liu

Peter Liu Biography

Peter Liu is a Digital Media Strategist currently based on Maui with more than 30 years of experience in the computer industry. Learn more about Peter at his website ->

The company’s aim is to continue development of renewable solar, wind and micro-hydro energy projects in the state. In 2012, Gen-X led the installation of 2 million watts of solar energy for the County of Maui. That project was completed in December.

Now, Gen-X is developing an off-grid renewable energy powered water pumping system funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and private investment for North Kohala’s agricultural community on the Big Island. The project is targeted to begin operation this month and will be capable of pumping 30 million gallons of water daily. Gen-X also was involved in the installation of a 100-kilowatt wind turbine for Hawaii Water Service in Waikoloa.

“We help businesses and municipalities control and reduce their cost of energy by providing reliable, sustainable renewable energy at rates lower than the utilities provide with no up-front costs,” said M. Fred Brown, managing member and co-founder of Gen-X.

The company’s other co-founder and managing member Leo K. Caires said Gen-X welcomes innovation. “We are always open to exploring alternative strategies and new partnerships that can add value to the overall core objectives and vision of Gen-X,” he said. “Some opportunities that stand out would be partnering with other organizations who may want to invest in projects that may have Hawaii state income tax liabilities which can be offset by investing in clean energy projects. This type of arrangement allows the capital to remain in Hawaii’s capital markets.”

Yet even innovation can encounter obstacles. Brown said one of the company’s biggest challenges is “people’s natural resistance to change, even change that will benefit communities, the state and the world.”

He said he would encourage other high-tech companies to do business on Maui because “we need to encourage innovation for a better world.”

Chad Churchwell established 2c4 Technologies two years ago as its owner and chief executive officer and brought in his friend and former colleague, Todd Lawson to serve as the company’s vice president.

In two years’ time, 2c4 has grown from the two partners on staff to 12 employees today. “It’s very exciting,” Lawson said. “Our goal is to keep building the company by obtaining long term contracts and hiring good people.”

2c4 bills itself as a high-tech software company “founded to create trailblazing information technology solutions for the federal, state and commercial markets.” As indicated on its web site, 2c4 is a play on the words: To see forward. “If your road map needs increasingly innovative solutions, 2c4 can help you get there,” the company writes.
Lawson said his and Churchwell’s experience in working for larger tech companies on Maui prepared them to operate their own business and focus on providing technology support to military health care systems in this country.

While 2c4 is based in the Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei, it has already established an office with five employees in Frederick, Maryland supporting the Defense Health Information Management System (DHIMS). The company’s work involves the development and sustainment of AHLTA-Theater, the clinical documentation and management application that serves as the military’s electronic health record (EHR) for the Theater and Operational environment..

Much of 2c4’s work ranges from mobile applications development, data architecture and database design and development. Lawson said the future of his company looks promising, in part because of the U.S. military’s commitment to investing in health care technology globally and their local commitment to Maui through the Pacific Joint Information Technology Center (JITC) contracts. “There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said, adding that contracts can range from $1 million to $6 million in one year through the Pacific JITC.

On the island, 2c4 has been networking through Maui Economic Development Board as it recruits and hires employees.

Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS)

Boeing has completed a two-year modernization effort for a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory telescope used for space situational awareness, the company said June 20.

The Air Force declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS) in late March, Boeing spokeswoman Elizabeth Merida said via email June 22. IOC certifies that the telescope is ready to provide surveillance of objects in near-Earth and deep-space orbits, according to the Boeing press release.

AEOS is one of six telescopes at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex in Haleakala, Hawaii, that are used to track space objects including satellites and debris. Boeing is responsible for replacing the aging sensors, control software and computer systems for all of those telescopes.

Read the full story at OnOrbitWatch.com

Jay April

Maui Economic Development Board has produced two educational pieces — a short film called Maui in Space, and a glossy publication called the Maui Business Report. Maui in Space can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/dtmKBEG4cEA. The video was produced, directed and written by Jay April and edited by Louis DiLiberto of Artifact Studios. The business report is available at no charge at the MEDB offices in Kihei.

Filmmaker Jay April expressed, “Making this film made me realize that Maui not only represents the summit of space situational awareness, but it leads the world in mankind’s understanding of asteroids and the sun; an amazing achievement by the largely unheralded but spectacular men and women of science who live and work here every day.”

Both materials are aimed at raising public awareness about high-tech business and the advances in space situational awareness on island. The video according to physical scientist Dr. Stacie Williams of the Air Force Research Laboratory shows a collaboration by MEDB, the Air Force and the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. “Our society revolves around using space. … The video shows Maui’s global contribution to space situational awareness,” Williams said. “It’s an educational video that shows the importance of the work being done here.”

MEDB, with support from the County of Maui, produced the film as an introduction to astronomy on island and the Air Force’s efforts in work and research around space situational awareness. “We are pleased that the film will be used by the Air Force in its educational outreach to Maui students in grades K to 12,” said MEDB Program Director Sandy Ryan. “We hope this will assist educators in inspiring their students to engage in science and math and see how it relates to their everyday lives on Maui.”

In the Maui Business Report, MEDB’s President and CEO Jeanne Skog recalls how skeptics said high-tech wouldn’t work on the Valley Isle. “With tourism and agriculture as the basis of our economy for so long, certainly our workforce had been geared in that direction,” Skog tells a report interviewer. “So we realized we had to look at skill-building in our schools.” Through thousands of dollars in private and public support, MEDB has developed a host of programs for both teachers and students so that they can learn to use technology to learn and grow.

The Maui Business Report encompasses a variety of stories including one that features Molokai Plumerias and another about how one hotel, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, is working toward being more energy efficient. “MEDB is committed to providing support by spotlighting the efforts businesses are taking to improve and thrive in today’s economy,” Skog said. “We believe the report conveys the impact business and technology have in Maui County today and in the future.”

Date: Saturday, April 13, 2013

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei

Cost: $65

Lunch is included

Seating limited to 30

REGISTER NOW!

There’s a lot of social media activity around Hawai‘i these days. Usage of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are at an all time high. Don’t miss out on all the buzz. This workshop offers a high level view of the entire social media landscape and provides all the tools necessary to craft a strategy that works for you and your business.

Topics include:

• Getting started in social media for your business:
  • What is social media?
  • General principles and mindsets
  • The anatomy of a social media strategy
  • Do’s and don’t’s
  • Social media etiquette
• Why your website and your blog are the same thing
  • Introduction to the blog as the website
  • Where your blogsite fits into the overall landscape of your social media strategy
• High level introduction to the current popular social networks—setting up accounts, profile management and basic best practices in:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+
• High level tour of some of the more popular social media apps on the iPhone and iPad.

Laptops welcome, but not required as part of the workshop. Bring them if you like using them to take notes. (This is not a follow-along workshop.)

Peter Liu

Peter Liu Biography

Peter Liu is a Social Media Consultant on Maui with more than 30 years of experience in the computer industry. Learn more about Peter at his website ->

Date: Saturday, March 9, 2012

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei

Cost: $65

Lunch is included

Seating limited to 30

REGISTER NOW!

There’s a lot of social media activity around Hawai‘i these days. Usage of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are at an all time high. Don’t miss out on all the buzz. This workshop offers a high level view of the entire social media landscape and provides all the tools necessary to craft a strategy that works for you and your business.

Topics include:

• Getting started in social media for your business:
  • What is social media?
  • General principles and mindsets
  • The anatomy of a social media strategy
  • Do’s and don’t’s
  • Social media etiquette
• Why your website and your blog are the same thing
  • Introduction to the blog as the website
  • Where your blogsite fits into the overall landscape of your social media strategy
• High level introduction to the current popular social networks—setting up accounts, profile management and basic best practices in:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+
• High level tour of some of the more popular social media apps on the iPhone and iPad.

Laptops welcome, but not required as part of the workshop. Bring them if you like using them to take notes. (This is not a follow-along workshop.)

Peter Liu

Peter Liu Biography

Peter Liu is a Social Media Consultant on Maui with more than 30 years of experience in the computer industry. Learn more about Peter at his website ->

Date: Saturday, February 9, 2012

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei

Cost: $65

Lunch is included

Seating limited to 30

REGISTER NOW!

There’s a lot of social media activity around Hawai‘i these days. Usage of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are at an all time high. Don’t miss out on all the buzz. This workshop offers a high level view of the entire social media landscape and provides all the tools necessary to craft a strategy that works for you and your business.

Topics include:

• Getting started in social media for your business:
  • What is social media?
  • General principles and mindsets
  • The anatomy of a social media strategy
  • Do’s and don’t’s
  • Social media etiquette
• Why your website and your blog are the same thing
  • Introduction to the blog as the website
  • Where your blogsite fits into the overall landscape of your social media strategy
• High level introduction to the current popular social networks—setting up accounts, profile management and basic best practices in:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+
• High level tour of some of the more popular social media apps on the iPhone and iPad.

Laptops welcome, but not required as part of the workshop. Bring them if you like using them to take notes. (This is not a follow-along workshop.)

Peter Liu

Peter Liu Biography

Peter Liu is a Social Media Consultant on Maui with more than 30 years of experience in the computer industry. Learn more about Peter at his website ->

As of March 2012, WordPress was on 72.4 million different websites around the globe, making it the most widely used and popular CMS in existence. Businesses on the web in this day and age need websites that are beautiful, customizable and nimble at the same time, that can be updated quickly and directly by the people closest to the information, not third-hand through “webmasters” or IT departments. The messaging for your business needs to be under your control, easily indexed by search engines and easily shared on social networks.

Want to get started? High Tech Maui is encoring the popular WordPress workshop series team-taught by Jon Brown, Erik Blair and Peter Liu in February 2013. Mark your calendars!

These workshops are divided into three parts, addressing the needs of three distinct groups of people who work in WordPress on a regular basis. Each workshop is a complete unit, but they’re designed to go together in a series for people who need to do it all.

WordPress for Users

What’s Covered:
● WordPress Dashboard tour.
● Adding and editing content.
● Some basic SEO best practices for users.
● Resizing images so that they load quickly and exactly where you want them.
● Managing media.
● Managing comments.
● Sharing content on social networks.

Who Should Go?
● Artists.
● Marketing and PR professionals.
● Other professionals.
● Bloggers.
● Anyone who creates and manages website content.

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei
Cost: $40

Register for WordPress for Users. (Seating limited to 30.)

WordPress for Administrators

What’s Covered:
● 1-button installation.
● Manual installation.
● Administrator Dashboard and Settings.
● Choosing, installing and managing themes.
● Finding and installing plugins.
● Managing users.
● Managing widgets.
● Managing menus.
● Backups.
● Security.
● Analytics.
● Performance.
● Basic SEO.

Who Should Go?
● Anyone who needs to do more than manage website content – or who manages and maintains websites so other people can manage content.
● Anyone who needs to install WordPress, install themes and set up a functioning website

Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei
Cost: $40

Register for WordPress for Administrators. (Seating limited to 30.)

Customizing WordPress

What’s Covered:
● WordPress template hierarchy.
● Frameworks.
● Child themes.
● More plugins, widgets and shortcodes.
● Useful plugins to save time and effort in content or website maintenance.
● Hooks, actions and filters.
● Inspect HTML/CSS with FireBug/WebKit Developer Tools, and carry the changes into your child theme.

Who Should Go?
● Anyone who needs to modify websites beyond what’s covered in the WordPress for Administrators workshop above.
● Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS will be helpful. (Do you know what a selector is?)
● Superficial knowledge of PHP will be helpful but not required. (Do you know what a function is?)

Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Location: Malcolm Center, 1305 Holopono St., Suite 5, Kihei
Cost: $40

Register for Customizing WordPress. (Seating limited to 30.)

Eric Blair’s Bio:
Erik is a social media and WordPress blog consultant, content producer and event promoter. He has been designing webpages in HTML and PHP since 1995, but now exclusively uses WordPress to build websites. A self-described lifehacker and tech tinkerer, Erik finds his way in and around the widgets, plugins and themes in WordPress like a kid in a candy store. When he’s not spending time with his social media friends, Erik can be found exploring the back roads and off-the-beaten-path places that make Maui so special.

Jon Brown’s Bio:
Jon’s first experience with WordPress was in 2006 when he started a travel blog to document his life-changing journey exiting the corporate world and traveling the world. He quickly realized however that he was far more passionate about writing code than writing blog posts. Drawing on 25 years of computer experience, Jon relearned the programming skills now necessary for modern web development. Returning from his travels, Jon learned of an amazing WordPress support community in Southern California. Active involvement in that community helped him further develop his expertise with WordPress and lead to opening j.Brown Studios, a WordPress focused web development shop. After moving to Maui full time and finding no existing analog to the support community he enjoyed in SoCal, Jon founded the Maui WordPress Meetup which meets monthly and has grown to more than 100 members.

Peter Liu’s Bio:
Peter Liu is a digital and social media strategist, professional photographer and veteran of more than 30 years in the computer industry, starting his career in the late 70′s as a part-time assembler language systems programmer during his freshman year in college. After graduation, he spent several years in technical support and IT within mainframe companies before making the transition to Unix systems administration, where he was introduced to the Internet and the World Wide Web. He later joined Netscape, the company that brought browsers to the world, where he managed a worldwide, high-touch, advanced technical group responsible for supporting their web server software implementations in Fortune 500 companies. When Netscape was acquired by AOL, Peter joined Sun Microsystems as a Sustaining Engineering Escalation Manager to help support those same companies. After moving to Maui, Peter began partnering with High Tech Maui to equip local businesses with social media expertise, eventually co-founding the Maui Social Media Users Group (MauiSMUG), an organized forum for people on Maui to meet regularly and talk about social media.