Nevada – DanHerr.com

What it’s like living in Reno? – Lifestyles answer

Great question. In my humble opinion, moving to Reno is primarily a lifestyle choice.

Overall Reno:

is a pretty cool place near lots of awesomeness:

Lake Tahoe
Sierra Nevadas
Black Rock Desert (if you are into the Burning Man scene)
Plenty of skiing, kayaking, SUPing, hiking, biking, you name it.

has a revival taking place in Midtown with awesome new breweries, restaurants, and bars. Lots of new startups and a small but growing Reno tech scene. Food coop. Completely bike-able and walkable areas of town.
is big enough to have most everything you want in a city: Major brand and big-box stores (i.e. Apple, Costco, ), outlets (i.e. Nike, ) trendy bars and clubs (i.e. Death & Taxes, Public House, Chocolate Bar, EDGE), restaurants (Midtown Eats, CAMPO),
is small enough that you can get most anywhere in town in 15 minutes and you can run into people you know all over town.
You have major transport to wherever you want to visit that is not here and Reno is central to the West Coast.

The Locavore:

Picture this:

Friday evening in summer and it is about 85 degrees out. You live in Old Southwest Reno (best part of town to live in), after you get home from a day of work at the Reno Collective you, your better half and your 2-year old Labrador pup (who has an awesome yard because you live in Southwest), ride your bikes down to the river, go for a quick swim in the Truckee river’s downtown wavepools, grab some grub at Foodtruck Friday, and even catch some live music in Wingfield Park. After grabbing a beer at the Sierra Tap House you run into that cool couple you met at Craft last week and you all bike down to Death & Taxes in Midtown Reno for a late-evening Calavarques. You wander over to Public House and sample every beer on tap realizing that even though that Mikkeller saison is damn good, Icky is still where it’s at.

The Sportsman:

It’s Friday mid-evening, and after calling it a day you grab a quick round of golf at Washoe, Lakeridge, Montrêux, Red Hawk with the boys. You call up the ladies and they meet you at Brasiere St. James for cocktails, craft brews and that famous Buenos Aires Barbeque Platter. Everybody says, we should go grab that awesome new flick, and a few blocks later you are downtown Reno along the Truckee River in front of the big screen followed by ice cream, and a cappuccino martini at Chocolate Bar.

Motorhead:

Your YFZ 450 has been itching for a ride. Since you bought the perfect house in Spanish Springs, you and your homeboys are right out the back door and ripping into the senset. Grab the boat on Saturday morning and you’re only an hour away from epic wakeboarding on Stampede, Boca, Donner, Lahonta
n, or Tahoe. And shoot, I forgot, tomorrow is race day at Hangtown, no worries it is just over the hill (two hours away).

Powder hound:

Believe me, I understand you brotha. If you are moving here, you better bring your GNAR. 15 resorts within two hours: Squaw Valley, Northstar, Heavenly, Sugar Bowl, Kirkwood, Homewood, Boreal, Mt. Rose, Diamond Peak, and then some. You get the picture :). But if we are being real, backcountry is where it’s at: Maggies, Tallac, Blackwood Canyon, Mt. Rose Wilderness, Incline Peak, Castle Peak, and on the list goes. Get your Subi or Tacoma and mount up.

The Outdoorsman

Photo by Zak Shelhamer

Mountain biking, hiking, camping, fishing, rock climbing, kayaking, disk golf, horseback riding, even high-altitude vinyasa yoga; yeah, we’ve got that. Minutes from world-famous white-water training (not to mention just over the hill from the American River), an hour to the Pacific Crest Trail or the Tahoe Rim Trail, day-trips away from the Desolation Wilderness and the Sierra Buttes, half-day from the Pacific Coast, and only a day to Central Oregon, Utah, and Arizona. Reno is a prime spot to be close to everything outdoors.

Burner

Burning Man may only come once a year, but the Black Rock Desert is always there. Become a member of Great Basin Food Coop, take part in Reno Burner Decompression, and get involved in Reno Artown.

Photo by Zak Shelhamer

Freedom fighter:

Explore the Great Basin and ride off into the sunset. From Reno you can easily disappear into the desert for your choice of guns, brews and barbecues, deer, chucker, lizards and natural hotsprings, Night in the Country, the Reno Rodeo, Reno Rib Cookoff, and Hot August Nights.

What are you looking for in moving to Reno?

You might also be interested in this post: There are Damn Good Reasons why I live in Reno

Elko to Host Startup Weekend for Entrepreneurs

Reblogged from SWElko:

Elko to Host Startup Weekend for Entrepreneurs
Startup Weekend Elko will connect local innovators
and startup enthusiasts to share ideas and launch companies

ELKO, NV – Startup Weekend, a national grassroots business-launching event, is coming to Northern Nevada, September 28-30, 2012. Startup Weekend Elko will connect local entrepreneurs, developers, designers and startup enthusiasts with mentors and resources for a weekend of sharing ideas, forming teams and launching startups. The weekend-long event will take place at the Great Basin College campus in Elko.

Whether participants found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new or learn a skill outside the usual 9-to-5, they will be better prepared to navigate the chaotic and exciting world of startups.

“Many of us in Nevada had the rug swept out from our feet the past few years and we’ve had to adapt; become innovative and entrepreneurial to survive,” said Daniel Herr, life-long Northern Nevadan, organizer of the event and a recent participant in the Las Vegas Startup Weekend. “Northern Nevada has a lot of hidden gems and I am really excited about bringing this fast-paced startup proving-ground to Elko. It will be great to bring entrepreneurs from many of Nevada’s smaller North-Eastern communities together.”

On Friday night, attendees will take the open mic to…

Are MBA’s a Waste of Time for Engineers?

I know the feeling, wanting to get out of the monotonous routine, get out from the cubicle, and get away from your boring boss that has been working for the firm for 30 years. I’ve been there and I am seeing more and more that many engineers get that same itch. That need to use the other half of your brain, to engage that creative nature that has been suppressed. The desire to act on a vision, build with your hands, mix it up, do what feels natural and control your own destiny.

Right now you feel like:

Here is your problem,
here is your paycheck,
now go solve it monkey.

… but you have so much more potential. About 35% of the students in my MBA program that did engineering for their undergrad and are now looking to follow their true passion (which may not have been socially acceptable in their mind to their family when they were younger) to be an entrepreneur. It is only natural to ask if getting the MBA is the right bridge to connect your future:

My good buddy Pat began working in Silicon Valley with his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering as a Sales Engineer for the company that makes processor testing equipment. Within five years he had the have that change, left his job, sold all of his possessions and went to Alaska for a year.
My buddy Mike designed radio antennas on vehicles in the Midwest for years before ditching it all to come out to Lake Tahoe and become a message therapist.
I worked for HDR Engineering, and Domenichelli & Associates on Wastewater Treatment, Reservoir Design, Hydrology and Hydraulics; today I am working on business plans for independent movie theaters, adventure voluntourism projects, local business investment funds, and most importantly a new type of entrepreneurship competition.

But is the MBA the answer? Or is it just another, “do what you’re told, and I’ll give you what you want,” in this case a passing grade. I have serious concern for those engineering undergrads who want to become entrepreneurs because doing what you’re told is not an entrepreneur. Many important business tenets (that you may not experience otherwise) can definitely be learned through and MBA (such as time value of money, basic accounting, and how to work effectively in teams to accomplish a goal) but much of the same must be learned when you’re in the fire of a startup business.

I would argue that you are no more ready to be an entrepreneur as an engineer with and MBA than you were as an engineer without an MBA.

First thing’s first… If you’re serious about being an entrepreneur, stop making excuses and in the words of an awesome blog I just read by @RubyBuddha:

“I hereby grant you the permission to start doing whatever you need to do
to be the person you claim you want to be.”

Thank you for reading my blog – Daniel S. Herr.
I invite you to connect with me on Twitter @DanHerr
Or follow to my blog

Image sources:

There are Damn Good Reasons Why I Live in Reno

[Update 2016]: **Make sure to check out the comment threads below -AND- Many people find this other Reno post even more helpful**:

What it’s like living in Reno? – Lifestyles answer

I know what you’re thinking; there are too many casinos, too many bums, its too dry, I want some more local stores, give me some more trees…

Shut It!… I don’t care what you say,
this is a damn good place to live!… 🙂

This topic is something that has been firing me up for years. I moved down to Reno in 2009 in need of a larger market than Truckee to satisfy my career needs, and while I was sipping the Reno haterade for years, there is a fresh growth of revival taking over the city and I love it. As I wrote on the MadeInReno blog a few months ago:

We the people of Reno know that we live in Reno for a number of glorious reasons. We know that Reno’s perception around the globe is not the truth we know it as. No one is going to pull Reno up, we know that. We are left to our own devices, our own grass-roots means. We have to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. “Made in Reno” is the place for Reno made businesses, entrepreneurs, and all-around real people to tell their stories, to share what is happening with real people and real businesses Made in and successful because of Reno.

There are thing happening, people moving and shaking to help pull Reno in a new direction. My favorite Reno band Jelly Bread definitely knows it (I hope I can get them to jam at my wedding). As does my favorite new bar Craft. And who doesn’t love our own home-grown, started in a garage, local, state-fossil, dinosaur-named beer: Icky by Great Basin Brewery.

“People need to know that Reno is not about the 4-blocks downtown,
there is a lot more to Reno.”
– Rick Reviglio, CEO of Western Nevada Supply

If you haven’t seen it yet, Bungalow Mike does a great job of covering new developments in downtown and mid-town Reno. He must spend hours upon hours in county and city meetings digging up all the great information he has on that website (PS, did you know he’s pulled together a Downtown, Midtown Reno App now?). On top of that Michael, Chris and Zach have started the Reno Rebuild Project which is a revolving loan program funded by downtown businesses for more new downtown businesses.

We’ve Started Telling the Story

I am looking to pull together people that want to help me share those stories of why Reno rocks. Kristen Stith and I have started and we invite you to check it out:

MadeInReno.wordpress.com

I’ve started by sharing the stories of Better Green Building, Western Nevada Supply and Moment Skis, but there are lots more great stories to share about Reno, and I would love your help. We’ve made a list of local business whom we believe help capture the essence of what is making Reno, Reno; and we would love to talk with each of them:

Midtown Eats
Sup
Craft
Public House
Hiroba
Reno Collective
Scolari’s
Girl Farm
Great Basin Brewery
Silver Peak
Jimmy Bean’s Wool
Great Basin Food Co-op
Organic Tea & Herb
Sierra Eco Systems
Wells Avenue Stores
The Lil’ Waldorf
Truckee Sourdough Company
Fallon Farmers
QCS

Kristin has already covered a ton of great stories to date and I am looking forward to collaborating with her and pulling some over those posts over to the MadeInReno Blog (including her awesome video):