I have the opportunity today to present at the Rotary District Conference in Sioux Falls, SD. I’ll be sharing a bit about my time in Norway, thanking them for their support and challenging them to continue to fund cultural collaboration because the very students (like me) that they send abroad can come back and help make Rotary a stronger organization.

You can check out my presentation here:

Scandinavian design and architecture is often admired and heralded as clean, sleek and environmentally friendly. Equally so is there urban planning, and now it’s coming state-side.

The Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta is redesigning Time Square. Over the next three years, they will aim to make Time Square more like Karl Johans Gate in Oslo with bicycle-friendly lanes and an overall pedestrian friendly design.

While the neon lights of Time Square will continue to dwarf the Freia sign in Oslo, it looks like the Norwegian influence in NYC is set to grow. The project is set to be completed in the next three years at a price tag around 20 million dollars.

Read all the details in Norwegian on Aftenposten: http://www.aftenposten.no/okonomi/article3704661.ece

This weekend Oslo played host to the gooey pop contest known as Eurovision. Eurovision is a continent-wide event drawing  viewers together for what is essentially the Olympic version of American Idol. Each nation has a contest who sings, dances and gyrates on stage in hopes of receiving votes from citizens in other countries. The winner of the Eurovision song contest then hosts the event the following year. I had the pleasure of learning about Eurovision way back in 2006 in Norway with reker and Mack beer and again in Spain while I watched Chiki Chiki fall flat to the international audience.

Last year Norway won as the young Alexander Rybak fiddled his way into first place. Two weeks ago, I randomly walked by Alexander Rybak in Oslo who was all smiles and ready to hand off the crown to the newest Eurovision winner. The following week, Oslo was filled with audience members and contestants wearing the “Share the moment” tag around their neck speaking in a variety of languages and taking in the sites of Oslo. My friend Daniel Andersson gives a little intro to Alexander Rybak and Eurovision:

I had a chance to interview a group of these dedicated Eurovision fans who were attending their 3rd consecutive Eurovision. They were from Israel and had hopes of finishing in the top 5 with their emotional, heartfelt song sung by Harel Skaat, the runner-up in Israel’s Idol (they finished 14th and didn’t even get their map on tv, while Germany took home the crown with their annoying song “Satellite”). They helped explain this phenomena with me and why Israel is in the EUROvision song contest before providing me with their version of Israel’s song “Milim” (“Words”). Check it out:

I’m enjoying a morning coffee at Edvards Cafe in the Gründerløkka neighborhood of Oslo, Norway. Lots of morning coffee drinkers and internet bums like me. I had a great weekend at a friend’s wedding in Oslo and have some great photos from the event. More stories to come, so check back soon for the stories. In the meantime, enjoy the photos:

And just like that the day arrived! I’m headed to Oslo, Norway with a chance to attend my good friend and former roommate Børge’s wedding! Over a week of fun, friends and love should fill the Oslo summer air.

As I began my trip in the Minneapolis airport I had the pleasure of seeing real, live Norwegians! Then to make things even crazier, as I sit in Philadelphia, I started talking with the person looking for power. Low and behold she is from Tromsø, knew that I was bringing Daniel an iPad and worked at Blå Rock! I probably stole ice from her during my days at Circa.

It’s already been a serendipitous journey. Take a look:

Syttende Mai. The 17th of May is a perfect day for the launch of The Traveling Cowboy as it is Norway’s Constitution Day. At least that’s the translation. We can really just think of it as the 4th of July for Norway. It is the one day in the entire year when Norwegians can demonstrate nationalism without being frowned upon. For this one day, Norwegian flags fill the streets and everyone is happy to don their bunads. Bunads are the national dress of Norway and while they have always been popular for females, they are becoming increasingly popular for males as well. The costume shows at an instant (to a trained eye) where the wearer is from. A blue bunad means they are from a costal city while a green bunad is from the interior. The different designs and patterns indicate different villages and regions and the jewelry as well is location-specific. Often, women will choose to wear the costume from their parents or ancestors home region (especially if it’s pretty than wear they have settled) and men can do the same. A large number of Norwegian either don’t invest in the expensive costumers or choose not to, and then wear a nice suit or formal dress.

The days activities can be summed up as eating, drinking, and marching. You wake up early, go to a friends home for brunch, go and watch the young students march in a parade, return to the home for more food and drinks, go to the street to watch the older children march, return home to eat and drink (and maybe play a game) and return again to the streets for a parade with the high school graduates. All of this walking to and fro parades of course builds up the appetite again, so further eating and drinking is required.

The 17th of May thus varies greatly from the US’ 4th of July in that it is social. Instead of going to a lake or cabin for a day of grilling, it is a community-wide event full of music and pageantry. In Oslo, you can even walk by the queen and king who stand for hours waving, seemingly emotion-less.

As the celebration winds down, a silly foreigner like myself might even get up the gumption to ask why all this happens. Well, it’s called Constitution Day and not Independence Day for a reason. In 1814, Norway was being handed over to Sweden by Denmark as a war-prize for the Swedes who helped fight against Napolean and his Danish supporters. Norway was not to fond of the idea and instead drafted a constitution that would be the foundation for a free Norway. Well, the Swedes declined and Norway was a province of Sweden until 1905 when they peacefully seperated and again became an independent nation.

A pretty good reason to celebrate. A constitution. So for one day, we’ll give the Norwegians a break and let them be nationalistic and pompous. Lord knows they will avoid talking about themselves the other 364 days of the year.

Welcome to The Traveling Cowboy and Happy Syttende Mai. This site has taken a variety of forms as a house for a collection of previous travel blogs from Tanzania, Spain and Norway and a travel blog. Today marks the start of its re-re-birth as your gateway to modern Norway.

As a Norwegian-American who grew up and studied in the heart of Norwegian-American territory, I was always fascinated by my “homeland.” This fascinated led me to study the language and eventually study and live for four years in Norway. What I discovered in modern Norway was completely different than the picture I had from my supposed Norwegian upbringing. I found a vibrant country filled with a hip and active culture, cutting-edge technology, breath-taking landscapes and warmhearted people that eventually became my best friends.

Despite this obvious affection for Norway, it wasn’t until I gave a speech at an Ignite event in South Dakota that the light bulb turned on. I should focus on what I’m passionate about, and that is telling others about Norway. Thus, this is the foundation of the latest reincarnation of The Traveling Cowboy.com. I look forward to giving you my thoughts, stories, tips, facts, photos, videos and experiences from Norway.

Thanks for stopping by. Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment and coming back for the latest from The Traveling Cowboy.

Scott Meyer speaks at Ignite SD #1 from Ignite SD on Vimeo.

This morning, TMS Ruge took a look at Africa and the “Cheetah Generation” that is not willing to accept the current political and economic situation. He argued that technological revolution is a foot for a few reasons:

1. Broadband is coming: By 2011 the African Undersea Cables will arrive to Africa increasing the internet speed from its current unknown and abysmal access to 17 terabytes. This access is just taking into account cables. In addition to the cables o3b satelittes sponsored by Google will be delivering internet via satelittes to 3 billion of the world’s underserved population, many of them in Africa.

2. Population: The population is heavily skewed towards innovation with 1 billion people in Africa, 450 million of them under the age of 15.

3. Mobile Growth: Conservative estimates is putting mobile growth at 12% a year through 2013. This technology is being used to know where to sell crops, to inform people about corruption, crime, illness and more.

4. Accelerating Online Participation: 67 million Africans currently use the internet making up 3.9% of total internet traffic. However, Africa is leapfrogging the laptop. The mobile phone is the 1st interaction of most Africans with technology. Fiber cables are going to cell towards to enable fast internet access and put millions online through cheap, easily accessible technology in the mobile phone.

All of these trends are being supported by a burgeoning system of technology parks. There are plans in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and other places to build research parks where new start-ups and businesses can be incubated and accelerated. With the unique experience of jumping in to technology through the cell phone, Africans have a unique user experience. This leapfrogging produces different needs that American and European companies are not producing because they don’t understand the needs. With a huge market of new users in developing countries, Africa is poised to create unique products for a growing online community in developing countries.

Along with this growth are a number of new businesses and resources. Appfrica Labs in Uganda, Limbe Labs in Cameroon, Banta Labs in Senegal and iHub in Kenya are all building the groundwork for the future of African-based  entrepreneurism and development.

With positive energy, it is possible to see technology being on the forefront of development. Better information can lead to better decisions and connectivity can lead to larger markets and faster innovation. All these developments should be welcomed, shared and nurtured to improve innovation for everyone.

and this is the power of the commons. If the government merely acts as a gatherer, we can leave the interpretation up to citizens everywhere. As Tim Berners-Lee notes, this can create powerful changes as demonstrated in Haiti following the earthquake: