Portland is full of quiet heroes, people who are making a very real difference in the lives of thousands but who do not trumpet their successes to the masses. These people deserve to be recognized and to have their stories told. What follows is a list and description of several profiles that I will be making in the coming weeks.

1. Will Radik lives in Portland, Oregon. Intern at the local alt weekly by day. KJ by night. Aside from writing and singing, Will volunteers at different non-profits, plays the theremin, and works on silly art projects utilizing re-purposed materials.
2. I’m Betsy Richter, and I’ve spent years dabbling around the edges of both traditional & new media. I’m an early adopter who’s managed to retain a healthy dose of realism (I think it’s an age thing, frankly). But more importantly, I’ve always been a voracious media consumer — one who sees trends, teachings and/or train wrecks in the experiments to date. And I’m ballsy enough by now to think that I might be able to lead a conversation about just where this whole “media circus” is heading.
3. Dawn Foster works in Intel’s Open Source Technology Center and is Intel’s Community Manager for the open source MeeGo project. Dawn has more than 14 years of experience in business and technology with expertise in strategic planning, management, community building, community management, open source software, market research, social media, and RSS. She is passionate about bringing people together through a combination of online communities and real-world events. She has experience building new communities, and managing existing communities with a particular emphasis on developer and open source communities. In addition to working at Intel, Dawn was an online community consultant, and she has worked at Jive Software, Compiere, and a Midwestern manufacturing company in positions ranging from Unix system administrator to market researcher to community manager to open source strategist.
4. Dave Allen walloped the bass strings and is a founding member of the highly influential, post-punk band, Gang of Four. With his business partner, Ned Failing, he started Pampelmoose in 2005. We love music and we love the way the internet leveled the playing field for all artists.

It is because of their selfless work to make a difference in the lives of many people that they will be remembered.

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