Those of you on Twitter or at OSCON have already seen the posts from @kveton and @turoczy about the press that Vidoop is getting as they move their corporate headquarters from Oklahoma to Portland. I think there are at least three important lessons in this article I am reposting from the Oregonian:

1) Innovation can happen almost anywhere (Vidoop's technology created in Oklahoma?)

2) Engineers are not the only ones responsible for innovation. Repeat: engineers are not the only ones responsible for innovation. Vidoop's co-founder is a retired ballet dancer.

3) Innovation takes care and feeding. Vidoop moved from OK to PDX because there is not enough local talent to sustain its growth.

If you are not familiar with Vidoop - you should be. Its secure log-in technology powers a small company called AOL.

Have some thoughts of your own about the lessons in this short article? Leave a comment.

Coffee Break: Vidoop's bosses
by Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian
Monday July 21, 2008, 9:53 PM

A chat with an interesting, influential or innovative voice in Oregon business

Joel Norvell and Luke Sontag, Vidoop

What they do: Run a company called Vidoop (say "VA-doop"), which makes technology to improve password security online. Founded in Oklahoma, Vidoop's headquarters and 45 of its employees -- including Norvell and Sontag -- are moving from Tulsa to new offices in Portland's Old Town this fall.

Why Portland? "The food was the kicker," Norvell joked. Portland's restaurant scene helped sell them on the Rose City, but it's the city's community of software developers that hooked them. Although Vidoop's tools are proprietary, they interface with an open source login standard called OpenID. Vidoop hopes to tap into the collaborative spirit behind open source software that's prevalent in Oregon's developer community. "We need a certain kind of developer with a certain kind of expertise, and that just did not exist in Oklahoma," Sontag said.

Bios: Norvell, 50, was a professional ballet dancer. He retired in 1984 and joined his family's jewelry business in Oklahoma, teaching yoga part time. He retired from the family business four years ago, but got the itch to start fresh with Vidoop. He's married with and has an adult son, and now lives in a Pearl District penthouse.

Sontag, 28, is single with and has no kids. He met Norvell in yoga class and stayed in touch after moving to New York to work for JPMorgan Chase, heading back to Tulsa to help launch Vidoop. He's staying with friends in Sellwood.

The move: Vidoop's work force is young and mobile -- "Most of their things can fit in a couple of trash bags," Sontag said -- so they're planning a five-day caravan from Tulsa to Portland, "Oregon trail, 'Grapes of Wrath' style."

This week: Vidoop is exhibiting at OSCON, the national open source software conference under way at the Oregon Convention Center.

Online: www.vidoop.com

-- Mike Rogoway; mikerogoway@news.oregonian.com