TECH cocktail 4 Videos on BusinessPOV
April 27, 2007
In case you missed TECH cocktail 4 in Chicago a few weeks back you can now catch-up by watching it on video. BusinessPOV is a Chicago-based video blog focused on profiling companies, people and products that display elements of innovation, entrepreneurship and creative culture. BusinessPOV was in attendance at TECH cocktail 4 and has begun to release videos highlighting the evening.
Here are the first handful of episodes:
The Forces Behind Tech Cocktail
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 1: TimeXchange.net
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 2: Menuism
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 3: Text2Store
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 4: Zaplee.com
More to come…keep checking back… or subscribe to the BusinessPOV feed.
Special thank you to Executive Producer, Mark Scheffler and the rest of the BusinessPOV team for a job well done! Thank you. 
RSVP for TECH cocktail DC 1 Now
April 23, 2007
Fresh off of TECH cocktail 4 in Chicago, we are pleased to bring TECH cocktail to Washington, DC! TECH cocktail was co-founded in July 2006 by Eric Olson and Frank Gruber in Chicago and now we excited to be co-hosting our first TECH cocktail in DC with Nick O’Neill.
Sign up for TECH cocktail DC 1 now!
The event which looks to better connect the local technology and entrepreneurial community will be held on Thursday, May 17, 2007 from 6:30 to 9pm at MCCXXIII, a premier DC venue. The event is FREE but you must be 21 or over to attend and must be on the RSVP list for the event to get in.
Want to Work at midPhase?
April 18, 2007
The guys at midPhase just told me that they have a handfull of jobs to fill. For those of you who don’t know the founders of midPhase have backed TECH cocktail since day one and we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them. They also happen to be great guys who I am sure are great bosses. If you want to check out more about what jobs are available please check out their new jobs site.
TECH cocktail DC 1 Coming Soon…
April 14, 2007
Coming off a fabulous TECH cocktail 4 event this past Thursday night in Chicago, Illinois, we are excited to announce that TECH cocktail is expanding east to invade Washington, DC, in mid-May. Clear your calendars on the evening of Thursday, May 17, 2007 from 6:30 to 9pm for TECH cocktail DC 1. We will be posting the RSVP list soon so stay tuned.
Want to Sponsor or Demo at TECH cocktail DC 1?
If you are interested in sponsoring the event please contact Frank Gruber (frank at techcocktail dot com) as soon as possible. Also if you are a startup based in the DC area and interested in demo’ing at TECH cocktail DC 1 please let Frank know as well.
More details coming soon…so stay informed about TECH cocktail by subscribing to updates!
TECH cocktail 4 In The Bag
April 13, 2007
Thank you to everyone that came out to John Barleycorn Wrigleyville in Chicago last night for TECH cocktail 4. We had a great turnout and enough room to maneuver in the great upstairs space at JB’s. We hope you had an enjoyable evening.
Special thank you to our sponsors! We couldn’t do it without your support.
SingleHop: SingleHop provides great dedicated hosting and they are a great group to work with. SingleHop was responsible for the Wii baseball homerun derby challenge at the event with the top ten scorers getting a pair of tickets to see some Chicago Cubs baseball at Wrigley Field. If you are looking for a dedicated server be sure to check out SingleHop.
Transwestern: Not only a top notch real estate group who can help you with your growing office space needs, Henry Lee in particular is the guy who came to us and really wanted to support TECH cocktail. Thank you Transwestern and Henry Lee. They believe in what we’re doing with TECH cocktail.
The Saper Law Offices: Looking for a lawyer? Daliah Saper is a great lawyer and she knows her stuff regarding issues you’ll face as an entrepreneur. She works with a lot of good clients already and you could be one of them. Our apologies, two of signs at the event last night accidentally omitted the Saper Law logo - a great reason why we should not create TECH cocktail signage very late at night. Sorry. Either way, if you are looking for a lawyer be sure to check out The Saper Law Office.
Digital Bootcamp: Digital Bootcamp is super at teaching you what you need to know. They offer courses ranging from PHP to CSS to Business Blogging and they are well worth your time and money. If you’ve been looking to refresh some skills or just learn something new check out Digital Bootcamp. Interestingly, Digital Bootcamp event sets you up with personalized dog tags too!
HTD Law: HTD Law brought the roulette table to TECH cocktail 3 and Wii sports to TECH cocktail 4. They also flew a lucky winner to Las Vegas for a weekend and gave away a Wii. Love the giveaways! If you need some corporate law guidance give HTD a ring.
MK Capital: MK Capital has been a supporter since TECH cocktail 2, which makes sense as they are very community focused. MK continues to assist entrepreneurs in the Midwest and around the country. If you’re looking for money to fund your company, please let us know and we can get you in contact with the right people at MK.
Origin Ventures: If you are in the early stages of with a startup and need some funding then you might want to contact Origin Ventures. Props to Origin Ventures for early stage funding local startups.
FR&R: FR&R is the accounting firm for TECH cocktail. Basically they make sure we don’t end up like Enron. 
We highly recommend FR&R if you need some accounting help - they are thorough.
Thank you to all the entrepreneurs that showed off their products demos.
Meniusm: Menuism offers users the ability to rate any restaurant. The site is well designed and a lot of fun. It was rated by the guests as the best in show demo at the event thanks to Interactive Mediums (another great startup).
ParkWhiz: ParkWhiz helps you find parking before you leave. ParkWhiz came to TC4 to demo fresh off of winning the Navtaq LBS Award. ParkWhiz is hot!
Interactive Mediums: Did you see the live text message voting for the best demos (won by Menuism)? Interactive Mediums was behind the text message voting system. This startup is a Chicago company that is poised for success.
timeXchange: timeXchange offers an excellent application for independent consultants or anyone that needs to keep track of and bill time to clients. By adding a few social networking features to the mix time sheets are a little bit more fun!
text2store: Text2Store offers the ability to get coupons sent directly to your mobile device for the stores you are shopping at. Text2Store also alerts you to deals at stores you like as they come up.
Zaplee:With Zaplee you can set-up a call center powered by skype. Brilliant! It is a quick and simple solution to any call center issues you may have.
Check out some of the buzz about TECH cocktail 4 here:
Another Successful TECH cocktail Event
Recap of TECH Cocktail 4
TECH cocktail 4: Wrap-up and Thank You
TECH cocktail 4: Wow, that was fun!
TECH Cocktail 4: Fun in Chicago with a Dancing Llama
If you have photos from TECH cocktail 4 be sure to tag them: techcocktail4
Check out the photos from TECH cocktail 4.
Thank you all for your support — we could not have done it without you. Cheers to all - see you at the next TECH cocktail!
TECH cocktail Channel on SplashCast
April 12, 2007
In case you haven’t seen it yet, we recently aggregated all of the fabulous videos from the past TECH cocktail events into a slick SplashCast media player which is displayed on the right rail of our site. To view a video, simply click to select a video title from the list and the player should play the video.
SplashCast Media offers a Flash-based player that enables users to upload video from YouTube or your local machine, photos from the web or Flickr, audio from your local and a bunch of other format options to create a personalized channel for all your media. We created the TECH cocktail Channel. It is currently featured on the right rail of the SplashCast Media web site as well (check out a screen-shot). I hope you enjoy the show.
Don’t forget TECH cocktail 4 is at John Barleycorn in WRIGLEYVILLE (NOT LINCOLN PARK) in Chicago tonight. If you are a videographer and want to create a short video capturing the essence of TECH cocktail 4, we would love to have you do so. We would of course add it to the TECH cocktail Channel with full attribution to the videographer or production company.
Finally, just as we have been helping to connect the tech community we also like to help other groups, so tonight we will also be helping Multiple Sclerosis by offering a 50/50 raffle (i.e. you can help charity and potentially win money). Tickets will be $5 or 5 tickets for $20 - help us help out.
INNOVATE Illinois Baby!
April 7, 2007
INNOVATE Illinois is looking for, well duh, INNOVATION BABY! INNOVATE Illinois is a program designed to recognize high-growth businesses throughout Illinois. INNOVATE Illinois, a six-month program administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, was created to recognize innovative, high-growth, small businesses throughout Illinois. The goal of INNOVATE Illinois is to provide revenue-generating businesses throughout Illinois with the assistance and resources to help them take their innovations further and grow their businesses. Components of the program include mentoring, growth plans, peer-to-peer networking, sales and capital opportunities, and $10,000 grant.
Bottom-line: If your business is based in Illinois and you are innovating and generating revenue between $500,000 to $5,000,000 then you should check this program out - you can win some FREE money. Applications are due April 23, 2007. To find out more check out innovateillinois.org.
Twiistup in Santa Monica 5/9/07
April 7, 2007
If you are going to be Santa Monica on May 9th be sure to check out Twiistup. Twiistup will take place May 9, 2007 from 7pm to midnight at Zanzibar (5th and Arizona) in Santa Monica, California. It’s mission is to offer a place for innovative thinkers, designers and people to connect over a few cocktails. The event will feature presentations from the following companies:
Buildv1
Verse Studios
goodreads
yourminis
Urbaniacs
mint
ooVoo
Similar to how Christian Perry was inspired to create SF Beta after experiencing TECH cocktail 1, Twiistup is an event created by Mike Macadaan and as he puts it:
“Twiistup was inspired by TECH cocktail.”
Thanks for the compliment Mike. I am hoping to make it out to the west coast to support Twiistup and meet some of the brightest thinkers in Southern California. If you are interested in attending Twiistup you can buy tickets here - sorry this one isn’t free but is only $20 if you buy a ticket before April 9th.
Wanna redesign TECH cocktail?
April 5, 2007
Help us bring sexy back to the TECH cocktail site. If you are WordPress theme designer/developer with a little free time and want to help the TECH cocktail community please let us know. We are looking to redesign the TECH cocktail site.
If you are interested in volunteering to create the new TECH cocktail WordPress theme please email frank [at] techcocktail dot com and eric [at] techcocktail dot com with links or examples of your work.
Photo Attribution: Chris Owens via Flickr
TECH cocktail visits San Francisco
April 2, 2007
Since Frank and I will both be in San Francisco for the Web 2.0 Expo in a couple weeks we thought we’d hold a meet-up for all other Midwestern folks (and any of our other non-centrally located friends) would be in order. Here are the details:
Venue: Thirstybear
Time: 6p - 7p
Date: Sunday, April 15th
Alcohol Situation: Update! - First round is on David Troup of MailFoundry
Looking forward to seeing some of you out there! Oh - and thanks David for springing for the first round. You rock!
You can find this little meetup on Upcoming.org.
UPDATE: We were thinking we could meetup for an hour or so then roll over to Ignite if people are game.
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TECH cocktail Chicago 8 Sponsors
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Preferred Services Providers
Preferred Creative Service Provider: Jess3 
Preferred Accounting Services Provider: Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, P.C. 
Preferred Legal Services Provider:
Hinshaw & Culbertson
Preferred Charity:
Teaming for Technology
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Media & Community Partners
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LinkedIn Group
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Follow on Twitter
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Facebook Group
