PatentMonkey Tc Demo’er Gets Acquired
October 29, 2007
Reading time: < 1 minute
In case you missed the news last week, we are pleased to congratulate the PatentMonkey.com team that demoed at TECH cocktail DC 1 for getting acquired by Patents.com. PatentMonkey.com offered a way for users to search for patent information that was previously not easily accessible. See what a little startup monkeying around can do for you. 
Congrats to Cory Sorice and rest of team on the exit - good luck on future endeavors!
Job Listing: Develop Virtually Anywhere
October 25, 2007
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
Sphere, blog search and related content widget provider founded by four strong believers in conversational media, is looking for another developer or two to become part of its team. Sphere is based in San Francisco but most of its team works virtually (in Seattle; Denver; Vancouver; Boston; Phoenix; and the San Francisco Bay Area). Sphere is looking for 1 or 2 more Web Developers that can work virtually anywhere.
Here are some details:
As Web Developer you will assist the UI team in creating rich, robust, and interactive sites and products to deliver Sphere technology to hundreds of thousands of partner sites. You will know the nuances of the Redmond browsers as well as the workarounds. You will be the type of developer to dream in < ?'s and $'s. PHP is the core language for our front-end and we use it extensively. You'll work remotely, in your own environment, within a distributed group of engineers. Strong, clear communication and positive interpersonal skills are a must.
Responsibilities:
* Acquire a second-nature understanding of our products and APIs
* Work closely with the web team to build cross-platform, cross-browser semantically valid HTML/CSS
* Manage and maintain legacy codebase in both PHP4 and PHP5
* Transform designer prototype images into live valid XHTML-Strict markup
* Work closely with our Product Engineering team to translate architecture and product specs into the quality products and pages Sphere is known for
Requirements:
* 7+ years working with Web technologies
* 5+ years in PHP (2+ years in PHP5)
* Solid understanding of Object Oriented Programing philosophies and patterns
* Direct experience in an Object Oriented web MVC framework
* Outstanding written and oral communication skills
* Must be a quick learner and self-directed, pro-active problem solver in a dynamic environment
* Experience with web publishing and blog/social software a big plus
* Experience with Ruby scripting language a big plus
The full job description can be found here.
TECH cocktail Chicago 6
October 22, 2007
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
We are happy to announce TECH cocktail Chicago 6 will be held on November 15, 2007 from 6:30 to 9:00pm in the upstairs of John Barleycorn Wrigleyville.
The event details are as follows:
Venue: John Barleycorn Wrigleyville (Map)
Time: 6:30pm -9pm
Date: Thursday, November 15th
Cost: FREE
If you have a product or service you are interested in demoing or if you would like to support TECH cocktail by sponsoring please email us ASAP spots are filling up.
We look forward to TECH cocktail and as Wyclef Jean put it so appropriately, “we’ll be gone till November” - see you soon!
TECH cocktail Chicago Sponsors Wanted
October 19, 2007
Reading time: < 1 minute
Frank and I are currently working on the next TECH cocktail in Chicago which we’re hoping to do in mid-November but we’re in need of some sponsors to help us out. If you have ever thought of sponsoring but never did or if you’re feeling particularly kind or if you just want some great promo for your company please e-mail me at eric [at] techcocktail.com and we can work out a sponsorship deal.
As we’ve said before, the event is only possible because of our great sponsors and we’ve had some great ones over the past year and a half. If you want to join that illustrious group now is the time.
The Chicagoland Innovation Summit 2007
October 19, 2007
Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes
We just wanted to take a quick second to let all of you know about a great event coming up next week in Chicago. The Chicagoland Innovation Summit should prove to be very useful and will no doubt energize all of the folks who attend. The official explanation and event info and below. If you do attend make sure to comment on this post to let us know how it was.
————–
The Chicagoland Innovation Summit will present top national and local experts discussing the important role innovation can play in creating new value, growing your business and competing in the global marketplace.
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2007
Time: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Cost: $350/person
Location: Navy Pier
Contact: Event Hotline: 312-494-6709
New New Internet Coming Soon
October 12, 2007
Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes
The New New Internet Conference is taking place in the Washington, DC area on November 1, 2007. I (Frank Gruber) am pleased to be speaking on a session titled, “Engaging your client community via blogs and social media” - it should be a lot of fun!
There are a number of other speakers for the sessions which include (in no particular order) Om Malik, Ted Leonsis, Brad Feld, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, Greg Cangialosi and Ryan Carson among others.
The conference is put on by ExecutiveBiz.com, who I recently chatted with in this Executive Spotlight Interview.
Wanna go? Get a $100 discount to the New New Internet Conference by using the promo code: FRANK
BUG+Boston
October 2, 2007
Reading time: < 1 minute
Bug Labs is coming to Boston very very soon. In fact they are coming to town Tuesday, October 9th. The Bug Labs team will be hosting drinks at the Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge that night from 6 - 9pm. No RSVP is required, no special guest list is in force and there are no hidden requirements.
If you are a gadget developer, gadget hacker or simply just love gadgets and new technology you should come out to this event (plus, there’s free drinks!). Bug Labs is incredibly cool and I am really bummed I can’t make it. Hopefully they will send me a Bug though cause I really really want one (wink wink).
Barcamp Milwaukee Coming Up
October 2, 2007
Reading time: < 1 minute
Just wanted to pass along the details for Barcamp Milwaukee which is coming up fast. Please head over to the official site if you are planning on attending in order to fill out your profile, browse and propose sessions, see who else is attending, lend equipment to the effort and subscribe to the mailing list. Event details below:
BarCampMilwaukee2 will run from 10AM Saturday October 13th,
2007 to 4PM Sunday October 14th, 2007
The location is:
Schlitz Park Center
1555 Rivercenter Dr.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Chicago Geek Guide
October 2, 2007
Reading time: < 1 minute
Brad Maier just shot me a note with a link to a new guide he put together on all things geek in Chicago. He has incorporated pretty much every happening into Chicago into one simple site. The categories include user groups, media, events and news. The news section is pretty interesting because it is actually a compiled feed from a number of sources including TECHcocktail.com (ok, ok, I really like feeds… can’t you cut a guy some slack?).
Check out the site when you get a chance and make sure to go back often as Brad will keep you in the loop (no pun intended).
Blog World Expo In Vegas Baby! Vegas!
October 1, 2007
Reading time: < 1 minute
Eric Olson and I (Frank Gruber), TECH cocktail co-founders, are headed to Blog World New Media Expo in Vegas November 7 - 9. Eric and I are both speaking at the conference.
If you are interested in heading to Vegas to the Blog World Expo too we can save you 15% off your conference registration by using the promo code (valid thru Oct. 30): TCVIP
Let us know if you are are heading to Vegas and swing by our speaking sessions at the conference. It should be a lot of fun!
-
Sponsors
-
Preferred Services Providers
Preferred Accounting Services Provider: Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, P.C. 
Preferred Legal Services Provider:
Hinshaw & Culbertson
Preferred Charity:
Teaming for Technology
Preferred Creative Service Provider: Jess3 
-
Find or Post A Sweet Gig
-
LinkedIn Group
-
Follow on Twitter
-
Facebook Group
