DC Event: Social Rockstar Workshop - Friday May 16th
May 13, 2008
If your are in the D.C. Metro area on Friday afternoon May 16, 2008 tell you boss you need to head to Busboys & Poets for a social media workshop. Speakers sessions will be followed by interactive workshops. Here is the full schedule:
Justine Lam ………….. Back to the future: How the internet brought the grassroots back
Frank Gruber …………Social media and blogging
Nick O’Neill…………… Branding and Promoting
Voxant…………………… Online video
Justin Thorp …………..Widgets 101
Frank Gruber co-founder of TECH cocktail will be speaking about social media and blogging and making some references to its use in the corporate environment of AOL, Tribune and Classified Ventures where he has lead blogging & social media initiatives. Nick O’Neill of Social Times and a TECH cocktail D.C. 1 co-host will also be speaking in regard to building personal brand. Justin Thorp another TECH cocktailer will be talking about widgets as community manager at ClearSpring. Voxant a sponsor for TECH cocktail DC 2. Interestingly, all three of these fellows will be hanging out in Chicago May 29th for the TECH cocktail CONFERENCE!
Social Rockstar Workshop
Where: Busboys and Poets 2021 14th ST. NW DC
When: Friday, May 16th 1:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Tickets & Info: Register here
$15 pre-registered, $25 at door
Video: TECH cocktail Accepts CityLIGHTS Award (A Somewhat Frank Take)
April 6, 2008
– Re-syndicated from SOMEWHAT FRANK —
The Illinois I.T. Association CityLIGHTS 2008 Awards Gala took place in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The event was held at Union Station which you might recognize from the epic scene from the movie The Untouchables where Kevin Costner saves a baby carriage while also shooting up the Al Capone gangsters on its marble steps. While we did not save any babies, TECH cocktail was nominated for the CityLIGHTS Award for its positive impact in connecting the Illinois technology community. I am please to report, that TECH cocktail took home the hardware. I was deeply humbled by winning the award as it serves as validation that all the long hours and hard work is truly helping to sculpt a better connected local technology community while helping to amplify that same community to the world.
Eric and I were both unprepared for winning the award as we were up against some stiff competition. But we one of our supporters was able to capture the moment on video and I have used for the episode 19 of the video podcast SOMEWHAT FRANK TV. I have included the video below for your viewing pleasure. Thank you to everyone that has supported TECH cocktail over the past two years. We could not have done what we have without your support - thank you. Also we not done with what we have started as we look to continue to work to help the local technology communities and startups. If you have not already you should be sure to sign up for the TECH cocktail CONFERENCE on May 29th in Chicago as it should be a great event to further help anyone in business with taking a "no nonsense" approach. Use the promo code: techcocktailers to save $25 on your ticket. Sign up today.
Check out the photos from the 2008 CityLIGHTS event as well as the video below as TECH cocktail is awarded the 2008 CityLIGHTS Award.
TECH cocktail Is A Finalist For An ITA CityLIGHTS Award
April 3, 2008
We are pleased and humbled that TECH cocktail and Eric Olson and I were selected as finalists for a Illinois Technology Association CityLIGHTS Award given to an individual that has made a significant impact on the Illinois technology community. The list of finalists include:
* Eric Olson and Frank Gruber, founders, TECH cocktail
* Ron and Jeff Galowich, co-Founders, Initiate Systems
* Bob Geras, president, LaSalle Investments
* Brian Knudson, CEO, NogginLabs, Inc.
* Brad Spirrison, president, MidwestBusiness.com
We appreciate the support and recognition as it serves as validation that our mission is being served. We would not be up for the award if it were not for the local Chicago community rallying around us as we strive towards our mission of better connecting and amplifying the technology signal of the local community. We plan to continue executing our mission with the upcoming TECH cocktail CONFERENCE which you can sign up for now, and other local TECH cocktail mixer events including our next event in DC April 24th. Thank you for your support. Cheers!
TECH cocktail Boulder 1 Video
March 8, 2008
TECH cocktail Boulder last Thursday was a lot of fun and I got a chance to capture some of it on video for the latest installment of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV. Each demoer at TECH cocktail Boudler got a chance to chat with me about their product. You can watch the TECH cocktail Boulder 1 video below.
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New New Internet Coming Soon
October 12, 2007
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
Blog World Expo In Vegas Baby! Vegas!
October 1, 2007
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!
The New New Internet Discount Code
September 28, 2007
The New New Internet Conference is taking place in the Washington, DC area on November 1, 2007. I am pleased to be among the a solid list of speakers for the sessions which include (in no particular order) Om Malik, Ted Leonsis, Brad Feld, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk and Ryan Carson among others. The conference is put on by ExecutiveBiz.com, who I recently chatted with in this Executive Spotlight Interview.
The folks at the New New Internet Conference have been gracious enough to give TECH cocktail’ers a $100 registration discount by using the promo code: TechCocktail
I hope to see you there. 
TECH cocktail Photos Bump With Animoto
August 21, 2007
I recently discovered a new application called Animoto that converts photos into a short length video. I pulled in some previous TECH cocktail photos and created this video which highlights some of the events, fast cars and bling that makes up a TECH cocktail. Ok, ok, I am just kidding about the fast cars and bling but Animoto did bring the TECH cocktail photos to life. Check out the video titled TECH cocktail Bumps & Blings (below).
Wanna Join A Glorious myAOL Adventure?
July 26, 2007
Do you want to work with, Frank Gruber, one of the co-founders of TECH cocktail?
If so, this could be your chance, it will be glorious…
What to help me and the rest of the super myAOL team? We recently launched the, myAOL Personalization Suite and we need more great people to join the team. We are going global with the product soon and want to keep the momentum going forward but we are looking for passionate people to join this fabulous team at AOL. We are looking for Product Managers, Designers and Engineers that will be working with me directly. What could be better? 
We need sharp, motivated and passionate people to join our team. Details on the Product Manager, Engineer and Design positions below.
Engineer Position Details:
–> Writing widgets that allow a personalized experience to be built on AOL’s web sites. You’d write widgets using DHTML, HTML, AJAX and Flash technologies. The widgets span from one that shows email and Instant Mesdages , to one that show is your “social status” such as Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Flickr and Bebo.
–> Syndicating these widgets across sites outside of the AOL network – so your stuff goes across the web.
–> Passion and drive. We want people with passion and drive, who can learn quickly and want the best product for the users. You don’t need to know everything.
We are looking for sharp, motivated engineers who can build out widgets for our AOL applications and syndicate these across the web – think of syndication across Facebook, MySpace and of course our brand new “myAOL” product and iGoogle.
Product Manager Position Details:
–> Working with other myAOL product managers to ensure that all future roadmap projects/features work with our cobranded sites
–> Working with partners to develop module requirements and other features as needed
–> Working with project management, design, dev and qa to scope, schedule and implement requirements and report updates/progress to the program manager and co-brand team
–> Working with International on per-country requirements across global agreement
–> Liaison with cobrand team
You should have great communication skills and work well with the extended team - everyone from dev, qa, legal, business development, marketing, design, etc.
Sr. User Experience Designer Details:
The User Experience Design group at AOL in Silicon Valley is looking for a Sr. User Experience Designer with an emphasis on interaction and visual design (a little HTML/AJAX-y goodness wouldn’t hurt either). In this position you will be working on some of the most important and most strategic parts of the new way that AOL does business.
–> Must have proficiency in the standard design tools used today
–> Serves in a leadership role in the development of the look and feel or your designs
–> Leads project team in the development and implementation of your high-quality, interactive designs
–> Actively solicits feedback to ensure that all activities and deliverables meet expectations
If you are interested in jumping in, and working in a dynamic, fast paced environment, send your resume or better yet, send an example of your work! (Frank Gruber - frank at frankgruber5 dot com)
Come and be part of a great team. Cheers!
TECH cocktail Chicago 5: Thank YOU
July 13, 2007
TECH cocktail turned one year old this week and to celebrate we hosted our fifth TECH cocktail in Chicago (6th overall). Thank you to the close to 600 guests that came out to TECH cocktail last night at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville. It was a sea of green as guests all tried to win some great prizes from SingleHop. Eric Olson and I are extremely pleased with the way the local tech scene has come out of the woodwork in Chicago to support TECH cocktail. It has been wonderful getting to know so many people over the past year as we have some fun together connecting to amplify the technology signal in the Windy City.
Thank you to our sponsors who we could not do this event without. They include SingleHop, LinkedIn, Digital Bootcamp, Saper Law Office, Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, MK Capital, Origin Ventures, Chicago Micro, Fave Media, LiquidTalk.
We had demos of a few products which included myAOL (a product I hold dear to my heart), PollEverywhere, My Open Bar, Braintree Financial, Humanized & Fave Media.
Special thanks to Paulette, Laura and the staff at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville for helping keep this event running smoothly. Most notably, thank YOU, our loyal TECH cocktailers for all your support in helping connect and spotlight the solid tech and entrepreneurial community in Chicago.
If you are interested in sponsoring or demoing at the next TECH cocktail please let us know. Thanks again for coming to the TECH cocktail 1 year Anniversary event!
TECH cocktail Chicago 5 photos can be found in the Flickr widget below. Though this is our sixth event overall (5 in Chicago and 1 in DC) please tag your Flickr photos: techcocktail5 . Check out SingleHop’s TECH cocktail 5 photos as well.
Created with Paul’s flickrSLiDR.
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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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