TECH cocktail Champaign 3 Photos
June 30, 2009
Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes
Check out the TECH cocktail Champaign 3 Photos
Last Thursday night, TECH cocktail Champaign 3 attracted a couple hundred attendees as local technology was showcased from companies like Wolfram Research, EnterpriseWorks, R Systems, Mimosa Acoustics, The Australian Semiconductor Technology Company (ASTC) and IllinoisRocstar. Thanks to our sponsors and guests for making the event another success. Check out the TECH cocktail Champaign 3 photos.
TECH cocktail Champaign 3 Preview
June 11, 2009
Reading time: 5 - 8 minutes
Hey TECH cocktailers we are excited to bring TECHcocktail back to Champaign. This is the third time bring the event to Champaign and you can read about the last event here and see the pictuers here.
TECH cocktail Champaign 3 will take place at Houlihan’s in the Research Park on June 25. Local technology based firms will be showcased in the bar area from 5:30 to 8:30. Attendees are welcome to enjoy complimentary drinks and appetizers as they learn and network with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts from across the region.
TECH cocktail Champaign 3 sponsors
Wolfram Research, headquartered in Champaign, IL, will feature Wolfram|Alpha, the world renowned computational knowledge engine released last month. Wolfram|Alpha is a free web service that aims to make the world’s systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone.
The knowledge engine is useful on a wide range of topics that include engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, units & measure, dates & times, and much more! Log onto www.wolframalpha.com to view examples, read blog posts and see firsthand why Wolfram|Alpha is revolutionizing how people all over the world research the Internet!
One of the supercomputers currently supporting Wolfram|Alpha is R Systems‘ “R Smarr” ( named after Larry Smarr, the founder of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications). R Smarr is the world’s 66th fastest supercomputer built entirely out of custom made Dell servers.
R Systems NA, inc., located in the Illinois Research Park, is a privately held corporation that provides high-end computing resources for research.
Within the University’s Research Park is its business incubator, EnterpriseWorks, a 43,000 square foot facility that has spun out over 70 startup companies from University of Illinois technologies since opening in 2003. EnterpriseWorks provides an ideal environment for starting a high-growth technology venture with 24 full wet-chemistry labs, furnished office space, an extensive array of shared equipment, server co-location facilities, and conference rooms with complete presentation facilities and high-speed wireless Internet access.
TECH cocktail Demoers
Dr. Patricia Jeng created Mimosa Acoustics in 1994 to take advantage of research done on cochlear nonlinearity by the Acoustics Research Group of Bell Laboratories, from 1985-1992. Dr. Jeng and her collaborators (including Etym?tic Research) developed one of the earliest available Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission (DPOAE) measurement systems, CUBeDIS™.
Through technical advancements, Mimosa has condensed the original CUBeDIS™ system into a lightweight probe and PC-card assembly. The PC-card fits into a laptop computer and is highly portable. The DPOAE measurement is now a standard audiological tool, and is especially useful for infant hearing screening because the tests are quick to perform and do not require an active response from the patient. For detailed information on Mimosa’s products and services, vist their website.
IllinoisRocstar (www.illinoisrocstar.com), based in Champaign, Illinois, uses the Rocstar
simulation software suite to analyze fluid flows, combustion, materials, structures, and their interactions while solving engineering and scientific problems for commercial clients and government agencies. Employing integrated software, IllinoisRocstar staff utilize first-principles based physics for highfidelity numerical analysis in complex changing geometries.
IllinoisRocstar brings a depth of experience in micromechanics, combustion modeling, and granular material pack modeling, using Rocpack, Rocfire, and other proprietary software. The principals and members of the company are highly qualified technical and business leaders and senior scientists using advanced computation and simulation techniques to understand the implications of three dimensional fluid-structure interactions on the design and application of materials and engineered devices. IllinoisRocstar seeks to commercialize, extend and implement simulation software, and use these tools in commercial engineering analysis and as a product line of stand-alone software.
The Australian Semiconductor Technology Company (ASTC) is an independent design, research and development company specializing in the provision of leading edge, specialized technology and design to order services for software, development tools, intellectual property, semiconductors, and embedded systems.
ASTC commenced operations in 2006 and employs around 80 staff based in Adelaide (Australia), Champaign (US), and Tokyo (Japan). Though the ASTC venture is new, the founding team builds on over 12 years of working together as one team servicing multinational companies at the forefront of these industries.
Windy City Social’s Social Media and Online Marketing Summit: The Details
June 5, 2009
Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes
From organizer Hope Bertram:
Windy City Social is hosting a very cool Social Media/Online Marketing Summit that you’re TC group is going to want to hear about.
It’s Tuesday, June 23rd from 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm with evening networking and panel from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm at the beautiful Blackstone Hotel.
Guests will connect with other marketers and learn about the latest trends in Social Media and Online Marketing from leaders in the industry. People will leave the event with new, innovative ideas about how to leverage Twitter, Facebook, SEO, E-mail Marketing and Experience Marketing.
Several of the speakers and sponsors will be on hand for 15 minute consultations where they’ll give attendees immediate steps they can take to improve their actual site or campaigns! AND our speakers are going to pick a few emails and websites submitted by attendees in advance to critique during presentations.
Event Highlights
* Creating an Experience They Will Remember (in a good way!) Cereality Founders
Rick Bacher and David Roth
* E-mail Makeovers Reagan Taylor, NCR eCommerce Consultant
* Top 10 Tips for Improving Your Natural Search Rankings
* Tips on How to Get the Most out of the New Fan Pages From Brad Keown from Facebook * Panel on Using Twitter to Promote Big Business
I’ve sent up discount code for $10 off of the full ticket price for TC members who enter TC10 when they register at http://wcssummit.eventbrite.com
TeachStreet Comes to Chicago: Get Ready to Learn
June 4, 2009
Reading time: < 1 minute
My friend Dave Schappel (not the comedian) has been building up his latest company, TeachStreet, over the past year and I was happy to hear from him that the Chicago portion of the site is now live. TeachStreet is a place where people can come to find teachers for anything and everything that are based in their city. Want to learn drums? Check out TeachStreet. Want to learn Mandarin? There are probably some teachers on TeachStreet that can help you out. If there is something you want to learn, check out TeachStreet.
Recap: Amazon Web Services Startup Tour DC
May 29, 2009
Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes
As many of you know, or maybe not, I am a huge fan and proponent of Amazon’s Web Services. A couple of years ago, Amazon started its offering with S3 (Simple Storage Solution) and has continued to add another great service after another. Back then I even went so far as to dream up a startup idea based around S3 and created my own web service on top of it, MyDropBin. Since then I have gotten much more involved with many of their other offerings and now do some consulting to help other small startups in the area build an utilize these cloud platforms.
Some of there other offerings include
- EC2
- SimpleDB
- CloudFront
- CloudWatch
- DevPay
and so on. If you are not familiar, make sure to head over to aws.amazon.com to check them all out, and if you need any help, just let me know. In any case, I was excited when I saw they were doing a startup tour around the country. Talking about the products and also showcasing small, and large companies that are utilizing their products to build really cool companies. The great thing about the products that Amazon is offering, is they allow the smallest of businesses and individuals the ability to become large, or seem that way, without the hassle and huge costs associated with that. Withing 15 minutes if I wanted to, I could have over 1000 servers up and running at 10 cents an hour for each. 3 years ago this would have never been possible. Then when I am done, they shut down and I pay for only what I used.
It was a really great event with a lot of really smart people there to learn and share. Below are some videos of the event, including Adam Selipsky the Vice President of Amazon Web Services, Matt Corgan Co Founder of Hotpads.com and others. Pay particular attention to Matt’s talk as he really breaks down the numbers and shows how Amazon helps out him and his developers.
When.com Supports Local Events Like TECH cocktail
May 20, 2009
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
Special thank you to When.com, our premier sponsor for TECH cocktail DC 5. When.com is the hyper-local guide for your hyper-active lifestyle. When.com helps you to pinpoint restaurants, events and activities in your neighborhood. Its unique tools for Hot Tickets and Dining Deals can help to save you time and money. When.com also throws user-generated events into the mix for extended coverage of everything that’s going on in your city. For example, check out the listing for TECH cocktail DC 5 in Washington, DC today.
Watch the video (above) as I chat with When.com’s Abha Dasgupta. Also be sure to check out When.com next time you are looking for something to do and if you are in the DC are be sure to see them tonight at TECH cocktail DC 5.
TECH cocktail DC 5 Preview
May 19, 2009
Reading time: 8 - 14 minutes
The newest installment of TECH cocktail here in the DC area is right around the corner, and as usual we have an incredible set of local companies, in and out of beta, who are going to be showing off their products for everyone there to see. That is what TECH cocktail is all about, getting people out and amping up the local tech scene and giving these local companies the opportunity to show you what they have been working on. Remember, we are switching it up a bit from our regular Thursday night setup and hosting the event this Wednesday, May 20, 2009. While the regular tickets are sold out you can still donate any amount to the cause and get into the event - RSVP.
Last time, we had a great set and this time is no exception. So take a few minutes to look through a quick preview of the companies you will be seeing on Wednesday night at the Left Bank in Adams Morgan.
We want to first take the opportunity to thank the main sponsor of TECH cocktail DC 5, When.com. When.com is the local search engine to discover things to do! when.com helps you quickly find out what’s going on, wherever you are. Find local events, movies playing nearby, the perfect Indian restaurant, or where your favorite band is playing next. Not sure what you want to do? That’s okay - browse by category, date or location and we bet you’ll find something that grabs your attention!
If you’re an event promoter or organizer, when.com is a great (and free!) way to distribute information about your events.
When.com will help you realize how much is going on right on your doorstep… and quickly give you all the information you need to find something you want to do! So, no more “There’s nothing going on tonight” excuses.
Our demoing startups are as follows:
Think of tweetmart as classifieds for Twitter. It is a free an easy way to buy and sell “stuff” on Twitter. We had ease of use in mind when we created tweetmart. Have something to sell? Login, click on “List an Item” and in a minute or two you are finished. Your item will remain active for 7 days. We will send a tweet out to all your friends letting them know you have listed something and at any time you can re-tweet the item (to your heart’s content we might add). If one of your friends likes what you are selling, they can send you a direct message letting you know they are interested. Even better, for those that are not on Twitter but like what you have to offer, they will be able to send you an e-mail letting you know they are interested.
FitFeud is a competitive wellness platform that gives individuals,
groups, and organizations the ability to harness their competitive
nature as a motivational tool for weight loss, wellness, and a
healthier lifestyle. With FitFeud, you can challenge friends, family,
and co-workers to a weight loss competition without having to worry about tracking spreadsheets and weigh-ins.
FitFeud is based on the idea that what most folks really need to reach their goals is a kick in that ass rather than a pat on the back. With FitFeud, competition and the desire to win serves as that motivational kick.
Diditz is a new photo sharing application on Facebook, where users share their coolest experiences of their lives: their “Diditz”. Diditz allows Facebook users to discover the best Facebook albums in the topics they are passionate about and watch those albums in a beautiful slide show. Users can also convert their albums to blogs by embedding videos or writing notes, and share their “Diditz” using widgets, twitter, digg and other social bookmarking websites. Diditz also provide brands a new tool to engage their fans by putting a ‘Diditz” tab on the public profiles.Link: apps.facebook.com/diditzapp
Arlington Soho has developed InSide Job, a Facebook application that now allows users to contact people who have interviewed, worked, or are currently employed at the places you want to work at next! They have created a tool that replicates the best features of business sites like LinkedIn.
InSide Job users can also:
• Get the inside scoop on their prospective employer before the interview;
• Network with people in similar fields; and
• Find the right people to hire as service providers.
PointAbout wraps robust web applications with a thin-client springboard to harness the power of a native application while maintaining the flexibility of the web, creating mobile applications across multiple phone platforms without any ramp-up time, no need for proprietary programming expertise and little or no re-development of your current site.
Wegora is Creative Darwinism.
People come to wegora to read, write and remix posts. Remixes compete against the original and other posts for the attention of users. Interesting posts, whether originals or remixes will continue to be read and remixed. They will be rated well by users and they will survive. Less interesting posts, whether remixes or originals will find themselves moving ever farther into the ether until one day, by random chance, they are read and remixed into something more interesting.
messagepub is a web service to allow communication from your application to your users. It provides a simple API to communicate via email, IM, Twitter, SMS, and phone. With messagepub, you can start sending multichannel messages in minutes with a single interface across many platforms. It lets you save a lot of development and testing cycles so that you can focus on your core business and competency.
Messagepub provides client libraries in many programming languages: Ruby, C#, Python, Java, PHP… It supports escalating messages, scheduling of messages for future delivery, and automatic handling of replies.
BuddyCast is a virtual theater that allows people to program their viewing and to watch movies and TV shows together simultaneously over the Web. Founded: January 2007 We bring people together! BuddyCast is a platform enabling a new business model that offers a Social Networking and Community Collaborative service to view Premium Video content. People work together to program their Internet Theater and they get together to watch it and interact among themselves. Our service offers paid as well as free movies and TV show, whether they are Hollywood Blockbusters or Niche-Foreign content.
MPowerPlayer is the leading provider of online mobile game trial and merchandising solutions to mobile operators and publishers, allowing consumers to easily try, buy and share mobile content on any website or social network. Our web-based technology platform enables the rapid deployment of online app stores, social networking strategies and integrated marketing programs designed to help our partners drive mobile content sales. We partner and offer white label solutions for carriers, MVNO’s, mobile game and application developers, OEM’s and mobile content providers to engage consumers more effectively.
Earth Aid has developed a free service that measures your monthly energy use and pays you based on how much you save.
- We review your household’s energy use from your utility company and use it to create a “baseline.”
- Earth Aid then provides you with customized advice to become more energy-efficient, and then measures your next year of energy use.
- Last (and most importantly), Earth Aid sends you a check based on the amount of energy you have conserved.
Consumer Healthcare Advisers Inc. is a Maryland company that offers consumer-oriented health management products and services to large self-insured employers. The focus of the enterprise is maintaining a robust flow of reliable information to employees and their dependents, who now face a new set of expectations about financial responsibility and self-management of their health and health care benefits. In this new environment, consumers need help to make better healthcare decisions for their families and themselves.
The foundation of the firm is a web-based technology platform called the Consumer Health Data Center (CHDC). CHDC is directly licensed to plan sponsors as an employee benefit.
A unique aspect of the enterprise is the availability of a wide range of on-demand coaching and counseling services in conjunction with CHDC. The on-demand advisory services will be paid for by the consumer.
Well I know it’s a lot but I know you will all have a great time networking and checking them all out. See you soon!
TECH cocktail DC 5 - May 20th RSVP NOW
May 8, 2009
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
It’s that time again and we’re ready to TECH cocktail in DC. In case you missed our last DC event it was well covered by the Washington Post. This is our 5th event in the Nation’s Capital. Hope you can make it out to LeftBank digital bistro in the Adam’s Morgan neighborhood of DC. Here is the important information:
TECH cocktail will offer a handful of startups an opportunity to show off in an expo-style to the rest of the community.
When: Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST
Where: LeftBank in Adams Morgan (venue photos)
What: A “cocktail of TECH people”
If you are interested in supporting TECH cocktail please sponsor our events as we cannot put them on without your support. If you are interested in demoing a product or service please comment on this article or reach out to us at TECH cocktail. Look forward to seeing you there.
iStrategyLabs Launches Apps for Democracy Community Edition
May 5, 2009
Reading time: 5 - 8 minutes
I’m pleased to announce that DC.gov, under the leadership of Interim CTO Chris Willey, has empowered us to launch Apps for Democracy “Community Edition” which has just been announced by Mayor Fenty. AppsForDemocracy.org as been revamped to reflect the new campaign and $35,000 prize pool available to citizens interested in building a better DC through technology (full blog post explaining it all).
You can submit ideas/problems here (and call or txt 202-683-9980) and sign-up to compete in the application development contest here.
Full details are below - or skip all that and watch the full video walk through here.
Apps For Democracy - Community Edition (aka APPS09)
$35,000 Prizes Over Two Months and Insights From All Neighborhoods
The first edition of Apps for Democracy yielded 47 web, iPhone and Facebook apps in 30 days - a $2,300,000 value to the city at a cost of $50,000 (all apps created are here). This time we’ve got equally ambitious goals.
Our mission with APPS09 is two fold:
1) Engage citizens in ALL neighborhoods of Washington, DC to ask for their input into the problems and ideas they have that can be addressed with technology; and
2) Build the best community platform for 311 service requests.
Ways to Engage:
1. Add Your Neighborhood’s Insights & Vote (call or txt 202-683-9980 as well)
2. Sign up for Social Citizen Sunday and compete for $1000 (details below)
3. Build Apps for Democracy (First Code Jam will be in June)
4. Tweet this or forward to a friend
For the first time, we’ll put the “Cradle to Grave Framework for Citizen Driven Innovation” to the test. Here’s what the framework entails:
The prize pool is split between a Social Citizen Award and 3 rounds of development:
The contest calendar is as follows:
TECH cocktail Community Contributed Knowledge
Peter Corbett is the founder and CEO of iStrategyLabs. Peter has won multiple industry awards, including 3 Addy’s in 2008, the Great Washington DC Board of Trade’s “One To Watch” award for being “A rising entrepreneur who has a bright and sustainable future in Greater Washington”, and has been named one of the most influential Washingtonians under 40 by WashingtonLife Magazine. Washingtonian magazine included him in their Tech Titans List of the top 100 people shaping the technology industry in the Greater Capital Region. You can connect with Peter on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
Inventables is Hiring
April 23, 2009
Reading time: < 1 minute
Inventables is lighting the product development world on fire! This year they launched a the Inventables Marketplace, they got VC funding, and now they are hiring!
Looking for a new gig? Do you have what it takes? They need the best Chicago has to offer!
Software Engineers
http://corporate.inventables.com/AboutUs/SoftwareEngineer.asp
UI Designer
http://corporate.inventables.com/AboutUs/uidesigner.asp
1 Person Finance Department
http://corporate.inventables.com/AboutUs/Controller.asp
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