What Tongues are Wagging About Now (besides CES and Crunchies)
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| Event Recaps
CES and Pepcom Roundup
CES was a lot buzzier and bigger budget than last year, another sign that the economy is bouncing back. Major celebrities like singers Kid Rock, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga were on the show floor to endorse products and generate excitement and the press were there to cover both heavily.
Much fun was made of the Steve Ballmer keynote which was delayed by over 30 minutes due to a technical failure so that his preso would not work. It caused a lot of laughs from the press corps.
The coolest device at Pepcom is Sony Dash– launched Wed.
They take the Chumby open source software and incorporated it into their own black box device to be an Internet appliance that runs the apps you want.
We saw a lot of emphasis on 3D technology– from client EA Mobile with its games that are on the new Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus– as well as with TV manufacturers of flat panel screens. There were a lot of crazy new 3D glasses.
Also interesting was a coalition of 30 local broadcast networks driving mobile DTV, now with Samsung.
Client IGN threw the most coveted party – Taylor Swift was drooled over by tons of nerds. Wired Magazine threw a very fancy party at Encore (the newish Wynn hotel) which included a display of some of the coolest personal gadgets around. Boxee is getting a lot of attention, which allows users to throw Internet content to their TV, including Hulu, Netflix movies but also apps like Twitter and Facbook and YouTube. Apps on TVs seems to be next big leap for consumers.
Many of the mobile press corp were saying how amazed they are that OEMs are making so many new announcements at CES, so that CTIA, which is back in Vegas in March, seems more and more superfluous. The new Android device from Google and HTC, the Nexus One, captured a LOT of the buzz but is seen as not quite the iPhone killer people had hoped it would be. It is just too expensive if you buy it unlocked and is only cheaper if you sign up with TMO. Nobody seemed blown away.
TechCrunch Crunchies
The Crunchies are definitely rising in prominence and SValley took it seriously. Guys were in jackets (!), girls in short dresses and City Hall was mobbed for the festivities. That said, the Linkin Park singer couldn’t help but poke fun at SF for “keeping it modest” given that “any one of the nominated companies could buy the AMAs 10 times over.”
There weren’t too many surprises – Facebook, Bing, Zynga and Google took the lion’s share of awards. Foursquare, Playfish, Spotify, Mint and Twitter all won or were runner ups in their category. Spark won for best pr firm. The coolest new tech we saw was from a Japanese company that DCM invested in — when you scanned your phone across the audience or party, you could see everyone in all of your social networks tagged and find them easily.
Ron Conway received what amounted to a ‘lifetime achievement award’ type recognition – everyone who has ever been affiliated with Ron stood up and at least half the auditorium was standing.
In VC, Rich Wong and the Accel crew took top honors, with Greylock getting the runner up nod. This produced the biggest “DOH” of the night — after Calacanis snidely griped that VCs took 40% of his company, he FORGOT to announce that Sequoia was one of the nominees, and Rich Wong had to recognize Sequoia before accepting. Calacanis kinda spazzed out and then fell all over himself trying to recover. I turned around to the VC behind me to share a wink, and she gave the all-knowing “slitting the throat” gesture. Too good. Maybe Mahalo means “good-bye” in Hawaiian? 
Om was looking vibrant two years after his heart attack and Sarah Lacy and Erick Schoenfeld did a great job with funny MC bits. |
Awards and Press Riffs
· Second Annual Shorty awards soft launched: http://shortyawards.com/
· Wall Street Journal Innovation Awards – Deadline is May 7 www.dowjones.com/innovation.
VC & Portfolio Cos
· PE Hub/Thomson Reuters wants to feature TrialPay’s Alex Rampell in “You Should Know This Entrepreneur” column
· Bernard records podcast with Cloud Computing Show and briefs Cloud Computing Journal
· VC backed IPO pipeline: http://www.pehub.com/60174/the-vc-backed-ipo-pipeline/
Upcoming Events on our Radar
dot429 Brunch
January 10th, 11am – 2pm, Novellus Theater
Come meet the most well-connected bay area luminaries. Conversation to rival the spectacular view of yerba buena’s artful gardens. Walk off brunch with a complimentary visit to the acclaimed exhibit “when lives become form: contemporary brazilian art, 1960s to present” or join ybca visual arts curator betti-sue hertz for a guided tour at 2pm. Brunch by top chefs jennifer biesty from scala’s bistro & jamie lauren from absinthe, and music by steve mak | $25 donation at the door or http://dot429.eventbrite.com | benefitting YBCA and GLAAD
No Pants Subway Ride: 2010 (This is getting a lot of buzz. Only in San Francisco!
January 10th, 3:00 – 6:00pm
All are invited to participate in the 9th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride. REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION: 1) Willing to take pants off on subway. 2) Able to keep a straight face about it. If you are unfamiliar with the No Pants Subway Ride, read the history here: http://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-no-pants-subway-ride/ For updates on meetup locations and others involved, check out their Facebook Event.
SXSW Pre-Party
January 11th, 7:00 – 9:00pm. Slim’s (Spark attending)
So apparently NOW this party is official (it’s on Facebook, not just Plancast). Hosted by party-king Larry Chiang, this SXSW prep and pre-party will draw some of the best players in the industry for a night of drinks and debauchery. Well…at least one of the above. Be sure to stop by and crash the fun. http://plancast.com/a/3s2
Mobile Internet Executive Reception
January 13th, 6:00 – 9:00pm
Come connect with high level executives (CEOs, VPs, Department Heads) from leading mobile internet companies from China, Japan, and Korea: Alibaba B2B, Alipay, Tencent, China Unicom, Lenovo Mobile, Sina, Kong.net, and more! More information at http://meetchina.eventbrite.com/
Enterprise Mashup Summit
January 15th, 8:30am – 5:00pm, SF State (835 Market St)
The Enterprise Mashups Summit is the leading open industry event and user community for 21st Century enterprise integration. The collaboration consists of business users, vendors, technologists, developers thought leaders and others pursuing comprehensive mastery of enterprise mashups. For more information, check out http://www.emusummit.com/
Healthcare Stimulus Exchange
January 19th – 20th, Hyatt Regency, SF
Healthcare, information exchange, and medical management tools have been rising themes at numerous startup events I’ve attended: TechCrunch 50, Startup Weekend, and demos at FailCon. This event will be discussing the legality of and technology available for healthcare, information exchange, payment possibilities, and more. They are exploring and embracing the startups working to make the process to get and give healthcare easier. If you’ve got even an interest in this hot industry, you have got to check this out.http://sanfranciscohsx.eventbrite.com/
TEDxSoMa
January 22nd, 2010, PariSoMa
TEDxSoMa will bring the TED experience to a local level, bringing together innovative ideas and concepts through TEDtalks and inspiring speakers to grow the collective conscience. With recurring events every quarter, TEDxSoMa events hope to: Foster education, innovation and exploration, create an interactive experience, and inspire collaboration and community. Current confirmed speakers include Heather Fleming of Catapult Design, Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange, David Sibbet of The Grove, Phil Libin of Evernote, Marina Gorbis of Institute for the Future, and Damon Horowitz of Aardvark, with several more very exciting speakers days from being announced. For more information, check out TEDxSoMa
Girls in Tech: Catalyst Conference
January 26th, 2010, Commonwealth Club
Catalyst Conference will bring over 250 passionate, creative women together to fuel new relationships and ideas. Come prepared to share concrete technology and business tools and tactics, meet energetic leaders and entrepreneurs, and develop your own business ventures. This conference is for women at the top of their industries as well as those leading their first ventures, and will guide them all in discussions of strategy and success. More information is available at http://girlsintech.net/conference2010
ARF Industry Leader Forum – Putting Listening to Work
Jan. 28, 2010, Bently Reserve
The Advertising Research Foundation’s Industry Leader Forum is an interactive event to help advertisers, agencies, media and research companies determine how to use social media and digital behavior for their listening strategies. Attendees will receive The ARF Foundations Series – Listening tool, an $895 value, featuring 25 case studies and 30+ company reviews how listening is used for consumer insight, customer service, new product development, reputation management, competitive benchmarking, and breaking into new applications like media planning, targeting and predictive modeling. Speakers include: Jeremiah Owyang, digital media strategy superstar and blogger, Altimeter Group, Toyota Motor Sales, Saatchi and Saatchi Wellness and LinkedIn. http://thearf.org/assets/ilf
Teens in Tech Conference 2.0
February 6th, Google Offices
The Teens in Tech Conference is bringing youth and technology together in San Francisco again in 2010. The conference features speakers including Joe Hewitt (Facebook), Danny Trinh (Digg), Jared Kim (WeGame), Vitor Lourenço (Twitter) and many, many more. More information at http://www.teensintechconf.com
Virtual Enterprise 2.0 Conference -February 2 – (online webcast)
SVNewTech
Jan 5th, 7:00 – 9:00pm, Palo Alto, CA
Meet other entrepreneurs, investors, bloggers, and tech enthusiasts who come together to network and watch demos of hot new technologies. We meet once a month, the first hour is company demos, the 2nd hour is networking. Food, Wine, and Beer is provided. More information is available at http://www.meetup.com/svnewtech/
VC Breakfast with Ron Weissman
January 7th, 8:30am – 9:00am, Palo Alto, CA
Join Ron Weissman from Band of Angels and Ajax Partners to discuss the state of the startup industry and get feedback on your own idea, business plan, funding route, etc. VC Breakfasts are a weekly event with new guest speakers each Thursday! http://svase.com/?q=event
SVASE: Angel Investors to the Rescue?
January 7th, 6:00 – 8:30pm, Palo Alto, CA
With public markets in the mist of recalibrating, are Angel investors down for the count, or will they stay in the game an ride the wave back to economic recovery? According to Ron Conway, they are still actively looking at funding pitches and have money for promising start-ups. So while over-extended VC Firms have downsized and their portfolio companies are doing more with less, Conway still feels it’s a great time for entrepreneurs to start companies, and for Angels to invest in capital efficient startups. Do other Angels feel the same way, or are they hiding out in the hills till good times return? Come meet with and hear leading angel investors in a lively exchange as they explore trends and provide insights on critical funding and business development questions. Info and registration at http://svase.com/?q=node/3756
The Founder Showcase
January 14th, 5:30 – 10:30pm, Palo Alto, CA
The Founder Showcase is an open startup pitch and networking event taking place on January 14th in Palo Alto. That evening, 10 of the most promising early-stage companies, as voted by the CEOs of TheFunded.com, will present to over 300 investors, founders, and members of the press. Guests will also hear informative talks by leading CEOs – Philip Kaplan of Adbrite, and Jay Jamison of Moonshoot. Early-stage companies are invited to apply, and ticket sales are open to everybody at http://foundershowcase-webwallflower.eventbrite.com/?discount=friends15
Data Exhaust Alchemy – Turning the Web’s Waste into Solid Gold
January 19th, 6:00pm – 8:30pm, Stanford, Palo Alto, CA
The internet, and social media, create a mountain of random, unstructured, and at times ephemeral data by-products, which may appear to be trash. Yet, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. Come meet the savvy entrepreneurs who are building companies that mine this mountain of digital waste and turn it into gold. This event brings together experts, entrepreneurs and investors to explore the business opportunities arising from the innovative ways Data Exhaust is being harnessed. For more information and to register, head to http://www.vlab.org/article.html?aid=304
Power of Social Technologies BootCamp
January 20th, 6:00pm, Graduate School of Business, Stanford
The panel line up is impressive and the plancast event is popular – http://plancast.com/a/332 Keep an eye out there for more information as the date approaches.
Startup2Startup featuring Matt Blumberg
January 21st, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Startup2Startup is a group of Silicon Valley geeks, entrepreneurs, and investors dedicated to educating and helping the next generation of internet startups. We meet monthly over dinner to discuss relevant topics in technology and entrepreneurship, connect with new people and companies, and share our knowledge and experience. For the January Startup2Startup, they have invited Matt Blumberg, Cofounder, CEO, and Chairman of Return Path to speak. Matt will share the Return Path story, startup lessons learned, and best practices in email deliverability. For more information, especially on how to get an invite, check out http://startup2startup.com/
The Future of Social Media in 2010
January 21st, San Jose, CA
Twitter. Facebook. Digg. Ning. This list goes on and continues to grow as more and more consumers and businesses integrate social media into their daily routines. But while 2009 has proven that social media is here to stay, we also know that it won’t look the same in the near future as it does today. So before you devise your own social media strategy for 2010, join esteemed web strategy blogger and social media analyst Jeremiah Owyang and a panel of industry experts as we discuss what’s working in social media, what isn’t working like it used to, and where the latest online trends will be taking you and your customers in the year to come. Check out http://www.svama.org/site/event_details/46< /a> for information.
Angel Capital Expo
Jan 22nd, 7:30am – 1:30pm, Mountain View, CA
Angel Capital Expo is a premier gathering of the angel capital community. The Expo is a recurring event across the United States; bringing together investors and entrepreneurs looking for funding. Angel Capital Expo is organized by Keiretsu Forum, the world’s largest angel investment network, and was created to foster collaboration among angel groups, as well as reach out to the larger investment community. The Expo will feature ten high-quality, diverse investment opportunities in technology, healthcare/life sciences, consumer products, real estate, and funds. Companies that apply to Keiretsu Forum are typically in their A or B rounds having already secured initial funding of $500k to $1.5 million from founders, friends, family, and individual angels. Please contact Entrepreneur Director Felicia Diaz at felicia@keiretsuforum.com for more information about applying. Please register at http://angelcapitalexpo09.eventbrite.com
She’s Geeky Bay Area
Jan 29th – Jan 31st, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
This is an unConference just for women geeks – geeks of all kinds. She’s Geeky convenes to inspire women technologists for the future and advance systemic change, providing a space to create enduring communities that foster collaboration and innovation among women tech professionals. Early Bird Registration ENDS December 20th. To secure your place at the great early bird rates REGISTER AT: http://shesgeekybayarea3.eventbrite.com
Bootup Demo Days
February 3rd. 9:00am – 12:30pm, Plug & Play Tech Center, Sunnyvale, CA
Bootup Demo Days is a forum for showcasing the best digital media companies. Companies present to investors looking for early stage investments locally in Vancouver and then again in Silicon Valley. Up to 10 companies will be presenting, and all are ready for further rounds of financing. For more information and to register,
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