Mark your calendars, July is now the web networking month for Boston area.  It marks the return of the several premier tech events including schmooze-fest TECH Cocktail Boston 2, PodCamp3 Boston and the uber Boston web 2.0 event - WebInno18.

I will attempt to attend all of these…hope to see you there!

• Build Guild, July 8th, 6:30PM
  Salem Beer Works [ REGISTER ]
  The new kid on the block and my winner for the best use of Twitter to promote an event, Build Guild brings together the cream of the North Shore web design crop in one event.  I love an event that brings together the web, micro-brews and  my old stomping grounds.
• WebInno18 - July 15th, 6:30PM
  Royal Sonesta Cambridge: [ REGISTER ]
  Back after a short hiatus, WebInno is back with a jam packed list of companies including Totspot, WebNotes, Zeer, 211me, WordChamp, PaperG, Creaturepark / Ingeeni Studios, YouCastr, LuckyCal, Snipd, Tikatok
  
• NSWG, July 17th, 6PM
  The Grog (Upstairs) [ REGISTER ]
  Another great event for the North Shore weberati, the North Shore Web Geek event is a monthly drinking / networking event at the Grog in Newburyport set for the third Thursday of every month.
• PodCamp3 Boston - July 19 - 20
  Joseph Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School [ REGISTER ]
  Considered an “unconference“, the next installment of social media popstars Christopher Penn (no, not that one) and Chris Brogan’s PodCamp comes back to Boston. Check out the list of presenters already signed up for the show.  This show also takes the “open” concept to the next level by publishing their books.
• TECH Cocktail Boston 2, Boston - July 24th, 6:30PM
  Tequila Rain by Fenway [ REGISTER ]
  If you liked the PopSignal event earlier this year and are looking for the party side of Boston web networking, TechCocktail is your event.  Check out the photos from last years TechCocktail event.

There are actually quite a few events and conferences in the area this month and next month even brings the Mashables event series to Boston…am I not cool because I do not have an event attached to my blog?

I just got back from another trip to the Paris office and I wanted to catch up on some activities from last week.  One of which is a great directory of area VC firms that Tom Summit posted on the Buzz in theHub blog.  The post includes (as of this post) a list of 39 firms and angel investors with a link over to each firms profile on Genotrope.  This will show you a visual mapping of the firms investments and track record.

For example, check out the profile for .406 Ventures (the first on the list) that shows their recent investments.

Genotrope is a great tool for both company research and recruiting by attempting to use a visual mapping technology to show a companies "heritage" through it’s management team, investors and other key information.  

This posts key question…do you like how I fit in the current buzzword of the day in the post title? 

Looking for your next Worpdress, Drupal or corporate website template?   Are you a web designer looking to market your designs far and wide?  Enter local start-up Templamatic, a new web 2.0 marketplace for "nothing but high-quality site templates".  It is the brainchild of local designer Ben Harper who is looking to create a searchable directory of premium templates for popular CMS, blogging platforms and more.

The are many blog and site template sites on the web but Templamatic is looking to set it’s offering aside by focusing on quality vs. quantity designs and also creating a very designer friendly site.  The site currently offers a 75% commission for contributing designers and openly promotes the designers identities with each template.  This allows designers to be contacted directly by companies looking for custom work.

If you are a Boston area web designer looking for extra exposure and cash, Templamatic is actively looking for designers to contribute to the marketplace. 

As a bit of disclosure…I’m actively working with Ben for design work.

I guess this is one of those “it’s been awhile” posts that often end up on too many blogs around the web but nevertheless…it’s been awhile. It’s not that I have been busy with a new house, new baby and a new job but the real reason for the break was…I just needed a break from all the media shoved into my brain each and every moment of the day. You can only read so many RSS feeds, friend invites, press releases, Digg stories and so on before it all turns into white noise and you just need to tune it out.

I thought I had built an excellent system between the Web 2.0 Toolbar (shameless plug) and Google Reader to quickly filter my daily intake but there is only so much time in the day for all of the media that one person can consume. I have only so much attention to give and, at some point in late 2007, I hung up the RSS reader, clicked off the iPhone RSS (sort-of) and took a much needed siesta. However, I’m hooked and I just can’t get enough. I need to start consuming content once again and writing (with caution). My original title for the post was going to be “Hello, My Name is is David and I am a SocialMediaholic“.

The Boston area has been active after all with DrupalCon8 and the launch of Acquia, Compete’s acquisition by TNS and Yahoo’s acquisition of Maven all happening in the first quarter of the year. There is still a lot to talk about including why our area seems to be the incubator and not the center for any major web corporations (note the 2 acquisitions previously listed). Acquia may have a chance at becoming a big story for open source techies but we still do not have our whale just yet.

I also have to apologize to the PR agencies and startups that have sent me recent releases including Gal Arav who recently launched NewsFlashr - a Bedford based startup that, very appropriately, is designed to be a faster way to track headline news !

Even with the break, It’s good to see that 93south is on top of Boston Web 2.0…at least according to Google.

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Upadte: Yes…I had to take the pic of the baby down! Also, while we are on the topic of cliche blog posts…the “baby” says hello. My wife will most likely make me take the picture down the same way I was forced to take down her MySpace page before she was born.

Technorati Tags: RSS,Social Media,Boston Web 2.0,Web 2.0,Social Media Fatigue,Acquia,Maven,Google,Yahoo,Compete,Tech,NewsFlashr,Bedford