Had a great time last night at the North Shore Web Geek meeting.  I arrived a bit late so I did not get a chance to meet everyone there but I’ll put it on the list for next month if I am not traveling.   The great thing about this event is that is not too large yet.  It is just a small gathering of web industry people that live up in the great white north.

I did get to meet some very interesting people including JC from VendorCity and Joshua Porter who recently released Designing for the Social Web.  He is also working with Chi.mp (actually out of Honolulu) a top-level domain company that is going to try a different take on social networking, content management and identity.  You can sign up for the beta on the Chi.mp site.

Today, I got pinged about yet another North Shore web industry event that will happen on July 8th in Salem at the Salem Brewery.   Marc Amos & Angelo Simeoni (love the CSSboy url - is that the new Cabinboy?) will hold their first web networking event called “Build Guild”…an event that I first thought was a WOW gamer club but looks to be another great networking event.

Now web heads on the North Shore will have 2 excuses per month to drink on the job!

• North Shore Web Geeks
  Every 3rd Thursday @ The Grog, Newburyport
  Start between 6 & 7
• Build Guild
  Every 2nd Tuesday @ Salem Beer Works
  Starts at 6:30 ( RSVP )

See you there!

It was a great turnout for the PopSignal event last night in Boston. All of the usual suspects were out in force and the registration table claimed they had close to the 600 registered attendees there at the event.

I also spoke with quite a few small startups either are launched or just about to get going including 2 "wisdom of the crowd" (love the buzzwords) plays that were interesting.  There first person I talked with was Craig from a NH based startup called Vendorcity.  Vendorcity will create a new way for SMBs to source services. There was also micro-entrepreneur James who is working on a stealth way for open source projects to "crowd source" (buzzword again) their project management ideas.  I’ll keep you updated on both startups as they develop.

And not to be outdone, tripadvisor pulled out their full-sized mascot. I wonder what the executive meeting was like when they debuted this costumed character?  Who pulled the short straw to where this last night?

Cheers!

I’ve had the great opportunity this year to be a judge in the 2008 MITX Technology Awards. My panel this year was the Collaboration & Social Networking category. I wanted to hold off on posting until the finalists in the category were announced and the judging process was complete.

Sitting through the business presentations for each of the finalists in the category was fascinating and a worthwhile experience. Having other entrepreneurs present their pitch to you is a great way to gain a different perspective on how to deliver a message and capture someone’s attention.

I should have more on the finalists in the coming weeks leading up to the big announcement of the winners. Here are all of the finalists for 2008.

If your company is listed here, please read the 93Startup Profiles post and email me your information. I’ll try to get a post out soon.

Collaboration & Social Networking

• Acquia, Inc.
  Acquia - Commercially Supported Drupal
• Awareness
  Awareness Enterprise Social Media Platform
• Punchbowl Software
  MyPunchbowl.com
• Mzinga
  Mzinga - Market Leader in Business Social Media
• WorkLight Inc.
  Secure Web 2.0 Consumer Tools in the Workplace
• StyleFeeder
  StyleFeeder - Personalized Shopping Engine

Analytics & Business Intelligence

• Progress Software Corporation
  Complex Event Processing and Event Processing Made Accessible
• Visible Measures Corp.
  Measuring and Monetizing Internet Video
• SiteSpect
  Non-Intrusive Multivariate Testing for Web Site Optimization
• Lexalytics
  Text Analytics Beyond The Document Summary

Content Management

• Aetna
  Aetna SmartSource
• EveryZing, Inc.
  EveryZing, Inc.
• FlightView
  FlightView’s Real-Time Flight Information

Data Management

• Progress Software Corporation
  Breaking down data silos to achieve true SOA
• Certica Solutions, Inc.
  Certify: K-12 Data Certification Software
• Dataupia
  Free Your Data with the DataupiaT Satori Server
• mValent
  mValent Integrity v5
• Permabit Technology Corporation
  Permabit Enterprise Archive Data Center Series

Data Protection

• Double-Take Software
  Double-Take® 5.0
• ExaGrid Systems, Inc.
  ExaGrid Disk-Based Backup with Data De-duplication
• Diligent Technologies Corporation
  ProtecTIER - Diligent’s Game-Changing De-duplication Solution
• Veracode
  Veracode, Inc.
• VidSys
  VidShieldT Physical Security Information Management System and platform

Enterprise Technologies

• BBN Technologies
  BBN TransTalk - Winning Hearts and Minds by Breaking Down Language Barriers
• Marathon Technologies
  everRun VM: World’s First Fault-Tolerant, High Availability Software for Server Virtualization
• GotVMail Communications, LLC
  GotVMail Virtual Phone System
• Virtual Iron Software, Inc.
  Virtual Iron Version 4.2
• ZINK Imaging Inc.
  ZINK Zero Ink Digital Printing Technology, featuring ZINK Paper

Marketing/Customer Relationship Technologies

• HubSpot
  HubSpot Internet Marketing System
• Neolane, Inc.
  Neolane - New generation marketing that delivers
• Network World (IDG)
  Network World iDemand
• Mall Networks
  Shop.org/Cyber Monday
• Visible Technologies
  TruCast
• Chitika, Inc.
  Viral Brand Advertising Units

Mobile

• Azimuth Systems
  Azimuth Systems ACE 400WB MIMO Channel Emulator
• iSkoot
  iSkoot for Skype
• Monitise Americas
  Monitise Americas: Mobile Banking and Payments Provider
• Pyxis Mobile
  Pyxis Mobile’s Application Studio
• Mobicious, Inc.
  SnapMyLife

Video

• Brightcove
  Brightcove Internet TV Platform
• Gotuit Media Corp
  Gotuit VideoMarker Pro
• PeerApp Ltd.
  Intelligent Media Caching for Accelerating the Video Internet
• Lycos
  Lycos Cinema
• PermissionTV
  PermissionTV’s smartplayer Redefines Online Video

It’s great timing that the same week I put up a post about the thin tech scene in Boston, a cool event is announced.  The same group that brought you TechCocktail is orchestrating another event called POPsignal on May 15th in Boston.

From the invite…

POPSignal parties are aimed at bringing together the local tech and startup community in a fun and informal environment. There is no format, presentations, or speeches. However, there is always a free open bar, free food, music, fun activities from sponsors (see below), and great conversation. You must RSVP at http://popsignal.eventbrite.com.

Join us for an evening of fun mingling with other technology enthusiasts, VCs, bloggers and entrepreneurs on May 15th, 2008 at Tequila Rain near Fenway Park. The event is from 6:30pm - 9:30pm.

You must be 21+ to attend and must be on the RSVP list for the event to get in. Space is limited, so please RSVP only if you plan on attending. Can’t wait to see you there!

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POPsignal

Date
Thursday, May 15, 2008

Time
6:30 pm ET - 9:30 pm ET

Location
Tequila Rain by Fenway
3 Lansdowne Street
Boston, MA 02215

Map
Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Link To This Event

Add to my calendar

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Courtesy my RSS reader, BUZZ in the Hub & Datum.