Last week I traveled to the Midwest to Champaign, Illinois to speak to a group of entrepreneurs about building brands and social media as covered by the Champaign News Gazette and to host another TECH cocktail. The event was sponsored by Wolfram Research which is based in Champaign and has been creating products like Mathematica for over 20 years. Wolfram Research recently received quite a bit of buzz on TechCrunch, GigaOm Network, ReadWriteWeb and Mashable among others for the launch of the consumer facing product called Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram Alpha is a the computational research engine that helps to find anwsers to questions that don't exist on the Web. I got a chance to visit with Co-founder, scientist and author, Theodore Gray and discussed the lastest from Wolfram Research. Check out the video interview with Theodore Gray (above). It is episode 82 on the SOMEWHAT FRANK Video Adventures Podcast which is available on iTunes.

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I just got back from an unbelievable experience in the Washington, D.C. technology scene as Washingtonian Magazine recently assembled a list of the 100 DC Tech Titans, and tonight gathered them to celebrate. The group is lead by innovators like Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Vint Cerf among others and I was happy to be included as part of the group. It was brought to my attention that Ted Leonsis was overheard referring to Nick O'Neill, Jen Consalvo, myself and a few others as the "future of DC tech." It was a rather memorable, flattering and humbling moment as I got a chance to rub shoulders with some of the mothers and fathers of technology as we know it. I feel I still have a lot to offer to the advancement of technology so please stay tuned as I share the adventure on SOMEWHAT FRANK. I had an enjoyable time at the event and thank Washingtonian Magazine and Garrett Graf for writing the 100 DC Tech Titan article. Check out a few of the videos (below) I captured while attending the event.

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I got a chance to talk with Peter LaMotte of Washington, DC based startup GeniusRocket this past March right after the much debated "Is Spec Work Is Evil?" panel session at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. We discussed GeniusRocket's mission and take on crowdsourcing. GeniusRocket also has an interesting crowdsourcing story about the creative video that SXSW used this year which Peter will also share. This video interview with Peter LaMotte got lost in the SOMEWHAT FRANK video queue but I just found it and wanted to share the video as episode 76 on SOMEWHAT FRANK. I hope you enjoy our pre-coffee talk at the Crepery in Austin, Texas about crowdsourcing.

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It was a pleasure as always to get a chance to sync up with Greg "The Trend Junkie" Cangialosi the CEO of Baltimore-based Blue Sky Factory in San Francisco today. I had him swing by to do his Thursday afternoon live show BlueSkyFactory.tv from the Bebo office. Frank Gruber & Greg Cangialosi at Bebo in San Francisco We discussed a number of topics including start-ups, shiny objects of the Web, bootstrapping, entrepreneurship, building community anywhere, TECH cocktail, SOMEWHAT FRANK and my recent work at AOL as part of the People Network group which includes AIM,Bebo, ICQ and Socialthing and life-streaming products. We are also were joined by Jean-Paul Cozzatti the Development / Product Engineering Lead at Bebo to talk about the updates for Bebo that went live this past December and February as well as a hint as to what is to come in the coming months. Tune into the video above to watch episode #7 of Blue Sky Factory TV (above).

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What do you love? I love breakfast. I love beaches. I love guitar. I love the Chicago Cubs and I am a fan of Dave Matthews. Love.com launched recently, somewhat under the radar, as a lightly branded AOL product, to help connect you with the topics you love. Love.com is not a dating site but a search engine with aggregated result pages looking to get you a snap-shot about any given topic. Grant Cerny, VP, Mediaglow Entertainment Products with AOL's MediaGlow, had this to say about Love.com: "Love.com topic blogs celebrate the diverse passions of all people with hundreds of thousands of profiled blogs and the capability to create new blog topics on the fly. It organizes topics based on topical heat or velocity so that love.com can provide a central view into what the world is loving now." Looking to create the perfect page for whatever you love, Love.com aggregates items from a few different sources. In performing a search for Chicago Cubs and love.com pulled in basic news stories, YouTube videos, images, relates websites, Twitter messages and related items for sale. The news stories are pulled real-time via Relegence, a company that AOL acquired in November 2006. Love.com is built on top of the blogging platform Blogsmith, the same platform that powers a number of popular weblogs with the ablity to spin off infinite sub-domainsbased on the popularity of a topic. Since Mediaglow has a number of content properties, Love.com can help recirculate content through these infinite topical pages via search engines. Love.com also offered recommendations for related topics things I might like which included baseball, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees. This makes sense since the Chicago Cubs are a baseball team. I assume it pulled in the Cincinnati Reds because the Cubs are currently playing the Reds and there are news stories that relate them. I am not sure why New York Yankees was also offered as a recommendation other than that they are another the baseball team.

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It's true, SOMEWHAT FRANK was once named a "must know" blog for any Israeli startup as I have covered a number of them in the past. Every year a dozen or so, of these startups tour Silicon Valley as part of the IsraelWebTour, an event organized by the California Israel Chamber of Commerce. Last year, I was able to attend the demo day and I was impressed with a number of the Israeli companies and shared this video. It's that time of the year again and I wanted to highlight the 10 Israeli Web startups participating in the 2009 tour.

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Conversations are being sparked in a number of places on the Web these days from Twitter to Facebook to blogs. AdaptiveBlue's product called Glue takes a different approach by enabling conversations and sharing on sites that you visit via the browser. Glue is an browser plugin that appears on your current page to show you friends who looked at the same things and what they thought. It brings your social network to the content pages that you visit rather than integrating directly into various web sites.

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SocialVibe allows you to "Get Sponsored" by your favorite brands on your social profiles while earning points for the reward of your choice. Though based in Los Angeles but I got a chance to talk with Sarah Townsend from SocialVibe for a quick impromptu interview at South By Southwest Interactive. Check out episode 74 of SOMEWHAT FRANK as we talk about SocialVibe and how it can be used for social good.

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Have you recently updated your Twitter or Facebook status, posted a photo on Flickr or posted a video on YouTube or Vimeo? I have. This kind of lifestreaming online behavior has become mainstream as the Web 2.0 movement empowered anyone to become an online content creator, trading privacy for a little taste of online fame and a connection with people. While I was down in Austin, Texas for South By Southwest (SXSW), I got a chance to see the film screening of WE LIVE IN PUBLIC which took home the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film focuses on the adventures of early dot-comer Josh Harris as he experiments to predict the effects of the Web on society. Ondi Timoner directed the film which documents what happens when the Web takes a stronger hold of our everyday life. The movie takes place mostly in New York and includes appearances by Jason Calacanis, Julia Allison and Meghan Asha (who appears on SOMEWHAT FRANK videos here and here). WE LIVE IN PUBLIC is a must see as we all become more tied to our devices and the Web. Check out episode 73 of SOMEWHAT FRANK adventures in personal technology as I recorded a couple of short clips from the Q&A session with Director Ondi Timoner after the film and even got to meet her afterwards. Also be sure to see the film We Live in Public when it is released as it really makes you think how we all live our lives and share so much online. Oh and you can follow Director Ondi Timoner on Twitter too.

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Web 2.0 Expo is this week in San Francisco from March 31st - April 3rd. This year at the Web 2.0 Expo there are 3 new components which include: 1. A new Government 2.0 Joins the Web 2.0 House track for anyone looking to explore how technology is being integrated into the government. 2. Sunlight Labs Hackathon where attendees build an application that promotes transparency in government. You can vote now for the application you want to build (or think needs to be built). 3. Revion3 Tekzilla LIVE at Web 2.0 Expo as Patrick Norton and Veronica Belmont bring you hands on reviews of the latest gear, tips and tricks that improve the tech you already own, and conversations with the most informative experts around. Use code websf09trt5 at online registration for 30% off any registration package. Finally, I will be giving away my extra ticket this week to the lucky reader. Hope to see you there!

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I was in Santa Monica last month so I decided to stop by new startup called Tsavo Media. Tsavo Media was founded by former AOL colleague and Userplane founder and CEO, Mike Jones. He assembled a super team including Mike Macadaan (Twiistup founder and former AOL colleague), Sean Percival, Ryan Sit and Steve Schepke, among others. Tsavo Media has been funded by American Capital and has been gobbling up a number of niche content sites including NibbleDish along with creating niche sites like KidGlue, Manolith and Twirlit. With the launch of Daymix, a search experience which creates the "perfect page" for any given search term, we may be seeing the beginning of a relevancy engine. So what are they trying to do? According to Tsavo: "These are blogs that get to know you. Entertain, inform and serve you. They’re good for consumers, and great for advertisers." Curious to find out more details about these blog that appear to learn from your actions to better entertain you, I recently talked to Mike Jones and Mike Macadaan as I toured the Tsavo Media office space in Santa Monica, California. Check out SOMEWHAT FRANK video episode 68 (above) as go behind the scenes at Tsavo Media.

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Web 2.0 Expo is at it again and this time they are back on the West coast in San Francisco on March 31st - April 3rd. I was invited to attend the semi-annual conference and expo targeting all those involved with the development of the next generation web: designers, developers, entrepreneurs, marketers, business strategists, and venture capitalists from around the globe. Some of the most innovative and successful industry people and companies attend Web 2.0 Expo. This year at the Web 2.0 Expo there are 3 new components which include: 1. A new Government 2.0 Joins the Web 2.0 House track for anyone looking to explore how technology is being integrated into the government. 2. Sunlight Labs Hackathon where attendees build an application that promotes transparency in government. You can vote now for the application you want to build (or think needs to be built). 3. Revion3 Tekzilla LIVE at Web 2.0 Expo as Patrick Norton and Veronica Belmont bring you hands on reviews of the latest gear, tips and tricks that improve the tech you already own, and conversations with the most informative experts around. I last attended Web 2.0 Expo in 2007 and you check out the photos to prove it. Also check out past Web 2.0 Expo coverage here, here, here and here. Use code websf09trt5 at online registration for 30% off any registration package. Finally, I have an extra ticket to give away so reach out to me on twitter @FrankGruber if you’re interested. Hope to see you there!

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The Web 2.0 era was quite the Renaissance of the online world as human powered sites and services flocked online. Many have tried to define Web 2.0 through videos, blog posts and photos and techmemes. Keeping track of the Web 2.0 explosion of startup products and services is like a full-time addiction and one of the best company directory resources on the Web is Go2Web20.net. Go2Web20.net, was created by my friends Orli Yakuel and Eyal Shahar, and offers a visually stimulating logo driven interface to search and discover the companies of the Web 2.0 era. Check out the latest and greatest as Go2Web20.net just revamped and re-launched.

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I cannot believe we have been at TECH cocktail for for going on three years now. It has been a pleasure to see so many great people, startups and products rally around TECH cocktail in their local community and we hope to continue that in 2009 with a full schedule of events. We also have some other things on the docket for 2009 and will be happy to share them soon.

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It appears that people will no longer be in the dark as to how well fan pages are doing on Facebook as AllFacebook has launched Facebook stat pages. Nick O'Neill, a DC blogger, friend and closet programmer, has been working furiously the last month or so to roll out the page tracker system that keeps track of over 620,000 Facebook Fan pages. The tracking pages offer charts like the one to the left that upon hover offers users to pinpoint specific cross sections on the chart.

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