SOMEWHAT FRANK

Video: Visiting the DVA Gallery Chicago

I was in Chicago a few times in May and got a chance to visit the DvA Gallery while strolling through the Lincoln Park neighborhood. I was drawn into the gallery when I saw artwork that reminded me of JoyEngine, the community building design company in Boulder, Colorado which was previously featured on SOMEWHAT FRANK TV. Maybe these two galleries and art communities should sync up.

Graphing Social Patterns East 2008: I'm In

Social networking and media have been quite a hot topic for the last few years. I think humans are generally social in nature so the social networking phenomenon online plays into human nature as social networking tools have evolved online. For example, there have been a number of "white label" solutions like Ning, Userplane, Drupal and Kickapps just to name a few that offer out of the box social networking solutions.

I will be moderating a panel at the upcoming Graphing Social Patterns East conference next week discussing white label social networks with some of the leaders in the space in a session titled, From Zero to Community in 60 Seconds: White-Label Social Networks.

The panel includes:

Alex Blum - CEO of KickApps
Michael Jones - CEO of Userplane
Sean Roach - CEO of Got Access

If you have a question you would like me to ask the panel please submit it in the comments section below.

DOPPLR Estimates Your Carbon Footprint

If you are a heavy traveler you might not realize it but every time you take an airplane flight you drastically negatively affect your carbon footprint on the environment. In an effort to make travels aware of this very fact, traveling social network Dopplr has teamed with AMEE to calculate your carbon footprint. By investigating past and current trips logged in Dopplr your CO2 emissions are posted on a seperate tab. Users can then contribute their number to the rest of the community or keep it private. I have included an example of the output carbon emissions below.

Filtrbox Media Monitor Service Coming Soon

Filtrbox, a Boulder-based startup which was founded about a year ago as part of the first TechStars program, will soon be launching a self-service business-grade keyword driven alerts product. Filtrbox offers keyword driven media search which includes the blogosphere & mainstream news.

I was intrigued by the five person filtrbox team when they demoed at TECH cocktail Boulder back in March 2008. I recently got a more thoroughly overview of the private beta product as they approach a public beta launch and I wanted to share my thoughts on the product as I am excited about using this product. It is probably one I will be using a lot as I look to monitor my own online reputation as well as other online activities. I also think filtrbox could come in handy in monitoring information related to your entire investment portfolio.

Social Media Panel at TECH cocktail CONFERENCE

I recently sat in on the Social Media and Branding panel at TECH cocktail CONFERENCE. Geoff Livingston, David Armano, Danielle Wiley and I decided to start out with a little transparency and authenticity lesson. The lesson involved the Chicago Cubs (my favorite baseball team and the Chicago home team). In case you missed it, don't worry, it was caught on tape thanks to social media.

TECH cocktail CONFERENCE Downed Smoothly

Somewhat Frank has been taking the brunt of an intense schedule this past week as I have been in Chicago preparing for and hosting the first TECH cocktail CONFERENCE, followed by our 8th Chicago mixer, TECH cocktail Chicago 8 on May 29, 2008. Though it took a lot of time and hard work, it was all worth it as it was a lot of fun as we were able to further our mission of better connecting and amplifying the technology signal by bringing together some of the TECH cocktail community leaders from Boston, Boulder, DC and Chicago as speakers at the TECH cocktail CONFERENCE which attracted close to 300 guests. From the opening ceremonies where we played the TECH cocktail Song to Gary Vaynerchuk wrapping up the day of speakers it was a lot of fun. All the speakers did an amazing job and we are very appreciative of their participation and support. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to see all the panels as I was pretty emceeing the event and making sure things run smoothly.

Check out the TECH cocktail CONFERENCE photos taken by the very talented Leora Zellman. Additional photos from TECH cocktail Chicago 8 are coming soon.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.