SOMEWHAT FRANK

TECH cocktail Chicago A Sixth Great Time

I co-hosted a sixth TECH cocktail in Chicago last night and co-host Eric Olson and I had a blast doing it. With 500 plus attendees at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville there was so much energy and love in the room it was an amazing feeling. I got to see many familiar and as well as new faces as we continue to try and build a better and more tightly connected community in Chicago.

Leading up to TECH cocktail Chicago 6 was super, as there was lots of TECH cocktail related action. For example, DC TECH cocktail demoing startup PatentMonkey.com was acquired by Patents.com. Songza launched and then demoed at TECH cocktail last night. Also, TECH cocktail demo alum GrubHub got funded by repeat TECH cocktail sponsor Origin Ventures. TECH cocktail got a little local Chicago press love. Oh and I almost forgot, we now have a Twitter account so you can follow TECH cocktail on all its adventures in helping to amplify the technology signal in under-served communities.

 

Cappex To Connect Schools With Students

It has been awhile since I was looking for the right college experience. However, I do recall it being a rather daunting task as there are so many schools to examine in such a short period of time. A Chicago-based startup, Cappex aims to try give students some relief by helping students connect with colleges and universities that are interested in recruiting them. The site aims to help students, guidance counselors and school administrators by connecting them all via the web.

Students simply fill out a profile and schools can look for students through Cappex based on profile criteria. Similar to LinkedIn, Cappex enables schools to attempt to connect with students but students can chose which schools they are interested in connecting with. School administrators can leverage Cappex as a recruiting tool to search for prospective students. Guidance counselors can also get involved with Cappex by registering to assist student throughout the school selection process. Guidance counselors receive tips and tools that are highlighted in this tour.

Bottom-line: Cappex aims to connect students with schools that are interested in recruiting them.