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.

 

BusinessPOV Video Blog Covers Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Creative Culture (and TECH cocktail)

Founded in September of 2006, BusinessPOV is a Chicago-based weekday video blog focused on profiling companies, people and products that display elements of innovation, entrepreneurship and creative culture. Following a short video format the site is organized to offer top stories and local knowledge. Both video types provide valuable insight for anyone looking to or currently running a business. BusinessPOV is produced by Mark Scheffler, a former staff reporter at Crain's Chicago Business and award-winning contributor to the Chicago Tribune Magazine and his brother,  Peter, is the co-founder of XFA, one of the largest independent brokerages at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

BusinessPOV recently attended TECH cocktail 4, an event I co-founded with Eric Olson, to highlight the event. Currently, the following videos are posted:

The Forces Behind Tech Cocktail
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 1: TimeXchange.net
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 2: Menuism
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 3: Text2Store
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 4: Zaplee.com
More to come…or subscribe to BusinessPOV updates.

If you want to attend a TECH cocktail in real life, be sure to RSVP for TECH cocktail DC 1 - coming soon to Washington, DC.

TECH cocktail Is Coming To DC

I am happy to announce that TECH cocktail is coming to DC in May! Coming off a great event in Chicago a couple of weeks ago we are excited to be co-hosting TECH cocktail DC 1 (TcDC1) on May 17, 2007 from 6 to 9:30pm at MCCXXII, a sweet venue in DC. Demo and sponsor details will be coming soon...as we still have a few demo & sponsor slots open, so if you are interested please contact me ASAP. 

The event is open and FREE to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and other business professionals interested in the technology arena in under served technology communities. Our goal is to help to amplify the technology and entrepreneurial signal in under served markets and have fun doing it.

Co-founders Eric Olson and I will be co-hosting TcDC1 with Nick O'Neill, a DC blogger, web developer and area native. Also special thanks to colleagues Jim Simmons & Omar Miskinyar for helping to coordinate securing the venue - that was huge!

If you are interested in attending please sign up now since you have to be on the guest list to be admitted to the event: http://techcocktaildc1.eventbrite.com
I hope to see you there! 

TECH cocktail 3: Coming In Early 2007

Start 2007 off on the right foot by attending TECH cocktail 3 on Thursday, January 25, 2007 from 6:30 to 9pm at Amira in Chicago. Amira is located at the base of the NBC Tower close to the Chicago River and Michigan Avenue. Co-founder Eric Olson and I are pretty psyched about the venue so we hope you like it too.

Click here to RSVP for TECH cocktail 3

If you are looking to find some talented employees be sure to check out TECH cocktail Special Job Board. It is FREE to post a job listing if you contact us for the promo code - give it a try. We made it to help the tech community connect with good people. We will most likely be demonstrating it at TECH cocktail 3. If you are interested in demonstrating a product at TECH cocktail 3 please let us know.

We still are looking for sponsors for TECH cocktail 3. If you are interested please let us know. Our email addresses are as follows:

frank [at] techcocktail dot com
eric [at] techcocktail dot com

We could really use the help especially since hosting a party like TECH cocktail is not free though we are able to keep it free to all guests with the help of our great sponsors. Help us help you.

For more details please stay tuned to TECH cocktail or subscribe to our feed. See you at TECH cocktail 3!

Photo Attribution: sonson on Flickr

TECH cocktail 2: Technology Evangelized

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend our friends over at TechnologyEvangelist.com have unveiled the first couple videos in a series of film captured at TECH cocktail 2:

The TechnologyEvangelist.com crew traveled down from Minnesota to spend the evening interviewing as many guests as possible on a range of topics from startups, web 2.0, the future television and about TECH cocktail itself. So expect to see a new video every day till the end of the month. Here are the first two:

TECH cocktail - Eric Olson and Frank Gruber
TECH cocktail - Christopher Monaghan

Thank you TechnologyEvangelist.com, I cannot wait to see the rest! 

Niche Job Boards Galore: Here's One More

There have a been a flurry of niche job boards developed recently to help connect employers with the right niche employees. Paul Stamatiou has previously highlighted the job board boom and had this to say:

"In a nutshell, these small job boards are great places to start looking for your next career or find your next employee."

I couldn't agree with him more. Here a is a quick list of the various niche offerings and listing fees:

37 Signals Tech Jobs - $300 for a 30 day listing
Authentic Jobs - $250 for full-time (30 days)  $75 for freelance (15 days)
CrunchBoard - $200 for a 30 day listing
GigaOM Jobs - $200 for a month listing
Problogger Job Board - $50 for a 30 day listing
TECH cocktail Specials Job Board - $30 for a 30 day listing - FREE with code

With the design and development assistance of Phraction, Eric Olson and I launched a job board at our last event TECH cocktail 2. The goal is to help better connect our supporters with niche tech/biz  opportunities - or as we like to call them TECH cocktail Specials (techcocktail.com/jobs). Though the site says it is only $30 for a 30 day listing (about a dollar a day), I wanted to make it clear that we only are charging to help keep the riff raff (spam listings) off of the site and raise money to help support our TECH cocktail events. However, we have a promo code that we can give you and you can post as many job listings as you would like for FREE! Yes, you read that correctly, post your job listings for FREE!

If you have a job opening and would like to place it on the TECH cocktail Specials Job Board, please email us:

Frank [at] techcocktail dot com
Eric [at] techcocktail dot com

You are probably wondering why we would want to jump into such a competative, segmented market of niche job boards. Well, it is simple: after the first TECH cocktail event both Eric and I received a number emails asking us to help them connect with developers, designers and product gurus. So rather than play HR matchmaker, which could be a full-time job, we decided we would launch a job board. Eric and I really want to see this board grow to help better connect the tech/biz community. So please feel free to reach out to us for that promo code and post a TECH cocktail Specials job listing today!

Related Links:
CrunchBoard: Find A Job In The Valley
Blogger Job Board Launched

Freshwater Venture: Exposes Chicago's Rich Entrepreneurial History

Freshwater Venture is an effort devoted to restating the rich Chicago entrepreneurial history by profiling the startups that have been developed in the Chicagoland area. Freshwater Venture was created by Keith Schacht and Eric Antonow as they looked to raise the profile of entrepreneurs and their ventures in Chicagoland. The Freshwater Venture offers an index of startup profiles, industry roundups and a few video profiles. One of the most interesting features thus far is a Google Map mashup called Chicago Map 2.0 which plots 165 of the Chicago startup company office locations (shown below). This site is a great resource for anyone looking to better understand the history of Chicago startups.

The Freshwater LIVE event took place tonight (October 26, 2006) at the Gleacher Center in Chicago bringing together a number of the CEO's that are profiled on the site in addition to other notables in the Chicago entrepreneurial community. The event was slated to have several of the founders of local startups reading their original business plans in addition to offering some very, very early stage funding. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend so I cannot say if any of that really happened but Eric Olson, co-founder of TECH cocktail was at the event so I am sure to be filled in. TECH cocktail made a donation to support the event as it is very much in line with our mission.

Midwest Startups Profiled by TechCrunch

TECH cocktail got some more TechCrunch loving - several of the Tc2 startups from the October 12 Chicago event were highlighted. Thank you Mike Arrington for allowing me to cover the event for TechCrunch - hope you can make it out and cover TECH cocktail 3! Featured startups included:

Liquid Talk
eSigma
GrubHub
Pawky
Planypus
Time59
FitLink.com
HouseBlogs.net
Menuism
Metroproper

Be sure to check out the article here. If you like it digg it here.

TECH cocktail 2 Video Unveiled

TECH cocktail 2, an event I co-hosted with Eric Olson on October 12, 2006 in Chicago, helped to bring together the technology business community. If you missed the event but want to know what it was all about be sure to watch the video that was produced by Lambert Smith of Stone Cliff Productions.

Thank you to everyone that participated in TECH cocktail 2. Special thank you to Lambert Smith for creating this TECH cocktail 2 video which captured some of the evenings happenings. Stay tuned for details about TECH cocktail 3!

Second TECH cocktail Smoothly Downed

Last night (October 12, 2006), Eric Olson and I hosted our second TECH cocktail in Chicago at the Gramercy. As we first envisioned nearly 8 months ago, TECH cocktail 2 brought together the technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters and corporate masterminds in the area. With the list of rsvp'ed guests at 400+ for the evening by the events start time, I was a little leary as to if we could keep every guest smiling. I feel like that if the 350+ guests that did attend even had a quarter the fun I had I would consider it a great success. Judging by the feedback I have gotten, I think we can rest assured we pulled it off smoothly.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...
I am extremely thankful to a number of people and companies that made TECH cocktail even happen. First of all, a quick thank you to Eric Olson for being great partner in TECH cocktail crime and more importantly a great friend. Secondly, thank to all of our sponsors which included  midPhase, mk Capital, Coastr, Liquid Talk, Chicago.com, Digital Bootcamp and Chicago Enterpreneurial Center.  Thanks to all the companies that were willing to go under the hood and showcase their products. This includes eSigma, GrubHub, Pawky.com, Planypus and Time59 - thank you. Thanks to our three film crews which include Liquid Talk, Stone Cliff Productions and TechnologyEvangelist.com. Thanks to Jonathan Wolter for working registration and spreading some TechSocial love. Thanks to guys from Freshwater Venture who brought some pretty sweet company baseball cards. Of course, thank you to my family and friends for coming out and supporting the movement. Don Loeb was even in from San Francisco to attend - thanks for coming Don! Finally, special thanks to Jeff Pulver for coming over from New York to attend and pick up a tab on several hundred rounds of drinks.

Event Photos & Reactions...
Here are the photos tagged techcocktail2. 
Here is some of the buzz from the blogosphere:

• TECH cocktail 2: Wrap & Thank you - TECH cocktail (Official Tc2 thank you)
• About Last Night… (David gives his perspective)
• TechCocktail - a great party - tins ::: Rick Klau’s weblog (Glad Rick made it to this one!)
• I even wore a tie! (Dan from midPhase wore a tie)
• Tech Cocktail 2: What a Party: Technology Evangelist (Thanks for coming down!)
• About Last Night: TECH Cocktail 2 in Chicago - The Jeff Pulver Blog (Black AMEX, enough said - thank you!)
• TECH cocktail 2: Good Times, Lessons Learned - Chicagoist (Thanks for covering the limo situation so well)
• Chicago Beta (This is exactly what we wanted to see happen - more events!)
• TechCocktail tonight in Chicago « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger (Thanks for the plug Robert, wish you could have made it)

TECH cocktail Specials...

We also took the opportunity to introduce a new TECH cocktail product called TECH cocktail Specials (techcocktail.com/jobs) a job listing board that we hopes helps to connect employers with jobseekers surrounding TECH cocktail events. Not to mention, proceeds will help to support future TECH cocktail events. If you are interested in giving it a free trial please feel free to email and I will hook you up. The site was developed by Phraction.

With two TECH cocktails downed smoothly - we will see you at TECH cocktail 3!

Tagged: techcocktail2

TECH cocktail 1: Now Playing on YouTube, Google Video

TECH cocktail, the people mixer that gathered many technlogy and business thoughtleaders from the Midwest in Chicago on July 6, 2006, has released a video which is posted on the TECH cocktail web site. Thanks to Lambert Smith of Stone Cliff Productions, TECH cocktail 1, can be found on both YouTube and Google Video.

TECH cocktail 1 (YouTube version)

TECH cocktail 1 (Google Video version)

Or you could just click the video above. Hope you enjoy the show!

Spam 2.0: Splog Examined

This past Tuesday (January 24, 2006) spam was the topic of a column by Tom Spring on PCWorld.com. The column explains the next generation of spam and in one section title "Spam Outside The Inbox" covers the emergence of splog or spam blogs online. Splog Reporter was mentioned in the article in saying:

"Many are fighting back with special software designed to combat splogs. Still others in the anti-spam community are taking action and creating anti-splog sites like SplogSpot and Splog Reporter, where you can report abuses."

In case you do not recall, I started Splog Reporter as a "grassroots" effort to combat splog back in August of 2005 with the help of colleague and friend Jeff Johns. Jeff and I continued to move the product forward by creating new ways to report splog, like a Firefox extension, bulk upload among other features. Through our efforts I found out first hand that the blogosphere is filled with "good-willed" bloggers willing to help clean up the blogosphere.

Recently, Jeff and I have become extremely busy with our personal lives yet we continue to receive praise, questions and requests via our SR feedback page just about everyday. To be quite honest with you we cannot keep up with all of the feedback.

In realizing our short-handedness, we would be willing to bring on some help in the spirit of the movement to continue to move the product forward in a positive manner by developing out some of the requested features that we have received as feedback. If you are interested in helping us out please let me know by either commenting on this blog post or emailing me directly at: frank at splogreporter dot com. Please let me know what your skill-set as well as what makes you interested in helping out with the effort.

Washington Post Reports On Splog

The WashingtonPost.com published an article today about spam blogs or splogs. I found the article interesting especially this quote by Anne P. Mitchell, president and chief executive of the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy and a law professor at the Lincoln Law School of San Jose, explaining how Internet companies that helped create the blog phenomenon can also help keep it clean:

"From an ethical, moral, good Internet neighbor perspective . . . if they have the ability to do so, they should do so."

However, the article failed to dig deep enough to highlight the action of Splog Reporter recently highlighted by the Wall Street Journal and Wired News, among others.

If the raging splog battle is new to you, let me start by saying spam blogs or splogs are clogging up search engine search results much like spam emails have been clogging up your email inbox for years. Splog Reporter was created by me (Frank Gruber) and Jeff Johns in mid-August as the trash can for splog in the blogosphere. Basically, we have created a system for detecting splogs that are reported. We also offer the Splog Reporter as a service to help clean up our client’s data and detect splogs from regular blog URLs. For more information on splog, be sure to check out Splog Reporter and the definition of splog on Wikipedia.

For views from the blogosphere check out posts on TeleRead, By the Bayou and Turned Earth.

Splog Reporter Highlighted On Wired News

An article titled How to Fight Those Surging Splogs was written by Nicole Lee of Wired News and published online yesterday (October 27, 2005). I conducted the interview about a week ago and appreciate the mention of our splog efforts. I am also pleased to announce the creation of Freedom Jump, L.L.C. as the owner and operating limited liability corporation of Splog Reporter.

Splog Reporter is continuing to evolve and anticipate to see something new soon from Freedom Jump. Also please continue to send your feedback, we love to hear your perspectives as much as I like writing my candid perspective on Somewhat Frank so please keep sending us comments.