SOMEWHAT FRANK

Crowdsourcing Discussed With GeniusRocket

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.

SOMEWHAT FRANK in 2008 ... Onward to 2009!

SOMEWHAT FRANK 2008 In Review from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

I just wanted to take one more moment to look back at 2008 in pictures (above) as we look forward to more adventures in 2009. From DEMO08 to FOWA Miami to rockin' SXSW to TechCrunch50 and more, 2008 was super. Thanks to everyone that made 2008 so great (you know who you are). Happy New Year!

Video: Somewhat Frank Meets NonSociety

Yesterday, I was in New York City and got a chance to meet up with Meghan Asha, one of the co-founders of NonSociety, a new online media play that lifestreams niche verticals (fashion, style and tech). NonSociety is a group venture with Julia Allison and Kate Rambin.

We took a walk in the park and got to chatting about startups, technology, electric cars, pets and even encountered a rather distracting making out session. Check out video episode 46 on SOMEWHAT FRANK with Meghan Asha (below).

SOMEWHAT FRANK Meets NonSociety's Meghan Asha from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

Video: AOL Radio iPhone App & Listen Anywhere

The Apple iPhone application was opened last week and AOL launched the AOL Radio application. The application is free and worth giving a try and a listen. It allows users to connect to both XM and local radio stations. It even is able to connect users with popular stations in larger markets. For example, I might want to listen to a popular Chicago station sports talk radio station like AM 670 the Score while in Washington, DC and AOL makes this possible.

I gave it a try and was shocked at the utility. I also now understand why the AOL Radio application was awarded by Apple for its superior design. I demonstrate some of the value the AOL Radio application adds to the iPhone as episode 33 of the SOMEWHAT FRANK TV video podcast.

Join Me On Jonny's Par-Tay

JOIN ME ON JONNY'S PAR-TAY!

I will be talking about startups, Web 2.0, social media, SOMEWHAT FRANK and TECH cocktail on the video show, Jonny’s Par-tay on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 9pm EST. The show is hosted live by DC TECH cocktailers Scott Stead and Jonny Goldstein so tune in. Here are the details:

What: A rollicking conversation with Jonny Goldstein, Scott Stead, and you! You get to interact with everyone else via live text chat.

When: Wednesday, June 18, 9-10PM EST

Where: jonnyspartay.com

Be a part of the live conversation as we talk about TECH cocktail, technology startups and more. It should be a lot of fun!

Video: Threadlemanss & TECH cocktail RACING

Saturday... Saturday ... Saturday! Start your engines as Threadless.com, a Chicago-based skinnyCorp operated company, will be hosting a Pine Wood Derby race called the THREADLEMANSS. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to get SOMEWHAT FRANK car ready for the race but I did get my friend Carlos Pero, whose son was undefeated this year in the Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby, to lead the TECH cocktail RACING effort which is powered by coloring.com.

Carlos is featured this week on episode 25 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV as he previews the TECH cocktail car and shares some Pine Wood Derby knowledge. Thank you Carlos for your help. You can cheer on the TECH cocktail car this Saturday, May 17, 2008 as Threadless will be streaming the derby live.

Video: TECH cocktail DC 2 Community Builder

TECH cocktail DC 2 the community builder event that took place last Thursday evening in Washington, D.C. showcased six startups from the local area. The event united over four hundred guests for an evening of tech conversations and fun.

This is the last event before the upcoming TECH cocktail CONFERENCE which will unite all the various TECH cocktail cities for a full day conference in Chicago on May 29th. The list of speakers is pretty amazing and the focus of the conference is to help anyone in business to take a more "no nonsense" approach by leveraging technology and the Web (i.e. running a "real" business rather than one setup to simply attract as many users as possible with no real monetization strategy in mind).

Video: A Look Inside Lijit Networks

You have probably seen the Lijit search widget on a number of sites around the Web. It has been the search option for SOMEWHAT FRANK and TECH cocktail for sometime as it offers some great site search analytics in a manageable and easy to digest format. I even get a weekly statistics email from Lijit keeping me updated as to how search is performing every week and what people are searching for.

When I visited Boulder, Colorado back in March 2008 for our first TECH cocktail Boulder I got a chance to visit the Lijit Networks headquarters and I captured it on video. Thanks to Tara "Tarable" Anderson for the impromptu guided tour and for turning me into a Lijit search widget (as shown to the right).

Video: Sharing The JoyEngine Community Story

I was walking down the street in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month and was intrigued by a storefront symbol. I looked into the storefront windows and my eyes were met with colorful graffiti-like artwork, handmade toys and lots of tees. I had bumped into JoyEngine.

JoyEngine is a brand created by the boutique design firm cypher13 and offers a place for artists and designers to unite and share their work. The JoyEngine store doubles as an art gallery for local artists and toymakers. JoyEngine also has its own line of apparel. At JoyEngine, cypher13 promotes and sells artwork created by the cypher13 team, other local artists, and provides access to ultra-limited designer art toys, offers apparel by independent designers, and supplies the local street art scene with spraypaint, paint markers, and other art supplies. Online JoyEngine offers an blogging community for designers and artists where they can exchange ideas and showcase their work. They also offers some cool artist desktop backgrounds for download.

Video: IsraelWebTour 2008 Showcases NuConomy, Sportingo, ClickTale, Delver & 5min

Thanks to the California Israel Chamber of Commerce, Silicon Valley played host to 15 Israeli companies February 4-7 2008 as part of a week long road show called the IsraelWebTour.

I was able to catch a few hours of the tour at a couple different points throughout the week. I also capture some of it on video. The following companies presented at the morning session at the IsraelWeb Tour this past Wednesday in Mountain View, California:

NuConomy - metrics package for measuring engagement/attention
Sportingo - sports fan community and media site
ClickTale - analytics package that show website owners movies of browsing sessions
delver - social connections search engine
5min.com - how to video platform

Get a peak at each of their products...

Video: BlogTV Now Streams To Mobile

BlogTV, the personalized online TV platform which I use for streaming live split-screen video interviews, has just made it possible to watch all those videos from your mobile phone while on the go. Now with BlogTV offers all its live streams for free, without any installation of software for all major mobile carriers. But they are still waiting on the iPhone to be able to play these types of videos. 

Magnify.net Video & Vlog Platform In A Box

Magnify.net, a New York-based startup, offers a platform that makes it easy to add video to any web site. The Magnify video platform lets users build a custom channel, deliver the traffic and keep the page views. Magnify acts as the backbone and eliminates the need for a site owner to reinvent the video hosting wheel while creating a social media site. Magnify also enables users to monetize via their own ad calls. Thus Magnify could be a perfect fit for someone looking for a simple way to add a video channel to a their site.

A Video Tribute To Internet People

There have been many people that have become "Internet famous" thanks to the shift to the user contributed content of Web 2.0. Thanks to the animation of Dan Meth, on his ChannelFrederator series The Meth Minute 39, we now can enjoy a tribute to all those viral video stars of the past couple of years.

Fonts Dance In Adobe Flash Video

Have you ever seen fonts dance like this? To the sound of Obadiah Parker's covering Outkast's "Hey Ya!", Brian Shaler leveraged Adobe Flash typography animation technology to create this video that make fonts dance.

Social Bookmarking Explained

Social Bookmarking is a common Web 2.0 term as there are lots of sites offering great products available. However, not everyone is riding the Web 2.0 express train and staying up on all the lingo and ideas. Therefore, many people may not know what "social bookmarking" means. Common Craft has created a video (below) that explains Social Bookmarking in Plain English.