How many unfinished posts do you have in your draft folder? Or, better yet, how many ideas do you have that you are hoping to get to one day.

Well if you’re anything like me, a post is much more than simply sitting down, typing, linking, adding tags and then clicking the post button. And, this is an example of one such post.

Enter tumblelogs.

According to Wikipedia, “A tumblelog is a variation of a blog, that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging. Common post formats found on tumblelogs include links, photos, quotes, dialogues, and video. Unlike blogs, this format is frequently used to share the author’s creations, discoveries, or experiences without providing a commentary.”

After reading Josh Lowensohn’s post on Tumblr, I was motivated to give it a shot. Why, because I tend to write articles rather than posts, yet every now and then, I come across interesting facts, notable advice, intriguing videos, and incredible pictures. The PR2.0 blog usually isn’t the spot for it and well, most of the time they’re not very bub.blicio.us, so running an experiment on Tumblr is a worthy experiment.

Per the company site, “Tumblr is your friendly and free tool for creating tumblelogs.”

On one side of the scale, you have blogging platforms such as WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad. On the extreme opposite you have flow apps (credit: Stowe Boyd) aka microblogs such as Twitter and Jaiku. Somewhere in the middle are tumblelogs and Tumblr fits right in.

The one thing that is most pervasive, now more than ever, is that there are far too many compelling applications and tools competing for our attention. Tumblr and flow apps definitely appeal to the A.D.D. in all of us.

Tumblr, subscribes to the less is more philosophy and provides various forms of posting options including word posts, photos, videos, quotes, URLs, and IM conversations. Have something quick you want to say or share? Then tumbleblogs are the quick and easy way to go. It has all of the reach of standard blogs, with less of the physical and mental overhead.

Depending on your post content, Tumblr presents the information specific to the media type. For example, video is placed in a YouTube style, conversations resemble an IM window, Quotes are large, etc.

There’s also a helpful toolbar link that you can drag up to your bookmarks, “Share on Tumblr.” It automatically assesses the page you’re on and offers up a suggested post type in a separate window for on-the-spot publishing to your tumblelog.

For those more sophisticated users, you can acquire your own domain. For example, if these tests succeed, then I’ll most likely set it up as www.briansolis.com/tumble. The cool thing is that it also allows the integration of existing CSS stylesheets so that the look and feel of the blog will be consistent throughout both – even though they’re hosted by two separate services.

At next week’s Web 2.0 Expo, I will live blog the event using a combination of Tumblr, Flickr, and Twitter. I will use Jaiku to represent the concerted flow from all forms of media from the event. Subscribe to the feed here.

For more detail on the subject, read a great post by Gina Trapani, “Geek to Live: Instant, no-overhead blog with Tumblr.”

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid also has a post on the subject, “Tumblr Making Blogging Easy.”

Add to: | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

I just read over on Techmeme that Microsoft PR may be digging itself deeper into another potential PR fiasco. There is a blogstorm out there with dozens of bloggers, myself included, casting opinions. Many of which I don’t necessarily agree with. I had to find out for myself, so I contacted several of the privileged bloggers who already have the notebook as well as other PR leaders to discuss the topic.

Welcome to Crisis Communications 2.0.

Microsoft’s intention was right on target. Their PR thinking, on the other hand, was slightly off target, with a few key elements overlooked or underestimated.

What’s most important here is that the Microsoft empire gave a nod to the blogosphere and proactively embraced it to help launch an important product. While some are calling it a bribe, I like to think of it as recognizing the ability to reach and interact with your community of customers. It is social media marketing in its purest sense, but as any marketing campaign goes, it’s all in how you aim and pull the trigger.

One way to approach this would be to:

1. Identify a group of highly influential bloggers, some of which use Macbooks, but also hit Windows enthusiasts and open skeptics
2. Send them an ultra-fast PC running the new Windows Vista OS
3. Say something in the package that says “Happy Holidays” and “send it back, give it away, or use it as a review platform” so you’re not implying that you’re trying to buy them off (unless you believe in Guy Kawasaki’s take on bribing bloggers to get coverage)
4. Have all communication come from Microsoft and not PR – recognizing them for status and requesting an honest review – providing a publishable statement for the posts
5. Revisit step number 1 and ensure that big guys and little guys in the 2.0 and PC blogosphere are represented
6. Request full disclosure to protect the blogger’s status with their audience

How they launched it:
1. Microsoft’s PR Agency, Edelman, may have neglected to analyze the fallout from the Wal-mart flogs and predict how bloggers (in and around) this campaign may react. UPDATE: Word is that Steve Rubel was behind this and the idea may have stemmed from Microsoft’s recent meet and greet with bloggers.
2. Selected a group of high traffic bloggers that live in the web 2.0 world and who may or may not understand the significance of Microsoft Vista in the Windows world. UPDATE: Some say they really have no idea how to even review Microsoft Vista. Many speculate that Edelman simply wanted controversy.
3. Sent the email from Edelman and not Microsoft, while others received emails from Microsoft directly. UPDATE: Depending on the caliber of blogger, there are upwards of 3-4 varying emails from Edelman and Microsoft all with different messages and approaches.
4. Incited negative posts from bloggers who felt either alienated or jealous because they didn’t receive a $3,000 notebook
5. Sent an Acer Ferrari, which isn’t the fasted notebook on the market, but it sure is the flashiest. Keep in mind that most bloggers adorn their Macbooks with stickers from their favorite sites. I’m not sure Sony would have played along here, so I will at least send Kudos over to Acer and AMD for playing ball. UPDATE: There are reports of three different types of notebooks circulating, ranging from Acer to an no-name whitebox.
6. Sent a series of emails after a few not-so-kind posts which is coming across as backpedaling
7. Most importantly, may not have asked bloggers to disclose their intentions so it was perceived more of a reward for influence as opposed to a bribe. UPDATE: After speaking with several recipients of the infamous notebook, they’re were told that it was “a holiday gift” with “no strings attached” and were not offered options of giving it away or returning it after the review was completed.

What they did right:
1. To their credit they are giving bloggers a choice to keep it, give it away, or return it. UPDATE: I guess only certain bloggers received this option and it arrived after the notebook.
2. Ensured that they represented the full spectrum of A,B and C list influentials
3. Recognized that the blogophere is influential – according to Hugh MacLeod at gapingvoid.com, “a well-executed blogging campaign is an act of love.”

While many likened it to a blatant payperpost campaign, others were open minded. One of the biggest fallouts, may have been unforeseen by Mircosoft’s PR. Many bloggers dedicated entire posts to defend their standing, ethics, and perspective among their readers why any post on Vista or the Ferrari should be read as genuine and not influenced by a lavish reward.

It’s all about disclosure and less about relying on the intelligence of the reader to make a decision in your favor. Disclosure in this case, should run from Microsoft to bloggers and from bloggers to their audience. Calling it a gift was wrong and disrespectful. As bloggers, our word, credibility, and reputation are our greatest assets.

Here’s a summary of what’s going on out there:

Michael ="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.crunchnotes.com/?p=331">Arrington likes it – “Frankly, I’m pretty impressed, and I’m a hard core Mac guy.”

Marshall Kirkpatrick is not so impressed – “Microsoft and AMD sent out a pile of very expensive (yet trashy looking) laptops to a number of bloggers over the past week. I almost smashed mine in the middle of the street 10 minutes into trying to use it!”

Robert Scoble first called it “Pay Per Post” but now thinks the move is brilliant – “Is sending out laptops ethical? Of course! Their job is to get the product and company they represent in front of as many influentials as possible.”

Scott Beale is open-minded – “I’ll report back later on once I’ve had a chance to setup the laptop, configure Windows Vista and play around with a it a bit.”

Brandon LeBlanc at first didn’t disclose where he received the notebook, later posted – “I’m sorry if this donated laptop makes my readers think any less of me and my posting and objectivity.”

Barb Bowman loved it – “I’m convinced I have the coolest and fastest laptop on the planet.”

Mitch Denny humbly defended his ethics and credibility stating the Microsoft’s move here was less of an attempt to bribe, and more of a strategic ploy to move the dial – “Ironically I posted up this piece the day before the laptop arrived about marketeers earning mindshare rather than buying it”

Traditional media balked at this approach citing that Microsoft crossed the line as it bribes bloggers with Vista notebooks. Journalist Dan Warne quoted, “Microsoft isn’t a computer company! It’s a bit like the owner of a motorway giving journalists free cars.” John Pospisil stated, “In the ten years I’ve been writing about computers this is the first time I’ve heard of this kind of PR give away on this level.”

My opinion on the last set of quotes…the market is nothing like it was 10 years ago. But just for reference here, back in 1999, I represented a company that made a software OS for digital cameras. It was way ahead of its time, so we actually sent out cameras that could run the OS and aftermarket software and sent them to traditional reporters and online enthusiasts (before they were called bloggers) so that they could review the software in a self-contained review environment. It was far from bribery and more often called brilliant, as it actually landed a 100% review rate with all recipients. Without the review kit, we would have been lucky to hit 25% – if that.

Now, back to Microsoft. I’ve included a few of the emails from Microsoft PR for your reference…

Here’s the intro email:

“Michael,

I’m working on getting some review PCs out to community bloggers, and wanted to include you. I’d love to send you a loaded Ferrari 1000 courtesy of Windows Vista and AMD. Are you interested?

This would be a review machine, so I’d love to hear your opinion on the machine and OS. Full disclosure, while I hope you will blog about your experience with the pc, you don’t have to. Also, you are welcome to send the machine back to us after you are done playing with it, or you can give it away to your community, or you can hold onto it for as long as you’d like. Just let me know what you plan to do with it when the time comes. And if you run into any problems let me know. A few of the drivers aren’t quite final, but are very close.

If you are game, would you send me your address and phone? I’m going to send this out next week, so if you will be travelling on the 22nd let me know where you’ll be, and I’ll send it there.”

Here’s the email clarifying its intent after a few bloggers posted stories on the subject:

“Marshall,

No good deed goes unpunished, right? You may have seen that other bloggers got review machines as well. Some of that coverage was not factual. As you write your review I just wanted to emphasize that this is a review pc. I strongly recommend you disclose that we sent you this machine for review, and I hope you give your honest opinions. Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding of our intentions I’m going to ask that you either give the pc away or send it back when you no longer need it for product reviews.

Thanks for your understanding, and happy reviewing.”

Please vote for this story at NewPR.

Scott Beale, primary tentacle at Laughing Squid, will fuse tech, culture and community tonight at the highly anticipated Laughing Squid: Decade 2 at Mighty in SF. There will be three main areas, the big room inside, a smaller side room (chill lounge area) and the outside area.

This is a must-attend event.

Master of Ceremonies:
mikl-em

Performances by:
- Mr. Lucky & The Cocktail Party featuring Ralph Carney

- Twilight Vixen Revue with special guest Anita Cocktail

- $25,000 Pyramid Scheme Game Show by RICK! and David Calkins

- Freakotronic

DJ’s
- DJ Big Daddy

- DJ tOaD & DJ timmmii

- DJ Justin Credible

Slide Show:
- Inside Mighty there will be a slide show projection featuring 1300 of Laughing Squid primary tentacle Scott Beale’s photos from the last few years.

Art Cars:
- Oh My God! by Harrod Blank

- VainVan & MondrianMobile by Emily & Ken Duffy

- Flivver by Joy Johnston

- Drala Dragon Wagon by Bruman Bjerke

- Eartha Karr by Blake More

- Grooovalicious Purple Princess of Peace by Avril Hughes

- Legojeep by Kevin Mathieu

Also Outside:
- Lights by Coil

- Neverwas Runabout

- Fire Cannon by Jon Sarriugarte

- Mars Rover, R2D2, Chapok, The Andoroid’s Bartender by David Calkins (RoboGames) and Simone Davalos (Suicide Bots)

- Photoboof by Wrybread

- BuddaHCookieS by Gaspo

- The Popcorn Guys

- Cyclecide is bringing and assortment of bikes to ride

- The Doggie Diner Dog Heads of The Holy Trinity of the Dogminican Order

Safety services donated by Mutual Aid Response Services (MARS)

The event tag is: laughingsquid11

Tags: scottbeale scott+beale laughingsquid laughingsquid11 mighty sf sanfrancisco events photos Potrero Hill Laughing Squid Brian McCarty robots Harrod Blank Ralph Carney Doggie Diner posters fire David Calkins Simone Davalos mikl-em Mighty slide show Big Daddy Freakotronic Twilight Vixen Revue Anita Cocktail Mr. Lucky The Party DJ tOaD timmmii Justin Credible BuddaHCookieS Gaspo Photoboof popcorn kettle corn Neverwas Runabout Mars Rover Laughing+Squid

Organized by Joel Sacks, CNET and Marketing Strategist at BuzzShout, and Myles Weissleder, SF NewTech Meetup celebrated yet another new milestone of over 600 members.

The November SF NewTech seemed to come up pretty quickly this time. And, it rained again (October’s event greeted us with rain as well) – let’s hope this isn’t a pattern!

As usual Myles kicked things off to what had to be the largest turnout yet. The event attracted the usual faces, with some new additions as well, including CEOs, founders, VCs, programmers, bloggers, and a reporter (Rafe Needleman of course.) Quick tangent here, I think it’s very cool that Rafe takes the time to stay tapped into the community.

The only thing that I would like to see improved for the next meetup is the removal of all PowerPoint decks. Demos are cool and. I’m there to see new tech. Slides are boring and very 1.0.

First up…iStumbler.com

Alf Watt, iStumbler.com

Myles described it in advance, “Alf is one of my oldest friends in San Francisco. He has been working on his revolutionary wireless discovery tool for Mac for a long time and he’s excited to share it with us. It’s called iStumbler and it’s pretty damn cool.

iStumbler is a wireless discovery tool for Mac OS X, providing plugins for finding AirPort networks, Bluetooth devices and Bonjour services with your Mac.

—-

Bart Myers, GUBA, the grand daddy of online video

Sort of a cross between Bittorrent and YouTube, GUBA is an online entertainment destination where users can browse, download, share and buy user-generated content, as well as hundreds of movies and TV shows. Their site advertises movies for $0.99 and TV shows for $0.49.

Using, GUBA, GUB’ers (just made that up) can download content to their PC, iPod, PSP, and other portable devices. Users can watch videos in Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media formats, and can stream videos in their home network using Windows Media Center and Apple’s Front Row technology.

Founded in 1998, GUBA is privately held company and headquartered in San Francisco.
When asked, Why GUBA, Myers replied, “We’re cooler. It’s not just a place to get a movie, it’s a place to find entrainment and watch it, when you want to, how you want to.”

—

Veronica Belmont, Molly Wood, CNET TV

CNET TV is striving to become a popular destination wit its unique design and personalization features, which includes a virtual remote control, a “draggable” interface so users can move things around, full-screen playback, playlists, and customizable channels and backgrounds. With more than 30 original videos produced each week and a library of thousands of videos,

CNET TV gives people a single destination to easily find the latest videos on their favorite technology products and topics. Video features include the Buzz Report, Car Tech, Insider Secrets, Prize Fight and First Look from the Lab that help consumers figure out what gadgets to buy and how to get the most out them.

It also makes a selection of the site’s popular video content available for distribution on television.

—-

Mital Poddar, Swapthing.com

Based in Cupertino, SwapThing enables the swapping (trade and barter) of any combination of items and services between consumers and small businesses, as well as direct purchases. SwapThing is swap-based, as opposed to auction-based, allowing completely private, one-on-one negotiations. SwapThing offers free registration and listing for items, with a low transaction fee of $1.00 for each exchange of goods.

The company also introduced SwapServices, which allows small businesses, service providers, and independent professionals to advertise their business, swap services, and save money.Mital also mentioned that the company’s Swapcircles equals its secret sauce.

a SwapCircle is a community of individuals who identify with a particular activity, locality or other commonality. SwapCircles provide a new way to swap goods and services amongst trusted swappers with similar hobbies or interests. SwapCircles are customizable with a group’s logo and mission, as well as displaying the items listed by the members under one umbrella, and also provide a private forum for members to talk, swap, and share ideas and stories.Currently, there are over 50,000 swappers using SwapThing, and over 3,000,000 items and services listed.
When asked about the biggest swap she knew about, Poddar replied, “A Maserati for two jet skis!”

—-

Joost shreve, Everytrail.com

A last minute addition to the line-up, Everytrail.com was created by a small group of passionate travel and outdoor enthusiasts, out of dissatisfaction with current solutions to share trips with friends and likeminded people.

EveryTrail is an online platform that enables hikers and adventurers to visualize their travel and outdoor activities and even share them with likeminded people all over the world. Users can easily upload GPS data recorded while out on the trail and even add photos and notes, to create a visual record of their outdoor activity.

I see this for having huge opportunities not just for hikes, but also boating (throughout the delta for example. What a way to chart a course, without having to buy an expensive chartplotter. Of course, mountain bikers, skiers, snowboarders, kayakers, etc. can benefit from this technology as well.

The service just needs the ability to provide a printed map service, which according to Joost, are on the way.

—

Vic Podcaster, Joanne Wan, and Ben Wan

James Yu of BuzzShout

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid and Vic Podcaster of HotfromSiliconValley

In the shot, Stowe Boyd, Rafe Needleman, Niall Kennedy

For additional pictures, jump over to flickr.

This month’s event was sponsored byFutureWorks PR for emerging companies (Andrew Lane Wines)

Jacobs & Ferraro, LLP Tech-focused legal firm (beer and snacks.)

The Forbin Group Infrastructure design solutions for business (pizza) Joel Sacks and CNET for the space!

Tags: everytrail sf newtech meetup scott+beale scottbeale niallkennedy niall+kennedy vic+podcaster vicpodcaster hotfromsiliconvalley cnet rafeneedleman rafe+needleman stoweboyd stowe+boyd ben+wan benwan joannewan joanne+wan swapthing istumbler futureworks cnettv cnet+tv guba buzzshout joel+sacks james+yu veronica+belmont

Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid .

Last night I attended the del.icio.us birthday bash at the monstrous Yahoo headquarters, and yes, it was quite delicious! This was very different from previous events I have gone to in that it was bigger, more relaxed and there was tons of delicious food! Sorry, I’ll try to use a different adjective for the rest of the article.

Joshua Schachter, Photo Credit: Jeremiah Owyang

My colleague and I, Megan Saulsbury , had a fantastic time mingling and eating with a crowd of about 100 when we were there. I learned early on how to spot a Yahoo employee by their telltale hanging i.d. card. When I asked one Yahoo product manager, Vince Maniago, why he was at the bash, he admitted he was an avid del.icio.us user, but also, “I think people are here just to have fun.” And fun it was with beer, champagne, ribs and other scrumptious (see I can do it) barbeque goodies.

Chris Heuer, Photo Credit: Jeremiah Owyang

I heard the words web2.0 come up a few times in conversations (of course), but for the most part people just seemed to be there to make friends and chat; it was all very informal. I met one entrepreneur, Tawheed Kader, product manager at plaxo , who had just moved to Silicon Valley from New York and told me he was there simply to make friends (sound familiar).

Scott Beale and Kristie Wells, Photo Credit: Jeremiah Owyang

Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid .

Niall Kennedy, Ted Rheingold, Steven Reading Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid .

In previous blog posts , Brian Solis described the rapidly emerging series of tech events and parties as positive signs of the “rebirth and renewal of Silicon Valley spirit and entrepreneurship,” and I felt that this event was definitely a contributor to that assessment. He also wrote a piece recently regarding Social Bookmarking and its effects on PR.

Nick Douglas, Chris Heuer, Stewart Butterfield Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid .

Megan Saulsbury of FutureWorks

While it is certainly not a monthly occurrence, it did have that “come together” feel to it, and people could discuss new tech, web2.0, their startup or company, find new opportunities, etc. People were given the freedom to roam, network, and eat, brag, gossip, and that they did.

Happy Birthday del.icio.us !!!

For more pictures, jump over to the Flickr photo stream.Feel free to keep us up to date with upcoming events you’re attending or planning. Contact me at mailto:alison@future-works.com

add to del.icio.us

Tags: web2.0, delicious, web+2.0, yahoo, futureworks, flickr, stewart+butterfield, nick+douglas, valleywag, chris+heuer, Jeremiah+Owyang, joshua+schachter, scott+beale, laughingsquid, Ted+Rheingold, dogster

Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

For the story, jump over to Laughing Squid.

“The founders of Digg just launched their new video content company Revision3 tonight, with a massive party at Mighty in San Francisco. Special guests from Tiki Bar TV , Ask A Ninja , French Maid TV and many others flew in just for the occasion. ”

Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Tags: digg, tikibartv askaninja, frenchmaidtv, kevin+rose, laughingsquid, scott+beale

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/sets/72157594301673901/

This was STIRR ’s sixth event and there was no doubt that it was the biggest to date. In fact they had to move from Blue Chalk in Palo Alto to The Whisper Lounge in SF in order to accomodate the growth. In discussions with Sean Ness and Joanne Wan, estimates were easily placed at about 225.

225…? Kudos STIRR team!

STIRR is an effective mix of “live” social and business networking among a highly qualified crowd of tech innovators, Web 2.0 execs, entrepreneurs, VCs, bloggers, and journalists.

The STIRR team:
Sanford Barr, Co-Founder STIRR, The STIRR Network
Sean Ness, Co-Founder STIRR, Institute for the Future
Dan Arkind, Co-Founder STIRR, Indico Group
Joanne Wan, STIRR Business Development, Strategic Decisions Group

So excuse the gushing intro here, but STIRR among other events, including the Silicon Valley and SF NewTech Meetups, are by far a blinding beacon for the new economy (albeit painfully humbled,) which is quickly gaining traction among those helping in the Valley’s resuscitation.

According to my friend “Skeptic” from Dead 2.0 , I’m the softball when covering these events. That’s cool. I know I’m an optimist when it comes to seeking a resurgence in, not only the technology sector, but also inflating the enthusiasm and spirit in Silicon Valley in general. I mean, really, how long do we have to continue to bow before the almighty dollar before we figure out how to transform it into some fortuitous multiple that pulls us out of our nuclear shelters for good!

Throughout the evening, I held countless discussions with attendees commenting how the latest series of TechCrunch parties were really getting too big to effectively “network.”

STIRR’s Joanne Wan commented, “STIRR helps everyone keep a pulse on the market and encourages them to talk and explore opportunities to work together.”

TechCrunch and Michael Arrington are in a different league however – not necessarily better, just different. To attend a TechCrunch party is more like going to a concert and getting to hang out back stage. While the TechCrunch parties didn’t necessarily start that way, they’ve simply evolved into monstrous, glamorous affairs, but they do not take away one bit of STIRR’s relevance. It’s all about the rising tide. Everyone floats up together, just in different ships.

STIRR, after all, is much more than a forum to cover Web 2.0 applications, this is a monthy spotlight on the rebirth of Silicon Valley.

Onward to the “original” 60-second spot…

In an interesting change of format, CNET ‘s Rafe Needleman was the guest interviewer at this Founder’s Mixer, and, he seemed right at home. As one of the principal journalists covering Web 2.0, it truly elevated the segment.

While the infamous staircase continued to serve as the stage for the presenters, the enthusiastic crowd somewhat stymied the trademark 60-second spot. It was excruciatingly difficult to focus, but to the credit of the presenters, they let it roll. Especially Rafe, who seemed to successfully take it all in stride.

The Presenters

So, let’s just excuse those in the audience that brought their virtual megaphones and have them check those at the door for 1.7.

The Presentations…

30boxes , Narendra Rocherolle, Principal

I covered 30 Boxes in my wrap-up of the August Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup.

30 days 30 boxes. An online calendar that lets you organize your life and connect with friends. 30 Boxes is brought to you by the minds of Eighty-Three Degrees , Inc.

Eighty-Three Degrees is a small software firm exploring online consumer applications with an eye for improving the user experience, eliminating complexity, and making use of increasingly open systems.

ClickFacts , Michael Caruso, CEO

ClickFacts, Inc. develops auditing software for Internet advertising. They deploy proprietary technology that helps publishers and advertisers detect and prevent click fraud and define a TrueROI. I loved the live demonstration of throwing money away. It was, for a split second, a reminder of Web 1.0 business practices.

DevjaVu , Jeff Lindsay, Founder

DevjaVu is a small startup in San Jose, California with the purpose of encouraging people to start projects that might change the world. Their goal is to lower the barrier to entry that comes with the idea of starting a new software project by making it as easy as possible to jump right in and focus on making it happen.

DevjaVu is a great fit for both open source projects and private internal projects. They hope to be the next place you go after registering the domain for your next software project, big or small.

Tariq Krim, CEO & Founder Netvibes

Netvibes.com is a startup company created in 2005. Based in Paris, the company “specializes” in Web 2.0 applications. Netvibes is a custom home page solution, which is free and basically gives the user the ability to create a personalized page with the content they like. The can put together data feeds and services with a very simple interface with access anytime and from any computer.

Users can browse, modify, and import RSS feeds with an integrated RSS/ATOM feedreader. They can also import, download and listen to podcasts without any additional software and can even check their gmail account and stick-on web notes.

SpyMedia , Bryan Quinn, President

I covered them in a recent post following their presentation at the Silicon Valley Newtech Meetup earlier in the month.

SpyMedia is a privately funded company that offers an online market for photos, where a buyer can set a price for a photo they want someone to shoot — and sellers can set prices for the photo they want to sell. It is ideal for amateur and even professional event and news photographers, as well as citizen and cellphone journalists.

ZapTix , Christian Perry, CEO

Small venues and event organizers use ZapTix to sell their tickets online. Founded in May 2005 by Christian Perry, ZapTix empowers performance groups, organizations, companies, conventions, and individuals to sell tickets and organize events online.

It was started with $12,000 and has already earned net proceeds of $35,000.

Back to the action…

I mentioned to Sean Ness that the quality of the crowd seemed to actually improve with each event, and he responded, “It’s all about ‘initiation only.’ This way we can control the caliber of attendees and keep them relevant and conducive to more effective and meaningful connections. It’s our way of maintaining a highly qualified audience. While other events peak and lose their core audience because of a proliferation of various attendees, STIRR focuses on the attendees that matter.”

Joanne Wan and Dan Arkind – Photo Credit: FngKestrel

While trying to make my way around the room, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with several stand-out entrepreneurs, execs, and media, all of whom I believe are “people to watch” or already making a difference:

My man Stowe Boyd, goes without saying… Message
Marc Canter
Jessica Hardwick, CEO of SwapThing
Priya Ganapati, journalist at Red Herring
Ryan Olson, journalist at Red Herring
Laurence Toney, VP Marketplace Operations, art.com
Greg Narain, CEO at Social Roots
Ranvir Gujral, CEO of InsightPath
Todd Parsons, EVP Products & Services, BuzzLogic, Inc.
Vic Podcaster ( blog ), Blogger and Founder, HotFromSiliconValley
Scott Beale ( blog ), primary tentacle, Laughing Squid
Lawrence Coburn ( blog ), founder, rateitall, inc.
Julie Davidson, Principal, 30 Boxes
Mital Poddar, VP Marketing, SwapThing
Neil Kumar, Software Engineer, Yelp
Kevin Burton, Founder/CEO, Tailrank
Peter Pham, Sr. Director, Business Development, Photobucket
Joe Hurd, VP, Business Development, VideoEgg, Inc.
Jennifer Wasson, Co-Founder, Track50
Ivaylo Lenkov, CEO, SiteKreator
Khalid Shaikh, Founder & CTO, YouSendIt
Jesse Friedman, CMO, ZapTix
Shannon Clark, Founder, President, MeshForum and JigZaw

Sanford Barr

The size of the crowd, combined with the meaningful conversations I was engaged in limited my ability to connect with everyone. Those I tried to connect with, but was held back due to uncontrollable obstacles included:
Matt Marshall, VentureBeat
Jeremy Pepper ( blog ), Group Manager, Weber Shandwick
Emily Chang, Co-Founder, Ideacodes
Ethan Prater, VP Products, Jigsaw
Brian Oberkirch, Social Media Consultant, Social Media Consulting
Thor Muller, Managing Director, Rubyred Labs
Brian Sullivan, Founder, CivicEvolution (Well we met at SF NewTech)
James Hong, cofounder, HOTorNOT
Rohit Khare, Director, CommerceNet
Beatrice Tarka, CEO, co-founder, Mobissimo
Alex Vikati, Co-Founder, CastTV
Lee Diamond, Associate, Silicon Valley Bank
Dan Arkind, Co-Founder STIRR, Indico Group
Daniela Barbosa, information consultant, factiva
Lanet Khoda, Partner, LANETWORKS

Ness and friends

Interesting highlights:

Ranvir Gujral, CEO of InsightPath mentioned that they’re almost ready to go into alpha. I’ll learn more this coming week.

Vic from HotfromSiliconValley announced that he will host the podcamp west unconference in November.

Jessica Hardwick, CEO of SwapThing is rolling out a new “localized” version of the online trading service.

Khalid Shaikh, Founder & CTO, YouSendIt mentioned that after being in business for three years, with 37’ish employees, the company officially launched on the 12th.

Todd Parsons, EVP Products & Services, BuzzLogic, Inc. mentioned that the “buzz” around the company is quickly ramping up. I’m looking forward to a demo.

Stowe Boyd gave me the breakdown on the Future of Web Apps conference.

At the end of the night, I was talking with Jennifer Wasson, Co-Founder, Track50 and Jesse Friedman, CMO, ZapTix about a potential alliance between the two companies. It actually was an ideal match, track your favorite bands with Track50 and then buy the tickets when they come into town through ZapTix.

Khalid Shaikh, Joe Hurd, Jennifer Wasson, Jesse Friedman

I am taken aback just thinking about 1.7. Honestly, STIRR instantly outgrew the Whisper Lounge, so I’m eager to see what the October event holds for us. Either way, I’m looking forward to it.

If you know of any potential deals or alliances forged, have any additional information, highlights, etc., please send them along or leave a comment. Also, if we didn’t get a chance to meet, please send me an email at pr2point0@gmail.com .

Links: For pictures from the event, click here to jump to the Flickr photo stream.

Digg This!

Tags: STIRR , 30boxes , , Clickfacts , Michael Caruso , devjavu , Jeff Lindsay , netvibes , Tariq Krim , spymedia , Bryan Quinn , Zaptix , Christian Perry , Stowe Boyd , Jessica Hardwick , Swapthing , Priya Ganapati , Red Herring , Ryan Olson , Laurence Tony , Art.com , Greg Narain , Social Roots , Rafe Needleman , CNET , Ranvir Gujral , InsightPath , Todd Parsons , Buzzlogic , Vic Podcaster , hotfromsiliconvalley , Scott Beale , laughing squid , Lawrence coburn , rateitall , Julie davidson , neil kumar , yelp , kevin burton , tailrank , peter pham , Photobucket , jue hurd , videoegg , jennifer wasson , track50 , sitekreator , Khalid shaikh , yousendit , Shannon clark , meshforum , jigzaw , matt marshall , venturebeat , Jeremy pepper , Emily chang , ideacodes , ethan prater , brian oberkirch , marc canter , thor muller , rubyred labs , brian sullivan , civicevolution , james hong , hotornot , rohit khare , commercenet , Beatrice tarka , mobissimo , alex vikati , casttv , lee diamond , siliconvalleybank , dan arkind , inidco group , Michael arrington , techcrunch , Daniela barbosa , factiva , futureworks , Sanford barr , sean ness , brian solis , web2.0 , web 2.0 , briansolis , vc , venture captial , newtech , meetup

Yesterday, I attended the Lunch 2.0 event at Hitachi Data Systems in Santa Clara (Isn’t everything better with “2.0” after it?).

Jeremiah Owyang organized and hosted the event and credit also goes out to Mark Jen for starting the Lunch 2.0 event series.

Your host, Jeremiah Owyang – Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Similar to STIRR and the SV and SF NewTech Meetups, the concept is really about bringing together the people behind the new “Silicon Valley” economy to network, see some cool tech demos and enjoy lunch – 2.0 style. Over 200 attendees ranged from entrepreneurs, CxO’s, programmers, bloggers, podcasters, vloggers, and curious tech folks from various companies.

10 companies showcased their tech as part of the “relaxed” Web Expo:
Topix.net
Box.net
Pandora
Plaxo
Podtech
Riya
SimplyHired
Zazzle
Zooomr
Zvents

Pandora – Photo credit: jeremiah_owyang

Owyang quoted, “I’ve got a few things to brag about, the entire event was spread via blogs and emails, and we didn’t spend any money on getting the word out. That’s social media/community marketing at work! Gotta love that.”

Scott Beale and Jeremy Pepper – Photo credit: jeremiah_owyang

Liz Gannes from Gigaom – Photo credit: jeremiah_owyang

Jeff Nolan, Gabe Rivera, and Robert Scoble – Photo Credit: podtech.net

Me – Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Scott Beale, Laughing Squid and Vic from HotFromSiliconValley – Photo Credit: b_d_solis

The Room – Photo Credit: b_d_solis

I was able to stay long enough to meet and catch up with some incredible people before I had to bolt to Downtown SJ for a meeting.

The list of people that you should know includes:
Gabe Rivera of TechMeme
Robert Scoble
Scott Beale of Laughing Squid
Jeff Nolan
Jen McClure of Society for New Communications Research
Jeremy Pepper of Weber Shandwick and Third Thursdays
Vic from HotfromSiliconValley

Kudos to Jeremiah Owyang . I would say that the event was more than a success, and yet another example of the excitement and enthusiasm that’s driving the new economy in Silicon Valley. I look forward to the next one!

Go to flickr for more pictures!

Vote at Netscape!

Tags: podtech, topix, box.net, pandora, plaxo, riya, simplyhired, zazzle, zoomr, zvents, gabe rivera, Robert scoble, jeff nolan, Jen McCluer, jeremiah owyang, liz gannes, gigaom, shel israel, siliconvalley, meetup, techmeme, Scott Beale, laughing squid, newtech, STIRR, brian solis, Jeremy pepper, futureworks, hotfromsiliconvalley,

Thank you to Scott Beale of Laughing Squid for the TechCrunch7 reference earlier…

From Laughing Squid: “Monkey Notions has made an excellent video about the Valleywag / TechCrunch Peace Accord using my photo of the now famous, less-than-enthusiastic handshake between Nick Douglas of Valleywag and Michael Arrington at the TechCrunch 7 Party.”

Quoting Brian Solis on Flickr:
TechCrunch7 Party $100,000
Open Bar $50,000
Picture of Mike and Nick shaking hands, Priceless…

Tags: nick douglas, valleywag, techcrunch, techcrunch7, laughing squid, scott beale