New Jersey Archive

When it comes to chocolate candybars, my top 3 are Twix, 3 Musketeers and M&Ms. As of late I’ve been hearing more and more about new Internet startups that are creating completely custom chocolate bars.

Earlier this month Peter from Web2NewYork interviewed Carmen Magar from German-based CreateMyChocolate which just launched in the U.S. I’ve also spoken with a stealth chocolate startup based in Switzerland that will also be launching soon.

NY-based Chocomize launched last December and also provides a custom chocolate bar service. The Chocomize service was started by 3 students at Columbia University.

The ordering process is very easy – you select the type of Belgian chocolate you want (dark, milk or white) and then select your toppings. Below you can see some of the candy toppings which include Nerds and PopRocks. They even have vegetarian bacon. There are about 100 toppings in the following categories: nuts, seeds, fruits, herbs/spices, candy and decorations.

Some of the other wacky toppings include potato chips, cayenne peppers, beef jerky, good and plenty and cinnamon.

In my creation testing, the bars ranged from $5-10 which is on par with buying a chocolate bar at the Times Square Hershey and M&M stores and a bit more expensive than buying a prepackaged candy bar. Chocomize currently only ships inside the U.S.

Chocomize looks perfect for corporate events and customer thank you gifts – especially if they would create smaller size options.

What would you customize a chocolate bar with? Leave your perfect chocolate bar in the comments.

Earlier tonight Aaron Price announced the launch of a new tech meetup based in Hoboken, New Jersey. For you NY’ers, that’s right across the river to the West of Manhattan and is accesible via the PATH subway system. The Hoboken Tech Meetup will take place monthly and the first meetup is scheduled for June 14th.

Five startups will demo their products and services at each Hoboken Tech Meetup. If you are interested in presenting, complete this interest form. Aaron has noted that the dates for the HTM won’t conflict with the New York Tech Meetup.

I’ve heard about a variety of startups working out of Hoboken. It’s great to see another venue for all of us to share our work!

Coworking seems to be heating up big time over the past 6-12 months.  Coworking takes many forms…and the number of locations for shared work space continues to rise. Here in NYC we have a variety of locations including New Work City, Philly has Independents Hall and San Francisco has Citizen Space. My good friend Till works at the coworking location in Berlin, Co.Up. We’ve covered many of the other coworking resources including the new NYU-Poly incubator in NYC.

Today I’ve learned about a new coworking location opening on April 1st in New Jersey. The space is named Converge NJ and will be located in Union. If you aren’t familiar with Union, it’s a bit west of Newark International Airport. A bus from Times Square to Union takes 45 minutes. For more details on Union, New Jersey — check out this map.

The website is currently accepting reservations and the pricing ranges from $20/month for 2 days a month through a full 24/7 access with lots of additional perks including a board seat for $400/month.

Here’s a list of some of the listed benefits of membership:

• Hi-Speed Internet Access
• Free use of Printer / Scanner / Fax
• Conference Room Access
• Special access to Members-Only Events
• Coffee / Tea / Beverages / Snacks
• Access to Converge’s Sponsorship Specials
• Access to the space during normal operating hours (9-5, Monday thru Friday except holidays) as well as freedom to use the space during off-hours, if available
• Potential access to Kean University students / partnerships

If you are interested in coworking in New Jersey and/or details about Converge NJ, there’s a meetup this Thursday which will discuss more of the specific details.

If you work at a coworking location, leave a comment with a brief review and link to the coworking location’s website.