tech meetup

Magnify.net has launched a new widget based on the new YouTube API today at the April NY Tech gathering named VidyUp. I've embedded the video demo below. The idea is to bring in sites who aren't interested in the full Magnify suite but rather want an entry ramp to get videos from site visitors onto their site.

You install the widget, users can then upload videos into YouTube and they appear on your site. It's pretty slick and I am guessing we will see more of these type of widgets coming from developers using the YouTube API in the near future. view the video »

Social content application generator Bricabox demo'ed their app tonight at the April NY Tech gathering. We've covered Bricabox a number of times before. The idea is to provide a set of pre-defined templates for sites like a cupcake finder, or a soccer shootout site. You can also start from scratch and build your own social content application. Whether it's video, images, documents, etc., Bricabox is attempting to make it easier to build a social app. view the video »

Adsdaq presented their advertising marketplace product tonight at the April NY Tech gathering. I have experience with this product, both as a user and as part of a private online advertising community where over 100 other publishers from every online segment have tried Adsdaq.

The idea of Adsdaq is to provide a marketplace where publishers name their price and advertisers can purchase against it. The idea is great. The issue is fill rate - they aren't getting enough. Supply (publishers) is high, but demand (advertisers) is low. If they can get more advertisers into the system, they will have a winner.

The one thing that the presenters should have noted is that Adsdaq can sit on top of whatever you are running today so to some extent its incremental revenue. Though I have had issues with their server not loading as well. I plan on attempting to meet with them next week and will report back. view the video »

Twiddla presented their team whiteboard app tonight at the April NY Tech gathering. Twiddla isn't from NYC so I am not sure how they got on the list but in any event, the audience seemed to like it. Basically it allows you to share a document, graphic, Web page, whatever and then edit it up. It's slick in interface and I am guessing is a competitor for ConceptShare (our coverage). view the video »

Tonight at the April NY Tech gathering, Trendrr showed off their stats and trending application. I am an analytics nut and I can tell you that this was pretty dang sweet looking! You can pull stats from basically any public service and create some awesome Ajax mashups. This was created by a digital marketing agency to show their clients that they are more forward thinking than their competition. View the video »

The February version of the NY Tech Meetup was held last night. I'd suggest it was the largest crowd to-date and the demos were relatively good. Below are the videos from each presentation - they installed a huge new podium which made videotaping a bit off but you can clearly hear everyone and naturally you can go to each Web site for more information. I hope you enjoy the videos.

view the videos »

Tonight at the NY Tech Meetup, seven companies will present their startup ideas. I am looking forward (as I do every month) to getting ya'all coverage of the meetup. One company who has shared some info on their startup is called Aviary. Aviary is a NY-based startup which has created a suite of online graphics tools that appear to rival Photoshop for the basics.

Aviary describes itself as, "a website for artists of all genres to create, edit and share their works directly in their favorite browser." There are about 15 total image tools, all with bird names like Owl and Phoenix. The tools are all available online inside the browser along with downloadable versions using Adobe Air, similar to Pownce.

What makes Aviary even more innovative is the way they protect and have thought about how artists work. Aviary tracks all rights, royalties and attributions in a work forever, and across collaborations. Aviary's applications communicate with each other, allowing for seamless editing in multiple tools for a single project, as well as shared resources between tools.

Pricing hasn't been revealed yet but during the beta all access is free. The one thing that worries me with Aviary is their domain name - it's not aviary.com but rather a.viary.com -- if popularity grows, will people be able to find the app?

Aviary has given us 100 beta invites to give away to our great readers. If you'd like one, go here. We will have the demo video from their presentation tonight.

Tonight was the January 2008 edition of the NY Tech Meetup. Six companies took to the stage, my comments and videos are below. I am quite disappointed that neither leader Scott nor his assistant replied either here on CN or in the mailing list to the ideas I raised. Oh well I guess. I've decided to provide my raw notes and immediate feedback on each startup that presented.

I'd like to share/propose five suggestions to improve the NY Tech Meetup. I've attended a good number of the monthly event and you can review my past coverage. Many people have shared comments about the meetups with me and I have some suggestions as well on how to make the monthly meetup even more effective. These are all minor tweaks which could have a great benefit for the group as a whole. I have already addressed several times the need to improve the actual demos themselves, these suggestions are for the overall Meetup.

Suggestion #1 - Vary The Meetup Leader

I'd like to see variety in who is the evening's leader. I'd love to lead a meetup and I am sure there are others as well. It's not to say Scott is doing a bad job, but the meetup is about NYC tech and there's many people (company professionals, bloggers, journalists, developers, etc.) who could rotate around too. My proposal is to have a different leader each month.

Suggestion #2 - Location

This is something I've heard several times since the move to IAC over the past two meetings. Most have shared with me that the location is very inconvenient. I think the Cooper Union spot was easier for public transport overall.

Suggestion #3 - Remove $5

Considering this is the largest tech meetup, I don't understand how we can't get a sponsor each month to take care of the door fee. Assuming 500 people show up x $5 = 2500, get a sponsor to pitch in that amount and they get one of the 5 minute demo slots. This might make the meetup feel less rigid.

Suggestion #4 - Missed Meetings Results in Probation

This meetup is always overbooked, yet not everyone shows up. I suggest a policy that you get one miss, after that you are prohibited from signing up for the following three months. This way those who signup will actually attend and those who don't will no longer be allowed, thereby leaving slots open for those that do want to show up.

Suggestion #5 - Increase the Networking

Better nametags would be a good start - would be nice to have a professionally-made nametag with name, company info, etc. and color-coded so others know what we do. At a minimum, color-coding would be great. Also, instead of putting names on the post-demo portion of the meetup, list the company name. Lastly, add a space for those hiring and those seeking in the after-demo portion. Combined with color-coding, this will allow parties to matchup as needed.

Tonight was the last NY Tech Meetup of 2007. Great crowd as always - even in the cold! Things seemed very orderly this evening.

I've captured video of each presentation and the links are below. Sorry about the lighting - one day I will buy a real camcorder!

At the Social Networking meetup earlier this month, I cried out for better presentations. Tonight, three individuals came up to me after the demos were over and asked me to post the message again so here goes. BRING YOUR A GAME OR GO HOME. Your service might be great but if you can't present it, no one will come up to you afterwards. With that said, overall these demos were better than the social networking set.

Here is my analogy for these 5-minute demos:

Imagine going to the red light district in Amsterdam. There are hot girls in the windows. Each of them knows they have 20-30 seconds to get you aroused enough that you want to go inside for some "fun". Think of your demo just like this. You have 5 minutes to arouse the attendees enough so they will want to come find you after the demos are over and learn more. Make sense?

Tonight's presentations are:

• Ignighter Facebook Application
• Evolvist Green Web Site - not posting their video as the site isn't live or accessible
• TheFunded VC Ratings and Reviews
• Kaltura Video Collaboration
• Unype - some kind of Google Map thingy
• Meetup Alliance - lets groups align together