When: July 22 from 5:30pm – 8:00pm

Where: The Dogwood, 715 W. Sixth Street

Social: Facebook, Plancast

Every entrant will receive two drink tickets, and this will pretty much be the grand opening of The Dogwood. You can pre-register for $7.50 or pay $10 cash at the door. Remember that this event is at a bar, so 21+ please.

Sponsor

With a new Austin software development office and sales headquarters in New York City, BountyJobs is the global recruiting marketplace where employers engage top headhunters to fill any job, anywhere. BountyJobs has become the largest contingent recruitment marketplace in the world by connecting hiring companies, including a third of the Fortune 500, with 10,000 active headhunters in order to service nearly a billion dollars worth of jobs. For additional information, visit http://www.bountyjobs.com/.

Last year’s computer drive and Install Fest gathered 40+ volunteers from Austin’s technology and open source communities to help refurbish more than $35,000 worth of computers for Central Texas children.

The goal for this year’s drive is to deliver $50,000 in computers to Austin and the surrounding communities. To help out all you have to do is mosey on down to Union Park sometime tomorrow and fork over your lightly-used computer. It only takes a minute or two and volunteers will wipe the hard drive – so nobody will ever know exactly what type of movies you’ve been downloading lately.

It really only takes a few minutes to donate your spare/used computers – and it’s for a great cause. The Austin area is, after all, home to Dell Inc., so it’s a good bet that there are thousands of residents in the city that have laptops they don’t want anymore. Linux Against Poverty is making this a no-brainer – so get to Union Park in the morning and give them your spare computers.

Think you live too far away to get to Union Park tomorrow? No problem – there are 3 alternative drop-off locations listed at the end of this post. No excuses!

All donated computers are eligible for a tax receipt. You can find details on the donation process, types of computers and parts that Linux Against Poverty is collecting at: http://linuxagainstpoverty.org/donate-computers

Install Fest Details:

Linux Against Poverty 2nd Annual Install Fest

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Union Park

612 W. 6th Street Austin, TX 78701
Other Drop Off Locations:

North Austin Linux Against Poverty Dropoff
ITech Electronics
8312 Burnet Road, Suite 109
Austin, Texas
(512) 374-0846

South Austin Linux Against Poverty Dropoff
ITech Service Center
Live Oak Court Center
2900 South Congress Ave, Suite 205
Austin Texas, 78704
(512) 440-5700

Lakeway Linux Against Poverty Dropoff
360 Technologies
15401 Debba Drive (intersects with hwy 620)
Austin, TX 78734
(512) 266-7360

As an example, Thompson asked women leading their own businesses to stand up and share their experiences. Volunteers included  Tina Cannon, President and CEO at PetsMD, Nichole Wright, President and CEO of Bon Vivant Event Planning and Consulting, and Jen Cadmus, Founder of thedialoglab. Special guest, Adrianna Gardella, author of She Owns It, a column within the NY Times Boss Blog dedicated to the modern businesswoman’s experiences, also shared the story of how She Owns It came to be and where she sees female business leaders driving industry.

“Women want to hear about other women who have had challenges and have succeeded, in spite of them,” insisted Gardella.

According to Thompson, Sharp Skirts will begin hosting Offline meetings, happy hours, and discussions throughout the country.

First, already informally regarded as the “super bowl” of investment competition, the event will be henceforth renamed the Venture Labs Investment Competition, reflecting the true nature of what it has become: a forum where MBAs from around the world launch their ventures by raising capital.

Second, the domains of venture opportunities have noticeably shifted away from IT and cleantech, back to biotech and life sciences. This was fully reinforced by the numbers, with more than half of the 40 deals being biotech/life sciences related, with the remainder being roughly equal parts cleantech or IT (some web, some hardware/software).

[A quick sidenote: I've been covering this intersection of life sciences, bioengineering, materials science, augmented & virtual reality, and alternative UI design on my professional blog for the past year. For example, check out posts on bio-printing and haptic tech. - SG]

The winners reflected the same trend, with three out of the top four placing companies being from life sciences. The fourth was a cleantech play – focused on a new solar panel chemistry and process – that won the division that I judged with four colleagues. For the record, here are the deals:

• BiologicsMD – a new prescription osteoporosis solution
  
• PCCA Technologies – a glucose-sensing contact lens for diabetes patients self-monitoring
  
• Silicon Solar Solutions – patented processes for reducing the cost of photovoltaics
  
• GlucaGo – products for reducing the risk and severity of hypoglycemic attack
  

Being involved in an activity like the Venture Labs Investment Competition never gets old for me. Not only does it expose you to a wonderful, new diversity of people and ideas, but it is an excellent reminder of the importance of both hard and soft skills in promoting a new venture.

To win, you have to have the hard skills to convince judges that you have a powerful, compelling opportunity, mustering as much qualitative and quantitative evidence that you can, with sufficient financial back-up, to demonstrate that there are real customers who want it and would pay to have it.

But, to win, you also have to exercise soft skills that range from cheerfully greeting each person that walks by your reception table (the night preceding Day 1’s first round judging), to pacing your pitch while responding to questions on the fly, to dressing and looking professional while avoiding being too stiff or too casual, to demonstrating a sufficient intensity and confidence yet simultaneously maintaining a sense of humor and balance about the proceedings.

A tip of my hat to all of the participants – as a whole, they were a strong field. Interestingly, the overall 1st and 3rd place finishers (BiologicsMD and Silicon Solar, respectively) were both deal teams from the University of Arkansas.  Kudos to the entrepreneurship and MBA programs in Fayetteville, but all I can say, as a Longhorn fan, is thank God the old SouthWest Conference is kaput, or we’d have to endure a double helping of Razorback bragging rights.

Hats off as well to Rob Adams and the Moot Corp, UT-Austin business school staff and volunteers. Nice job folks. Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the “hometown” team of Solavicta, from the University of Texas-Austin, which was an individual challenge award winner (of the Angelsoft Challenge). Congratulations, David and Franklin!

The group will be meeting at Mangia’s Pizza on Guadalupe so everyone can grab a drink and food before entering into deep, tech-inspired talk. Make sure to RSVP quickly so we can save you a spot!

They’ll also be having a special guest speaker, Susan Strausberg, co-founder of EDGAR Online. She’ll be sharing her experience of founding a company, along with insights and stories of being a female leader in the tech world.

ATX Women in Tech was started by Carla Thompson and Stacey Higginbotham, both local tech all-stars. Carla is an evangelist in the semantic web community and just recently started Sharp Skirts, an online resource for women entrepreneurs. Stacey is a technology journalist for GigaOm, a popular technology online publication.

For more information about tonight’s event or to stay updated on future meetups, search the Twitter hashtag #atxtechwomen.

Tonight, Rice Alliance — Austin Chapter, is hosting a discussion titled “The Business of Location: Making Money with Geo-Aware Services,” which will answer just that. The panelists include:

Josh Williams, CEO and Co-founder of Gowalla

Blair Garrou, Managing Director of DFJ Mercury

Rick Orr, CEO and Co-Founder of ATX Innovation (TabbedOut)

Chris Treadaway, CEO of Notice Technologies

Moderated by Josh Catone of Mashable, tonight’s discussion will barrel through questions of profitability, potential future platforms for location-based-networks, competition within the geo-aware services market, and other hard-hitting issues facing the contenders in this category.

Check-ins and checkouts are all fine and dandy, but where is the cold, hard cash? Tonight, panelists will holster their weapons and take a moment to share a frank discussion on the current status and future evolution of location-based-networks.

Event Details –

Date: May 5, 2010

Time: 6:00pm – 8:00 pm

Location: AT&T Conference Center

Tickets: $25 or $10 for students

Panelists will also be hosting a get together immediately following the discussion downstairs at Gabriel’s Café.

For more information, check out the Rice Alliance event page.

Please register  here to attend.

We’ve got it planned, check-in prepared, and Facebooked. Please spread the word and invite your friends. If you attended our last happy hour, you can find the pictures here. So tag yourself and your friends!

Sponsors

The Technology Entrepreneurs Exchange (TeXchange) is the premier networking organization in Texas for business executives and entrepreneurs to meet, exchange ideas and share experiences. TeXchange was created to promote the entrepreneurial environment and help develop the next generation of executives for technology and life sciences companies. Dinner events are held monthly, and are centered around a keynote presentation followed by open table discussions and Q&A.

Localiter.com is a genuinely local and self-funded website. Launched during the most recent SXSWi, their goal is to hand pick other Austin local businesses, and introduce them to a quickly growing community of subscribers by delivering highly discounted daily promotions. In the brief period since Localiter’s launch, they have successfully promoted popular local businesses such as Taco Deli, Lift Cafe, Ace Tailors, Dress Shop, The Belmont, Training Evolved, Rounders Pizzeria, Cakemix, The Hideout Theatre, and many more. For those who are already familiar with the popular wave of collective buying websites, Localiter.com distinguishes itself through the businesses they choose to promote and the way they promote them — users get to watch homemade videos through a creatively crafted website with a quirky and sometimes slightly irreverent style.

There are many other great speakers including Frank Peters from theFrankPetersShow.com.

You can register here for the event, and if you use our special discount code FS7761 you can get 10% off your registration.

If your business is seeking funding, register for the fast pitch competition! Investors will be hearing one-minute pitches before open networking. If you’re interested, check the website for details at www.fundingsymposium.com and send your executive summary to Hall Martin at director@austinentrepreneurnetwork.org.

The Conference promises to be the premier business funding event in 2010, thanks to a number of supporting organizations that will be promoting the event through their networks. They include the Capital Factory, Tech Ranch, The Idea Finishing School, the Small Business Development Program, ATI, and more.

These objections aren’t necessarily unwarranted. The interactive portion of SXSW this year was the largest it has ever been, swarmed with reporters, companies, and yes, even sponsors and Ashton Kutcher. Perhaps the festival has in some ways jumped the shark, and we can all begin to reminisce of the good ol’ days when we knew everyone in attendance. After all, remembering how good things used to be is one of our favorite pasttimes in Austin.

While Carla Thompson’s concern that there were simply too many panels happening simultaneously is well founded and should be addressed by organizers in the future, other objections simply strike as silly.

If you are a reporter for a major tech or business publication, you are probably used to companies and wannabe influencers attempting to accost you for an elevator pitch or quick conversation. It comes with the territory. This certainly doesn’t give them the right to be annoying or “douchebags,” but there is also a certain amount of grace with which the writers can handle these encounters, as well.

I say all of this from my own experience, both personal and observed, in covering the music portion of SXSW for the Austin Chronicle. SXSW Music is a week of madness, pure chaos that bewilders me every year with how smoothly the festival is able to pull off their official events – not to mention how the city handles the flood of parties and shows on every corner and alley that can fit a singer-songwriter.

While I acknowledge that there are, of course, very unique and important differences in the interactive and music portions of SXSW, both in how they operate and how they are professionally covered, there are a number of helpful approaches to managing and getting the most from the maelstrom of SXSWm for those attending SXSWi. Especially as the latter becomes more of an event that finds a greater measure of its quality through quantity, serendipity becomes somewhat diluted by choice, and body shots may not be the most effective way to get a story.

As Mark Hopkins noted on Silicon Angle, perhaps the most important element to effectively managing the SXSW experience is to simply research and come with a game plan. Don’t worry, that game plan will get blown to hell in a matter of hours. For the music portion of the fest, there are nearly 2,000 official bands playing showcases and countless others in town to play day shows or just try to get attention. If you begin the Wednesday of the music festival without having researched who is going to be here, you’ve already lost. You will bounce from club to club and party to party and rarely see a band that you are actually interested in, much less discover something new that you might like. This is common sense for those attending the music fest, and yet more and more during SXSWi, I heard attendees discussing they had no idea such and such company was here, or so and so influencer, CEO, or analyst was in town.

Because of the high number of panels, there were a number of leading industry figures in town that may not have been here in an official capacity for their company. You can easily find these folks listed, and reach out to talk with them if even in an informal capacity. Likewise, even those attending SXSW in an unannounced fashion are available to be reached. If you hear that someone is in town that you would like to speak to, reach out to them. The chances of your running into them at a party have become significantly less likely, but if your reporting is reliant on serendipity, you probably wouldn’t have made it as far as being in a position to complain about the lack of SXSW value.

The bottom line here is to spend a significant amount of time planning beforehand. Know those companies or people with whom you want to meet, reach out to them and set it up, and be flexible with it happening. You have five days to get together, just like you often have numerous chances to catch a band during the week of SXSW music. Decide those meetings/shows that are most important, make them happen, and work the other pieces out as you can.

A second major complaint at this year’s SXSW was the barrage of unrelated sponsorships. Apparently many participants were insulted by being showered by brands like Pepsi or Sobe that really have nothing to do with tech. I’ll admit that this objection baffles me. Unless it’s a question of SXSW “selling out” (ah, the familiar indie band belittlement!), why were the presence of these sponsors so obnoxious? Yes, SXSW music is like a carnival of product placement (most music festivals these days are, in fact), but it surprises me that so many people accustomed to ignoring internet ads can’t ignore them in physical space. And though the nutrition bars that were being handed out tasted like crap, I was thankful to eat more than a few of them during the week.

Perhaps the most important complaint of SXSW this year, however, was the reported level of being accosted by unsolicited pitches. Granted, those offenders who have no tact or decorum should rightfully be ashamed, and maybe even called out for it. Unwanted aggressiveness in promoting yourself or company is rarely flattering, and those folks will likely realize that the hard way.

If you are covering SXSWi, though, part of the job implies a certain amount of openness to the serendipity of discovering something new. This year’s problem of serendipity seems to have been that those encounters were rarely productive, and often annoying. However, if your complaint is that you couldn’t seclude yourself off enough to get away from the masses, then SXSW may, in fact, not be the festival for you at all.

My favorite example of how to gracefully handle the unsolicited pitch is this guy. David Fricke, senior music editor for Rolling Stone, literally wears this perma-smile the entire festival. It’s an amazing feat of patience, especially as he cannot attend a show without someone telling him about a band he needs to see, or walk down the street without having CDs thrust into his hands. I am not exaggerating. And yet he nods and smiles in a way that is accepting, and yet when need be, clearly signals that he really doesn’t give a crap. I have also, however, seen him engage in very productive conversations from these encounters, and even check out bands based on them that he will actually later write up. That is a small minority, to be sure, but nearly without fail every year at SXSW, one of the favorite acts that I will see will come from word of mouth.

Tech conferences and festivals, like music festivals, all have their distinct personalities. Some are specifically geared to being exclusive, intimate gatherings at the expense of variety and serendipity. Some are meant to be sprawling in scope with both companies and those covering the event, often at the expense of deeply meaningful interactions and conversations.

SXSW music’s value comes from the convergence of the entire industry – bands, critics, businesses, and promoters – in one place for a week. The sheer quantity of both acts and interactions is something that simply doesn’t happen anywhere else. And if a more intimate conversation is warranted, it’s easy to break off somewhere less hectic. Or, in another parallel, I may only catch 20 minutes of a band, but be sufficiently intrigued enough to follow up by either getting their album or catching them at the next opportunity.

If SXSW Interactive is moving towards being an encompassing equivalent for the tech industry, it of course comes at the expense of some of the “easy” discoveries that will happen at a smaller event. However, for those willing to sufficiently plan ahead, keep themselves open to new finds, and that want more out of the event than simply checking in to the hot party to say that you were there, I still contend that SXSWi can offer amazing dividends.

I find it difficult to believe that so many of the top tech reporters in the world had trouble navigating SXSWi and finding value, especially from the perspective of a music critic who has been doing SXSW for years. Perhaps the problem is the continued perception of SXSWi as “Spring Break for Nerds,” and attendees and those covering the event are taking the “break” a bit too literally. (I should also note that I saw many writers working tirelessly this year in their coverage). Reporting during the music portion of the festival is constant and stressful, with reviews actually being written on the spot in clubs as music is blaring. The Fest is spread across the city, and you are rushing from venue to venue, trying to make deadlines. And yet we still manage to have fun, while never losing sight of the fact that we are here to work as well.

Full Disclaimer: Jones-Dilworth did PR this year for the SXSW Accelerator event

Friday, March 12

2pm – If you’re an out-of-towner, check out Why Austin is the Killer App. Bijoy Goswami gave an abbreviated version of this talk at Ignite Austin and it’s one of the best encapsulations of the Austin tech scene that I’ve heard yet. It’s the perfect way to kick off your SXSW adventure.
3:30pm brings our first where-to-go-now decision (it won’t be the last) with three strong prospects

-Do Cool Kids Leave When the Suits Arrive? – Would love to see revenue/business models re-enter the social media conversation. We’re not earning money with our smiles.

-How Your Brand Can Succeed in the New Web – From a man who knows, Brian Solis

-Is Technology Weakening Interpersonal Relationships? – One of my favorite ATX tech women is on the panel, Jenn Deering Davis; I know she’ll have great insights. And this is a potentially volatile topic.

9pm – If you have a Gold or Platinum pass, join me at the premiere of the Bill Hicks documentary, ‘American.’ And if you don’t know who Bill Hicks is, I can’t help you.

Saturday, March 13

This is likely the least hungover you’ll be during your time in Austin, so take advantage of it with a 9:30am panel, Innovation Overseas: The European Startup Environment. Marten Mickos is sure to provide some interesting perspective

2pm – Opening Keynote: Danah Boyd. Happy to see a woman kicking things off in the keynote presentations. And interested to hear her insights on being publicly private in social networks. Or privately public.

3:30pm – Another good problem to have – Media Armageddon or Ze Frank? The juxtaposition is glaring: old media or web pioneer? I may hop between the two.

5pm – How To Spark a Movement in the 21st Century, from the folks at Meetup. Could be really thought provoking. If it isn’t, you’ll find me at one of the happy hours.

Sunday, March 14

Things look a little uglier this morning. You’re feeling the multiple happy hours from yesterday. And there’s a gauntlet of panels to face today. Rub some dirt on it, as my father used to say, and get back in the game.

9:30am – Get those synapses firing with some heady fodder: Exploiting Chaos or Story.Next with Dr. Sanjay Gupta (he’s famous!). The Adobe Sunday Brunch is also at this time, so you can refuel with breakfast tacos as needed.

Four excellent sessions at 11am:

-2009 Iran Election will hopefully settle an ongoing argument I’m having about social media’s true impact on real-world events

-Monkeys with Internet Access because I’ve been wanting to hear Clay Shirky.

-Online News of Tomorrow because I like Jeff Jarvis

-Yes Mr. Lessig, We Can Change Politics (11:20am) because I’m a political nerd

12:30pm – Though it’s clearly on the film track, A Conversation with Michel Gondry is listed in Interactive events. One of the most innovative and creative minds working today – a don’t miss.

3:30pm – *Cue self-serving segment* Beyond Algorithms: Search and the Semantic Web. Reasons to attend: I’m on the panel and have a history of arguing with Barak Berkowitz. And I’m clearly the least accomplished person in attendance. Check out the bios of my fellow panelists.

6pm – Get your geek on at the Data Cluster Meetup before you head out into the night. Sponsored by Rackspace, Infochimps, Wolfram Alpha, and Factual.

This is the best party night of the bunch, so go forth and enjoy. Mashable, PBS, Guy Kawasaki, Gowalla, Microsoft – hope you trained your liver last night.

Monday, March 15

I won’t lie to you – this morning is going to hurt. I’ll leave a bottle of Excedrin and a bag of breakfast tacos for you by the t-shirt stand downstairs.

If you can manage a 10am, go easy on yourself and check out The Art of Eating In. But if that’s too early, go to Making Content Relevant To Me at 11am.

Gary Vaynerchuk is talking at 12:30pm. I have no idea about what but it’s sure to interesting.

Then Ev Williams has the keynote slot at 2pm. Let’s gang up on him and force him to answer revenue questions.

3:30pm brings our last where-to-go-now conundrum (Thank God – I’m getting weary)

-‘Seed Combinators’, with favorite local Josh Baer

-AI 2010 because I’m a sucker for robots

-My Three-Year Old is My Usability Expert, because this seems a fascinating topic.

Did I say Sunday was the best party night? It might actually be Monday. Wired, Rackspace, TechKaraoke, GeekyBeach, Gowalla – even New Orleans is throwing a party tonight.

Tuesday, March 16

Last day! It’s a short one too so hang in there.

11am – The Chaos Scenario. Because I’ll listen to pretty much any NPR contributor. And because we’ll all be intimately familiar with the concept of chaos by this point.

2pm – Daniel Ek of Spotify gives the last Interactive keynote, in an interview with Eliot Van Buskirk.

There’s a closing party at 8pm. And then we all meander back into the real world, hopefully sharper, wiser, and only slight worn down at the edges.