First ever Tech Crunch / Crunch Gear Meetup - National blog comes to Columbus

Last night , John Biggs, a writer with Crunch Gear/Tech Crunch, held a informal meetup at Surly Girl . Turns out he was visiting his family in Columbus and wanted to get to meet some of the local entrepreneurs/technologists. In good old web 2.0 fashion he posted a notice on his blog that he was a holding a meetup. I got word of it through Alvin Borromeo and posted it to our meetup site and voila - a standing room only meetup with what seemed to be 100 attendees.

Here's an excerpt of what he had to say:

"I was amazed at the energy and excitement here in my hometown, good old Columbus. I met the guy who sold me a car this weekend and the guy who invented the PowerSquid. There are a few start-ups and products I’m going to highlight this week and I’m pleased to say that these folks are amazingly excited and enthusiastic, even in a down economy. Here’s to you, Columbus. I’ve been so coast-centric this decade that I failed to see your true worth and the beauty of your bar culture. "

Click here to see his total post and pics on the aftermath of the meetup.

A big shout out to some folks I chatted with last night (click on the links to check them out)

• Brian Zuercher, Steve Krause,  and Brad Griffith at Clearwish  - a incredibly talented trio who are going places
  
• Brad Dunnington at Avalinx - Their iphone game 21Pro is a garnering kudos and attention from Apple- over 750,0000 downloads
  
• Alan Arman at 3XSystems - They're out of beta and winning customers with their remote backup appliance
• Shawn Stevens at ShareThis - ShareThis has moved to Cinci but Shawn has stayed in Powell
• Rini Pakra at Pakragames - Raising some money to help fuel the growth of her game based working learning solutions business
• Alvin Borromeo  - a unsung linchpin in connecting our tech community
• Todd Sharp at Slidesix - drove 2 hours from Medina to join us - he's developed a multimedia enabled presentation sharing platform
• Brian Lockrey at Assist Data Recovery and Twitter Groups - entrepreneur, university prof, and all around good guy
• Angela Siefer at Shiny Door - Social Media Maven
• Lewis Howes at Trident Design - Sports Networker | LinkedIn Expert | Professional Athlete | Inventor
• Joe O'Brien at EdgeCase - A leading software development team
• Jay Donovan at Ologie - A mobile device blogger at mobilitysite
  
• Jason Blanton at Sterling - Social media maverick and blogger
  
• Ryan Jones - Ohio U IT grad who's got an eye for startups /organizing events/entrepreneurship
  
• Michael Cordingley - another Ohio U grad - smart guy looking for an opportunity in Columbus
• Scott Blickhan at Dawson - starting to dip his toe into the world of social media - glad to have you on board 
  
• Mark Gilicinski at Now Software - VP at (yes you read correctly) Mac software development group here in Cbus 
  

Way to go Columbus,

Peace out,
Ben

P.S. To get the advance notice of these type of events register on the Columbus Tech Life meetup 

10 Senior Systems Development/Engineer positions OSU

Ohio State has posted 10 Senior Systems Development/Engineer positions. Seven of the positions are with Applications Development and three are with Operations. All of these positions are posted on the OSU website.

https://www.jobsatosu.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1230045352953

JoeMetric is changing the face of market research!

Things are starting to move into high gear for our team. The prototype is in development, customers and investors are knocking on our door, and we most recently received recognition from our peers by winning the Community Choice Award at IT Martini. Next up we will be hitting the streets. JoeMetric is getting primed to wow market researchers everywhere with an easy-to-use, efficient, inexpensive way to gather information on customer habits, desires, attitudes, and more. In addition, excitement is growing in the IPhone and IPod Touch community. Owners will have a chance to express their opinions, shape the products and services they love, and will get paid to do it. For more information on JoeMetric, email info@joemetric.com.

Introducing Technology for Ohio's Tomorrow

Technology for Ohio's Tomorrow (TOT) is a non-profit coalition of consumers, businesses and opinion leaders advocating for public policies that inspire and encourage technological innovation.

We want to inform and educate consumers about legislative and regulatory issues related to technology that impact their lives while fostering an environment for high-tech jobs, investment and emerging technologies.

In addition, we would like to serve as a statewide forum for consumers and organizations to discuss technology issues.

We encourage people to visit us at www.tech4ohio.org to learn more and sign up for a chance to win a free iPhone.

Dispelling Myths And Fears Of Using Social Media In Business - OWL

For anyone interested in Social Media this is a must read

Dispelling Myths And Fears Of Using Social Media In Business

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: linkedin facebook)

Notes from Yesterdays OWL meeting - "Dispelling Myths and Fears of Using Social Media in Business"

Written by:
Michael Bowers
Director, Ohio SBDC @ Columbus State
mbowers3@cscc.edu

The Ohio Web Leaders or OWL (http://ohiowebleaders.com/) was held December 18 at the offices of the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College and it was a fantastic meeting. Brian Link of BE Interactive Consulting (a recent VP of Technology from Digg.com), Nick Seguin, a strategist from dynamIt Technologies, and Angela Siefer, owner of Shiny Door, a Social Media training consultancy delivered an interactive presentation on "Dispelling Myths and Fears of Using Social Media in Business". The crowd of over 60 attendees discussed the pros and cons of using social media for business The conversations were active both live and over Twitter. I saw over Twitter that Mark Henson of Sparkspace missed the event but felt he picked up some key points from the on-line activity that was probably heavier than any previous meeting.

What struck me was that companies need to realize that social media is not a fad. It is not just kids on MySpace or Facebook, it has gone mainstream. People are talking and you should be part of that conversation. Company executives often do not get social media. They don’t realize social media should be an integrated component of the overall marketing strategy. Senior management may view social media as campaign oriented but it is not, it is a longer term play designed to maximize “Return On Influence”. To succeed companies that want to utilize social media need to be set up for two-way communication. Realize that your brand is real. Build relationships with your customers and communicate in a transparent way…deal with both good and bad feedback. In addition to specific social media strategies be transparent with employees and allow them to talk to your customers or others through their social media channels. They are going to talk anyway so help them be mindful about what they say.

While the internal champions may continue to encounter resistance in implementing social media strategies the December Ohio Web Leaders meeting showed that they should not give up because social media is a powerful marketing channel and it is here to stay

Central Ohio IT Startups - The List - over 75 startups

Many of you have asked who are the Central Ohio IT Startups. It's hard to appreciate all the entrepreneurial activity happening here. Hope that the following list gives you a little insight. (It's certainly not comprehensive but a good start) Thanks to Kevin Gadd and Rick Coplin for their help in creating the list. A "living" version of this list is at : http://techlife.pbwiki.com/Web+Focused+Internet+Companies+-+Startup+IT+companies

Name	Website	Primary Contact	Contact Email	Tags
3x	www.3x.com	Alan Arman
Accelerated Data Concepts, LLC	www.acceleratedata.com	Daryl Popig	dpopig@acceleratedata.com	Accelerated Computing Solutions Software / Hardware
PlanGlue	www.planglue.com	Ray Trask	ray.trask@planglue.com	Create Plans, Reuse Plans, Share Plans
Aetion Technologies LLC	www.aetion.com	John Josephson	John.Josephson@Aetion.com	Information fusion, situation awareness, multicriterial decision making, MCDM
AircraftLogs	www.aircraftlogs.com	Doug Stewart
ATM Central Development, LLC	www.atmcentraldev.com	Troy Miller	troy@atmcentraldev.com	Physician contact & profile management, web application development, market analytics
Bethebetterman.com	www.bethebetterman.com	Peter Klassen
Big Blue Q	www.bigblueq.com	Eric Whitney
brainstorm exchange	www.brainstormexchange.com	Robert Troup	robert@brainstormexchange.com	innovation, ideas
BrandThunder	www.brandthunder.com	Patrick Murphy	patrick@brandthunder.com
Call Copy	www.callcopy.com	Raymond Bohac
ClaritySoft	www.claritysoft.com	Steve Schade	sschade@claritysoft.com	CRM and Contact Management Software
ClearWish	www.clearwish.com	Brian Zuercher	brian@clearwish.com	wishlist
Connect for Healthcare, LLC	www.connect4healthcare.com	Neil Moore	neil@connect4healthcare.com	long-term care, LTC Providers, LTC Software, care givers, nursing home, assisted living, rehab, hospice, CCRC
Critical Medical Information®, LLC	www.criticalmedicalinformation.com	John Boyd	jboyd@criticalmedicalinformation.com.
devVenture	www.devventure.com / www.autosweet.com	Christopher Lentz	lenny@devVenture.com	automotive, inventory management, marketing, website tools
Dibidy	www.smartsltd.com	Steve Lindsay
eFinPLAN LLC	www.efinplan.com, www.72enterprises.com	Kent Irwin	kirwin@efinplan.com	Consumer centric online financial planning softwarem markets directly to consumer and to Credit Unions and other fin inst
Electronic Receipts		Steve Tingley-Hock
Energent Solutions	www.energentsolutions.com	Marty Lanning
Engage Health, LLC	www.engagehealthllc.com	Tim Worosher
EWI Virtual Joining Co.	www.ewi.org	Shuchi Khurana
Expo	www.conceptexpo.net	Jerry Nummi		design
EZ Asset	www.ezasset.com
FindHolmes	www.findholmes.com	Yury Tsukerman
Fizmo	www.fizmo.com	Bradley Howard
Flairsoft	www.flairsoft.com	Dheeraj Kulshrestha
Go Big Network	www.gobignetwork.com	Wil Schroter
Got Cast	www.gotcast.com	Wil Schroter	support@gotcast.com	casting calls, auditions, reality televsion
GotGame?Media	www.gotgamemedia.com www.gotgamerecruiting.com	MarKel Snyder	markel.snyder@gotgamemedia.com	sports recruiting, high school athletes, parents, college coaches
GotSitter.com	www.gotsitter.com	Elsa Kayuha	eekayuha@columbus.rr.com	babysitting, babysitter
Great Migrations	www.greatmigrations.com	Mark Juras
Helios Works	www.B2BSX.com	Norman Powell	Norman.Powell@B2BSX.com	Marketplace, custom apps, Software Exchange, SAP
Hiring Force		Rob Burns
Ifontis	www.ifontis.com	Derek Stout
INNergized INNterprise, Inc.	www.innergizedinnterprise.com	Leslie Mack
InnoGage, LLC	www.innogage.com	Tom Williams	twilliams@innogage.com	Social Media, marketing, recruiting, higher education, webtools, social media consulting and monitoring
InsightETE	www.insightete.com	Richard Wheeless
IntelliSIM, Ltd.	www.intellisim.com	John Ehlers	ehlers@intellisim.com	business simulations, management practice & training, global strategy training
JackThreads.com	www.jackthreads.com	Jason Ross
JoeMetric	http://www.joemetric.com	Dan Rockwell	info@joemetric.com	market research, iphone, surveys
Kidzola LLC	www.kidzola.com	Heather Straka
Language Access Network	www.languageaccessnetwork.com/	James Edwards
ListAfterList.com, LLC	www.listafterlist.com	John Edwards	john@listafterlist.com	lists, news, sports, careers, jobs, health, money, love, autos, travel, home, movies, music, tv, local
Manic Readers	www.manicreaders.com	Les Boyer	info@manicreaders.com	Books, authors, publishers, reviews, free reads
Meesh		Tony Whelan
Melody Management LLC	www.melodymanagement.com	Claude Durette	claude@melodymanagement.com	Artists management, digital music, label backoffice, self-service record label
KidsLinked		Greg Yoakam
Mondokio International News	www.mondokio.com	Brady Calestro	mbcalestro@aol.com
ViA Performance Systems LLC	www.viapsonline.com	Don Moxley	donmoxley@viapsonline.com	Fitness, exercise, personal training, exercise accountability software
Needlestack Jobs	www.needlestack.com	Carol Clark
On Guard		Jim Mazotas
Onelinc	www.onelinc.com	Bryan Beal
Pakra, LLC	www.pakragames.com	Rini Das	Rini@pakragames.com	Productivity Enhancement and Learning Software as a Service using Games, Simulations, Business Intelligence, Social Media
Personal Healthcare Information Storage		Peter Schroeder
Picaro		Mark Gilicinski
Plannet Group LLC	www.plannetgroup.com	Jim Mazotas
Real Estate Investor.com	www.realestateinvestor.com	Matthew Leitz		real estate, education, social network
Risk Management Insight (RMI)	www.riskmanagementinsight.com	Alex Hutton
Sales Taffy	www.salestaffy.com
Servee	www.servee.com	Issac Kelly	Issac@servee.com
SILIBI (See it Like it Buy it)		Frederick Arceneaux
Simplifyed, LLC	www.simplifyed.com	Dezmon Landers
SpeakerSite	www.speakersite.com	Artie Isaac
Strategic Thinking Industries	www.st-industries.com	Ross Kayuha	ross.kayuha@st-industries.com	healthcare, labor, delivery, obstetrics hospital, data, extraction
StrongTech	www.strongtech.com	Mike Patterson
TeamDynamix	www.teamdynamix.com	Andrew Graf
Tempest Networking	www.tempestnetworking.com	Ingrid Fields
The Palestra	www.palestra.net	Joe Weasel
Toobla	www.toobla.com	Jake Saxbe
TwitGroups	http://twittgroups.com	Brian Lockery
Ubiquecom Inc	www.unique.com	David Lee
UpDox	www.updox.com	Mark Shary
USA Diversity		Merry Korn
Veeam	www.veeam.com	Carrie Reber
Vioplex	www.vioplex.com	Dustin Skartved
Weld QC	www.qmsuite.com	Troy Paskell
Wildhanger		Ray Jones
YourQuest Personal Health Solutions	www.yourquest.com	Rich Menke	drrich@yourquest.com	Complete turn key approach to Health and Wellness
ZNODE	www.znode.com	Vish Vishwanathan

2009 Predictions - Check them out and tell us what you think

From the pages of Columbus Tech Life wiki -  http://techlife.pbwiki.com/2009-Predictions


2009 PREDICTIONS
Dan aka @floozyspeak, Lextant

1. Apple makes a netbook, comes out with a new iphone with built in compass and other cool stuff
2. DOW takes a fall on more woes but the Obama promise rings the cattle call, hits 11k by years end
3. I will buy a house, get married, redo my blog, and lose 60 pounds
4. crowdsourcing takes off, JoeMetric wows many and rocks the planet
5. brand monitoring/social media insight and data mining continues to boom but real understanding of what it all means is lacking
6. Yahoo gets bought at $18 a share by Nokia
7. location based services becomes the new wild wild west for advertising, and it fails without understanding what consumers want first
8. Google buys New York Times and begins implementing heavy usage of QR codes in print advertising
9. 20-40 notable web 2.0 startups get the pinch as VC dries up and revenue models on advertising alone fizzle out
10. Battlestar Galactica spurs fans with seriously ridiculous plot twist.. everyone is a cylon
.......

Click here for more predictions and to tell us what are your 2009 predictions

Technology Review presents 10 technologies that we think are most likely to change the way we live.

Modeling Surprise Combining massive quantities of data, insights into human psychology, and machine learning can help manage surprising events, says Eric Horvitz. Probabilistic Chips Krishna Palem thinks a little uncertainty in chips could extend battery life in mobile devices--and maybe the duration of Moore's Law, too. NanoRadio Alex Zettl's tiny radios, built from nanotubes, could improve everything from cell phones to medical diagnostics. Wireless Power Physicist Marin Soljacic is working toward a world of wireless electricity.

Atomic Magnetometers John Kitching's tiny magnetic-field sensors will take MRI where it's never gone before. Offline Web Applications Adobe's Kevin Lynch believes that computing applications will become more powerful when they take advantage of the browser and the desktop. Graphene Transistors A new form of carbon being pioneered by Walter de Heer of Georgia Tech could lead to speedy, compact computer processors. Connectomics Jeff Lichtman hopes to elucidate brain development and disease with new technologies that illuminate the web of neural circuits. Reality Mining Sandy Pentland is using data gathered by cell phones to learn about human behavior. Cellulolytic Enzymes Frances Arnold is designing better enzymes for making biofuels from cellulose.

Support the Annual Holiday Benefits Bash - this Friday - Free food and drink

Looking for something fun to do on Friday night and make a difference ? If the answer is yes read on.

The 8th Annual Holiday Benefits Bash! will be supporting the Ronald McDonald House Charities® for the 6th year in a row. Additionally, we will be collecting new toys for Nationwide Children's Hospital. The party will be held at the Old Bag of Nails in Westerville this Friday, December 19th. Tons of great raffle and silent auction items will be available for bid as well as free booze and food throughout the night (seriously). For more information please visit www.annualholidaybenefitsbash.info

What: 8th Annual Benefit
Where: The Old Bag of Nails. Westerville, Ohio
24 N. State St., Westerville, OH 43081 US
When: Friday, December 19, 8:00PM - 2:00 AM

Open positions - Columbus Tech Life

Check back often at http://techlife.pbwiki.com/Jobs

Progressive Medical - PA 2 posting.doc - 11/24/08

Time Warner Cable - Supervisor, Network Services - 12/03/08

Vortechs Group - Zoho Implementation Expert - 12/3/08

Vortechs Group - Java Architect - 12/3/08

Vortechs Group - Perl Developers - 12/3/08

Vortechs Group - Manager of Quality Programs - 12/3/08

Columbus Zoo - IT Director - IT Director.doc - 12/4/08

Time Warner Cable - RNOC Surveillance Specialist - 2nd Shift - 12/11/08

Time Warner Cable - RNOC Surveillance Specialist - 3rd Shift - 12/11/08

Time Warner Cable - Sr. Manager, Network Engineering - 12/16/08

The New Brand Landscape - (embedded slideshare presentation - visible on blog site)

The New Brand Landscape

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: online advertising)

Program/Project Manager openings

I need a few really solid Program/Project managers for a contract position in Columbus with the possibility of converting to full-time. Their background does not have to be in IT, but that experience would be immensely helpful. They would work within the Marketing organization of a large company and manage IT projects from the business side. They would need to understand the business needs/requirements and then drive projects from the business perspective. They would of course need to be able to get things done across different business units and multiple IT groups.

If you know of any solid GSD (Get "stuff" done) PM's who might be interested in this opportunity, please send them my way.

Happy holidays!
Kurt


Kurt W. Hoeft
EasyIT - "Expert Technology Services for Business"
a division of Capital City Consulting, Inc.

Office: 614.336.1399 ext 201
Mobile: 614.519.9664
khoeft@EasyIT.com

http://www.EasyIT.com
http://www.capcityinc.com

Out and about Columbus Tech Life - 12/16/08

ITMartini - A big shout out to Aladin and John of ITMartini - they not only raised $6100 for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Ohio and Buckeye Ranch but made BOMA the place to be for Central Ohio IT Professionals.I was there on Thursday night with 450 of my closest IT friends and could feel the energy of our IT community. Click here for more: http://www.itmartini.com/

Startups - check them out -
GotGameRecruiting.com, JoeMetric.com, KidsLinked.com, Toobla.com, ATMCentralDev.com, and Servee.com.

Blogs for entrepreneurs - Top 150 listing - http://www.dangeard.com/

iPhone - Win a iphone and learn more about Technology for Ohio's tomorrow - http://tech4ohio.org/

Dispelling Myths and Fears using Social Media in Business - Ohio Web Leaders this Thursday - admission FREE - click here to register

ShoutNow - Recent starup launched a few weeks at Indy Startup weekend - it's amazing how quickly you can start a business - Rapid Voice Messaging Business - our own Nick Seguin helped facilitate the Startup weekend

College Interns Webinar this Wed - click here - free lunchtime seminar


A little fun - For those of you doing some last minute shopping here's something to consider to stay out of the doghouse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts - worth a view

TEDTalks Brewster Kahle: A digital library, free to the world - (embedded video - visible on blog site)

About this talk

Brewster Kahle is building a truly huge digital library -- every book ever published, every movie ever released, all the strata of web history ... It's all free to the public -- unless someone else gets to it first.
About Brewster Kahle

Brewster Kahle is an inventor, philanthropist and digital librarian. His Internet Archive offers 85 billion pieces of deep Web geology -- a fascinating look at the formation of the Internet…

A little holiday fun - And then the fight started Part 3

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch,
grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage.
I hooked up the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a
torrential downpour.
The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on
the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into
bed.
I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and
whispered, 'The weather out there is terrible..'
My loving wife of 10 years replied, 'Can you believe my stupid husband
is out fishing in that?'
 a nd then the fight started  ...
------------  --------- --------- --------- ---------  ----
 I  asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?  "
It warmed my heart to see her
face melt in sweet appreciation.
"Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!"  She said.
So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?"   

And that's when the fight started.... 

Chasing Technology - great article on Columbus

Great Chris Nelson article on central Ohio's entrepreneurial climate in the Industry Business Journal:

Chasing Technology

Columbus, Ohio, tops list of growing tech cities, increases efforts to lure innovative new entrepreneurs, companies



BY CHRIS NELSON

	The evening skyline of Columbus, Ohio, is not as recognizable as some of its famous brethren, but the growing influx of innovative tech companies could change that. Photo courtesy of Columbus Chamber of Commerce

COLUMBUS, Ohio – As a child growing up in the relatively new city of Phoenix in the early to mid-1980s, I would occasionally fantasize about what the great municipalities of the 21st century would look like. I imagined they were very Jetsonian, complete with moving sidewalks that whisked people about, office towers that soared miles into the sky and flying cars. And each city was covered by a vast dome.

Suffice it to say, I am no Edgar Cayce. In the real world, of course, urban areas are comprised of complex layers of development and decay, and so constructing the metropolis of the future is not that simple. What, then, makes a city technologically cutting-edge?

Click here for the rest of the story

A few other excerpts

" Midwesterners are known for their humility, and this is particularly true with Columbus; the people there were very warm and friendly. It was rather disarming. But it can also prove detrimental to a city that wants to promote itself as an up-and-coming technology hub. Some of the officials that I spoke to at TechColumbus suspect this is the reason why Columbus’ expanding tech sector is such a well-kept secret. As Isaac Asimov once said, “It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.” "

" Since its founding, the TechColumbus Incubator has graduated more than 60 companies and created 293 jobs. In the last five years, incubator tenants have brought in combined revenues in excess of $87 million, raised approximately $53.4 million in capital, and secured $14.73 million in research grants."

"The next day, we visited Dublin, a fast-growing suburb of Columbus with an approximate population of 35,000 and an incredibly dynamic economy. At an early-morning briefing in a conference room at the newly built Dublin Methodist Hospital, Dublin’s deputy city manager, Dana McDaniel explained to us how the community is trying to attract high-tech firms and grow startups. The approach revolves around a concept known as “the long tail” – the ability of the Internet to support microcosmic segments of life. In this case, the Long Tail is the budding entrepreneur.

“I want the long tail,” McDaniel told us. “I want the two guys in their garage that will eventually expand and become the next big win.” The problem is, companies like this aren’t exactly prolific in number, and once they achieve success, they’re likely to take off for larger, more cosmopolitan cities – particularly those located in the Sun Belt.

But Dublin is a neat city with a cool vibe – its central business district features numerous bars and restaurants – and it is pedestrian friendly. Yes, you really can walk to work from your home. That alone makes Dublin an attractive destination for tech entrepreneurs"