Marc Nathan Thursday, 11th of March 2010 at 05:51:19 PM
Hopefully everyone that is going to SXSW has confirmed places to stay, picked panels and parties and broken in those comfortable shoes (can’t over emphasize that enough) and those that are staying here have unfollowed their Austin-bound friends and blocked the hashtag #SXSW for the next week.
The comments of this post would be a great place for any one from Houston to leave your name and twitter handle as well as recommend anything interesting from panels, to food, to non-badge events. I’ll start:
Texas Coworking Meetup
Sat, March 13, 6pm – 8pm
Where: 200 E. 6th Street, 3rd Floor
Live Taping of This Week in Startups (TWiST)
Jason Calacanis is interviewing Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos.com
Sat Mar 13 4pm – Sat Mar 13 7pm
Where: Six Lounge 117 W Fourth St Austin, TX 78701
and of course, the Houston@SXSW party on Monday March 15:
Monday, March 15 from 7:00 pm to 2:00 am
Where: Hudson’s 301 W 5TH., Austin TX 78701
Date: Tuesday March 9, 2010
Time: 6:00pm – 9:30pm
Location: Caroline Collective 4820 Caroline Houston, Texas 77004
RSVP on Facebook
Since that starts at 6, you can then go to the monthly NetSquared meetup – generously sponsored by Schipul, The Web Marketing Company where I’m giving a talk on why Non-profits need to foster a vibrant Tech Startup Community and vice versa.
Date: Tuesday March 9, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Stag’s Head Pub 2128 Portsmouth St. Houston, TX 77098
RSVP on Meetup
On Wednesday, you can show up to the Social Media Shin-Dig hosted by new marketing firm, The Black Sheep Agency but only if you’re one of the lucky first 100 to RSVP:
Date: Wednesday March 10, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Beaver’s 2310 Decatur Street Houston, TX 77007-7519
RSVP on Pingg
Oh, and that bonus
fourth
event this week: There is an intimate little gathering of 25,000 in Austin starting on Friday that you might not have heard of called South by Southwest. Don’t forget to register for the Houston@SXSW party on Monday night starting at 7pm
Marc Nathan Wednesday, 3rd of March 2010 at 01:17:49 PM
Every year since 1994 (when Interactive launched), web workers – designers, developers, marketers and technologists converge on the city of Austin for five days of a Shiner-fueled experienced that is like no other on the planet. It’s sometimes called “Geek Spring Break”, and it has become the premiere destination for tech startups, digital media and the forward thinking business people to find out “What’s Next”. Imagine 20,000+ conference goers (and those that come just for the free off-site events) from around the world who all talk the same language and simply ‘get it’. Houston has always had a good showing, but in the last two years we’ve really turned up the heat by coming out in force and proudly proclaiming that we’re the ‘other’ startup community in Texas.
To that end Houston@SXSW is an open event (sponsorships still available) being planned by several Houston community leaders and local startups – names you should all know:
SXSW is exhilarating, but oftentimes overwhelming to first-timers and even seasoned attendees. Here is a hand-picked list of sites that offer tips for managing your experience at SXSW, but first some obvious tips:
Wear comfortable shoes – you’ll be walking in them for 18+ hours a day and ladies, leave the high-heels at home
Dress comfortably – jeans and T-shirts are the order of the day. Even ‘business folk’ don’t wear button-downs
Drink lots of water – this is between the other two liquids – coffee and beer
Don’t make specific plans – go with the flow. This is the real magic of SXSW, the serendipity of chance meetings in lines, hallways, restaurants and even bathrooms (wash your hands before shaking them please). Not everyone with a badge (SXSW-speak for paid attendee) will be cool in the traditional sense, but they will all be friendly.
Make some plans – if there is a must-see panel, get there early; if you absolutely must meet someone face-t0-face, set up a meeting before you leave.
Bring lots of business cards – you never know who you’ll meet – I am still in touch with people I’ve meet in cabs, restaurants and the trade show floor.
kurtstoll Wednesday, 24th of February 2010 at 12:03:55 PM
The Houston Innovation Initiative is a group started by Houston Council Member Jarvis Johnson and Yvette Golan of World Innova and here is a quick summary of what they are all about:
The Houston Innovation Initiative (HII) joins government leaders focused on solving city challenges to the technology and innovation leaders who can help. HII’s introductions inform the technology community of areas the city seeks cost savings and efficiencies, while equipping city leaders with the resources of technology associations who have demonstrated superior innovation access, information, and credibility. In short, HII’s platform connects problems with solutions, needs with resources, and experience with the appetite to learn.
Today, the Houston Innovation Initiative, is hosting the February Forum; a private roundtable event between 100 of Houston’s city and technology leaders, designed to help the city solve specific challenges with new and innovative technology.
After the roundtable event, HII is sponsoring an open mixer from 6pm – 8pm where everyone that shares a passion for technology and innovation can come together and share information. Below is just a sampling of the people from the event that are expected to be at the mixer.
• Bart Bartkowiak, Information Technology Director for the City of Beaumont;
• Anne Clutterbuck, Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Houston;
• Bill Crow, Executive-in-Residence from the Houston Technology Center;
• Richard Haut, Senior Research Scientist, Houston Advanced Research Center;
• Kenneth Hernandez, Dean of Career Technical Education, Energy Institute at Houston Community College;
• Richard Lewis, Chief Information Officer, City of Houston;
• Bernie Satterwhite, City Manager of the City of Bellaire;
• Bill Sherrill, Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston;
• James Tillman, Assistant Director of Houston’s Finance Department;
• Dwight Williams, General Manager of HTV Houston Television
• Leo Womack, President of the Houston Angel Network;
• Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.
kurtstoll Saturday, 20th of February 2010 at 10:20:40 AM
Join us as StartupHouston liveblogs the TiE Houston Legal Workshop that offers advice on how to protect your Small Business Intellectual Property and More.
kurtstoll Wednesday, 17th of February 2010 at 02:03:18 PM
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FreeTimeStudios, an independent mobile game development studio founded by Nathan Eror and headquartered in Houston, TX, announced yesterday that their new game, SlapHappy, is now available via the iTunes Store for an introductory price of 99 cents.
For those of you not aware, Nathan has been very active in Houston’s development community and is also the organizer for the Houston iPhone Dev Camp and co-organizer of the Houston iPhone Developer’s Meetup, so its great to see a lot of his hard effort beginning to pay off, both professionally and for Houston’s Startup & Tech Community.
Here is a description of the game provided by Nathan:
Remember that game you played as a kid? SlapHappy!™ brings you back to the playground where the simplest things brought hours of fun.
Hold your hand over your friend’s, and pull your hand away before you get slapped. Once you see your friend’s hand start to move, the faster and harder you pull your hand away, the higher your score. Move too soon and you lose.
Battle 6 different characters, each quicker and stronger than the last. Don’t blink or you will get SLAPPED!
SlapHappy!™ is OpenFeint enabled. Compare your highest score and best reaction times with your friends and everyone else in the world, and unlock achievements to boost your OpenFeint gamerscore.
SlapHappy!™ is simple, fun and addictive! Are you quick enough?
Click below if you would like to see a video of the game in action:
More info on SlapHappy can be found via the links below:
kurtstoll Tuesday, 16th of February 2010 at 08:32:18 PM
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Werkadoo, the Houston startup that aims to compete with the likes of ODesk and eLance for the business of contractors and freelancers and be the “eHarmony of Business,” officially launched their site yesterday! Below are the screenshots of their beta invitation and launch sites, as well as information from the announcement of their launch, provided by the founders: Travis Skweres and Bridgette Penel.
Local Houston startup Werkadoo is proud to launch it’s web-based platform to the public! Werkadoo’s goal is to link the best-fit professionals looking for work with businesses that need their services in an exciting new way. In fact, Werkadoo.com aims to be the ‘eHarmony of Business’. Unlike traditional job boards, Werkadoo matches people to projects based on their resume and skills as well as 7 work dimensions and behavioral preferences. Research has shown that employee/employer compatibility on a human level is the most indicating factor of whether or not a project will be successful or fail. By measuring the human element as well as one’s resume, Werkadoo helps reduce the risk that comes with hiring unknown talent, and connects the best fit people the business in need.
Why Businesses Use Werkadoo:
1. Hire on-demand talent easily.
2. Receive your top 10 matches based on your needs, don’t sift through 1,000 resumes.
3. Drastically reduce the time it takes to source a candidate for a position.
4. Ensure that the candidates chosen are a good fit both on a skill and personal level.
5. Hire pre-formed teams for larger projects. They’re ready to work instantly!
Why Professionals Use Werkadoo:
1. Stand out from the resume pile.
2. Don’t search, get matched to projects that best fit you, so you can focus on doing what you do best.
3. Fill a full-time schedule with several Werkadoo clients, and make more money.
4. Form and join teams on Werkadoo, and compete for bigger projects!
5. Plug in all the great communication and collaboration tools you use all in one place.
How We’re Different From oDesk, eLance, Monster, CareerBuilder, And All The Other Guys:
1. When you post a position with us, you’re not bombarded with irrelevant resumes.
2. We match you to the best-fit candidates on a skill and behavioral level.
3. We bring you the top 10 people you should be talking to for your open position.
4. As a professional, you don’t have to search endlessly for positions, we match you to them.
5. We never take a commission out of your paycheck.
6. You can form and join teams on Werkadoo, and compete for larger projects.
7. You can hire these teams on the spot, and save the trouble of assembling them yourself.
8. We don’t force you into a box, use any online tools you want to get work done.
9.. You can get us on the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, just call.
10. Not sure what you need? We have Werkadoo Ambassadors standing by to walk you through the process.
In this economy, businesses need on-demand talent they can hire easily to get things done. At the same time, professionals need an effective way to find work and make money. Werkadoo is dedicated to improving the way businesses and professionals find each other, so give us a try today.
Marc Nathan Saturday, 16th of January 2010 at 08:52:15 AM
Houston is home to a number of organizations that offer the keys to building a successful technology company. Don’t miss your opportunity to learn about their plans for 2010. Startup Houston will be participating for the first time this year.
Tech Connection
Thursday, January 28, 2010 The Houstonian Hotel Keynote by Michael Garfield 5:30 -8:30 pm
There is still time to register to attend the iPhone Dev Camp Houston
What is iPhoneDevCamp Houston?
iPhoneDevCamp Houston is a participant-driven gathering of like-minded individuals – also known as an unconference – with the goal of bringing together current and future iPhone developers and business owners to network, share ideas, and explore opportunities.
Thursday, 11th of March 2010 at 05:51:19 PM
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