DC Reminder: Social Matchbox DC

Just wanted to give everyone a quick reminder before we got to the weekend about a cool event taking place next Monday, January 28th at 6-8:30 PM.

The event is a great idea that plans to

bring together DC startup community members to discuss jobs, ideas and collaborative opportunities.  Participation is free.  Registration is required.  This event is not open to staffing agency representatives.

I am looking forward to going and getting a glimpse of the DC startups that are out there making things happen.

Here is an update we received today from the event organizer

With eight days to go before the event more than 20 companies from the startup community have signed up and plan to send representatives.  Among them are: ClearSpring, CrossMine, CustomInk, HotPads, iBelong, Hungry Machine, Intridea, Mixx, Ozmosis, Positive Energy, Razoo, Visual CV, WorthPoint.  comScore was also invited and will be joining us.

Over 100 people are expected to attend.  Registrants include at least: 41 developers, 2 development managers,  1 user experience designer, 1 QA engineer, 5 systems engineers, 5 marketing and PR professionals, 3 sales reps, 4 operations managers, 10 executives, 3 corporate recruiters, 2 data/business analysts, and more than 31 others who we can’t classify based on their registration information.

Location:
TeqCorner, 3rd Floor, 1616 Anderson Road, McLean, VA 22102

Schedule:
6-7 networking
7-7:30 startups get 2-3 minutes to talk about who they are and what they are looking for (no demo)
7:30-8:30 networking

Let us know who plans on going ?

DC Startup Wiki: Please Contribute

The other day I posted about a cool Seattle startup index I came across and wanted to do something similar as we all grow this tech community here in the DC area. I got some comments to add and was about to start on a page when Zvi Band came up with a better idea, a wiki we could all contribute to.

Wow what a great idea, thank you Zvi ! So I went over and signed up for one. Nothing fancy of course, but a page we can all contribute to and add in value. There is also a discussion forum on the wiki to start any relevant threads.

Please head over to the East Coast Blogging’s DC Startup Index and edit away ! I look forward to everyones contributions and ideas.

UPDATE:  There was a bit of a conversation on Twitter about our definition of who is a startup and belongs on the list.  Nick O’Neill found this definition we will go by:

A company that is in the first stage of its operations. These companies are often initially bank rolled by their entrepreneurial founders as they attempt to capitalize on developing a product or service for which they believe there is a demand.

Capital Cabal: Networking DC Style

I had the pleasure of attending a really nice event last night. It was the Capital Cabal 2nd Tuesday event in Arlington.  I had heard Ann Bernard of WhyGoSolo went last month and said it was really a good time.  So I decided I was going to give it a go.  I was really impressed with the turnout, there was a lot of people there and a wide range as well.  My only criticism would be that they may be outgrowing their venue.  It was a bit crowded and loud.  Not the best environment to explain your startup concept to people who are asking … as you are leaning to them screaming in their ear.

Of course it was great to see a lot of my local DC friends there to catch up with them.  Let see (please forgive me if I miss someone) there was:  Shana Glickfield , Leslie Bradshaw, Nick O’Neill, Zvi Band, Eric Blair, Ann Bernard, Andrew Wright, Jared Goralnick.  I also met some great people and had some really interesting conversations.  I had a good chat with Julie A. Barko Germany, the Deputy Director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.  They were one of the sponsors last night.  The Institute is holding the Politics Online Conference 2008 in March :

The Politics Online Conference sits at the intersection of smart politics, good governance, transparent democracy, and innovative technology, spotlighting tools, applications, strategies, and ideas that affect a range of functions, from writing policy to organizing democratic movements to running a smarter political campaign to building dialogue with your constituents.

People come to the Politics Online Conference to learn about cutting-edge trends and to gain access to the visionaries who make those trends possible. They come to find solutions. They come to discuss their ideas with other experts in the field and outside the Beltway. And they come to network.

For more information, please visit http://polc.ipdi.org/

I have it on the schedule and hope to be able to check it out.

Overall it was a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone and meeting new people.  There was a good mix of people from many fields. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get out there and chat with interesting people and share their ideas or look for new connections.