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| | The May Report: 7/30/2010: Part one of three tonight: McCall and New World sell out on Plsydom [sic: Playdom]; No more excuses, no more self-pity, no more long naps -- the real problem is the space between my ears, not the lesion in my liver, capisce?; Bland claims to be getting some traction
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| | July 30, 2010
The May Report: 7/30/2010: Part one of three tonight: McCall and New World sell out on Plsydom; No more excuses, no more self-pity, no more long naps -- the real problem is the space between my ears, not the lesion in my liver, capisce?; Bland claims to be getting some traction
Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com , 773-525-3944.
If you missed an article, go here: http://www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
[Editor's note: May here. Sorry for such short reports and especially to those who have sent in material. Between doctors' appointments, surgical procedures and tests, home nurse visits and physical therapy visits, I have no time. Willinger starts in a half hour, I probably won't make it,. so someone take notes please.
Scratch that. Enough of the excuses and claptrap. Bottom line: That report never made it out the door.
The problem is not the lesion in my liver -- it is the dead space between my ears. That space is floating, floating, floating like a feather slowly swirling to the ground. All I ever want to do is take a nap. My hemoglobin dropped back down again just when we were doing so well. I am #71 out of 72 patients in my clinic -- and they track all that stuff meticulously -- in my hemoglobin.
But enough of that. The best antidote to being down and out and self-pitying is just hit the send button. It also did not help when the surgeon at Illinois Masonic, Dr. Marc A. Adajar, told me there is a remote chance the abscess is the infamous "C" word. He said remote chance, but I heard "C."
And a timely scoop of sorts never hurts to get the blood flowing again.
This just in:
++++++++++++++++++
From: Fred Jones <fredjones64@yahoo.com>
Subject: New World Deal
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:32:36 -0700 (PDT)
To: ron@themayreport.com
Ron,
I think these guys are based here in Chicago. They just sold their company, Playdom, to Disney for $763 million after only 7 months. I think their partner was Matt McCall. Don't know if you know him.
http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/07/27/disney-buys-social-game-firm-playdom-for-up-to-763-2m/
Fred
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
May again. Read the article: "That may be why Playdom sold out now. Playdom has raised a total of $76 million to date from Bessemer Venture Partners, Disney's Steamboat Ventures, and New World Ventures."
Congrats to New World and Matt on that one. But in general, the VC track record is a mixed bag.
http://www.pehub.com/78445/latest-vc-data-is-a-mixed-bag/
Here are the first two parts of a three part report tonight. I am giving you the entire Table of Contents for parts one and two now, but the actual send will be split into three sections with the last one being Briefly noted.]
______________________________________
*******************************************
GP Ventures specializes in M&A advisory services for technology companies in a wide range of sectors.
Some current projects include:
*Acquisition Program for publicly-traded IT Consulting firm, seeking firms in the Data Center, Managed Services, and IT Consulting (SAP, Oracle, etc.) sectors ($10 million to $100 million revenues)
*Acquisition Program for US PC Board Manufacturer seeking US PCB shops ($1 million to $30 million revenues)
*Sell Side Program for 40 million Euro Fiber Optics Company (based in Europe, now preparing materials)
Please contact GP Ventures to discuss sell-side projects, acquisition programs, and "grooming" consulting projects.
Best regards,
Tom Kastner
GP Ventures
847-431-3993
M&A Advisory Services for technology companies in EMS, PCB, Software, Defense, IT Services, Electronics, Distribution
******************************************
__________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Scoop section:
-- Envestnet Inc., a Chicago-based provider of online investment solutions and
services to financial advisors, raised around $63 million in its IPO
-- SocialDevCamp Chicago Aug.14-15
-- An event Ron missed but wishes he had not: Thursday, July 29: Uncle Fatty's hosts SMC Chicago's Summer Social
-- Sad News at Locke Lord
-- Another event Ron wishes he had known about and attended at the Knapp Center July 29th
-- Lyn Williams on mysoiree.net, a kind of star search for budding artists
-- Melanie Adcock on mobile apps and some big local initiatives
-- Michael Quintos on social media using an Adobe case study
-- Paul Sand: Chicago InfraGard Programs and Seminars
-- Sandra Susino: Looking for work with degrees from Stanford, Harvard and Princeton
-- Darrell Dvorak: Krugman's veracity, cont'd
-- Mark your calendars for September 28: VenturesLAUNCH to Bring the Country's Hottest Startups to Chicago
-- Jason Rexilius: BARcamp Chicago 2010 - Aug 21-22
END OF PART ONE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
START OF PART TWO
-- John Katsantonis: Various "Johns" and "Jerries"
-- New Technology to Help 1st Ward in City of Chicago Residents
-- Misc. Thomas J. Hincamp
-- Tuesday, August 3: BNC Capital Group and in their promo material there seems to be some progress in funding deals
-- Len Bland's summary of the three firms that presented at the July 6th meeting
-- Miscellaneous (5 notes)
-- Another regular annual event Ron wishes he had attended put on by TBIF
-- Is Data Breach Litigation a Continuing Threat?
-- Chicago Growth Partners
-- Yet another event Ron wishes he had been able to attend: BNC Entrepreneur 2010 Summer Social with Howard Tullman
-- Washington, DC, and Chicago, IL - June 23, 2010 - 3Sixty Holdings, LLC, a technology-focused holding company formed by several private equity investors, today announced it has acquired AIS Network Corporation
-- Cards Ron collected at Social Media Club Chicago on 6/24/2010
-- Cards Ron collected a Ignite Chicago on 6/9/2010
-- Cards Ron collected at TBIF (The Big Idea Forum) on 6/21/2010
_______________________________________
*********************************************
How are all "those" successful companies achieving top 1st page rankings on search engines like google, yahoo!, Bing, and ask?
The Search Engine Store knows how some of them got there, because they're the ones that put 'em there. From small online shops to large corporations, they've proven themselves time after time and their clients couldn't be happier.
Read what a few said:
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Rob M.
B2B Corporation
"We needed a solution for our online presence so we could stay ahead of our competition and get more business leads from our website. Being a small local company looking for local business, The Search Engine Store recommended we hit up geo-targeted city keywords within our industry. Within 4 months we have been top 5 ranking in over 50 surrounding cities on google and at least 10-15 hot leads coming in per week. Needless to say, they rock!"
Jan C.
Warehouse Facility
"A print marketing company built our online shop with over 300 products. The company did not have much experience in Internet Marketing and very little in SEO. There wasn't much success because they sold us on the age-old saying, if you build it, they will come.
They didn't come until The Search Engine Store brought in their team of experts and revamped our site so the search engines could actually find us. Thanks solely to them, we now sell in the hundreds of thousands online every month. A mere fraction of what it cost us. My partner said it was the best investment we'd ever made! I couldn't agree more."
Rich M.
Specialty Products Company
For information on how The Search Engine Store can bring your website more ROI contact The Search Engine Store at 312.455.1511 and ask for one of our Search Engine Specialists. Also, The Search Engine Store will also do a complimentary SEO website evaluation via their website at www.thesearchenginestore.com
******************************************
__________________________________
The Scoop section:
____________________
Envestnet Inc., a Chicago-based provider of online investment solutions and
services to financial advisors, raised around $63 million in its IPO
Envestnet Inc., a Chicago-based provider of online investment solutions and
services to financial advisors, raised around $63 million in its IPO
Envestnet Inc., a Chicago-based provider of online investment solutions and
services to financial advisors, raised around $63 million in its IPO. The
company priced seven million shares at $9 per share, compared to plans to
sell 7.7 million shares at between $12 and $14 per share.
EnvestNet will trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol ENV, with Morgan
Stanley, UBS and Barclays Capital serving as co-lead underwriters. It
reports nearly $78 million in 2009 revenue, down from $92 million in 2008.
It also dropped from a $5.2 million net profit in 2008 to an $872k net loss
in 2009.
The company had raised over $40 million in VC funding, from GRP Partners
(29.14% pre-IPO stake), Foundation Capital (9.45%), Apex Venture Partners
(7.2%), Edgewater Funds (7.15%) and Siguler Guff (5.24%). www.envestnet.com
_______________________________
SocialDevCamp Chicago Aug.14-15
Subject: [AMC] SocialDevCamp Chicago Aug.14-15
Date: 7/30/2010 10:23:24 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: harvey@tillis.com
To: announcements@amcomm.org
SocialDevCamp Chicago?
?
?AUG Chicago is taking August off as a little summer break.?Watch out for
details on our September meeting.?However if you are pining for a great
technology event to fill the void you might want to check out Social DevCamp
Chicago. ?
SocialDevCamp Chicago is two days of developer-centric sessions about making
the most of the social web. It's the unconference for social application and
platform developers, mobile social developers, evangelists, and enthusiasts.
At SocialDevCamp you'll join hundreds of passionate developers and creators
for a weekend of robust talks on social applications, platforms, APIs,
mobile applications, identity management, and new media.
August 14-15, 2010
Illinois Institute of Technology
Main site: http://socialdevcampchicago.com/
Registration: http://socialdevcampchicago.com/register/
Reasons you should attend:?
You have heard Chicago is amazing in the summer (it is)
You are interested in networking with Groupon, Facebook, Paypal, Rackspace, Google, O'Reilly authors, etc (they're coming)
You want thousands in learning experiences for $30 (that's what we are offering)?
You plan to win part of the $3000 in Hackathon prizes (bring it)
Note: This is not an AUG Chicago event, however we are glad to let you know about great community driven & supporting events.
?
AUG Chicago, The Chicago Area Adobe Users Group http://www.augchicago.org
--
Harvey S. Tillis
President
The Association for Multimedia Communications, Inc. (AMC)
P. O. Box 10645
Chicago, IL. 60610
773-276-9320 direct
http://www.amcomm.org
___________________________________
An event Ron missed but wishes he had not: Thursday, July 29: Uncle Fatty's hosts SMC Chicago's Summer Social
Subject: Social Media Club event 7/29
Date: 7/28/2010 11:02:42 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: jwillinger@rightpoint.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Join Social Media Club Chicago for our Summer Social.
We are excited to have Uncle Fatty's host SMC Chicago's Summer Social. Uncle Fatty's Rum Resort on Sheffield just north of Diversy is a tropical themed 7000 square foot playground focused on pure low-maintenance fun! http://budurl.com/socialisland
To stay on theme for our Summer Social, wear your best "resort wear" for a chance to win some great prizes! What's "resort wear"? Let's just say we're not looking for pressed linen pants and Tommy Bahama shirts. Get crazy, let loose and have some fun!
Program
5:30 - 6:30 Networking
6:30 - 7:00 "Stand Up" Stories, How Social Media Has Impacted My Life
7:00 - 8:00 Networking
Our "Stand Up" Speakers
Carla Furca @ShesAllWrite
Kelly Olexa @KellyOlexa
Amy Korin @InteractiveAmy
Jeannie Walters @JeannieCW
5 minute stories, MC - Jeff Willinger @jwillie, followed by Q & A
Thanks to Buick for Inviting our Guests to an Buick Regal Remix After Party and for sponsoring this event! RSVP at http://www.thrillist.com/regalremixchicago
Ride the Buick Remix VIP Shuttle from Uncle Fatty's to River East Arts Center.
Buick is throwing a party to introduce the newest member of the family, the 2011 Regal.
Come join us for Chi-town inspired grub, icy cold cocktails, and music from Augustana -- all at Buick Regal Remix Chicago.
Shuttles will begin at 7 pm at Uncle Fatty's and will go directly to the Buick Regal Remix event at River East Art Center. There will be no return shuttle - this is a one-way transportation opportunity.
Register here: http://budurl.com/socialisland
Jeff
......
Jeffrey S. Willinger
312.622.2300 cell
jwillinger@rightpoint.com
www.rightpoint.com
__________________________________
Sad News at Locke Lord
Subject: Sad News
Date: 7/20/2010 3:50:24 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: len_bland@conceptequity.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
You are receiving this email from Concept Equity Group, Inc. because you have expressed an interest in the BNC VC Group.
You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.
Sad News from BNC VC Group
I am terribly sorry to report that our good friend and Managing Partner of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, Larry Gray, passed away yesterday.
Tribune Obituary
Larry was a great supporter of entrepreneurship and the BNC VC Group. May his memory be a blessing.
Services Wednesday, 12 noon at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, 1175 Sheridan, Highland Park, IL 60035. Interment Shalom. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to North Suburban Synagogue Beth El or the charity of your choice. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals 847-229-8822,
The family will begin sitting shiva at Larry and Shari's home in Highland Park beginning on Wednesday evening and continuing for a full week (but not on Friday night.) Anyone desiring an explanation of what any of this means is welcome to contact me.
Please keep Larry's wife, Sheri, and their children in your thoughts and prayers.
_____________________________________
Another event Ron wishes he had known about and attended at the Knapp Center July 29th
Discover 6 Midwest incubators at our free reception at IIT
On July 29, 2010, midVentures and IIT will present a Kickoff Reception & Incubator Panel. An invite-only group of Midwest leaders, startups, entrepreneurs and investors will learn about the organizations directly impacting technology startups in 2010. The Incubator Panel will offer invited startups an opportunity to learn more about Chicago and Midwest incubators have to offer. The Kickoff Reception also provides a 30-day notice to apply to midVenturesLAUNCH as an early-stage COMPETE or a later stage LAUNCH startup.
Register: http://incubatorpanel.eventbrite.com/
When Thu Jul 29 6pm - 9pm Central Time
Where IIT Technology Park, 3440 S. Dearborn, Chicago, IL (map)
_______________________________________
Lyn Williams on mysoiree.net, a kind of star search for budding artists
Subject: Thank you
Date: 7/28/2010 7:40:20 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: lyn@mysoiree.net
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Hi Ron,
I wanted to thank you for being a part of the 2010 North American MySoiree.net Chicago Art Tour. It was such an honor to have you in our presence, and the artists in Chicago were just amazing.
It was engaging to share with you how Mysoiree.net came to be. You are welcome in San Francisco anytime.
Sincerely,
Lyn E. Williams
CEO
Soirée International Inc.
2010 North American Mysoiree Art Tour
LA Aug. 4 http://mysoireela.eventbrite.com/
San Francisco, CA
http://MySoiree.net
tw: @Mysoireenet
330-831-9593
______________________________________
Melanie Adcock on mobile apps and some big local initiatives
Subject: Ron's information
Date: 7/28/2010 4:12:15 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com
Hey Ron,
Great to see you at Reggie's. It was fun looking at art and talking. Hope you made it home safely. Here is the info you asked for- it's past 4am now and I need to get some rest!
Chicago Android http://chicagoandroid.com/
Chicago Android is run by Uki Lucas and his number is 650-815-6603. I think you should call him up and interview him.
Mobile Mondays in Chicago http://www.momochicago.org/
Anthony Hand runs the Mobile Monday Chicago chapter. Love him. He is great!
Android Tapp http://www.androidtapp.com/
A company writing reviews of Android Apps.
Medici Effect by Frans Johansson- The book I'm reading right now.
I can't believe you stayed out so late. Hope you had a fun night. Must get sleep!! :) -Melanie
Melanie Adcock
iPHONE: 312-259-0610
DROID: 312-833-1825
E-Mail: melanie_adcock@msn.com
Facebook Fan Page: http://bit.ly/MelanieAdcockFacebookFanPage
Bio: http://bit.ly/MelanieAdcockARC
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieadcock
Twitter: http://twitter.com/melanie_adcock
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/melanie.a.adcock
__________________________________
Michael Quintos on social media using an Adobe case study
Subject: Since you are always asking about social media
Date: 7/24/2010 7:36:53 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: michael@media-fuse.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
Hey Ron,
Hope all is well. We recently wrote a case study with Adobe on social media and how it's part of traditional advertising rather than a new form of advertising.
It's short but worth a quick read; http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=casestudydetail&casestudyid=1058919&loc=en_us
Michael Quintos
President, Media-Fuse
http://media-fuse.com/deck/Media-Fuse-Deck.pdf
Social Media Experts; Mobile APP Development, Widgets, Facebook
michael@media-fuse.com
http://media-fuse.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mquintos
http://www.facebook.com/quintos
__________________________________________
Paul Sand: Chicago InfraGard Programs and Seminars
Subject: Chicago InfraGard Programs and Seminars
Date: 7/21/2010 2:14:48 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: paul.sand@salaresecurity.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
Mark your calendars and grab your seats while there is still room in a series of high-impact seminars offered by the Chicago InfraGard Chapter in the coming months. The seminars are open to the public, so seats will go fast, and registration in advance is required - see details below.
Preventing and Investigating Terrorism. This seminar, co-operatively presented with ChicagoFIRST, is at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago on September 1. Learn about emerging trends in terrorism and understand how to support law enforcement investigation of terrorist acts and plots. Most importantly, get engaged in a dynamic, innovative tabletop exercise that steps you through how neighboring facilities need to respond when a local terrorist attack is in progress.
More information and registration at: https://terrorism-cima.eventbrite.com
Effective Collaboration to Protect Critical Infrastructure. Private sector owners and operators of the critical infrastructures and key resources identified in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) own a difficult challenge: collaborating and sharing information to raise our national security posture. How can you maintain compliance with SOX, HIPPA, GLBA, PCI DSS, and FISMA while sharing information with the public sector or other private sector partners? How can you avoid Freedom of Information Act disclosure of information shared with the public sector? How can you share information with your staunch competitors without hurting your competitive position and competitive strengths? On September 15, learn from the practical experiences of Jeff Brown, the CISO at Raytheon and Larry Clinton, President of the Information Security Alliance. Chicago area venue to be determined.
More information and registration at: https://collaboration-cima.eventbrite.com
Scenario Based Execute Level Training. On September 29, this seminar will address "All Hazards" catastrophic event planning and preparation in a dramatic, innovative format. Developed by the Western Community Policing Institute and the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation, the seminar is designed to be challenge and scenario-based, requiring active participation and problem-solving. Participants, as leaders of their communities, will learn about leadership theories and traits that will assist them in planning and preparing for a National or domestic all hazards catastrophic event. This seminar will use historical figures and a pandemic influenza case study to examine and discuss how leaders, at critical times, can do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reasons. Chicago area venue to be determined.
More information and registration at: https://sbelt-cima.eventbrite.com
Regards,
Paul Sand for the Chicago InfraGard Chapter
Salare Security LLC
312.994.2336 (direct)
312.852.0145 (mobile)
paul.sand@salaresecurity.com
Chapter Website: http://www.infragard.net/chapters/chicago/
Online Program information: http://www.infragard.net/chapters/chicago/programs.php?mn=4
________________________________________
Sandra Susino: Looking for work with degrees from Stanford, Harvard and Princeton
From: Sandra Susino sandragrace@gmail.com
Subject: referred by Jack Gilroy
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:04:51 -0500
To: ron@themayreport.com
Hi Ron,
Jack Gilroy referred me to TheMayReport.com when I told him I'm in
Chicago and actively looking for work. In a nutshell, my background
is in strategic business development, operations and consulting for
top technology companies. My education includes degrees and
certifications from Stanford, Harvard and Princeton.
More about me is on my LinkedIn profile here:
http://www.linkedin.com/sandrasusino
Meanwhile, I'm here in Chicago and would love to make your
acquaintance. Might you have time for a quick phone call or coffee?
Warmest regards,
Sandra Susino
646-339-3738
__________________________________
Darrell Dvorak: Krugman's veracity, cont'd
From: Darrell Dvorak <d5547k@yahoo.com>
Subject: Krugman's veracity, cont'd
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:36:14 -0700 (PDT)
To: Ron May <ron@themayreport.com>
from Taranto @ WSJ today
Former Enron adviser Paul Krugman delivers the good news that 2010 is "the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died." Needless to say, he thinks this is bad news, but that's not why we're highlighting his column in yesterday's New York Times. Instead, it is for this passage:
You've probably heard about the accusations leveled against climate researchers--allegations of fabricated data, the supposedly damning e-mail messages of "Climategate," and so on. What you may not have heard, because it has received much less publicity, is that every one of these supposed scandals was eventually unmasked as a fraud concocted by opponents of climate action, then bought into by many in the news media.
Now, it would be one thing for Krugman to argue--wrongly, in our opinion--that the "supposedly damning e-mail messages of 'Climategate' " were not actually damning. But no one has denied that they are genuine. Krugman's description of them--and every other accusation "leveled against climate researchers"--as "a fraud concocted by opponents of climate action" is flatly false.
Nor is this the first time such a statement has appeared under Krugman's byline in the pages of the Times. You may dimly recall this passage of his Aug. 17, 2009, column:
In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We've all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false.
Again, a categorical statement: not "some of these stories are false" (which is probably true) or "these stories paint a misleading picture; although the British health-care system has its shortcomings, on the whole it is vastly superior to America's" (which, as a statement of opinion, is at least defensible). If even a single scare story about Britain's National Health Service is true, Krugman's assertion is false.
If we were trying to mimic Krugman, we would mimic Mary McCarthy and assert: "Every word he writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.' " But unlike us, Krugman doesn't even have the wit to employ apophasis. Instead, he--sometimes!--includes statements in his columns that are so clumsily and obviously false as to open him to easy ridicule.
We're grateful for the material, but we're not so self-absorbed as to think that Krugman makes himself ridiculous merely in order to make our job easy. Why then?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703977004575393353665119526.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion
____________________________________
Mark your calendars for September 28: VenturesLAUNCH to Bring the Country's Hottest Startups to Chicago
From: "Kristie Heins Fox" <heinsfoxk@RuderFinn.com>
Subject: midVenturesLAUNCH to Bring the Country's Hottest Startups to Chicago
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:36:59 -0400
To: <ron@themayreport.com>
Ronald,
Good afternoon. I'm writing to inform you about - and invite you to attend - midVenturesLAUNCH, the Midwest's largest startup and innovation conference, which is taking place on September 28, 2010 in Chicago.
Today's press release (below) introduced the event and announced that submissions are now open for both startups and later stage companies pushing the innovation envelope. Startups have the opportunity to win more than $100,000 in cash and prizes, and we already have an impressive speaker line-up that includes Brad Keywell, co-founder of Groupon.
If you want to learn more about MidVenturesLAUNCH and/or be added to the pre-registered press list, please let me know.
Best,
Kristie
Kristie Heins Fox
Ruder Finn for MidVenturesLAUNCH
312.329.3985
http://midventureslaunch.com
Twitter: @midventures / #mvlaunch
The Midwest's Largest Startup and Innovation Conference - midVenturesLAUNCH - Now Accepting Entries
More Than $100K in Cash and Prizes for Early Stage Startups; Also Seeking More Established Brands Looking to Launch New Products, Enter New Markets
CHICAGO - July 29, 2010 - Tonight on the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) campus, Chicago's leading incubators, entrepreneurs and investors will kick off the application process for midVenturesLAUNCH, the Midwest's largest startup and innovation conference taking place on September 28, 2010 at the UIC Forum in Chicago. Innovators and entrepreneurs can now apply online to be one of 50 startups and established companies selected to compete or launch at the inaugural conference.
"With this event we're looking to keep pace with technology innovation on the coasts, unite the Chicago technology community and position Chicago as the epicenter of startup innovation in the Midwest," noted Jonathan Pasky, co-founder of midVenturesLAUNCH and a patent attorney and principal at Pasky IP. "We're expecting two thousand industry leaders, investors, journalists and entrepreneurs to attend and have already lined up several successful entrepreneurs who epitomize technology innovation to both speak and judge the entrants."
midVenturesLAUNCH will have three tracks:
Ø COMPETE - targeted towards early-stage startups. The top 25 companies will be selected from hundreds of entries to be judged by our expert panel. Companies must be less than 3 years old and have received less than $2M in funding. In the first round, the judges will intermingle with attendees to watch your pitch on the exhibition floor. The top five companies will be selected for 3-minute pitches in front of the audience and the panel of judges and will take home more than $100,000 in cash and services from our sponsors. There is no cost to the startups to participate, as companies selected to COMPETE will be given a free table on the exhibition floor. Interested companies can apply here by September 1, 2010.
Ø LAUNCH - for more established companies that have launched or will debut a market-ready product or service in 2010. The 25 companies chosen for this track will get a table on the exhibition floor and an opportunity to introduce their venture and new product/service to a targeted audience of investors, journalists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders via a 3-minute presentation on the conference main stage. While there is no fee to apply, the cost to companies selected for LAUNCH is $2,500 for the table and marketing collateral inclusion, which includes the conference mobile app. Interested companies can apply here by September 1, 2010.
Ø mVDEMO - this track is for startups that either don't make the cut for COMPETE or simply want to take advantage of the opportunity to demo their company in front of leading VCs, entrepreneurs, journalists and industry leaders. Companies must be less than 3 years old with less than $2M in funding. The cost to demo is $750. In addition, one company from this group will be selected as the "people's choice" and will be considered by the expert panel for inclusion in the Top 5 COMPETE startups.
The midVenturesLAUNCH judging/speaking panel will be comprised of some of the industry's leading entrepreneurs, including:
Ø Brad Keywell, Co-founder & CEO of MediaBank and Founder & Principal of Groupon
Ø Adam Koopersmith, Partner at New World Ventures
Ø Chuck Templeton, Founder of OpenTable and Chairman of GrubHub.com
Ø Mark Walsh, Founder & CEO of GeniusRocket
Ø Sam Yagan, Founder & CEO of OKCupid
Ø Zee M. Kane, Editor in Chief of The Next Web
midVenturesLAUNCH follows the success of midVentures25, Chicago's first startup demo day and pitch contest. That event, in March 2010, brought together the Midwest tech community-more than 80 startups and dozens of investors, business leaders and Chicago media outlets-and offered an inside look at the latest web products and services. Since March, midVentures25 startups including GiveForward, G2.fm, FanGo and Watermelon Express have grown their businesses and caught the eyes of incubator programs across the country.
If you are interested in speaking or serving as a judge, please contact Jonathan Pasky at jon@midventures.com. All submissions for the COMPETE and LAUNCH tracks are due no later than September 1, 2010.
About midVentures
midVentures is a technology and venture consulting firm providing web development and incubator services to high-growth technology startups and ideas.
_____________________________________
Jason Rexilius: BARcamp Chicago 2010 - Aug 21-22
From: Jason Rexilius jason@hostedlabs.com
Subject: BARcamp Chicago 2010 - Aug 21-22
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:56:31 -0500
To: The May Report <ron@themayreport.com>
Hey Ron,
I just wanted to pass on a note to the readers that BARcamp Chicago is coming up and we've got an awesome venue this year. It's happening Aug 21-22, all weekend as always. Lots of talks, beer and hacking.
Kevin, Tim and the organizer crew have been putting together a great BARcamp this year and it will be in the former Electronic Arts building which is a super cool venue. You can sign up for the announcement list at:
http://barcampchicago.com/home/
We're looking for sponsors and help from anyone that wants to chip in. Like always its a donate what you can afford approach so any little bit is welcome!
There should be some great talks this year and I'm organizing an Android code sprint around some apps that were used in Haiti. BARcompany is happening again this year which should be fun and lots of other stuff ;-)
Look forward to seeing you all there and ping me if you have any questions or can help out in any way!
cheers!
-jason
contact@jasonrexilius.com
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