Los Angeles, CA – May 19, 2009 – Twiistup, Southern California’s premier event showcasing innovation and connecting professionals from the worlds of technology, media and entertainment, invites startups to apply for 10 free ‘Showoff’ slots at Twiistup 6 starting today. Twiistup 6 takes place on Thursday and Friday, July 30 and 31, 2009 at the Universal Hilton in Universal City, Calif.

Showoffs at Twiistup have the chance to gain exposure and visibility in front of a mix of investors, entrepreneurs and other influencers in the tech/media industry. This year, a panel will select 10 entrants based on qualities including:

- contribution to technology, innovation and entrepreneurship
- value and appeal
- originality and inspirational or thought-provoking content

As part of a very vibrant SoCal tech, media and entertainment community, Twiistup is proud to announce it’s support of GeekOut ‘09.

On Monday, May 11, 2009, join Tubefilter and The Society for Geek Advancement for the first ever GeekOut at the W Los Angeles – Westwood’s Whiskey Blue from 7-10pm. GeekOut is a celebration of the geek in you — and whether you geek out about software development or movie-making, you’re invited to join in the fun.

Hosted by longtime Twiistup friend and hostess Shira Lazar, GeekOut celebrates what it really means to be passionate about the things we do and the people we do them with. Get a chance to sip on tasty Geektinis, and hang out to the mellow vibes of Dublab’s streaming DJ sponsored by Honda. Sponsors include Tubefilter, NerdyShirts, 12seconds, Polite in Public, and Marx&Trotsky.

The best part about the whole evening? They’re raising money to benefit Room To Read, a non-profit organization that is building schools and libraries for children in developing countries the world over.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your tickets to GeekOut now!

Brian Solis is an entrepeneur, renown author, technology thought leader, photographer, and publisher of two top Technorati blogs, PR 2.0 and bub.blicio.us. 

He documents the rapid evolution of products, services and trends and how businesses and consumers can actually use these tools. He is also an active leader in spotlighting and cultivating new tech startups and emerging visionaries.

Brian will be on hand at Twiistup 5 to document the event for his popular publications and to help determine the Judge’s Choice Award.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to connect with Brian yet, you’re in for a treat at Twiistup 5.  He’s a big supporter of all of the great things happening for LA tech and has been involved with Twiistup since the beginning.

Bring your corporate logo on a flash stick and get it custom laser engraved onto your Blackberry or Moleskine!  Etchstar will be customizing phones, dog tags and more during the entire event.  Etchstar recently launched sites for custom laser etched notebooks at JournalEngraver.com and custom military products at CustomMilitaryGear.com.  You can also find limited edition series of Simpsons and Family Guy iPods at FoxShop.com and CSI and TAR collectables at CBSStore.com.  Etchstar can laser engrave on just about anything as evidenced by this experiment in Laser vs. Food on YouTube.  Learn more about Etchstar and laser etching & engraving at Etchstar.com/blog.  Thru August, Twiistup fans & friends get free standard shipping at Etchstar.com by entering the code Twiist4 at checkout.

That’s because ADISN is a next-generation ad network that uses relationship data from the social web for ad targeting.   They aggregate all the stuff that more traditional ad networks ignore:  web conversations, profiles, blogs, and behavior.  And they use this data to mine the relationships between seemingly unrelated topics.  The payoff?  Ads that are targeted to the right audiences, in the right places, at the right times.

Please come visit ADISN at Twiistup4, where we’re delighted to welcome them as a sponsor.   If you drop by early, you might score one of their limited-edition t-shirts or a CD full of heart-tugging breakup songs.  Listen to what they have to say, then go write your own Dear John letter to your current ad network.

AOL has always been an Internet innovator, starting with its humble origins as a revolutionary networking service called Quantum Computer Services.    With headquarters in New York, it has now become a leading global advertising-supported web company, with an average of 110 million domestic visitors monthly to its network of web properties.

We’re delighted to welcome AOL as a Twiistup4 sponsor.  Please come see them by the pool, or stop by their developer network website to learn how AOL can enhance your web services offerings and help you make money.  But hurry — if you stop by the booth and ask about their social networking apps, you just might score one of their limited-quantity AOL Developer “social” t-shirts.  You’re sure to be the belle of the ball if you do.

* Titles of attendees
* Companies represented
* Types of people attendees want to meet
* Topics that you want to discuss
* Favorite drink (had to throw that in)

The profiles also include feeds from member’s Flickr, blog, bookmark and Twitter streams.  This is not unlike other social networks out there but is focused on who will be at Twiistup.  This is a great way to advance the dialog and stage of new connections before the event is here.  Our partner CrowdVine also powers Future of Web Apps (FOWA), BarCampBlock and Web 2.0 Expo.

Browse the network and sign up for an account by clicking the Who’s In tab above or directly at: http://twiistup4.crowdvine.com/

What should you do once you’re in?

* Add a picture. That’ll help people put a name to a face.
* Fill out your profile. This will help people find you.
* Find people you know already through our Facebook importer.
* Build a list of people you want to meet. If you want, you can check people off this list as you meet them.

Most importantly, have fun! It’s supposed to be social!

Tech allstar Debbie Landa of Under the Radar and Dealmaker Media fame will lend a hand in determining our Showoff group for Twiistup 3.  We thank Debbie for providing her insightful perspective for what’s sure to be another killer event.

More about Debbie..

Debbie Landa, founder of Dealmaker Media, is an entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in business development, sales, marketing, and public relations. Before starting Dealmaker Media/ formerly Dealmaker Media in 2000, Debbie was the director of business development for Double Impact, a venture catalyst firm focused on accelerating the growth of emerging startup companies. Prior to that, she was the founder of several companies including a public relations firm and an event production company. In addition, Debbie has almost a decade of experience in the apparel industry, working with various clothing manufacturers designing and developing private-label programs for such companies as Macy’s and Bloomingdales, and managed offices up and down the West coast.

Have something you want to showoff at Twiistup 3 on January 15 2008? Apply here before November 15.

Debbie’s photo courtesy of Kris Krüg

Our Showoff selection panel for Twiistup 3 is growing! Mark will also lend his expertise towards selecting the top applicants to showoff at Twiistup 3. Big thanks to Mark for taking time away from his busy Mahalo schedule to help us out!

Mark Jeffrey is an American internet entrepreneur and novelist. He has co-founded three companies and written two novels. He is currently CTO of Mahalo.com, Inc., a new human-powered search engine backed by Sequoia Capitol, CBS, Newscorp, Elon Musk and others. He is the author of Max Quick Book One: The Pocket and the Pendant and Max Quick Book Two: The Two Travelers.

Previously, Jeffrey co-founded social networking company ZeroDegrees, Inc. which he then sold to IAC/InteractiveCorp in 2004 with more than one million registered users. The podcast audiobook version of novel, Max Quick Book One: The Pocket and the Pendant, released in 2005, has received over 1.7 million downloads to date.

Mark Jeffrey’s first company, The Palace, Inc., was backed by Time Warner, Intel and Softbank and sold to Communities.com in 1998. The Palace was a popular avatar virtual world environment that grew to 10 million users at its peak. It was selected ‘The Best of 1996′ by Entertainment Weekly and received numerous awards including a Webby Award nomination; “Cool Innovation of the Year” nominee; Chicago SUN-Times` Best Website: 1998. Palace servers were run by brand marketers including Comedy Central (South Park), Ralph Lauren, Artisan Entertainment (Blair Witch), Capitol Records, Wired, Playboy, CBS, and numerous others.

He also was the co-founder and CEO of SuperSig, Inc. in 1999, an html email company with customers including Williams-Sonoma, ITXC (a VoIP company), and Yahoo / Launch Media.

Mark has been named on of ‘50 to Watch’ by Variety Magazine, selected as one of the “Digital Coast 50′ by Silicon Alley Reporter magazine, and one of the “Heroes of Multimedia” by Entertainment Weekly. He was also featured speaker at the very first Harvard University Conference on the Internet and Society in 1996.

Source: wikipedia

Have something you want to showoff at Twiistup 3 on January 15 2008? Apply here before November 15.