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!

Our judges reviewed more than 100 companies, the majority early-stage start-ups, all vying for the opportunity to hold one of ten coveted Showoff spots at Twiistup 5.  Here are their picks.

Causecast

Causecast, dubbed “a one stop philanthropy shop” by TechCrunch, is a platform where media, philanthropy, social networking, entertainment and education converge to serve a greater purpose.

Cogi

Cogi set out with a simple goal – give professionals a way to effortlessly recall and track everything in their important conversations through the use of an intuitive, browser-based service that seamlessly transcribes the important parts of conversation – the ‘COGent Ideas’ or Cogi.

eHow

More than 27 million people visit eHow.com each month to search more than 300,000 articles that are professionally written with clear and concise directions on how to do things. It also has a rapidly-growing library of articles created by eHow’s members and a large library of professional instructional videos.

FixYa 

FixYa empowers individuals to repair and improve upon their already-purchased possessions. The company also offers business services to manufacturers and retail businesses through its custom partnership opportunities.

GoGreenSolar

GoGreenSolar is global group of professionals dedicated to improve the distribution of renewable energy products, services and financing for people everywhere.

Meebo  

Meebo is a new communications and media company that’s re-writing the way people have conversations and communicate on the Web.

RoboDynamics

RoboDynamics is built by passionate people who want to use technology to shift the status quo and leverage state-of-the-art technology in robotics to change the way people live and work.

TheScene

The Scene connects individuals to the hottest places, people and events in their area. The Scene’s trendsetting community is on the pulse of nightlife and entertainment in various cities throughout the world.

Viewdle 

Viewdle is a facial-recognition powered digital media platform for indexing, searching and monetizing video assets.

Yammer

Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: ‘What are you working on?’  

Each of these companies will demo their offerings at Twiistup 5 and are eligible for the Fan Favorite and Judge’s Choice awards.

Another huge thanks to our esteemed panel that devoted their time to select this awesome group of Showoffs.

Judges that will attend Twiistup 5:

Sarah Lacy, Jackie Peters, Peter Pham, Andrew Warner, Richard Wolpert, Will Jessup, Frank Gruber, Devlyn Steele and Brian Solis. 

Growthink is a leading strategic consulting, advisory and investment banking firm to growth companies.  They’re headquartered right here in beautiful LA, with offices in SF, SD and NY.  They’ve been in business since 1999, and have helped more than 1500 companies with strategic planning, growth and capital raises.  (That’s quite a track record.)  Not all of the businesses they service are tiny:  their roster includes Deutsche Bank, Hooters, and McKesson Corporation.   But don’t fret:  they still take care of the little guys.

As a matter of fact, to show how much they care, they’re offering a free business plan consultation or business plan review to Twiistup4 attendees.  (They’re also providing services to all the Showoffs and a full strategic review to the Twiistup4 winner.)  They have specialty practices in digital entertainment, technology, green and biotech, in addition to general services.  Please stop by and see them at the event to make arrangements.  And tell them “thanks” for supporting our community, and for the great party by the pool.  We’re delighted to have them as one of our sponsors.

LOUD3R’s value proposition:

‘Good content is hard to find. Leave the dirty work to LOUD3R. We scour thousands of sites, sift through the spam, the splogs, and all the other junk to find the best, most relevant content across the Web – the stuff you really care about.’

Check out their sites here (see below) then talk to the team at Twiistup 4. LOUD3R was selected as one of the 11 Showoffs to demo on July 17.

venture capital – http://www.found3r.com
gadgets & technology – http://www.new3r.com
internet business & technology – http://www.buzz3r.com
wine – http://www.decant3r.com
environment – http://www.glaci3r.com
fashion – http://www.glitt3r.com
gossip – http://www.sland3r.com
sneakers – http://www.sneak3r.com
men’s fashion – http://www.dapp3r.com
skateboarding – http://www.grind3r.com

Congrats to Lowell Goss and team on the launch.

Received word from LA Times Staff Writer Alana Semuels that they’ve launched a new blog devoted to technology.  Looks like they’re going to cover more here about ‘The Business and Culture of our Connected Lives’ than they were able to in their print version.  If you have post ideas, send them along to Alana.Semuels@latimes.com.

FYI: LA Times recent ran a story about Twiistup here:
Where SoCal techies let loose

Recent posts by Alana:
Testing Second Life on a mobile phone (get ready to text!)
Apple named most gay-friendly brand
Celebnet, more reading material for the celebrity-obsessed