Founded by Jackie Peters and Dennis Peters in 2002, Heavybag is a well known name in the Southern California technology community. Their unique blend of thought leadership, and creative acumen has allowed them to establish an exclusive stable of client brands including Sun Microsystems, Fender, eHarmony, Yale University, Newell Rubbermaid, Getty Images, New England Brewing, AARP, and Guitar Center among others.

The horizontal structure of their organization means that creative contributions are sourced team-wide, not just from the top down. Heavybag is all about connecting the dots between brands and communities, and nowhere is their leadership more apparent than in their extensive portfolio of work, and in their engagement in community driven organizations like Social Media Club. We are proud to welcome them as Gold sponsors of Twiistup 4.

Make sure to stop by and visit the Heavybag team on Thursday – they’ve got something special (but secret) planned. From what I know of them – I’m sure it’s not something you would want to miss.

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.

TechZulu and Minggl

Mzinga doesn’t just cater to bigcos either – they provide a treasure trove of informative and educational white papers and webinars that are more than just buzz. And it doesn’t stop there: Today, Mzinga announced the sponsorship of two key Aberdeen Group benchmark reports: “Workforce Collaboration and Web 2.0: Improving Productivity by Facilitating Knowledge Transfer” and “Customer 2.0: The Business Implications of Social Media.”  You can download both of these reports for free at Mzinga’s website.

On Thursday, make sure to visit the Mzinga team at the Cabana, and drop off your business card for a chance to win a Ninentdo Wii! They’ll also have a limited number of copies of Mzinga Chairman Barry Leibert’s groundbreaking new book “We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business” written by a community of more than 3,000 collaborators on the We Are Smarter community wiki, and in association with MIT, the Wharton School, and Pearson Publishing.

Obviously, Mzinga understands the power of crowd sourcing inside and out – and better yet, they practice what they preach. This is one hive that knows the value of a good bee.

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!

My son is at that age where he asks me a LOT of questions; Why do dogs bite? How come people wear glasses? Why is the sky blue? Faqqly’s unique spin on social networking has a delightfully similar inquisitive feel…except the questions are actually ones I can answer – like who was your favorite childhood superhero? I said Ultraman (anyone remember him?).

Not only can your friends ask you questions but the site itself does too with their Question of the Moment feature. As I’m writing this Faqqly is asking me what my first job was and how much I was paid. I’m so glad you asked! My first job was recharging airplane batteries for a some guy my dad had a few beers with at the cheesy lounge inside our local Lyon’s restaurant. And I was paid way too little!

See the kind of weird things you find out about people if you ask the right questions?

Faqqly will be showing off at Twiistup 2. Drop by and ask them a few questions.