Twiistupsocial media

Somewhat Frank Founder & Editor Frank Gruber to judge at Twiistup 5

Francisco — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:27:11 +0000

For Frank, social media is life. Founder of SOMEWHAT FRANK, Frank started blogging the same time as TechCrunch. Frank went on to contribute to TechCrunch as it began to grow into a well-known technology blog. Frank speaks at conferences nationwide and has been featured in multiple national publications about social media, building community and brand. Frank also co-founded TECH cocktail, a community building startup which offers events and community-powered projects open to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs & professionals interested in technology in under served technology communities. Hosting events in Chicago, D.C., Boulder, Boston and Champaign and more.

Social Media & My Somewhat Obsession With Shiny Objects from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

Frank also has a wealth of experience in web technology and product development for AOL, including most recently the product development and strategy for myAOL a personalized start page product rolled out in 24 locales in 19 languages. Prior to AOL, Frank led product development efforts at Tribune, Cars.com and Apartments.com. Additionally, Frank has consulted and advised startups and other Fortune 500 companies across the globe.

Frank was in attendance at the first Twiistup event and is psyched to be headed back again as a judge of the Twiistup 5. You can follow Frank as he journeys to southern California via Twitter: @somewhatfrank.

What Does Social Media Mean? from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

Going Ape for Chi.mp

Brady Brim-DeForest — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:57:40 +0000

What do a former world-champion paddler, a round-the-world yachtsman and polar adventurer, a CTO trained in classical music, and a guy who was formerly one of the top ten surfers in the world have in common? They all happen to be co-founers of Chi.mp, a Twiistup sponsor, and one of the most exciting new players in the social web space. They’re also guys I wouldn’t mind hanging ten with out at Hanalei Bay – I hear they even hold ‘Board’ meetings while still wet-suited up.

So, what is Chi.mp? In the purest sense, it will empower us to organize, centralize, and aggregate our online identities, all through our own unique domain that we both own and control. Initially, each Chim.mp user will receive their own .mp domain name – like brady.mp – which comes with a robust identity management platform, and will eventually include tools to search, manage, merge, import, export, and publish their contacts, content and communications from across the web with granular privacy controls from their own domain. Sounds exciting, right? Well, it is – gone will be the days of distributed, scatterred networking. Welcome to the a web where you are at the center of your own network – not a node on someone else’s graph.

Chi.mp will, by all accounts, turn the way we manage our online identities upside down. With an impending September launch date, Chi.mp is already opening up their service to a limited number of early adopters – like you. Tonight, they will handing out special promo tickets to lukcy Twiistup attendees who will have the chance to be among the first in the world to reserve their very own .mp domain and companion Chi.mp site. How will you find these promo tickets? Just look for the guys/gals doing headstands on the glass covered pool tonight.

Likes Bees to Honey: Mzinga Knows How to Make Social Media Stick

Brady Brim-DeForest — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:08:09 +0000

With 27 million users in 160 countries worldwide, Massachusetts based Mzinga truly lives up to its name – which just so happens to stand for ‘beehive’ in Swahili. As the leading provider of business social media solutions, and Twiistup’s Diamond sponsor, Mzinga needs no introduction – their list of customers speaks for itself. Global brands such as ABC, AOL, CBS.com, Chevron Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Prudential Financial, and the Unidted Nations Development Programme, all turn to Mzinga to provide its unique combination of highly scaleable technology, rich domain expertise, and moderation services that enable businesses to harness the collective intelligence of employees, customers, and partners.

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.