The Sounding Board

Grubstake Breakfast Recap

I attended Thursday’s interesting Grubstake Breakfast, hosted by the George Mason Business Alliance. The event included a diverse assortment of companies hoping to raise early stage funds.

Eye Controls
Eye Controls is a biometric identification company using iris scan technology. The company got its start selling iris scan technology to airports such as Heathrow, Frankfurt and Charlotte Douglas. They’ve since moved into the hospital market as a way to secure patient records, reduce benefit fraud and ensure that the selected medical record belongs to the right patient (apparently hospitals make this mistake 7% of the time).

Pixelligent Technologies
Pixelligent shared their new nanotechnology offering, which allows manufacturers to double the amount of transistors that can be placed on a single chip using a process called double-patterning (described by Dan Gordon of Valhalla as a “better goo” than what materials manufacturers are currently using). Though the product is not quite finished, they claim to be on track with their R&D goals. They’ve also received more than $2.5M in grants from NIST and NSF – and recruited an impressive roster of lithography specialists -- to aid in their R&D efforts.

Mingle360
Mingle360 allows users to electronically exchange identity information using a small keychain-sized device called the MingleStick. This technology allows users to better control and manage their contacts without exchanging business cards or fumbling for a pen and paper. Mingle360 is targeting tradeshows, association meetings – even dating events. The technology has been demonstrated at several events around the country including a recent Women in Technology event here in Tysons Corner.

SitScape
SitScape clearly differentiated itself as the presenter with the best buzz. As maker of the personal business dashboard, SitScape touts itself as the “iGoogle for business.” They presented at DEMO’s Fall ’08 show and have also been recognized by Red Herring and IDC.

ChicksWithKidz
Last but not least, ChicksWithKidz presented the first BDA or “baby data assistant” to help working parents monitor their children’s medical, sleeping and eating schedules. Their product, the BizzyBee, is in trials with the March of Dimes and St. Judes. It will be available for sale later this year.


- Katie Hanusik

The relevancy of the printed daily newspaper

Here’s another compelling (alright…. tongue-in-cheek) reason why no one in the communications field supports the demise of the daily newspaper: secondary uses.
Long live the daily!
Julie Buckley

Interesting Reads

I saw a couple of interesting articles this week dealing with social media for business that I thought would be good to share…

The first is from Tom Foremski on practicing what you preach. He asserts that it’s really not possible to advise a customer on Facebook, Twitter or other social media outlets if you’re not using them yourself.

While I do think it is possible to read up on the business uses of Facebook and Twitter to be able to recommend smart usage to companies looking to achieve different results, it also seems necessary to personally be part of the conversations to understand all of the intricacies of the networks/outlets.

The second is from Micah Baldwin of Lijit Networks on Mashable… He posted an article today on measuring online influence. Understanding the influence of one blogger compared to another or the influence that an online outlet can have for a company, is something that PR pros have been increasingly looking for more information on. Measurement is key to showing clients value, and as online/social media becomes more prevalent, we will have to change the way we measure success.

Happy reading!

-Ali