Great news for Chicago entrepreneurship. Google exec Kevin Willer has been named CEO of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC). An affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the CEC identifies the region’s most promising entrepreneurs and helps them build high-growth, sustainable businesses in the region.
Willer co-founded Google’s Chicago office in late 2000 and has helped grow the Google Chicago office to more than 400 professionals. Willer developed Google partnerships with advertisers and agencies, including Dell, United Airlines, FTD, State Farm, Omnicom, and Publicis. Willer also spearheaded advertising relationships with AT&T, Sprint, Dell and Motorola.
As a resident of Chicago, it’s great to see such a seasoned exec lead entrepreneurship efforts in the Windy City. As technology companies like Groupon, 37 Signals, GrubHub, Appolicious and others see success, Chicago is just another city proving that all innovation and entrepreneurship doesn’t take place exclusively in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Video-based communication startup Tinychat is attracting a lot of interest of late, not just from professional investors but also from celebrities from around the world.
Now any website owner can get Tinychat’s robust group video chat features onto their own pages, as the startup has just debuted an easy way for publishers to create and integrate a custom toolbar.
Similar to the Meebo Bar, the Insite Bar, Wibiya and the Conduit toolbar, Tinychat offers a simple solution for publisher that want to add group video discussions, chat and social sharing functionality to their sites without too much hassle.
You can see a demo of the bar in action at the bottom of PetitionSpot.com.
Tinychat says its growth is still accelerating, and that traffic is up 700 percent year-over-year. The company logs some 30 million minutes of usage on a daily basis, from a little over 8 million users today (up from 1 million in August 2010).
Group messaging was not as useful as we thought it would be this year at SXSW. Whether you were using Beluga, GroupMe, Kik, Yobongo or Fast Society or others, everyone had high hopes for a breakout group messaging app, simply because we spoiled tech brats are already bored with the ones we already have.
I know it’s old school, but towards the tail end of the conference simple SMS won out (for me at least), because SXSW isn’t about hanging out with the same groups of people all the time, but rather about having variety of exclusive options. In practice group messaging is kind of weak on the exclusivity thing, because you’re almost always roped into groups with at least one person you don’t like which prevents you from sharing potentially useful information regarding your whereabouts.
While my co-worker MG doesn’t seem to think there is any clear SXSW winner, if you had to pick a frontrunner among the group messaging apps, in my opinion, it would be good ole’ GroupMe, if only because it seemed like the one most people used (unless you count Instagram as a group messaging app).
The data above (provided above by the folks at Pop Agency) agrees with me, in infographic form — tracking how much each app was mentioned on Twitter and sentiment analysis from March 11th through March 15th, with the added bonus of providing a helpful features checklist for the SXSW group messaging Winner, Second Place and Best In Show.
And yes, this graphic does beg the question, “If we’re judging the winners by Twitter mentions, doesn’t that mean Twitter actually won?” Well, welcome to tech.
Back in January I wrote about an ambitious new mobile application that has a very good chance of saving lives (perhaps even many lives). And it’s just gotten support from the City of San Francisco, which is the first major city to pledge support for this very important service.
The application itself is called Fire Department. Download it, and you’ll be asked if you’re trained in CPR. Click ‘Yes’, and the application will then passively monitor your location (without draining your phone’s battery). Here’s where the life-saving comes in: if someone calls 911 to report a possible heart attack victim, 911 dispatchers can send an alert to anyone in the vicinity with CPR training who has this app on their phone. They’ll immediately receive a push notification with the location of the victim, as well as the locations of any nearby automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). The whole process only takes a matter of seconds. Minutes are absolutely critical in these situations, and the immediate initiation of CPR before an ambulance arrives can be life saving.
But there’s still a lot of work to be done. At this point the service is only available in the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District where the initiative got its start (Lucas Hirst, who has helped spearhead the effort, is a friend of mine from high school). San Francisco is now on board, and is asking volunteers to help build a map of AEDs (which frequently go unused in emergencies because people simply don’t know they’re there). San Francisco hopes to have the technology working by the end of the year. The city’s website for the initiative is right here.
The news was announced at an event today by SF Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and City Attorney Dennis Herrera, along with Fire Fighters Union Local 798. Now if only they’d fix the startup tax situation.
I don’t even surf, but after reading this eBay UK listing for a slightly worn wetsuit I almost want to buy it. The seller, Dan Morgan, manages to work in “an old man’s testicle,” his own hygiene habits, and a “bear using a urinal.” The key to good advertising copy is to tell a story. He’s doesn’t just describe the “used XCEL 3-2mm Infiniti Drylock Summer Wetsuit” for sale, he wraps a narrative around the wetsuit.
And it’s hilarious. I’ve reposted the description from the eBay listing below for posterity. Remember, the key takeaway here is that he has “NEVER urinated in this suit.”
The listing is already going viral. Seeing a marketing opportunity, XCEL Wetsuits is donating a second, brand new wetsuit to the winner, and DryRap is getting in on the action too by throwing in their changing towel, so to speak. The bidding is up to 640 Pounds, even though Morgan bought the original for only 300 Pounds. He will donate 90 percent of the proceeds to the Red Cross for Japan relief.
The listing is brilliant, as they say in Britain. Unfortunately, eBay doesn’t think so. Morgan says he’s been contacted about some of the language and “unprofessionalism” of the listing (they don’t like the picture of the bear, apparently. Maybe it’s got something to do with false advertising). As a result, eBay is threatening to remove the listing. But it’s not offensive. (Brits are allowed to swear, see all of Paul Carr’s posts). It’s just good marketing. And almost all the money is going to charity, so eBay would look pretty callous if it does remove it.
I bought this wetsuit brand-new last year and have worn it a fair bit. When I say ‘fair’ I reckon about 20 times, but then probably more like 30. A fair few times anyway.
HOWEVER you will like this, If it was not being worn, it was hung on a hangar or rolled to prevent creasing AND I rinsed it in fresh water after EVERY session so it’s in VERY good condition as I look after my gear, I always do, similarly I take care of my body and shower at least once a day and always moisturise. Yes you’re probably getting a feel for the kind of man I am. You can see from the pictures it has no creases and looks lovely. My friend Gaz has got a wetsuit that he doesn’t look after and it looks like an Elephant’s arse, all wrinkled, a bit like an old man’s testicle.
You’re probably thinking “People p*ss in wetsuits, I’m not sure about a second hand wetsuit”, but believe it or not I have NEVER urinated in this suit, seriously, these suits are too good to be doing such a vulgar act in, the wee just ends up staying in the suit and then when you’re sat having a post-surf pint in the pub you smell awful and girls don’t like boys that smell of p*ss so you just sit there, alone all night, sobbing into your pint of Betty Stoggs like a lonely desperate p*ss smelling man.
I’ve included a picture of a bear using a urinal, this is how I normally use the toilet, notice that the animal is not wearing a wetsuit. Although I am not a bear, I, like a bear, do not p*ss in wetsuits.
It’s a size medium or “m”, it was the top of the range suit when I bought it, I think I paid around £300 for it, still a great warm suit that will make you surf at least 200% better. It won’t really but it will keep you warm and it’s flexible so you’ll be able to throw your arms around like Beyonce whilst you’re bouncing along a wave. People will look at you and say “f*ckin hell check that dude out, he knows what he’s doing wearing one of those Xcel suits and he’s got some fresh dance moves”. They probably won’t say this.
Now as it’s been worn, there’s some signs of wear around the neck, which I’ve taken pictures of, so you don’t say “oi you c*nt, there’s area of wear around the neck I’m giving you bad feedback”. The pictures make it look worse than it is (because they’re close-ups), and I’ve taken the pictures with the suit turned inside out, when it’s the right way round you don’t see the wear and it has no effect on the performance of the suit. That was a bit boring wasn’t it, but it had to be done so you can’t take me to eBay court for not being honest with you.
Why am I selling it? Well I’ve just bought a new one, as I’m a flash tw*t like that, I tend to get a new suit every season, I just like the feel of fresh neoprene on my soft skin, and well to be honest I could do with some cash to pay for prostitutes. No, that was a joke, now you’re going to think the suit is riddled with disease but it’s not as I was joking I do NOT engage with ladies of the night.
I’ll post it out the next working day following cleared payment, or if you’re around the Truro area you can come and collect it thus avoiding postage charges. Having said that, if you’re a maniac, maybe you should just let me post it to you as I don’t want to be murdered to death, especially as the summer is just beginning! WOO HOO.
Any questions just ask, I’ll answer them very quickly as I’m sat at a computer all f*cking day, unless there’s waves.
Thanks for looking and reading all of that ridiculous text, I hope you have a wonderful day.
Great news for Chicago entrepreneurship. Google exec Kevin Willer has been named CEO of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC). An affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the CEC identifies the region’s most promising entrepreneurs and helps them build high-growth, sustainable businesses in the region.
Back in January I 
