We were happy to receive the Favorite First Look Company (Early Stage IT) Award at the 2010 Canadian Financing Forum yesterday. The award was presented by Ian Black, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development. Other companies that were honored included Etalim, Advanced E-commerce Research Systems, Nxtgen Emission Controls and Hatsize Corporation.
There are a couple award ceremonies coming up. The Telecom Council will hold its 2010 Telecom Council SPIFFY Award ceremony on February 25 and Mingleverse is nominated for Core Award for Best Fixed Telecom Opportunity that honors “the best investment opportunity within the fixed telecom sector”. The Vator Splash Competition Awarda will be handed out on March 4. Head over to the website and vote for us!
http://vator.tv/competition/show/vator-splash-competition
Friday, January 29, 2010
Mingling With Malcolm Gladwell
Best-selling book author Malcolm Gladwell hosted an exciting Mingle earlier this week, the first of its kind as far as we know. The Mingle was part of the Launch Party of F5 Expo, which will be held in Vancouver on April 7. Malcolm is the keynote speaker and will be discussing where business opportunities in social media begin and where they end.
What made this event so special was the fact that Gladwell joined an online group from his New York home, while Launch Party guests watched the event live from Vancouver. The Q&A session quickly jumped into topics Gladwell touched in his book “Outliers”. When do you really do well at what you do and do modern technologies allow us to learn faster and move to the edge that separates the main population from those who excel at certain tasks? Personally, I found Gladwell’s note that the success of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is based on “watch, learn and perfect swiftly and effectively” most interesting. You just know that many of us all will go out and buy an iPad. Or be at least jealous of those who will buy one.
It was Malcolm Gladwell’s first mingle, but there was virtually no learning curve and adjusted to our online 3D environment and the audience in front of him instantly. In fact, a sense of a pioneering event was omnipresent. When asked about his thoughts about Mingleverse by Tuan Nguyen of Tom’s Hardware, he said “it feels like I am in an episode of Star Trek.” That note brought back memories of “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, which surely would be flattering, but it was much more the new way of communicating Gladwell was referring to – which was equally flattering.
What made this event so special was the fact that Gladwell joined an online group from his New York home, while Launch Party guests watched the event live from Vancouver. The Q&A session quickly jumped into topics Gladwell touched in his book “Outliers”. When do you really do well at what you do and do modern technologies allow us to learn faster and move to the edge that separates the main population from those who excel at certain tasks? Personally, I found Gladwell’s note that the success of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is based on “watch, learn and perfect swiftly and effectively” most interesting. You just know that many of us all will go out and buy an iPad. Or be at least jealous of those who will buy one.
It was Malcolm Gladwell’s first mingle, but there was virtually no learning curve and adjusted to our online 3D environment and the audience in front of him instantly. In fact, a sense of a pioneering event was omnipresent. When asked about his thoughts about Mingleverse by Tuan Nguyen of Tom’s Hardware, he said “it feels like I am in an episode of Star Trek.” That note brought back memories of “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, which surely would be flattering, but it was much more the new way of communicating Gladwell was referring to – which was equally flattering.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Live Broadcast: Exit or Grow in 2010?
Mingleverse will give a live broadcast of the closing panel session of The Canadian Financing Forum 2010 on Thursday, January 28. Drop in to listen to what should be an interesting discussion with executives about the 2010 economy.
Todd Tessier, VP at BC Renaissance Capital Fund will moderate the panel, which will include David Bookbinder, Managing Partner at Tandem Expansion Fund, Jon Gelsey, Director of Corporate Development at Microsoft, Peter Cohen, Director of Enterprise Development at Amazon, and Mike Satterfield, General Partner, IT Investments at Yaletown Venture Partners.
Tune in for the 1 hour panel event at 4pm Pacific Time, which takes place in Vancouver, BC. We would expect a lot of talk, predictions and opinion on the 2010 economy for young companies with some insight courtesy of the executives on the panel. All session preceding the panel try to get a total of 30 startup companies (General IT and Cleantech) into contact with potential investors, so look for some general advice and hints how 2010 might pan out for North American businesses.
Todd Tessier, VP at BC Renaissance Capital Fund will moderate the panel, which will include David Bookbinder, Managing Partner at Tandem Expansion Fund, Jon Gelsey, Director of Corporate Development at Microsoft, Peter Cohen, Director of Enterprise Development at Amazon, and Mike Satterfield, General Partner, IT Investments at Yaletown Venture Partners.
Tune in for the 1 hour panel event at 4pm Pacific Time, which takes place in Vancouver, BC. We would expect a lot of talk, predictions and opinion on the 2010 economy for young companies with some insight courtesy of the executives on the panel. All session preceding the panel try to get a total of 30 startup companies (General IT and Cleantech) into contact with potential investors, so look for some general advice and hints how 2010 might pan out for North American businesses.
Malcolm Gladwell Mingle Tuesday Night!
Best-selling book author and journalist extraordinaire, Malcolm Gladwell, has set up a Mingle for Tuesday. It’s a great opportunity to shake virtual hands and ask a question or two. So if you have an hour time on Tuesday at 5 P.M. Pacific time, stop by and join the mingle from the comfort of your office chair or living room couch.
The Mingle will be a Q&A session that precedes Gladwell’s keynote at F5 Expo on April 7. At F5 Expo, Gladwell will be talking about the limitations of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and how they affect social change.
The Mingle topic range is not limited and there is plenty of opportunity to talk to the former New York bureau chief of the Washington Post and current writer for the New Yorker. Gladwell is also known as the author of book titles such as The Tipping Point and What The Dog Saw and Other Adventures. The Mingle will be 1 hour in length and will be followed by online networking.
Gladwell’s Mingle is priced at $40 for those who want to ask questions. If you want to simply listen to the event with Gladwell and business executives, you can join a viewing room for $25. Sign up for the event over at the F5 Expo page.
The Mingle will be a Q&A session that precedes Gladwell’s keynote at F5 Expo on April 7. At F5 Expo, Gladwell will be talking about the limitations of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and how they affect social change.
The Mingle topic range is not limited and there is plenty of opportunity to talk to the former New York bureau chief of the Washington Post and current writer for the New Yorker. Gladwell is also known as the author of book titles such as The Tipping Point and What The Dog Saw and Other Adventures. The Mingle will be 1 hour in length and will be followed by online networking.
Gladwell’s Mingle is priced at $40 for those who want to ask questions. If you want to simply listen to the event with Gladwell and business executives, you can join a viewing room for $25. Sign up for the event over at the F5 Expo page.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Mingle and Reduce Traffic During 2010 Winter Olympic Games
Just 28 days left to prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver events until the Cauldron will be lit on February 12. Not just for the 6,850 athletes from 80 countries, 10,000 media representatives and several hundred thousand spectators who have purchased 1.85 million event tickets, but also for thousands of Vancouver Downtown businesses.
Translink, metro Vancouverʼs regional transportation authority, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) are anticipating a massive increase in traffic during the 16 days of the Games. Road closures as well as reduction of parking are a traffic concern as well. The city is asking visitors to use the Translink public transportation system and has started its TravelSmart in 2010 initiative to “encourage employees to make smart commuting choices and keep business running smoothly during Games-time.” The goal is to reduce overall expected traffic volume by 30%.
To support this initiative, we just announced that will offer free use of our award-winning 3D Audio Visual Internet communication service for the entire duration of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Mingleverse is a true alternative for travel and we believe that businesses that host online meetings and collaborate online can help to reduce the overall traffic volume in a big way.
Join other Vancouver organizations, such as the Vancouver Board of Trade and The Telus World of Science, and support a massive traffic reduction during the Games. Simply sign up for a free Mingleverse account and mention Mingleverse in your organizationʼs pledge. You can find all information at mingleverse.com/pledge.
Translink, metro Vancouverʼs regional transportation authority, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) are anticipating a massive increase in traffic during the 16 days of the Games. Road closures as well as reduction of parking are a traffic concern as well. The city is asking visitors to use the Translink public transportation system and has started its TravelSmart in 2010 initiative to “encourage employees to make smart commuting choices and keep business running smoothly during Games-time.” The goal is to reduce overall expected traffic volume by 30%.
To support this initiative, we just announced that will offer free use of our award-winning 3D Audio Visual Internet communication service for the entire duration of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Mingleverse is a true alternative for travel and we believe that businesses that host online meetings and collaborate online can help to reduce the overall traffic volume in a big way.
Join other Vancouver organizations, such as the Vancouver Board of Trade and The Telus World of Science, and support a massive traffic reduction during the Games. Simply sign up for a free Mingleverse account and mention Mingleverse in your organizationʼs pledge. You can find all information at mingleverse.com/pledge.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Exclusive Mingle With Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, Best Selling Author of Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and his latest book, What the Dog Saw, will be teleporting LIVE from New York into Mingleverse for an exclusive Question & Answer session.
The session will be open to 25 participants who will be able to ask questions during the 1 hour mingle. There will also be an online networking opportunity after the mingle.
Date: January 26th, 2010
Time: 5pm PST
Sign-Up: http://www.f5-expo.com/launch-party
The session will be open to 25 participants who will be able to ask questions during the 1 hour mingle. There will also be an online networking opportunity after the mingle.
Date: January 26th, 2010
Time: 5pm PST
Sign-Up: http://www.f5-expo.com/launch-party
Monday, January 11, 2010
Money For Mingling, Step By Step
You can easily turn a group mingle and your passion to talk to or teach others into extra money. Sharing information in increasingly popular mingles are a compelling value not just for attendees but for the organizer as well. Here is some food for thought.
Think about a hot topic that attracts broad interest. Think H1N1, any type of education, or a general topic you are passionate about – perhaps cooking? Then start a global interest group using mingle-groups.
Talk about your group! Publicity is big! Twitter it, facebook it, blog it, digg it, run it on. Use Craigslist or any other local group. Publish a brief press release and send it to web publications. You can even add on to a meetup.com group. Make the group public on Mingleverse and schedule weekly mingles.
Know your value! If you are an expert and know other experts, don’t be modest. Make sure it is known that you are bringing together an exciting group of people on weekly basis from all over the world. Not every group member needs to attend every mingle just the ones they are interested in.
Build your audience. Set a yearly fee of let’s say $25 and charge for the membership upon entering the first mingle.
Schedule weekly mingles for different topics. Be the expert in your topic. Bring in more experts. One or two mingles per week is a good meeting frequency.
Charge extra for attending individual mingles of choice, such as $10 to make sure you get a commitment of attending (like a live talk show).
If you can get many people interested, you have a continuous base revenue stream and you are now on top of the silo of that group. You are carrying mindshare.
Group owners can be an affiliate and will be compensated automatically (via code) if they are responsible for selling members a MingleRoom.
Ron Stevens
Think about a hot topic that attracts broad interest. Think H1N1, any type of education, or a general topic you are passionate about – perhaps cooking? Then start a global interest group using mingle-groups.
Talk about your group! Publicity is big! Twitter it, facebook it, blog it, digg it, run it on. Use Craigslist or any other local group. Publish a brief press release and send it to web publications. You can even add on to a meetup.com group. Make the group public on Mingleverse and schedule weekly mingles.
Know your value! If you are an expert and know other experts, don’t be modest. Make sure it is known that you are bringing together an exciting group of people on weekly basis from all over the world. Not every group member needs to attend every mingle just the ones they are interested in.
Build your audience. Set a yearly fee of let’s say $25 and charge for the membership upon entering the first mingle.
Schedule weekly mingles for different topics. Be the expert in your topic. Bring in more experts. One or two mingles per week is a good meeting frequency.
Charge extra for attending individual mingles of choice, such as $10 to make sure you get a commitment of attending (like a live talk show).
If you can get many people interested, you have a continuous base revenue stream and you are now on top of the silo of that group. You are carrying mindshare.
Group owners can be an affiliate and will be compensated automatically (via code) if they are responsible for selling members a MingleRoom.
Ron Stevens
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Mingleverse Nominated For Outstanding Telecom Startup Award!
We are extremely proud to announce that Mingleverse has been nominated to receive the SPIFFY Award 2010 that recognizes innovation and opportunity among telecom startups. Mingleverse has been selected from more than 100 companies as a nominee for the Core Award for Best Fixed Telecom Opportunity that honors “the best investment opportunity within the fixed telecom sector”.
The SPIFFY Awards are presented by the Telecom Council’s Service Provider Forum (SPIF) and are considered to be the Oscars of the telecom industry by rewarding ideas, relevance, and traction that most appeal to communication service providers from around the globe.
The award ceremony will be held on February 25 at the Aquarius Theater in Palo Alto, California. The event is open to members, the press and the general public.
Keep your fingers crossed!
The SPIFFY Awards are presented by the Telecom Council’s Service Provider Forum (SPIF) and are considered to be the Oscars of the telecom industry by rewarding ideas, relevance, and traction that most appeal to communication service providers from around the globe.
The award ceremony will be held on February 25 at the Aquarius Theater in Palo Alto, California. The event is open to members, the press and the general public.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Videocommunication a Big Deal at CES
The Consumer Electronics Show is kicking off in Las Vegas today, with much more fanfare than in previous years when many of us thought that CES would follow the fate of Comdex. Judging by the news that has begun trickling in, we will see lots of announcements of TVs that are 3D enabled and/or run web applications. If you have been waiting for the Internet to make a huge impact on your living room, 2010 will be it.
The other big emerging topic is video communication and video conferencing. LG says videoconferencing will go HD this year. Panasonic and Cisco are pushing video as a new killer app, HP bets on online collaboration and IBM is planning a videoconferencing service with some partners like Polycom. It’s a catch-up game with Skype, which is first making its way onto TVs. Communicating via your TV? Yup, via your TV. It would have been an unthinkable pitch just a few years ago. Now we are seeing the family room evolve from an entertainment to an entertainment and communication hub of the home.
Mingleverse has already shown that communication is not just about voice anymore, it is more and more about merging audio with visuals, which, in turn, will change the way we communicate. Communication will turn into collaboration in the workplace and deeper connections between family members and friends who live apart from each other. Visuals will shape the way we communicate in the future. Seeing your friends, family or coworkers in an environment that looks and feels like the real world, the possibility to share not just static media, but rich applications and the integration of live video is a truly fascinating trend.
The other big emerging topic is video communication and video conferencing. LG says videoconferencing will go HD this year. Panasonic and Cisco are pushing video as a new killer app, HP bets on online collaboration and IBM is planning a videoconferencing service with some partners like Polycom. It’s a catch-up game with Skype, which is first making its way onto TVs. Communicating via your TV? Yup, via your TV. It would have been an unthinkable pitch just a few years ago. Now we are seeing the family room evolve from an entertainment to an entertainment and communication hub of the home.
Mingleverse has already shown that communication is not just about voice anymore, it is more and more about merging audio with visuals, which, in turn, will change the way we communicate. Communication will turn into collaboration in the workplace and deeper connections between family members and friends who live apart from each other. Visuals will shape the way we communicate in the future. Seeing your friends, family or coworkers in an environment that looks and feels like the real world, the possibility to share not just static media, but rich applications and the integration of live video is a truly fascinating trend.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Collaboration Online A Top Tech Priority for 2010
Silicon.com runs an article via Business Week describing collaboration technology as a trend CFOs should consider more seriously in 2010. Why? According to Silicon.com and analysts from Ovum, the cost of physical meetings is increasingly difficult to justify; technology that cuts travel expenses and travel time via videoconferencing should be much more prominent by the end of the year as a result.
We at Mingleverse tend to agree and believe that a meeting of minds vs a meeting of bodies will become much more important. 'Being there' will have an entirely new meaning. Imagine the money and time that can be saved by meeting online, while having capabilities that are taken from the real life – 3D audio, life-like faces, video sharing, presentation sharing. On the Internet, it does not get much more personal than that.
Collaboration online is taking a notably faster pace these days. Other publication that focused this trend include The Nation, Fox Business and SearchITChannel.
We at Mingleverse tend to agree and believe that a meeting of minds vs a meeting of bodies will become much more important. 'Being there' will have an entirely new meaning. Imagine the money and time that can be saved by meeting online, while having capabilities that are taken from the real life – 3D audio, life-like faces, video sharing, presentation sharing. On the Internet, it does not get much more personal than that.
Collaboration online is taking a notably faster pace these days. Other publication that focused this trend include The Nation, Fox Business and SearchITChannel.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sharing Traditions Across Geographic Distances
Telepresence is a big buzz word this year. A highlight of this new trend is uniting people in an audiovisual way who otherwise would be limited to Skype or the good old phone. New Year’s Eve made me think how far telepresence will be able to take us and how we will be using this technology to eliminate geographic distances.
It took a few minutes to get my mom adjusted to Mingleverse, but sharing the New Year between my family in Germany and my family and friends in Chicago was a breathtaking experience. The live video sharing was a big hit - believe it or not my family had no idea about the Balldrop in New York and there is some confusion why a crystal ball symbolizes the arrival of the new year.
On the other hand, I finally was able to introduce some of our German traditions such as the traditional video of “Dinner for One”, a funny sketch that airs in many European countries on New Year’s Eve. (some say British humor hasn’t aged well in the past four decades and it really isn’t that funny. It’s on YouTube, of course, and you can watch it here.”)
A life changing New Year’s Eve. Exciting!
It took a few minutes to get my mom adjusted to Mingleverse, but sharing the New Year between my family in Germany and my family and friends in Chicago was a breathtaking experience. The live video sharing was a big hit - believe it or not my family had no idea about the Balldrop in New York and there is some confusion why a crystal ball symbolizes the arrival of the new year.
On the other hand, I finally was able to introduce some of our German traditions such as the traditional video of “Dinner for One”, a funny sketch that airs in many European countries on New Year’s Eve. (some say British humor hasn’t aged well in the past four decades and it really isn’t that funny. It’s on YouTube, of course, and you can watch it here.”)
A life changing New Year’s Eve. Exciting!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Ringing In The New Year, Mingleverse Style
I haven’t celebrated New Year’s Eve with my parents in 11 years. There’s a time when you are not especially eager to do that every year anyway, but I somewhat miss my family. I left my home country in 1998 and made the U.S. my new home.
My parents and my family here were never able to celebrate Christmas or New Year’s Eve together. This year, we will try to bridge the gap for the first time.
We decided to use Mingleverse to connect Munich with Chicago and bring family members together on computer screens here in the U.S. and in Germany. We will have our traditional gathering here at home and add Germany via a mingle, chat and video streams. I’ll also give my fancy Bluetooth headset a try. I’ve always been the geek in the family, but it’s always special when you know you’ve found a technology that’s not just a toy, but something that can truly improve your life.
If you think about it, Mingleverse is a way that enables you to divide yourself and be in multiple places around the globe at the same time. It is fascinating how geographic distances have become almost meaningless these days. Well, with the exception of time, of course. I’ll write in the new year how the mingle went - can't wait!
- Wolfgang
If you are mingling over the year celebration as well, send us a quick note! We’d love to hear about it!
My parents and my family here were never able to celebrate Christmas or New Year’s Eve together. This year, we will try to bridge the gap for the first time.
We decided to use Mingleverse to connect Munich with Chicago and bring family members together on computer screens here in the U.S. and in Germany. We will have our traditional gathering here at home and add Germany via a mingle, chat and video streams. I’ll also give my fancy Bluetooth headset a try. I’ve always been the geek in the family, but it’s always special when you know you’ve found a technology that’s not just a toy, but something that can truly improve your life.
If you think about it, Mingleverse is a way that enables you to divide yourself and be in multiple places around the globe at the same time. It is fascinating how geographic distances have become almost meaningless these days. Well, with the exception of time, of course. I’ll write in the new year how the mingle went - can't wait!
- Wolfgang
If you are mingling over the year celebration as well, send us a quick note! We’d love to hear about it!
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