Image via CrunchBase

With tech funding at an all time high, there’s increased buzz about whether NY can displace Silicon Valley as the tech mecca. While the East Coast may never rival California in technology hardware manufacturing, Avi Muchnick, CEO of Aviary, thinks the city could become the number one technology hub within the next three decades.

Muchnick, whose startup creates photo-editing tools for apps, told Forbes that since the city has comparatively fewer tech firms, companies’ chances for exposure are better. Capital is just as accessible here as on the West Coast. And since there are fewer potential recruits, getting a job is easier and salaries could become even more competitive.

One of the biggest selling points is the city itself. Recruits get excited about the prospects of moving here. Russell D’Souza, cofounder of SeatGeek, agreed.  He told Forbes, “No one wants to move to Kansas City.”

Forbes

“They had to go over the boobs,” Winters told The Wall Street Journal. The show features the work of Instagram photographers who captured a side of the city that tourists staying in Times Square might never get to see. W’s General Manager Jim McPartlin said the show was designed offer the next big thing. “Instagram was like, bam! It’s happening,” he told the Journal. “We hit a homerun with this one.”

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

CBS Sports (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

CBS Sports‘ iPhone app Audio Roadshow, which launched in February, allows NYers to respond to WFAN guests and on air topics real time.  Mike Francesa’s popular sports talk show on the station,  streams live to iPhones without any ads or sponsors, but there are plans on initiating these later according to NetNewsCheck.  Ezra Kucharz, president of CBS Local, digital, said, “I’m not worried about traffic on the app.  It’s there to drive ratings and get people involved with the show.”

Users get to participate in ‘thumbs up/down’ polls that are fed through during the show, and “feedback will hit into the thousands on a given show,” said Mark Chernoff, VP of programming for WFAN to NetNewsCheck.

Kucharz also commented that “10 Seconds of Glory” has been a fan-favorite.  “The ‘10 Seconds’ has been fantastic because instead of having to call in, you just have a button to leave a soundbite that goes directly to the show, and Mike has the opportunity to use it or not.”  There is a social aspect to the app as well — users can tell their friends that they are on WFAN through social sharing.

After successful field tests in NY, CBS Local’s next step is to move the app to a dozen more stations throughout the US by the end of May.

NetNewsCheck

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 18: A mobile device shows Wikipedia's front page (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Two Brooklyn residents have turned Wikipedia page creation into a mini-business, charging $300 per article. Erez Safer, a record producer, and Aaron Wertheimer, a filmmaker already have about a dozen articles on the site, with over 100 more requests. However, many people have to be turned down due to lack of press around them. In order to make a good page, individuals need to have a legitimate number of sources.

The process includes researching as well as interviews with the subjects to learn more about their background. It takes approximately two weeks to complete a page.

Safer also manages pages for the artists at his record label, Shemspeed.

NY Daily News

Citi Field (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In an effort to protest the ‘damages caused by advanced electronic devices,’ tens of thousands in NY’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community will rally on Sunday, May 20 at Citi Field, the home of the Mets, in Flushing, Queens.  Organizers of the event said the following, reported in the Jewish Press:

“This will be a mass rally never before seen in the history of Orthodox Jewry in the U.S. It will be a gathering of  unity of all the Jews living in the U.S., a gathering to disseminate information and a prayer rally for the success of Klal-Israel’s war on the Technology which threatens the sanctity of the homes of Israel.”

The rally, ordered by the Gdolei Israil (key leaders/rabbis in the Hasidic Community), will be held in coordination with the eve Rosh Chodesh Sivan due to its connection with children’s education, which connects with the campaign’s aim to ‘save’ this generation’s kids from the ‘ravages’ of advanced tech.

According to the Jewish Press, the event is costing the group about $1.5 million, which was raised by private philanthropists.

Jewish Press

Image via CrunchBase

According to Digiday, The Associated Press uses social media by two methods: gathering and disseminating information.  Eric Carvin, social media editor at the AP and based out of the ‘Nerve Center’, a central news desk in NY which handles everything, said, “part of what we’re doing is sharing content in a curated way.”  And there is a different method to using each social network.

For the 100 AP Twitter accounts, Carvin said to Digiday that, “when big news breaks, it’s one of the first tools we turn to see if people are on the ground there, to get right to — and looking for — expert sources.”  He and his team create individual strategies for each Twitter account.

To engage their audience, crowd-sourcing and overall communication, the AP uses five to six Facebook accounts.  Carvin noted that for the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the AP received dozens of responses for a crowd-sourcing campaign and decided to put out the interesting content as two stories across the wire.

Carvin said to Digiday that, “when something big happens, even though we won’t break news on Twitter, you’ll probably hear it from an AP tweet first because we move quickly.”

Digiday

Image via CrunchBase

Signpost, a NY-based online marketing firm, helps local businesses to try to get more customers through online advertising.  According to an interview with NY Daily News, Stuart Wall, founder of Signpost, said, “we are a one-stop shop for local businesses advertising online.”  Wall likens his business to that of an ‘online media buyer for local mom and pops’ to alert consumers of special offers.

Signpost, which charges $99 per month, chooses websites and local apps that fit the client’s business objective and tracks the results of the campaigns.  The startup has 3,500 customers and has partnerships with 1,200 web publishers.

Signpost has raised $3.75 million in Series A funding, and earlier this week moved to its new headquarters in SoHo.  The company plans to jump from 24 employees twice that number in a few months.

NY Daily News

Nerd 87 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The New York NeoFuturists,  a collective of theatrical artists, have premiered a new musical in the city called “You Are in an Open Field” based on the “nerdcore” genre of music (hip-hop music dedicated to nerd-themed interests, such as video games and D&D).  Headed by NeoFuturists Kevin R. Free, Marta Rainer and Adam Smith, the trio dabbles in freestyle and according to the New York Post,  has just enough humor to entice non-gamer type/nerd types to the show.

The group writes about defeating game bosses such as Dungeon Master and Lord Flathead, and according to the Post, “are holed up in their makeshift basement ‘fort’ — i.e., a couch hidden by a blanket suspended on poles.”

The musical runs until May 19 at HERE, 145 6th Avenue.

NY Post

The logo of Montclair State University (Wikipedia)

TechLaunch, a new tech accelerator funded by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, is looking to keep New Jersey tech talent within state confines.  According to BetaBeat, entrepreneurs can receive between an $18-20 thousand seed investment at a chance to stay at Montclair State University, following a selection process for 10 to 12 startups. 

According to their press release, “TechLaunch provides a select group of emerging portfolio companies early seed-stage funding, mentorship, key services and exposure to qualified investors.”

BetaBeat

According to a recent profile in Inc., Chasen prioritized coding over business relationships, and Goldstein warned, “it’s relationship management…you’re making investors feel useful.”  Chasen rebutted that the value of the company would be reflected in the product and said, “I’m an artist; I want credit for the things I create.”  Chasen believes that a new product will amp up the subscription rate, while Goldstein feels that Chasen should consider the business aspect of Turntable.fm.

Goldstein said that “he owned 100 percent emotionally, in a company that he owned far less than that economically,” of Chasen.  At the most recent SXSW in March, Chasen presented to an audience of just over half capacity, and to the audience it seems that Turntable.fm is past its prime.  After Chasen’s presentation, the two founders joined a panel discussion and found out that there were still users who enjoyed the site.  Close to all of the questions fielded by the two were actually requests for new features.

While trials exist between the two founders, Chasen said to Inc. that, “we all have the same goal, and Seth is always trying to help guide me.”

Inc. Magazine

Looking northwest along 35th Avenue at south facade of Kaufman Astoria Studios, formerly Paramount Studios, on a partly cloudy afternoon. Forgetful photographer misnamed the file for another studio that was not in Astoria. ZIP 11106. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today during a speech at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, NY Senator Chuck Schumer said that the National Park Service is holding up efforts that would expand the lot, namely in an efforts to build an outdoor movie studio.  The proposed studio had been given initial approval by the park service, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Schumer claims that the agency “wants to play a role in approving the design and aesthetics of the project,” which he believes would push the studio behind schedule, thus preventing it from booking potential productions by the summer of 2013.

Schumer said at his speech today that. “It’s time to say ‘action’ on this project, so that New York City can become the new star of the film and television industry. By building the City’s first ever outdoor studio lot, we can attract film and TV clients that would otherwise have to choose Los Angeles.”

The Hollywood Reporter

U.S. Census 2000 reference map for Hauppauge, New York (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Earlier this week, the Long Island Software and Technology Network  hosted the Long Island Software Awards (LISA) in Garden City to honor LI-based tech companies for their excellence. But before the awards were presented, Senator Chuck Schumer took the stage to talk about the importance of technology and the opportunity to use the growing industry to create jobs and stimulate entrepreneurship. He later discussed the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act, which allows business to receive a 10% tax credit for any increase in payroll. He the spoke about the JOBS Act 2012, which aids startups in getting to the market more quickly and profitably.

According to Young Island, after Schumer came LISTnet President Peter Goldsmith, who spoke about the progress the organization has made, including the opening of the Long Island Tech Mall in March 2012, s 30,000 sq ft. office building in Hauppauge, that has become home to several LI-based tech companies.  The Tech Mall is among the many examples, Goldsmith noted, of how Long Island’s technology industry can compete with anyone.

Young Island

Image via CrunchBase

On Thursday, Arianna Huffington announced that her role at AOL would be reduced to oversight of just her website, The Huffington Post, particular as the news site is planning more expansion overseas. At the beginning of the AOL/HuffPost merger, Huffington was responsible, editorially speaking, for the hyperlocal news sites of Patch.com news sites, TechCrunch and Moviefone, etc.

The management structure created tensions according to The Wall Street Journal, and sites such as the aforementioned Patch.com and TechCrunch saw a dispute over the direction of the news source and leadership changes respectively.  When HuffPost was first bought by AOL, the news site saw its traffic increase from 24 million to 39 million unique visitors a month.  The merger helped offset the exodus of former AOL subscribers as well.

Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, said to the Journal that, “If you zap out the traffic that has been pulling AOL down, and you look at the traffic that we have been able to grow organically, or, with the Huffington Post, acquisition-wise, AOL is in a much, much stronger position from a traffic standpoint than we were two years ago.”  Huffington said that the relationship between her and Armstrong was “fine and all is good.”

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and six other U.S. senators have joined Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal’s resolution against the adult-section of the online classifieds site Backpage.com, owned by Village Voice Media. The proposal becomes the latest volley against the classified section, which is sued by many to promote women in the illegal sex trafficking trade.

The eight page proposal includes statistical data showing evidence of sex-trafficking and child exploitation, as well as a list of criminal convictions that have already occurred regarding people advertising on the site.

According to Capital New York, the opposition says that shutting down the section will simply move the trafficking underground, making it harder to track and take action against it.

Capital New York

The final part of this week’s

At first the administration launched a series of initiatives designed to help many people start their own businesses. Incubators were established and entrepreneurship classes offered. Pinsky searched for an idea he called a game changer. The best one, he decided, was a new, world-class engineering school. Pinsky championed a plan that the city offer land and up to $100 million to a top engineering school willing to establish a division in the city.

The proposals attracted enormous attention, and several schools prepared bids: Stanford and Cornell said winning the New York competition was one of their most important priorities. Stanford claimed it would spend $2 billion over ten years on its New York campus.

Yet two parallels with the new media boom were unsettling. Many of the most prominent Internet companies’ strategies were unproven. Gilt, facing a rapidly shifting competitive environment, entered new niches at a furious pace, looking for a big payoff. Foursquare’s location technology faced competition from social behemoth Facebook, and it wasn’t clear how it could make money off its audience. Many companies were losing money. Finally, New York had not produced a Google or a Facebook. There was simply no hometown favorite that would resonate equally.

From Modern New York by Greg David. Copyright © 2012 by the author and reprinted by permission of Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers, Ltd.

Modern New York

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 1

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 2

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 3

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 4

Live music platform StageIt and mobile gaming company Mad Humans were the first to receive funding from DEV.  According to TechCrunch, Alan McGlade, co-founder of DEV, said, “music, film, TV, video games, newspapers and magazines have all been profoundly affected by the explosion of new devices that enable the consumption of digital media.”  He also noted DEV’s location is a strategic move to place the company at the forefront of the tech boom.  “New York City, with its established media businesses, talent and burgeoning startup ecosystem, has all the right elements for these game-changing companies to emerge.”

TechCrunch

Women leaders in tech: (l to r) Nelly Yusupova, Veronika Sonsev, Yin Yin Chan, Peggy Wallace, Nina Sodhi (credit: Lauren Keyson)

By Lauren Keyson

The four panelists at NYTECH’s event earlier this week at Citrin Cooperman in Midtown talked about what it’s like to be a successful woman technology entrepreneur in NY.  They recognized that it had long been a boy’s club, but according to new studies, NY has attracted more women tech entrepreneurs than California and Boston in the last decade.

Donn Morrill, director of NY Technology Council starts a new job next week at Amazon Web Services, but said that spotlighting diversity had been a long time coming in the organization.  “We felt our audience was skewed very male – so this is our pilot track.  The men will take away that the industry is more diverse than they might otherwise see. There are a lot of women here tonight and a lot of other people that you would not normally see at a technology-focused event.”

Peggy Wallace, Managing Director of Golden Seeds, was the only investor sitting on the panel. She echoed the need for more women in the startup space. “Last year angel investors were 12% female and 2.4% of funding went to companies with a female in a C-level position.  Women hold 16% of public board seats. We still have a long way to go. Really all we want is half of everything,” she added with a smile.  Her advice to female founders, “Be courageous, learn about raising money, learn the process and get smart about things before you rush into them.”

On the other hand, other panelists seemed less cautious. Veronika Sonsev, co-founder of Women Innovate Mobile, a company that powers social commerce marketing technology for retailers said:  “I always say, ‘just do it!’ — if it’s something you are passionate about, then do it! Make sure you’re prepared to do it; set yourself up in advance financially and with the right mentors and skill set.  Founders and non-founders is just a mind set.” But she did agree that woman need to have courage. “Failure is not something to be afraid of,” she added.  “I always say ‘if you haven’t failed you haven’t tried hard enough’ — it’s important to push the envelope with what you can do.”

Yin Yin Chan, co-founder of OnePager, gave advice about partners and process.  Her company, which works to make website building easier for businesses, has four founders in her company.  “I think that it’s a very beneficial thing to have multiple co-founders — not necessarily four — but have more than you.  Always reach out to other people for advice — it’s helpful to get feedback from your customers, especially if you’re a B to C type of business. Always iterate your product – I can’t even guess how many times we have iterated OnePager – maybe about 20 or 30 times.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean we changed the product around; it might just be that we enhanced or removed the feature.”

Panelist Nina Sodhi, founder of BluTrumpet mobile advertising, is currently on her seventh startup.  “Women are a little shy about embracing just their own personality.  That might be that they’re more detail oriented or engaging and nurturing.  But whatever their personalities, they should find out who they are and what makes them stronger. Too many women try to be something they’re not and then they end up weakening themselves. We think as  leaders is that we have to take charge and tell people what to do, but really a leader should be listening to what’s going on, making fast decisions, and then communicating that concisely. Bring all that together and you are probably learning 60% of the time and thinking and talking the other 40%.”

Wallace’s take on women as leaders: “A lot of what leaders do is about process. You have to build a company that allows people that are very different from you – you can’t always hire people just like you. You have to hire people at all levels and build an organization that allows them to work at their highest potential.  A lot of running a business is really boring – blocking and tackling.  But the greatest leaders I know are obsessed with process. If something is not working, you have to fix it. If someone is not at their potential, it’s your leadership’s failure.”

Image via CrunchBase

Apps such as GameChanger, founded 2009 in NY, give parents, friends and fans of high school and recreational athletics programs updates on their teams

According to The Daily Bedford, Ossining High School’s baseball program in Westchester County NY is using GameChanger to provide game scores, stats and live updates via “a previously untapped resource for fans,” said CEO and co-founder Ted Sullivan.  “There’s just a tidal wave of new opportunities to enhance people’s existing experiences around amateur sports.”

Sullivan sees the app as a way for parents to check up on their kid’s performance while at work, and claimed that there were 30,000 teams from around the world who used GameChanger last year.

The Daily Bedford

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Walkabout NYC

According to Leela de Kretser, Editorial Director and Publisher at DNAinfo.com, the reason is able to prosper in the current downward spiral of the news industry is because of the site’s neighborhood-based approach. This allows the site to procure revenue from a number of local advertisers. DNAinfo.com’s community appeal comes from its focus on hyperlocal tabloid-like stories, as well as information on local food-drink-events.

Metrics reveal that DNAinfo.com receives about 1.5 million unique visitors a month, though, as a privately-held company, precise revenue and earnings are not disclosed. However, Wemple points out that the site is owned by billionaire Joseph Ricketts, founder of Ameritrade,which means it’s likely to continue to flourish even in this struggling industry.

The Washington Post

Bits reports that Microsoft is bringing former Yahoo scientists into a new lab in NY, as the batch of 15 scientists will focus on the application of advanced computing tools.  Dr. David Pennock, who will head up the new lab, said that, “Microsoft is a fantastic place for research because it balances the academic and the product-impact sides.”

Microsoft has an expanding list of data sources for research, including Xbox Live, Skype, and Bing, while math physicist , NYer, and new hire Dr. Jennifer Chayes said to Bits that, “the 15 recruits are just the start of the build-up of Microsoft’s research arm in New York.”  She supports Mayor Bloomberg‘s Applied Sciences NYC initiative saying that they are “producing a groundswell of technology in New York. And we want to be in the places around the world where there is great science and technology.”

Bits (NYTimes.com)

Engadget reports that Wi-Fi will be available to Boingo customers and their partners, and non-members can expect a the service to be rather expensive.

BetaBeat

P

Its merchandising assistants came right out of the Fashion Institute of Technology and other similar schools. “They come because we are cool,” says Melanie Hughes, who had been Ryan’s top human resource executive at DoubleClick and rejoined him at Gilt. “We have some of that West Coast coolness with a New York edge. Gilt is a grown-up version of what we had at DoubleClick.”

In 2010, the city attracted $2.2 billion in venture investment. The state labor department counted 50,000 jobs, up 20 percent in five years and almost certainly understated as the statisticians struggled to keep track of all the new companies.

Internet companies didn’t need much direct help from the city. Office space was costly, but it wasn’t exactly cheap in Silicon Valley, and talent actually could be somewhat less expensive than in the Bay Area.

Although, New York was more costly because taxes were so much higher. The Bloomberg administration did see one way, however, to speed the growth in the tech sector.

Seth Pinsky, president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, took some time off after Lehman Brothers failed. He decided that a new strategy was in order.

From Modern New York by Greg David. Copyright © 2012 by the author and reprinted by permission of Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers, Ltd.

Modern New York

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 1

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 2

Greg David’s ‘Modern New York’ Examines NY’s Tech Sector – Part 3

NY Convergence

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Ben Seslija, CEO of bMobilized, said to TechCrunch, “nine out of every ten small business websites don’t have mobile versions of their sites today,”  but that Americans are positioned to spend $115 billion on mobile devices by 2015, so there is a need for eMobilzed’s services, which use 300 different algorithms to i.d. and analyze website components and then convert them into a mobile version in about 30 seconds.

bMobilized is also offering user-enhanced tools such as a contact bar, maps, social sharing buttons, etc.  TechCrunch also reported that prices are competitive to DudaMobile, at $5 or $9 per month.

TechCrunch

NY startup Bitly, which helps collect, organize, shorten and share URL links, is introducing new data products for professionals.

Developed by chief scientist Hilary Mason and her six-member team, Bitly Realtime “will track terms that receive sudden bursts of attention,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek.  Another product being introduced this year is a ‘reputation-monitoring system’ which, according to Mason, aims “to give people a ‘Spidey’ sense about what’s going on the Internet that’s relevant to them.”

Mason claims that Bitly tracks what is being shared and records the links people actually click on.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Bloch’s company is one of seven courted by Y&R’s Spark Plug and benefits from exposure to many brands in a single shop.  According to Adweek, David Sable, CEO of Y&R, said, “It adds an element of excitement.  Advertising has always been an innovative industry. It’s [all about] understanding that that’s in the industry’s DNA.”

Sable hopes to expand the initiative to 10 offices by the end of the year, each with three or four startups.

Adweek

For more information, please see the link below.

Internet Week NY

Image via CrunchBase

In the midst of a major merger, Connecticut Innovations, a 23-year-old company that aims to foster economic development in its home state, has brought on a new CEO. Claire Leonardi will head the merger of CI and the Connecticut Development Authority ans according to Hartford Business, she has experience in mentoring startups in upstate-NY on capital structure and corporate strategy, as well as connections with the University of Connecticut, which could prove useful as the state tries to encourage young entrepreneurs to set up shop.

Leonardi’s leadership experience coupled with her finance background led the Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner, Catherine Smith, to choose her for the position. The first task will be to oversee the merger, which may be a challenge considering the two companies are fundamentally different, in that CI is an equity investor and CDA is essentially a bank lender. If it works, a successful merger will ultimately streamline the deal-making process and create more jobs.

According to Hartford Business, following the merger, Leonardi will help allocate $125 million in funding received by state lawmakers to promote startups in energy, biotechnology, information technology, and photonics.

CI’s former CEO, Peter Longo, will remain in the company as Chief Investment Officer.

Hartford Business

Wi-Fi Signal logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The FDR Boardwalk in Staten Island is now offering free AT&T Wi-Fi Service to any parkgoers. This is the latest rollout stemming from a collaboration between the Bloomberg Administration and AT&T made last year whereby free connection is to be available in parks across all five boroughs. The initiative is set to be complete in five  years and will include 26 Wi-Fi location in 20 NYC parks

Additionally, AT&T is currently working on bringing 4GLTE to Staten Island as well.

For more information, follow the link below.

Sacramento Bee