Aside from hosting our popular mixer events and our upcoming conference, both of which are “cocktails of tech people,” we are working on some other community projects and need a hand. Do you have a son, daughter, friend neighbor, relative or sibling in college that needs to get some experience on the ole’ resume? Let us know - they will learn a lot and get to meet some great people all across the country.

Here is a more formal internship job description:

TECH cocktail (http://www.techcocktail.com), a community building startup, seeks highly motivated, outgoing and enthusiastic interns for Spring and Summer 2008 to assist in producing a conference, monthly TECH cocktail mixers in various cities across the US and other community projects. Ideal candidates are excellent problem solvers, self-starters, go-getters and multi-taskers. Candidates should possess strong organizational skills, be tech savvy and have a knack for keeping up on the latest tech happenings. An eye for design could be helpful. Interpersonal, verbal and written skills, as well as the ability to take a joke, are also required.

TECH cocktail is a community building startup that offers a series of mixer events, community projects & conferences open to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and other business professionals interested in the technology arena. Our mission is to amplify the technology signal in under served markets and have fun doing it. We’re a fun and laid back team, but we work hard and are looking for someone who can keep up and even challenge us.

Looking to get started asap! We need 1 intern in Chicago and 1 in Washington, D.C./Northern VA - but would work with interns remotely on projects too.

You will work hard but you will have a blast and meet some of the best people from the tech industry. Come work with us!

Candidates must provide a resume and cover letter. Please send an e-mail (cofounders@techcocktail.com) and put “INTERN” in subject line.

TECH cocktail CONFERENCE

The goal of the conference is to assist attendees by bringing them essential business startup tips, advice and knowledge from a super-cast of successful founders, developers and entrepreneurs.

If you have not purchased a ticket to the event at the early bird low price of $225 you should do so now, as supply is limited. If you want to save a little bit on the ticket simply use the discount code: techcocktailers since we are trying to make this event as easy and low cost as we can, while still covering the costs associated with hosting an event of this nature.

The conference agenda is as follows:

• Building a business anywhere (not just Silicon Valley)
• Leveraging new technologies and social media to help your business
• Getting your business funded
• Discovering your Inner CEO
• Growing a community around a traditional business

Some of our speakers include the following, with speaker bios here:

MIKE DOMEK - TicketsNow / Ticketmaster
DICK COSTOLO - FeedBurner / Google
JASON FRIED -37signals
HARPER REED - skinnyCorp / Threadless.com
GARY VAYNERCHUK - Wine Library TV
GENEVIEVE THIERS - Sittercity
KEITH SCHACHT - 42 Friends
NICK FERA - Parlano / Microsoft
BLAGICA BOTTIGLIERO - CondoPerks & Gals’ Guide
JEN CONSALVO - AOL
MICAH BALDWIN - Lijit
JARED GORALNICK - AwayFind
DAVID ARMANO - Critical Mass
MIKE MACADAAN - AOL
ALEX BARD - Goowy Media / AOL
ROB SCHULTZ - IllinoisVENTURES
BRUCE N. BARRON - Origin Ventures
DALIAH SAPER - Saper Law Offices, LLC
MATT SHOBE - FeedBurner / Google
EVAN BROWN - Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
SEAN AMMIRATI - mSpoke / ReadWriteWeb
ANT CREED - Intuit
TROY HENIKOFF - Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center
ALLAN COX - Author of Your Inner CEO
JASON REXILIUS - HostedLABS
DANIELLE WILEY - Edelman
MATT MCCALL - DFJ Portage Ventures
BRIAN SOLIS - FutureWorks
BRIAN WILLIAMS - Viget Labs
GEOFF LIVINGSTON - Livingston Communications
FRASER KELTON - AdaptiveBlue
BRAD FELD - Foundry Group
KIRK WOLFE -MK Capital
GARY BARRON - Frost Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, PC
NICK O’NEILL - Social Times
JOHN ZERASKY - FeedBurner / Google
FRANK GRUBER - TECH cocktail / SOMEWHAT FRANK / AOL
ERIC OLSON - TECH cocktail / DFJ Portage Ventures

If you have already registered for TECH cocktail CONFERENCE we have badges. Help spread the world for TECH cocktail CONFERENCE! Copy the code below the image you’d like to use to promote TECH cocktail CONFERENCE on your blog or website! Thanks for helping.

<a href=”http://techcocktail.com/home/tech-cocktail-conference/” title=”TECH cocktail CONFERENCE”><img src=”http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2377/2449686680_e398fbe1dd_o.gif” alt=”TECH cocktail CONFERENCE” /></a>

The Illinois I.T. Association CityLIGHTS 2008 Awards Gala took place in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The event was held at Union Station which you might recognize from the epic scene from the movie The Untouchables where Kevin Costner saves a baby carriage while also shooting up the Al Capone gangsters on its marble steps. While we did not save any babies, TECH cocktail was nominated for the CityLIGHTS Award for its positive impact in connecting the Illinois technology community. I am please to report, that TECH cocktail took home the hardware. I was deeply humbled by winning the award as it serves as validation that all the long hours and hard work is truly helping to sculpt a better connected local technology community while helping to amplify that same community to the world.

Eric and I were both unprepared for winning the award as we were up against some stiff competition. But we one of our supporters was able to capture the moment on video and I have used for the episode 19 of the video podcast SOMEWHAT FRANK TV.  I have included the video below for your viewing pleasure. Thank you to everyone that has supported TECH cocktail over the past two years. We could not have done what we have without your support - thank you. Also we not done with what we have started as we look to continue to work to help the local technology communities and startups. If you have not already you should be sure to sign up for the TECH cocktail CONFERENCE on May 29th in Chicago as it should be a great event to further help anyone in business with taking a "no nonsense" approach. Use the promo code: techcocktailers to save $25 on your ticket. Sign up today.

Check out the photos from the 2008 CityLIGHTS event as well as the video below as TECH cocktail is awarded the 2008 CityLIGHTS Award.

This not a simple redesign mind you. We totally revamped the site over the past month. In fact, it no longer looks like a blog. We have a number of pages you can check out like videos, photos, jobs, past demos, etc. which makes for a much better user experience.

The blog updates will continue to come so if you are subscribed you will continue to get new items as if nothing changed. If you are not subscribed please head to our new site and click on the e-mail or feed icon at the top right.

We hope you enjoy the site and we would love to hear any feedback you have so please don’t hesitate to contact us.

The first TECH cocktail CONFERENCE will unfold on Thursday, May 29, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. After hosting TECH cocktail mixer events for nearly two years, a full day CONFERENCE seemed like the next step.

The conference will entail a full day of TECH events and TECH talks and will run from 9 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. at Loyola University’s Kasbeer Hall (Water Tower Place campus). After the conference the customary and popular TECH cocktail mixer will take place from 6:30 p.m. till 9:00 p.m. at John Barleycorn-Wrigleyville.

A stellar cast of speakers for the event are on tap as we look to facilitate a place for people to learn all the various aspects of starting and running a web business. The usual “no nonsense” approach will be alive at the CONFERENCE along with our signature relaxed atmosphere so attendees will learn a lot while having fun.

If you are interested in attending the conference please REGISTER NOW since space is very limited. We look forward to seeing you at our first conference and we thank you for your support over the last couple of years. Without it TECH cocktail wouldn’t be where it is today.

Current confirmed speakers include:

MIKE DOMEK - TicketsNow / Ticketmaster - From the Northwest suburb of Woodstock, Illinois, Mike Domek founded The VIP Tour Company in 1992 with $100 and an abundance of ambition. Armed with a strong work ethic, keen sales acumen, and a flair for finding and selling event tickets, Mike quickly transformed The VIP Tour Company into a professional, full-service ticketing agency. Mike Domek created TicketsNow, the world’s largest independent online marketplace for premium event tickets, and serves as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. In his role, Mike works closely with TicketsNow President and CEO and the company’s executive team in managing the overall business operation, while creating and implementing corporate strategies that yield future growth. Ticketmaster was acquired by IAC’s Ticketmaster in January 2008. More on Mike Domek.

DICK COSTOLO - FeedBurner / Google - Dick is the Co-founder and CEO of FeedBurner, a Chicago-based feed management company which was acquired by Google in June 2007. Previously, he cofounded and was CEO of Spyonit.com. Spyonit was sold to 724 Solutions in September 2000. Prior to Spyonit, Dick cofounded Burning Door Networked Media, a web design and development consulting company. Burning Door was acquired by Digital Knowledge Assets in October 1996. Prior to Burning Door, Dick was at Andersen Consulting for 8 years, where his roles included Senior Manager, Strategy, Application Products Group and Senior Manager, Application Infrastructure, Eagle Advanced Technology Group. More on Dick Costolo.

JASON FRIED -37signals - Founder of Chicago-based 37signals, Jason Fried is an innovative thinker, designer, developer and entreprenuer. His work at 37signals includes creating Basecamp, a hosted project management tool that is extremely popular among its thousands of users, as well as a number of others. Jason often shares his experiences about what works and what doesn’t in web development and how the unconventional methodologies followed by 37signals give it an edge. From the advantages of working as a team with members in different continents to getting the word about your product out effectively, Jason covers it all and preaches “less is less” in design, work and life. Jason has also authored a book called Getting Real, about how to start a successful web-based business. Jason also contributes to the popular Signal vs. Noise blog.

GARY VAYNERCHUK - Wine Library TV - The star of Wine Library TV and the Director of Operations at Wine Library in Springfield, NJ, Gary’s career took a new turn with the advent of Wine Library TV. Broadcast daily between 4 and 6 pm EST, over a five year period from from 1998 to 2003, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million business. With his wealth of knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit, Gary is a wine 2.0 expert who has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation. In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Gary educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavors, and how to buy wine. Debunking myths (red vs. white, big name brands vs. independent growers, the pitfalls of wine ratings, etc.) is another ongoing theme of the show. Former TECH cocktail demoer and sponsor. More details on Gary.

ADRIAN HOLOVATY - EveryBlock - Adrian Holovaty, founder of EveryBlock, is a journalist and Web developer. He has developed award-winning Web applications for washingtonpost.com, Lawrence.com and LJWorld.com and started EveryBlock after being awarded a two-year grant from the Knight Foundation. His 2005 project chicagocrime.org, developed with co-EveryBlocker Wilson, was one of the original Google Maps “mashups” — and eventually helped influence Google to open its mapping infrastructure for all to use. Adrian co-created Django, a free, open-source development framework that makes it fast and easy for programmers to build Web sites. He co-wrote the Django Book in 2007. More on Adrian Holovaty.

More speakers and an agenda are coming soon! Register now.

Thank you to our sponsors Compete.com, Geezeo, North Bridge Venture Partners and ZoomInfo - we could not have brought TECH cocktail to Boston without your generous support.
Special thank you to our TECH cocktailers on the ground in Boston:

Peter Glyman - Geezeo

Shawn Ward - Geezeo

Jay Meattle - Compete.com

Brian Balfour - ZoomInfo

We had some great demos performed by Geezeo, Compete.com, ZoomInfo, Party Resume, Viveo and Fafarazzi among others. Thank you for showing off your stuff at TECH cocktail Boston.

Thanks to Vroop, an internet device design lab based in Attleboro, MA, that raffled off two of their Liveboards up for auction (the Liveboard is a wireless baseball scoreboard device). All proceeds from the auction will go straight to the Jimmy Fund to help fund cancer research. Also Geezeo gave a weekend in Martha’s Vineyard!

Subscribe to TECH cocktail Boston updates to find out about upcoming Boston TECH cocktails, job openings and other events around Beantown.

Check out photos from the event here. Props to Blue Sky Factory for getting us a pretty slick Hollywood-style backdrop for photos.

Date: Thursday, September 6th
Time: 6:30pm - 9pm
Venue: Tequila Rain on Landsdowne Street

We’re hoping to have everything locked down soon and the RSVP list up as well so stay tuned and make sure to block the time off on your calendar. Also, I just want to thank our Boston sponsors in advance. We’ll have their logos up on the site soon but in the meantime here’s the list:

Compete.com

Geezeo.com

ZoomInfo.com

Northbridge Venture Partners

This event is definitely going to be wicked awesome. See you there!

Photo Credit: Eric Hill via Flickr