Read full Sentinel article here:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_20292744/santa-cruz-becoming-hot-spot-tech-locals-gather

Forgive me but although the article went to press on March 30, I didn’t read it until yesterday when someone pointed out (by tagging me in Facebook) that I’m quoted in it. Good summary of what’s been going on the past few years and why I really appreciate this community and the support it offers me as an independent consultant in Santa Cruz.

In reference to Freelance Camp several years ago:

Sara Isenberg
Sara Isenberg Web Consulting & Project Management
Email: sara@saraisenberg.com
Website: http://saraisenberg.com

Hot off the press — Here’s another great new presentation from Shane Perlman,  http://shaneandpeter.com, called Freelancers are slutty, but so are you: Strategies for the successful managment of independent contractors.

[In November, I posted a blog entry of another great presentation by Shane about managing distributed teams called Leading Without Seeing — Managing a Distributed Team.]

Here’s the latest from Shane:

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There are some great events coming up in Santa Cruz this week, Oct 2-6, 2010:

1. Freelance Camp Santa Cruz is this Saturday, October 2, 2010 It’s a one-day unconference on how to run a better freelance or small service business.  Learn more about Freelance Camps in general here: http://freelancecamp.org/ and Register for THIS Santa Cruz camp here: http://freelancecampsc2010.eventbrite.com/
2. What’s Next Lectures is Tuesday, October 5^th 7 PM at the Rio Theater in downtown Santa Cruz.  This event will feature Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, and Sarah Lacy, award-winning author and columnist for TechCrunch. Details http://whatsnextlectures.com/.  Purchase tickets here: http://researchanddevelopment.eventbrite.com/
3. Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup is Wednesday, October 6th at 6:30 PM. Details are here: http://www.meetup.com/santacruznewtech/calendar/14772126/

See you there!

Yeah, I finally bought my iPhone yesterday but before I did, I bought the BEST iPhone case .  It’s called a backflip.  It has a kickstand so the iphone stands up by itself. Way cool!

Interestingly enough, I wasn’t looking for this case but saw it advertised on the Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup event page last month, and Pierce Buxton, VP of Business Development, was at the meetup, promoting his great new product.  Way to go Pierce!

Then, today at NextSpace, I happened to meet Ken Kannappan, CEO of Plantronics, and in the process of talking about blue tooth ear pieces, pulled out my new iPhone and got him interested in this case.  I’d love to find out if Plantronics connects with Backflipcase.

Click here to visit www.backflipcase.com

This meetup will be held at the Dream Inn.

Doors open at 6:30pm for networking and appetizers. We will set up networking tables for sponsors.

And please welcome our new program segment: Kids in Tech. You will be impressed by these teens, their enthusiasm for technology, and their projects!

Presentations will start at 7:15pm. Our line up of presenters for October are:

New Tech Presenters

• Joby Energy – serial entrepreneur and Santa Cruz resident JoeBen Bevirt will talk about his startup which tethers high altitude kites to create energy. JoeBen Bevirt.
• GeoGad – Learn how to create user guided tours on your mobile device. Georgi Dagnall
• PypeLyne – the best way to manage your project pipelines. Vikram Subramaniam
• LiveOps - learn how Cloud Computing, Call Centers, and freelance opportunities to work from home come together in an impressive solution. Michael LaGuardia

RSVP now for this event. We will close attendance at 300 persons. Entry fee is $5.

For more info: http://www.meetup.com/newtech-86/calendar/11287983/

This is one of the best and most concise presentations I’ve seen on funding a startup!

Bill Hunt presents Funding Your Startup to the Silicon Valley New Tech Meetup. Bill Hunt has been a founder and/or senior executive in five start-ups in the application management, network security and email deliverability sectors with four of those companies being acquired, the top two for $180 million+ each.

According to Doug Erikson, founder of the Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup: “Bill gave this blazing fast presentation on key points for getting a startup funded. This is the best snapshot I have seen, and a great refresher course.”

This meetup will be held at the Dream Inn.

Doors open at 6:30pm. Food and networking will be provided. Presentations will start at 7:15pm. Our line up of presenters for September are:

New Tech Presenters

• ccBetty - your own personal email assistant, from event manager to file manager, just ‘CC’ Betty and she’ll organize it for you. Michael Cerda
• Rhomobile – learn how to create or convert your enterprise application for the 5 major mobile platforms (iPhone, Symbian, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile) from a single development tool. Adam Blum
• ZoomPool – next time you need to travel across town to our meetup, or over the hill, try this online tool for ridesharing. Donna Horne
• Aha Mobile – want to improve your driving experience? Learn how this technology combines crowd sourcing and mobile technologies to deliver the first driver-to-driver network which connects drivers to each other and to relevant information from the internet. Rober Acker

Networking Tables
We will again have six tables set up in the networking area. If you are a company or organization that would like to host one of these tables, please notify us.

For more info: http://www.meetup.com/newtech-86/calendar/10959972/

Location
Dream Inn – Aquarius
175 W Cliff Dr
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 426-4330

The following is from Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup:

We have augmented our usual format to include Networking Tables. Between 6:30-7:30, we will have Networking Tables set up so that you can meet with cool startup companies and community movers & shakers:

Networking Tables
- SkyFire – wish you could view Hulu.com or all the Flash-based content on your phone? Check out SkyFire’s free browser for mobile devices.
- Green Software UnConference – a participant-driven conference centered around a green economy and software. Two free passes will be given away.
- Freelance Camp 2009 – this is an exciting annual event in Santa Cruz for anyone thinking of starting their own business! Two free passes will be given away.

And of course, a hot line up of new tech presenters starting at 7:30pm:
- TubeMogul – did you know that 89% of video content viewed on the Internet is less than 10 seconds? hmmm… 12seconds.tv? Learn about a free service that provides a single point for deploying uploads to the top video sharing sites, and powerful analytics on who, what, and how videos are being viewed. TubeMogul tracks rich, standardized analytics far beyond “views,” including per-second audience drop-off, audience geography and much more. David Burch / Marketing Director
- Notableapp.com – building a website? Notable allows your team to comment directly on the website for faster development times and easier communication. Productivity, ease, and fun combined! Hunter Block / CEO
- ccBetty.com – you know the problem: unstructured emails fired at you from all directions. How do you keep track of it all? ccBetty is your own personal email assistant, from event manager to file manager, just ‘CC’ Betty and she’ll organize it for you. Michael Cerda / CEO
- UDUTU – learn how anyone with minimal technical ability can create and distribute engaging courses online. Learn how to turn social networks into a fully functional LCMS (Learning Content Management System) with no software or licensing costs. UDUTU is all about learning in the Web 2.0 world. Richard Mundell / President

The June 10th Meetup will be a presentation + panel discussion on alternative energy sources. Networking starts at 7pm. At 7:30pm, there will be brief presentations by three industry experts covering solar, wind, and biodiesel technologies, followed by a panel discussion. Each speaker will explain how their technology is segmented, for example residential versus commercial uses, and will then provide an overview of their solution. Local green tech entrepeneur Michael “Merc” Martinelli will then lead a panel discussion covering topics such as the local potential for the technology and what conventional energy sources it replaces. As always there will be opportunities for audience participation and Q&A.

Our speakers are:

Jeff Gigoux, Vice President of Product Management & Business Development, Mariah Power. Founded in 2005 in Reno, Nevada, Mariah Power was established to develop innovative and proprietary new technology that introduces a new standard for style and function to the small wind industry. The company’s first wind power appliance, Windspire® wind turbine, was launched on June 2, 2008. Mariah Power continues to be recognized as a “innovative” company with awards from Popular Science, Going Green 100 and TieCon 50. The Windspire was also recently featured on the season finale of, “Extreme Home Makeover.”

Ray Kemp, President & CEO, KF3 BioDiesel Production. 
KF3 invented and provisions the patent-pending Bee Hive modular system for producing biodiesel fuel from waste vegetable oil. KF3 “Hive Systems” are used by individuals, groups of individuals and businesses. The Hive System is a modular four cell fuel processing system. The Micro Hive produces 45 gallons of fuel per process cycle and is appropriate for home use. The Macro Hive produces 250 gallons of fuel per process cycle and its modular nature allows it to scale to any desired commercial or industrial volume. Fueling cells are typically configured as a single cell that functions as a stand alone fuel station for home or private business use. KF3 currently has active Macro Hives, Micro Hives, and Fueling Cells located from Morro Bay to San Francisco, including several in Santa Cruz.

Ed Bless, President, Blueline Power. 
Blueline Power designs, installs and promotes Commercial-scale Clean Energy Systems, including solar electric, wind, biofuel, biomass and sustainability Projects. Blueline Power matches clean, abundant, locally-available resources with the latest technologies. Blueline’s core services include wind analysis and installation, and commercial solar electric and large residential solar electric design and installation. Blueline also offers a unique energy mapping service that includes a site assessment and expert analysis of energy usage (loads) and naturally-occurring clean energy resources (such as sunlight, wind, biomass, water).

About the Panel Leader

Michael “Merc” Martintelli. co-founder of Verdafero. Verdafero is a software as a service (SaaS) start-up in the sustainable business and energy efficiency space. Verdafero provides on demand software tools that enable organizations to effectively manage their “Triple Bottom Line” – People / Planet / Profit. Merc is co-sponsoring a conference on “green software” to be held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View on August 19th (registration details will be posted to the Santa Cruz New Tech MeetUp message board).

Reminder

Please note that this event is June 10. We are expecting another record attendance. You must register as a member, and RSVP “Yes”. If you do not RSVP for this event, you will not be able to get in due to capacity limitations by the Dream Inn. Admission is $5, payable at the door. See you soon!