vinnie's Blog

Vinnie L, Male, 29, US
“

i can be found crawling around the lefora support forums as 'chief'

http://vinnie.net
Member For: 6 months, 2 weeks
Posts: 22
Top Post By vinnie (1 thumbs up):

Who's on deck for a little post cinco de mayo celebration?



TradeVibes.com - Discover and share information about web startups.  See who's  invested in who, key people on the team, and what the community thinks of a startup's prospects. [David Li]




a.viary.com - What do you want to create?  Online 'editing' from photos to videos, from music to 3D.  A full suite of apps that will impress you. [Michael Galpert]




PlayCafe.com - Remember watching the Price Is Right and wanting to be a contestant?  Well, 'come on down' and join the first online game show network! [Mark Goldenson]




lefora.com - Like blogger, but for forums.  A free forum hosting provider.  Now it's my turn to get pressed with questions by you! [Vinnie Lauria].


Free give-away for NewTechr's:  If you want your own free custom domain forum on lefora, like the subdomain I set up for http://newtechmeetup.org, just drop me an email and I'll send you more info.  'vincent.lauria -at- gmail.com'


When: Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303
More: http://newtechmeetup.org
 

- from the topic: May 6th, 2008 Meetup

Recent Posts by vinnie:

SiliconValley NewTech October Meetup

October 7, 2008 by vinnie

Looking forward to seeing everybody tonight.  Lineup below.

 


zicasso.com - The ideal solution for those *complex* vacations involving multiple destinations or activities.  [Brian Tan]

 


retrevo.com - A smart and simple web site that makes finding, buying and using electronics fun.  [Robb Lewis]

 


rofo.com - Find that new office space for your startup aggregated into one place.  [Garrett Krueger]

 


fairsoftware.net - A TechCrunch50 Finalist.  Start your online business, online!  It only takes a few clicks to incorporate use their unique 'Software Bill of Rights'. [Alain Raynaud]


When: Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto
More: http://newtechmeetup.org

--------------


Free trip to Boulder, Colorado for Developers! 

Boulder, CO is looking for some kick-ass developers.  Are you one in the SF area and would be interested in a new scenery?  Submit your resume -  http://www.boulder.me - Last day to submit resume is today 10/07.

SiliconValley NewTech Meetup - Tues, Sep 9th Startonomics Tickets

September 9, 2008 by vinnie

Tonight we have a fun and interesting lineup.  From online gaming, to widgets, to product reviews, to children's books.

 


huddler.com - Learn about products from the people who share similar interests, it's like yelp for products. [Dan Gill]

 


biguniverse.com - A library of children's books where you can create your own, buy published books, or reads the books of others.  [Anil Hemrajani]

 


widgetbox.com - Add a widget to your blog, profile, or webpage, from Super Mario Games, to music players, widget box has them all.  [Julia Brunnings]

 


mygamemug.com - Find your perfect online gaming buddies with their sophisticated and fun matching system.  [Ray Lau and Erik Yao]

When: Tuesday, Sep 9, 2008 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303
More: http://newtechmeetup.org

 

--------------


Startonomics Tickets

If you subscribe to the meetup group's newsletter, you would have had an opportunity to win free tickets to Startonmoics, on my blog, I'm listing the VIP discount for $100 off for NewTech Meetup members.

http://startonomics.com/register
 * SVMU08 — VIP $100 discount for the SiliconValley NewTech Meetup

Thanks To DLA for hosting and Gundlach Bundschu for providing the wine.

Re: Start a topic above with your job posting

August 14, 2008 by vinnie

it might be helpful to post this in a new topic (click 'start topic' at the top right), so people can browse through it via the categories.

Start a topic above with your job posting

August 13, 2008 by vinnie

Are you looking to a hire a superstar engineer or designer?

Or maybe you're looking to find a great job?

Post your job requests here. Just create a new topic in the 'Job Posting' category and use a descriptive headline, such as 'In need of designer....'

And if you want to get notified of new listings in this category, just subscribe to the rss feed below:

http://forum.newtechmeetup.org/api/posts/?categories=job-postings&format=atom

Tonight's SiliconValley NewTech August Meetup w/ Special Guest

August 5, 2008 by vinnie

Hey all,
Due to a conflict, I won't be able to MC tonight, but your assistant organizer, Brian Solis, will be MCing.  He's stepped up to the mic in the past and has done a great job at it.  We also have a return of a special guest, Guy Kawasaki who will let you know how to find interesting stories on the web.

- IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR SEPT -
Our September Meetup will be Tues, Sept 9, 2008 (a switch from the first tuesday of the month), this will return to the first Tues in Oct.

----
Tonight's Lineup:


involver.com - Create video campaigns that allow you to engage and interact with your viewers, and most importantly, grab emails. [Tyler Willis]



me.dium.com - Get social while surfing the web, it's like a lounge for every website, discover new places. [David Mandell]



kiobo.com - Get social and see where your friends are visiting or find people with similar browsing behavior. [Sanjay Tibrewal]



alltop.com - The digital magazine rack of the internet. [Guy Kawasaki]


Also, I would like to thank these folks for helping to put together tonight:
 * DLA Piper, http://dlapiper.com/
 * FireHouse Brewery for providing some growlers tonight, http://firehousegrill.com
 * Fearless Chocolate for some delectables they'll leave out: http://fearlesschocolate.com/

----
When: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303
More: http://newtechmeetup.org


Cheers,
Vinnie

July's SiliconValley NewTech Meetup Lineup

July 1, 2008 by vinnie

Hey all, another solid lineup for tonight, can't wait to see everybody.

Thanks goes to DLA for being a great host and Gundlach Bundschu (http://www.gunbun.com) for providing another fabulous selection of wine tonight.

----
The lineup:


kwiry.com - See it?  Hear it?  Text it before you forget it with mobile txt message reminders to your computer. [Ron Feldman]

 


websketch
websketch.com - Impressive interface for sketching up your own websites.  Drag and drop your new website into reality. [Scott Tse]

 

launchsplash
LaunchSplash.com - Fills a need of 100% of web startups - drop dead simple launch pages for your upcoming site - build community before you even have one. [Jacques Crocker]

 

zoomprospector
ZoomProspector.com - Whether you're looking for your new office across the city or across the country, find the right location by a number of factors: cost, labor market, education level, job growth, incomes, etc. [Chad Catacchio & Anatalio Ubalde]


Also, there's been great success in our LinkedIn group (http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/40014/3E27233BFA02), with over 1,100 members to date.  It provides a great networking opportunity when searching for resources or trying to connect with people.

Want to do more for the group?
1.  Are you a designer?  I'm looking for new designs for our group's logo (100x50 & 60x30) on LinkedIn, please submit them (or any design questions) to my email addr below.

2. I'm looking for success stories of how you've benefited from the meetup or LinkedIn group.  Please send them to my email addr below.  Alternatively, if I've been a direct help to you, feel free to share this as a testimonial on my LinkedIn profile.

When: Tuesday, July 1, 2008 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303
More: http://newtechmeetup.org

cheers,
vinnie
vincent -dot- lauria -at- gmail -dot- com

Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup - Tuesday, June 3

June 3, 2008 by vinnie

Some very cool services will be demo'd tonight.  I've been using two of them for the past few weeks and think they're great sites.

And for wine tonight, I met the owner of Gundlach Bundschu a few weeks back, and he's sent our group some wine for the next few events - straight from sonoma - www.gunbun.com



---

The lineup:


loud3r.com - Creating community portals around topics.  Both human and semantic powered to filter out that 'not so good' content in the long tail.  [Lowell Goss]

 


tipjoy.com - 'tip' the sites you love.  A super simple micropayment system, that moves 'tipping' onto the web.  [Ivan Kirigin]



oosah.com - Drag and drop your photos from flickr to picasa to facebook, just like you were on your desktop.  Simple drag and drop sharing for photos, videos, and music.  [Mike Duggan, Dan Khasis]

 


chacha.com - 'true' people powered search in the palm of your hand.  Outwit you friends or find your flight status with a simple text message. [Brad Mays]

When: Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303
More: http://newtechmeetup.org

Thanks again to DLA for being such a generous host each month.

Vinnie

To anybody pitching their product

May 17, 2008 by vinnie

Never underestimate the power of simplicity...

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/may2008/sb20080516_673078.htm

Re: Wrap-up of Tuesday, May 6, 2008

May 8, 2008 by vinnie

and thanks to Fayza for filming my demo with her cool new 'flip' video device.

Wrap-up of Tuesday, May 6, 2008

May 8, 2008 by vinnie

A great turnout, companies that presented:

I had a great time presenting lefora and was expecting to get pressed with the hard questions :) Thanks for making Tuesday night so great.

At the end of the night, I mentioned a non-profit event going on - The NetSquared Mashup Challenge.

Register Here: http://tinyurl.com/62d4rs
More info here: http://netsquared.org

Re: Hello, my name is Vinnie

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

thanks Shirley, woomeover looks interesting.

Feel free to start a new topic in the 'Introduce Yourself' category and copy and paste your post there - this way ppl can browse down through the members.

Re: Poll: Do you like the idea of a forum alongside the meetup?

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

the hope is to create a stronger community around the 2,500 SiliconValley NewTech Meetup members who can't fit into DLA each month :)

Re: Hello, my name is Vinnie

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

and my linkedin profile is here:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentlauria

Yahoo vs. itself

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

Does anybody else think that Microsoft pulled out of the acquisition in order to drive down Yahoo's stock price - only to return in a few weeks to a beaten yahoo?

Hello, my name is Vinnie

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

I've been living in the bay area for 2 1/2 years now, (moved out from NYC.)  Currently, I'm in San Fran's sunny and burrito delicious Mission District with my finance Kristine and our dog Milo.

I started this meetup in February 2006 to meet other like minded folks - people who loved technology and were looking to meet new people.  I used to attend the nyc NewTech meetup regurarly and started this meetup in the same format.

I'm the co-founder of lefora.com - a free forum hosting platform that's like blogger, but for forums. 

Before lefora, I was part of the meetro.com team, living in the Meetro 'commune' in Palo Alto.  At our peak living situation, we had 8 guys living in a 3 bedroom cranking out cool features for Meetro.

In nyc I was working for IBM - I ran a few communities and tried to spread the value of social software and communities online. 

My college years were spent in Boston attending Boston University.  I received a B.S. in Computer Engineering with a minor in Business Administration.  I spent part of my summer after college touring parts of Europe with my buddy Doug.  I spent a few weeks in 2005 touring and live-webcamming parts of the southern U.S.  I'm originally from Port Washington, NY.

Re: Press Coverage

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

We were also written up in the Red Herring, but I don't have an active link anymore.

Press Coverage

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

A meetup in July of 2007 was displayed on the BBC (video in top right, 2min in), full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/6929569.stm

Poll: Do you like the idea of a forum alongside the meetup?

May 6, 2008 by vinnie

May 6th, 2008 Meetup

May 5, 2008 by vinnie

Who's on deck for a little post cinco de mayo celebration?



TradeVibes.com - Discover and share information about web startups.  See who's  invested in who, key people on the team, and what the community thinks of a startup's prospects. [David Li]




a.viary.com - What do you want to create?  Online 'editing' from photos to videos, from music to 3D.  A full suite of apps that will impress you. [Michael Galpert]




PlayCafe.com - Remember watching the Price Is Right and wanting to be a contestant?  Well, 'come on down' and join the first online game show network! [Mark Goldenson]




lefora.com - Like blogger, but for forums.  A free forum hosting provider.  Now it's my turn to get pressed with questions by you! [Vinnie Lauria].


Free give-away for NewTechr's:  If you want your own free custom domain forum on lefora, like the subdomain I set up for http://newtechmeetup.org, just drop me an email and I'll send you more info.  'vincent.lauria -at- gmail.com'


When: Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 7:00 PM
Where: DLA Piper, 2000 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303
More: http://newtechmeetup.org
 

Meetup #3 - April 4, 2006, 7:00 PM

May 5, 2008 by vinnie

This was our first meetup with a full lineup.  We had two prior at Coupa Cafe, and DFJ was kind enough to host us in April of 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Read what the New York Times has to say about the NYC NewTech Meetup:
http://press.meetup.c...

Demo Line-up:
*Meetro.com
- (location aware IM) [Vinnie Lauria, Product Manager]
*Zooomr.com
- (hot new photo sharing website with geo-tagging) [Kris Tate, founder]
*Rrove.com
- (social bookmarking service for locations) [David Quiec, founder]
*Prosper.com
- (First people-to-people lending marketplace) [Andrew Martinez-Fonts, Product Manager]

There be some food and drinks provided.

The very first - Monday, Feb 13 2006, 6:30 PM

May 5, 2008 by vinnie



I'm hosting a New Technology Meetup in Palo Alto, Monday evening.  If you're in the area and want to discuss hot new technologies over coffee, come swing by.

What:Palo Alto New Technology Meetup

When: Monday, February 13, 2006, 6:30 PM

Where:
Coupa Cafe
538 Ramona Street
Palo Alto , CA 94309
(650) 322-6872

Welcome Message to New Members

May 5, 2008 by vinnie

Welcome to the Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup.  This forum is a place for 'online' conversations realating to the 'offline' meetup. 

We meet on the first Tuesday of every month at DLA Piper in Palo Alto.  The night consits of 4 companies demoing their product in just 5min, then an hour of networking.  Beer, wine, and pizza is provided.  Join the meetup to see demos of hot new web2.0 technologies and mingle with fellow entrepreneurs and investors.