Chicago Tech Report

Chicago Journalism Town Hall Brings Old and New Media Luminaries Together

Chicago's old and new media camps converged this past Sunday for a panel discussion in front of a packed audience of over 300 on the future of the journalism profession and newspaper industry. Representing the old guard were stalwarts like John Calloway and Carol Marin from WTTW and Eric Zorn from the Chicago Tribune. From the new media side were Geoff Dougherty from ChiTown Daily News and Andrew Huff from Gapers Block.

A lively three hour discussion ensued, covering issues like funding of newsroom operations, new business models to support investigative journalism, viability of online advertising, micropayments, and the role of community foundations in bridging the gap. No easy answers were formulated by the end of the day, but it was heartening to see a conversation beginning to form between experienced professional journalists and the young hotshot bloggers and technologists in the audience. There are several other interesting startups in the journalism space here in Chicago to watch that will help inform the future, whatever it may be, of media in this city.

For those who could not attend the event, WBEZ will be posting an audio recording of the event, and there will be a video rebroadcast on public access CAN-TV. Also see another take on this event.

Pre-SXSW Tweet-Up CHICAGO Edition

As a follow up to our post on January 10 regarding Chicagoans going to SXSW Interactive, a get together will be held on Wednesday March 4th for those who are attending (or interested in) the SXSW 2009 Conference. 

Schedule sheets will be available at the event for people to discuss conference panels and coordinate timing if desired.

In order to prepare sensitive Midwestern palettes for spicy Texan cuisine, the event will held at the Blue Agave Mexican Restaurant. (Corner of State/Maple near Dublins and Hunt Club)

If you're interested in attending, the Facebook event can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=53505598889

Date:	Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Time:	5:30pm - 11:00pm
Location:	BLUE AGAVE
Street:	1 W Maple St
City/Town:	Chicago, IL
	View Map

NU Professor Analyzes Online Gaming Community

Professor Noshir Contractor of Northwestern University and his research team analyzed over 60 terabytes of log data from the multiplayer online game EverQuest II and made some interesting discoveries which they presented at this week's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. Most surprising, according to Contractor, was that players tended to play with others near them geographically and socially. Perhaps this suggests that although technology has made the world smaller in many ways, we still feel more comfortable hanging with our own local "tribe".

Tech Cocktail 10 Brings Out the New and the OldThe Morphing of Chicago Tech

10.  Eric Olson and Frank Gruber's little idea to bring the tech community together for drinks in a Lincoln Park Chicago bar has expanding to multi-city networking events - leading up to last night's 10th Tech Cocktail fest.  As the Founder of Chicago Tech Report, it's my job to bring objective commentary, opinions and thoughts when it comes to the tech/digital marketing community in Chicago.  You may expect this post to talk about the massive networking that went on last night (tons). You may expect me to wonder exactly what Microsoft was doing at their demo table (they always draw a big following...and the Google Exec I chatted with last night is glad to see Microsoft playing a role in Chicago).  You may expect me to talk about the open bar the attendees experienced (some folks actually complained about certain libations not being available). You may wonder what Ron May was doing this time (he did manage to yell at me from his chair while I was chatting with the ITA's Fred Hoch). 

Instead, I'm going shed some light for those people that haven't seen the growth of this space like I, along with other folks,  have. 

Facebook Developer Garage Friday Feb 20

Another networking opportunity for the startup crowd: Facebook Developer Garage is a one night only social event for those interested in developing applications for the increasingly popular social networking site Facebook. The evening will include presentations by Facebook employees, local startups and speakers.

Location:
Where I've Been headquarters (Bucktown)
1927 N. Milwaukee,
Chicago, IL 60647

Friday, February 20th, 2009
7pm - 11pm
Cost: Free

RSVP where else? On Facebook.

Chicago Startup Weekend April 3-5

If you've ever wanted to be a founder of a startup company, you can take part in the near future by attending Startup Weekend Chicago. This 3-day extreme bootcamp for aspiring entrepreneurs has been held around the country and is finally making its way to the Windy City April 3-5. The basic format is attendees gather on Friday evening and brainstorm ideas for companies. Typically these are software/tech companies but anything is really possible. The attendees then break up into project teams and spend the remainder of the weekend working around the clock making their ideas into reality.

The weekend is not just for techie types. Marketers, managers, graphic designers... lots of skill areas are needed to launch a real live company in under 72 hours. Having attended a previous weekend in another city, I can say it's one of the most intense, yet exciting ways to work with a group of people you just met. The event will be held at the TechNexus space in downtown Chicago.

Chicago Auto Show Starts Today

Being from Detroit, there's always a part of me that gets a little excited when Auto Show season rolls around. It's the time of year when the coolest innovations, concepts, and gadgets are put on display, practical or not. This year is no different, however, the mood is shall I say, a bit more muted given the current state of the global economy and the auto industry in general. Regardless, there are still a few auto companies who are putting on a good showing in terms of new styling, innovations, or just the "wow" factor that a $313,000 price tag can elicit.

Of course the big thing everyone has been talking about this year is fuel economy and efficiency. The majority of the press for the last few years has been around hybrids, but the darling of this years auto show is the electric vehicle. Numerous auto makers are designing and developing electric vehicle strategies, many of which are based on plug-in technologies. Both the Chevy Volt pictured below and the Cadillac Converj, pictured above, are cars that we could see on the road in the next few years. The one electric I was specifically looking for was the Toyota FT-EV. I might have missed it, but I'm pretty sure it isn't being displayed here in Chicago.

So if you are in town between Feb. 13th and the 22nd, stop by McCormick Place to check out some of the auto makers there. And if you're not into cars, there's a life size representation of one of the Transformers from this upcoming summers Transformers sequel or you can always check out the booth for Killer Spin, a table tennis company who is going to have championship level table tennis players going head-to-head against the average Joe off the street. Should make for some fun people watching.

In Case You Missed It...Sittercity Gets $7.5 Million in Venture Capital

For those Chicago startups that think things don't get funded in the Windy City....

Sittercity recently closed a round of funding, to the tune of $7.5 million, from Point Judith Capital and Apex Venture Partners.  Around from 2001, Sittercity provides caregiver information to users that pay a nominal subscription fee each month. 

Geek Rock: I Fight Dragons

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of seeing a local band by the name of I Fight Dragons play at the Elbow Room. A couple of things made that event special. A) After about 6 years, via Twitter, I was able to reconnect with a high school friend (Brian M. Singer of IFD) B) Video Games and Good Music are great. Video Games and Music TOGETHER are better. And C) CTR prides itself on finding uses of technology in all aspects of life. IFD was a perfect example of the kinds of stories we at the tech report want to share with the rest of our fellow Chicagoans.

Do yourself a favor and check out the video. Additionally, Brian was kind enough to give us a great overview of I Fight Dragons and where you can connect with them if their music strikes your fancy.

Social Media Club Chicago Meetup: February 26

It's that time again.  The February Chicago Social Media Club get together will take place at 312 Chicago.  Join Barbara and crew at 5:30 and chat about all things social media.  

This month's chat...

Panelists
Andrew Gill - WBEZ, Producer Interactive Media
Daniel Honigman - Tribune Interactive
Howard Wolinksy - Medill, Adjunct Faculty Member 

Wailin Wong - Tribune Technology Reporter

RSVP here