GSA Technology Council

Monthly events connect Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston.

The Tech After Five Professional Networking events that have been popular in Upstate South Carolina for years have now spread across the state.

“July will mark the fourth monthly event in Columbia, and the second in Charleston” says event coordinator, Phil Yanov. “We have been received warmly as we coordinate our efforts with a number of existing organizations across the state.”

The goal of Tech After Five is to bring high tech professionals and business owners together on first a regional basis and then across the state to build the networks they need to advance their careers and businesses.

“We ask people what they need, print it on their badge, hand them a drink and put them in their mission in a room full of people that are interested in helping as much as being helped. It’s a formula that makes things happen.” says Yanov.

The events are offered free of charge to those who register online at http://www.TechAfterFive.com.

About Tech After Five:

Now in it’s third year, Tech After Five connects tech professionals, business owners, and enthusiasts in a series of connected networking events offered free of charge to attendees. Through targeted invitations, and facilitated networking activities, attendees are encouraged to create new professional relationships, strengthen existing relationships, and to also act as networking hub for others seeking expertise. Events are held monthly in Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston, SC. More information at http://www.TechAfterFive.com

We’ve been hearing from several employers that they are having trouble finding the technology types they are looking for. We are a bit surprised about that because we think we’ve got quite a bit of talent on the bench. We decided to do something about this turn of events and offer free job postings on our job board through the end of July. Normally, we charge $69 for a 60 day posting. Through the end of July, we’re going to let you post your jobs for free.

Here’s how you take advantage of the offer:

1) got to http://jobs.gsatc.org

2) Click the Post a Job Button.

3) Enter the Details of your job.

4) Preview your job.

5) When satisfied, go to the payment screen and enter JulyFree as the discount code.

Think of this as our GSATC stimulus package. We’re trying to get some great people back to work. If you know anyone looking for the types of tech professionals that hang out in our group, then send them the link to this page and tell them to post their job for free — for a limited time.

Our January Learning Lunch featured Amy Wood of WSPA. She told us how she is using Twitter, Facebook, and video blogging to connect with and gather information from her audience. We thought we’d ask the people in the room what they thought of the meeting and this is what they said:

What you said

• …great meeting. I love to hear how people like Amy are bringing technology and innovation to their jobs. Great stuff.
• It was very good, I use various social media sources on a daily basis in my work and have predominantly viewed them as an outlet to market myself and our company’s services. Amy’s use of them to better know her customer has given me somthing to think about in terms of how I view and use social media.
• I really enjoyed the meeting. Amy’s enthusiasm made all the difference and her upfront and honest story of how she got started was an inspiration to anyone wanting to do something innovative.
• I thought the meeting was wonderful, and I was impressed how well Amy and her team utilized new media to really expand the interactivity Phil, I have been thoroughly impressed with the caliber and consistency of the great events you are putting together at GSATC. Thanks for keeping that ball moving.
• It was fun meeting. Very enjoyable.
• I really enjoyed her ability to present. That, of course, comes from being in the TV business. But, the presentation really excited me to become more involved in social networking to reach out to other professionals more.
• Very interesting how she uses social mediums to drive her professional career. Somewhere there is that balance between the social and professional, and it appears Amy has hit the nail on the head. Phil, Thank you for having her.
• The meeting was great and it was certainly encouraging to know that someone in SC is leading the nation in, well, anything. Inspiring or controversial, trail blazing takes guts; and I applaud Amy for that. I don’t know that having someone who’s business it is to be on top of what people are saying and doing and rebroadcasting that is a parity situation for every business to learn from (like one where you print labels), but overall, the experience provided great ways to meet people who offered information or services that may one day become beneficial alliances.
• It was awesome. Very relevant information, great networking.
• Always interesting. Always informative. I thought Amy was interesting and entertaining. She clearly expressed her excitement about the interactivity that the social networking channels bring to her and the media.
• Amy was engaging and down-to-earth informative. She brought GSATC a spirit of outside-the-box, innovative thinking, do what she thinks will work attitude to an industry that has not been that enthusiastic about embracing change. She was an excellent example of how important people and relationships are in our high-tech world. Bruce Yandle’s latest study on the SC Innovation Economy reported that the stage we’re in is one of knowledge connections. Work and life get done through connections and Amy was a real-world example of that construct. Phil you always do a fantastic job involving everyone. We look forward to this every month. You’re a valuable part of the area’s infrastructure. Thanks.
• I enjoyed the meeting. It was interesting to see how the social media is being incorporated in the news. I am interested in seeing more examples of how it is being incorporated into business operations.
• The meeting was fun, informative and provided a good opportunity to meet new people.
• Amy Wood is reinventing TV news, not just here but globally. It is very inspiring to see pioneers like this in Greenville.
• “I found it to be very informative. Amy is clearly ahead of the game in integrating the new media with the existing tv media.
• She caused me to wonder about where this is all headed. I was at Best Buy today and noted the various devices to watch TV on your pc. I just wonder if the tv media is going to be impacted as much as the print media has been by the internet – look at the current woes of the newspapers. Will we watch all of our digital media on the internet ten years from now? And what does that say about local tv stations?
• Amy also convinced me to try some of these new ideas like Twitter and Facebook. I’m not sure how it helps to grow a business but I guess I will find out.”
• It was great hearing Amy Wood talk about blending Social Networks with the News. As allways the speakers are great and the food is too. The MC is pretty funny, so I guess you should keep him also Keep up the good work!
• Really informative and entertaining. Loved it!
• The meeting was great! Amy clearly demonstrated her use of these powerful online tools to better connect with her audience.
• It was really informative. I have been searching for some insight on the different blog sites and this was exactly what I needed to hear. Any Wood has a down to earth style that is very easy to understand and follow. I know exactly what I need to do after this meeting – a rare joy!

Connect with Amy

Thanks again to all who came. Don’t forget to connect with Amy on her website on via Twitter.

More Comments, Pictures, and Links

Lots of people took pictures and posted about the meeting on Twitter, TwitPic, and Flickr. Check out the whole day’s worth of fun by starting here.

Did someone say “Free Lunch?” You should probably already know that our October lunch features Dr. Dave McQueeney from IBM on 10 Emerging Technologies and their Impact on IT. Take a look at his credentials and you’ll see that this is going to be a particularly engaging meeting. We’ve been talking about this presentation for months and a lot of our group is already excited about it. We sat around as a group, however, and asked the question, “How can we get even more people excited about this meeting, get them to tell their friends, and maximize the number of people exposed to this very strategic presentation?” Make it FREE.

The Deal

The October 8, 2008 learning lunch with Dr. Dave McQueeney is a $20 value if the speaker never opens his mouth. The double sawbuck just buys lunch. In this particular case, we’ve got an especially credentialed guy who is going to tell you what’s next for you if you are in IT, so we should charge more. Instead, we are going to charge nothing. To take advantage of this extraordinary display of good will on the part of our special presenting sponsor in October, you have to register online and we think you should tell a friend.

More Info about the meeting: (link)

or http://gsatc200810.eventbrite.com/ (link)

ps: If you are one of the early birds who have paid for this lunch, we’ll issue a refund.

Warren Weeks, Michael Bolick, and Ken Morgan of Selah Technologies

See the February 2008 lunch meeting Photos on Flickr

We now have the slide presentation and audio from the January lunch with Mayor Knox White available for viewing or download online.

Slides

Audio

Press the play button below to hear the presentation by Mayor Knox White.

Download audio

These links are also archived on at the bottom of the original event page.

We had a great crowd on hand for the January meeting of the GSA Technology Council. Greenville City Mayor, Knox White talked to the group about efforts to make the city of Greenville attractive to technology companies. Photographer, Stephen Vitosky was on hand to document the event for us.

All photos (view), as a slide show: (view)

I just came back from WYFF-TV where I recorded a segment on the new Paypal Security Key. The key is a small device you can get from Paypal that creates a three factor authentication for your account, greatly enhancing the security of your Paypal and Ebay accounts. It’s cheap, easy, and (we hope) an effective deterrent against fraud.

If you’d like to watch the segment on the air, be sure to check out the WYFF-TV 6 PM news tonight.

Learn more about the PayPal Security Key on their website.

The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. today issued an order enjoining Vonage from using certain VoIP technology named in its patent litigation with Verizon. The order is not immediately effective, however, and Vonage is confident its customers will see no change in their phone service.

The court announced its intent to hear stay argument in two weeks’ time. At that time, the court intends to render a decision regarding the stay, as well as making the injunction effective. If the court denies the stay, Vonage will seek a stay through appeal from the Federal Court of Appeals. Vonage is confident it will be able to obtain a stay through appeal.

“We are confident Vonage customers will not experience service interruptions or other changes as a result of this litigation,” said Mike Snyder, Vonage’s chief executive officer.

The company has drafted its notice of appeal of the March 8 jury verdict and will file that notice at the appropriate juncture in the court proceedings.

“Our fight is far from over,” Snyder said. “We remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon’s patents – a position we will continue vigorously contending in federal appeals court – and that Vonage will ultimately prevail in this case.”

Snyder continued, “Despite this obvious attempt by Verizon to cripple Vonage, the litigation will not stop Vonage from continuing to provide quality VoIP service to our millions of customers.”

“Our appeal centers on erroneous patent claim construction, and we remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon’s patents – a position we will continue to vigorously assert in federal appeals court,” said Sharon O’Leary, Vonage’s executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. “Vonage relied on open-standard, off-the-shelf technology when developing its service. In fact, evidence introduced in court failed to prove that Vonage relied on Verizon’s VoIP technology, and instead showed that in 2003 Verizon began exploring ways to copy Vonage’s technology,” she added.

The company is focused on growing its business by investing in the rollout of new technology and features, and continuing to grow its customer base. Vonage’s accomplishments continue to validate its business model and strategy. The company has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, doubled revenues to $607 million in 2006 alone, and added nearly 1 million net subscriber lines last year.

via Vonage