Co-op combines a quick update tool like Twitter with inline time tracking and project management. Earlier this week, Co-Op presented a demo of their application at the NY Tech Meetup. We covered the launch of Co-Op last month.

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Last night at the NY Tech Meetup, organizer Scott Heiferman and co-organizer Dawn Barber provided an update about the future of the monthly meetup.  Scott will be stepping down as organizer and there will be a public vote for a replacement.

There will also be a new board setup for the meetup which will consist of 11 people; 7 people will come from other popular NYC technology meetups, the new organizer plus 3 additional people. Scott noted that more details on the nomination process will be posted later today. Here’s his video about how the process will work:

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Source:CenterNetworks

MixedInk is a tool which the company describes as, "allowing massive groups to brainstorm together and create a final, top rated document."  From what I can tell, you write some words in a window and then MixedInk shows you related content which you can pull into your document. After you pull in the content fragments into your document, you then edit it and post it. From there apparently people can vote on your document and help it become the top rated document for that "plank". Types of content on MixedInk are called "planks".

This is another service that isn’t live - apparently it will be live in December. I wonder why they didn’t wait until next month for their demo so the site would be live and people can use/play with it.

Last night at the NY Tech Meetup, organizer Scott Heiferman and co-organizer Dawn Barber provided an update about the future of the monthly meetup.  Scott will be stepping down as organizer and there will be a public vote for a replacement.

There will also be a new board setup for the meetup which will consist of 11 people; 7 people will come from other popular NYC technology meetups, the new organizer plus 3 additional people. Scott noted that more details on the nomination process will be posted later today. Here’s his video about how the process will work:

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Freshman Fund provides a way to easily donate to a 529 college savings plan for a child. Freshman Fund takes care of all of the backend paperwork and making sure that you are contributing to the correct plan.

Freshman Fund connects with Facebook and they also offer a branded credit card which pays rewards into your 529 plan.

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Source:CenterNetworks

HabitatMap provides a directory and mapping service around a variety of environmental topics. In the video below, the example used is creating maps to see where waste is handled in NYC. There’s also an example which looks at where the power plants and "dirty" power plants are located in NYC. To get the data, HabitatMap has partnered with a number of different local and municipal agencies.

Freshman Fund provides a way to easily donate to a 529 college savings plan for a child. Freshman Fund takes care of all of the backend paperwork and making sure that you are contributing to the correct plan.

Freshman Fund connects with Facebook and they also offer a branded credit card which pays rewards into your 529 plan.

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

This evening NY-based Cookstr presented their recipe database. There are a million recipe databases online and Cookstr says what makes their recipe database different is that the recipes come from cookbook authors. This is different than say FoodNetwork which promotes recipes from their television chefs and the crowdsourced recipe sites.

There’s only one issue… the site isn’t live! There was no mention of when the site would be live. I assume some percentage of the crowd probably tried to access the site and were denied.

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Source:CenterNetworks

Tonight AdaptiveBlue Director of Business Development Fraser Kelton presented their newest product, Glue. We reviewed Glue when it launched last month. AdaptiveBlue calls Glue a "contextual network."

This evening NY-based Cookstr presented their recipe database. There are a million recipe databases online and Cookstr says what makes their recipe database different is that the recipes come from cookbook authors. This is different than say FoodNetwork which promotes recipes from their television chefs and the crowdsourced recipe sites.

There’s only one issue… the site isn’t live! There was no mention of when the site would be live. I assume some percentage of the crowd probably tried to access the site and were denied.

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Last night a special meeting was held to begin discussions on how to shape the future of the NY Tech Meetup. Thanks to Scott and Dawn for organizing the evening and for the very tasty pizza and drinks. I will have a full recap of my thoughts and ideas for moving forward this week. I’ve received a bunch of emails asking about the video so I will post the video now. It’s 1 hour in length and covers the review and discussion of ideas. If you prefer text, all of the notes are listed on the Meetup site.

CN Sponsor: CloudContacts - make your business cards work for you!
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: iminlikewithyou, FriendFeed, Web Jobs

Last night in NYC the NY Tech Meetup was held at the IAC headquarters in Manhattan. I’ve been covering the monthly event for nearly two years now and try to get every presentation on video for those of you who either couldn’t make it or are located elsewhere. Over the past few months I’ve received several emails and chats wondering if I had any insight on how to actually get on the list of presenters for the meetups. I enjoy attending the meetup each month, meeting CN readers and helping to expose a bunch of NYC startups to the world. Meetup organizers Dawn and Scott do a good job in organization and event night management. Things move along on time better than most events I attend.

As I started to look back, one thing seemed to stick out. "Friends of Meetup" seemed to grab an abnormally large number of the presentation slots. It’s not just one month, it’s multiple months with multiple companies.

After Charles Forman presented for the 3rd time in a year, I asked event organizer Dawn Barber how Forman was selected to present again tonight as he didn’t even post on the "I’d like to present list". Dawn said that "this was something new" and that "people want to see this". Not sure when that survey of "people" was completed but I wasn’t provided a ballot form. I explained that I’ve heard from several people expressing their frustration with the way the presenters are selected. She said excuse me for a second and jumped on stage, whispered something to Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman and then sat back down. Immediately thereafter Scott said "I should probably note that I have a relationship with iminlikewithyou and the next company (familybuilder)". I wonder if he would have said anything had I not asked. Of course not. Well now my Columbo hat just got a bit higher on my head - what else might be going on here?

Let’s take a look at the companies that presented and see if there are any potential conflicts:

• Adarky - I can’t find any direct conflicts but the founder Steve Spurgat was able to present 2x in under a year - no post on the messageboard
• Change.org - Josh Levy is also editor of Personal Democracy Forum where Tech Meetup organizer Dawn Barber serves as Director of Marketing & Events - no post on the messageboard
• ImInLikeWithYou - founder Charles Forman has been able to present 3x in a year, always gets bonus time (my camera counts the time) and is able to present just a powerpoint (something no one else is able to do). Meetup founder Scott Heiferman is on the board of this company - no post on the messageboard
• FamilyBuilder - Meetup founder Scott Heiferman is on the board of this company - did post on the messageboard
• CollabFinder - I couldn’t find any conflicts but this site didn’t post on the main message board as directed - will need to investigate further
• RmbrMe - followed the proper protocol
• Aquahoops - the founder of this game, E.J. Mablekos, is an employee of ImInLikeWithYou (Dan Frommer notes that E.J. is a former employee)
• The Ladders - 3 presentations in the last year - I am guessing last night’s was a paid slot for the company sponsoring drinks afterwards

Scott makes it clear each month that the NY Tech Meetup is separate from the company Meetup. I still don’t get this frankly. Meetup is the only company to get a "free" table each month to pimp their goods. There’s no transparency on the funds for the group - we will save this part of the discussion for another post.

So what happens when Dawn and Scott select companies that are either friends, associates or that they have a financial interest in? The simple answer is a lot. There are actually two different issues but they compound to cause an even larger overall issue.

First, many good NYC startups lose their chance for press and buzz. There are plenty of startups on the list, but those were passed over for "friends of meetup". Second, the "friends of meetup" walk away with the worldwide press. Check out the recap of last night’s event on Alley Insider. The only company mentioned was ImInLikeWithYou. Out of the 8 companies, Eric picked this one to discuss. The two apparently non-conflicted startups got nothing, zip, nada. I am by no means calling out Alley Insider, it’s just something I see across the board at many conferences where conflicts are evident.

I’ve setup a new rule on CenterNetworks. We will no longer post the videos of companies where there are apparent conflicts. I thought about this long and hard and if we did, we would be exacerbating the situation. I’d rather spend the time on the companies that actually need the media attention.

The bottom line is simple - if we want NYC to kick ass in the world’s tech community, we have to stop favoring a few "friends" and let everyone get time on stage. While I agree that many of the apps that request to present aren’t actually in the right stage to present, there are plenty of others who deserve their time on stage. Let’s hope that corrective action will be taken swiftly and there will be no more conflicts. For my other suggestions on how to improve the meetup, check out my 5 things post from last year.

Lastly, I totally understand that it’s very difficult to stand up and voice your opinion even though ya’all will share it with me in private. Don’t worry - I will keep fighting for transparency and will post a "connected list" each month until we see some positive change - call me Maverick Allen.

Feel free to place your bets on which "friends of Meetup" will present next month I have a couple ideas on who will get a nod.

CN Sponsor: Check Your Credit Score
Other CenterNetworks Coverage: Viddler, Twitter, Web Jobs