This past weekend, several dozen geeks and technology enthusiasts converged on Napa Valley in California to partake in some good wine, rekindle old and make new friendships and just have a great time. Organized by Karen Hartline and Julie Crabill, Time4Wine was billed as being a great social event – and it was.
From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, technology aficionados from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boulder, New York City, and all points around the country gathered in Calistoga, CA. Through social media connections, we were entertained and delighted by the wine tastings we had a Plumpjack Winery, Mumm Winery, St. Supery and Alpha Omega Wineries. As a special bonus, we were treated with a guest appearance by San Francisco’s very own Mayor Gavin Newsom, who actually owns the Plumpjack Winery.
The highlight of the evening was at the Alpha Omega Winery where we had an excellent five-course dining experience complete with wine tasting and a tour of their brewery. Oh, and we can’t forget to celebrate birthdays, with one of them being LiveEarth’s very own Andy Sternberg!
All in all, the weekend was a great one, albeit exhausting. Much appreciation goes to the organizers of this great event… Good friends, food, and wine!
Here are a few photos from this great event:
Tina Hui, Brett Petersel, Emily Joffrion and Marie Williams
Time4Wine attendees in a group shot with Mayor Gavin Newsom at Plumbjack Winery
Vanessa Camones and Brett Petersel
Karen Hartline & Julie Crabill
Paige Craig, Heather Meeker, Alana Joy & Brett Petersel
On Wednesday night at one of San Francisco’s co-working spaces, two great startups presented their products to a pretty packed house at one of the city’s most popular co-working locations, Citizen Space. The two companies were Midomi and SonicLiving – both of which are in the business of helping people figure out what songs they’re listening to and where to get more information.
As I sat through and listened to Midomi give their presentation, it’s apparent that there was some real music ingenuity going on here. The premise behind Midomi is this: it’s a mobile platform so it can be used for the iPhone (yes, there’s even an app for that) and if you’re trying to figure out the name of a song that you’re listening to, you can sing/hum a verse & then it will pick it up and display the song (including any covers of the song). What’s even more impressive is that it can also be used for karaoke – and if you didn’t know, the tech scene is infamous for karaoke…so there you go…it’s karaoke on the go!
SonicLiving has also created a product centered around music, but not necessarily through the same way on mobile phones as with Midomi. The goal behind SonicLiving is to help music fans connect with the bands at a live concert or show. By connecting through music streaming programs like Pandora, Facebook, Last.FM and Lala, fans can keep track of when their favorite bands/artists are coming to a location near them and purchase tickets to the event – it’s an interesting way of keeping in touch with your bands. Just imagine as you’re listening to a song using Midomi that you love (and perhaps are belting out during karaoke?) and then get a ping from SonicLiving saying that the song’s band is set to perform at the nearby concert hall – wouldn’t you want to grab yourself some tickets to see how the pros sing the same song?
Here are some photos from the event:
You can view more photos from this event on my Flickr set here.
Is there another word to describe Karen Hartline besides bubbly? Well, perhaps “Twitter Addict” would have also been appropriate, but we chose to award her with the “Most Bubbly” Bubby award at Twiistup 5.
Many of you probably know Karen as the events coordinator for Mashable, but she has branched out and is also doing her thing for Blurb. But whether she’s hosting or attending the party, she’s always the life of the party, which is why we presented her with the ‘Most Bubbly” award.
For those of you hitting SXSWi, swing by and say hi to Karen and the Blurb team at the Mashable Blurb SX Bash on Monday night, March 16. Blurb is also on the show floor at booth #408, so swing by and check out Blurb books. Maybe you have a book inside you waiting to be published Blurb style.
And stop by tomorrow as we present our final Twiistup 5 interview with Christine Elia, founder and CEO of Closet Couture, and winner of the “Favorite Fashionista Startup” Bubby award.
The inaugural Bubby Award was presented to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton at Twiistup 3, so it seemed fitting that we give away more awards during our recent trip down to LA for Twiistup 5. Here are the winners this time around:
Twiistup went all out this time and was held at Hangar:8 at the Santa Monica airport, had Cuban Rollers at the entrance and our very own Brian Solis as a Showoff judge.
When handing out these Bubby Awards we were questioned about our criteria in choosing the winners and the truth is that there are none. So be prepared, at any time or any event, because you too may be presented with a Bubby!
For our pics of the event go here. Check out our interview with Mike Macadaan, Twiistup producer and VP of product and design at Tsavo Media, along with quick snapshots of each Bubby award winner. Every day next week we will be posting interviews of each Bubby award winner, so be sure to check back then to watch.
