Tracking Twitter, hanging with Michael Jackson and eluding Google's radar

Michael Jackson hanging with tweens, a live demo of a tool for tracking the nice and not so nice things people say about you on Twitter and a bedroom-based startup that's successfully flying under Google's radar. What more could a WebInno virgin ask for?

With technology conferences few and far between during the summer, I'd been keeping my eyes open for a local one to hit: WebInno was the lucky winner. The event was one in a string of monthly or so gatherings of the Web Innovators Group, the brainchild of venture capitalist David Beisel of Venrock.  The companies highlighted generally focus on the Web, including a good dose of mobile.

I was blown away by the crowd of a few hundred people sandwiched between a bar and ballroom as I ascended the stairs at the Royal Sonesta along the banks of the Charles River. Though somehow even before grabbing my name sticker I ran into a neighbor affiliated with Squaredy Cat Media, which is developing hyperlocal community commerce websites. (I had intended to look over the attendee list before I left the office but realized I left the printout at work, only to find the next morning it was 48 pages long…yeesh).

The setup for WebInno's formal program is similar – though on a much smaller scale -- to Network World's DEMO in that startup representatives are given 6 minutes to pitch their company to the crowd. Amazingly, the demos from all three featured presenters worked smoothly.

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First up was Mike Levine, who showed off a virtual world dubbed Planet Cazmo that targets teens and tweens and has a big focus on music. Levine, a game industry veteran, says the site attracts visitors from dozens and dozens of countries.

One lure is virtual concerts by big name acts like Soulja Boy and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, though Levine did have more than a few audience members squirming when he showed virtual kids hanging out watching Michael Jackson videos (a woman behind me whispered: "One of those kids was showing his first and last name!"). As for security on the site, Levine said monitors are on duty during all peak periods and education is used to encourage kids who aren't behaving well to behave better. "We're committed to having a safe world and we see that as a differentiator," said Levine, noting the site is compliant with the Child Online Protection Act. 

As for monetization, the site sells virtual cash so users can buy branded items on the site, etc. It also offers subscriptions for users and gets paid for offering surveys. Levine says he hopes the market for sponsorships of virtual concerts will prove lucrative.

Next up was Thoughtbot's Chad Pytel, who showed off an excellently named tool called Thunder Thimble.  Pytel was really able to show off the tool's ability to monitor what others are saying about you on social media sites, which he said "Today mainly means Twitter." Pytel plugged in the #webinno hashtag on Twitter to see what people were saying about the event as it was taking place. He spotlighted one Tweet that read: "Hey #webinno people in the back of the room: keep it down! WTF?" To which Pytel responded: "Yeah," acknowledging the boorish behavior of the overflow crowd, many of whom practically drowned out the speakers with their yammering.