Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

Infochimps is excited to sponsor next month’s StartupWeekend in Austin, taking place at CoSpace on September 10-12. We are thrilled to be a part of this entrepreneurial event and look forward to attending and contributing to its success.

Infochimps is a data-as-a-service platform with a data marketplace at its core.  We have over 10,500 datasets available for download and are committed to providing resources for developers of data-driven software.  Our lightweight API offers high value datasets from Twitter as well as web analytics, such as Trstrank, a measure of a Twitter user’s influence, and an IP-Census data that maps IP addresses to census demographics. We are adding new calls as often as possible to give developers access to more datasets.

A few of our engineers, including @mrflip and @jessecrouch, will attend the event and contribute code. Any participants that are interested in implementing data from our API will have free usage of it for the weekend. We will also be providing discount codes for use after the event.

StartupWeekend Austin is only a few weeks away, we hope to see you there!

Infochimps features:

• Lightweight, REST API
• Advanced analytics for Twitter you can’t find anywhere else (example: Sway, the ratio of a person’s tweets that are RT’d)
• Valuable web analytics, including IP address to census demographics
• 10,500 datasets available in our marketplace

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

Startup Weekend is excited to partner with midVenturesLAUNCH, the largest startup conference in the Midwest. The winning team from Startup Weekend Austin will receive an exclusive invitation to join either the COMPETE track or mVDEMO area at midVenturesLAUNCH happening on September 27-28 in Chicago.

We think this is a pretty big deal, so here’s more information about the conference:

midVenturesLAUNCH is the Midwest’s largest startup and innovation conference, showcasing the newest startup companies in web, mobile, cleantech/greentech and consumer products.  We are assembling over 150+ new companies in three tracks: COMPETE, a startup competition with over $100,000 in cash and prizes; mVDEMO, an area for early-stage startups to gain exposure; and LAUNCH, where later-stage VC- or angel-backed startups and established brands will launch new, innovative products and services from 2010 on our main stage.  Featuring key panelists and speakers from the top of the industry, midVenturesLAUNCH is the conference for technology innovators, offering a unique opportunity to seek funding, meet entrepreneurs, investors, media, developers, designers and leaders, and watch new ideas come to life.  All in one space.

COMPETE
The startups selected to be part of COMPETE will be judged during the conference by ourexpert panel, which includes founders of Groupon, OpenTable, OKCupid, TheNextWeb and prominent venture capitalists.  The top 5 COMPETE startups will be given 3 minutes on stage to pitch their company in front of over 3,000 attendees, and a chance to win $100,000 in cash and prizes from our sponsors.  It’s free to apply to COMPETE and free to participate.  To be eligible, a company should be less than 3 years old and have less than $2 million in funding.  If selected, your company will be given a 6′ table, wi-fi, logo placement in our marketing materials and website, and inclusion in our conference program and mobile app.  This exposure alone will garner your company over 2,000,000 impressions via our media partnerships and network.

LAUNCH
For later-stage startups and established companies, we have the LAUNCH track.  We are accepting 25 companies with a market-ready product or service that has launched (or your company wishes to launch on our main stage) in 2010.  Qualifying applicants in LAUNCH will pay $2,500 for 3 minutes of stage time during the conference, a 6′ table, wi-fi, logo placement in our marketing materials and website, and inclusion in our conference program and mobile app.

mVDEMO Area
Our mVDEMO Area is open any early-stage startup (again, companies less than 3 years old and with less than $2 million in funding).  Your company will receive amazing exposure to the conference audience with a 24″ bar-height table, wi-fi, and inclusion in our conference program and mobile app (if signed up by Sept. 1, 2010).  One “people’s choice” company will be considered by the expert panel for inclusion in the Top 5 COMPETE startups.  Cost for a mVDEMO Area table is $750 and spots are available first come, first serve.

Applications for COMPETE and LAUNCH are due by Sept. 1.  mVDEMO spots are available until sold out.  Please visit midventureslaunch.com or email us at launch@midventures.com.

Whether you’re just getting ready to launch, already kicking ass, or just want to do a little networking, this conference has something for you.

Posted by joey

After some delays ……The first Startup Weekend Austin is now officially on for the weekend of September 10-12^th!

We will be hosting the event at the awesome coworking space CoSpace http://cospaceatx.com/

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased here: http://austin.startupweekend.org/tickets

Spread the word and let all of Austin know!

Hastag: #swaustin

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

Sorry we had to do this, but we have had some issues with the venue for this event. It looks like we are going to be re-scheduling in the near future… hopefully in June!

Here is an interesting presentation from some of our friends in the meantime:

Posted by Cesar Torres

There must be something in the breakfast tacos.

Even though Austin is known as a mecca of technology, there have been some notable events missing from the Silicon Hills’ repertoire—until this year. The SXSW conference always brings the city an influx of visitors, but something about 2010 has instigated groups to organize the first Ignite Austin and two TEDx events, in addition to the many great BarCamps, Social Media Breakfasts, Twestivals and tweetups we’ve been hosting around town. After almost three years since Andrew Hyde first held the first Startup Weekend in Boulder, CO, we can finally add a Startup Weekend Austin to that list.

We’re happy to announce, after some weeks of preparations, that the first Startup Weekend Austin will be held on April 30-May 2, 2010. While we’re still seeking a venue (ask any organizer and they’ll tell you it’s one of the hardest parts of hosting an event), we’ve secured Gary Hoover, founder of Bookstop and Hoovers, on the Sunday of the weekend-long event.

You might have a lot of questions, but there’s lots of time to get ready before May. Many of those questions can be answered by browsing the Austin site. But while it’s fun to poke around online, in order to kick things off as soon as we can in person (and hopefully to give us a chance to answer those burning questions), we’ll be having a happy hour at The Belmont next Friday, February 12 (add yourself to the Facebook event here). Come on down with your questions and meet fellow Startup Weekend Austin participants—and start brainstorming, plotting and planning some ideas for the three-day event. If you can’t make it, never fear, well be having a few more of these events before April 30, so make sure to add yourself as a fan of Startup Weekend Austin on Facebook and follow @SW_Austin on Twitter, as well as the co-organizers @cesart and @chicotsky.

If you’ve never been to a Startup Weekend event before or would like to know what to expect, check out this first timer’s guide. If you’re already a pro or you’ve been waiting until this finally hit Austin, buy your ticket now. If you or your company are interested in sponsoring, please get a hold of us either via Twitter or by visiting our contact page.

We’re really excited to be putting this together for the Austin and surrounding entrepreneurial and startup communities and we look forward to a great event. Hope to see you there!

Cesar Torres (Founder, Conjunctured), Brandon Chicotsky (Founder, Texas Ventures) and the rest of the Startup Weekend crew

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew