A News Source Does Not a Community Make
In starting WindyWire, our original intention was not to be a news aggregator and publisher but to be a site that amplified the connections that people make at great events like TechCocktail and ChicagoBeta and carried them throughout the rest of the year.
What we’re finding is that people did start talking, and people are a bit starved for a resource, but the talking they did was to us. Which is great for us but not for the growth of the community.
So what we’re doing now is figuring out the best way to create a better community and in the next few weeks we’ll be implementing some ideas that seem more inline with what we set out to do here.
The news will pause for a bit but hopefully what comes next does a lot more to expand the conversation and strengthen the community that we are building here in Chicago. Please, stay tuned to the Twitter stream for updates on the progress.
If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see here, please leave them in the comments.
Read More»Threadless INC.
Continuing the recent theme of Chicago companies getting writeups in national publications, Threadless and skinnyCorp got the cover treatment in this month’s Inc. Magazine. It hits news stands next week.
Read The Full Article Online Here
Read More»Songza Rocks on with API, RSS Feeds, and a Facebook App
Songza, the company founded by Scott Robbin and Aza Raskin during their time together at Humanized, has jumped into the social web frenzy.
They’ve announced the launch of a Songza Facebook application, site generated RSS feeds, and have opened their API.
Read More»crowdSPRING Launches to the Public
crowdSPRING, the crowd sourcing startup that made waves by allowing users to design its homepage has fully launched to public.
Billed as an online marketplace that “brings the power of choice to individuals and businesses and creates a community for untapped creative talent,” the site is taking the interesting approach of trying to fill gaps that are left in the marketplace by niche sites like Threadless, iStockPhoto, and Pixish by dealing mainly in the market of people and companies who are looking to have specific creative services performed; aiming to simplify the process of connecting them with talented freelancers.
Read More»uSphere Rolls Out Parent Portal
uSphere, the Evanston-based company whose platform exposes Colleges to Students and Students to Colleges via proprietary matching technology has been delving deeper into the information side of things lately as evidenced by the roll out of their parent portal.
They’ve used the information they’ve gleaned through building their business to provide parents with a pretty comprehensive guide to the process from a parent’s perspective.
Read More»Price Advance Launches to the Public
Chicagoan Roddy Richards of StartupSchwag and New Yorker Adam Gotterer of CollegeHumor have just recently launched the Price Advance browser plugin to the public. The plugin shows you what the product that you’re after costs at other merchants across the web as you shop.
Read More»Gapers Block is Turning 5
Gapers Block, one of the pioneers group newsblogging and one of the first efforts at Chicago-based internet citizen journalism, turns five years old this month and they’re throwing a party to celebrate.
The Gapers Block 5th Anniversary Party will be at the Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia) on May 30th at 9pm. Bossa Saravah, the Revelettes go-go troupe, DJ Arpad and DJ James Vane will all be there. For more info head over to GB.
Read More»Univa UD Raises Series B Financing
Lisle, IL and Austin, TX based Univa UD (formed when Univa merged with Austin’s United Devices) has announced a second round of financing.
The company which produces hpc systems management and data center visualization software raised the round from new investor River Cities Capital Funds as well as several investors that participated in the company’s first funding round, including ARCH Venture Partners, New World Ventures, Appian Ventures and OCA Ventures.
Read More»TechCocktail Conference Getting Close
The first TechCocktail Conference is scheduled to hit Chicago on May 29th at Loyola’s Water Tower Campus.
The event promises to be a one of a kind event for Chicago’s startup community and has what appears to be a great line up of panelists with Dick Costolo (FeedBurner), Jason Fried (37Signals), Mike Domek (TicketsNow), Matt McCall (DFJ Portage Ventures), Brad Feld (Foundry Group), and many more scheduled to present.
Read More»skinnyCorp Hires a New CEO
Ravenswood-based skinnyCorp, creators of Threadless.com, have brought in a new CEO to oversee the day-to-day operations of the community creating company.
Thomas Ryan will take the post being vacated by Jake Nickell, one of the site’s founding duo, who now becomes skinnyCorp’s Chief Strategy Officer.
Read More»[StartUp Spotlight] Sean Corbett of HaveMyShift
StartUp Spotlight is where we’ll introduce you to the newest wave of Midwestern Entrepreneurs.
We got a chance to talk with Sean Corbett of HaveMyShift.com about his thoughts on running a startup in Chicago.
Read More»Seed Conference Three-peat
The third edition of the SEED Conference is headed your way on June 6th, brought to you from the minds at 37Signals, Coudal Partners, Segura, Inc.
The SEED Conference theme this time around is learning about taking control of your own work by seeking out methods to inspire new thinking and adopting unconventional ideas about collaboration and business.
Read More»We Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming
We’re ready to start publishing full blast here at WindyWire. Look for a lot of cool stuff in the next few days and thanks to those who have been checking in while we get things rolling. Tell all your friends, there’s a new technology news source in town.
Read More»Database Launched
We are currently working on completing the database and ecosystem sections, filling out entities that are most active in recent news first and working our way back in order to get a relevant and accurate picture of the current ecosystem.
Please send all info (companies should be sure to include Founders names, Company Status, Investors and Funding, Website and Blog URLs, and Physical Address) to: directory at windywire dot com.
Read More»Welcome
We see a void in coverage for what’s happening in the tech arenas that aren’t on the coasts and, frankly, we have to agree…
Read More»