A couple of events

We are rounding out a great week at beyondallspace with two technology networking events.

Tonight I'm lending my dealing services to the Smart Bet Charity Poker Tournament. Smartbet's aim is to raise money for these causes-

i.c. stars: Providing internships and education in technology and leadership.

Future Founders: The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center’s Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Chicago Communities in Schools: Helping Chicago Public School students and their families connect with possibility.

I was told about the event by Fred Hoch, the President of the ITA (Illinois Technology Association), whose mission statement is as follows:

"ITA exists to promote the information technology community and help Illinois member businesses succeed by providing networking, advocacy, resources and leadership. The association is completely member driven and comprised of the best companies in the state that create, deploy or utilize information technology as a core part of their business. From entrepreneurs to the largest corporations in Illinois, the ITA is where collaboration happens."

Tomorrow I will be attending one of the great ITA sponsored events that is being hosted by Terry Howerton and Fastroot. The event is called Tech-Nexus and is an invite-only networking event for about 100 or so technology execs. I attended the event last month and it was extremely beneficial. tomorrow should be a great opportunity to interface with more Chicago technology players.

What a week!

It has been a crazy and productive week spurned by TC5. For those not familiar, tech cocktail is hosted by Frank Gruber, and Eric Olsen with the goal to create large technology centered networking in an environment like-minded individuals and free booze!

Last Thursday's event went down with estimates of well over 500 attendees...here are some pictures from the event.

I met a number of great individuals at TC5 like Harper Reed of Skinnycorp/Threadless. Threadless has been making waves as a booming web 2.0 model where people submit T-shirt designs in a contest for $ and to have their designs put into production.

Harper was kind enough to invite myself and Victor to check out the local office. I have to say that the 25,000 sq ft warehouse has to be one of the coolest workspaces that I have been privy to experience and it is a great model for the environment I hope to provide for the beyondallspace team in the future.

Aside from stand-up arcade games with virtually every game loaded inside, a pool table, ping -pong table, and working go-kart, one of the stand out aspects of this space was an old VW van/trailer that was converted into an office/recording room. Complete with sound insulation and rotatable LED lights, this was the hip location where Charlie Festa records the threadless podcasts.

I am very thankful to Harper, Charlie and the others at Skinnycorp/Threadless for the opportunity to talk about BAS' past, present, and future endeavors in their podcast which goes out with their newsletter to millions of listeners. It was only after our interview did I find out that one of the previous podcasts featured none other than Guy Kawasaki. Guy has been a very influential force in my entrepreneurial history, from his many books such as "Art of the Start" and "Rules for Revolutionaries." Both of which are "must-reads" for any budding entrepreneur.

Other significant events from the past week include the Pitchfork Music Festival, attendees may have witnessed Victor kickin' it on stage with the likes of De La Soul during Sunday's all day event.

Last but definitely not least was the fact that BAS raised an additional 10K investment from one of our current investors. Although our fund raising is short of where we are aiming, 10k is certainly a large chunk of change and a continual push in the right direction.

I'm very excited to see the fourth dimensional effects of this great week we've had as a company. It also helps me to accept the lows and failures as necessary towards eventual success, and it allows me to see how things that can at one moment seem so negative are actually beneficial in the long run.

beyondscreens* bumpers!

Check out the first video bumper for beyondscreens*. It was crafted with Adobe After-Effects, and was uploaded to YouTube. Pretty shortly we will be able to upload videos to beyondscreens* directly, but until that time we will make use of the existing web programs.

Gaining more exposure

It has been several weeks since we have launched the private beta (Pre-launch) of beyondscreens* and I'm thrilled to say that we currently have 92 users! I fully expect to have our first 100 users by the end of this week.

This is a big week for BAS, as there are a number of local technology events that we are attending and that will no doubt cause large butterfly effects. The first is this tuesday, Jeff Pulver's invite-only Summer party which is tomorrow evening at HOB. Jeff Pulver is a technologist and pioneer in the VoIP industry, who publishes reports on relevant information.

The next event is wednesday. Web Ascent which is hosted by Kristen Nicole who is the lead writer for Mashable.com , and also writes for 606 Tech which focuses on the emerging technology industry. Press from local Chicago papers such as the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times is sure to be in toe.

The last event is the Tech Nexus: Down by the River, which is an invite only event sponsored by the ITA, or Illinois Tech Organization. This event is a networking event that focuses on technology in the Chicagoland area, and whose participants range from technology experts, entreprenuers, angel investors, as well as venture capitalists.

All three of these events promise to be great events in which beyondallspace can gain some great exposure and hopefully some press coverage as well!

Thanks for a great past week of fun!

This past week's events have been evidence of some of the good things coming our way. The official AIR afterparty was a great success, and it was wonderful seeing all of the people and support! I need to say thank you to the Uptown Lounge, and everyone who was involved and helped make it a special night. It was really great to see members of the BAS crew getting a chance to hang out and to know each other outside of a work setting.

The other Astralwerks events last weekend were also successful. It was also great to see such a crazy party at Smartbar for The End industry night, and LCD Soundsystem afterparty on Sunday. I'm always stoked to see great parties on nights other than Friday and Saturday!

I also want to say thanks to Paul in Chicago, who hosted the great party on Thursday night @ Debonair Social Club. Unfortunately I had to leave a bit early to pop in and catch Dan X play at Smartbar for Miles Maeda's B-day party with DJ Heather, and Derrick Carter.

But the fun didn't stop at Debonair, Max and Victor kicked it hard with the likes of Danny Masterson (Hyde from TV's That 70's show) DJ Qualls, and DJ Aoki, who are on tour promoting Guitar Hero II, MySpace, and the T-Mobile Sidekick. Special thanks to DJ Qualls (Famed actor from Road Trip, and Hustle & Flow) who was generous enough to give away a T-Mobile Sidekick to Victor!

I'm very encouraged to already be seeing the results of us spreading the word about beyondallspace, and beyondscreens*. The buzz is building and although we won't be able to see the results of our work immediately, that time is shortly upon us! I hope we can all keep up the good energy, because it means that the good times will keep on coming!

BeyondAllSpace Blog#1

Greetings,

Welcome to the first edition of the beyondallspace Blog.

These are very exciting times for beyondallspace! We are currently gearing up for our first public release; beyondscreens* beta, which will be released in June. If you are interested in being a beta tester, please send an email to operator[at]beyondallspace.com.

This is a great weekend to hear some excellent music. Astralwerks, the record label that brought you such great acts as The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Hot Chip, Royksopp are sponsoring 3 great shows and 3 afterparties.


Friday May 4th:
Show: AIR @ The Riviera - 4746 N. Racine Ave, Chicago - 773.275.6800

Afterparty: The Uptown Lounge - 1136 w. Lawrence Ave, Chicago
Hosted by: beyondallspace


Saturday May 5th:
Show: The Kooks - The Metro - 3730 N. Clark St, Chicago -

Afterparty: Lakeview Broadcasting Company - 3542 N. Halsted St
Hosted by: Scott Cramer


Sunday May 6th:
Show: LCD Soundsystem - The Metro - 3730 N. Clark St, Chicago

Afterparty: Smartbar - 3730 N. Clark St, Chicago
Hosted by: Dark Wave Disco