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Gary Sharma

By Gary Sharma 5/20 4:09pm

YOLO FOMO 'n all that jazz

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11 Internet Week Events You Don’t Wanna Miss!

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Get ready for some boozing ‘n schmoozing, people! Its that time of the year again. That’s right. Internet Week, a week-long festival celebrating all things Internet (business + culture + media + tech) is back in New York City!

It’s our very own version of South by South West, and with over 45,000 folks expected to attend almost 400 events around town, it’s safe to say things are gonna get a little crazy. There’s tons of awesome events, but to make your life easier, here’s my selection of 11 that you really, positively, absolutely shouldn’t miss! (You’re welcome.) Read More

By Gary Sharma 5/20 9:30am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (Internet Week, Webutante Ball, OpenCo, New York Times Job Fair, Webby Awards, NYU ITP)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

You know what’s cool? A billion dollars, that’s what! Huge congrats to David Karp and the folks at Tumblr. Billion-dollar exits form the cornerstone of a thriving tech ecosystem, and this is great news for New York tech.

It’s finally here! Internet Week, that is. 45,000 people are expected to attend over 400 parties with keynotes by Randi Zuckerberg, Jonah Peretti (BuzzFeed), Joe Gebbia (Airbnb) and Joan Rivers!

The hottest party during Internet Week? That would, of course, be the Webutante Ball (a.k.a. the REAL #nerdprom!) And lucky for you, I have two FREE passes to give away. Interested? Of course you are! Apply here. Read More

By Gary Sharma 5/13 9:30am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (UnCubed, Publishing Hackathon, NYC BigApps, Fashion 2.0, NJ Tech Meetup, Entrepreneurs Roundtable)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Last week I was at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (where WWII battleships were once manufactured) to check out Beta Space, a precursor to New Lab, an advanced manufacturing hub and high-tech design + prototyping center slated to open in 2015. It’ll anchor a 220,000 sq ft Green Manufacturing Center (backed by $46 million from the city and state). With MakerBot cranking out 3D printers in downtown Brooklyn and Shapeways building the Factory of the Future in Queens, it feels like a new kind of manufacturing renaissance is under way in our city. Exciting times! Read More

By Gary Sharma 5/06 10:00am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (Ideas NYC, NY Tech Meetup, Digital Health Accelerator Demo Day, Investor Feedback Forum, GoGreen, Innovating for the Connected TV)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Last week I finally got to play with the (oh-so-elusive) Google Glass! It was fun to try it on, but I’m not convinced it’ll take off (at least not in its current form). That’s because it is simply an awkward experience from a human interaction perspective. Whether it’ll turn out to be a dud like the Segway or a very early iteration like the Palm Pilot, only time will tell. Meanwhile, here’s SNL’s hilarious take.

Tuesday (for some reason) has historically been the busiest day of the week for tech events. Last week, I think I ended up going to eight events! (A personal best, I’m pretty sure.) One of the events was a launch party for NY Angels’ Brian Cohen’s new book, which I’m looking forward to reading. Read More

By Gary Sharma 4/29 9:20am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (TechCrunch Disrupt, IDEAS CITY, TechCocktail, Database Month, NYC BigApps, Queens Tech Meetup, Startup Grind)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Get ready, people! Summer blockbuster season Read More

By Gary Sharma 4/22 9:30am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (NY Tech Day, ERA Demo Day, Disrupt Hackathon, #ArtsTech, Brooklyn Tech Meetup, TechDrinkup, BigApps)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

It was cool to shake hands with astronaut Ron Garan at the NASA Space Apps Hackathon this weekend! Congrats to NYC SpaceCal and Tiny Sea Bots, who’ll be going on to the global competition, as well as all the other honorees:  Droid Hopper, Chillin’ On Mars, Versioning Goat, Asteroid Mapper, Star Map Sculpture, WhyWeExplore, Spacerac.es and Le Big Blue.

This Thursday is NY Tech Day (a.k.a. the world’s largest startup event). Free mocktails from BuzzTheBar when you walk in! Don’t forget the after-parties, like the Big Data bash with Knewton and Get Acquainted with Acquaintable.

This Friday is the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) Demo Day. Good luck to all! Read More

By Gary Sharma 4/15 10:00am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (NASA Hackathon, AllThingsD: Dive Into Mobile, Startup Job Fair, PandoMonthly)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Last night I co-hosted the Big Apple Smackdown! (a.k.a. The Silicon Alley Ping-Pong Tournament) at Spin NYC with my friends Nihal of LocalResponse and Vijay of VSCPR. Congrats to Artsy’s Benoit Corda for emerging victorious! And a big thank you to everyone who came and made it such a fun, memorable night!

Last week I was down in DUMBO, and I bumped into a Fox 5 News crew. They wanted to know the dealio with all the stickers on my red tie. “It’s advertisements, you know, like a walking billboard,” I explained. Minds blown, they decided to film a short segment about it. At this rate, my tie might need its own agent. Read More

By Gary Sharma 4/08 11:00am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (Shorty Awards, NYU Startup Week, Big Apple Smackdown, NY Tech Meetup, PSFK, British Invasion, LeanUX, Investor Feedback Forum, Assembled Food)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

R.I.P., Roger Ebert. Over the years I’ve learned a lot from Mr. Ebert, inspired not only by his style of writing and communicating but also by his personality and approach to life. Check out this TED talk he gave–”Remaking My Voice“–and here’s a wonderful essay from his book Life Itself: A Memoir. Read More

By Gary Sharma 4/01 10:00am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (FinTech Hackathon, Newark Tech Week, Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, Blueprint Demo Day, NYU Stern Summit, FinTech Meetup)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

So Google just launched Google Nose (smelling is believing!) and Google Maps now has a Treasure View mode, while Virgin is creating a glass-bottomed plane, Twitter will start charging $5 per month for vowels and Youtube is shutting down. Hmmmm… either I am hallucinating or it must be April Fools Day!

I recently came across something awesome: brainstorming sessions between George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan for the movie Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark (easily one of my all-time faves). There were five consecutive nine-hour, day-long sessions, and it’s fascinating to see their thought process as the characters and story are fleshed out. Here’s the New Yorker‘s abbreviated take. Read More

By Gary Sharma 10:15am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

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Best Tech Events This Week (Open Tech NYC, First Round Capital Business+Startup, Columbia University Earth Summit, Fashion Disrupted, Startup Grind, NYC Gaming)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

First things first: Mark your calendars for this Sunday March 31, when Game of Thrones returns for Season 3. Finally!

The city recently announced NYC BigApps 2013, the fourth annual BigApps competition, an ongoing series of software challenges to promote government transparency and innovative new technologies. It’s your chance to solve big issues with data and design and maybe win $150,000 in prizes. There are also a series of events planned, starting with the BigApps expo and hackathon at eBay next week, on April 6.

Kaplan and TechStars are partnering to launch the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, a three-month intensive program for ten startups in New York City from June to September. What kindsof companies are they looking for? Apps, platforms, K-12, higher ed, professional ed, and everything in between. Deadline is April 14. You can apply here, and there’s an info session on April 2. Contact Phil Schwarz at edtechaccelerator@kaplan.com with any questions.  Read More