Yes, you counted right, there were five. All of them were good. Hailo had an impressive video. Prospective Plus represented well for Northeastern (alma mater of one of my girl scientist nieces :-)) and had great energy
I had even more fun that usual checking out the demo tables because the placement of Jibunu next to Tell a Fortune tickled my geeky sense of humor. Jibunu answers questions using custom data collection and analysis. Tell a Fortune answers questions using a card reading/astrological app. Both invited me to ask questions. I figured "what is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything" was too easy so I tried to formulate a question about the future of technical communication. I got a good laugh from the Jibunu representative and a prediction about my strength and determination from the fortune telling app.
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| Jibunu |
Both enjoyed posing for photos. Oh by the way, 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything for the 2 or 3 readers unfamiliar with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And while we're on big data and predicting the future, how is it that not one big data startup has named themselves Seldon Foundation? OK, enough geekery for now. :-)
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| Fortune Telling |
Justellus has the answer for getting feedback from "fans to brands". No navigating company web sites to find out how
to give feedback, no endless surveys (if certain brands survey me one more time, they're going to lose me), no sitting on hold to talk to an offshore
call center, just enter your feedback and it goes to the brand's employee who is encouraged to listen or to take action. It's that easy.
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| Justellus |
Living out here off the edge of the universe, I don't often have to hail cabs in Boston. If I did, I would definitely want Hailo on my smartphone. No flailing around in the rain trying to catch the driver's attention, no futzing around with payment, no worries. Just; two taps on your smartphone and pay by card, with no charges above the meter. That's it. Team Hailo had the best matching T-shirts so I awarded them Best Costume of MIN44.
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| Best Costume |
SmartBooks had the greatest number of clouds on their slides. Their virtual bookkeeping and accounting services leverage cloud
technology and integration with QuickBooks to make it easy for startups and small businesses to access their information and reports from any computer anytime and
submit expenses and pay bills from their mobile phones. It's like having a finance department in your pocket.
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| SmartBooks |
Best Hat of MIN44 goes to Osmium Apparel. They were there to launch the Mobius Belt, which is very cool -- the buckle is separate from the belt, very customizable. As cool as the belt was, I found I had to try on a hat. Mark from Osmium assured me I looked very Left Bank-- just like in my high school fantasy of hanging out at Les Deux Magots with Simone deBeauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.
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| Best Hat |
BRIGHTdriver,
creator of interactive audio games, had the best table location right next to the door of the presentation area. They describe the intent of their product as a way for drivers to be able use their smartphone to have all the fun of social gaming without the dangers of
texting. Personally, I think I would find audio gaming distracting too.
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| BRIGHTdriver |
Yes, there was indeed big news.
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| Big News |
Big News: Mass Innovation Nights has a new sponsor, American Airlines. This is an awesome partnership. Paul from American described the awesome MIN perks: All exhibtors can participate, 5000 Business ExtrAA points for the first place winner, and 2000 Business ExtrAA points for the next three. So all four presenters end up with some air travel -- very useful for startups.
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| Paul from American Airlines |
I had some great conversations with folks in the Experts Corner -- or Experts Row -- about what people are looking for when they come to Mass Innovation Nights, how to tap into innovative ideas, and a little about what current innovators might be able to learn from those of us who were working at startups when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
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| Is that a potato masher in his hand? |
The crowd was an excellent mix of regulars and newcomers and I saw lots of connections being made. That's what people come to MIN for -- connection.
