In segment three of the six-part series interview with Lenny Stern of SS+K, Maurice Cherry and I get Stern’s perspective on how Atlanta fits into the marketing and communications national landscape.

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Starting an online service is often fraught with all kinds of peril: Can I afford customer acquisition? Is there another competitor lurking in development? Is the market ready for a cloud-based solution to the problem I’m solving? All good questions, yet sometimes you gotta just ride the horse that brought you. And that’s exactly where the guys at Pompano Beach, FL-based MyOnlineToolbox find themselves. Read More…

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With apologies (but no royalties) to the Eagles, there’s a new kid in town – and it’s called OtherNum. Started by my fellow ATDC Alpharetta buddy Andrew Watson, the service has launched February 1st (a full two weeks early) and aims to free small- to medium-businesses from the shackles of complex PBX systems. Watson and his CTO Walter Duncan call it ‘virtual PBX in the cloud’. Read More…

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On a recent trip to New York City, both Jon Birdsong and I had the opportunity to meet with Lenny Stern, founding partner of SS+K. As you know, SS+K was one of several agencies used for Obama’s media team, which helped target young voters and spread the message about his campaign.
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The anticipated news that Imlay Investments will discontinue seeking new deals this August blows a gaping hole in the angel investing community in Atlanta. Sig Mosley and Melanie Leeth have seen just about every deal that has come along for 2 decades, and their importance has been memorialized by the “Sig Said No” shirt from Startup Lounge.  Literally it has been hard to show anyone a tech deal without answering the questions as to whether Sig had seen it and whether he liked it.  John Imlay is to be thanked both for his vision in returning some of his gains to our technology community and for fielding such a capable team to execute this vision.

Imlay and Mosley have come a long way from the time when John realized that Sig had the best command of the numbers at a faltering MSA when it was in critical condition. They have now worked together for about 40 years, with Sig running Imlay Investments in the post-MSA era. (Neither has aged, I might add.) Read More…

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Peter Baron, Principal of Carabiner Communications, tells in the video above about his firm’s abilities to make quick connections for its PR clients using a core team augmented by specialized consultants. From start-ups to growth companies Carabiner provides a full range of services using traditional and the newest forms of social media.

Baron is a 20-year veteran of the Atlanta technology scene, having formed his latest venture Carabiner 5 years ago. His firm is a valued sponsor of TechDrawl and other resources for our community.  I particularly like his comment that “engineers can’t stop inventing,” even in a tough economic climate. He has adapted his firm to help that innovation continue. His strong list of current clients is testament to the success of his strategy.

This is a good time to grab market share and awareness that will pay dividends when there is a general rebound in the tech sector. Many great companies have either launched or hit their stride in times like these, and their successes have often relied on investments in outreach while competitors have allowed their brands to languish. Call Carabiner today to be sure your company is capitalizing on this opportunistic time.

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The Georgia technology community needs to help elect a Governor in November with a mandate to propel Atlanta and Georgia as a technology center – - from a regional capital to an international leader.

Technology entrepreneurs in Georgia must educate the Georgia Gubernatorial candidates on the importance of technology business expansion to our State.  After the primary, we need to aggressively support the candidate who is willing to accept the mandate of launching Georgia into a global technology leadership position.

In politics, a mandate is a rare occurrence – - when it occurs, major change can be accelerated as a new strategic direction matures rapidly into an actionable plan to bring long-term change.  As difficult as a political mandate is to create, it can disappear instantly.  For example, consider the “change” mandate conferred on President Obama in the healthcare area – - only to evaporate through the perfect storm of public opinion and a special election in Massachusetts.

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Last weekend 115 folks from across the country (as well as Canada  and the United Kingdom) gathered at the UIC Innovation Center in Chicago, IL for the inaugural CityCamp. The conference’s goal was to bring the Gov 2.0 movement to the local (read: municipal) level – and judging from the amount of tweets generated during the conference by the attendees, one could say that it was quite successful.

The two-day event was hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation and organized by a dedicated group of individuals that included Kevin Curry, Jen Pahlka, E-Democracy’s Steven Clift and O’Reilly Media’s Laurel Ruma. Virginia Beach, VA-based Curry took a few minutes to talk about how the conference came about and what motivated him to get involved.

Attendees discussed issues ranging from Open Cities and Journalism to Jon Udell’s Elmcity project. The last session of the conference focused on the winners of the CityCamp Challenge, created by Code for America and GovLoop, that rewarded innovators of local government solutions with $500 scholarships to help them attend the conference. Winning  solutions included Graffiti Tracker and SeeClickFix.

The conversations are still taking place days later with several action steps already under way. The organizers hope to allow more people to take advantage of the information and collaboration towards open data and open government through organizing similar events across the country this fall. Folks looking to join or follow the conversation may want to join the CityCamp Exchange list on E-Democracy or pay attention to the CityCamp Posterous site as well.

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