Trying to connect with Sacramento's tech scene? Below are my "best bets" this week for those involved in Sacramento’s technology startup community (or those who want to be). There’s a new (technology) kid in town! Elk Grove Tech Connect is a new group focused on bringing technology professionals together to discuss, learn and socialize with other technology professionals. Their first event is Wednesday, February 20 from 6:00-8:00pm and features Kevin Spease, CISSP, an Internet security expert, who will present an “Internet Security Threat Assessment.” (Flashback -- remember those 90s internet “horror” flicks—The Net and Hackers? We should have a movie night!) We’re clean, we’re green, we

It's about time! Sacramento now has its own edition of the world-famous StartupDigest (famous in startup circles that is and powered by the Kauffman Foundation). And the first edition hits inboxes everywhere Monday, February 4 (not subscribed yet? Just click “sign up” on the Sacramento page). StartupDigest was founded in 2009 around the belief that life is too short to work at a boring company and that it should be easy for anyone to join the tech startup world. On October 3, 2012, it was officially acquired by Startup Weekend to combine forces and scale StartupDigest to the 300+ cities Startup Weekend covers. StartupDigest now publishes hundreds of newsletters that help thousands of peop

There’s a lot going on around town for Sacramento entrepreneurs this month and next — especially those with a technology focus. It seems like every time I turn around (or check my twitter feed), I hear about another cool gathering or seminar for those who are leading the technology revolution here in the Capital City corridor. Well, maybe it isn’t exactly a revolution just yet, but the troops are starting to rally and you can be a part of it! Why should a busy (and broke!) entrepreneur make time for rubbing shoulders with other entrepreneurs and investors?  Can it really impact your success? Geoff Sakala, organizer at UpStart Sacramento, a newly formed group focused on fostering a richer

The 2012 Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) Med Tech Showcase on Tuesday, June 5, will feature a keynote address by Siemens Healthcare North America CEO Dr. Gregory Sorensen and presentation of the Claire Pomeroy Award for Innovation in Medical Technology. “This is the largest medical technology gathering in the Sacramento region and we’re excited about this year’s program. Anyone with an interest in our med tech sector should be there,” said Cary Adams, chair of SARTA’s MedStart program. With an anticipated attendance of 300, the full-day program at the Woodlake Hotel will also highlight specific new technologies recently adopted by the Sacramento region’s four major h

SARTA MedStart is now seeking nominations for the third annual Claire Pomeroy Awards for Innovation in Medical Technology. The awards recognize individuals in the Sacramento region whose innovative and high-impact inventions, products or designs have transformed some important aspect of the practice of medicine or the delivery of health-care services by improving efficiency, safety, efficacy or accessibility. “The Sacramento region is establishing itself as a national leader in medical technology innovation and development,” said Meg Arnold, chief executive officer of SARTA. “This awards program recognizes not just individual company achievements but also the invaluable role that Dr. Pome

Robb Moore, President & CEO of Sacramento region tech company ioSafe, is well-known for his flashy Consumer Electronic Show (CES) demos of the company's almost indestructible hard drives. This year, he outdid himself by inviting journalists to fire a 12-gauge shotgun at ioSafe's new product, the Rugged Portable. The demo was held at American Shooters, a gun range close to the Las Vegas Convention Center, and participants included the BBC, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, PCWorld, MacLife, the Canadian Discovery Channel and more. In addition to blasting the drive with a shotgun, journalists were also able to crush it with a vice, immerse it in water and hit it with a hammer. In each case the dat

The world renowned Cornell University Glee Club will be performing a special concert here in Sacramento on Wednesday, January 5th at Congregation B'nai Israel beginning at 7:30 p.m.  The program will feature both classical and contemporary men's choral music, including the Sacramento premiere of San Francisco Conservatory Professor David Conte’s new work for men’s choir, Crossing the Bar. This choral performance is a rare treat for the Capitol region and with tickets priced at only $15 per person, a classical performing arts bargain! Brett Owens, a local Cornell alumnus who now calls midtown Sacramento home, is excited to see his alma mater's Glee Club here in town. "These guys are incred

As part of its 2010 Holiday campaign focused on fighting hunger, Walmart launched a Facebook campaign that invites fans to select the communities that will receive $1.5 million in grants. By visiting the campaign website and "liking" a community via their Facebook account, people influence which communities will receive the funds. The community with the most "likes" will receive $1 million to fight hunger; the next 5 highest scoring communities will receive $100,000 each. Why is this news? Because Sacramento is in now in 6th place which earns a $100,000 grant! With less than 48 hours remaining in the race, Sacramento's social media influencers are campaigning to keep Sacramento in 6th pla

Congresswoman Doris Matsui is a featured speaker at the 4th Annual Sacramento Clean Tech Showcase on October 26th at Sacramento State. Organized by SARTA (Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance) as part of its CleanStart initiative, over 700 people are expected to attend this all day event. More than 40 speakers are included in the program and many of the region's clean tech companies are among the 80 exhibitors. Congresswoman Matsui will share the federal perspective during the opening session, “Bold Visions For the Sacramento Region.” Matsui represents Sacramento in the U.S. Congress and serves on the Energy & Commerce and Committee. She has crafted and helped pass legislation tha

Who is Ted and why is he so popular? The nearly 200 people who attended Sacramento’s inaugural TEDx conference last night at Hinde Auditorium at Sac State discovered that “what is TED?” is the better question. TED is a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds--Technology, Entertainment, and Design--and now its scope has become ever broader. Since the launch of the TEDx program only six months ago, thousands of individuals have gathered to enjoy independently organized TEDx events. Last night, Sacramento made local history with its first TEDx conference. TEDx Sacramento curator Brandon Weber, co-owner of

Sacramento led the state in green job growth in 2008, with an increase in green jobs of 87% between 1995 and 2008, reports Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California’s Green Jobs. This report was released by nonpartisan Next 10 and Collaborative Economics, and provides the most comprehensive green jobs accounting to date, systematically tracking the most recent available data on green companies, job type, location and growth across every sector and region of California. There are other positive indicators in the Sacramento region that we are on our way to becoming the clean tech capital of the state. In its annual CleanStart Progress report, SARTA identified over $130

This Tuesday, clean tech players from around the region will gather to discuss the latest industry buzz at CleanStart’s PowerSurge networking mixer at McClellan Park. The event includes a tour of Technikon’s Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) as well as several other clean tech businesses located in McClellan Park. Featured speakers include Robert Weisenmiller,  who was recently appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger as one of the five commissioners for the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Kristine Mazzei, partner at Valley Vision, a nonprofit association working to secure the social, environmental and economic health of the Sacramento Region. "The Sacramento Region's clean techn

There is more to Sacramento than clean tech and government—we have an impressive number of medical device companies in our region. SARTA, the Sacramento region's technology business accelerator, is hosting the first Sacramento Med Tech Showcase at Sacramento State on Tuesday to spotlight the medical technology industry --one of the few growing, high-value industries in the region. The event will feature companies that are positively contributing to the ongoing economic development and job growth in the Sacramento area. With over 50 organizations exhibiting at the event, most of them involved in the research, development and/or manufacturer of medical technology, this is an unprecedented o

Sacramento companies have significant opportunities to grow their revenues by landing federal contracts. There are over 27 different vertical markets in the United States Federal Government.  For 2010 alone, the budget for information technology is over $80 billion. Although rumors abound about purchases of $1000 hammers and toilet seats, the U.S Federal Government is one of the smartest buyers of goods and services. If your company is engaged in commercial and/or state business, there is a way to leverage what your company already does now, here in California, into a federal contract. SARTA, the Sacramento region's high tech business accelerator, knows that dealing with government contr

While winning grant monies in the private industry sector sometimes seems impossible, a number of technology companies in the Sacramento region have recently won government grants to help fund research and underwrite programs. For example, in September, Renewable Energy Institute International received a $20 million economic stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a pilot biorefinery to turn crop and wood waste into diesel fuel. In October, Insera Therapeutics was awarded a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that they will use to develop the industry's first clot-specific catheter-based platform f

Have you been to a TweetUp? They come in every size and shape and there is nearly one for every interest! A TweetUp is a social event that is promoted and organized on Twitter. “It's basically a place to meet and network with people in the Sacramento area who use Twitter,” said Alejandro Reyes, co-organizer of #SacTweetUp, a monthly networking mixer that regularly attracts over 100 attendees. “We wanted to create an atmosphere where people using Twitter could connect on a much deeper level, build new relationships, and have a lot of fun.” #SacTweetUps usually occur in the evening at a downtown or midtown hot spot; but what if big crowds or night life venues aren’t your thing? For those w

Three local non-profit organizations were featured in a Sacramento Social Media Club panel on Tuesday evening hosted by the Sacramento State College of Continuing Education. The panel included Celia Cortez, Projects and Event Manager for the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jordan Blair, Board Member for River City Food Bank; and Jon Benorden, Program Coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Service (CARES). Lesley Miller, Media Director for 3Fold Communication, also sat on the panel. Moderator Josh Morgan, principal at Morgan/Dorado and program director for the Sacramento Social Media Club, focused the discussion on how non-profits are using social media to educ

Some say God is everywhere but last month, we discovered that social media is everywhere too—even in our churches! On October 20, 2009, the Sacramento Social Media Club held a panel discussion on the use of social media by local churches. The event, “Pray for Social Media”, was hosted by The Sacramento Press, and was moderated by Jeff Marmins of Social Media Path and partnership director for the Sacramento Social Media Club. Panelists included Josh Trevino from the Parish Council of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church in Roseville; Robert Mees, Director of Evangelism at Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer in Amador County and CJ Alvarado, Director of Communications and Technology at Bayside Church

The Sacramento Clean Tech Showcase keynote speaker Daniel Sperling is an internationally-renowned expert on transportation, energy and sustainability issues. In December he co-authored the book Two Billion Cars which projects that within 20 years the number of motor vehicles on the planet will double from its current total of one billion due primarily to growth in India and China. Sperling is a Professor of Engineering and Environmental Science & Policy at the University of California, Davis, and Founding Director of the university's Institute of Transportation Studies. He also serves on the California Air Resources Board, chairs the Future of Mobility Council of the Davos World Economic

Police converged on a ballroom in a downtown hotel Tuesday night, but there wasn’t a crime in progress. “Social Crime” was the topic of Tuesday evening’s Sacramento Social Media Club event hosted by The Citizen Hotel in Downtown Sacramento. Representatives from local law enforcement shared how their organizations are using social media tools to prevent crime, improve community outreach, and even take down predators. Josh Morgan of Morgan/Dorado Public Relations and programming director for the Sacramento Social Media Club presented a “101” on Facebook Privacy. He explained how Friends Lists on Facebook can be used to limit information connections can see on your profile. Josh, for exampl