Event recap: Startup Rockstars Demo DC Night

Last Thursday evening I attended Startup Rockstars Demo DC Night for the first time. My understanding is there have been a couple of these such gathering of the last couple of years organized by various people that are part of the DC New Media technology scene. Paul Worsham a local entrepreneur in the social media space was the organizer and Viget Labs hosted the event.

There were five companies plus one last minute walk on that is not worth naming that were given 10 minutes each to make their pitch to the audience of about 35 people that seemed primarily comprised of new media technologists. I did not recognize any VCs in the group. The presenters included:

ShareMeme (a site that allows you to easily communicate with your friends on their terms) - Ahson Wardak, Luc Castera
Contribune (a site focused on spreading the stories that cause people to contribute to political campaigns or charitable causes) - Michael Mayernick
Diditz (a social media website where you can get popular by sharing your did-its: the coolest experiences and achievements of your life, and discover the incredible experiences of people from around the globe on topics that you are passionate about) - Sohit Karol
MixedInk (A free collaborative writing tool) - David Stern
MyDealBook (the world's largest interactive directory for commercial real estate professionals) - Mark Shacknies

There were two that got my attention and I thought may have potential of survival. I’m not sure if I would invest in them, however.

Diditz is a social media website. It is for people who want to share their did-its and connect with other people who have similar experiences globally. It’s a blog architecture that’s an alternative to the more common ways to participate and interact with people sharing similar such as online groups, forums and communities. Someone having different interests has to manage different accounts, across different social networks, and more often than not, many such communities are segregated and require active participation for content to be visible.

As stated by Diditz the purpose is threefold: (1) To provide a simple interface where users can publish their own experiences and discover a community based on their interests and locations, without the hassle of joining different groups or forums. (2) Giving an opportunity for an average blogger to decide their audience, interact with them and get regular traffic for their best content, even if they publish it infrequently. (3) Create a collection of people’s experiences for the most happening things around the world.

You can check out Diditz without signing up for an account, however having an account gives access to more content, networking options and ability to publish content.

MixedInk is a collaborative tool built on blog architecture. It reminds me of a very light version of Quark’s workgroup publishing software. With MixedInk, groups can collectively write aggregate and mashup content such as reviews, op-eds, letters to the editor, petitions, mission statements, questions & comments for public personalities, news articles, blog posts, and lots more.

Details were sketchy as of this presentation. They expect to launch in the next 60 to 90 days. Maybe one to watch.

-Paul Duning