Finovate Cocktail Party

Tonight I mixed and migled with many of the attendees and presenters of Finovate 2009. Finovate is like TechCrunch 50 for banking and investing and finance-related start-ups. I will be at the conference tomorrow for most of the day except for the hours I will be doing bookkeeping.

It was good to see Jon and Michael from SmartyPig as well as Murali from Billeo. We were on a panel at SXSWi back in March.

I met these cool guys:
Christophe, founder of Visible-Banking.com.
Mark Clare, from New Zealand and Value Cruncher.
Dan Rosen of Highland Partners
James Hyde of iPay
Yoni Assia of eToro
Felix Brandon Lloyd of Skill-Life
Vaibhav Puranik of Opera Solutions

Many of the people I spoke with have created applications or websites that make managing personal finance, investing, banking easier and more transparent.

Morning Networking: Two Options

Crain’s 12th Annual Small Business Awards at a special networking breakfast next Thursday at Millennium Broadway Hotel 145 W. 44th St. (Between Broadway & 6th Ave.). Tickets are $65 before September 13. You can register here.

Friday, September 21 is the next LikeMind. Free!

Coobric: A Place For Co-Working

About two years ago, I quit my consulting job to be self-employed as a bookkeeper, consultant and freelance almost anything. When I first start, I struggled to find a place that I could just touch down with my laptop and work. First, I signed up with Paragraph, a writer’s space. It is a great space for working individually for not for collaboration. Next I started checking out cafes with free wi-fi. However, sometimes they get crowded and/or you don’t have an outlet for your battery charger. Now, I am so pleased to hear about CooperBricolage (CooBric for short). CooBric is a community of creative and entrepreneurs who seek an alternative to their home office and rental spaces.

CooBric is having a grand opening event Wednesday September 5 at Cafe Fuego, 9 St. Marks Place from 4Pm to 7PM.

Cupcakes For A Cause

Practicing for Nana’s 90th
Originally uploaded by Busy Baking.

The Fourth Annual Cupcakes For A Cause is October 15 through October 21. This is a fun weeklong event in which participating bakeries and stores across the US will sell specially decorated cupcakes and donate a portion of the proceeds from their sale to CancerCare for Kids.

In addition, companies and individuals are also invited to sponsor bake sales to help raise funds for the program.

In New York, Crumbs Bakeshop will be the “spokesbakery”, and check out the
Cupcakes Take The Cake Blog that I run with my friends, Allison and Rachel.

Bookkeeping Tip: If you make donations to this or any other charity, make payment via credit or debit card or get a receipt if it a cash donation.

PSFK Conference LA: September 18

In March I volunteered/attended the first PSFK conference in New York and it was one of the most informative, interesting and well-organized conferences that I ever attended. The next PSFK conference is in LA, and the roster of speakers and panelists is stellar.

“PSFK presents a series of presentations and discussions by leading innovators over the course of a day. We have invited some of the most brilliant thinkers who will lead tomorrow’s businesses to speak to an audience from the creative, media communities.

In the morning our speakers and panelists will explore new trends in areas like digital media and eco-consciousness; and in the afternoon the speakers will provide inspiration on how to apply the insights gained from looking at trends and ideas and applying them for new creative ideas.”

Speaker Line Up Thus Far

Rafat Ali (PaidContent.org)
Shana Nys Dambrot (Flavorpill LA)
Andrew Delaney (Getty Images)
John Doffing (Start Soma)
Roberto Espinosa
Shepard Fairey (Studio Number One)
Conn Fishburn (Yahoo!)
Kinsey
Adam Gayner (Fred Water)
David Merkoski (Frog Design)
Jeff Miller (Thrillist LA)
Mike Monello (Campfire)
Missy (Suicide Girls) – tbc
Kenny Ochoa (Sony BMG)
Jason Oberfest (Los Angeles Times)
Adriana Parcero (Nokia)
Mr George Parker (Madscam)
Tony Pierce (LAist)
Emmanuelle Richard (Vogue)
Aaron Rose
Jean-Marie Shields (Starbucks)
Lenny Stern (SS+K)

You can register here.

Save The Date: Future of Business Media Oct 30

Content Next’s Future of Business Media Conference is October 30 here in New York City.  I expect tickets to not be cheap with the stellar list of speakers, it may worth attending.

To get the most out of any conference I suggest reading tips from Keith Ferrazzi’s book, Never Eat Alone. This is the one book, I refer back to over and over again.

Get Outside To Think Outside The Box

This past week has been difficult for me to stay focused in an office because of the heat and/or the sleep inducing of air conditioner. A good way to shake things up is to leave the office. change you routine by going to a diner with your laptop and have a late breakfast, so it is not during the lunch hour rush or go for a iced coffee at 4Pm to push through to the end of day. Invite people from your office or if you are a sole proprietor, invite a fellow freelancer. The fresh air will yield fresh ideas.

Microbranding Talk: July2 @Etsy Labs

I am going to this event on Monday at Etsy Labs to learn more about microbranding. It should be interesting.

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby

Women in business is a growing trend, despite of or because of the fact of the lack of pay equity.

Read: On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide To Personal Finance by Sharon Kedar and Manisha Thakor.

Connect: Damsels in Success. I just read about it today so I cannot make any comparisons, other than it is not just for entrepreneurs, but also professionals and there is a job board.

Shop: Furniture retailers like IKEA are targeting female entrepreneurs to sell them stylish office furniture.

Nooks and Niches

Read: Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk

Meet: Likeminded people at the next LikeMind on Friday July 15. Likemind is a gathering of people for coffee and communication. There will be LikeMind in many cities across the country and Europe.

Subscribe: PaidContent’s daily email. You will find out what’s going on in the online media and web 2.0 space.