Twiistup 007: Casino Royale
Los Angeles
Archived entries for twiistup
Twiistup is Growing Up
Twiistup was created to showoff innovative creations, share new opportunities and above all else, have some fun. Since Twiistup 1 in February, 2007 we have experienced five exciting events that have served as a catalyst for even more growth in SoCal. I’m proud to say that we’ve participated in a grassroots movement that has unified some highly original bits and pieces, attracted a global audience and redefined the mid-week mixer.
Through Twiistup, I personally have had the privilege of connecting with some seriously talented individuals. My initial intent was to connect with designers and developers in the LA area, but the community that I was introduced to far surpassed my craziest dreams. Throughout tech, media and entertainment, the entrepreneurship and energy that exists in SoCal is off the charts. So much so, that I ditched my Silicon Valley gig for a startup in the heart of Santa Monica.
After the initial experiment, and success, of Twiistup 1, my intention was to grow it into something much bigger and brighter. And grow it did! Our first event had a capacity of 200 people, our fifth event had over 1000 attendees. While I’ve had great support of some key people in LA, I’ve now realized Twiistup has grown beyond my own capacity limitations (aka, my day job).
So, I am really excited to announce that Twiistup will take on new ownership and expand beyond its trademark “Showoff” competition, and signature evening event, to include a full conference agenda. There are also plans to help seed similar event models in other cities. This is huge for the LA tech community and the Twiistup brand, and seems to be the logical next step in it’s evolution. No worries, Twiistup will remain “an alternative to traditional networking events” and continue to serve up the unique, creative and unexpected.
[quote from the new boss] “Twiistup had expanded from a small grassroots local event to one of the most well regarded regional showcases for tech and media. This investment allows us to carry out Mike’s vision of adding a full conference agenda to the famed evening event and making it more of a national draw,” said new Twiistup Producer, Francisco Dao, a LA-based entrepreneur who will be taking over day-to-day management. [end of quote]
I will still be involved with Twiistup as a creative advisor and will continue to participate in all of the excitement that’s happening in SoCal. I’ll still be in the area focusing more attention to another company I helped start called Tsavo Media.
Thank you to all those that have contributed to Twiistup’s success – so many in the LA tech scene made this a true community effort, but I have to call out Nicole Jordan and Jeremiah Abraham. Another is my wife, Steph Macadaan, the self proclaimed Director of Pretty Much Everything. While I’d love to say that I am some kind of genius-magician pulling off these events on top of my day job, it just wasn’t the case and she deserves way more credit than she ever received.
See you at an event soon!
History of Twiistup
Photos and video from all 5 Twiistup events
Twiistup 1 / Feb 2007 / Zanzibar in Santa Monica / 200 attendees
‘Sketched Video’ made with a sketch pad and a sharpie on my kitchen table. Can you find the typo?
Photos from that hot night at Zanzibar.
Twiistup 2 / Aug 2007 / Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice / 300 attendees
‘Showoffs’ video
Interviews!
Photos
Twiistup 3 / Jan 2008 / Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice / 300 attendees
Covered on CBS
Photos
Perez Hilton chats with Shira Lazar
TechZulu’s take
Twiistup 4 / Jul 2008 / Viceroy in Santa Monica / 600 attendees
Steve Weibe of King of Kong chats with Robert Scoble
More Video
TechZulu
Photos
Twiistup 5 / Feb 2009 / Hangar 8 at the Santa Monica Airport / 1000 attendees
Rich DeMuro of Synchedupshow.com
From lalawag
From Bub.blicio.us
Photos
Random fact: We infused our sister event in Vancouver BC with some Twiistup love. Here’s one of the many videos..
Vote for your ‘Fan Favorite Showoff’
Our friends at Strutta have put together a way for you to get a preview of the Twiistup 5 Showoffs and to cast your vote. The votes collected prior to the event will indeed count towards the points needed to win the Fan Favorite award. Votes collected at the event from attendees will be weighted heavier since they’ll have an even closer look at the companies. Good luck to the Showoffs – show your love.
Animoto at Twiistup
At Twiistup 5 attendees will be able to upload photos to [twiistup@animoto.com] and there shots will play on the big screen. So very cool – we <3 Animoto.
LA Weekly Twiistup Story
Headline: DOT-COM AGAIN? BEHIND THE SCENES OF LA’S “TWIISTUP” NETWORKING PHENOMENON
Writer: Gendy Alimurung
Link: Read the original story here
Published date: Oct 15, 2008
Excerpt: Macadaan’s Twiistups have the following skeleton: some showcase people, the attendees, the movers and shakers like Jordan, the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed start-up companies, the swanky venue, the libations, and then one special something — “the ‘twist’ in Twiistup” — to send it over the top. He brought in a guy to build robotic sculptures. One party featured Joseph Kosinski, director of TR2N. At another was Perez Hilton, who is rumored to make $40,000 a day on his gossip Web site. (BusinessWeek places Perez’s earnings at $110,000 a month. The $40K figure comes from what Blogads says it would cost to do a one-day advertising “takeover” of perezhilton.com.)
Twiistup 4 Music Video by TechZulu
If you’re up to something cool get TechZulu involved. They’re doing amazing things for SoCal’s tech community.
Hip Techies Dig Scene In West L.A.
Twiistup gets another mention on CNNMoney thanks to the great article from Brian Deagon.
Twiistup mentioned on CNNMoney.com
Looks like the article ‘Networking Groups Aim To Turn L.A. Into Technology Star’ from Investor’s Business Daily is making it’s way around the web. Read the CNN article here.
Networking Groups Aim To Turn L.A. Into Technology Star
Twiistup is in this article by Brian Deagon of Investor’s Business Daily.
Launch Party Vancouver, Episode 9 ‘Kris Krug’
Kris Krug chats about raincitystudios.com, Battlestar Galactica and Van Halen. Check out Twiistup and LATwiist for more.
Launch Party Vancouver, Episode 6 ‘The Kiss’
Strutta CTO Lyal plants one. Check out Twiistup and LATwiist for more.