{"id":179,"date":"2009-08-24T07:13:13","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T14:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/35.225.155.113\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/08\/24\/social_matchbox\/"},"modified":"2019-10-13T13:12:24","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T20:12:24","slug":"social-matchbox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weinstein.org\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/08\/social-matchbox.html","title":{"rendered":"Social Matchbox"},"content":{"rendered":"

For every famous success story such as
\nAmazon.com<\/a> or failure like Pets.com<\/a> there are hundreds of unknowns;
\ncompanies that find success, or failure, anonymously. Yet each of
\nthose companies have interesting stories to tell, as do those within
\nthe company, individuals discovering what it takes to bring about a
\ncompelling idea to the world.<\/p>\n

I hate the “Dot Com Bubble” and
\n“Bust” labels that have become mainstream media’s shorthand for
\n“stupid business people who should have know better” because it
\nlimits the story to companies like eToys.com<\/a> as “obvious”
\nfailures. Having lived in San Francisco during that period of time,
\nhaving been part of an anonymous “success”1<\/sup><\/a>
\nstory with C2Net Software<\/a>, having met many interesting individuals I
\nknow from firsthand experience the “reality” of that “bubble”
\nand “bust”, “stupid business people” is not the first thing
\nthat comes to my mind2<\/sup><\/a>.
\nI am still friends with a few individuals from “back then”,
\nfollow and keep in touch with many more online and have, alas lost
\ncomplete contact with many others. Each and everyone of them carries
\nwith them an interesting perspective and insight from moving in a
\nsimilar network of people and ideas at a similar place and time.<\/p>\n

While I know organizations and
\ncompanies like those exists in many places I have yet to find a loose
\nconfederation of those individuals, organizations and companies
\nsimilar to what I experienced in the Bay Area here in Chicago where I
\ncurrently reside. I have however found such a network in Washington,
\nDC and it is known as Social Matchbox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As I experienced back in San Francisco
\nwith Webzine<\/a>, I’m sure to many in the DC Metropolitan Area, Social
\nMatchbox means different things to different people<\/a>. To some it is a
\nguiding principle of similar ideas, to others an event and still to
\nothers a social network of people and organizations. I can’t speak to
\nthe network of people as a whole, since being in Chicago leaves me
\nwith a tenuous connection at best. I can however speak to the idea
\nand, at least to one, event.<\/p>\n

According to their website “Social
\nMatchbox is where East Coast entrepreneurs and startup professionals
\ncongregate, launch, stay informed, announce job openings, and
\nconnect.”<\/p>\n

Quite an ambitious idea.<\/p>\n

In practice, at least as I saw it put
\nto practice last Thursday night, the group focuses on technology
\nstartups in the DC area. Now, one might think that DC startups, even
\ntechnology focused ones, are geared toward one idea; winning big, fat
\nFederal government contracts. While that might be the case for some,
\nthe startups selected to give their 5 minute sales pitch for Social
\nMatchbox were anything but. In fact, it seemed quite the opposite, of
\nthe dozen or so presenters, about half of them had a social
\nconsciousness element to their concept. Take for example the winner
\nof the evening’s “group funding”, Earth Aid.<\/p>\n

\"Audience\"<\/a>Earth Aid<\/a> is an online tool designed to
\nassist in managing the household utilities by providing one place for
\nviewing electric, natural gas, and water usage information. But
\nthat’s hardly the only aspect. Earth Aid also highlights rebates, tax
\nincentives and discounts to help reduced household expenses. The
\nsocial consciousness element comes into play with the users ability to earn rewards for reducing utility usage, reducing in turn
\none’s impact on the local environment.<\/p>\n

Other groups focused on the social
\nengagement front included:<\/p>\n

\n