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Washington State's Tech Leaders Gather at WTIA Technology Showcase Event

Posted on: Thursday, 28 May 2009, 15:14 CDT

Showcase serves as launch pad for several company and product announcements

SEATTLE, May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Northwest's hottest tech companies, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists (VCs) gathered yesterday for the Washington Technology Industry Association's (WTIA) (http://www.washingtontechnology.org) Technology Showcase and Fast Pitch Forum. The event, which took place at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, provided an opportunity for the region's most innovative startups to receive direct input from leading Northwest- and Silicon Valley-based VCs and angel investors about market strategy, business plans and products.

Presenting companies represented a wide variety of tech industry markets, from advertising and online communities to enterprise applications and gaming. Given the high caliber of media and VC attendees at the event, several companies used the Tech Showcase as a forum to announce major company and product news: TeachStreet, an education-focused online community, announced the expansion of its service into the Chicago classes market, and social data discovery company Socrata (formerly known as blist, Inc.) announced new company branding and the launch of a social data site for open government.

Of the 23 companies selected to present at the Tech Showcase, judges and audience members voted the following three innovators as "Best in Show":

-- AdReady, Inc. (http://www.adready.com), a provider of online advertising technology

-- Swype, Inc. (http://www.swypeinc.com), developer of a unique text input solution for mobile touch-screen devices

-- TeachStreet (http://www.teachstreet.com/)

Each will receive Safeco Field suite tickets courtesy of the Seattle Mariners. Other participating companies included Bonanzle; BuddyTV; Daptiv, Inc.; DataSphere Technologies, Inc.; Gist, Inc.; Konnects, Inc.; LiquidPlanner; Mpire Corporation (WidgetBucks); Ontela, Inc.; Pet Holdings, Inc.; Picnik.com; Reality Gap, Inc.; Redfin; SEOmoz Inc.; Talent Spring, Inc.; VANTOS, Inc.; Visible Technologies; WhitePages, Inc.; and Widevine Technologies.

"We found the WTIA's Technology Showcase event to be extremely valuable from both a visibility and networking perspective," said Dave Schappell, founder and CEO of TeachStreet. "The quality of participants was extremely high, and I'm confident that the connections we made with media, VCs and other entrepreneurs will be helpful in the future."

In addition to receiving an in-depth look into some of the region's most innovative companies, the Tech Showcase's 300 attendees received expert insight into the state of the local and national tech industries from various tech industry leaders. Tim Draper, founder and managing director of Silicon Valley's leading VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, delivered the event's keynote presentation, and Microsoft's Marc Brown, managing director of the corporate development group, moderated a panel of prominent local tech leaders who recently experienced a merger or acquisition, including Brian Roundtree, founder and CTO of SNAPin; Jeffrey T. Seely, CEO, Recruiting.com, Inc.; Hugh Crean, general manager of Live Search Farecast, a Microsoft Company; and Pete Price, CFO at Visible Technologies.

"Washington state is home to some of the most innovative, disruptive startups in the tech industry today, so we structured this event to truly showcase these companies," said Ken Myer, president and CEO of the WTIA. "This year's Tech Showcase participants not only received feedback from VCs and angel investors, but they also were able to connect with local and national media -- from TechFlash to CNET -- to further boost visibility for their products and services. We're looking forward to supporting these companies as they continue to grow."

More information about the Tech Showcase and presenting companies is available at http://www.washingtontechnology.org/IF.

Presenting sponsors of the Technology Showcase and Fast Pitch Forum include Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, GrapeCity, Inc., Moss Adams LLP and Sun Microsystems. The WTIA also thanks the other sponsors that made this event possible.

About the Washington Technology Industry Association

The Washington Technology Industry Association, founded in 1984, is the largest statewide association of technology companies, IT departments and individual technology professionals in North America. With more than 1,000 member companies representing more than 100,000 employees in Washington State, the association is a catalyst for sharing expertise, fostering collaboration, delivering key business services and advancing the value and global impact of technology companies doing business in Washington. The association's global partners are Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Microsoft, Regence BlueShield, Sun Microsystems, Vertafore and Wells Fargo Insurance Services. The association's funding partners are AH&T Insurance, F5 Networks, Moss Adams and RealNetworks. For more information, go to www.washingtontechnology.org.

SOURCE Washington Technology Industry Association

Source: PR Newswire

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