Swagapalooza SF

Last week I was one of a very lucky few who was invited to Swagapalooza in San Francisco. Here's a description from the official website:

Swagapalooza is an experiment in viral media. On March 23rd, the world’s most-followed bloggers, twitters, and digital influencers will gather in San Francisco to judge five-minute 'auditions' from the creators of the latest, greatest, and most unexpected new products... And to connect with each other.

According to this, I must be an internet force to be reckoned with.  ...What do you think? The event was really cool and I met a bunch of awesome people.  They did not lie when they said that you would get a bag of free stuff - it was ALL ABOUT THE SWAG.  In fact, I had to walk from DNA lounge back to the Civic Center Bart (roughly a little over 1/2 mile) carrying my camera bag and heavy bag full of free stuff (books, tshirt, another tshirt, bike helmet lock, 2 iphone cases, etc...) Best yet, the keynote speaker for the evening was the renowned Guy Kawasaki.  If you don't know who he is, Guy is an author, business expert, and a total social media/geeky but cool internet leader.  In addition to writing a bunch of books, Guy is also the founder of Alltop.com, the website with aggregated links to the hottest topics and blogs out there. The way the event worked went like this - there were short presentations about emerging products (just released or soon to be released).  Each presenter had about 5-10 minutes to do their presentation... I had never been to an event like this before so the concept was new and interesting.  Images of the presenters are below and I've listed their company/website below. Alex Krupp, Co-founder of Swagapalooza Guy Kawasaki, Keynote Speaker. I wish I had a chance to actually introduce myself and talk to him.  He talked about his top 10 tips for startup businesses... all 10 of which I am currently employing (or should I say, have already been... hehe).  I think I will read his book soon, I've had it on my shelf now for about a year.  He's a great speaker, I wouldn't mind listening to him again sometime.  Oh, and if you're reading this Guy, I would love to take your headshots.  Just let me know! Bacon Hot Sauce (yes, bacon hot sauce). The Bike Lock (this thing is super cool, I can't wait to try mine out... the one I got in the swag bag!  Such a great idea! Basically, you put the loop through one of the holes of your helmet, and then you can slip it onto your u-lock or other bike lock so that the helmet is also locked up.) Equmen (men's form fitting undergarments... (like spanx for men)). FotoBabble - Talking photos! Joby - Makers of super cool camera accessories and other goodies (they make the Gorillapod!) WhiteyBoard - portable, easy to use white board.  Basically a paper with adhesive that you can use as a white board. Black Garlic - fermented garlic that turns black... and supposedly has a sweet flavor. I got a kick out of the variety of items presented at this event, and I also noticed that it was pretty much a male dominated event... would have been nice to see a woman (or 2) in the mix (not assistants, but actual women-business owners).  ...Umm, hello?  Maybe next time.... just sayin'. Lastly, there was a live Twitter feed on a big flatscreen on the stage.  It became apparent how very easily entertained some people can be... no comment... LOL.