ABCey’s Weekend Line-up: 3.1.13 – 3.3.13

What better time than now to try out some new SF hot spots and attend some great events? Well…. there isn’t one! Take advantage of the beautiful weekend weather and explore more of our beloved city, or take a cruise to Tahoe for some fun in the snow. ABCey has put together a quick list of what’s in store this weekend!

1. SnowFest 2013 | Fri, Sat & Sun | Tahoe | It’s kind of like Freezing Man as opposed to Burning Man. The Space Cowboys will make your weekend in the snow as epic as that hot week in the summer, but in a different way. Get ready to experience Tahoe as never before with three days of dancing and partying fun. Friday night, enjoy the après ski danceparty under the gondola, complete with fireworks and other excellencies of the like. Saturday there is a day party for those snow bunnies without the requisite skill, desire, or monetary levels to truly hit the slopes. And then there is a fun-for-all on Saturday night as you party like (almost) Tahoe locals behind the Safeway at one of Truckee’s hottest spots, the Lakeside Club.

2. Hand to Mouth: Celebrity! | Friday | The Dark Room | James Fluty and Trevor Hill present Hand to Mouth: a monthly, topic-based comedy show where each edition explores a specific social, cultural or political issue. One show, one topic.

3. UNPLUG SF: Device-Free Drinks Party | Friday | Cell Space | An off-the-grid party to celebrate the National Day of Unplugging. Check your phone at the door and you’ll redefine what it means to truly be connected. It will be a night of Digital Detox goodness – massage lounge, live music, typewriters, arts and crafts, hand-drawn portraits, board games, dancing… you name it!

4. Camp Question Mark’s Silent Disco on BART | Saturday | BART | ZEROdb has taken the music community by storm with their ‘silent’ parties. And they’re back this time with another takeover of BART. Hop on the train at a designated station, receive your headphones (in exchange for your ID), and enjoy the ride. Each DJ set will broadcast on a channel through the headphones, and without them, you will be unable to hear the bass beats of DJs like Rebirth, Megowan, and Stylust Beats. For something out of the ordinary, hop on BART this Saturday.

mosaicfda599ceb511c7a78ce30faab40298c28c9718be

5. Indie Festival: Noise Pop 2013 | Fri, Sat & Sun | Noise Pop is an indie music, arts, and film festival. Noise Pop has brought early exposure to many emerging artists who have gone on to achieve widespread acclaim. Notable acts have included the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Bright Eyes, Best Coast, and Jeff Tweedy.

Let us know which ones you’ll be attending in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter! ABCey will be up in Tahoe for the SnowFest festivities, so be sure to say hello. Hope to see you all there!

Illuminode: Mind Glowing Social Technology

Are you looking for something to “brighten up” your next event? Let us introduce you to Illuminode, where lighting meets art, technology and a completely new type of media for socializing. Illuminode creates full-spectrum, interactive LED illumination for fashion, brands, events, artists, architects and beyond. Since we’re fairly concerned with events over here at ABCey, we thought would look into it more for you...

They aren’t just creating “pretty lights” for an event; their initiative is to create a new way for devices to connect and communicate wirelessly to form social relationships the same way that people do. The Illuminode team consists of electrical engineers, logistics specialists, and designers who create these large scale social technologies. One of their first prototypes and one of our favorites are the “Social Umbrellas.” The LED umbrellas are inherently social and will not work alone. When joined by two or more noded umbrellas they explode in a brilliant display of sequenced light!

We also absolutely love the Billion Jelly Bloom projects where Illuminode integrates their wireless Blinkternet modules into the wonderful creatures to provide a brand new interactive experience!

Illuminode devices should have particular appeal to event planners with their easy and simple set-up. Do you think you will try this “mind-glowing social technology” for your next event? How do you think your audience/guests could use these devices to interact, or to help facilitate and reinforce relationships? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech on Tuesday: Tingo

When you’re debating whether or not to attend an out-of-town event, the last thing you want to worry about is hotel prices. Nobody likes booking a hotel room only to find out that the price dropped. UGH! ABCey came across a new service called Tingo, which automatically gives you a refund if the price of your hotel room drops. As event planners, this is something great to recommend to guests and invitees of your events.

A TripAdvisor subsidiary, Tingo aims to prevent those frustrating phone calls to the hotel or booking company trying to get reimbursed. Many times, conferences and popular events will offer you hotel deals. If, however, the designated hotel is all booked up you may rely on Tingo to get ultimately get you the best deal. For example, if you’re attending a weekday event in New York City, they saw prices drop at an average of almost $40 within a 30-day period. Here for a wedding in San Francisco? 136 hotels dropped an average of $52.

Clearly, there is money to be saved and with this tool you just might be able to convince that hesitant event guest to attend your event! Furthermore, why waste that extra money when you can spend it elsewhere and enjoy the city you’re visiting a little bit more? Let us know if you’ve had any experiences with Tingo or if you’re going to give it a whirl in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.

Startup Monday: iCracked

Time is of the essence in the event industry, and every second that can be saved counts. Startups and apps that aim to capitalize on our busy lives are making a killing off of our need for the fastest, most efficient version of whatever service they provide. Our cell phones have become a tool that we cannot seem to live without because of their capability to connect us to a world filled with these amazing, time-saving products and services. So what happens when your beloved smart phone is out of commission, and you simply don’t have the time to send it away for days, or even weeks, to be repaired? You need only to remember one brand new service: iCracked.

iCracked is the newest way to fix your precious iPhones, iPods, and iPads. Like many other companies, iCracked started in the dorm room of college students. These students decided they could no longer afford those pricey screen repairs necessary after multiple plummets from hand to floor. You know, those lovely accidents that leave you with a phone screen resembling a spiderweb.

The people at iCracked replace broken screens, LCDs, batteries and all other parts, as well as repair water damage for all iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad models. Here comes the convenience and time-saving part: iCracked’s iTechnicians can meet you in your own home or office to perform any repairs that you might need, usually taking only about 30 minutes to complete the job. They’re definitely not joking about saving you time!

We love that iCracked offers such a quick fix to the common iPhone mishap. We can see this service being super helpful when in a bind while preparing for events and needing all of the precious info we keep on our phones! Tell us what you think of iCracked in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

BlackJet SF Launch Event Recap

On Valentine’s Day, ABCey had the pleasure of producing the BlackJet San Francisco Launch Party in Union Square! If you’re not familiar with BlackJet, think of it as the “Uber for Private Jets.” It’s an online service and phone app that connects travelers with the reliability and convenience of a private jet with prices close to that of premium commercial carriers.

To view the entire BlackJet SF Launch photo gallery, click here! Or, to view our Aviation themed Digital Photobooth gallery, click here!

With a line winding down the red carpet and around the corner from Union Square before the event even started, it’s safe to say that attendees were very excited about BlackJet’s San Francisco launch. The first 1,000 people to arrive were given a free membership with companion seat –a coveted gift, seeing as the service is currently invite only and memberships are worth a whopping $2,500!

After receiving their sleek black membership card and vacation-reminiscent Hawaiian lei, guests had the opportunity to take a picture with the beautiful Sky Angels in front of the BlackJet logo or at the aviation-inspired Snapfiesta photobooth. DJ David Carvalho kept the crowd pumped with excitement while guests anxiously awaited the announcement of the Las Vegas trip winners; two of which were picked from radio station contests, one that was picked from a drawing done that day. The lucky winners were sent off to Vegas via Uber that very evening to enjoy their 3 night stay at the Bellagio and their $1,000 cash…all part of the GrandPrize win!

ABCey was live tweeting during the entire event and any posts & pictures using #BlackJetSFLaunch showed up on our Twitter Feed projected on a giant LCD in the middle of Union Square. A big Thank You to CEO and COO, Dean Rotchin and Joe Grimes for partnering with ABCey to kick off BlackJet’s new SF service route. Some of the key investors and co-founders such as Garrett Camp, Shervin Pishevar, and Steve Jang also came out for the event and took part in the fun. Thanks to all for coming!

Let us know what you thought of our event in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

ABCey’s Weekend Line-up: 2.21.13 – 2.24.13

ABCey has got another round of great events for you to enjoy in San Francisco this weekend. From Pop-up stores to the Polar Plunge, there’s always a variety of fun experiences to check out!

1. Storenvy Pop-up Shop | 2.21 | Crocker Galleria – 50 Post St | Stop by the Storenvy Pop-Up Shop at Crocker Galleria from 4-8pm for a night of drinks, music and fun. Shop four amazing local designers and mingle with brands, retailers and space owners who are all excited about the future of pop-up retail. On the agenda is the Harlem Shake at 7pm, so bring your costumes and props. The Storenvy Pop-up Shop runs from February 18 to March 18 and features Topshelf Boutique, Animal Instincts, Embergrass, After Eleven Apparel. Official hashtag: #POPUPENVY

2. Intro to Mobile App Development | 2.21 | Sandbox Suites – 567 Sutter St | Learn to make mobile applications is simpler than you think! The course will review the technologies being used in making applications and give you enough guidance for you to decide what the best strategy for you is for making an application. This is a beginner level class and can be of assistance to you if you don’t have any background in programming and are interested in building an app. It is also very helpful to those interested in or are currently working with programmers.

3. Pancakes & Booze Art Show | 2.22-2.23 | Bar 4N5 – 863 Mission St | LA’s Underground Art Show has made a home in San Francisco and is coming back February 22-23, 2013 for another two day run at Gallery 4N5. For a $5 cover charge expect to see the works from over 75 underground and emerging artists, live body painting, live audio and visual effects, a photo booth, a no-host bar and most importantly, an all-you-can-eat pancake bar. Enjoy live audio and visual performances byXpander Xperience, Matt Sabotage Nakamatani, KC Patterson, Joshy Nightshift, and Andy P.

4. 2013 Polar Plunge | 2.23 | Aquatic Park, Crissy Field| Come down to Crissy Field on February 23, 2013 and delight at watching other people freeze their tail ends off by taking a plunge in the bay with all proceeds going to the Special Olympics of Northern California. Unlike the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon, these hundreds of brave souls won’t be swimming, just braving it—some in wacky costumes—for a quick, but agonizing dip in the chilly waters of the SF Bay. For those too chicken for a plunge, they’ll be sent to the “Chicken Coop” so be sure to wash them with ridicule… and donate a buck to their cause while you’re at it!

5. 2013 Oscars Bash with Peaches Christ | 2.24 | The Midnight Sun – 4067 18th St | Join Peaches Christ and celebrity commentators, Lady Bear and Hugz Bunny on the red carpet for the ultimate queer super bowl, the 2013 Academy Awards on February 24, 2013. From the pre-show fashion parade to the crowning of the “Best Picture” Oscar, the on-hand drag commentators will be emceeing the awards ceremony, sharing opinions and providing recaps during the commercial breaks all night long. This will be a live viewing party and guests are encouraged to dress to impress for the “Oscar Character Costume Contest” – Django couture, Mary Todd Lincoln Realness, Black-tie OBL, Drag Of The Southern Wild.

Which of these events will we see you at? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Penetralia 2013: Privacy Matters * INVITE ONLY*

A BCey Events is proud to present Penetralia 2013: Privacy Matters, on February 25th in San Francisco at an undisclosed “top secret” location. We are very excited to be producing this INVITE ONLY event in conjunction with SpiderOak and Silent Circle; two great companies that are passionate about privacy in the Internet Age. This will be an interactive event to think about, understand and discuss the evolution of privacy and technology. It will run on the 1st day of the RSA Conference that is being held at the Moscone Center on February 25th-March 1st.

SpiderOak is a zero-knowledge encrypted data backup, share, sync, access and storage service and a private alternative to Box and Dropbox. The chief difference between SpiderOak and its competitors, particularly for the security and privacy-conscious, is in how their services treat users data. SpiderOak’s policy is to never know the user’s password or encryption keys, thus preventing anyone at the company from accessing their data for any reason.

Created by Navy SEALs and Silicon Valley cryptography experts, Silent Circle is a global encrypted communications service offering a comprehensive suite of simple yet secure tools for your mobile devices – encrypted video, phone, text and email. Send a private text across town or whisper in someone’s ear a thousand miles away. Silent Circle is revolutionizing how the world communicates – securely.

Are you part of the cloud technology / developer community? Attending RSA? Click here to request an invitation and we look forward to seeing you there! Let us know what Privacy means to you in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.

Tech Tuesday: AnyMeeting

Many of us have experienced the struggle to communicate with bosses, coworkers and contractors because we’re all not in the same spot at once. We’ve recently come across AnyMeeting here at ABCey, your new best friend for online meetings or conferences and specially tailored for small businesses!

Any Meeting is super easy to use, so even first-timers will be able to find their way around the software. Users can host an unlimited number of webinars with up to 200 users per session, and several options are offered for presenters to engage with their audience. They include status updates, chats, polls and the ability to send links which will pop up your screen. There is no client software to install, which means no last minute scrambling to join the meeting.

AnyMeeting’s complete set of features include:

Holding Small or Large Sized Meetings
Screen Sharing
Playing YouTube Videos
Recording Meetings
Twitter and Facebook Integration
Sending Invites & RSVP’s
Personal Meeting URL
6-Way Video Conferencing
Social Profile Page

Let us know what you think of AnyMeeting and if you plan to give it a try! Leave us a comment below or on Facebook & Twitter.

Startup Monday: HotelTonight

Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.

How often do you find yourself needing to make last minute hotel reservations? Maybe the place you booked in advance has lost your reservation, maybe you didn’t book anything at all, or maybe you just want to be impulsive and go on a spontaneous trip to Vegas! There are plenty of reasons as to why it would be convenient to have a resource that could help you find a hotel room for that very evening. The folks at HotelTonight have created an app to help you with just that!

Currently available in 10 countries and over 80 destinations, HotelTonight makes it easy and simple for you to book same-day unsold hotel inventory, providing you with some really great deals that otherwise would not have been available to you. You can even make a reservation all the way up until 2am, a convenience that is not usually offered at most hotels. Considering we all use our mobile phones to do pretty much everything, HotelTonight is a must-have to add to your army of apps.

It’s a win-win for everyone in this situation! You get convenience and great value for your sporadic trips while hotels get the opportunity to sell last minute rooms that would have otherwise remained empty. What a great tool to use when making those impulsive decisions to attend that conference in San Diego or to show up at that event in Chicago that you just didn’t think you’d have time to attend. If we’re ever in need of last-minute rooms for any of our clients from out of town, we know what app we’re using! Have you ever used HotelTonight? Let us know how it made your trip more convenient in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

ABCey Weekend Lineup: 2.14.13 – 2.17.13

With plenty of events today alone, you’re sure to find something unique and fun to do in honor of St. Valentine. Make sure to stop by Union Square at noon to celebrate the launch of the SF Service route for BlackJet, produced by yours truly, ABCey! If you’re too busy to celebrate with your sweetheart today, fear not! Attend one of these super fun events and you’re sure to make up for it. No sweetheart? Don’t let that stop you from spreading the love! We’ve got plenty of ideas to fill your weekend with exciting events to attend with friends. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

1. Swinging Valentine’s, Burlesque & Live Music | February 14 | 5pm | 50 Mason Social House | Join 50 Mason Social House on Valentine’s Day for free Swing Dance Lessons from 5-7pm by the Bay Area Swing Allstars, followed by live Burlesque Performances by Hunny Bunny & Her Hot Toddies at 8pm. They’ll be rounding off the night with a live performance by house favorites Eggplant Casino. No cover charge all night long.

2. Vestivus For The Rest Of Us: $5 Comedy & Music Variety Show | February 14 | 7pm| Red Devil Lounge, SF | W*A*S*H* is an experimental weekly variety show at the Red Devil Lounge which promises to blur the line between performers and audience. The night features stand up comedy from Joe Gorman, Mike Spiegelman & Natasha Muse plus Musical Guest, John Murry and a Valentine Swap hosted by BetaDater.

3. Viva Amore! Viva Wine! 2013 | February 15 | 6pm | Rock Wall Wine Company, Alameda | Grab your loved ones and join the Rock Wall Wine Company for a celebration of wine, amore and life! They’re turning the cellar into a land of romance, filled with beautiful wines, yummy treats, rockin’ music and lots of East Bay Love!

4. 4th Annual Chocolate and Beer Festival | February 16 | 12pm | The Craneway Pavilion, Richmond | Do you like chocolate? Do you like beer? Embark on a gourmet adventure at the Chocolate and Beer Festival at Craneway Pavilion at the Richmond Marina. Sample local craft brews and chocolates from the Bay Area’s finest chocolatiers.

5. Tulipmania 2013 Opening Day | February 17 | 10am | Pier 39 | Pier 39 comes alive with the vibrant colors of thousands of blooming tulips and seasonal garden favorites throughout both levels of Pier 39. Enjoy daily free, guided landscaping tours beginning at 10 a.m. in Pier 39′s Entrance Plaza. Make sure to bring your cameras to capture what’s blooming.

There’s something for everyone in this lineup! Which events will you attend? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter. See you this afternoon at Union Square!