Tech Tuesday: The Pocket TV

Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

Tech companies are always coming out with all sorts and sizes of new and innovative gadgets! A few months ago, Apple released the iPad mini and it’s no secret that most smartphones possess the most basic functions of a tablet. Today, we’re featuring The Pocket TV, a connecting dongle that creates a regular TV screen into a “smart” TV.

The Pocket TV is a clever device that is portable (hence the name The Pocket TV) and useful. The concept is brilliant and the ways in which it can be used is numerous. With this dongle, you can easily transform a TV screen into a projector so you can give presentations during a meeting, edit a document as a team, stream videos during an event, and of course, do all your leisurely web browsing activities. With The Pocket TV, you don’t have to spend extra money renting a blank screen or a projector but simply hook up an unused TV screen to add visual flair to your next meeting or event!

The Pocket TV is miniature powerhouse that has the potential to transform your next event! What do you think about The Pocket TV? Is this something you would invest in? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Top 5 Springtime Apps

When you think about the word “spring”, your first thoughts are probably about flowers, picnics, baseball season, and the Easter Bunny! We can now add Top 5 Springtime Apps (app developers think of everything!) At ABCey, we’ve put together a short list of apps that’ll make your spring more enjoyable, fun, and…efficient.

1. Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder: Take advantage of the great outdoors while it’s still sunny (and before it become unbearably hot)! This app goes above and beyond usual search engines, such as Yelp and Google, in providing important information that can enhance your park experience like nearby attractions, seasonality, phone numbers, and even lodging and concession information if you want to make it an overnight trip!

2. Strava Cycling: We love San Francisco because there are plenty of beautiful trails to bike, like the famous Golden Gate Bridge. While there are hundreds of other fitness apps around, Strava Cycling was made specially for cyclists so you can be confident this app is a worthwhile investment. Strava Cycling provides users with not only more cool places to bike but it also tracks your fitness stats as you explore parts of your city or as work on your own health.

3. Eat St. by Food Network: Here in the city, there are a lot of great places to eat but sometimes, they’re difficult to find because they’re always moving around! Eat St. is a neat app that keeps you updated with the locations of mobile food trucks in North America so you won’t have chase that delicious Korean-Mexican fusion taco again.

4. CraigsPro+: Time to roll up your sleeves, because blooming flowers and bluer skies also mean springtime cleaning is near. CraigsPro+ is an amplified, sleeker version of the virtual ad board, Craigslist. You can use this app to find quick cleaning services (if cleaning really isn’t your thing), sell your old winter coats or promote your garage sale after you’re done.

5. Grill-It!: Pretty self-explanatory, but pretty helpful too! Our mouths all water at the thought of perfectly-grilled steak with the juicy, slightly burnt corn-on-the-cob on the side but let’s be honest, grilling is sometimes harder than it looks. Download this app to get tips and tricks, recipes, and detailed instructions to play host to your next barbecue.

We hope these apps will inspire you to try some fun, new things this spring! What are some of your favorite springtime activities? Would you ever use any of these apps? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: SOSCharger

Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

They say time is money and with your phone, you’re definitely able to maximize your time. But there are those unfortunate days you forget to charge your phone and the battery dies when you need your phone the most. At ABCey, we know how important your phone is (we’ve been reviewing the most helpful apps, after all!) and on today’s Tech Tuesday, we’re featuring SOSCharger, the self-powered smartphone or iPhone charger!

Especially for all you super organized, schedule-conscious people out there (we’re talking to you, event planners), losing your phone in the middle of the day can create some serious roadblocks. We love recommending apps for you to use, whether it’s for an upcoming wedding or a holiday occasion, but with a dead phone, the apps are dead too! The SOSCharger lets you charge your phone on-the-spot, so you don’t have to search for an outlet if you’re on the road, in the house, on the plane, or in the middle of nowhere. All you need to pack is the SOSCharger and your usual USB cable.

We recommend the SOSCharger because it’s best to be prepared for the worst, and sometimes, the worst is when your phone dies right before an important meeting, or event! Is the SOSCharger something you’d fine worthwhile? Let us know in the comments below and Facebook & Twitter!

Startup Monday: OurCrowd

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.

Ever have a great idea but don’t know how to get it started? Or maybe you’re short on the necessary funds? At ABCey, we’re all about helping each other out and OurCrowd is too!

Based in Israel, OurCrowd is an equity-based crowdfunding platform to provide venture capital funding for venture capital start-ups. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, crowdfunding is essentially pitching an idea or project to the general public and hoping that they find as worthwhile of an investment as you do. Co-founders, Jon Medved and Steven Blumgar, explain that in Israel there are 500+ venture financings and over 1000+ angel financings, making it an ideal place for OurCrowd to launch — and prosper. Individuals can now use this platform to browse through hundreds of different startups and search through entrepreneurs, artists, technologists, and more.

According to its website, OurCrowd has become the first Israel focused, equity-based investment platform to launch and one of the world’s leading accredited investor only platforms! OurCrowd offers users effective tools to research companies in order to determine follow-up investment. IN addition, it offers a low-cost portfolio as well as a broad network of fellow investors.

What are your thoughts on crowdfunding? Would you support a project on a crowdfunding site? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Pucs, Rechargeable Ice

On nice, hot days like this, all we want to do is drink a cool lemonade or pop open an ice-cold drink. We all know the feeling when the ice quickly melts and you’re left with a beverage that’s watered-down and not-so-cold anymore. Pucs reinvents plain, old ice cubes into sleek, innovative “rechargeable” pucks that keep your drink cool and flavorful.

Made out of stainless steel, Pucs is a gradual conductor, meaning that it will chill steadily, evenly, and durably to either cool down your hot coffee or chill your favorite pop. Plus, its 100% stainless steel makeup ensures that your drink will not be diluted and be stripped of any flavor. At ABCey, we love Pucs because this means outdoor events can provide cool drinks without having to deal with the messiness of melting ice and the disappointment of watery fruit punch.

Pucs is revolutionizing our drinks and indoor and outdoor leisure! What do you think of rechargeable ice? Is this something you would test out? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook & Twitter!

5 New SF Spots for Baked Treats

With weather like this, it’s the perfect time for a picnic or a walk down the pier with a yummy treat in hand. But you’ve been to your favorite cafe for your usual pick-me-up pastry twice this week and you want to try something different. At ABCey, we’ve scoped out a few places for you to try some deliciously new baked goods and pastries!

1. Heartbaker by Sybil Johnson (406 16th Ave, San Francisco, CA)

2. Beth’s by Beth Setrakian (34 Miller Ave, Mill Valley, CA)

3. The Mill by Josey Baker Bread and Four Barrel Coffee (736 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA)

4. b. patisserie by Belinda Leong (2821 California St San Francisco, CA)

5. La Luna Cupcakes by Elvia Buendia (Level 1, Store #10, 50 Post St, San Francisco, CA)

Yum! One of the great perks of living in the Bay Area is the plethora of restaurants and bakeries. What’s your favorite dessert shop? Will you be making a trip to any of these places soon? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: LIFX

White lights for the minimalists, blue lights for the thinkers, and red lights for the romantics. But you don’t have to stop there. At ABCey, we know just how important lighting it to setting the tone for any event. With LIFX, you can experiment with your basic colors and every shade in between, simply with a tap of the finger.

LIFX is basically the smartest, most versatile lightbulb you’ve ever seen in your life! Installed just like a regular lightbulb, the LIFX smartbulb is wifi-enabled so you can adjust its colors through your mobile device. Whether that means on your laptop or your smartphone, all you need to do is download the free app.

And, it gets even better! With LIFX, you can also adjust brightness and the timing of its brightness, meaning you can sleep to lights that automatically dim or wake up to self-increasing light. A fun feature it offers is music coordination, so you can put together your own light show in your own home or at an event!

LIFX does an excellent job of meshing creativity with user-friendliness. How do you control lighting at your events? Does LIFX do it all? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Startup Monday: Sticky

Are you getting noticed? And by that we don’t mean your latest outfit. Your ad is competing for attention against publicity efforts by hundreds of different companies. Today at ABCey, we’re featuring Sticky, a startup that measures the effectiveness of ads by using special eye technology.

Sticky not only notifies advertisers about whether an ad was fully rendered and served but also whether or not the consumer actually saw the ad. Its selling point is being able to distinguish between viewable ads, which simply means has the opportunity to be seen, and verified impressions — ads that were most literally seen. Furthermore, Sticky can determine how much money needs to be spent in order to reach views by 1000 pairs of eyes and offers ad campaign recommendations to help you achieve your needed goal. Its objective, writes Sticky, is to improve the “digital planning and buying decisions on true branding performance.”

This could revolutionize how marketers and advertisers develop future content and strategies. What do you think? Could you “see” yourself utilizing Sticky’s services? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Top 10 Wedding Apps

Something borrowed, something blue, and maybe an app to help get you through the happiest (and sometimes most stressful) day of your life. Nowadays, there are apps for every occasion and any need. At ABCey, we’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 Wedding Apps to make wedding planning into an easier and more enjoyable process.

1. Wedding Song Planner – Professional: The name is pretty self-explanatory but the simple idea is pure time-saving genius. This app has song suggestions for every wedding moment, from the unity candle procession to the garter toss, all of which have been compiled by a professional wedding DJ. Better yet, it’s on sale for a limited time!

2. Projects: Though this app isn’t specifically created for wedding planning, its many features allow users to organize tasks and assignments in an efficient and manageable way. Users can keep track of the millions of things to do and view multiple tasks’ progress at once. Meeting with caterers, attending fitting sessions, ordering flowers to match the bridal party’s attire, creating a seating chart to accommodate relative’s temperamental needs – breathe, this app will help you get through all the madness.

3. Wedding Party: You send countless invitations to family members, distant relatives, and close friends but chances are, not everyone can attend even though they want to. The Wedding Party app gathers pictures taken during the wedding and organizes them into a timeline so absent guests can still be a part of the special day.

4. Yapp: Be ready for the unexpected with Yapp, a customizable app that will send your guests any updates and details about your wedding such as parking advice or location information. What’s useful about this app is that it allows you to send push notifications to guests should there be any last minute changes. After all, you already have enough to think about.

5. Wedding Scan: Creating a wedding registry is both fun and tiring. This app allows you to scan any item from any store and saves it for later, when you edit the list as you please. Not only does this help you organize the gifts you really want or need, but guests can also select from more options and price ranges.

6. Wedding Budget: Your special day is not only special but it can also become pretty pricey if you’re not careful. This app helps you organize where your money is going and how much is going where. You can track of what everything costs and how much money is left to spend within your budget.

7. Wedding Dress Look Book: With hundreds of dress pictures saved in its database, users can browse through different styles of dresses and select which fits their personality, shape and budget. To make this even more efficient, this app also provides listings of stores that hold your selected dresses.

8. Wedding Row: So many ideas, but where to put them? This app helps you organize all the great ideas you’ve gathered and lets you create a styleboard for easy access. Browse through other users’ styleboards and share your own for never-ending wedding inspiration.

9. myPantone Wedding & Events: Your wedding should reflect your personalities as a couple but coordinating colors, attire, and accessories can be tricky business. This app is professionally developed by color experts and wedding style specialists to help you combine color and creativity in an easy and fun way.

10. TripIt: What comes after the wedding? The honeymoon, of course! TripIt is a handy app that helps you plan your honeymoon (and any other big trips, for that matter) effortlessly. Create your vacation itinerary, keep track of your flyer accounts, and share travel plans with friends and family. After all, planning your honeymoon should be easy after planning the biggest event of your life.

Have you or a friend ever used an app to help with the big day? Are there any that we missed? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Top 5 Outdoor Event Ideas

We’re starting to see brighter days – literally. With sunnier days and warmer nights, now is the perfect time to host an outdoor event, whether it’s a classy garden party or a tented nighttime gala. At ABCey, we’ve put together a list of the Top 5 attractions for your next outdoor event.

1. Casa Bubble: Ever wanted to be inside and outside at the same time? With the Casa Bubble, guests are sheltered from allergens and blaring heat but they are still able to experience the great outdoors. The transparent covering allows guests to watch sunsets or nighttime activities while giving them privacy with the sound-reducing structure that muffles outside noise. Not only is this an exciting graphic presentation but it also provides a versatile space for your event. Customers in the past have used the Casa Bubble as a reception lounge, catering corner, and a business convention space.

2. Open Air Cinema: Nothing beats a movie under the stars, with cool nighttime breezes and a bucket full of buttery popcorn. Open Air Cinema provides outdoor cinema equipment complete with provided snacks such as popcorn and hotdogs. Screens come in different sizes to accommodate the size of your event and each upgrade in size is also an upgrade in quality – the largest sizes boast state of the art movie systems! Whether you’re hosting a party of 10 or a crowd of 3000, Open Air Cinema can provide the easiest and most lulling entertainment at your next event.

3. PyroTecnico: Scintillating fireworks are reminiscent of Fourth of July but who says you have to wait till then? Or for nighttime to fall, for that matter. PyroTecnico offers guests a truly unique experience in producing not only firework displays but also exciting daytime presentations with colored smoke. Better yet, they can also incorporate other features such as flames, lasers, and fog to impress guests an incredible show of color and lights.

4. BizBox: For more professional events, BizBox can turn your next event into a business festival celebrating exciting products and services that entertain attendees with the latest and greatest or simply the most entertaining. The concept is simple: customers a mobile space, sleek in design and presentation, and customize it with their own products and services to create a quick storefront. BizBox is great for events that seek to bring in a diverse group of companies for a mini business convention

5. Inflate USA: The name says it all — Inflate USA dedicates itself to providing huge inflatable structures whatever the occasion. If you need a mini shop, you can reserve the “Luna”, a crescent-shaped pod, or if you need an instant changing area, the “Changing Room” provides just the space. Inflate USA is flexible to the occasion and the environment as its durable material and its easy setup meets any event’s demands.

Are you planning any outdoor events soon? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook & Twitter!