IT Martini Hour 9: IT's Spring Again

Theme: New Technology Driving New Solutions
Panel Discussion: Larry Carvalho, John Osborne, Rob Michel, Scott Miggo, Tony Bezilla, and Krista Neher, with moderator Jon Breyfogle
DEMOs: Neputation, ShareSomeSugar, and ListRocket 
Top Shelf Sponsors: Pride Technologies and CincyTech
Location: Longworth's in Cincinnati
Charities: $1200 raised for The Bootsy Collins Foundation

It couldn’t have been better weather for IT Martini Hour 9: IT’s Spring Again last Thursday, when hundreds of IT Pros gathered at Longworth’s in Mount Adams! The theme for the evening was discussion of the renewed tech focus in 2010 – how technologies like mobile, social media, and virtualization are driving new solutions.

Making the most of the Spring weather, the Panel Discussion gathered outside on the patio. Moderator Jon Breyfogle, Senior Account Manager at DLP Technologies, lead panelists Larry Carvalho, Entrepreneur at RobustCloud, John Osborne, General Manager of Research and Development at The Kroger Co., Rob Michel, Tele/Data Administrator at Bartlett & Co., Scott Miggo, CTO at Fifth Third Processing Solutions,Tony Bezilla, Operations Program Director at First Group America, and Krista Neher, CEO at Boot Camp Digital in the discussion of how these new technologies are getting businesses to connect with customers, and lower resource costs.

Next, Richard Nieves, Senior Consultant at Pride Technologies, moderated a deep dive discussion of desktop virtualization with panelists Scott Bowling, Enterprise Architect at American Electric Power, Tyler Rohrer, Co-Founder and COO at Liquidware Labs, and Bob West, CEO at Echelon One. It was a classic – with lots of discussion on the advantages, disadvantages, and security implications of various virtualization approaches.

Downstairs on the main floor, networking and DEMOs were spilling out onto the patio as well. Sanjiv Karani introduced Neputation, a new solution for online business reputation management; Keara Schwartz brought ShareSomeSugar, a solution that lets neighbors lend and borrow that cup of sugar – or whatever they need; andListRocket showcased an e-mail management solution to dynamically segment, and email, exactly who’s desired.

Congrats to Neputation for winning the IT Martini Community Choice Award! The Neputation team had this to say, “Neputation is thrilled to win IT Martini’s Community Choice Award…We are totally humbled by such a strong show of support and kudos received from the local IT community.”

Closing out the night was Bootsy and Patti Collins, who took the stage and signed a guitar for one lucky raffle prize winner. In addition to the guitar, prize donations fromCincinnati Bell, CBTS, PSI Group, and Peak10 helped YOUR IT Community raise over $1200 for the the Bootsy Collins Foundation! And a special thanks to Branndon Kelly, winner of the 50/50 raffle, who donated his winnings back to the Bootsy Collins Foundation.

Of course we owe many thanks to our Top Shelf Sponsors, Pride Technologies andCincyTech, for supporting YOUR IT Community in Cincinnati. And another thanks to Call and Well Sponsors for playing their part: DLP Technologies, Panduit, Cincinnati Bell, CBTS, Peak10, and PSI Group. Reach out and thank these sponsors anyway you know how!

And last – but most importantly – thanks to YOU for taking the initiative to make this IT Community YOURS. We had a blast at this third IT Martini event in Cincinnati, and look forward to many more going forward.