Lunch 2.0 at Meebo started with pizza and salad and finished with “networking†as dessert. Some of us stuck around after lunch and worked with Meebo developers to work on our various applications.Meebo.com is a website for instant messaging from absolutely anywhere. Users have access to their IM network on AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber. And, in my opinion, the best part is no downloads or installs are required.
The Mountain View, CA based company launched in September 2005 and has received funding from Sequoia Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Meebo counts in excess of 100 million instant messages daily. Since its launch, more than 200 developers have registered with the Meebo platform. Additionally, there are currently 20 games available to its users.
There are currently five job openings listed on Meebo’s site. The technology postings require you to take a quiz as part of the application process.
· Customer Engagement
· Interaction Designer
So what about the networking at Lunch 2.0? It was superb!
I met Kathy Alberts, Meebo.com’s Staffing Elf (cool and very seasonal title!). Kathy is employee number 13 at Meebo and I believe she said they have a staff of 60 or more people.
Jamy Nigri, AKA Tigger, (that is what he wrote on his name tag). Jamy is from Aria which does billing and customer management on demand. I can tell by Jamy’s outgoing personality, that he knows how to work a crowd. He introduced me to Stan Weitzman, account executive from Arcscale. Stan said Arcscale was one of the first consultants that worked with Facebook.
I also met the founder of Ustream.tv, John Ham. Ustream.tv is a pretty cool site. Ustream is a platform that provides live interactive video so anyone with a camera and an Internet connection can use Ustream to broadcast their program. When I checked it out there was a live basketball game from Wilfrid Laurier University. Where the heck is Laurier? Waterloo, Canada.
Others I met at Lunch 2.0:
Ruddy Sitoleh, his business card reads: “Pre-sales, Post-Sales, Evangelism, Sales engineer.†Ruddy is currently looking for a job at a start up gaming company. Ruddy also rides a Suzuki Bandit and is a definitely a thrill seeker. Ask him about getting pulled over after doing 120 mph. You can get Ruddy’s 411 at http://rudrasen.blogspot.com/.
Dr. Ann Shinn, Ed.D., President of Global Development. Her company does real estate investment consulting. Plus, and it’s a big one, she can help your company get funding.
· Jerrod Williams, Software Engineer, who has experience in: User Interface Web Programming, Database Implementation and Manipulation, CGI Development and CSS Design
Shuly Cooper is looking for a Product Manager position. She is a PM and QE specialist. I believe she said she used to work at Sybase.
I met five more people, but they didn’t have their cards. When I get their 411 I will ad it to this story.
I would recommend if you have a chance to attend a Lunch 2.0 event in your area, run, don’t walk! I got a free lunch and, more importantly, made some really good contacts in only an hour.
