Gawker: valleywag, meetup

Is Web 2.0 Safe in a War Zone?

Owen Thomas — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:47:19 EDT

The gang of webheads sent by the State Department to Iraq is doing what webheads do: blogging, Twittering, and posting photos in real time. This must be giving their government minders fits.

Jack Dorsey, the nominal (read: unemployed) chairman of Twitter, posted about meeting with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani in his palace — which would give anyone opposed to changing the world 140 characters at a time a good bead on his location. Dorsey posted a photograph of Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman, who in turn lensed Wired scribe Steven Levy in protective gear. Meanwhile, Howcast CEO Jason Liebman boosted international relations by misspelling Talabani's name.

Perhaps to stay in the good graces of their State Department protectors, they've also started to assiduously suck up to their official hosts. Anyone who wants to monitor their Twitter transmissions can do so by using their official "iraqtech" tag. Way to make it convenient for the bad guys to keep tabs on you, Web 2.0 dudes!

Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman:

Wired writer Steven Levy:

(Photos by rbc, jack, and heif )

France's Hi-Media buys Fotolog for $90 million

Owen Thomas — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:28:57 EDT

Our tipster was right that Fotolog, the New York-based photo-sharing site had been sold — but wrong, alas, about the buyer, and the price. We'd heard of a Latin American buyer paying north of $100 million. Instead, it's Hi-Media, a French Internet concern, paying $90 million in cash and stock — a rich price for a company with 10 million users but only $2.3 million in revenues projected for this year. Hi-media is publicly traded on the Euronext stock exchange, so its shares are as good as cash. But Fotolog backers 3i and BV Capital say they plan to hang onto their shares and "participate in the development" of the combined company. So now the most interesting question is, who cashed out? We wouldn't be shocked if CEO John Borthwick, above, and founder Scott Heiferman were among those receiving an immediate cash payout. Borthwick has a host of other startup ventures, and Heiferman is the CEO of Meetup.

Working here is better than the Googleplex

Nick Douglas — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:03:33 EDT

NICK DOUGLAS — Meetup, the startup built around real-world gatherings, is doubling its staff. CEO Scott Heiferman posted a cute comparison of working at Google HQ and working at Meetup's 38-employee office in New York. The list actually makes some good points about Meetup's growth and the small-office environment. My favorite quote: "At Google, a few Googlers wish they were at a fast-growing company where they can personally still make a huge difference. At Meetup, some Meetuppers wish we had a toilet like the Googleplex."

Things to Attend Tonight: Blogging Ethics

rabruzzo — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:51:15 EDT

After Michael Arrington's suspect post on Edgeio funding, we think now would be a good time for the TechCrunch staff to attend the Social Media Roundtable's discussion on Disclosure.
CNET Offices
235 2nd Street, SF 94105
6-8pm

From Jason Calcanis calling Pay Per Post 'evil' to Mike Arrington being thrashed by Nick Carr and last week, one of the top Social Media aware PR firms Edelman being outed as as the undisclosed sponsors of Wal-Marting Across America.

Too easy, pass.

SF Online Community Report
Hotel Biron
45 Rose Street, SF 94102
7 pm

Reconvened by Susan Tenby of TechSoup. She's been networking nonprofit community leaders in Second Life!

I'd love to go and see if Susan Tenby acutally shows, or if the presentation is done by her avatar.

Talking About Disclosure [Upcoming.org]
SF Online Community Report [Upcoming.org]