Nominate the best software made in Philadelphia: Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise Project of the Year award

Nominations are now open for the first Project of the Year award, which will be granted to the best software developed in 2011 as part of the 7th annual Philadelphia Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise (ETE) conference.

The conference is held annually by Chariot Solutions, the Fort Washington-based software development consulting firm.

“Chariot Solutions is proud to sponsor the Project of the Year Award to highlight how software development teams are an important component in helping organizations achieve competitive advantage, create efficiencies, or reach new markets,” said Mike Rappaport, the CEO of Chariot Solutions. “We hope to see this award continue to be given out for many years.”

To nominate a project, click here.

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Mobile App Forum and Bootcamp stars open gov, HTML5 and the future of mobile

City Councilman Bill Green gives the opening address at the 2011 Mobile Apps Forum and Bootcamp

Mobile strategy and penetration are already shaping government, business and content delivery, say a slew of presenters at the 2011 Mobile App Forum and Bootcamp held this afternoon at Temple University.

Organized by Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic in partnership with two Temple Fox School initiatives, the event was opened by at-large City Councilman Bill Green, who focused on his pet issue: IT-focused municipal government efficiencies. Interspersed with networking sessions in the cavernous, sunlit top-floor conference room of the Fox School’s Alter Hall, Green was followed by two panel discussions on the direction of mobile and related roundtables.

[Full Disclosure: Technically Philly was a media sponsor.]

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Emerging Technologies for Enterprise 2011: Mobile as lesson in past, future of web

The sold out 2011 Emerging Technology for the Enterprise conference will finish up later this afternoon, but not before mobile took its stage.

The conference, a locally-organized, two-day conference for high-level enterprise software development discussion and now in its sixth year, features tracks on various focuses, from infrastructure and languages to agility and frameworks. And, yes, mobile.

Last year, too, mobile was already a feature, but, says Tracey Welson-Rossman, a co-organizer of the event, the level of interest in mobile has intensified even faster than she expected. Welson-Rossman, who is the director of sales for Chariot Solutions, the Fort Washington consulting firm that organizes ETE, and a Philly Startup Leaders board member, says mobile’s growth has mirrored the success of the conference itself.

“When I talk to our panelists and speakers, they are sticking around to actually sit in on other sessions because most conferences don’t have the diversity that we’ve seen happen here,” she says, adding that presenters aren’t paid but are increasingly motivated by the reputation of ETE and those in attendance.

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Help Philly represent at SXSW 2011: a voter’s guide

As any techie knows, the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin is like Woodstock for the tech world and getting your own panel at the event is sure sign that you’ve “made it.”

Philly has been well-represented at the trend-setting event as the city even had its own session in 2010, led by the founders of Independents Hall.

However, SXSW panels don’t just happen overnight, they are subject to a six-month long process where the selection committee sifts though thousands of proposed panels to choose the lucky few that get time at the conference. The first part of that panel section process involves a “panel picker” where the community can vote on the panels they’d most like to see, and some local Philadelphians need your help to make it to the big stage next March.

After the jump, see the panels that have been submitted by locals and throw a vote their way to help Philly continue its strong presence in Austin for SXSW 2011. Oh, and you better hurry. Voting closes on the 27th at 1 p.m.

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Philly invades South by Southwest

Indy Hall founders Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMasi lead "How Geeks Grabbed Philadelphia by the Balls."

AUSTIN – In the Courtyard Rio Grande Hotel, just across the street from the Austin Convention Center, BarCamp Philly organizers Roz Duffy and Kelani Nichole walked up the escalator with a burlap sack and hustled down the hall.

“It’s our bag of balls,” said Duffy with a smile.

Culminating Philly’s strong presence here (TP has seen our share of Phillies caps and jerseys) was the Saturday session “How Geeks Grabbed Philadelphia by the Balls,” a panel led by Indy Hall co-founders Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMasi that aimed to help residents from other cities foster a tech community.

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Event Highlights for March 15-21, 2010

The big event this week isn’t in Philly at all. But Philadelphia has quite a presence in Austin, Texas, this week for South by Southwest, for sure. Our reporter Sean Blanda is hot on the trial, chasing down Philly’s representatives. He’ll follow-up with a report later this week.

That said, there’s some great opportunities here in Philadelphia, too. Join Microsoft’s Malvern branch for its CloudCamp unconference to discuss the growing cloud computing industry and Philly Startup Leaders hosts a fishbowl of City of Philadelphia’s Digital Philadelphia vision with city officials.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

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Your guide to Philly at SXSWi

So let’s just say you just (hypothetically) graduated from college and moved into new digs in the city. Then, let’s assume that you don’t (hypothetically) have the money to take a five day vacation to Austin, Texas and immerse yourself in the biggest tech conference of the year. Sure, that may be the story told by most of Technically Philly’s (hypothetical) staff, but we’d bet that not every reader is leaving us on a jet plane headed for SXSWi.

No worries. Technically Philly is here to give you the low down on all things Philly at the music/movie/tech festival that is South by Southwest. The “i” component of the festival, meaning “interactive,” is four days of panels, talks, parties and even karaoke. Plop down in your favorite chair, and read along about those with ties to the metro area who will make noise in Austin. It will be like you’re there. Sorta.

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