Two high-profile, Web-based Philadelphia startups each announced more services to their products recently.

Center City-based, event-planning social network i-Meet.com announced today its partnership with PlannerNet, a service aimed at helping its nearly 10,000 member organizations to find, rate and contract for project-based labor.

That move follows a host of new add-ons to PhindMe Mobile, a mobile Web direct-to-consumer advertising company based at Drexel University’s Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship, which came earlier this month, according to a company press release.

The new service offered by i-Meet, the brainchild of 17th and Oregon’s own John Pino, is said to identify professional meeting and event skills that are available worldwide, helping to match planner experience and projects for event organizers. It’s a move Pino hinted at during an interview with Technically Philly in May.

“In this challenging, economic environment, companies are becoming more inclined to staff their events on a project by project basis,” Pino says in a company press release. “By connecting our worldwide social network to PlannerNet, we’re… delivering qualified talent”

PhindMe’s new features are more varied, ranging from native smartphone applications to Twitter functionality.

The service will be able to publish a client’s mobile Web site as a native app for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android operating systems, a release from CEO Chuck Sacco read. Now a company’s existing blog or any other RSS feed can be easily integrated for mobile users. PhindMe additionally boasted the addition of Twitter-powered mobile pages, featuring custom Twitter feeds and remote mobile page editing. The site also announced it would now accept international payments.

If an interview we had with Sacco from April is any indication, these new features aren’t what are on his mind.

“Our future is less about cool new features and more about ensuring we have the most efficient ways to distribute our products,” Sacco told us. “Hopefully you’ll see some new distribution deals for us where we get our products into the hands of some big players and become known as the new standard for the mobile web.”

In a restricted budget season, you have to make your case for survival.

Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners program has earned the state $3.50 for every $1 invested, according to an independent study by the Pennsylvania Economy League for the years between 2002 and 2006, as cited in a Morning Call Op-ed.

In 25 years, the program’s Southeastern Pennsylvania branch — based at the Naval Yard in South Philadelphia – has provided more than $130 million to grow more than 1,600 regional enterprises, but still, lingering in the state Senate is a bill that would cut 60 percent of the body that funds the statewide BFTP program.

“This is an extremely challenging year for the state budget, and difficult decisions must be made,” wrote R. Chadwick Paul Jr., the president and CEO of the Northeastern Pa. arm of BFTP, in the Op-ed in the Call. “But decreasing funding for Ben Franklin would reduce Pennsylvania job creation and job retention, and result in a net revenue loss for the commonwealth.”

Innovation groups westward have taken up the cause, too.

Startup Pittsburgh is calling for entrepreneurs to lobby their legislators in Harrisburg, as is the Pittsburgh Technology Council. In addition to the ‘burgh and Philly, BFTP covers the Lehigh Valley from Bethlehem and the Pennsylvania T from the safe confines of State College.

“Since 1983, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania alone has helped companies create 13,931 jobs and helped them retain 20,772 existing jobs. These are highly paid, sustainable jobs,” Paul also wrote. “Ben Franklin boosted the Pennsylvania gross state product by $9.3 billion.”

The deadline for the state budget looms at the month’s end; it has to be passed by July 1. No budget has passed on time since Gov. Ed Rendell took office in 2003. He recently warned state workers they will stop being paid if the budget fight goes late, again. In a particularly tight fiscal year, that fight is particularly heated, so no matter the importance of innovation, BFTP is, like most other groups, on the chopping block.

Does every group that receives state money have to take cutbacks in this economy, or is it foolish to think to slash any money from BFTP which is said to make the state a profit? Have you seen Philadelphia groups or organizations take a stand on this issue?

H/T Philly Tech News

They’re going to incubate profitable good works.

That’s much the angle of GoodCompany Ventures, which opened its Philadelphia Naval Yard Business Center offices with a ribbon-cutting ceremony highlighted by appearances from Mayor Michael Nutter and Chuck Lacy, a former president of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, yesterday.

All the startups they take in will be for-profit and looking to make a difference or two.

Yesterday, the incubator was also welcoming its inaugural 2009 class of “social entrepreneurs,” including the following: Cyrus-XP, which focuses on advancing the management and delivery of healthcare; CalendarFly, a single source scheduling solution for families (for a test drive, use “student for username and password), and VolunteerBIG.com, a philanthropic social network that was gunning for grant money earlier this year.

GoodCompany aims to provide guidance and support to those for-profit startups that want to tackle large, unmet social needs. Like others, the incubator will offer those accepted training, mentoring, administrative and other pro-bono services. The new effort is co-founded by Resources for Human Development, a social finance firm and Murex Investments, an equity fund backed by leading financial institutions — both of which are based (barely) in Tioga — in addition to other business support.

At yesterday’s event, Lacy, the former Ben & Jerry’s president who is now president of the Vermont-based social capital firm Barred Rock Fund, addressed the attendees, as did Stephen Goodman, a partner at law firm Morgan Lewis, according to a press release from the incubator.

GoodCompany is sponsored by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, the Center City love child of the city and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce that promotes economic developing in town, Trellist Marketing, the Wilmington, Del. Web marketer and the Wharton School of Business.

John Pino loves launching companies and loves Philadelphia.

So where else would you expect him to launch what he says just might be the next big professional networking service?

In November, Pino founded and self-funded i-Meet.com, which utilizes social-networking features to connect like-minded people in their efforts to organize, plan and promote events. The South Philadelphia-native, who grew up near 17th and Oregon Avenue in St. Monica’s Parish, didn’t want his tech startup based anywhere else but Center City, which he says is on its way to being the next great corridor of innovation.

His “strong launch team” all learned the tech-business game in Philly.

“The impetus,” for the launch Pino says, was a “screaming need for a worldwide network in the meeting and event industry, and we decided we would make it happen. Especially when we figured out how to put a business overlay over the social aspects of the community.”

Now i-Meet has more than 7,000 members from 100 countries worldwide, Pino says, and, though he wouldn’t disclose specific revenue figures, the company has a real monetization strategy, including premium options.

We didn’t mention that we caught the social networker on Facebook, but he did mention how he’s going to make bank, why we don’t need another social network and that his parents were not part of organized crime.

Transcript of interview was edited for length and clarity.

1. How are you going to make money?
   Our revenues are generated in three ways: media offerings, lead generation fees and white label sites for those that want it. [We also have a] marketplace approach, connecting buyers and sellers in our space.
2. Why do we need another social network?
   We don’t, at least not in the traditional sense. i-Meet is an industry-specific social network. It’s actually a professional and social network for people who plan meetings and events.
3. Why should people go to and use i-Meet?
   If you have any connection whatsoever to planning meetings or events, even a supplier that delivers products or services in this segment, you can connect, collaborate and communicate with a growing number of like-minded people. Networking, business opportunities, lead generation, career and work opportunities — all are at i-Meet, and it’s focused on this industry.
4. Give us two South Philly stereotypes: one you fill and one you don’t.
   Growing up, you just made sure you were part of the culture, you know, hanging on corners. It identified you and made you part of something special — I can identify with that one. A stereotype that I don’t fit — my parents were not part of the Mafia.
5. What’s the latest? What is coming soon? What should we look for?
   The latest: rolling out our proprietary RFI Engine, allowing planners to connect with, meet, and request information from 80,000 suppliers around the world. Coming soon: more robust group and communication tools, enhanced searching and targeting tools. Look for: our skills marketplace, where planners and organizations can contract for project work within our growing network of qualified individuals.
6. What is the earliest lesson in business you learned and still use?
   My very first boss was fanatical about dealing with client problems immediately: facing people, looking them in the eye and doing whatever you could to make things right. Don’t wait, and never ignore problems. He never passed off critical comments as insignificant. That is something I have always valued, and try to stay true to it today.
7. Why is i-Meet Technically Philly?
   I like this city and have had great success here. The labor base is strong, great educational institutions and easy access to the rest of the world. I was born and raised in South Philly, and there is nothing like this city. I’ve started other businesses here, and grew others to national prominence — I want to ride that!
8. Have you seen the Philly tech scene grow?
   Yes, I have. I started a company called StarCite in 1999, which has become the world leader in on-demand meeting and event services, and it’s here in Philly. It’s a good place for start-ups, with a strong community and venture help is available.

Every Friday, Technically Philly brings an interview with a leader or innovator in Philadelphia’s technology community. See others here.

We reported on the University of Delaware professor’s installation with near-excruciating detail earlier this month in our Shop Talk series last week.

Pigford’s installation is a trippy experiment that documents, translates and transmits activity in the street outside P’unk Avenue’s office near 9th and Federal streets as sound.

A camera records sound and video of happenings in the intersection. A computer extracts information from the recorded data and outputs it into a droning, fluctuating melody. Then, the re-processed sound then gets synced to a projection of the video recording.

“It’s constantly changing, constantly flowing, which I think is a very positive human experience.” — Ashley John Pigford on his sound installation.

Be sure to check out the live stream—which is quite hypnotizing—and find out how it all works in our coverage.

Ashley John Pigford is currently showing his Active Intersection sound installation at the space, an electro-organic experience that translates a busy intersection into an audio/visual sense frenzy.

A camera records sound and video happening on the street. A computer extracts information from the recorded data and outputs it into a droning, fluctuating melody. All of the re-processed sound than gets synced to a projection of the video recording.

“Consider it taking real life as data, translating it, and putting it back out to real life,” Pigford said.

It’s trippy. We know.

An Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware, Pigford teaches about the creative process and advises students in areas of new media. He said he is inspired by translating common experiences into things more significant. Exposing the beauty of the every day, he says. “Turning the practical into the poetic.”

When Pigford was asked by P’unk Ave to use their front window along Passayunk Avenue as his canvas, he became interested in the activity that happens in the intersection in front of the Web development studio. He wondered how he could get passersby to experience the situation in a different way through his own translation.

Walk past P’unk Avenue’s home near 9th and Federal streets in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of South Philadelphia and find out how Pigford did just that.

A shot captured by the installation's web cam shows two police cars entering the intersection.

He said he’s always been interested in sound. It’s a medium and a phenomenon that doesn’t sacrifice itself for our eyes—it penetrates more deeply, he said. He decided to try to translate the sound constantly cycling in the intersection.

The installation is powered by Max/MSP, a graphical development environment for music and multimedia applications that allows for the manipulation of digital audio signals in real-time.

“It deals a lot with sensors and outputs [sound data] to motors and interactive installations, stuff like that.”

The software takes data fluctuations that exist in his video—the contrast, the movement, the color palate—and applies them to a base melody—the words “Passayunk Avenue” taken letter by letter, with each letter transposed to a musical note based on its position in the alphabet.

So, “P” transcribes to a “G” note. And as the G-note drones, activity being recorded by the video camera facing the intersection is converted into data that effects the modulation of that tone.

The more people and cars passing by the intersection, the higher the envelope fluctuation. If a pigeon walks slowly across the street, it sees less fluctuation.

Pigford's Max/MSP application shows frequency modulations caused by the police cars appearing on video.

“You’re going to hear the modulation of two frequencies, and your ear is going to make up what is happening to those waves, literally,” Pigford said.

Meanwhile, live audio samples being recorded by the camera play over top of the fluctuating melody.

The audio is discreet, something in the realm of Brian Eno, he said. Listening to it, it bears a resemblance to an orchestral soundtrack. Moody, frightening, and ethereal—when the tone fluctuates, it can cause chills.

And that’s only half of it. As the audio twists your brain, video of the intersection is projected on a thin sheet in front of the window.

“When you look at the storefront you will see an image of the intersection. If you walk up to it, you will see yourself actually projected into the window,” Pigford said.

He had trouble figuring out how to make the installation available to people. He knew he’d have to convince his potential audience to take the time to allow themselves to experience what he was trying to convey.

“This piece is not like a traditional painting where you say, ‘OK, I get it,’ and walk away. It’s not a two-second MTV news flash,” he said.

For now, he’s broadcasting the audio with a short-range FM transmitter. He hopes to have streaming audio and video of the installation online this week. The installation should run for another month.

“There’s these variances that come along that you don’t expect. Sometimes the frequency modulation awakens you, and then you’ll hear these layers of sonic experience that tell you what’s going on. It might make you turn and look at the intersection,” he said.

“It’s constantly changing, constantly flowing, which I think is a very positive human experience.”

Every Wednesday, Shop Talk shows you what goes into a tech product, organization or business in the Philadelphia region. See others here.

Like other media, comic books have had to deal with the paradigm shift of the Web. Comic book artists that were previously limited to just ink on paper, now can use a wide variety of technologies to show the world their work. Just like the Internet has given independent musicians an alternative to record labels, the independent comic book artist can reach audiences like never before.

Tucked away in South Philly are two members of the city’s booming comic book scene, John Zito and Tony Trovarello who are riding the new wave of comic distribution. The two have been using the Web to publish Black Cherry Bombshells, a comic about a post-apocalyptic world where all of the men have been turned into zombies leaving the women to fend for themselves.

What sounds like a description of last week’s South by Southwest festival, is actually a entertaining read full of everything a comic fan for ask for: “gratuitous” violence, zombies and women who could take you in a bar fight. Technically Philly sat down with John and Tony to talk about the city’s comic book scene, the Web’s effect on comic books, and who played Lynne Abraham in their Ed Rendell musical.

Who are you guys and what are your roles on the Black Cherry Bombshells?

Tony: I’m Tony Trov, and he’s Johnny Zito, South Philly residence. Together we write the Black Cherry Bombshells.

John: The Bombshells is a Web comic on DC’s digital imprint, Zuda. You can read it for free at Black Cherry Bombshells. The comic is about a world in which all the men have been turned into flesh eating zombies and women band together in ultra violent gangs to survive in post apocalyptic Las Vegas. The BlackCherry Bombshells are an up and coming gang of bootleggers. Regina is their leader. Megan, the ex-magician, is their newest recruit. There’s lots of twists and turns along the way.

Is it available in paper form? Or only online?

Tony: It will be available as a collected grapgic novel next holloween-ish.

So, for now, strictly Internet distribution. What do you guys think are the advantages and disadvantages to that?

John: The Internet is the future. Magazine and newspapers are shutting down everyday. But I’m on CNN.com like a fiend.

Tony: Also, floppy comics are dying. Embrace the Web.

John: I think we are part of a new model of distribution: find an audience online and collectors will follow you to Borders.

Tony: The iPhone comic apps are awesome too.

I’ll admit, usually when I read comics I stole them from my older brother. Reading yours was the first time I read one online.

Tony: Exactly but you probably saw the Dark Knight. Franchise!

John: So the Internet becomes R&D for something bigger. The freedom and smaller overhead allows for experimentation.

You alluded before that newspapers and magazines are getting hammered by the Web. Do you think comics are in the same boat?

John: Comics, like usual, are ahead of the curve. DC is adapting to the Web, and other publishers are following. The editorial cartoons are all syndicating online too.

Tony: But one will never fully replace the other. Bands still print vinyl records while releasing mp3s.

John: All of these things will coexist. And thanks to Amazon, iTunes and eBay you can get the Watchmen as a hardback book, Web comic, DVD motion comic, several different cuts of DVD, and I’m sure there’s a novelization around. Franchise.

Is that what you guys plan down the road?

John: We should be so lucky.

So, to change gears, how is the comic scene in Philadelphia?

John: Booming. There’s a thriving cartoonist scene. Lots of art and indie projects. The Philly Cartoonists Society is full of talented sequential artists. There’s always events too.

How are you guys and other comics using the Internet for promotion?

John: We’re on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter (Tony|John). We’re always looking to make new friends. It’s great to meet people with similar interests. Social Networking has a wide reach and makes it possible for those people to get in touch.

Tony: But most people know us from our hit show: “Ed Rendell: The Musical”

John: I played Lynne Abraham.

And finally, What makes you Technically Philly?

John: You mean some historical factoid you woudln’t know unless you lived here?

No, I mean, what are your ties to the area? Although an historical factoid would be appretiated.

Tony: We’re townies. Born and raised, and both went to Temple U.

John: I’m from East Passyunk Ave. Trov is from the other side of Snyder.

Tony: And I’m listening to Motown Philly as I type this.

John: And uh, an historical factoid?

I know you have one, don’t hold out.

John: Poe wrote the first dectective story EVER while living in Philly. Murders at The Rouge Morgue. Take that Baltimore.

Nice, you win.

John: Philly wins.

Every Friday, Technically Philly brings an interview with a leader or innovator in Philadelphia’s technology community. See others here.