Twiistup Announces Showoff Finalists for Southern California’s Premier Tech Event

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twiistup, Southern California’s signature event connecting professionals from the worlds of technology, media and entertainment, today revealed the 11 companies that made the cut to demonstrate their products and services at Twiistup 4.

“We had a huge increase in the amount of submissions following our successful Twiistup 3 event. The quality and quantity of the organizations that applied exceeded our expectations,” said Twiistup Founder Mike Macadaan. “Keeping with Twiistup tradition, we were going to select ten local start-ups. Due to the overwhelming interest, we expanded the list of featured companies to 11, including seven of Southern California’s best and brightest and four ‘crashers’ from Texas, Vancouver and the Bay Area.”

More than 100 companies applied for the opportunity to present their products to Twiistup’s panel of esteemed judges. Criteria focused on six core strengths: business model; experience of the executive team; technological advantages and innovation; sector focus; funding status; and competitive environment. The showoff finalists cover a broad range of technology’s hottest sectors and industries, including advertising, media, music, social networking and video. One of the showoffs will be chosen ‘Best of Event Showoff’ by popular vote.

The selected finalists are:

Big Stage
www.bigstage.com
South Pasadena, CA
Big Stage is a media company whose breakthrough technology allows users to easily create and integrate a life-like 3D avatar of themselves into everything from famous movie scenes, TV shows and video games, to music videos, short video clips, virtual worlds, still images, user-generated content, instant messages, emails, social networks and more – instantly.

BookRenter
www.bookrenter.com
San Jose, CA
BookRenter.com is the first online book rental service. BookRenter.com replaces traditional bookstore sales with online book rentals for students at schools throughout the nation.

Compulsion
compulsion.tv
Venice, CA
Compulsion is a simple, easy to use tool that makes video clickable. The clicks become links that turn the video into an entire interactive universe of an individual’s design. Users can offer or sell those links for click and shop, gossip, trivia, news, music, more video or anything imaginable.

LOUD3R
www.loud3r.com
Los Angeles, CA
The LOUD3R Enthusiast Network is made up of in-depth, topic-oriented Web sites that are designed for the enthusiast and the curious who want to quickly find the best, richest content about a specific topic.

Minggl
www.minggl.com
Austin, TX
Minggl is a social interaction manager. The Minggl toolbar makes it easy to manage information, communication and navigation across social networks.

Musicshake
www.musicshake.com
Los Angeles, CA
Musicshake, Inc. is the world’s first online UGM (User Generated Music) creation service that provides music composing solutions aimed at the general public (a.k.a. music dummies) without previous musical knowledge or expertise.

Phonevite
www.phonevite.com
San Jose, CA
Phonevite™ is the new, fun and simple way to send announcements and reminders over the phone, in the user’s own voice.

Seethroo
seethroo.us
Los Angeles, CA
Seethroo is a behavioral-targeting technology designed for social networks that specializes in user-generated content.

Strutta
www.strutta.com
Vancouver, BC
From grassroots scrappers to all star pros, Strutta brings players together from around the world in the spirit of true competition.

Tools To Life
www.toolstolife.com
Santa Monica, CA
Tools To Life is the world’s first free online self-help social network with real programs and community-driven support networks.

Twiddla
www.twiddla.com
Los Angeles, CA
Twiddla is a free, real-time online collaboration tool that offers simplicity and accessibility. It doesn’t require plug-ins, installs or downloads, and users don’t have to work around complex firewalls or advanced scheduling.

Twiistup 4 will be held at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., at 7:00pm on July 17, 2008. Tickets are on sale now at www.twiistup.com/getin.

Twiistup 4 sponsors include Adisn, AOL Developer Network, USC Stevens Institute of Innovation, Rubicon Project, ThisNext, Userplane, Mail Room Fund, Chi.mp, Heavybag Media, Qtask and MediaTemple.

A limited amount of passes are available for established media and bloggers. Media who would like to be considered for a complimentary ticket should email twiistup@lewispr.com.

About Twiistup

Twiistup connects people from technology, media and entertainment. Our events feature several startups chosen to “show off” their products and services to influential bloggers, fellow tech-heads, investors, the media and those interested in learning about what’s hot in tech. Unlike traditional networking events, Twiistup mixes it up with tunes, video, bites, beverages, swag and the unexpected.

Event partners include Etchstar, Mashable, TechZulu, bub.blicio.us, Girls InTech, Webware and Stickam.com. More information can be found at www.twiistup.com.