LucidMedia Launches Auditing Service

Lucid Media, of Reston, VA, announced a free tool for advertisers today. To quote the press release, here is what this tool service does:

The new service from LucidMedia lets agencies audit campaigns using 14,000 contextual categories in both English and Spanish, filter for objectionable content, and even classify media by type including blogs, enthusiast sites, and social networks. Agencies can now take control of their campaigns and deliver on the promise of brand stewardship inherent in their relationships with advertisers.

• See the press release here.
• See the Lucid Media site here.

Social and Startup Rockstars DC

The Startup Rockstars #7 is coming up on November 5th.

The event is from 6 to 8:30 with presentations beginning at 6:30. It takes place at:
Affinity Lab
2451 18th St NW # 2
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 518-6181

The presenters have not yet been announced but you may see event details here.

TidalTV Raises Funding

TidalTV, a Maryland company, raised funding. Potomac Techwire reported that TidalTV raised a portion of the desired funding and filed with the SEC.

TidalTV was founded by Scott Ferber who was a co-founder of Advertising.com which eventually sold to AOL. See TidalTV here.

K12 starts a Virtual School in Virginia

K12 Inc (NYSE:LRN), of Herndon, VA, announced it has started a program for students in Kindergarten through eighth grade. They also have programs in the District of Columbia and 24 other states. From their site:

As a program of Carroll County Public Schools, the Virginia Virtual Academy uses the K¹² curriculum to offer Virginia students in grades K-8 an exceptional learning experience. With individualized learning approaches, the Virginia Virtual Academy and K¹² provide the tools kids need to succeed—in school and beyond.

I guess this is a hybrid of home schooling and public schooling (in person).

Thoughts on whether this is a good idea? Guess it does not matter as they are in 24 states, just curious as it seems to be debated quite a bit.

• See K12

Squarespace Coupon Code

Try a Squarespace trial which is free and easy to sign up, best to see what they have before you buy. That is what BeltwayStartups is all about. Getting off the ground quickly. As we typically applaud companies for focusing on their core business here is a way to do just that. Squarespace is a great new way to get a site up and running, so is Godaddy. Not only are they fast but extremely professional both allow you to customize your site as needed.

Compare These Prices

Deal 1 – $38 a year for GoDaddy – Coupon Code “YES” <-- Click This Link

Deal 2 – $144 a year for Squarespace ! ? ! ?

Squarespace Hosting
They are both much more than hosting companies. They realize that the days of simply providing disk space on a server are gone. Much more is needed as companies and users alike need to get up and running fast. But it is not only speed but the ability to make changes fast and keep up with the latest technology. You want to be able to tie into the lastest technologies, you also want to be able to make the site your own and be customized. They provide it all with a simple interface. Most importantly they help you get up and running fast.

It is rare these days that as more people are going with common site themes that you see something unique. In other words if everyone uses a standard blog or site design then how do you stand out? And is it possible to stand out if you use a generic service that gives everyone access to the same standard themes? It is if they are like Squarespace and provide the ability to make each template unique and fit or needs. You get the ability to make it what you want and what you need. That is key to be able and make your own unique site.

Social Networks
Unlike others, Squarespace does not try to keep you from using other sites. That is a good feature. With their social integration you can be up and running quickly. They allow you to aggregate data from across your social networks without needing any third party scripts. Being able to pull your content in from other sites or push your content is key. You can no longer assume your site will be a destination. People will not just show up. And quite honestly the big sites like Facebook will have a lot of people expecting to find your content there. So you better have a presence everywhere and assure that your content has a way of finding itself onto the large social networks. This way your audience will continue to be your audience, it is just that they want to access the content on their terms. With this hosting you can be assured that will be the case.

Starting a Business in Fairfax County Seminar

Fairfax County Economic Development Authority is putting on a seminar entitled Entrepreneurship 101: Starting a Business in Fairfax County. They will cover the following and probably more:

• Business start-up basics (licenses and permits)
• DBA workforce service and training programs
• SBA financing and resources
• SDB, MDE and 8(a) certification

Address and time, however see the link above for more information:
8:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m. at FCEDA headquarters, 8300 Boone Boulevard, Suite 450, Vienna (Tysons Corner), Virginia 22182

Startup2Startup Event Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the Startup2Startup group is having a panel discussion in DC. You can obtain tickets to the Event Here.

The event is named Startup2Startup: Technology & Entrepreneurship in the Nation’s Capitol. You can read more on the event page, the speakers are Dave McClure, Mark Walsh, Matt Jacobson and Errol Arkilic.

NVTC Steve Forbes Event Was Excellent

The NVTC Titans Series – Steve Forbes was excellent. Be sure to bookmark the NVTC events page for upcoming events. Steve Forbes was excellent and gave a great talk on the state of the economy.

New Internet Messaging Application from Flutterstep

Flutterstep, of Washington, DC, announced a new internet messaging application. As a member you can start and participate in conversations where each user chooses their favorite type of messaging such as email, text and other mobile messaging platforms. They will be releasing an API next.

See the press release here

SBNation.com Transformed

SBNation, of Washington, DC, reformats their site. They have 212 sports communities and have had over 20 million comments/contributions on their site.

Here is an excerpt of their two main features:

First, we’re introducing an innovative new editorial device called a StoryStream. StoryStreams are designed to harness the vast flow of information on the web and empower fans with the most relevant links and narrative for all the national sports stories that matter…….

Second is the “From Our Editors” section where our staff will be giving their quick takes on the sports news day. Consider it our microblog.

Investors in SBNation include Comcast Interactive Capital, Accel Partners, and Allen & Company.

See the press release here
Hear it in their own words here