1-Dec-2010 - Hosted at Canvas Lounge, this soiree was a great event to meet people, drink some wine, eat some tasty nibblies, and see (and try really hard to hear) some pretty great products. Truthfully I spent most of the time socializing, so what follows are at best notelets on the booths that caught my eye.

Foodtree
A pretty cool idea - they figure out which restaurants source their food locally - something that is virtually impossible for consumers to find out otherwise. Locally sourced food should a lower energy footprint (unless, for example, it’s a hot house tomato) and supports local business. The number of listings is small right now, but growing, and if it catches on this could provide motivation for other restaurants to follow suit. I know I’ll take a peek at the list before picking my next dining experience (oh please let Vij’s be on the list... oh phew, it is!).

OpenCal
I had to check this online appointment system out, as I recently got asked for suggestions on almost exactly this. It’s a sharp-looking, affordable solution. My friend also requires payment tracking, so the fact that OpenCal is considering adding PayPal integration was good news.

Panty by Post
Actually I didn’t speak to anyone at this booth, but it did catch my eye and I liked the tagline “Make the Postman Blush” -- I think I got the gist of the business just fine - clever idea.

TaxiNow
With foul weather upon us and new alcohol limits for drivers, this must resonate with a lot of people. You know there is a cab out there! However it feels like the early bird will get the worm in this space, as I just heard another solution being promoted on the radio the other day. I’ll check it out and see how it goes!

The other products which I did not get to see were: ClinicBook; Geotoko; NodeFly; XKeyAMS; and AppGrower.

Suggested reading :)
Bootup’s event write-up
Event photos on Flickr

Tags: Bootup, Launch Party