SemanticWeb.com and parent company WebMediaBrands recently announced a contest to earn the title of  “Top Semantic Technology Start-Up.” Today, we have two exciting announcements to make about the contest.

Deadline Extension

We have had several requests to extend the deadline, and are announcing today that we will now accept applications for the contest until April 30, 2012. We also learned of some applicants who encountered technical problems when trying to submit in the early days of the contest. We have fixed the code that caused these problems, and encourage all who experienced difficulties to try again.

Judges

We are also pleased to announce the panel of judges that will be at SemTechBiz evaluating the companies. It’s a great group, and we’re looking forward to a lively afternoon!

Left to Right, they are: Read more

SemTechBiz is Less Than 2 Weeks Away

The Semantic Tech & Business Conference (SemTechBiz) is coming to San Francisco on June 3-7! Join us for case studies, innovative panels, tutorials, and keynotes that will provide you with practical advice, hands-on guidance, and breakthrough approaches to solving business problems with semantic technology. Passes go up $200 at the door. Sign up now and save !

SemanticWeb.com and parent company WebMediaBrands recently announced that a competition will be held at the upcoming Semantic Technology and Business Conference (SemTechBiz) in San Francisco to select the “Top Semantic Technology Start-Up.” The contest begins with an online application process. Out of that pool of applicants, ten companies will be selected to compete in person and on stage at SemTechBiz San Francisco. There is no charge to apply. The ten finalist companies will need to register one individual, but for already registered attendees, there is no additional fee.

Requirements

SemanticWeb.com is currently accepting entrants from now until April 23, 2012. Companies encouraged to apply are those who meet the following conditions:

1. have a demonstrable product (at least in “beta” stage) in the SemTech and or SemWeb space
2. have received no more than a Series A round of financing

Companies can be located anywhere but must have the financial means to attend SemTech 2012. Ten Finalist companies will be selected to compete in a “Pitch Slam” before a panel of expert judges at the Conference. These finalists will be listed in an article at SemanticWeb.com.

Read more

Summer can be a great time to learn something new, and SemanticWeb.com is always on the lookout for new ways of explaining the terms, techniques, standards, and technologies involved in the world of Semantic Web. We were thrilled, then, to see this much-needed executive briefing on Linked Data from our colleagues at 3 Round Stones:

Please share this video with anyone you think would benefit, leave a comment below, and check out some of these other resources:

• Webcasts on core semantic topics
• “Introduction To” articles
• Podcasts
• Elevator Pitches
• Our community-run Q&A platform – ask a Semantic Web expert!

 

We recently have given coverage to the new rNews standard from the IPTC, but two things today caught our eye:

First, from Beet.tv, a brief video from Mike Dunn, VP and CTO of Hearst Interactive. The video serves as an introduction to the value of rNews in the media industry, and does that well.  That said, I think it could also be used as an elevator pitch for publishing decision-makers who are considering implementing rNews, RDFa, or more generally, Semantic Technologies.  Mike indicates that Hearst is currently evaluating rNews.

The video can be seen here:

NOTE: Mike Dunn will be speaking at SemTech 2011, where there will also be a presentation on the rNews standard. Read more

A Quora user posed this challenge to the network: “How do you explain semantic web to a nine-year old child in one sentence?” The challenge was followed by a quote from Albert Einstein: “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”

Some of the best responses so far include, “A web where computers better understand the real meaning of the words we use to communicate with them.” “Hi Timmy, the web is like one giant big book written by a lot of people. And the semantic web is another book describing how the first book should be read.” And, “Semantic web is like the magic mirror in Shrek – you ask it, ‘Can I go to a pool?’ and it tells you, ‘Yes, you can, because the weather is good and the pool you like to go to is open.’”

We at Semantic Web recently offered up a challenge of our own: give us your best elevator pitch answering the question, “What is the Semantic Web?” We’ve received some great pitches so far (listed below) and we’re still accepting new pitches.

Sandro Hawke, W3C – for a general audience

David Wood, Talis – for journalistic research

Mark Montgomery, Kyield – for enterprise decision makers

Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister (not an official pitch) – for government and citizenry

Image: Courtesy Flickr/ ricardodiaz11

Last year, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave a 90-second elevator pitch for the Semantic Web.  Granted, it started about four minutes into a 32-minute long speech. This speech, given March 22, 2010, was long before our original challenge went out, but this discovery was simply too fun to not include it here. Obviously, it was not an official submission.

The Pitch

We are still collecting elevator pitches from our readers in an attempt to answer the question “What is the Semantic Web?” If you think you have a pitch in you, check out the original challenge.

Thanks to Bernadette Hyland, CEO of Talis, Inc., and regular participant in the SemanticLink podcasts for finding and sharing this!

David Wood of Talis, Inc., submitted this elevator pitch. I particularly like how he used an elevator both as setting and example (of a closed system).

We are collecting these from our readers in an attempt to answer the question “What is the Semantic Web?” If you think you have a pitch in you, check out the original challenge.

Thanks David!

Mark Montgomery, CEO and Founder of Kyield, sent us this elevtor pitch. We are collecting these from our readers in an attempt to answer the question “What is the Semantic Web?” If you think you have a pitch in you, check out the original challenge.

Thanks Mark!

Last week, SemanticWeb.com put out a challenge to our readership to answer the questrion, “What is the Semantic Web?” in the form of a 90-second elevator pitch.  Read the original challenge and watch the video here.

This week, we are pleased to feature this entry from Sandro Hawke of the World Wide Web Consortium.  It’s a good one, and Sandro gets extra points for actually shooting his video in an elevator (at MIT’s Stata Center, no less)! 

What is the Semantic Web? (for a general, non-technical audience)

Shortly after we published the initial request for pitches, Sandro reached out asking if a better question might not be, “What is the Semantic Web good for?” addressing the value proposition.  It’s a good point, and I expect that many pitches will answer this question as well.  Certainly, if you feel that’s a stronger angle, feel free to pitch accordingly.

As Sandro’s video shows, a pitch doesn’t have to be complicated.  In fact, it should not be.  It does not need to explain the many nuances of semantic technology.  The main goal of these pitches should be to grab a listener’s interest such that the listener says, “Tell me more.”

So, Semantic Web community, “Tell me more!” keep those pitches coming!

See how to submit your own pitch here.

–Eric Franzon
VP Community
SemanticWeb.com

People working in the Semantic Technology space are often asked for a clear, concise, easy to understand answer to “What is the Semantic Web?”  My friend and colleague Brian Sletten recently said to me, “If you ask 10 Semantic Tech experts to define Semantic Technology, you’ll get 11 different answers – one from each of the experts and the one that represents what the listener hears.”  Read more