Good morning, All,

First thing’s first: We are planning a SOS barbeque for those of you who will be in town over the July 4th holiday weekend. Come join us for beer, burgers (yes, there will be tequila as well) a dip in the pool – and feel free to bring friends. RSVP: http://bit.ly/kIgxae

Before you take off for the long holiday weekend, remember: Entrepreneurs Roundtable36 is June 29^th and you could win up to 50 roundtrip tickets on American Airlines for your company.  For more information and to RSVP: http://er36.eventbrite.com/

Our next Find A Cofounder is Tuesday, July 12^th and it’ll be under the stars. Yes, it’s summer’s first big outdoor party at a 4000 square foot terrace overlooking the Hudson. Come find a cofounder for your startup. Network with fellow entrepreneurs and investors. Enjoy the views and a cold brew at sunset. And it’s free to entrepreneurs and developers and an EW, SOS and ER co-event. If you’d like to sponsor, contact us. RSVP: http://findacofounder2011.eventbrite.com/

A few weeks ago, someone posed the following question to a NY-based tech listserv:  What’s the difference between an incubator and an accelerator? There was no clear answer given as, well, we’re not sure that there really is a clear definition of either, at least, not in this industry. We even turned to quora and sure enough… http://b.qr.ae/kDao3T Accelerators offer cash, mentors, infrastructure – details vary from accelerator to accelerator. According to Erik Starck, cofounder of startup garage, Sweden, incubators focus on infrastructure; accelerators on getting things done. What we would call co-labs – collaborative workplaces, such as General Assembly, have come to be called incubators. Maybe because small startups turn to them for affordable office space and being exposed to other startups as well as whomever else happens to wander into the space. Mark Birch blogged a list of incubators and accelerators in New York City – he, too, makes the distinction between accelerators and co-working spaces and we thank him for that – but not between incubators and accelerators. The mystery continues and any clarification you all can offer would be welcomed. In the meantime, Mark Birch’s list: http://bit.ly/hYeUO7 And we won’t even get into foundries and garages.

However you define it, and whatever terms you use, cities and countries are and have been jumping into the space. In Finland, there’s Aalto Venture Garage, a co-working space and seed accelerator that provides free space for hackers and hosts a network of the most experienced startup entrepreneurs who help the startups during the Startup Sauna and Summer of Startups programs. Teams from any city or country in the Nordics and Baltics may attend the Startup Sauna (deadline just passed and we did tweet it) and winning teams spend six months in Silicon Valley. More information here: http://aaltovg.com/ For more information on what’s going on in Finland, and on some of the more promising startups in that part of the world (besides Angry Birds): http://tnw.co/kWegtM

Nashville is also starting to come into its own, with the Nashville Entrepreneurs Center  (http://bit.ly/fMZW8d), colab (http://nashville.colabusa.com/) which promotes coworking, but seek to take it to the next level with a broad network of dynamic business individuals, and its Jumpstart Foundry http://bit.ly/akvGcu For more information on what’s happening – and not yet happening – in Music City: http://tnw.co/itVs6o

New York City is also becoming more active on this front. We now have our first Chief Digital Officer, Rachel Sterne, whose primary task is to assess city government’s digital strategy. She and her team spent the first 90 days compiling a report, and the result is the Road Map for the Digital City, a 60-page dossier on the city’s digital reach, what the team plans to achieve and how to get there, including hosting a nyc.gov hackathon geared toward making nyc.gov more accessible and navigable. No information on the dates yet. We looked, and it’s supposedly some time this summer at GA, which is a coworking space, not an incubator. NYCEDC has quite a few entrepreneurial initiatives going, including providing affordable workspaces for entrepreneurs and startups at Hive at 55 and Varick Street Incubator and more coming in the Bronx and Brooklyn. It also seems the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment will create a digital media incubator complete with a media events and conference center. How they define it fully and precisely what the city plans to bring to the table has yet to be announced or seen. Full story is here: How New York City is Going Digital in 2011 http://on.mash.to/miDH3f

The City of London is also planning its own tech initiatives, and we hope to have more information to share with you in next week’s newsletter on that and hopefully Ireland as well. Stay tuned; stay cool. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

Speaking of accelerator/incubator: DreamIt Philly applications now being accepted. Deadline July 8th. Apply at: http://bit.ly/ecieVT. and yes, it is an accelerator. DreamIt is also hosting a Happy Hour on June 27th here in NYC. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the program and to find out the real deal from people who have been there and done that. RSVP: http://dreamit.ticketleap.com/dreamit-happy-hour-nyc/

NYC/LA Show Us Your Shorts! Two Coasts, One Awesome Networking/Screening event – June 30^th!
SCENEPR is pairing up with FirstGlance Film Festival & Showbiz Store & Cafe to produce a unique event for filmmakers, where they can screen their short film at two networking events on the same night on different coasts!
Come socialize with fellow film industry folk and experience a night of curated short films! One lucky attendee will walk away with one copy of Showbiz Budgeting! ($400 Value!)
NYC: Showbiz Store & Cafe, 19 West 21st Street, NY, NY 10010
LOS ANGELES: Showbiz Store & Cafe, 500 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Pre-Registration is REQUIRED. Limited to the first 75 registered guests.
For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/shortz

New York Venture Summit: Register by June 29th and save 40% The 11th annual summit will showcase 50 of the hottest early stage and emerging growth Technology, Life Sciences and Clean-tech innovators.If you are a startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 2011 New York Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture capitalists, Angel investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, The 2011 New York Venture Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors. For more information and early bird registration ($100 discount with your “sos” code: http://www.youngstartup.com/newyork2011/overview.php To apply to be a Top Innovator: iwant2present@youngstartup.com

Hacking Education: A Contest for Developers and Data Crunchers. Ten years ago, a teacher in the Bronx launched DonorsChoose.org. Since then, more than 165,000 teachers at 43,000 public schools have posted over 300,000 classroom project requests, inspiring $80,000,000 in giving from 400,000 donors. We’ve opened up that data, and invite you to make discoveries and build apps that improve education in America. We’ve got a list of suggestions to help get you thinking. We hope to build a community of developers and data crunchers, so we’re launching a contest! Deadline is June 30th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education

Startup Chile: tentative deadline July 4th. Start-Up Chile is a program of the Chilean Government, created by the Ministry of Economy, executed by CORFO via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract foreign, high-potential entrepreneurs to come to Chile to bootstrap their businesses with the end goal of converting Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America.  Start-Up Chile provides access to a mentors network, attendance to weekly networking events, and the support of the Program which offers all the necessary contacts to find the money, the talent, the expertise, the visibility or other support that you may need. The Program assigns a $40k grant per project ($20,000,000 CLP), a 1-year resident visa to every founding team member provided on the application, a temporary workspace (desk & wifi). And you surrender zero equity in your company. The program is conducted in English, and entrepreneurs worldwide are encouraged to apply. For more information: www.startupchile.org

Charles Barkley wants to give your startup $25,000. Deadline July 18^th to win ‘Chuck Bucks.’ Priceless, isn’t it, but true! The National Basketball Association Hall of Fame power forward also known as “Sir Charles” announced on his website a contest called “Earn Chuck’s Bucks.” He’s calling for the best business-plan pitches and says he’ll give the winner $25,000 to help fund that business. Here’s how it works: Any U.S. resident age 18 or older can submit his or her business-plan pitch. The entry period ends at 11:59 p.m. on July 18. Finalist entries will be posted on CharlesBarkley.com where fans will be encouraged to vote for their favorite pitch. A winner will be selected in mid-September based on the total number of fan votes and other criteria, which include the pitch’s creativity, originality, feasibility and “energy and enthusiasm.” This definitely isn’t your typical business plan contest, and it might seem a little strange coming from a former NBA All-Star with no previous business experience. Barkley admits in his video announcing the contest that he feels that it’s his job to “help people become successful.” Barkley bites from the video (on his website):
• Keep it short.The official rules call for entries to be 3,900 characters or less. “Send me the CliffsNotes. I don’t want to be readin’ through a bunch of crap.”
• Make it realistic. “Don’t be sendin’ me no bull,” Barkley says. In other words, make sure the idea isn’t ‘turrible’ (sic).”
For more information and to apply: http://charlesbarkley.com/

The Daily Candy 2nd Annual Start Small, Go Big Contest: Deadline August 5th. Here’s your chance to launch your bazillion dollar idea. One winner from each of our categories (fashion, beauty, food and drink, and home) will win a trip to New York City, a DailyCandy write-up, and a day at the DailyCandy Academy, where the likes of Isaac Mizrahi, Marcus Samuelsson, and Rebecca Minkoff will mentor the begenius out of you. Just think, you have nothing to lose but your day job. For rules, details, and an entry form: http://bit.ly/aR8Yk5

Heads up, college students! Moverandchangers.com is all set to launch its third nationwide challenge to uncover the country’s next young entrepreneurs who want to make it big with their innovative ideas for a new business. The contest is open to 16-28 year old college students to develop and produce a compelling business proposal. Ideas must be original, feasible, scalable and practical. More information on the site, which features a video with Dennis Crowley, who, just for the record, wouldn’t qualify for the contest now, nor would he when he first started foursquare.  Deadline is October. Information is here: http://bit.ly/EvBLZ

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For you edification this week:

From Forbes, Top 100 Websites for Women. Something for everyone female. The list is long – and alphabetical: http://onforb.es/mh904t

Ten Things to Include in your Startup Pitch Presentation: Yes, most of us know about the 10-slide deck, but Mashable offers a clear breakdown – and a few good points to remember at the end: http://mashable.com/2011/06/24/startup-pitch-presentation/

Bill Gurley Explains How Twitter Will Rule the World and Why Groupon Won’t. The driving force at Benchmark Capital discusses mobile, Android, and the IPO market, among other things. Question: with twitter and online such a huge source of news, would does the riddle ‘what’s black and white and read all over’ even mean anything anymore? Just asking. Bill Gurley interview is here: http://read.bi/mxm1rj.

A New Billionaire’s 10 Rules for Success. This time it’s GoDaddy and here’s the list from Big Daddy Bob Parsons himself: http://on.wsj.com/isQ6ov

Mitch Kapor on the Value of the NewMe Accelerator and What Kapor Capital Looks For In Startups http://bit.ly/lfvZwx

Are Facebook and Twitter Now Too Mainstream to be Cool? Everyone loves to get behind the hot young startups – and isn’t Zuckerberg still under 30? Turntable.fm and Instagram are the new hot young things – we fall in and out of love so quickly, don’t we? –  but don’t count out FB yet – and Twitter really isn’t all that mainstream. Yet: http://tnw.co/kAmyGe

For those of you who posted this week, or tried to and don’t see your posting here: yes, we did have some technical issues, so your post might have evaporated into the ozone and our apologies, so please do repost your wants, needs, desires and news. All seems to be back on track now so that said, we leave you with a little chuckle which some of you might have missed. Yes, it’s Here Comes Another Bubble and it’s funny: http://youtu.be/I6IQ_FOCE6I Oh, and speaking of industry buzzwords, phrase of the moment: move the needle. That’s it from us – have a wonderful 4th, see you on the 5th and in the meantime, help is on the way…