In this week's print edition of Crain's Chicago Business, I write about a handful of Chicago companies making apps that help users connect in the real world.
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A new crop of local startups is aiming to help people leverage technology and their online networks to derive real-world benefits.
Buzzwords are being thrown around like Social Media 2.0 and social business, but now that these networks are maturing, people are looking to harness their power.
Industry veterans say there is a growing desire for more than just “ambient intimacy,” the feeling of being close to someone via status updates, tweets or blog posts.
“There are no technologies that can replace face-to-face communication,” says Brad Spirrison, managing editor of Chicago-based app-review company Appolicious Inc. “As a lot of us become consumed with new toys and devices, we want to do more to get out in the real world and see people physically.”
Increasingly, startups are using social, mobile and location-based technology to do just that.
Some notable Silicon Valley-based names include Gigwalk, which connects companies that need to fill small jobs (like taking photos for a mapping service) with people to do them.
Startups are creating tools not only to generate new introductions but also to help improve existing relationships, especially in the workplace.
“For busy professionals who are active users of smartphones and also active networkers by habit or nature, there will be this ongoing quest to make that process more efficient and effective,” says Raman Chadha, executive director and clinical professor of DePaul University's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. “So that's what's behind this: the attempt to solve that problem and meet that market pain that professionals have.”
Check out the link below for all of the company profiles and also Q&A with SceneTap co-founder Cole Harper and University of California at Irvine cultural anthropologist Mimi Ito.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/issue02?date=20120211
