Twiistup 4 Special Showcase

(Posting on behalf of Elisa Wiefel, Director of Communications at USC Stevens Institute for Innovation)

Hi Twiistup-ers,

We wanted to drop you a line and invite you to come by the Innovation at USC poolside cabana at Twiistup 4, hosted by the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation ( http://stevens.usc.edu ). It’s going to be jam-packed with recent start-ups that have spun out of USC – start-ups that are poised to change the game in their industry.

Project:Possibility ( http://www.projectpossibility.org ) – Come meet Ely Lerner, Stanley Lam and Elias Sayfi – a computer programmer, business major and software engineer committed to inspiring a community of people with disabilities and software developers to work together to make a difference by inventing software that will unlock new areas of life for the disabled community. We are in the business of giving everyone access to experiencing all that technology today has to offer. The Project:Possibility display will showcase the cutting edge of accessible technology, including the Word Predictor, a software project that analyzed all the text on Wikipedia to predict your next word as you type and CommunityCaptioner, a beta project we're working on that will eventually overlay community-driven closed captioning on any site with online video content, such as YouTube.com. Look forward to seeing these projects and more at Twiistup 4!

Orgoo ( http://www.orgoo.com ) – USC undergrad business student Sean Rad and CS PHD student Shahzad Tiwana had a vision for organizing all your communication accounts into a single location. What they invented was a sophisticated, yet simple application that integrates all of your emails accounts, IM accounts, video chatting, SMS, and more in one place online, accessible from any web browser or cell phone. Born Orgoo Inc., the company is now a 21 employee operation out of Santa Monica, and is led by none other than former InfoSpace Cofounder Michael Kantor. Meet the team and see Orgoo in action at Twiistup 4.

MatchYard ( http://apps.facebook.com/matchyard/ ) – Currently in beta, we’d love for you to check out MatchYard -- a first-of-its-kind Facebook application developed by the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation to make it easy for people with innovative projects find talented partners. MatchYard helps skilled individuals discover and connect with exciting and interesting opportunities. MatchYard is a totally flexible tool for all kinds of innovators – from artists and animators, to entrepreneurs and engineers. You can customize and expand your profile however you want. Whether that project is a start-up, an animated film, or even a non-profit, MatchYard can help you find the right team to bring your ideas to life.

Meet Kristi! USC is actively seeking local entrepreneurs to get involved with university spin-outs. If you are an entrepreneur looking to get involved with a USC start-up, stop by the booth and introduce yourself to Kristi!

Come and see the Innovation at USC cabana at Twiistup 4! The USC Stevens Institute For Innovation team is a motley crew of inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, thinkers, do-ers, risk-takers, adventure-lunch eaters, and all-around-geeks who live, sleep, and breathe innovation. And nothing would make us happier than meeting you!

See you there!
Elisa

Elisa Wiefel
Director of Communications
USC Stevens Institute for Innovation
University of Southern California