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Category Archives: Events

Three startups representing Lebanon in the Web Summit in Dublin!

General stage 2

The Web Summit is a global gathering of the world’s leading thinkers and doers in technology. It hosts over tens of thousands of the brightest minds every year and allows people to network, meet with journalists and connect with potential investors. The Summit is without a doubt the most awaited event of the year by entrepreneurs and anyone with a great tech idea or business will benefit from attending in many ways.

Among the 10,000 other attendees arriving from the four corners of the world, the Arab world – despite all the political tensions reigning the region – was still represented by several startups coming from the Gulf, Middle East, and North Africa. From Lebanon, six startups attended the event of which three had a stand in the exhibition area.

Sociatag, eTobb, and Lebtivity, three Lebanon-based startups, who launched between 2011 and 2013, were selected among thousands of worldwide applicants to exhibit as part of the Summit’s Alpha program. This program identified and invited a limited number of incredible early stage startups to exhibit for free! These three companies, along with et3arraf, Maze Solutions and Seeqnce who independently attended the conference, all packed their bags for Dublin this October 2013 to showcase their products and meet some of today’s most renowned tech companies such as Evernote, Google, Facebook, Box & many more.

All had different expectations, but for the most part, this was new ground. Thus, the main goal was to explore.

The Summit was divided into many sections, stages, and workshops which included the following:

  • Main stage
  • Digital Marketing stage
  • Developers’ stage
  • The Cloud stage
  • The Library stage
  • The Pitching stages
  • Roundtables
  • Exhibitor areas
  • Numerous workshops
  • Speed networking sessions between entrepreneurs & investors
  • Media Events

 

Many side activities were organized around the Web Summit to allow for specific groups of people to get together and discuss their projects and ideas in a more informal fashion. Some of these events included the Leaders’ Lunch for female entrepreneurs, The Food Summit, and the Night Summit.

Benefits of the Web Summit for all startups

  • Networking
  • Exposure
  • Media and investor relations
  • Partnerships
  • Exploring a new city
  • Discuss challenges of other startups in different countries

 

The Web Summit opened new doors for these startups and placed them under an international radar. The benefits of such a gathering are numerous! “We encourage all entrepreneurs to go next year because there is no way they won’t get something out of it” said CEO of Sociatag, Wassim Hakim.

In Lebanon, the opportunities for startups are still limited. Although this is slowly changing with new funds being created to help grow these businesses, the motivation and culture of starting your own tech business is not widely grasped and supported by our society and government. “Entrepreneurs must get out there and seize every opportunity that presents itself in order to represent Lebanon and learn from other countries in order to make Lebanon a better place”, stated co-founder of Lebtivity, Randa Farah. Paul Saber, CEO of eTobb added “Our testimonial today of the Web Summit is the exact message we are trying to deliver to the Lebanese people; and that message is: Get moving, do something! Don’t wait for things to come to you because they won’t”.

Brief description of each of the three startups:

Sociatag

Sociatag is a platform that allows people to connect with the online community and social platforms via smart tags that can be swiped over sociatag boxes. The platform includes various features such as loyalty programs, detailed insights/statistics and a user friendly promotion management tool.

Lebtivity

Lebtivity is Lebanon’s Social Calendar for Events. It is a crowd-sourced platform that offers event organizers the opportunity to promote their events to the Lebanese online community for free. The website covers all events ranging from sports & outdoors, cultural, artistic, musical, and culinary events to conferences, exhibitions and activities for everyone including families and youth. Check out more on www.lebtivity.com

eTobb

eTobb is an online medical Q&A platform that connects patients and doctors around the world. Our mission is to improve access to healthcare and empower people with medical know-how to help them make more informed decisions. People can read health Q&As and browse health topics, such as pregnancy and men’s health.

Lebanese Mix of Entrepreneurs

Lebanese Entrepreneurs in the Web Summit

Lebtivity

Lebtivity Team stand in the Web Summit

Sociatag 2

Sociatag

Sociatag Team stand in the Web Summit

Etobb

eTobb Team in a business networking event during

General stage 1

General stage 3

Panel 1

The Web Summit 2013 – Dublin, Ireland -  Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/sets/

For more information please contact:

Sociatag at the Web Summit

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Sociatag is proudly taking part of the Web Summit 2013 in Dublin. The Web Summit is the biggest tech conference in the world. It is definitely the most exciting tech event of the 2013 calendar. What started back in 2010 as a one day conference with 500 attendants has now grown enormously to become one of the largest conferences worldwide. It is expected to attract more than 10,000 people this October. The key to its success has been the ability of the organizers to attract first-rate US entrepreneurs to speak and hang out at the Summit and the accompanying Founders conference.  Speakers from Google, Facebook, PayPal, Yahoo, and LinkedIn are also expected. The main Summit itself will take place on 30-31 October 2013. Founder Paddy Cosgrave announced that this year’s event will hold workshops, pitching sessions and keynotes.

The Web Summit has selected the best 500 startups from all over the world to exhibit their startups at the Summit. It is the place where exciting startups mingle with investors, large companies learn from industry leaders, and where disruptive businesses exhibit their latest innovations.

The hardest working startup:

Building a startup is hard. It’s a roller coaster of highs and lows. But without the passion and dedication of incredible teams pursuing dreams and building products around the world, innovation would stop. “So here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. We’re looking for the World’s Hardest Working Startup. We’re not looking for the world’s best product. We’re looking for a team so crazy, so dedicated, so passionate that you feel they deserve to be treated like kings at the Summit in Dublin.

Web Summit Dublin has also organized a competition called “World’s Hardest Working Startup” and is looking for the hardest working, dedicated and passionate Startup team.  It’s about the team that keeps the startup rolling through the path of success.  Sociatag is competing with the world’s most successful startups in order to become one of the top 50 startups in the world.  The top 50 ALPHA Startups with the most votes will be judged by a panel, which will determine their Top 5 Hardest Working Startups and pick the overall winner.

To vote for sociatag please go to this link and hit like that appears on the pop-up:

http://www.websummit.net/competitions/hardest-working-startup/#6-1711

vote-websummit

Launching of the Coworking 961 Space

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Coworking +961 is an open coworking space for freelancers and entrepreneurs, providing them with the ideal interactive platform to work efficiently and productively on their projects.

On July 2, new space Co-Working 961 was launched in Beirut alongside the LBA Pitching Event, which brought together the Lebanese Angel investors community alongside guest Angels from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai to attend between 7-9 startup pitches. The event was organized by the Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program and MIT Enterprise Forum – Pan Arab Region.

Guests swiped their cards over Sociatag boxes and enjoyed taking pictures with other attendees, while checking in and liking the latest Coworking 961 page posts.

For more information check Coworking 961 page

Launching of Geek Express Marvel Exhibition

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Super heroes’ fans gathered at the launch of Geek Express’s Marvel Exhibition. With more than 400 official, original and rare items (collectibles, posters, comics) of your favorite characters: Hulk, Spiderman, Ironman… The first 50 visitors won tickets to the Iron-Man 3 movie.

Sociatag was present with three boxes: Like, Check-in and Photo booth. The photo booth was customized. After swiping the card at the box, users choose which super hero they want to take a photo with. The fifteen super heroes list showed on the screen, and via a joystick users made their choice and pressed a button to confirm their choice. And the pictures are awesome!

The exhibition is running for two weeks, and Sociatag’s boxes will be there. You can check more information on Geek Express page.

Beirut’s Social Media Awards

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The first edition of The Social Media Awards, Beirut, was held on April 29, 2013. The ceremony was a huge success, awarding the Lebanese bloggers, tweeps and companies.

Sociatag released an application for both Android and IOS users. Attendees were able to register and connect their social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare); then swipe their tag to check-in at the event, like and follow the Social Media Awards page, and take a picture that was directly uploaded on the page. Want some numbers? A total of 65 registrations at the event; 56 photos taken and uploaded; and 125 social activities on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. You can find the ceremony’s activity in details here.

Congratulation to all the winner from Sociatag. Here’s the list:

Blog of the year: BlogBaladi

Best News Blog: Beirut Spring

Best Business Blog: Wamda

Best Lifestyle Blog: Mich Café

Best Food Blog: No Garlic No Onions

Best Fashion Blog: PlushBeirut

Best Technology Blog: Microsoftoholic

Best Personal Blog: Gino’s Blog

Best Media Personality on Social Media: Zaven 

Best Non-Arabic Vocal Artist on Social Media: Anthony Touma

Best Band on Social Media: Mashrou3 Leila

Most Creative Instagram Account: LiveLoveBeirut

Best Facebook Campaign/Page: Lebanese Memes

Best Integrated Campaign: Cheyef 7alak

Most Engaging Youtube Channel: Cheyef 7alak

Most Engaging Youtube Video: Beirut Duty Free Flash Mob

Most Engaging Person on Twitter: Anis Tabet

Most Engaging Celebrity on Twitter: Haifa Wehbe

Most Engaging Media Personality on Twitter: Neshan

Most Engaging Politician/Diplomat on Twitter: Ziad Baroud

Best Business on Twitter: Roadster Diner

Best NGO/Organization on Twitter: Donner Sang Compter

Best Pub/Bar on Social Media: Feb30

Best Restaurant: Roadster Diner

Best Hotel on Social Media: Phoenicia

Best Fashion Brand on Social Media: Vero Moda ME

Best Food & Beverage Brand on Social Media: Almaza

Best Commercial District on Social Media: ABC

Best NGO/Community on Social Media: Lebanese Memes

Best Start-up on Social Media: Tickle My Brain

Best Design for a Social Media Campaign: Almaza

Best Facebook Application: Novo

And the Best SMA Social Campaigning Magnet: L’Armoire De Lana

Looking forward to next year’s Social Media Awards, which will be of more success. Thank you Online Collaborative for such a great event. And a huge thank you for Phoenicia for hosting the event. Everyone who participated in organizing this event, also deserves a thank you note.

Geek Express Opening Event

geekexpress-2012

 

Geek Express is a space for all the new happenings in technology and electronics where you can enjoy creative DIY experiences.

As part of its opening event, visitors were able to Like and Checkin at the venue. A Geeky photobooth was also set for everyone to take pictures and upload them directly on the fan page.

Sociatag released two new products at this event, the new wireless version of the boxes with a complete new design, and the new Sociatag cookies. Sociatag Cookies are NFC based tags that can be linked easily to ones Facebook or Twitter profile.

For more information, check out the Geek Expresss site and our photogallery.

STC – Reach Gitex 2012

stc-gitex-2012

 

Saudi Telecommunications Company – STC participation in the Gitex Technology Week in Dubai from October 14 to October 18 2012.
Like and Photobooths boxes will be added to add a nice social flavor to their stand.

For more info check STC and Gitex Technology Week on Facebook.

Sandance 2012, Sponsored by Toyota

sandance-2012

 

The award-winning Sandance returns to the beach at Atlantis for a brand new season of five star music festivals for everybody under the sun from 2pm-2am.
The event is sponsored by Toyota Dubai – Make Some Noise!

For more info check Sandance and Toyota UAE on Facebook.

Startup Weekend Beirut 2012

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Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs.
Like, Checkin and Photobooth boxes allowed participants to share their experience with their friends on the spot!

For more info check Startup Weekend Beirut on Facebook.

Making Beirut v1.0

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A show featuring flying copters, weird robots, surfaces turned interactive, social tags and many more oddities.
The show consists of an open studio and is the first showcase of some of Lebanon’s up and coming hardware hackers, and a sneak peak into the upcoming Beirut hackerspace ahead. Join us for a unique experience that will show you a side of Beirut design you’ve never seen, a community hacking its way into the city as they want to see it.

For more info check http://www.karajbeirut.org.