NYConvergence ORIGINAL

The New York Tech Meetup took up residency last night in its new home, the Haft Auditorium at SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.  The presentations began a little late to give late attendees a chance to settle in and a number griped about the lack of wi-fi or cellular receptioni, but most people NYConvergence spoke with were glad to be out of the more cramped conditions of the IAC building's lobby.

The meetup began with the briefest of introductions, which included the unveiling of the new NY Tech Meetup Web site by Subtle Disruption, and then we were off.

The presentations were as follows:

• FourSquare: From one of the co-creators of Dodgeball, the mobile, social-networking service aims to improve upon that service by rewarding participants for going to certain venues and suggesting activities to their friends.
• Enjoysthin.gs: This Web site allows you to compare bookmarked images as well as connect with friends to discuss bookmarked items.
• Tigerbow: This servuce lets you send physical gifts to your friends via whatever account they have on a social network like Facebook.
• ProCompare: Use this service to get reviews on IT products from IT professionals and share your thoughts with other community members.

During a break at this point, MTV's Matthew Knell told us about the upcoming Social Media for Change (SM4C) event in NYC on April 3, a representative of the Learning Annex talked about their upcoming Pitch Fest for companies looking to secure venture capital, and NYSIA's Howard Greenstein informed us that the Social Media Club has an event coming up a the Roger Smith Hotel.

• Speaklike: This company's Web site allows you to access to pay-as-you go translating services for Web pages, e-mails, and even Twitter messages. 
• Kindling: Created by Arc90, the Web-based program is a platform for users to create, share, and vote on ideas. 
• Drop.io: This streaming service allows you to share information instantaneously via the Web through a browser interface. 

The final presentation was Professor Panos Ipeirotis from NYU talking about the EconoMining project which involves researching the other forces at work when consumers are deciding to order online.