Are you a start up company and would you like to go to The Next Web 2008, but the 750 euros access is too much for you? The Dutch online twitter community hands you a chance to go. On Twitter the initiative for an online start-up pitch evolved.

The Next Web is a conference which is about the future of the web. That is why start-ups are very important. For example di 24 start-ups get the chance to speak on the big stage for five minutes. Also there is a ‘Company Area" where start-ups can present themselves in booths.

Off course not every start up in Netherlands can do this, but for start ups, it is certainly interesting to walk around on the Congress to facilitate contacts and ideas. Start ups however often have one big problem: money. And a visit to The Next Web site costs money. Certainly not excessive money, but money. And a start up thinks twice about every dime before spending it.

In a dialogue at Twitter Dutch Twitterazi Erwin Blom and Arne Hulstein came to the conclusion that there ‘something had to be done’. Blom, a big fan of the TV show "Dragons Den’ came up with a collection tight together with a contest.

If you like to support a start up and like to create the opportunity for startups to get an admission ticket you can donate money. If you are a startup and want to compete you need a video film of 3 minutes in which you pitch your startup. Video’s will be followed by a vote on who wins.

Meanwhile, the organization of The Next Web supports the initiative and already claimed they would double every euro collected and amongst others Dutch Cowboys and NetTraject donated. A great opportunity therefore for start ups.

So, want to help the start ups? Are you a start up and want to go? Take a look and comment on the weblog of Erwin Blom.

[lang_nl]Twitter mag dan in Nederland niet bij het ‘grote publiek’ erg hot zijn, het is wel een dienst waar de ene na de andere ‘mash-up’ voor verschijnt. Met een ‘mash-up’ wordt het samenvoegen van twee diensten bedoelt.

De nieuwste mash-up is er een van twee diensten die zeer veel gebruikt worden voor mash-ups: Google Maps en Twitter. Het onderwerp is deze keer de Amerikaans verkiezingen.

Hieronder zie je de Google Maps die weergeeft wat er in de VS op Twitter besproken wordt over Super Tuesday. Ook zijn Live Resultaten van de uitslagen te zien.

Kijk op Google Maps voor de volledige kaart. [/lang_nl][lang_en]Twitter may in Holland not be  ‘very hot’ with the general public, it is a service where one after another ‘mash-up’ appears. A ‘mash-up’ is the joining of two services.

The latest mash-up is one of two services which are very much used for mash-ups: Google Maps and Twitter. The subject this time is the US elections.

Here you see a Google Map which shows what is discussed on Twitter in the US discussed about Super Tuesday. Also Live Results can be seen.

Look at Google Maps for the full map. [/lang_en] Continue Reading »

Last night the new Dutch Cowboys website launched. The developers of Freshheads, along with DC programmer Bert Jan, led by Henk de Hooge, have completed a huge job. On Twitter you could follow the final steps off the proces, which was compelling. The website has gained a lot of potential. Continue Reading »

I Twitter. I often have to explain to customers and other relations what Twitter is. And that’s pretty tricky. It is not so very difficult to explain how Twitter works, but to explain exactly what it is and what its usefulness is, is more difficult.

At Twitter the intention is that you answer the question "What are you doing". As a result, you may only receive alerts as "at work", "at lunch" etcetera. That doesn’t seem like information you really need to know.

Although the service is used in this way by very many people, it is in practice often something else.I use Twitter in particular to communicate with others in the industry. I get interesting links, keep in touch with interesting people and get to know new interesting people. My network is growing because of Twitter. Therefore I do not use it is privately, but purely work-related.

You can use Twitter is in many ways, to me, these are the main advantages of Twitter:

• Contact with people in my industry
• Acquiring knowledge about the market
• Finding interesting links
• Sharing interesting information
• Branding

I think at this moment Twitter is a tool which is used primarily by the early adopters, not yet by the big crowds. Therefore I use it as an early adopter and to talk to these early adopters. As long as you know who and why you’re using it it’s a very useful tool.

Below you can see three movies about Twitter. The first is a news item on CBS News about Twitter, the second is a breakdown of Twitter and the third is a humorous film from Seesmic on a visit to the headquarters of Twitter.

Twitter at CBS

How to use Twitter

Seesmic Twitter