David and I recently had the opportunity to attend Tribecon, the interactive business/tech conference that takes place as part of Voodoo Fest every year.

The conference consists of several ‘sessions’ of 10 minute speeches given by various members of the tech and startup community from all over the country. Since the running theme of Tribecon is online community building, most speakers chose to focus on ways for businesses to leverage social networks to gain traction or on startups that are using online technologies in creative ways.

One of my favorites from this year was NeighborGoods.net, an online community that allows users to share and borrow items which they have in their possession but do not necessarily use all that frequently. For example, while the average power drill only gets used about a total of 6 minutes in its lifetime (according to founder Micki Krimmel’s speech), allowing people who need drills to connect with people who have them (but are almost definitely not actively using them) saves a lot of time and eliminates a ton of waste.

Other notable speakers included Ben Huh, CEO of Pet Holdings Inc (the evil geniuses who bring you such sites as I Can Has Cheezburger, Fail Blog, and Engrish Funny); Ryan Graves, founder of Ubercab (a San Francisco startup aimed at providing a car service for the masses); and Baratunde Thurston, Web Editor for The Onion (among many other things).

Photo Courtesy of BenHuh.com

In addition to hosting the featured speakers, Tribecon serves as a de facto gathering place for the increasing number of tech entrepreneurs and startups that call New Orleans home. During our time at the conference we had the pleasure of meeting a number of people with really interesting ideas and thought we’d take this opportunity to fill you in on three of the New Orleans startups we think you should know about:

Liveset

Liveset is an online media production company and community that aims to bring live music to fans via HD video streaming. Along with producing the live stream of Tribecon this year, the company is currently working on its roster and securing content for its users. They intend to eventually develop a paid subscription service that will allow users exclusive access to live streams of concerts around the city, the opportunity to purchase archived shows, as well as connecting artists and fans. They’ve already shot footage of local indie artists MyNameIsJohnMichael, The Craft Brothers, and Andrew Duhon. Local bands with decent followings are well-advised to get in touch with these guys about working out content deals.

NOLAlicious

NOLAlicious is a free weekly newsletter that is sent out every Tuesday and gives readers five things to “do, see, and eat” around town every week. The publication is aimed at natives, recent, transplants and expats alike. The newsletter has been growing its subscription base steadily and will likely soon prove a valuable resource for local advertisers and event promoters. NOLAlicious is committed to the integrity of its suggestions to its readers so while they strictly curate suggestions for the newsletter (a very good thing), they have indicated that they are open to post a wider array of topics on their website which could eventually become a good resource for local acts looking to list their events (also a good thing).

InvadeNOLA

InvadeNOLA is a weekly online magazine that focuses on youth culture in the Greater New Orleans area. Covering everything from music and film to fashion and food, InvadeNOLA provides a refreshingly witty and hip breath of fresh air into the oft-laggardly New Orleans blog scene.

Tribecon was a great experience for members of the local startup community and is definitely a great place to connect with like-minded and creative individuals. I’m certainly looking forward to attending next year and encourage other locals interested in the world of tech, entrepreneurship, and community building to do the same.

-Patrick R

patrick@rabbitholeconsulting.com

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