We’re happy to announce Open Angel Forum Philadelphia will return this Fall on September 20th. If you’re interested in learning more, see Gabriel’s post for all the details.

Consider Hannibal Lecter – “If I help you, Clarice, it will be “turns” with us too. Quid pro quo. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case, though. About yourself. Quid pro quo. Yes or no?”

Quid pro quo or “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours”. It sounds harmless enough. Well last week, I received this unsolicited, spam email with a quid pro quo, link exchange proposition. The names have been blocked out to protect the guilty.

It’s funny, the site is no longer mine and it hasn’t been registered to me for years. None the less, I replied to ask if this violates Google’s Terms of Service. Surprisingly, I haven’t heard back yet.

I guess if I sent them my link, I’d end up in their web directory of “hand-selected” links. Maybe I should have because they have strict quality guidelines and do not link to websites with massive reciprocal link campaigns (only small or average campaigns).

It’s funny they offer me the option to unsubscribe from their spam but I never remember signing up to receive it.

Lucky Numbers: 30, 47, 18, 23, 31, 50

This is a good one to summarize the week. I went on a little road trip with some friends and meet some great people in DC and Baltimore.

Lucky Numbers: 2, 51, 55, 25, 31, 50

I decided to try a few of these out to see how they compared to standalone Twitter. I looked at TweetDeck, HootSuite, CoTweet ,and MediaFunnel (only the free versions of each).

TweetDeck – My biggest issue with it is that it’s an installed application. Also, there isn’t a way to assign a tweet to another user. I don’t need to do this personally but the other three services have that capability.

HootSuite – This is the clear winner. Two minor issues:
1) Seeing Messages, Mentions, or Retweets requires a dedicated stream. Not really a big deal because they can be put out of the way on a separate tab.
2) There is no easy way to get back to your own tweets.

CoTweet – It doesn’t cover as many social networks as TweetDeck or HootSuite. Also, it’s a single stream of information; however, it’s one click to see Messages, Mentions, or Retweets and you can click on saved searches easily too. If you’re moving from Twitter neither of these should be concerns. A big plus for CoTweet is its nifty sidebar to search for users and see their profiles.

MediaFunnel – Don’t waste your time.

Those are my two cents what are yours?

I thought this was appropriate coming off the heels of Open Angel Forum Philadelphia. Our six startups are obviously seeking funding and here’s to hoping they find it.

Are you an entrepreneur, investor, educator, student or business leader and seeking all the cool and interesting things happening in the Philadelphia area entrepreneurial community? Next Thursday, March 31, Philly Startup Leaders is hosting Entrepreneur Expo 2011 to showcase all the creativity and passion of Philadelphia’s entrepreneurial community.

If you are seeking something, look for it because it won’t find you.

Lucky Numbers: 51, 6, 22, 36, 46, 43

Fancy Hands provides a team of personal assistants ready to work for you so you can focus on what’s important. If you’re tired of playing phone tag trying to arrange a meeting or appointment, you need Fancy Hands STAT. You can have them take care of all these other tasks too.

RezScore is an analytics platform for your job search, starting with grading your resume. Go grade your resume right now, I’ll wait….How did you do? No matter what your grade, I’ll bet you want to improve it. It’s like golf, if better is possible, good is not enough. They provide the help to move you from a B+ to an A or completely re-write your resume.

Row27 is a mobile app platform for sports. If there is any doubt in your mind that sports is a big deal, think about all the NCAA basketball brackets filled out last week. Their clients are these high profile universities including Kansas University, President Obama’s pick to win the Final Four.

SpeakerWiki is a marketplace for keynote speakers. They add much needed transparency to the speaker booking business. It is a dream come true for event planners. Help finding a good speaker is only a few keystrokes away. If you know who you want, you can check their availability and book them without worrying if you’re dealing with a middle person or their actual representatives.

Sqoot is AdSense for deals. Their plug and play tool helps websites engage and monetize their readers with local deals. With Sqoot, websites no longer have to walk the tightrope between relevant content and monetizable content. It was great having this DreamIT company back in Philly.

We are hosting Open Angel Forum Philadelphia again this Fall so stay tuned.

Rather than writing about Open Angel Forum, I’m taking Jerry’s advice and I will look to the cookie.

Instead of a black and white cookie, I’m looking to a fortune cookie and today will mark the beginning of Fortune Friday.

Now, “Go take a rest you deserve it.”

Lucky Numbers: 35, 12, 41, 25, 33, 51

Ask nearly any tech entrepreneur, and that’s what they’ll tell you. It’s time-consuming and gruelling, a mess of gatekeepers and vagaries and relentless pitching. Investors tend to have the power in negotiations, and often entrepreneurs are forced to jump through needless hoops or even pay money in order to pitch their startups.

Created in 2009 by Jason McCabe Calacanis (founder of Weblogs, Inc. and Mahalo), the Open Angel Forum was designed to allow startup companies the chance to connect with potential investors for free. Each event puts 5 startups in front of a crowd of 20 or more angel investors, with 5 minutes to impress the room with clever new technology and business models. While some critics have mocked OAF for its small size, the proof is in the pudding: startups continue to get funded after every event, leaving both entrepreneurs and investors very satisfied.

If you’re considering raising money for your early stage company, here are 5 reasons you should consider applying to Open Angel Forum:

1. It’s Free

Unlike many other mass-pitching events where starving entrepreneurs are made to pay $50, $500, or even $5,000 to present, Open Angel Forum is 100% free for startups. It’s not a business, preying on desperate founders; it’s a platform for connecting technology-builders and technology-funders.

2. Hard-to-reach Investors Are Made Accessible

Rock-star investors like Kevin Rose, Mitch Kapor, and Mark Suster are swamped with inbound correspondence. It’s hard to get through to big-name angels simply because everybody wants their time and money. OAF connects them with great entrepreneurs who would never have otherwise been able to get in front of them. 

OAF isn’t just about big names, either. Organizers for each local event bring lesser-known, yet savvy, angels to the table. Each participant is hand-picked.

3. Entrepreneurs Are #1

Most, if not all, of the investors invited to OAF are former entrepreneurs themselves. By design, the event is as founder-friendly as possible. From the format to the atmosphere to the preparation given to each company before the forum, the end goal of the event is to get each company funded and off to do what it does best: build innovative products.

Dave Dupont, whose startup, TeamSnap, presented to the angel investors at a Colorado OAF event, refers to OAF as “the most valuable investment-oriented experience we have yet to be involved in”.  

4. No Bull

At OAF, it’s all about the demo. PowerPoints are outlawed, and startups are encouraged to throw their raising figures and valuations out at the beginning and the end of their pitch. Founders get 5 minutes to show off their product or prototype, and 5 minutes to answer questions. There’s no messing around, and those who want to dig deeper are welcome to connect after the forum ends.

A typical OAF event lasts for about 2 hours and is held at a local venue, such as Dogpatch Labs in New York City.

5. Food!

No Open Angel Forum is complete without free food. Each local forum chooses the fare that suits it, and after a quick meal, founders and investors get down to business. When the founders get up to speak, it’s common for them to do so with a beer in hand. A free beer.

It’s not just the startup companies who are stoked about Open Angel Forum. Investor Mark Solon says he likes that Calacanis has “set an example for angel organizations everywhere that it’s about the entrepreneur” when he created the program.

Next time you’re in the market for angel funding, consider applying to OAF.  Since each event only allows a few startups, you’d better have a well-thought-out application if you plan on competing for a spot. Once you’re in, though, be prepared for royal treatment.

Fundraising still takes time no matter how you go about it, but OAF helps finding the right people to invest in your company suck a little less. And at the very least, you get a free dinner!

1. What drove the adoption of social media at Wells Fargo and what is the strategy?
First, we listened very carefully to understand the types of conversations that were occurring, and then we considered how and when our participation would add value to the customer. We developed an approach that both allows direct participation in the community but also the ability to take any personal or account-specific conversations offline, to protect the customer’s privacy and security.

2. Is there a specific team dedicated to social media and is it to have one group focusing on it?
Yes, within Wells Fargo’s Enterprise Marketing group, under Experiential Marketing. It is very important to ensure a holistic strategy and implementation that unifies the Wells Fargo brand across social media/networking platforms.

3. What is the role of individual bank branches in the social media strategy?
Our social media programs offer us a unique way to connect our bank store team members with the customers they help every day: Through our monitoring program, we often come across a tweet about a customer’s positive experience with a specific team member/bank store, and we are able to share that feedback with the store team.

4. What guidelines do you have to determine how to respond to mentions?
We address varying topics, from mobile banking to history. We find topics where Wells Fargo can add unique value and perspective to the online conversation. The key questions we ask about topics we consider are: “Can we add unique value?” and “Will this improve the customer experience?” and “Does it help our customers succeed financially?”

Whether positive or negative, our goal is to reach out, acknowledge and thank our customers for expressing their experiences with Wells Fargo. For customer account or service issues, when appropriate, we refer customers to a secure customer service channel for assistance.

5. How do you measure the success of your social media programs?
We follow the results of our engagement by reading follow-up posts/comments written by the customer, as well as checking the results of their phone bank engagement if they were assisted in reaching customer service. We also seek to measure the overall sentiment of Wells Fargo as measured by consumer posts on social networks.

6. What is a recent social media program that worked well?
After the merger with Wachovia was announced in late 2008, we launched the Wells Fargo-Wachovia Blog in January 2009. Knowing that our customers were increasingly using blogs and social tools to communicate and hold conversations, we were able to create a resource for them to find the information they need, ask questions and even express concerns in a forum where we could be part of that conversation and provide appropriate and timely responses. We want to be where our customers are.

7. What mistakes have been made?
Not really a mistake, but we opted to use MySpace as the focus of our initial social network program – obviously we’ve since transitioned to Facebook and Twitter. In general, we’ve found that while there is always risk and challenges associated with a transparent and open engagement strategy, the benefits, in the form of customer service/experience and brand exposure, will consistently override the hic-cups along the way.

8. What are your biggest concerns around social media?
Given that social media is a public forum, we have to carefully consider our approach to maintain customer privacy and security. In cases where assistance requires personal information, we help the customer reach established, secure channels to answer their questions. Given that we have many service channels (phone, store, online, ATM), we need to ensure the customer service experience is of consistent, high quality.

9. What are your biggest opportunities around social media?
Continuing to build a cross-platform, cross-enterprise strategy that keeps our customers’ privacy and financial success at top of mind while still providing fresh content and relevant engagement.

10. How do you see your social media strategy evolving over the next few years?
To some degree we are all at the mercy of general social media trends. To predict our strategy a few years out would require us to predict what the next popular social network may be: something that we all wish we could do but in reality requires a wait and see approach. For now, we remain focused on developing social media programs that allow us to engage our customers, and potential customers, in a positive way that reflects our company’s overall vision: satisfying our customers’ financial needs and helping them succeed financially.

Those are my two cents what are yours?

Like Bank of America, there is no hint of social media on the Wells Fargo home page but the similarities end there. While Bank of America is only active on Twitter and YouTube, Wells Fargo’s social media strategy is very comprehensive. The Wells Fargo Blogs and Social Media page lists all of Wells Fargo’s social media initiatives.

As you can see Wells Fargo has each of the social media platforms covered multiple times. They have eight blogs, five Facebook pages, three Twitter accounts and three YouTube channels.

Wells Fargo even created an online virtual world called Stagecoach Island. Players explore the island and its hidden secrets, connect with friends and make new ones, and at the same time learn smart money management. It’s clearly a strategy to connect with the younger generation.

In my next post I will take a deeper dive into the bank’s social media strategy. Stayed tuned for my interview with Ed Terpening, Well Fargo’s Vice President of Social Media Strategy.

Those are my two cents what are yours?