Gist.

Each city has something that makes it unique and Seattle is no exception. Beyond coffee, music, and rain, we think the place we call home is great for startup companies and especially technology ones.  We believe this so much that we created the ‘Seattle Startup Recipe’ to highlight the key ingredients required to make a thriving startup scene and that make Seattle a special place.

Startups can’t happen without a few important ingredients, including innovative and inspired people living and working nearby each other; a community that values collaboration and cooperation; and a local government and population that support new businesses (large and small).

We’ve highlighted a few of the ingredients below. There are many other people and organizations to add to our list so please tell us who you would add in the comments!

Big Tech Companies: Microsoft, Expedia, and Amazon call the Seattle-area home and companies like Zynga, Salesforce.com, and Google have set up shop here too.  These companies support the community and bring smart people here from all over the world.

Angels: Geoff Entress, Andy Sack and Andy Liu are a few of the angel investors that provide early support to startups in the community.

Programs and resources: TechStars, TechCafe and Startup Weekend are a few of the programs in the area that provide a community to collaborate with other like minded individuals.

Local Press: We have local press that is dedicated to covering the startup community. TechFlash, GeekWire and Xconomy to name a few.

Venture Capital: Ignition Partners, Vulcan Capital and Madrona Venture Group are a few of the VCs that provide the capital to supercharge growth and success.

Service Providers: We’ve worked with several great service providers since we started and are always amazed at how capable and enjoyable to work with they all are. A few of those include Bill Bromfield of Fenwick & West, Mike Crill of Atlas Accelerator and Geir Hansen of Silicon Valley Bank.  Definitely check out Seattle 2.0 for a great list of service providers in the Seattle area.

Research Facilities: Last but not least we garnish this recipe with research organizations like the University of Washington and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  More smart people working to change the world!

So, who would you add?  What companies or organizations make the difference here in Seattle?  What does your Startup Recipe look like in your city or town?

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We were very fortunate to have Seth Godin visit Seattle on Friday and share his thinking with an intimate crowd downtown.  The tickets went fast and, if you were lucky enough to get one, the gathering definitely did not disappoint.  Starting with the song at the beginning (not Seth) to the quick and witty answers to questions from the crowd, Seth provided perspective and insight into how our connected world is changing how we work, think, and communicate.

While he didn’t come right out and say it, much of what he was talking about fit the new workstyle theme that we believe is defining the future of work.  From thinking about the difference between a job and work to knowing that whatever it is you are working on will get “blown up” due to innovation and ease of connection.  Jobs come and go but work combining both skills and passion transfers from project to project as you go through life.

I definitely recommend adding Seth’s blog to your daily reading (if it is not already there). Also, he posted pictures from the event here.  Be sure to check them out!

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This post was written by Robert Pease, former VP of Marketing at Gist and now marketing guy at RIM. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions, feedback, or if you just want to say hello – gist.com/robertpease. Be sure to check out my personal blog Reply To All or follow me on Twitter: @ReplyToAll.

We’ve been talking about the new workstyle and how work is evolving now for several months including laying out the ten characteristics that define it and four reasons why it’s mobile.  We’ve gotten so much great feedback and interest on the topic that we decided to create an infographic that provides a snapshot of what the new workstyle is all about along with a few interesting data points that support it.

Enjoy the image and please share it!

We would love you to try out Gist here.

To find out exactly what Gist does, click here.

You can follow Gist on Twitter here or join us on our Facebook fan page here.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed here or have the latest post delivered to your email inbox here.

This post was written by Robert Pease, former VP of Marketing at Gist and now marketing guy at RIM. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions, feedback, or if you just want to say hello – gist.com/robertpease. Be sure to check out my personal blog Reply To All or follow me on Twitter: @ReplyToAll.

When we launched Gist for BlackBerry® smartphones, our initial version supported the BlackBerry® Torch™ in the U.S.A. and Canada. We’re excited to let you know that we’ve added additional devices to our list and that you can now try Gist for BlackBerry on these other smartphones:

BlackBerry® Bold™: 9700, 9780, 9900, 9930

BlackBerry® Style™: 9670

BlackBerry Torch: 9800

BlackBerry® Tour™: 9630

Note: You’ll need to be running BlackBerry OS 6.0 or higher and have permissions to install applications on your device to use Gist for BlackBerry. If you’ve got a BlackBerry smartphone not listed on this page, search BlackBerry Support to see if your device supports OS 6.0.

You can check out Gist for BlackBerry here.

We put forth the concept of the New Workstyle at the beginning of the year and the ten characteristics we described created quite a bit of debate and discussion.  We fundamentally believe that the way we work is transforming and that high performance organizations will embrace these changes to further empower employees, realize the benefits of new innovation, and outpace their competition.

The first characteristic we included was being “mobile” and that this meant “always on and aware.”  This does not mean being a workaholic and failing at balance in your life as some of the comments reflected.  It’s quite the contrary actually.  Being mobile and being enabled with tools to share, communicate, and collaborate regardless of location unlocks new approaches to work and life.

We see four things driving this mobile workstyle:

1.  App marketplaces – where people can search, download, and run applications on their own without the need for IT support or training.  The applications available span work related tasks like time reporting, sales pipelines, and project management to non-work ones like games and photo sharing.  The line between these two categories continues to blur as apps thought of for fun translate into new and innovative ways to market, sell and support.  Most importantly, the technical aptitude of anyone who uses a smartphone and makes app choices goes up with each new app and each new experience.

2.  ”Screening” – interacting with information through various devices be that a phone, tablet, or laptop connected to a wireless network and accessing a multitude of cloud-based applications and content regardless of location or device. You can easily create a document with Google Apps on one device, share it with others, and then access and edit it on any device connected to the Internet all with proper versioning and access controls built in.

3.  Multiple communication channels – seamlessly switching between an email, a phone call, a text message, and a Facebook wall post creates a new dynamic in communication and the ability to share and reach people in your network.  The choice between both synchronous and asynchronous channels depending on the need and urgency opens up a new and more efficient approach to communication.

4.  A true on/off switch – while it may seem counter-intuitive and requires an explicit choice on the part of the individual, being mobile and fully enabled creates more freedom to work when and where you need to most.  News, information, updates, and content are always there and available so having the discipline to structure when and how you use them is essential.

What do you think?  Are there other drivers of the mobile workstyle?  How has your work evolved as you have become more mobile?

We would love you to try out Gist here.

To find out exactly what Gist does, click here.

You can follow Gist on Twitter here or join us on our Facebook fan page here.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed here or have the latest post delivered to your email inbox here.

This post was written by Robert Pease, former VP of Marketing at Gist and now marketing guy at RIM. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions, feedback, or if you just want to say hello – gist.com/robertpease. Be sure to check out my personal blog Reply To All or follow me on Twitter: @ReplyToAll.

We’re excited to share our newest Gist application – Gist for BlackBerry® smartphones. It brings rich business profiles, contact information, and social updates to the BlackBerry® Torch™ smartphone.

Gist for BlackBerry smartphones is the best way to learn more about your contacts right from an email or a calendar invitation – just “Get the Gist” from the BlackBerry menu and you’ll see contact information, status updates, and notes for that contact.

Simply highlight or open an email, click the BlackBerry button and select “Get the Gist” from the context menu, and see the complete social business profile for that contact. You can also open and search Gist for BlackBerry to find contacts not listed in an email or meeting invitation.

Here’s how it works:

Use Gist for BlackBerry smartphones to:

• Search and view complete business profiles for contacts across email, mobile, and social network accounts; and add contacts from your BlackBerry smartphone automatically.
• See your important contacts first, including easy access to contact info, photo, and social updates; share a link through email; or take a note to remember later.
• Use the “Get the Gist” context menu instantly to build a profile or get a quick update for any email recipient or person in a calendar invite.

Use Gist on your BlackBerry Torch and take all your contacts and their news and status updates with you wherever you go.  To get Gist for BlackBerry smartphones, visit BlackBerry App World™ (www.blackberry.com/appworld) or simply go to the download page.

Note: Gist for BlackBerry is initially available in the United States and Canada.

The Newest Version of Gist for Outlook

We know you’ve been waiting for Gist for Outlook, 64-bit version, and we’re happy to announce that it’s here!

Gist for Outlook takes all of your contacts, puts them in one place, and allows you to find them easily in Outlook. And because it works with your account at Gist.com, you get all of that information on the web and on your mobile too.

Whether you’re looking for a moment of insight right before you send the email; seeking the latest status update from a friend; or just like seeing the pictures of your friends in your Outlook, we can help! Gist gives you powerful search capabilities (by name and tag) and also makes it easier for you to manage traditional contact information like phone numbers (and newer contact information like social network handles and news, discovered for you automatically.)

Where to Get Gist for Outlook

You can download Gist for Outlook 2010 64-bit version here.

And if you’re using Outlook 2003, 2007, or 2010 32-bit version, you can also use Gist here.

Hello everyone – we’ve been building Gist now for a while and there are lots of powerful features that can help you know more about who you know – so let’s take a minute and help you power up and learn more about Gist.

These tips can help you prepare for a meeting, better organize your network, discover new information, and see what’s going on with your friends.

Get the 411 on Your Contacts

Did you know that you can make a printable briefing sheet for any of your contacts in Gist? Simply go to a contact detail and click “View Dossier” (hint: you can see what it looks like for you by viewing your Dossier link at http://gist.com/people/me).

Build a Gist Dossier automatically for any contact

You can show or hide the information on a Gist Dossier, including social network updates, news, calendar items, and people you know in common. Then, print it or save the file, and use it to prep for your next meeting or forward to a colleague.

Get Better at Remembering Who You Met This Week

We all meet a lot of people – either virtually through social networks or email – and also have meetings in our office and home calendars. Gist can help you get better at remembering who you met this week.

See which contacts were added this week to your network

These are examples of views of people Gist can help you remember – you can use these views to Tag people and add them to lists, or simply to see your strongest network connection among the people you know.

Find and Resolve Duplicate Contacts

If you’re managing contacts in Gist and bringing them in from multiple account sources, you’ll probably also need to learn how to find and resolve duplicate contacts. Fortunately, Gist can help you merge contacts.

Every day, if there are contacts that need merging or if Gist is not sure, Gist will prompt you with the option to merge contacts.

Gist suggests merges for your contacts

Who works at Company X?

Have you ever wondered whether you know people in your network who work at the same company? You can use the People at a Company widget on a company page to see if you know multiple people at one of the companies in your network.

If you see people who don’t work at the company any more, it’s easy to edit that contact – just click on his or her name, then click edit and you can add the name of their new company. If that company’s already in your network, Gist will suggest names from a drop-down list.

See What’s Going On with a Friend, Before You Send an Email

When you enter a friend’s email into Gmail or Outlook, if you’re using Gist for Chrome, Gist for Outlook, or Gist for Outlook, you’ll see your friend’s photo, latest news and updates, and contact information – before you send the email.

See latest updates for a friend before you send the email

You can use this opportunity to remember whether Pete likes mountain climbing or Shane plays guitar, if you’ve tagged those contacts with descriptive tags. Maybe you’d like to search your contacts across all of your accounts to find the Twitter contacts or to find the contacts you tagged as “hot prospects” or “conference X”.

These are 5 things you might not know about Gist – what did we miss that we should cover in future articles? Let us know how you use Gist and you might get a limited-edition Gist T-Shirt in the mail.

We were excited to host a dynamite webinar with some of the best leaders in business today. As promised, you can watch the entire 1 hour webinar free below! Listen and learn tips and strategies from Keith Ferrazzi, Craig Elias and T.A. McCann. Learn more about these 3 business leaders in their bios below. We hope you enjoy the video! Be sure to share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #workstyle.

KEITH FERRAZZI, the world’s foremost expert on relationship development, is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Who’s Got Your Back. His first book, Never Eat Alone, redefined professional networking today. As founder and chairman of the consulting, training, and research firm Ferrazzi Greenlight, Ferrazzi counsels the world’s top enterprises on how to dramatically accelerate the development of business relationships to drive sales, spark innovation, and create team cohesion. Ferrazzi is a thought leader and a philanthropist, putting his signature methodology to work to aid corporate citizenship and education. Ferrazzi has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Inc., and Fast Company, and has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, Larry King, and other national TV. Experience his complete playbook of mindsets, tactics, and strategies in the online community Relationship Masters Academy.

T.A. McCann was the founder and CEO of Seattle-based Gist (www.gist.com) – a next-generation social contact management solution for business professionals.  In February 2011 Research in Motion (RIM) acquired Gist. T.A. now serves as Vice President in the Research and Development department of RIM. Previously T.A. was an entrepreneur-in-residence at both Vulcan Capital and Polaris Venture Partners. Prior to Polaris, he held senior positions at Microsoft, leading product planning for the Exchange Server Group and developing Service Delivery Platforms focused on mobile applications and was the founder of Jump2Go, HelpShare and Soft Labour.  T.A. currently serves on the board of Zoopa and Wishpot. He is also an advisor/mentor for Techstars/Seattle, Founders Institute, h-farm and NWEN. In addition to his deep technology background, T.A. has won sailing’s America’s Cup and sailed around the world.  T.A. holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.  You can learn more about T.A. at gist.com/tamccann or @tamccann.

Craig Elias is the creator of Trigger Event Selling™ and author of the Bronze Medal winner of the Top Sales Books of 2010 “SHiFT!”. His relationship building skills combined with his knowledge of Trigger Events has resulted in a 20-year track record as a top sales performer, winning a $1,000,000 prize in a global billion dollar idea competition, having his last company chosen by Dow Jones as one of the 50 most promising companies in North America, and coverage on NBC, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.