Please welcome this week's guest blogger; Gerald Kimber White, Senior Managing Director at RF|Binder. Gerald was assigned to Uncharted Play during the MITX Up Hackathon, who recently developed the SOCCKET Ball. Learn more about this innovative product in this article from Co.EXIST! 

Last week, I was scheduled to participate in the latest MITX UP “hackathon” but when Wednesday evening rolled around and I ran through my mental “to do” list – preparing for two new business pitches, our agency’s annual meeting in New York, this week’s SXSWedu in Austin, etc. – part of me felt I should skip it and stay focused on my other obligations. As much as I love going to the hackathons, there was simply no way to get it all in. Fortunately, the selfish side of me that loves the hackathon experience overwhelmed the clock-watching side of me and I went to the Harvard Innovation Lab to meet another startup.

I was particularly looking forward to this hackathon since the startup I was assigned was Uncharted Play, a company that has developed a soccer ball that somehow manages to incorporate a power generator inside an almost perfectly standard size and weight ball. The generator converts the kinetic energy from play into electricity that can be stored to power an LED light (with plans to increase the output to be able to charge cell phones, water purifiers, etc.). The SOCCKET ball is designed for communities in developing countries for whom power supply is inconsistent or non-existent. Basically, SOCCKET combines two of my biggest passions – economic and social development and soccer – in a business model.

This might be some hush-hush, Web 3.0 kinda stuff, but I've heard "mobile devices" are the web's next frontier. Apparently, people are taking their telephones outside the house and using them to send electronic mail and access the World Wide Web! Alright - kidding - but let's face it, an enormous number of businesses just aren't leveraging the mobile web like they could be. Today, Dave chats with Bluetrain Mobile, a startup entirely focused on helping their customers create an engaging mobile experience for their brand. In addition to providing a holistic approach to nailing down mobile strategy, Bluetrain's Mobile Grader tool shows where even established mobile sites may be falling short.

Our MITX Innovation Award finalists are working hard every day to make an impact on the way we work and play. It’s incredibly inspiring to hear their stories and see their results. Many of them talk about the mentors, coaches and partners that have helped them along the way – allowing them to get where they are now and see where they are going next.

In fact, there are individuals in our community who wake up every day with the sole purpose of supporting this great community in exactly this way.  These people give so much of themselves – yet to them, it’s all in day’s work. They too are incredibly inspiring.

It's clear that the power of a marketing message is strengthened expotentially when you can leverage the collective voice of employees, partners, customers, and fans. So how, exactly, do you empower these people to share, how do you measure ROI once they DO share, and how do you know what channels are most efficient? In today's Sitdown, Dave sits down with Glenn Gaudet of GaggleAMP, a CIC-based startup that is attempting to solve all of the above. 

When it comes to social networking, both online and in-person, Dave Cutler has made quite a name for himself over the past year. By leveraging his website, Twitter, some favorable media coverage, and good old-fashioned hustle, Dave has carved out an enviable niche. That's why we're excited to announce that we'll be featuring Dave's Sitdowns With Startups on the MITX Blog. In the weeks and months ahead, you'll be getting the inside scoop on some of Boston's hottest startups and most focused founders.

Last night’s MassChallenge Awards Ceremony was a great celebration of entrepreneurship and our wonderful Boston startup community. In fact, MassChallenge itself is an amazing startup success story, with only two years under their belt John, Akhil and their team have created something incredible.

Amazing people, panels and parties - it’s hard to believe FutureM was just three weeks ago. I feel like I am only now recovered. It was such a great week!

Guest post by Karl Worth, CEO/Co-Founder of Apptegic. This was first posted here, but we loved it so much we had to share it with you.

We always like to take a moment to reflect and evaluate all that has happened over the past quarter.  For our evaluation, we use the following indicators:  Top Deals, Company Buzz Watch, and Job Trends.

Congratulations to Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Brightcove and 2010 inductee to the Innovation Hall of Fame!