Evite fails on the year’s biggest party night
Update: It’s past 9pm Pacific time, meaning that it’s now New Year’s Day on the East Coast … and Evite is still down. I think it’s safe to say that this isn’t planned maintenance, or if it is, it went horribly awry.
No one cool uses Evite anymore. You know this. I know this. Auren Hoffman, chief executive of search startup RapLeaf and an investor in competitor Socializr, wrote a column for us two years ago… Continue Reading
Martha smiles on event manager Pingg, leads $2.8M round
Martha Stewart, cultural icon of event planning that she is, has given Pingg — maker of software for invitation and event management — her seal of approval, and contributed to a $2.8 million first round of funding via her media network Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO).
The transaction allows Pingg to run content from Martha’s other digital properties on its website and gives MSLO the right to provide Pingg’s unique event tools on MarthaStewart.com. In addition,… Continue Reading
Roundup: E-fight, Voki avatars, young founders, Kokua, Imeem and more
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Evite vs. Socializr continued — The bad blood between Jonathan Abrams, founder of Friendster and now founder of online event service Socializr, and the lawyers at Evite, is worse than we realized. The bitterness started during the Friendster days, and worsened when Evite threatened to sue Socializr, saying the start-up had copied Evite’s templates and styles. Abrams now responds with a diatribe, saying Evite is a hypocrite and a bully. We’ve requested comment from… Continue Reading
Evite threatens to sue Socializr for copyright infringement
Ticketmaster, owner of the popular invitation service Evite, has threatened to sue Socializr for copyright infringement, saying the company’s service looks strikingly and confusingly similar to Evite’s.
In a letter sent April 3, Ticketmaster’s law firm, Quinn Emanuel, said two invitation design templates offered by San Francisco start-up Socializr were exact copies of Evite’s, and another design is very similar. See letter here. The letter also said Socializr’s invitation event creation page, design galleries and… Continue Reading
Socializr, for planning events online
Socializr, a new San Francisco-based company that wants to help you plan events online, opens to the public today.
It is owned by Jonathan Abrams, the founder of the early social networking site, Friendster. When Friendster emerged four years ago, it was cutting-edge — creating enormous buzz in what is now a booming industry. Friendster badly fumbled its opportunity, though, losing its lead to MySpace and Facebook.
Now Abrams wants to make a comeback. We’ve just… Continue Reading
Renkoo launches event service — in time to schedule holiday cocktails
Renkoo, a Redwood City start-up that has worked in secrecy for a year on a more interactive version of Evite’s event service, has launched.
Evite is the big player in this industry. Renkoo pitches itself as “Evite done right,” seeking to incorporate Web 2.0 features. It has been testing its product with a select group of users for months. Several other start-ups are in the invitation/event management race, including the trio in San Francisco: Skobee, Socializr… Continue Reading