Israel's accelerator ecosystem is continuing to expand with DreamIt Ventures' launch event at Afeka College tonight in Tel Aviv. Register here.

I had a chance to meet Managing Director, Kerry Rupp at the Landmark Ventures Dealmakers Conference where she shared her insights on the program, its expansion into Israel, and their partnership with Capital Factory in Austin to help entrepreneurs find co-founders at SXSW 2012.  Click here to learn more about the the entrepreneur speed-dating program during SXSW.

Mitchell Golner, Managing Partner with Dream It Ventures Israel will be running the program here in Tel Aviv.  Related coverage here on TechCrunch.

I am going to be in Israel from October 25th to November 3rd, and looking to meet with candidate clients in fabless semiconductors, security, enterprise software, cloud, green and water technologies.

I am also open to meeting with Israeli VCs who have portfolio companies.  

If you can bring your companies together in a conference room at your offices, I am open to putting on a free 45 minute session on the basics of PR, the application of the social web for communications strategy, and content development strategies.

I'll also be helping Jeff Pulver with the #140Conf Tel Aviv which takes place on November 2.  This is going to be a very special event.  Please join us by registering here.

Startups Welcomed:)

If you're a startup, and even if you don't have an immediate budget for PR, I am still open to meeting you if you we can meet at The Diaghilev Hotel in Tel Aviv which is at 56 Mazeh at Rothchild.  I might be able to give you some basic pointers on messaging, communications strategy and outreach.  

I don't charge for this.  

I just do it because I love helping startups.  

There's lots of great coffee places near my hotel, or maybe just a walk up and down Rothchild Boulevard might be something good to do.

To learn more about the companies in have worked with just click here.

Reach out to me any time, here.

Today in Tel Aviv, I had a chance to catch up with Israel Cleantech Ventures' Jack Levy.  Here's his take on the Cleanovation Conference that is taking place on September 14 in Houston.  If you're an Israeli company looking to partner with American companies, we hope you'll consider Texas - and the Texas Israel Chamber as your gateway and partner into new business and deal flow opportunities.

Jeff Pulver is hosting a party for Israel's High Tech Industry on Thursday, 30 June at YaYa in Tel Aviv. If you're part of the High Tech ecosystem and would like an invite- email me:  alan at weinkrantz dot com.

For those of you who have joined us before, you know it is a great night of networking, eating, drinking and FUN. so I really hope you will join us. The event takes place at a brand new club, YaYa, located at 3 Ben Yehuda St. (Migdalor Tower) in Tel Aviv. Networking takes place from 19:30 to 22:00, followed by a party which will continue into the night.

While the party, open bar and canapes are all free, we believe that we should always try to help those less fortunate than us.  As such, we are asking you to donate 40 NIS to the charity we are supporting -- Lasova (www.lasova.org.il ), they feed the hungry and give shelter to the homeless when you register for your ticket

Looking forward to a great night in Tel Aviv. 

Event Sponsors:

Jeff Pulver -

Pulver's Micro Angel Fund - Pulver's Micro Angel Fund is a new and unique investment vehicle, created to provide funding to early stage Internet ventures. The fund, financed by private investors (and not by Jeff Pulver), will provide up to $500,000 seed funding from a single source, closing the gap between angels and traditional VCs. Investments will be made jointly with Jeff Pulver.

SoftLayer Technologies, Inc. ^{® -} Headquartered in Dallas, SoftLayer is the innovation leader in on-demand web hosting and data center services. As the largest hosting company in the world, SoftLayer lets customers create Cloud, Dedicated, or seamlessly integrated computing environments, leveraging world-class data centers in Dallas, Houston, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington D.C., and network Points of Presence nationwide. SoftLayer automates all elements of its platform, empowering enterprises of any size with complete control, security, scalability, and ease-of-management via a leading Customer Portal and Open API. The company’s proprietary offerings include the industry’s first Network-Within-a-Network topology for true out-of-band access, providing remote access to all management options.

Hashtag Art - For the past few years, there has been a growing trend to acquire fans & followers. The challenge now has become using the networks to generate buzz.  It's easy to have a conversation with 10 folks, 100 or even 1,000. With larger followings, the conversation is lost.  At that stage, it's difficult to avoid being just noise and almost impossible to get fans to spread a message. Hashtagart has proprietary technology and a suite of apps that make it fun for consumers to spread a brand's message.  Consumers are no longer advertised to, they BECOME the advertisement, and they have fun connecting with the brand.

No, you don't have a relationship or contacts with at a publication to successfully pitch your story.  

Because of the volume of pitches, many publications like the one above requires you to fill out a form.  

What you need is a compelling story and reason the journalist would pay attention.  

Hint:  rather than blindly pitch, read the journalist's body of work so you can understand what they write about and what their interests are.

Today in Tel Aviv, I shared the stage with other PR / Communications Pros, Josh Cline, Sharon Levy-Matzkin and Enon Landenberg.  We spoke at  Israel Startup Network Event. Details on the event, including who attended, is here on MeetUp.com. A special thank you to Arlene Marom and Ken Shostack who organized the event.

Israel Startup Network Presentation - 6 April 2011

Today in Herzliya, I met with a group of Pitango Venture Capital portfolio companies to discuss Strategic Public Relations and Social Communications.  A special thank you to Sharon Erde, who helped facilitate this event.

Strategic Public Relations and Social Communications for Pitango Venture Capital Portfolio Companies

I am returning to Israel from March 27 through April 8 and I would love to connect in several ways:

1.  Speaking:  

If you have a tech related group and would like a guest speaker on the subject of strategic PR, the social web, and branded content.  You can see some of my presentations here.  Last month, when I was in Israel I spoke at the MEGAComm Writer's Conference and the Israel Startup Network event at the IBM Innovation Center.

2.  Texas Israel Chamber of Commerce:

Ok... I am biased.  But just so you know, Texas was really God's way of saying he needed another, very special place in the world, after he created Israel.  So, he created Texas.

If you are thinking of expanding your Israel-based business, or thinking of opening your U.S. operations, I hope you will consider Texas.  

Through the Texas Israel Chamber of Commerce, I can help you learn more about out great state and all the amazing things going on here.  We're really nice people, easy to do business with, and you are simply not going to find better Bar-B-Que or Mexican food in other places like Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, etc.

3.  Working with me and my amazing team:

I've re-tooled the way I operate and now running a virtual agency.  I have mashed up an amazing team of communications, design, development, writing and analytics professionals.  My focus remains on message, communications strategy, traditional PR and blending it with B2B social media and branded content.  

If you would like to learn more and meet, email me:  alan@weinkrantz.com so we can connect.  Click here to get an idea of the roster of clients I have served.

4.  One day / on site consultation.

Maybe you know you need to do something about your PR and Social Media initiatives, but not sure what to do.  Maybe you have internal staff that does some type of Marcom.  Or, maybe... just maybe, you have no budget, but a great story and maybe a great CTO who would not mind publishing content about what you are doing and why your technology is so important.

I have a one day on-site service offering, for Israeli companies only, which runs $1,500.00.  It's an on-site workshop aimed at helping you deep dive into what your communications strategy should be, what it could look like, and what intellectual assets you have that could become the foundation for doing some of this on your own - without the need of a traditional agency. 

Without the need of an agency?  

Yes.  

No agency.  

You may not need one.  At least, not yet.  

You may just need to do a better job of story telling.  You may just need access to a couple of journalists that might be candidates to learn about your story.  Your CTO may be the better story teller, rather than having an agency person doing this for you.  

Much depends on what your company does, it's scale and where you are headed.  On my visit to Israel in late February, I met with many possible clients, who really did not need the services of an agency.  

I am of the opinion that early in life as a startup, you might not be well served be an agency, let alone may not have a budget.  But you need to be found. You want to be discovered.  You want to connect with possible partners, investors, and new customers.  I really think if properly trained, and re-tooled in a new mind set of branded content, you can do much of this yourself. 

If you want to learn more, let me know, so we can schedule - alan@weinkrantz.com.

5.  A free seminar for  VC firms' portfolio companies

I am in the process of doing some outreach to Israel-based VCs, but hoping through this post, it might catch someone's attention that I might miss.  

So....if you are a VC in Israel and can assemble a group of 8 of your portfolio companies, I will conduct a free one hour seminar on PR / Social Media / Branded Content.

You supply the space, the coffee, WiFi and a projector with a screen, and I am yours. 

6.  Speaking to Israeli University students studying technology marketing and business development

I think every university student is a personal brand.  They've been in the Army, they are now at University and they are getting ready to leave and join an amazing tech company that is bound to disrupt and change the world.  

I have done this presentation in the U.S. which you may view here, and would like to offer it when I am visiting Israel.  If you are a Dean or Professor, reach out and let me know. 

7.  Coming to SXSW 2011 in Austin?  Come by and say Howdy!

I have some friends from Israel who are coming to SXSW which starts next week.  If you are coming over, I'd love to meet. The #140Conf is going to have it's own booth, so come by and chill out on our comfy couches we'll have for our community.

Thanks for reading this post.  If you have other suggestions or observations, leave a comment.

"Ed found a desolate wilderness and made it flourish," Orna says.

Ed tells the story in his just-published autobiography, "Milk and Honey and High-Tech". His influence can be split into two parts: his spell from 1979-1992 as the first Executive Director of theIsrael-US Binational Industrial Research & Development (BIRD) Foundation, which provides funding for joint projects carried out by US and Israeli companies, and his activities since 1993 as a venture capitalist after he established Gemini.

In his book, Ed holds the reader with entertaining anecdotes involving high-powered executives, world-class scientists and one of Hollywood's greatest actors; along the way he provides valuable insights into how to conduct business relationships and close deals.

“Milk and Honey and High-Tech” is available from Weill Publishers.
To buy a copy, please click here.