StartupCentral

This winter, as has been with winters for the past couple of years, two kinds of entrepreneur showcase and networking events offer startups opportunities to promote themselves. First up is the old school model — TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2008 (December 16, 17, 18) — which gives young companies a chance to connect with industry leaders via pre-formatted panel discussions.

Next up, in January, are what have come to be known as open source networking platforms, eg: Proto.in, HeadStart. Pre-formatted panel discussions dominate these events as well, but the content and participation is relatively more democratic. Incidentally, the fifth edition of Proto.in had planned to piggyback on the TiE summit but creative differences between the organizers nixed the deal.

Here’s a quick poll on which model works better for the entrepreneur:

PS: Does HeadStart have badges up yet? Thanks for the badge

Now why do perfectly nice people have to get cocky and spoil it all? The organizers of Proto.in, which hosts its next edition on January 23 and 24 in Bangalore, have come up with a feature called PitchCamp! — “Learn the inside scoop on how VCs (venture capitalists), corporate partners and journalists think.” writes Proto.in curator Vijay Anand. Impressed that the organizers actually have the scoop on how journalists think and will be passing on that wisdom to young entrepreneurs.

January is also the month when the two rival startup networking conferences — HeadStart and Proto.in — go head-to-head. Last year they had their respective events on the same days. This year better sense seems to have prevailed. Not much available yet on the agenda and speakers at Proto.in — badges for bloggers are available on the blog — but let’s hope, getting into journalists’ minds aside, the event continues with the good work of showcasing startups from diverse sectors.