Tag: Ishki

ArabCrunch DEMO 09 – Amman, Jordan (February 23rd 2009)

MMM 4 Comments

ArabCrunch Demo 09ArabCrunch and DART, the student entrepreneurship society at Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), which is one of the major programs at the of Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE), are organizing the 1st ArabCrunch DEMO event in Amman, Jordan on February 23rd at the Friendship auditorium of Princess Sumaya University for Technology.

The event, which the organizers hope to make into a regular one, aims to be a launchpad for emerging technologies in the Arab world. The event will also include keynotes from top regional and world class technology and e-marketing experts, and will be followed by a networking reception. 

This edition of the event will give the chance to five Arab startups to present their products and services:

  • Ishki, a Web 2.0 portal that aims to be the first Arab complaints platform. (Jordan)
  • MailPacks, an auto responder system. (Jordan)
  • Adhere, from Citex Software, an open-source mobile advertising platform. (Egypt)
  • weNear, from eSpace, a location-based framework that connects people’s Interest. (Egypt)
  • Al-Khawarizmy, who have developed new Arabic search algorithms and solutions. (Egypt)

The keynote speakers at the event will be:

  • Sumaya Kazi, Senior Social Media Manager at Sun Microsystems and founder of The CulturalConnect. 
  • Khaled Jabasini, the Founder and CEO of E-Marketing MENA, a leading digital Media consultancy in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • Herve Cuviliez, the Managing Director of KuvCapital, a leading Pan-Arab and European seed investment venture capital firm.

Attendance will be free of charge, with previous preapproval. Registration can be done online by visiting the event’s website: ArabCrunch Demo 09. 

Ishki, A New Portal For Arabs To Post Their Complaints Online

MMM 4 Comments

IshkiIshki (which means ‘complain’ in Arabic) is an interesting new portal that was recently released from Jordan, giving Arab users the chance to post their different complaints online and get their voices out to the world.

Other than just complaining, the portal lets users start petitions on several issues and collect signatures for them; They can also ask other site visitors for help on certain problems or situations they’re facing.

In addition to all that, the website also gives users the possibility to do the very opposite of complaining, by blowing someone’s horn and singing their praises.

A special imaginary character, humorously called “Dr. Shakib Tanash” (which translates into Dr. Shakib Careless), has his own section where people can share their problems and get his feedback and advice.

Ishki Screenshot

Each complainer gets their own page grouping all their submissions to the website, that they can either make private or keep public. Other visitors can vote on the submitted complaints, requests for help and praises; as well as sign whatever petitions they agree with.

The site is still new and not much content has been submitted yet by users, but the idea is a really good one, and it should be interesting to see how well it goes, what kind of reaction it’ll get from the people, and what role it’ll play in helping spread freedom of speech.

The portal was founded and put together by a talented team consisting of Wael Attili, Mohamed Al Razem, Ahmad Kharbat, and Wahid Barghouthi.

# Ishki