Startup weekend at Google's Fremont office

Startup Weekend is not a place for the shy, the timid or -- as we quickly found out -- those who don't use Twitter or iPhones. The event kicked off about two hours ago and enterprising entrepreneurs are now pitching their ideas to the audience. They have one minute to tout their concepts.

"Please, don't be shy," said organizer John Smilgin after introducing the event. "If you have an idea you are passionate about, please stand up and share it with the room." The entrepreneurial group certainly followed the advice, with 47 people sharing ideas. The group now is starting to narrow down the choices.

"I've got 47 ideas up here, do all of them suck?" said organizer George Junginger, responding to an audience member's earlier comment that all of the ideas might suck.

YourSports founder Chris McCoy tossed out an idea to save newspapers, which prompted some in the audience to ask: "Why?" Seattle entrepreneur Roy Leban suggested Seattle Rocks, a Web site where people could upload photos about select locations in the city. "It is not a social network. It is a crowd sourcing site about Seattle, " he said.

The idea that got the biggest laughs was a personal delivery service which took advantage of the proximity of friends to local shops so they could run errands. The instant personal delivery service would utilize GPS

"It is like 'I am by a beer store, get me a six pack,'" said organizer Junginger after hearing the idea.

Other ideas included the ability to take a photo of a business card and turn that into an Vcard; a service that invited people to multiple social networks; a Web site for outdoor enthusiasts in the Northwest; an iPhone app that acts as a personality test; a cooking Web site that takes advantage of the ingredients in a person's home; a social network to borrow CDs, books and other materials; a marketplace to sell artwork; an online application to connect farmers to consumers; and an online closet where people could test new fashions.

It is looking like a Twitter screening application might be taking home the top prize.

UPDATE: Here's the list of the initial ideas and the 17 finalists. Groups have formed Saturday morning to start building the concepts. The event has attracted a good cross section of entrepreneurs from a wide range of professions and geographies.

In fact, I was surprised with how far some of the entrepreneurs have traveled. At my table last night, I chatted with two marketing and branding professionals who drove up from The Sisters, Oregon. One of the best pitches of the night, TweetReporter, was delivered by an entrepreneur from Kansas City. Another person traveled from Arkansas.

And Nathan Kaiser, who is helping to organize the event, said that a woman from Austria flew in just for Seattle Startup Weekend.

UPDATE: Watch videos of a couple pitches here.

A one minute pitch.

nPost's Nathan Kaiser works on his laptop as presenters wait in line.