I’d like to tell you about a cool new startup company that I just found out about. It’s called TiXiT (www.tixitbox.com). They provide regular folks in Columbus with great discounts on tickets to sports, music and theatre. They are able to do this by negotiating last minute discounts with promoters on seats that likely would not have sold.

I recently had a chance to sit down with the Founder, Dave Cherry to learn more about the company.

Alvin: So how did you come up with the idea for TiXiT?

Dave: Well, it started from my desire to make a living in sports. But since I’m not good enough to get on the field or experienced enough to coach, I had to get creative t identify an opportunity. And that led me to dynamic promotion and marketing of excess ticket inventory.

Alvin: What do you mean by “excess ticket inventory?”

Dave: Excess inventory represents those seats that typically go empty for every show or game. After the best marketing efforts of the promoters, most events typically do not sell out on a regular basis – so excess inventory exists. Promoters can realize a direct positive impact to their bottom line by selling these tickets at a discount to consumers. TiXiT was created to help facilitate that transaction.

Alvin: So tell me how TiXiT works.

Dave: It’s really simple. We negotiate deep discounts with promoters to help sell excess tickets in the weeks leading up to a show. Folks are able to register at www.tixitbox.com, tell us what they’re interested in (sports, theatre, concerts, et cetera), and then see what discounts we have available.  Once they find one they like they click to redeem the discount and complete the transaction on the venue’s ticketing system like Ticketmaster.

Alvin: How good are the discounts and can people share them?

Dave: The discounts vary depending on the number of seats available and proximity to the event – the closer to the event and the more empty seats that exist, the deeper the discount. We’ve developed an intelligent system that helps promoters manage the discounts and so far we’ve been able to negotiate discounts as big as 50%. Customers need to check www.tixitbox.com often to see our latest and greatest deals.

And yes, people can definitely share the discounts. They can share the discount codes with their friends and invite them to register for TiXiT.  The venues love it too – it brings in new fans they’ve never come across before. So we encourage folks to follow us on twitter at @TiXiTBox and fan us on Facebook.  We’ll regularly be sharing the latest deals on both locations as well as on www.tixitbox.com.

Alvin: So what’s coming up for you guys?

Dave: We’re just getting started and so far we’ve lined up CAPA as our initial set of discount opportunities.  We’re going to offer discounts to some of their upcoming shows. Right now, we’re offering 50% off of tickets to The Peking Acrobats on February 23^rd at the Palace Theatre. And we’re working on getting discounts to more theatre events, concerts and sporting events that we can pass along to our customers.  I hope you and your readers come by to check us out at www.tixitbox.com and see if we’ve got a great deal for you.

Alvin: Thanks Dave and good luck with TiXiT!

So here’s the summary Columbus. TiXiT is a hot new startup in town. Go to www.tixitbox.com to get great deals (like 50% off) on theatre, sports and concerts. Check back often as their deals are always changing. And enjoy the show!

The other day I ventured out to the Hills Market for a Small Business Beanstalk event introducing Worthington to the wonders of the SBB card (which I’ll have to write a post about soon).

I’m glad I went, since I was introduced to Pamela Loch of Little Rosie’s. She makes some amazing Filipino salad dressing that has to be tasted to believe. I got the Filipino, which is a dressing “artfully blended with Asian and Spanish influences creating a distinctive flavor of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onion, cider vinegar and oil; tangy with a hint of sweet & spices.”

This is how good it is. I have salads maybe 20 times a year. Yes, I know, that’s pretty bad. Since picking up the Filipino, I’ve packed salads twice for lunch and have had salads two nights in a row. That’s a pretty good endorsement from this non foodie sometimes blogger. Who also happens to be Filipino.

Here's a picture I took with my iPhone. Hopefully I'll get a better image up.

Good thing I didn’t say I was boycotting Columbus. Otherwise I couldn’t go to the Cornhole All-Stars Launch Party tomorrow night.

Cornhole All-Stars Launch Party on the Santa Maria

As you can see above, Cornhole All-Stars is a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It launched last Friday on iTunes by Columbus company JUFTi. I downloaded it the day it became available and it rocks. Oh, and I’ve gotten to be quite good at it. Just check out this screen shot of my perfect game.

I hit 8 throws in a row right in the cornhole

So I’ll be there tomorrow to give props to Jon Myers and crew for Cornhole All-Stars. Columbus definitely needs more launch parties. The last one I went to was for Sandbox Columbus. That one freaking rocked.

One final thought. Who the hell came up with the name Cornhole? They must have been Beavis and Butthead fans.

Ann Arbor’s getting one. Why not Columbus?

What am I talking about? Startup Weekend.

Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of small business entrepreneurs to build a community and company in a weekend.

The founders decide what to make as a team, and earn an equal share of stock in the developed business. Attendees are responsible for bringing the desire and passion to the project and walk out of the room with a brand new business, in a short 54 hours. Sound intense? It is.

If you want one in Columbus, you gotta vote for it. So far, I was the 10th person to vote for one. Indianapolis (damn that Indy, our demo is similar but they get the NFL and NBA) is leading the vote count with 82 votes.

This looks to be a good event if you can make it – The Columbus Metropolitan Club’s forum Young Entrepreneurs: No Risk, No Reward.