I'm excited to announce that we've partnered with TiE -- a global, non-profit, focused on fostering innovation -- for its 16th annual TiEcon conference, held May 16 and May 17, in Santa Clara, Calif.

Vator is hosting the TiE50 Vator competition where the 150 finalists chosen across five verticals - Internet infrastructure, consumer Web, wireless, clean tech and software - will have the opportunity to create awarness and drive votes in the final phase of the TiE competition. The idea is to whittle down the 150 to 50 via public votes.

In this interview, I spoke with Jai Rawat, content chair for TiE. Rawat said that TiEcon is expected to have 4,000 attendees, up from 3500 last year. 

TiE50 is a new program launched this year, said Rawat. To get a spot in the top 50, a company had to apply. TiE received 1200 applications. The 1200 were then vetted by judges which narrowed down the field to 30 companies in five categories. Now the public voting begins.

Companies are encouraged to use Vator as a marketint tool to create and drive votes, said Rawat. "It's [Vator] is one of the great mediums to do the reach out," he said. 

Don't forget to check out the companies in the competition!