Drop your networking plans. Leave your business cards at home. This week is about having fun. Saturday will see you through two geekified parties that are sure to be ‘off the hook,’ as those darn kids are saying these days.

Join 8Static for its first chiptunes and classic video gaming-inspired party since May. And if you’re not down to dance, Philly Geek Party launches its inaugural and hopefully monthly party for the nerds out there. Both should be a trip. That is, if the G Lounge just ain’t your style.

Earn that ‘five o’clock somewhere’ philosophy with a handful of other events happening throughout the week.

Wharton Small Business Development Center will host a conference call Tuesday afternoon to talk you through how it can help you launch your dream biz. On Wednesday, learn intuitive interfaces with a joint meeting of PhillyCHI and UsabilityNJ. Also Wednesday, Philly Startup Leaders will help refine DocASAP, an online doctor’s appointment scheduling platform that we covered last week, in one of its informative fishbowl sessions.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Tuesday, July 14: The Wharton Small Business Development Center will host a conference call to discuss how it can help your small business. This event would be par for the course, but we’ve seen some great projects come out of Wharton, including many of the projects in its business plan competition which we covered in April. Bonus, you don’t have to wear pants to this one. 12:00 p.m. Virtual. DETAILS. [view more events]

Wednesday, July 15: Philly CHI and UsabilityNJ will host a joint event led by presenter Jared Spool discussing intuitive user interfaces. Spool is a big dog in the user interface world, one that the two organizations aren’t shy to explain in their meeting promo. Real world advice from someone that is sure to be much more helpful than the iPhone UX stencil we’ve been eying up. 6:00 p.m. University City. RSVP. [view more events]

Wednesday, July 15: We already sent some love Wharton’s way, but it’s no coincidence that one of its entrepreneurs is making its way ’round these southeastern Pennsylvania parts. Philly Startup Leaders will host a fishbowl for DocASAP, a competitor in Wharton’s biz plan competition. We covered DocASAP last week, and we’re taking bets on where they end up next. New York? San Francisco? We certainly hope not! Head out to the fishbowl to give ‘em a dose of your entrepreneurial knowledge and advice. 5 p.m. Center City. DETAILS. [view more events]

Saturday, July 18: The crew at 8Static must be antsy for Saturday. Their chiptunes music event was pushed back from June and anticipation has only been building. Anticipation which, for me, started back when I spent an entire weekend trying to play through Maniac Mansion on a busted console. I still have those tunes stuck in my head. Dance the 8-bit night away before those NES warranties expire. 8:00 p.m. West Philadelphia. DETAILS. [view more events]

Saturday, July 18: If there’s one thing Technically Philly been thinking about a lot lately, it is a regularly scheduled geek-oriented party in Philadelphia. Sometimes, we just wanna drop the business manners and let loose. But where? Philly Geek Party has got us covered. On Saturday, leave the business cards at home, order a drink for each hand and be the nerd that you are at the inaugural event. 9:00 p.m. Center City. DETAILS. [view more events]

A screenshot of DocAsap's homepage

Wharton student Puneet Maheshwari‘s child had an ear infection.

And, as any parent can tell you, hell hath no fury like a child sick. After combing through the Yellow Pages for the right doctor, Maheshwari was forced to go to the emergency room out of frustration and pay significantly more money than if he had found a specialist.

Like any good Wharton student, Maheshwari thought he could do better, and DocAsap was born.

The service, much like what OpenTable does for restaurants, searches for doctors based on criteria you define and allows you to schedule appointments with them. For example you could search for pediatricians that take Blue Cross in South Philly and DocAsap would give you all of the eligible candidates. Currently, the site only reviews Philadelphia-based dentists, however the site plans to expand to other markets and more types of physicians.

“We should have a really good coverage ratio in the Center City area soon,” said co-founder Vicente de Baca. After filling out the Center City area, DocAsap will then branch to the suburbs and, if everything goes according to plan, nationally. And unlike many Wharton grads, the duo plans to stick around for a while.

“We are very focused on building the Philadelphia market and plan on sticking around to see the development of the site,” he says.

The initial response from doctors has been positive, says de Baca, though DocAsap is taking its time rolling out the site. The company started as a service for patients, but it soon realized that there was a real demand on the physician side as well. Many doctors have problems with no-shows from people who schedule too far in advance or who just simply forget to call and cancel.

The company estimates that 30 percent of all appointments go unused. For a health care system that has seen costs rise sharply in recent years, increasing efficiency by 30 percent is an intriguing prospect. And, the Wharton name doesn’t hurt either.

“Doctors in the city are very welcoming to the homegrown business,” says de Baca.

BOOTSTRAPPED

Currently, all work is done in exchange for equity and the company has no outside funding. Though that isn’t something it has ruled out entirely. De Baca says that they would certainly seek angel investments before going to an institution.

The site makes money by charging doctors based on a variety of factors, including the type and size of practice. Free clinics and practices with patients that are mostly publicly insured are charged less than primarily privately insured practices.

Earlier this year, DocASAP attempted to make the bootstrapping easier on the wallet when it was a finalist in the Wharton Business Plan competition, though it failed to place.

“We heard there was some tension in the judging room about where we placed,” de Baca says. A first place finish would have netted the company $20,000.

He noted that they are pleased with the response since the site’s launch on July 2nd, and are simply focused on cornering the market in Philadelphia.

Every Monday, Technically Not Tech will feature people, projects, and businesses that are involved with Philly’s tech scene, but aren’t necessarily technology focused. See others here.

Chris Schaeffer of Realistic Eye gives his elevator pitch. The company ended up placing third.

Edit: added RIMS video.

The main event was over already, but the eight hopefuls gunning for the Wharton Business Plan Competition had a chance to bag an extra $3,000 by convincing the dinner audience that they were deserving of the People’s Choice Award.

Each company sent a representative to the steps in the basement of Wharton’s Huntsman Hall to plead their case to roughly 100 attendees who may or may not have been taking advantage of the free food. Approaches ranged from the youthful, energetic charisma of StealthRowing’s Daniel Harbuck (covered earlier this week by TP) to the frank nature of Cuddlebot’s owner, who told the crowd, “we’d love your cash.” After the pitches were finished, the judges huddled to decide the grand prize winner as the audience members dropped ballots in a silver box carried around by the organizers sporting yellow ribbons.

Hours later, NIR Diagnostic came out of the four-round competition $23,000 richer, bagging the $20,000 grand prize as well as the $3,000 people’s choice award. The company is developing a wound diagnostic device that would bump accuracy up to an estimated 85 percent from 50 percent.

After the jump we summarize and comment on each company’s elevator pitch and tell you which one is most likely to lead to a Terminator-like future.

1. Realistic Eye

What: Prosthetic eyes.
Why: Current prosthetic eyes look realistic except for their non-dilating pupils, which Realistic Eye attempts to fix. During their elevator pitch, the company told the story of Mary, a car accident victim who lost an eye in a car accident. Mary’s prosthetic has served her well, except when she meets with clients in her job as an accountant. In an indoor environment, she felt it was painfully obvious that she was wearing a prosthetic.
Result: Third Place.

2. Remote Integrated Monitoring Solutions (see the video)

What: Glucose monitoring device
Why: Currently, diabetics have to pierce their skin with a small needle if they want to get their glucose reading. RIMS would manufacture a wristwatch(!) that would automatically be able to take sugar readings using light waves, then sending those metrics to a patient’s doctor or, in the case of a minor, a parent. The concept of sending data automatically to doctors in a digital format is almost as cool as a non-invasive method of testing blood sugar and anything that helps out diabetes patients is a win.
Result: Did not place.

3. StealthRowing

What: A rowing training device.
Why: Undergrad Daniel Harbuck found that rowing training devices ran in the six-figure range, making them usually only accessible to the traditional “old boys club” of rowing. Harbuck found himself convincing friends to hold a boat to the side of the pool so he could train in his native Salt Lake City. He sought to solve the problem of expensive and exclusive training equipment by inventing the Stealth007, a training device that would not only making training cheaper, but more accessible to inner city youth. We covered SealthRow earlier this week.
Result: Undergrad prize winner. Though, if the event’s program is correct, Harbuck was the only undergrad in the finals.

4. PayDivvy

What: A payment tracking system
Why: The Paydivvy crew once lived in a house with five people with seven bills and divvying the money ended up being a hassle. PayDivvy would keep track of bills to assure that everybody pays their fair share. We’re not quite sure how PayDivvy would be adopted amongst the younger crowd, and aren’t there free Facebook applications that serve this very function?
Result: No Money.

5. DocASAP

What: A doctor’s appointment scheduling service.
Why: DocASAP aims to be “Open Table” for doctor appointments. DocASAP would automatically notify patients if someone backs out of an earlier appointment. The service aims to reduce no-show appointments and streamline the workflow of overwhelmed office managers.
Result: No Money.

6. NIR Diognostics

What: A wound diagnosis device.
Why: See above. Essentially NIR ups the accuracy of wound assessment using a non-invasive device.
Result: Grand Prize and People’s choice winner.

7. CuddleBots

What: A robotic toy.
Why: Sort of like Webkinz on steroids, Cuddlebots would be a fully programmable robotic toy with an open source programming platform that would allow developers to code their own education programs to supplement proprietary offerings. The aim is to lower the barrier of children becoming familiar with computers and technology. While the concept sounds damn cool and TP wants one of these things to play with, at the $300 price point we’d guess that most kids would want a PS3. And seriously, “Cuddlebots”? Don’t blame us when the Cuddlebot uprising happens.
Result: Second Place.

8. My Videoport

What: An online video distribution platform.
Why: While this could be because we were not able to sit in on the company’s 20 minute presentation, it is unclear exactly the product being offered. From what we can gather, the company aims to be a broker of professional video content to YouTube, Vimeo and related companies. It is unclear how the company would make a dime or compete with TubeMogal.
Result: No Money.

More official details from Wharton.