Frequency/Location: "Meetings occur once every month on the fourth Thursday at 7pm" / Key Code Media, 1004 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (located between 10th and 11th) Cost: Free Review: Adam Bell founded this group and I've met him numerous times; he's knowledgeable, a good guy, and shares my interest in good beer. Added 2/15/2010 by Todd Zebert Name: Networking For Professionals (NFP) Review: I attended the 2/2/10 "High Speed Networking" event at The Yard, Santa Monica. Weekly updates! Please let me know if know of other items

But, in running it now for the second half of January, the keyword that popped to the top was: Layoffs And this is definitely a sign of the times. When I drill down on that term, you can see why with posts like: Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Lops A Third Of Company THQ Lays Off 100 Employees, Closes San Diego Office Citrix Cuts 10 Percent; Santa Barbara Hit And it's also interesting to see what geographies are being associated with "Layoffs" more often than others: Layoffs Woodland Hills Layoffs San Diego Layoffs Santa Monica Layoffs Los Angeles I guess

Finally, Jeff Cohn, a venture capital consultant, tell us 10 Ways President Obama Can Help Create Jobs . Turning Turning to venture capital, it looks like Southern California venture capitalists are mostly missing from the Forbes Midas List this year. And, on a sad note, Martin Schaedel -- well known to many in the Los Angeles technology community, and a contributor of photos to socalTECH-- has died in a plane crash at In our Friday Southern California technology news roundup: The The economy continues to be in the news this week, as Broadcom is