What is IgniteNYC? It's an ongoing, cutting-edge speaker series, with a catch: the speaker's slides change automatically, every five seconds. The speaker has to keep up. That's just the sort of challenge ZocDoc's very own Karsten Vagner can't turn down. Check out a video of his great talk after the jump.

Once again, this November ZocDoc is watching out for you - and your teeth.

Our candy buyback is off to a great start this week! New York dentists are collecting pounds and pounds of candy and happy, healthy children across New York are collecting a little bit more money in their pockets. The candy buyback was recently featured on NY1 News, and we hope you take a minute to watch it. If you haven't already, stop by the office of one of our participating dentists, and drop off some candy!

Whether you're Batman, Ironman, or the prettiest princess on the block, you can be sure that ZocDoc is watching out for you - even on Halloween. From November 3 - 7, ZocDoc will be holding the largest candy buyback in the history of New York City! We're inviting children across New York to hand in their candy at participating dentist offices (see map below), and get $1 per pound in return - maximum 10 pounds per child. Trick-or-treating is fun, but cavities certainly aren't. At ZocDoc, we'll always be there to help you find a dentist because we believe good dental health is the biggest treat of all. Participating dentist offices are below!

So much can happen in twelve months. This time last year, ZocDoc was chosen as one of the 40 hottest startups at the TechCrunch40 conference. We packed our bags, went to San Francisco, and presented our brand new company. This year, we are proud to be coming back as alumni to what is now TechCrunch50. From September 8-10, you can find us at the San Francisco Design Center Concourse, where we will be giving demonstrations and even unveiling our iPhone application prototype! If you're in the San Francisco area, or plan on coming to TechCrunch50, make sure to stop  by and say hello! UPDATE: Thank you to all of you who came over to check in with ZocDoc! We're so glad to have met everyone we did. A special thanks to Jefferson Graham of USA Today, who really liked the idea of being able to find doctors in your network on our website, and wrote about us on his Technology Blog! 

Watch ZocDoc CEO Cyrus Massoumi present at the NY Tech Meetup on May 13, 2008. Donning bright orange scrubs, Cyrus talked about the company's mission to help patients easily find a doctor or dentist and make an appointment instantly online. Audience members gave ZocDoc a friendly reception and began Twittering instantly, calling ZocDoc "impressive," "the best" and "a great example of the mainstream web." Check out some of their comments here. A lively Q&A covered everything from the business model, roll-out plan & the patient first ethics of the business - watch yourself.

Today at 10:45 am PST our service went live at TechCrunch40, where ZocDoc was selected as one of the 40 hottest startups globally by Michael Arrington and his team. Not a small compliment, considering they have reviewed thousands of companies in the TechCrunch Blog (one of the top 3 tech blogs worldwide).