Council salutes Washington tech stars

The Northern Virginia Technology Council held its sixth annual Hot Ticket Awards Wednesday evening. More than 500 local technology entrepreneurs, business leaders and other guests recognized the efforts of entrepreneurial companies and individuals in the National Capital region's technology community.

NVTC uses "hottest" rather than "best" to distinguish the awards, but with the temperature approaching 100 degrees at the outdoor ceremonies, the word took on added meaning. The 2007 winners are:

• Hottest Bootstrap (once struggling, now successful) company: Network Alliance Inc., a technology solutions provider to small businesses that was born in the basement of its founder.
  
• Hottest Buzz (talk of the industry): Athena Technologies Inc., a provider of flight control and navigation systems for unmanned aerial vehicles.
  
• Hottest Exit: Network Solutions, the first Internet domain name registrar that realized a 3000 percent return for its investors when the company was acquired by a private equity fund.
  
• Hottest Management Team: BroadSoft Inc., a telecommunications provider whose executive team has an average of 20 years each of professional experience.
  
• Hottest Venture Capital Deal: Parature Inc., a customer support and help desk software provider that secured $13.5 million in venture capital.