I tried out Gist (pronounced jist), a new email intelligence product.  Here's a link to the company's website and a link to a FastCompany TV discussion between Gist's CEO and Scobleizer on FastCompany TV.

First thing's first.  I really like the company's name, branding, their clean website and blog.  Everything fits nicely together and presents a clean image.  (And they're Seattle based too.)

What does Gist do?  Gist basically takes your emails and other items such as calendar/meeting entries (etc.) and presents a slew of relevant information about the people and companies you communicate or meet with.  I'm sure someone has already coined the term, but if they haven't it's basically "inbox intelligence".  Gist scans all of this information in the background and has a control panel where you can access relevant information about your contacts.  Here's a screenshot of one of the tabs:


For example, I may email with a friend who works at Cisco or may send a link to an article on cNet to someone.  The "companies" tab of the Gist control panel shows articles and press releases which mention these companies.  It does the same with people as well and will present links to articles and blog posts mentioning people you meet with or talk to.  Gist also allows you to provide feedback on the links and stories that are compiled, which Gist incorporates into its future rankings.  (I haven't seen this feedback loop in action.)

Installing and using Gist was incredibly easy.  Most importantly, Gist does not seem to slow down your machine one bit.  I do think Gist could have made it easier to control whether it runs on startup, but that's fairly minor.

Will it Be Useful?  I can see Gist being fairly useful for super networkers and salespeople.  If you meet a ton of people and you are looking to keep tabs on them using other information that is out there, Gist is a great tool.  From my perspective, it's fun to play around with, but I'm not sure how useful it will be.  I'm basically looking to tame my inbox.  The tool I'm looking for is one that sucks up your friend's mobile number from an email he or she sends you and associates it with your friend so you have that information a click away (without you really having to do anything - maybe as a bonus it will ask you whether you want to delete that email).  For me, an application that presents me with even more information about my messages and meetings just pushes me further into the inbox quagmire.  With respect to most people and companies I troll the internet enough that I come across much of the news about people and companies I deal with anyway. 

What About Linking to Facebook/LinkedIn:  I wonder how/whether Gist will link to Facebook and LinkedIn information.  Seems like many companies are excited about this type of integration but many times it doesn't really achieve much. 

Security/Privacy?  Gist seems to scan all of your emails and attachments.  I was curious about what information is scanned, what is retained, and what security precautions are taken.  I wonder if attachments are scanned and just "sit on" Gist's server?

An easy to use product, but I'm not sure how much use I will get out of it.  Maybe there's a learning curve to figure out its more nifty features?
 
You can find them on the web, and of course, on Twitter.

More:  I stopped by Gist and came away impressed with their energy, their CEO, and how they are rolling out their beta.  For those looking for an in-box tool it's well worth trying!  (More features on the way in the coming weeks and months as well.)