Recap: Startup Weekend Edmonton, the first in Canada!

This past weekend was the first Startup Weekend in Canada, held right here in Edmonton! About 30 local developers, designers, and idea people got together at Enterprise Square for the event, organized by Startup Edmonton. As I mentioned last week, Startup Weekend’s mission is to teach entrepreneurship in a fun, interactive way. It’s also a great way to see first-hand the talent that exists in the local tech community.

The weekend got started on Friday evening with the pitches. Anyone with an idea for an application or product was invited to write it down on a flip chart. After all the ideas were collected, each one was given 60 seconds to make an elevator pitch, trying to attract people to the team. When that was done, everyone spread out and slowly but surely teams formed. In the end, six teams came together for the weekend.



The teams starting to form on Friday evening

For all of Saturday and most of Sunday the teams were hard at work on their ideas. There is no required deliverable at the end of Startup Weekend, but each team was working as quickly as possible to get as much done as they could in time for a demo. Startup Weekend forces teams to focus on bringing an idea to life quickly, which is an important skill to have. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but being able to execute on them is much more difficult. Starting with just the seed of an idea and less than two days later having something workable to show to others is incredibly valuable. Another great thing about Startup Weekend is that it provides an opportunity for individuals to work together, even if they had never met before. It’s amazing what can happen when two or more creative people get talking.

As the teams put the final touches on their prototypes on Sunday evening, members of the local tech community started to arrive. The final part of Startup Weekend was the demo, giving teams a chance to show off what they had worked on for the last two days.

Here’s what was built at Startup Weekend Edmonton:

  • HomeCricket, an iPhone application that utilizes Open Data from the City of Edmonton to help you find a house. It shows you assessment information, as well as the nearest police stations, schools, parks, and more.
  • Life Radar, a to-do application for the iPad that uses a points system to motivate you to get things done. Neat app, especially when you consider that no one on the team had ever built an iPad app before!
  • RightPath, a web-based Q & A style app that connects high school students with mentors from the business world. Students ask questions about careers, mentors answer.
  • PaxImperium, a social real-time strategy game for Facebook. With no developers on the team, they focused on a detailed product pitch instead, complete with financial projections.
  • GameGigs, a web-based app that connects game developers, designers, and players. It uses the Twitter API for authentication, which made for an interesting (and challenging) demo!
  • Green Planet, a Facebook-based app (with an iPhone app too) that builds awareness around environmental sustainability. As you complete real-life missions (like replacing light bulbs in your house with energy efficient ones) your virtual planet benefits.

I’m really amazed at what was created in such a short amount of time! The apps were all polished and well-thought out, and while there were some bugs in the demos as expected, every team completed enough to clearly convey their idea. Many of the ideas changed quite a bit from the original pitch on Friday, and it would be interesting to see how they’d change even more if the teams continued working on them. With the Apps4Edmonton competition now underway, I suspect some of the teams may do just that.

There are loose plans for another Startup Weekend in Edmonton, tentatively scheduled for the fall. Stay tuned to Startup Edmonton (and on Twitter) for updates. You can see the rest of my photos from Startup Weekend here.

Congratulations to the Startup Edmonton team and to all the participants for a very fun and successful weekend!

This post originally appeared at MasterMaq's Blog.

Zero-touch, web-based virtualization & streaming with Spoon.net

A colleague of mine introduced me to Spoon.net a few weeks ago, and we have been using it for cross-browser testing ever since. Instead of installing every different browser locally, or using full virtual machines or something like that, you can make use of Spoon. Basically, it’s a virtualization layer (though it’s obviously much more complicated than that):

Spoon streaming delivers applications over the web, portals, and desktops over 5 to 20 times faster than traditionally downloaded applications, with no installs or hassles. Spoon streaming works with standard web servers and does not depend on proprietary streaming protocols, device drivers, or network infrastructure. And because Spoon streamed applications execute in an isolated virtual machine environment, they are accessible even on locked down desktops, without administrative privileges, and across operating system variants, including Windows 7.

They have a very ambitious mission: “to make the world's software available instantly, anywhere, on any device.”

I was surprised to find that Spoon had a booth at the TechEd Exhibition Hall, because they have kept a pretty low profile so far. They are planning to launch more officially in the near future. I took the opportunity to record a quick video overview with Lee Murphy, a technical account manager at Spoon:

It’s pretty simple. Go to the Spoon website, and click on an app that you want to run. If it’s the first time you’ve been to Spoon, it’ll install a browser plugin. This only happens once, and doesn’t even require a restart of the browser in most cases. After that, you can just click on an application to run it, instantly!

If you’re a web developer, you have to check out Spoon – it will definitely save you time. Right now it works on Windows machines inside IE, Firefox, and Safari, but they promise that Mac, Chrome, Opera, and support for additional platforms and browsers in on the way.

Tech·Ed North America 2010

Cross-browser testing is just one specific use of Spoon’s technology, of course. In an enterprise setting, you could deploy Spoon to quickly enable your employees to run specific applications, without having to set anything up. You do this using the Spoon Server and Spoon Studio:

The same technology that powers Spoon.net is now available to your organization. Enterprises can provide employees, partners, and vendors with access to the apps they need – instantly, reliably, anywhere – via the web, portals, or directly to desktops. Software publishers can dramatically boost conversion rates, reduce support costs, and enable new SaaS business models.

It’s very interesting technology that I suspect you’ll start to hear much more about!

Recap: Tech·Ed North America 2010 Day 1

I’m in New Orleans at Microsoft’s Tech·Ed conference this week. I’m going to be sharing my experience and some of the cool stuff I learn here and at my own blog.

TechEd kicked off here in New Orleans yesterday, with an opening keynote from Bob Muglia, President of the Server & Tools Business at Microsoft. There are more than 10,000 customers, partners, and staff on-site and I think all of them caught the keynote (they had to setup a few overflow rooms). John and I arrived early to register and quickly chow down some breakfast so that we could lineup for the keynote. Neither of us have sat in the front row before, but we managed to do so yesterday!

Here’s a quick video that John recorded:

The focus of the keynote, which you can watch here, was cloud computing. Some of the highlights  for me included (more info here):

  • The public beta of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 will start in July.
  • Windows Server AppFabric is now available.
  • The Pivot control for Silverlight 4 will be launched this summer. Pivot is such amazing technology (it utilizes Deep Zoom for some of its magic) and being able to embed it on a web page is going to be awesome.
  • We saw a quick demo of Windows Phone 7, specifically related to integration with SharePoint. The enterprise features look pretty slick, so I hope they can deliver on the consumer experience too. You can see some screencaps from the demo here.
  • It was really interesting to hear from Tony Scott, Microsoft’s CIO, about how they are fully adopting the cloud internally. He said that Microsoft IT is now officially “cloud first”.
  • Also very cool: a video talking about the digital asset management system that Microsoft built for James Cameron and his team for Avatar. Cameron talked about this at D8 too.

Tech·Ed North America 2010

Next up for John and I was the Developer Foundations keynote with Jason Zander. He announced quite a few interesting things for developers, including a new Feature Pack for Visual Studio 2010. Microsoft is going to release Feature Packs in between major releases to continually add functionality to the product. Some of the new stuff that excites me:

  • HTML clipboard support (copy code and paste it into your blog and its ready to go)
  • Search functionality for the Add Reference dialog
  • Tons of code editor improvements, such as entire-line-highlighting, and “tabify/untabify”

Jason also has a great post with links to new platform bits here. In particular, I’m very happy to see that Microsoft is working on Scrum Process Template for TFS 2010.

Throughout the day I explored the TechEd site. I visited the Community Lounge, which is where all the Hands-On Labs take place. I couldn’t resist taking a photo with the Channel9 guy:

Tech·Ed North America 2010

Channel9 was livestreaming all day yesterday, and are doing the same today.

I also visited the Exhibition Hall, full of Microsoft product team representatives, as well as dozens of partners. One of the more interesting things to see was one of the Azure server containers:

Tech·Ed North America 2010

After the day’s sessions were finished, there was a reception in the Exhibition Hall. I made sure to stop by the Windows Phone 7 booth, to check out the prototype:

Tech·Ed North America 2010

I didn’t learn any new details, of course, but it was neat to see the phone in action.

Other thoughts on day 1:

  • As expected, not everything went smoothly. The Internet was down for most of the day, which was really annoying. I always wonder why some innovative company hasn’t come along to revolutionize Internet access for conferences, because it is such a common problem.
  • There were far more unhealthy options available for snacks than healthy options (I saw only a few bananas and oranges, but lots of popcorn, cookies, and Goldfish crackers).

Tech·Ed North America 2010
In between sessions

You can see more of my TechEd photos here, and also at the TechEd group on Flickr.

Microsoft TechDays 2010

I’m excited to share the news that TechDays, Microsoft’s training conference for IT professionals and developers, is coming back for a third year! Last year’s tour across Canada was a big success, and based on what I’ve been told, Microsoft has put a lot of effort into ensuring that 2010 is even better. Here are the key announcements:

  • In addition to stops in Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Calgary, TechDays is coming to Edmonton! This decision was made because IT pros and developers in Edmonton said loud and clear that they wanted a local edition of TechDays.
  • Each city will now have a minimum of 50 sessions, which means there’s more content than ever before.
  • A common criticism of TechDays in the past was around the type of content being offered. This year Microsoft is adding a local community track to each city, giving local speakers the chance to submit sessions they want to present. If you want to talk about TDD or something, now you can.
  • Microsoft is also looking to partner with the local tech community, opening up space on the evening of day one for community use.

As an Edmontonian, I’m very happy to see TechDays come to my city. I’m also really pleased to see that Microsoft has heard the community’s feedback on content, and is adding the community track to each city.

The tour kicks off in Vancouver on September 14 and finishes in Calgary on December 15. Early bird tickets (about 50% off the regular price) will be available at the TechDays website in early May.

Microsoft will be sharing more news on TechDays 2010 soon. Be sure to sign up for the MSDN Newsletter (for developers) or the TechNet Newsletter (for IT pros) to keep up-to-date on the latest TechDays news.

Here are the dates and locations for TechDays 2010:

  • Vancouver – September 14/15 at the Vancouver Convention Centre
  • Edmonton – October 5/6 at the Shaw Conference Centre
  • Toronto – October 27/28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre
  • Halifax – November 2/3 at the World Trade & Convention Centre
  • Ottawa – November 9/10 at the Hampton Inn & Conference Centre
  • Montreal – November 23/24 at the Palais de Congres
  • Winnipeg – December 7/8 at the Winnipeg Convention Centre
  • Calgary – December 14/15 at the Calgary Stampede

Wi-Fi company Vex Canada launches

Yesterday was the launch of Vex Canada, a division of global Wi-Fi operator Vex Corporation. They’ve got a unique approach to the hotspot business, based around advertising. To start, they’ve partnered with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats:

After running pilot programs in a variety of locations across Canada, today’s announcement about the Hamilton Tiger-Cats marks an important milestone for Vex Canada. The partnership will allow stadium attendees, including fans watching Tiger-Cats games, to access free Wi-Fi through a stadium-wide HotSpot facilitated by Vex Canada. This will enable attendees to access the Internet using smart phones and laptops without incurring data charges.

The Vex model is different than hotspots you might have used in the past. Vex aims to marry a hotspot provider such as a coffee shop with advertisers. While the company is open to smaller-scale local advertising, the goal is to do national advertising wherever possible. Vex wants to build a national, ad-supported Wi-Fi network.

Vex started in Brazil in 2002, and has since grown to over 8000 hotspots in more than 35 countries. The model varies from country to country, depending on the local circumstances (users in some countries pay a fee, while users in other countries see ads).

I had the opportunity to meet Asif Khan, the Toronto-based entrepreneur charged with managing Vex Canada, a few months ago. He definitely brings passion to the table, and has been traveling across the country in recent months learning about what already exists (such as the Free Wi-Fi project here in Edmonton) and meeting with Wi-Fi leaders. Asif told me that Vex evaluated a number of models for Canada before finally settling on the ad-supported one.

I share Asif’s vision for Wi-Fi everywhere, and I’m eager to see if Vex can deliver on that. Wi-Fi providers in Canada haven’t been very successful thus far, and combined with the occasional discussion about municipality provided Wi-Fi, Vex faces an uphill battle. Asif has setup a blog for Vex Canada, and is an active user of Twitter too, so it’s easy to follow along.

Twestival is coming to a city near you on February 12th

twestival Over 100 cities around the world will be hosting events called Twestivals on February 12th, 2009. The Twitter community in each city will come together to meet and interact with one another, and to raise money and awareness for charity: water. The idea started in London, UK in September of last year when the local Twitter community decided to combine their get-together with a food drive and fundraising effort for a local charity. Eventually, the idea grew into a global initiative, and Twestival is the result:

Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

Here’s why charity: water was chosen:

Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water. That's one in six of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

Hopefully we can raise enough money to make a real difference!

There are a number of cities hosting Twestivals in Canada, including Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Other cities in the Techvibes network hosting Twestivals include Denver and Seattle.  You can see the full list at the Twestival site.

Details are still being hashed out for most cities, so be sure to find your contact and stay tuned for updates. Twestival is organized entirely by volunteers and 100% of the money raised will go directly to charity: water.

CanUX 2008 Links & Resources

With CanUX over, I found myself looking for all the links to templates and other information that were mentioned during the sessions. I thought I might as well share my list with others! Here it is (if you have something to add please let me know in the comments):

Web Form Design – Luke Wroblewski

UX Swimlanes – Yvonne Shek

A Better Method for Designing with Developers – Jerome Ryckborst

Sketchboards: Good Design Faster – Brandon Schauer

Visual Thinking in Practice – Dave Gray

Microsoft Surface – Dennis Wixon

Books

  • Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
  • Subject to Change by Merholz, Schauer, Verba, Wilkens

The next event from nForm will be the Web Strategy Summit, taking place in Calgary on May 4th & 5th, 2009.

If you’d like to read more about CanUX 2008, see my posts on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. I also posted some sketches here, and a list of attendees on Twitter here. My photos are here, and you can find other related photos on Flickr here.

CanUX 2008 - Day 3

canux2008 Today was the third and final day for CanUX 2008 (you can read about day 1 here and day 2 here). I had a great time at the conference, and I’d highly recommend attending if you’re considering it for 2009.

We started off with a session on Sketchboards from Adaptive Path’s Brandon Schauer. He took us through his process of sketching and idea generation. It starts with a six simple sketches. From there you pick one to focus on and flesh out a bit. Finally, you take your finished sketch and add it to the sketchboard, which will contain all your sketches and inputs. It was pretty interesting! You can find slides, templates and more at Brandon’s blog.

Our next session was presented by Dave Gray before and after lunch, called Visual Thinking in Practice. He shared with us some simple techniques for drawing, and expressed his frustration at the common response, “I can’t draw!” Dave has made it his mission to change that outlook, and was quite passionate when talking about how visuals are important for effective communication.

Our final session of the day was from Dennis Wixon, a researcher at Microsoft working on Surface. Despite being right at the end of the day, everyone was captivated by the presentation. Dennis did a nice job of explaining how Surface, as a Natural User Interface (NUI), fits into computing history. He was hesitant to talk roadmaps or product features, but offered a number of insights into the design and importance of Surface. He confessed that the technology existed long before anyone at Microsoft knew how it would be useful!

I’d like to thank the nForm crew for putting together an excellent event! It was great to meet some of Canada’s User Experience community, and I learned a lot.

Live from nextMEDIA: 2008 Canadian New Media Award Finalists

Finalists in a number of categories for the 2008 Canadian New Media Awards were announced very quickly on screen here at nextMEDIA. Here are the finalists for the two "big" awards:

Most Promising Company of the Year:

Company of the Year:

Press release should be coming out tomorrow, so watch for that.

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