Tonight we held our first DemoCamp of 2009, once again in ETLC at the University of Alberta. Despite some cold weather, slick roads, and an Oilers game (featuring the return of Mats Sundin) we still had at least 75 people in attendance tonight at DemoCampEdmonton5. A great way to start the new year!
We had five demos tonight:
Just like last time, all of the demos went very well and looked very slick.
I think my “demo of the night” goes to CrazedCoders, with Matt Skopyk very close behind. I’m very impressed that a local company designed the new interface for a mainstream Linksys device (photo here and here), and will be revamping the interface for their line of routers as well. Engadget said in their post about the device, “we'll see how that interface runs in person later this week.” How cool is it that we got to see the interface directly from the developers tonight here in Edmonton?! More than that, the interface looks amazing. They’ve really done an amazing job. As for Matt’s demo - it was just plain cool. I love seeing the interesting things that people are up to, and the music and lights was definitely a crowd pleaser. You can watch it here (audio is pretty quiet, sorry).
For more on the demos, check out Twitter where I posted live updates from the event. Afterward we again converged at The Windsor Pub to continue chatting, meeting one another, and occasionally watch the hockey game. It was absolutely packed!
Thanks to everyone who came out tonight! If you’d like to be notified about future DemoCamp and BarCamp events in Edmonton, sign up for the mailing list here.
Registration for this year's Northern Voice conference in Vancouver opens today and tickets are going fast. As of 4pm today, 100 of the 300 available spots were spoken for by eager attendees.
Northern Voice is a two-day, non-profit personal blogging and social media conference held at the Forestry Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, UBC main campus, Vancouver, Canada on February 20-21, 2009. This is the 5th annual incarnation of this event.
If you're interested in attending, I suggest you get on it now as it should sell out in record time this year.
ByteClub.tv is a new online show which has been profiling Toronto-based startups. They have produced 14 episodes so far, covering local startups like b5media, Clear Sky Media (RedFlagDeals.com), among others. Their videos are short (about 5 minutes in length) and feature candid interviews with the founders and other employees of the startup they visit, providing a great insight into that startup's culture.
Their latest episode features Learnhub, which is a "social learning network" primarily targeted towards high school and university students in India looking to study in the US, UK, etc. It was launched by Savvica, founded by the husband-wife team of John Philip and Malgosia Green, who moved to Toronto from San Francisco to start this venture. As John mentions in this video, they have their development office based in Toronto, while marketing to an Indian audience!
Savvica is one of the few venture-backed startups in Toronto, and its founders have been an active member of the local startup community, having initiated and hosted Founder's Lunch to enable entrepreneurs to network with each other. Check out the ByteClub video:
Nuvvo is your way to teach on the web. Sign up for free in under a minute. Your free account comes with a host of easy-to-use features so you can... [more]
Craigslist addicts like myself will be interested in Craigsphone, the new iPhone app from Next Mobile Web. Craigsphone offers a clean UI; the ability to post, upload and share location while mobile; a saved viewing history, location-based suggestions, and instant-dial numbers. The Next Mobile Web crew is claiming that there is much more to come. "The internet is raw and beautiful because it is Us," they say, "and no site is more Us than craigslist." While the ability to "see stuff, fun and people nearby" is currently limited to San Francisco and Manhattan, Next Mobile Web says they will "take the best local site in the world and make it truly local." It will be interesting to see exactly where they go with that. This app might end up being the greatest thing since sliced bread for those people who constantly scan the Missed Connections hoping to find themselves described.
craigsphone from Next Mobile Web on Vimeo
We are mobile geeks working hard to improve the web. [more]
As a follow-up to our January 2009 Canada Startup index yesterday, comScore has provided us with their take on the top contenders.
In the above chart, the Online % Reach is the percentage of Canadians online that each entity reaches. As an example, Metrolyrics reached 8.9% of all Canadians during November 2008, making them the hands-down leader.
ZipLocal had the biggest month-over-month improvement rising from 2.7 to 3.2 and leapfrogging RedFlagDeals.
Thanks again to comScore for sharing this valuable data with Techvibes.
RedFlagDeals.com is Canada's largest bargain shopping community! Saving money is as Canadian as poutine or rolling up the rim on a double double.... [more]
Founded in 2004, MetroLeap Media Inc. is leading provider of entertainment content within the music and video game Internet market. Its flagship... [more]
ZipLocal is the difference between getting advice from the phone book vs. your trusted friends and neighbours. ZipLocal makes it easy to find what... [more]
