David Crow

Connector of dots. Maker of lines. Rider of slopes.

Events

How to Demo like a Demon

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David Crow + Leila Boujnane W00t! Leila and I are part of the MeshU schedule. We are co-presenting a session titled “How to Demo Like a Demon“. The original title was Raise Money, Win Friends and Get Laid (aka How to Demo and Pitch for Fun and Profit). The idea, we need to teach entrepreneurs how to present and communicate their ideas. We’re really trying to help improve the quality of pitches, demos and presentations.

Raise Money, Win Friends and Get Laid  (aka How to Demo and Pitch for Fun and Profit)
Co-presented with Leila Boujnane, Idee, Inc.
Boring! Get off the stage!
How many times have you wished you could say this to a presenter at a conference? Or a demoer at DemoCamp? This workshop will help developers understand that doing demos is a marketing task because it generates demand for the software.
Technologists and designers need to be able to create demand for their ideas. They need to be able to tell compelling stories that convince audiences that there is ‘wow’ in what they are doing. Successful demoers are more likely to raise money, have friends, and get laid.

I’ve talked about my awe of the MeshU line up previously, and now that the line up includes me, no serious, the rest of the lineup is fantastic. The rest of the MeshU lineup includes a fantastic program. If you’re looking for a meaningful conference in Toronto, MeshU is only $239.

Discovery08

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theblackswan OCE is hosting it’s Discovery conference again. I’m looking forward to hearing Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. The rest of the schedule looks entertaining and includes Michael Raynor, author of The Strategy Paradox: Why committing to success leads to failure (and what to do about it) and The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth.

List on the Discovery08 web is:

New for 2008: Experience Discovery like never before. Test your pitch on venture capitalists and other business experts. Participate in exciting team challenges that pit your innovation skills against real-world problems. Take advantage of our expanded networking environment. See and hear what’s hot in Ontario’s critical sectors like Cleantech, Energy, Life Sciences, Digital Media and Manufacturing. And connect with some of the world’s best selling authors and pundits at keynote sessions.

The one thing I’m finding strange these days is the number of people mostly from government that are talking about an “innovation sector” and pitting your “innovation skills against real-world problems”. What the hell is the innovation sector? Aren’t companies typically innovative in the previously mentioned sectors (Cleantech, Energy, Life Sciences, Digital Media and Manufacturing)?

What is innovation? Dictionary.com has 6 definitions including “something new or different introduced; the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods”. I just confused by the marketing speak used by the OCE team in promoting Discovery08. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised when I read the gibberish on the Ministry of Research & Innovation web site:

Places that invest in innovation, that stroke the creativity of people, that market their ideas most effectively will become the home to the most rewarding jobs, to the strongest economies and to the best quality of life. We want Ontario to be that place where innovation is inevitable.

While government involvement in my life is a series of tradeoffs, it’s great to know that at a provincial level there is support for the creation and commercialization of new technologies and business models. MRI supports MaRS, OCE and other organizations that support entrepreneurs, researchers and students with awareness, funding and policy.

What: Discovery08
How do you ride a curve that is yet to emerge? Or prepare for risks that have no name? Or create the next big thing when nothing is certain? Find out at OCE’s Discovery 2008, Canada’s premiere innovation and commercialization event. Be inspired, challenged and emboldened by influential thought leaders, daring visionaries, and over 1,500 delegates from every aspect of the innovation sector.
When: Monday, May 12, 2008 5:00 PM to Tuesday, May 13, 2008 4:00 PM
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre

255 Front Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5V 2W6 Canada

StartupCampMontreal2

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The Montreal gang (Embrase, Austin Hill, Sylvain Carle and Heri Rakotomalala)  have been busy getting StartupCampMontreal2 organized.

Startupcamp_eve2

 
What: StartupCampMontreal2
This is the second edition of Startup Camp Montreal, an event dedicated to everything Startup. It is the forum where early stage companies, investors and on-lookers alike can share information and validate pitches live. Join us as we learn from each other about the ins and outs of starting up. This event is not just for Montrealers, all are welcome.
When: Thursday, May 15, 2008 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Where: Society for Arts and Technology (SAT)

1195 Saint-Laurent Blvd
Montreal, Quebec H5B 1C2   Canada

Format of the Event

Five companies will be selected by the organizers to give a brief 5 minute presentation on their startup. Following which the audience will ask questions and give 5-10 minutes of feedback in an open forum.

Attending

You need to register to attend. I’m planning on attending and as the wiki says “this event is not just for Montrealers, all are welcome“. Consider making the trip to Montreal, now if was at the same time at the Grand Prix du Canada and someone could hook me up with tickets or a press pass.

MeshU looks awesome!

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Yes, I know that I’m technically responsible for the Microsoft Canada sponsorship of MeshU, but the lineup hadn’t been announced when we made the decision to find the sponsorship dollars. With great presenters like Avi Bryant, who gave one of my favourite DemoCamp presentations at DemoCampToronto5, will be presenting. If you haven’t seen the DabbleDB 8 Minute Demo I strongly recommend checking it out.

To top it off, MeshU registration is only $239 and in Toronto.

CIX Survey says…

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Ali asked for the survey results from the Exchanging Innovations Canadian-style post.

There were 23 respondents. No details were collected about relevancy to the Canadian Innovation Exchange market. Just looking for plain and simple opinion about what people would pay to attend CIX and what else would be valuable. Rick and Alec have provided commentary on the issue. I think the model is upside down, i.e., I’m not sure why as a entrepreneur I should pay to attend for a dog-and-pony show for VCs, I do pay to attend conferences. It really puts the onus on the CIX organizers to provide valuable content and a meaningful conference experience.

Robert and Sean have been listening and have adjusted their pricing for early-stage and later-stage companies.

The registration fee for seed stage companies is now $595, and later stage companies is $995 – this includes your delegate fee, and all presenting costs.

And have provided interesting keynote speakers:

The survey comments, included verbatim below, indicate the need for better conference experiences. I keep thinking about how we can improve the experiences of attendees and participants for DemoCamp and other participant-driven events.

 

Q.1 What is the maximum you would pay as an entrepreneur to attend and present at the Canadian Innovation Exchange?

Answer Count
$0 – Free 2 (9%)
$25 0 (0%)
$50 2 (9%)
$100 5 (22%)
$200 2 (9%)
$250 2 (9%)
$400 1 (4%)
$500 5 (22%)
$600 2 (9%)
More than $600 2 (9%)

Q.2 What do you expect in return?

Answer Count
10 minutes on stage 17 (29%)
Media coverage – press, blog, other 12 (20%)
3 Private Venture Meetings 10 (17%)
Free advice 9 (15%)
Private meetings with service providers 5 (8%)
$10,000 Best-in-Show prize 3 (5%)
Discounts 2 (3%)
Free software 1 (2%)

Q.3 What else would be valuable?

  • Having some ‘connectors’ who will help introduce people with like interests.
  • All of the above is great but what really matters is meetings with the right people. Otherwise it’s blind dating.
  • Just meeting the right people when we are ready for VC funding and learning the whole process of funding and when it’s a good time to go for funding. We are not ready now for funding now but would like to attend the conference to start meeting ‘qualified’ investors and not people who will drag the process. We are hiring someone to help with the development but hiring a dev is equally important as meeting the right people which I think CIX brings, unfortunately with hiring a dev, cash becomes tight when you are self funding 🙁
  • Critical advice from seasoned entrepreneurs with no vested interest
  • Simple Exposure
  • Allow co-founders to attend for their company presentation! A start-up is a team activity…team work makes the dream work as they say. So limiting the price structure to one founder there is just not the best way to go – even if it involves giving a discount for attending co-founders.
  • Not expected but media coverage would be valuable if my project was deemed worthy.
  • workshops/tutorials – organized collaboratively through the conference producers and the registered delegates.
  • lisitng on CIX website.
  • Social aspects
  • Proof of value. A proxy is knowing who is participating. Otherwise I’d write it off as a go nowhere boondoggle.