events

August STIRR Canada Founders’ Table

[ August 27, 2008; 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm. ] Invites have gone out for the next Calgary Founders’ Table. This invitation-only dinner for tech-driven entrepreneurs will kick off the conversation with a window on the challenges and opportunities facing hardware-oriented tech startups.
HOW TO JOIN: If you’re the founder or funder of a tech startup, and you’re interested in joining STIRR Canada, please click on [...]

Invites have gone out for the next Calgary Founders’ Table. This invitation-only dinner for tech-driven entrepreneurs will kick off the conversation with a window on the challenges and opportunities facing hardware-oriented tech startups.

HOW TO JOIN: If you’re the founder or funder of a tech startup, and you’re interested in joining STIRR Canada, please click on the Apply tab (above) and complete our Application Form … tell us more about you and your company.

HOW TO SPONSOR: If you’re interested in sponsoring a STIRR Canada event, please click on the Sponsor tab (above) to find out more.

WHAT’S ON FOR FALL?: Invites will go out in September for our big fall Calgary Tech-Mixer event - get ready for some great Hacks, special guests, and networking opportunities!

Values or Value First?

Here’s a wrap-up of the STIRR Canada Founders’ Table dinner held at the Wildwood Grill on Tuesday August 29th in Calgary.
The theme was Technology Marketing and the discussion was animated as attendees discussed a broad range of topics including: choosing a business partner (look at the culture/values first or the numbers/value first?); internal blogging strategies [...]

Here’s a wrap-up of the STIRR Canada Founders’ Table dinner held at the Wildwood Grill on Tuesday August 29th in Calgary.

The theme was Technology Marketing and the discussion was animated as attendees discussed a broad range of topics including: choosing a business partner (look at the culture/values first or the numbers/value first?); internal blogging strategies (education, keywords, etc.); SEO (conversion vs. clicks); varying business views of the role of marketing in Calgary (commodities trading, t-shirts, strategic role); finding customer champions (internal influence, heroes, etc.); vibrant communities (taking the good with the bad); and ideas for growing technology marketing know-how and expertise in Calgary.

Representatives of the following companies were at the table: Divestco, Curve Dental, Intuit, Evoco, Tynt, iStockphoto, RenoWorks, Shopster, Cambrian House, Uncommon Innovation, and Mob4Hire.

Feedback from the evening:

“Great contacts, folks I’d been meaning to connect with for some time, interesting discussion.”

“I really enjoyed the event and thought it was useful to get together with fellow technology marketers and talk about functional and current business issues.”

“Thanks very much for organizing the dinner last night - it was one of the best industry events I have been to.”

Clockwise from upper left: Stephen King (Curve Dental), Christine Dougan (Intuit), Peter Koizumi (Shopster), Shekhar Parmar (STIRR Canada), Doug Vickerson (RenoWorks), Carey Houston (Evoco), Yvonne Beyer (iStockphoto), Claudia Moore (STIRR Canada).

Calgary’s Tech Marketers to Meet

A stellar group of Calgary’s tech marketing gurus and mavens will be attending the 3rd STIRR Canada Founders’ Table, to be held on the evening of Tuesday July 29th. Tech marketing expertise is identified as a startup must-have by entrepreneurs, and this dinner will be an opportunity for those Calgary entrepreneurial marketers working in the [...]

A stellar group of Calgary’s tech marketing gurus and mavens will be attending the 3rd STIRR Canada Founders’ Table, to be held on the evening of Tuesday July 29th. Tech marketing expertise is identified as a startup must-have by entrepreneurs, and this dinner will be an opportunity for those Calgary entrepreneurial marketers working in the tech space to connect, share ideas, and discuss current issues.

Finding Great Talent: Event Wrap-up

“The challenge in finding and retaining great sales and marketing talent” was one of the hot discussion topics at the STIRR Canada Founders’ Table held on July 3rd, at the Tribune Restaurant in Calgary.
A group of 10 emerging and established tech startup founders and funders were invited to the dinner, hosted by STIRR Canada’s Patrick [...]

“The challenge in finding and retaining great sales and marketing talent” was one of the hot discussion topics at the STIRR Canada Founders’ Table held on July 3rd, at the Tribune Restaurant in Calgary.

A group of 10 emerging and established tech startup founders and funders were invited to the dinner, hosted by STIRR Canada’s Patrick Lor and Claudia Moore. Among the companies represented were Acceleware, Calgary Scientific, VoodooPC (HP), Userful, and Evoco, as well as the evening’s sponsor Macleod Dixon.

Discussions covered a range of other topics including: best practices in working with international partners and resellers, startup culture, the ins and outs of tax credits and government funding, when to outsource, and more … talk continued on past dessert.

Some of the attendee feedback included:

• “It’s nice to have exposure to raw entrepreneurial spirit/DNA …”
• “I lost track of the time owing to the terrific conversation.”
• “I appreciated the small format discussion - and the ability to ask questions and share experiences.”
• “It was interesting hearing about the common issues all our companies suffer …”

More Founders’ Tables are planned for this summer, with a larger Tech Mixer planned for the fall. Stay tuned for dates, locations and times.

BarCamp Edmonton - July 19

[ July 19, 2008; 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. ] Another Western Canadian tech community event is planned for July. Sign up for BarCamp Edmonton - to be held on July 19th, 10:00 am at the Edmonton World Trade Center, Floor 6. Sponsors for the event are Nexopia and TEC Edmonton.

Interested in learning more about new tech or meeting peers from the Edmonton tech [...]

Another Western Canadian tech community event is planned for July. Sign up for BarCamp Edmonton - to be held on July 19th, 10:00 am at the Edmonton World Trade Center, Floor 6. Sponsors for the event are Nexopia and TEC Edmonton.

Interested in learning more about new tech or meeting peers from the Edmonton tech community in a casual and friendly setting? Think about which topic you’d be interested in leading a 20-minute interactive discussion about. MORE INFO HERE .. including beer and food details!! Thanks to Cam Linke for the heads up.

July Founders’ Table (Calgary)

[ July 3, 2008; 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm. ] A Founder’s Table dinner is planned for Thursday July 3rd, 5 pm in Calgary [revised date]

Following the success of our kick-off May 2008 STIRR Canada event (which hosted 50 Alberta-based guests) this July 2008 invitation-only dinner will return to the classic STIRR single-table gathering comprised of 10-12 founders of tech-driven companies.
FOR MORE DETAILS, please email: [...]

A Founder’s Table dinner is planned for Thursday July 3rd, 5 pm in Calgary [revised date]

Following the success of our kick-off May 2008 STIRR Canada event (which hosted 50 Alberta-based guests) this July 2008 invitation-only dinner will return to the classic STIRR single-table gathering comprised of 10-12 founders of tech-driven companies.

FOR MORE DETAILS, please email: Info{at}stirr{dot}ca

If you’re not already a member of STIRR Canada, please complete the APPLICATION FORM.

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A range of Calgary-based events are planned for the coming year:

• A Founder’s Table will be held each month.
• Pitch Labs are planned for August, October, December, January, and February.
• Popular Tech Mixer main events will be held in September and February.
• STIRR Canada will also hold on-campus events for Calgary students this fall, as well as participating in various BarCamp and DemoCamp activities.

BarCamp Calgary breaks for lunch (left) and Nexopia Founder Timo Ewalds (right) chats with BarCamp attendees.

Media STIRR

Local coverage in the Calgary Herald newspaper about Garrett Camp’s visit back to Calgary and his sharing of the StumbleUpon.com startup experience at STIRR Canada’s inaugural event.
From the Herald article:
“We wanted to have [Garrett] back to Calgary to … help coach the people in the room to what do we have to do to make [...]

Local coverage in the Calgary Herald newspaper about Garrett Camp’s visit back to Calgary and his sharing of the StumbleUpon.com startup experience at STIRR Canada’s inaugural event.

From the Herald article:

“We wanted to have [Garrett] back to Calgary to … help coach the people in the room to what do we have to do to make sure the next Garrett Camp, who might well be at one of the tables, has the opportunity to get mentored, funded and supported here so we can keep some of these great startup stories local, ” said Claudia Moore, a director of STIRR Canada and owner of Calgary-based technology company growth agent Material Insight Inc.“

And many thanks also to Techvibes for their support and coverage as well. Techvibes correspondent, Barcamp supporter, and technology intern, Cam Linke, came down from Edmonton to attend the Founders’ Table event. Thanks Cam!

Event Wrap-up

On Thursday evening, Albertan tech startup founders, funders, and emerging young guns filled the main floor of Calgary’s Bonterra Trattoria restaurant at STIRR Canada’s kick-off Founders & Funders Dinner event. Five hours later, after some great networking and facilitated dinner table conversations, people were still buzzing.
A young startup founder remarked: “I can’t believe the caliber [...]

On Thursday evening, Albertan tech startup founders, funders, and emerging young guns filled the main floor of Calgary’s Bonterra Trattoria restaurant at STIRR Canada’s kick-off Founders & Funders Dinner event. Five hours later, after some great networking and facilitated dinner table conversations, people were still buzzing.

A young startup founder remarked: “I can’t believe the caliber of people I just got to talk with or the amount I learned before dessert came. This has been the most productive tech event I’ve been to in Calgary.”

Participating companies included: Active Conversion, Broadramp, Calgary Scientific, Cambrian House, Cognera, CoolIT, Coril Holdings, Cornerstone Technologies, Datagardens, DirectVoxx, Dynastream, eSchedule, GamesCafe, iNovia Capital, Intervera, Loa Corporation, Mobovivo, Octane Venture Partners, Ph03nix New Media, Preo Software, Psyko Audio Labs … continue

First STIRR Canada event nears capacity

STIRR Canada’s first Founders & Funders Dinner, set to take place in Calgary on May 15th, has received great out-of-the-gate support from the Alberta tech startup community. We anticipate the last spot at the invitation-only dinner event will fill today. We’d also like to thank our first sponsor, Macleod Dixon, for their participation and continued [...]

STIRR Canada’s first Founders & Funders Dinner, set to take place in Calgary on May 15th, has received great out-of-the-gate support from the Alberta tech startup community. We anticipate the last spot at the invitation-only dinner event will fill today. We’d also like to thank our first sponsor, Macleod Dixon, for their participation and continued support of high-tech industry events. To find out more about STIRR Canada and how to apply for membership, please email: Info [at] stirr.ca

Founders & Funders Dinner (Calgary)

[ May 15, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. ] Meet a local group of tech startup founders and funders for a networking dinner with Garrett Camp, co-founder of the ’social search’ phenomenon StumbleUpon — at Calgary’s inaugural STIRR Canada Event.

This dinner is an invitation-only event.
Stay tuned for future, larger-scale, Tech Mixer events.
Garrett was completing his Masters degree in Software Engineering at the [...]

Meet a local group of tech startup founders and funders for a networking dinner with Garrett Camp, co-founder of the ’social search’ phenomenon StumbleUpon — at Calgary’s inaugural STIRR Canada Event.

This dinner is an invitation-only event.
Stay tuned for future, larger-scale, Tech Mixer events.

Garrett was completing his Masters degree in Software Engineering at the University of Calgary when he and some friends co-founded StumbleUpon in 2001.

In May of 2007, eBay acquired the company for US$75 million. By then, millions of users were “stumbling” across great content on the Internet and sharing their finds. TechCrunch recently reported that StumbleUpon has registered its five millionth user.