Community

In the past few years I’ve found myself a lot more interested in the ‘community’ aspects of the technology field. I’ve recently had the pleasure to be involved in two great local technology projects.

Startup Weekend

I attended Startup Weekend Vancouver in 2010 and by the time the event was over, I had decided it was something I wanted to bring to the Okanagan. During the following summer, I formed an organizing committee and nine months later we held the very first Startup Weekend Okanagan. The event saw 65 participants form into 10 teams that came out with a variety of amazing web apps and mobile solutions. The reaction from the community was extremely positive and we’re already organizing a follow-up event.

For more information see Okanagan Startup Weekend

OK co+Lab

Shane Austin and myself have co-founded a shared work space for creative types in the technology and media fields.  What started of as a small ambition to have 3 or 4 freelancers share an office quickly grew into a much larger ambition. The co+Lab officially opened it doors in September 2011 and is currently at 10 members with another 2 spaces to be added in January 2012. The benefits of being around other like-minded individuals have become apparent and several new ventures have already been formed between members.

For more information see okcolab.com

Okanagan Developer Group

Over the past two years I’ve helped build a vibrant local developer community with 250+ members. We’ve held ten events over the past year and my involvement has been gathering presenters and obtaining sponsorships.  I’ve also given talks at 3 events on topics such as PHP, Near Field Communications and “How to be an awesome freelancer”.

More information can be found at okdg.org