Author Archives: kevinbrowne

Hamilton and Thunder Bay DemoCamps in June

DemoCamp Hamilton 12

When: Wednesday June 19th from 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Where: The Art Gallery of Hamilton @ 123 King St West
Register: democamphamilton12.eventbrite.com

dale

 

Dale Mugford

 

Co-Founder of BraveNewCode

 

Dale Mugford (@DaleMugford) is President of Design & Product Experience for BraveNewCode’s (@BraveNewCode) products and services. He also provides direction for company communications. For over 15 years, he previously designed websites independently, notably working on cutting-edge web experiences for Canadian recording artists, authors, and businesses before co-founding BraveNewCode with Duane. In his spare time Dale enjoys meeting up with other creatives, doing a little fishing, & spending time with his fiancée and her son.

BraveNewCode is a Hamilton-based startup that is demonstrating that you can make a global product right here. This month they released their WordPress plug-in WPTouch Pro 3 that powers the mobile version of over 25 million WordPress websites, or 39% of total WordPress websites worldwide. BraveNewCode is also leading the charge on organizing Hamilton’s first WordCamp event (@WordCampHamOnt) along with Orbital.

In addition to the keynote by Dale Mugford we’ll have a great line-up of demos from the Hamilton community including Factor[e] and FluidMedia!

 

DemoCamp Thunder Bay 1

When: Monday June 3rd @ 6pm
Where: Lakehead University, ATAC Building, Room 1010
Register: facebook.com/events/202305813250839

dctbayDemoCamp is a new type of event to Thunder Bay that will be of interest to technology and business innovators alike. This is a night of software demos, tech entrepreneur keynote speakers, followed by cocktails and apps at a local restaurant!

Keynote Speaker: Derek Szeto. Founder and President of Clear Sky Media (parent company of RedFlagDeals.com), CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario in 2004, and Ontario Finalist for the 2007 Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Demos:

NLites: NLites, to be presented by Dr. Arnold Kim. NLites is a unique software platform that allows teams of healthcare providers to collaboratively maintain medical documents containing an up to date summary of the patient they are caring for, which is also machine readable. It is this machine readability that allows for endless possibilities of automation based on machine understanding of the impressions and intentions described within this long overdue overhaul of medical documentation.

Self-Balancing Robot: A collaborative demo of Sean Dunlop and Joshua Kim’s grade 8 science fair project which involved creating an NXT self balancing robot and rotating IR distance detector which are remotely controlled, along with remote data collection by an Android tablet using Bluetooth.

After demos, the group will re-convene at Naxos on Arthur St, for food and drink!

Sponsored by Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre and Lakehead University Faculty of Business Administration.

DemoCampHamilton11 with Fraser Kelton

Keynote Speaker

Fraser Kelton

COO @ GetGlue

Fraser Kelton (@fraser) is COO of GetGlue.com (@GetGlue), a New York based startup that won Mashable’s 2011 Breakout Startup of the Year award. GetGlue is a leading Social TV app, with 4 million users and 75 network partnerships. GetGlue’s vision is to create a deeply personalized, social and connected experience around television.

Prior to joining GetGlue, Fraser was a member of Trivaris, a seed stage investment firm. Fraser graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, with a degree in Applied Economics.

When: Monday March 25th, 2012 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm 

Where: McMaster University – Twelve Eighty Student Pub

Register: democamphamilton11.eventbrite.com

The software startup surge in Hamilton continues, expect to see demos from up-and-coming startups like Groupnotes at this DemoCamp!

DemoCamp reboot survey + mHealth, Edmonton, Hamilton

In case you haven’t seen it, David is seeking feedback about rebooting DemoCamp.

The first ever mHealthDemoCamp (@mHealthDemoCamp) took place December 13th at MarsDD, the event was hosted by Monolith Interactive and a summary of the event has been posted here.

There are also upcoming milestone-number DemoCamps in Edmonton and Hamilton next month:

DemoCamp Edmonton 20

When: Tuesday January 8th 2013 @ 6:45pm-9:00pm
Where: TELUS Centre 150, University of Alberta
Registration: meetup.com/startupedmonton/events/94507332

Drinks and networking to follow at Original Joe’s on campus!

DemoCamp Hamilton 10

When: Monday January 28th 2013 @ 6:30pm-9:00pm
Where: The Arnie pub @ Mohawk College
Registration: democamphamilton10.eventbrite.com

jannacameronThe keynote will be done by Janna Cameron, Usability / Accessibility Specialist @ Desire2Learn. A champion for accessible design in technology, Janna Cameron’s work has been focused on extending the reach of technology to a portion of the population that has been inadvertently sidelined. By working closely with developers, designers and engineers to develop a fuller understanding of how people with disabilities use the web, Janna has parlayed a passion for user research into a career that has helped remove barriers to education. She brings a sense of humor and optimism to her work, encouraging others to join her in making the web accessible to all.

Anybody in Ontario that’s interested is welcome to attend. There’s been a nice surge in student startups in Hamilton (e.g. TurnChannel, Groupnotes), expect to see others like OverAir demoed at this event.

November DemoCamps: Hamilton, Guelph and Niagara

DemoCamp Hamilton 9

When: Tuesday November 20th 2012 @ 6:30pm-9:30pm
Where: Twelve Eighty pub @ McMaster University
Registration: democamphamilton9.eventbrite.com

Keynote by Carol Leaman (@CarolLeaman) CEO of Axonify (@Axonify). Axonify combines principles of behavioral science with the best qualities of gamified and social software to result in a new approach to e-learning and employee awareness—one that empowers organizations to train faster, retain information effectively and perform better. Carol brings more than 20 years of leadership and technology executive experience to the company as she has a history of building start-ups into multi-million dollar successes.

DemoCamp Guelph 20

When: Tuesday November 27th 2012 @ 6:30pm-9:30pm
Where: The EBar
Registration: guestlistapp.com/events/125868

DemoCamp Niagara 2

When: Wednesday November 28th 2012 @ 6:00pm-9:00pm
Where: Red Hot Chili Pepper
Registration: democampniagara2.eventbrite.com

Dr. Kevin Kee of Brock University’s Centre for Digital Humanities will present a keynote: The Future of the Past, or Why Historians Need to Work with Digital Media Developers.

Halifax, Hamilton and Niagara in September

DemoCamp Halifax 2012

When: Tuesday September 23rd 2012 @ 5:30pm-9:00pm
Where: Dalhousie CS Building Auditorium
Registration: democamphalifax.com/register/

There is a great line-up of speakers and an after party. The event is free for students and $20 for professionals (proceeds spent on catering, with the remainder going to charity).

DemoCamp Hamilton 8

When: Monday September 24th 2012 @ 6:30pm-9:30pm
Where: The Arnie pub @ Mohawk College
Registration: democamphamilton8.eventbrite.com

We’ll have a keynote by Mabel’s Labels at this DemoCamp. Mabel’s Labels is a wonderful Hamilton success story, over the last 10 years the company has grown from 4 founders operating out of a basement to 40+ employees in a 14,000 sqaure foot location.

DemoCamp Niagara 1

When: Wednesday September 19th 2012 @ 6:30pm-9:30pm
Where: On the Front Cafe & Eatery
Registration: democampniagara.eventbrite.com

The Niagara region’s first ever DemoCamp! The Front Cafe & Eatery in Thorold is conveniently located just a few minutes from Brock University and the Pen Centre shopping mall. The event is free and you do not need to demo to attend.

Upcoming DemoCampHamilton events

DemoCampHamilton5

When: Thursday February 9th 2012 @ 6:30pm-9:30pm
Where: The Arnie pub @ Mohawk College
Registration: democamphamilton5.eventbrite.com

Keynote: Ryan McGreal – Services-First: A Better Way to Build a Web Application

Ryan (@RyanMcgreal) will discuss design principles behind web service APIs and the possible value that can be unlocked when designing your web application in terms of web service APIs.

This will be followed by demos from FluidMedia, Nik Garkusha (@Nik_G), Mike Trpcic (@mtrpcic), Orbital (@GetOrbital), IdeaWorks, and Avaya web.alive (@joerigby1339).

DemoCampHamilton6

When: Tuesday March 20th 2012 @ 6:30pm-9:30pm
Where: Twelve Eighty pub @ McMaster University
Registration: democamphamilton6.eventbrite.com

Keynote: Joel Augé – Building a great gaming company

Joel (@joelauge) is the CEO and Co-Founder of HitGrab Inc, a leader in social gaming. In March of 2008, HitGrab created MouseHunt, which is now one of the most successful (in terms of user engagement) games on Facebook. HitGrab has also created LevynLight, a ‘light’ fantasy RPG that’s focused on simplicity, allowing you to jump in at anytime and have quick bursts of fun throughout the day!

The demo line-up has yet to be finalized, but expect to see at least one of the student startups that are starting to come out of McMaster (such as DormBooth). Normally DemoCampHamilton events are scheduled 2-4 months apart… but after seeing firsthand during instruction of a UI design course how skilled and passionate some McMaster students are about game development, and after Joel agreed to keynote the event, an exception had to be made!

The Hamilton tech scene is set to pick up some steam over the next few months. Michael Canton (@valleytownmedia) and Tim Miron (@TJMiron) are producing a web series (#TechTalk4HamOnt) to spotlight the community. Kik Messenger platform evangelist Yuriy Blokhin (@yblokhin) will keynote Leap into Startup Weekend on February 29th – the ticket sale launch party for next April’s Startup Weekend. The city’s Open Data movement is planning The Bay Hackathon for March 2nd to March 4th. The successful eHealth\mHealth focused AppsForHealth conference will repeat in May 2012. StartupDrinks is now occurring every month. At least a couple people at DemoCampHamilton5 are planning to step up to the mic between demos to try to get the ball rolling on Codeacademy meetups and other community activities.

Anyone in the Southern Ontario region interested in our DemoCamp or these other activities is always welcome to come to Hamilton!

DemoCampHamilton2 Recap: So hot we set off the fire alarm!

DemoCampHamilton2 occurred Friday May 27th, 2011 at Mohawk College in conjunction with the AppsForHealth 2011 conference. The event was hosted by Software Hamilton and sponsored and supported by the great folks at Innovation Factory and Mohawk College. The combination of an excellent keynote, demos and audience turned out to be too hot for the fire alarms at Mohawk!

Mic Berman kicked off the event with an excellent keynote focused on sharing her startup expertise. The quality of the discussion the talk generated was one of the highlights of the evening, perhaps given the high level of interest in fostering a startup culture in the Hamilton software community. The talk was described perfectly in a #DCH tweet as “inspiring and grounding at the same time”.

Cristina Calder of FluidMedia started off the demos by showing us Rendering Exchange – a web-based, crowd-sourced platform that connects graphic designers with commercial interior manufacturers, architects and interior designers to provide high-quality, photo-realistic room scene images for use in sales and planning.

DemoCampHamilton audience favourite “mad inventor” Dan Zen took audience interactivity to new heights with his demo of Touchy – a smartphone game where two players, each with mobile devices, try to touch the other player’s screen while protecting their own. When two people play the game it creates a Twister-like physical spectacle that is as fun to watch as it is to play. Dan demoed Touchy by having the entire audience play “Touchy” at once by having us try to touch the business card of the DemoCamp-er sitting next to us while protecting our own!

Adam Caromicoli and Doris Bean of Indellient Inc. were up next to demo Inktronic – a Digital Pen based collaboration tool that simplifies workflow involving graphical content for the architectural, engineering and construction industries.

After a forced break for what was dubbed the “great fire alarm of DemoCampHamilton2″, Joey Coleman of Open Hamilton and Nik Garkusha of Open Halton talked about the Open Data movement occurring across Canada and demoed what software the Open Hamilton branch of the movement has developed thus far.

The final demo was done by two McMaster University computer science students, Gavin Schulz and Zaahir Moolla, who demoed their new service MealDeck which allows restaurants to easily create a cross-platform mobile website. Student entrepreneurism is something we want to see more of in Hamilton and the professionalism and courage these two showed by putting themselves and their service out there for criticism was widely praised – watch out for these guys!

The AppsForHealth 2011 conference itself was a huge success, you can check out the mobile apps that the students devised here. Expect the next DemoCampHamilton at McMaster in September, but in the meantime we will be having the first Software Hamilton Pub Night this June 28th.

Recap: DemoCamp Hamilton 1

The inaugural DemoCampHamilton took place Wednesday March 2nd, 2011 at Slainte Irish Pub in downtown Hamilton. A packed audience consisting mainly of developers, entrepreneurs and students as well as an excellent keynote presentation by Ali Asaria and demos by CartaNova, AlboDigital, PoolingPeople.ca, FluidMedia and “mad inventor” Dan Zen made the event a success. Sponsors Fluid Media Inc. and Innovation Factory deserve a special thanks for their support and sponsorship of the event.

The night started off with a great keynote speech by Ali Asaria of Well.ca which gave the audience insight into life inside the successful online health and beauty store.

This was followed by 5 demos:

Andrew Holden and Rob Porter of CartaNova showed us Weever – an upcoming service that will quickly grab data from a website to generate HTML5 touch-interface “web apps” of said website for mobile devices on Android, iOS, Blackberry.

Magda Lutcher of AlboDigital showed us their Content Management System for end users and graphic designers.

Hannah McKinnon showed us PoolingPeople.ca, a new online business to business community that brings overstaffed and understaffed companies together, enabling them to directly lend / borrow / permanently transfer employees without an intermediary.

President of Fluid Media Justin Hogeterp showed us CoffeeTablet – an iPad app for creating and sharing “Coffeetable” books from photos and video.

The “mad inventor” Dan Zen showed us Opartica, an online Op Art tool that lets people create and fly through their op art in 3D.

Thanks again to everyone for coming out, we’ll be doing this again, and the tentative plan is to take this to Mohawk College and McMaster University by the end of the year.