BarCamp Montreal #3 - It rocked!
November 5th, 2007
Well, BarCamp Montreal is now over. I must say that is was a complete success. The organization was flawless thanks to everyone who participated. A special thank you goes to Simon Law, who went to bed at 5am because he had to print out the name tags. Another special thank you to Evan who woke up at 5am to make sure everyone got coffee! Great job! 
It made the registration process a lot smoother. Although it was a Montreal-based event, some people from Ottawa and Toronto joined.
Here are my thoughts on what I really liked in no particular order.
CakeMail - This thing rocks. Having tried it in the past, it’s definitively ready for prime time. I haven’t seen the Google maps / Web statistic part of it but I think it’s pure madness (in an genius way of speaking). The only thing missing is the linking of geographical data to a user. This might be a bit hard - I admit - but will be worth gold to some people, especially if users don’t enter their location in their profile (like most traditional mailing lists).
Keiki - Awesome. I’m a parent myself and although I’ve never paid for parenting books (who does?) having a centralized place for such information is great. A great plus would be to have “certified profiles” who can write special articles (i.e. doctors, pediatricians, etc.) As a parent, I often hear about many weird things and unless it comes from a doctor, I take it with a grain of salt. So something to keep an eye on!
TimmyOnTime - Too bad their demo, their backup and their rescue boat (the videos) didn’t work. The product looks very promising especially for freelancers and consultants. I suggested them to find a solution for larger companies who already use an internal system (i.e. make a plugin to put the data in Oracle). I’m not sure if they want to focus on large companies in the short term so let’s see. Guys, BarCampCanada is coming soon (March, May?) so how about a final release demo?
RefactorMyCode - This is really cool. Marc-André did a nice presentation but I thought it was a bit too short. I agree that it was a “lighting talk” but going a bit deeper would’ve been nice (especially for the geek crowd). Standout Jobs sponsors the project so this means it’s good stuff!
Sylvain Carle - I stopped counting his presentations. Was it 3 or maybe 4? Great speaker. He knows his stuff very well and he mentioned that he had to pitch 40 times in order to receive financing for Praized. Great lessons for everyone. It shows what dedication can do…! I also love his “paradox”: No competition: stupid idea, no competition: amazing idea! How about when there’s a little bit of competition? Or event a lot? Google wouldn’t be here otherwise…! Regarding Google’s mega API: I guess they had no choice. We often say: if you can’t beat them, join them. Well Google said: if you can’t beat them, control them! Sort of…
BlitzWeekend - Heri did a quick talk and managed to gain some interest from some people. Let’s hope lots of people will participate as similar events in the past (mainly Startup Weekends) were very successful. This is a must attend event! (shameless plug as I’m helping Heri organize it)
Austin Hill - No slides but what a presentation! I was very amazed to see his level of knowledge regarding Angel investing. He knows his stuff! Everone was listening. It proves that people are interested in the financial part of any business (hint to VC/angels - why don’t you come for a presentation?)
Finally, yours truly made a presentation about my own project (YulNews.com) and I’d like to take the opportunity to announce you that YulNews now has its own blog. The URL is: www.yulnews.com/blog. The purpose of the blog is to talk about the project’s progress and any social news issues. So you are officially invited to visit and participate!
Heri from MontrealTechWatch has an amazing article about the latest camp. Lots of pictures too!
All in all, BCM3 was very fun and if you haven’t showed up, you must attend the very first Canadian BarCamp. I heard some exciting rumors!
Posted in BarCampMontreal, Montreal, YulNews, barcamp, internet | Comments (4)
November 5th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
salut
congratulations for the yulnews blog! the design is very impressive.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Hey Denis, thx for the review
Indeed my presentation was really short, due in part by some technical trouble I had at the begining and in part by my incompetence to improvize properly. I apologize.
Good luck w/ your project!
November 6th, 2007 at 10:27 am
heri: thanks but I need to work a little bit more on it
M-A: maybe you can present an official release at the upcoming BarCamp Canada? Maybe create new areas for designers and artists? There’s potential for growth..!
November 6th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Hey nice idea Denis, I like it!
Maybe I’ll present something bigger on BarCampCanada, but this one is in may.