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!

Please remember that you must attend! This event only occurs every 6 months or so and it will be awesome! I expect a lot of coverage but no coverage can replace your own participation so please come even just for a couple of hours if you can make it for the whole day. Hey, I will be there, isn’t that worth the trip..!? Ok ok… :)

I don’t feel quite ready to demo my project but I think this is an opportunity that simply can’t be missed… More on that when I have time to make up my mind!

Also of interest is Montreal’s upcoming DemoCamp5 on October 30th. I strongly suggest you attend as well as fine presenters will be there.

If you have topics to talk about, please update the wiki as it’s slowly but surely filling up. Strangely, it is not sure if the event will be at SAT. If so, here’s the map for you guys outside of Montreal:

View Larger Map

Finally, since this is a country-wide event, I thought it would be great to add a column where attendees could add their city/province. This will give everyone a better picture of the success of the event. Anyone seconds this motion?

It’s great to hear about this type of news. This makes me wonder why Montreal is such a great place? Not to sound pessimist but I would think that Vancouver or Toronto are better positioned. Is it the hybrid (French-English) culture? Maybe. The cultural diversity? Vancouver and Toronto are probably more “diversified”…

The article also mentions about BarCamps so I’ll take the opportunity to mention about 2 upcoming activities:

BarCampCanada1 is coming up. Please take a look at the official site. Fine folks already registered and I think this will be huge. I hope it won’t be limited to 5 participants and I REALLY hope it will be over a weekend or at least a Saturday.

DemoCampMontreal5 is already packed and will take place on Wednesday, 24 October 2007. 18:30 to 20:30. I guess I missed my chance to demo my current project. Oh well, “you snooze, you lose”.

Un rendez-vous à me pas manquer..!

Puisque je n’avait pas énormément de temps, je n’ai pu assister à toutes les présentation mais j’ai pu toutefois avoir le “feeling” d’un BarCamp. Le tout m’a donné suffisamment de détermination et de volonté afin de présenter un de mes projets, présentement en phase de développement, dans le cadre d’un autre “camp”.

J’ai vraiment aimé l’aspect informel, voire semi-anarchique où les questions étaient posées par l’audience après la conversation. Un des présentateur a eu un problème avec son ordinateur portable mais quelqu’un d’autre a rapidement pris sa place. The show must go on… Un autre présentateur a rapidement “bouché” un trou de 5-10 minutes juste avant le lunch même s’il ne semblait pas être préparé. Bref, le tout était semi structuré, mais toutefois très intéressant et additif.

J’ai alors réalisé qu’il y avait d’autre gens comme moi, d’autres gens qui ont des idées et qui veulent changer les choses. Plein de gens qui tentent leur chance à cet espèce de loterie ou même si l’on ne gagne pas, on est heureux d’avoir participé. Cette rencontre m’a donné un énorme regain de confiance en moi et me pousse maintenant à m’améliorer, à mettre mes idées en vie et à en discuter avec d’autres personnes.

J’ai toujours des questions sans réponses par rapport à ces BarCamps mais je crois qu’ils sont très utiles et je vous encourage à y participer en visitant www.barcamp.org et en sélectionnant votre ville. En particulier, voici la page pour la prochaine rencontre: http://barcamp.org/DemoCampMontreal3.

Si vous désirez voir les photos de l’événement, cliquez ici pour visiter le site Flickr de Simon Law. Il y a également un excellent article sur le blog MontrealTechWatch avec quelques photos et vidéos.

Si vous désirez plus d’information, vous pouvez également visiter le groupe Google qui est disponible ici.