Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
We all know that it costs money to put events together. And so it makes sense that folks have to charge for tickets to help sustain their events over the long term. But none of that reasoning helps if the ticket price is preventing you from attending an event. That’s why I love things like PDX Women in Tech’s #InvestingInYou scholarship program
Read More
It’s not like you’re actively trying to procrastinate. It’s just that you’re a founder. And you’ve got a million things to do. And a bunch of fires burning. So I’m not asking you to do anything at the moment. But I did want to remind you of four rapidly approaching deadlines for programs that could be beneficial for your startup.
One of the things I appreciate about Portland is the way it rethinks conference formats. We have any number of examples from any number of small unconferences to gigantic things like the XOXO Festival. Now, there’s a new event in town that promises to gather folks from the design community while helping nonprofits at the same time. Meet Affect. Read More
[Full disclosure: This is yet another one of my side projects. So please forgive any gushing. That said, hope to see you there. It’s going to be awesome.]
A few months back, I mentioned some folks had been discussing the potential for a tech event to be held in conjunction with MusicFestNW, the annual independent music festival that takes over the Portland club scene in early September. Read More
While a whole new crop of startups are currently being pitched and formed at the latest version of Startup Weekend Portland, the winning company from the last Startup Weekend just managed to wow a crowd of investors in Bend—and land a bit more capital. Read More
WebVisions is quickly approaching. It’s coming up next week already, May 20-22 at the OCC.
Time to stop procrastinating and register. Better yet, take advantage of the package deal WebVisions and Open Source Bridge are offering, i.e. full access passes to both events for $300. Jump on that deal before May 18, and you’ll save $200.
Look at it this way. If you have an interest in either conference, you’ll get the other for a song, i.e. $50. Or maybe you’re a Web designer who wants to attend WebVisions who has a Web developer buddy who wants to attend Open Source Bridge. That’s a pretty sweet split cost. (Hint, hint)
Have you seen the speaker lineup for WebVisions? It’s jam-packed with local and international talent, assembling to talk about the future of the Web design, business strategy and user experience.
Oh, and Silicon Florist is a sponsor so the turoczybot commands that you attend.
I’m the first to admit: I don’t cover as much stuff in the Gorge as I should. There’s a ton of cool stuff happening out there. And fortunately, we’ve got a diplomat like John Metta who exposes us to it.
Today, he let us know that the Gorge Angel Conference was extending their deadline to April 10.
What’s the Gorge Angel Conference?
The Gorge Angel Conference is an educational, investment and networking event for angel investors and early stage entrepreneurs. Early stage companies will compete for a minimum pooled investment prize of $100,000. The Selection Committee, made up of the group of investors, will be reviewing and judging each application in search of the best investment opportunity. Companies must have good growth and profit potential. Early stage deals are preferred. Companies should be seeking capital within the range of $100,000 to $1,000,000 and planning to locate in the Columbia River Gorge region.
So, if you’re a startup in the Gorge—or you’re interested in relocating closer to Full Sail to the Gorge—you’ll want to take a look at this event.
The even will be held May 19 at the Hood River Inn. For more information or to download the forms, visit the Gorge Angel Conference.
[HTML1]
As previously teased, WebVisions will be hosting a Lunch 2.0 on May 20, the first day of the conference. WebVisions runs May 20-22 at the Oregon Convention Center.
This Lunch 2.0 will be free to all, even if you’re not planning to attend the conference. Of course, if you are interested or are attending, this will be an excellent opportunity to get a sneak peek at the conference.
May 20 is the workshop day of the conference, so this will be a chance to rub elbows with the workshop attendees and presenters, e.g. Jason Grigsby and John Keith of Cloud Four who are presenting “Performance Optimization for Web and Mobile” in the afternoon. Assuming they show up early for Lunch 2.0.
Now I’ve guilted them a little, accidentally. Did I mentioned that Jason’s presentation at last year’s WebVisions was outstanding? He even brought Voodoo Donuts, which tipped the scales over Scott Kveton‘s session, which had to be at the same time.
Anyway, these are the types of speakers you’ll get at WebVisions.
Here’s the official conference about:
Discover the future of Web design, user experience and business strategy for three days of mind-melding on what’s new in the digital world. Get a glimpse into the future, along with practical information that you can apply to your Web site, company and career.
Hosts: WebVisions
Where: Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 97232
When: May 20 from 12 PM to 2 PM
Please RSVP on Upcoming so the hosts can get an idea of how much grub to get. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, drop a comment on the event page for planning, unless you don’t want to eat.
This will be the first Portland Lunch 2.0 hosted by a conference, and it should be an interesting mix of conference attendees, many from out of town, and Portlanders.
This crowd mix should provide some interesting conversation, as well as an opportunity to network outside your normal crowd. Of course, if you want to see the Norms of the Portland tech scene, I’m pretty sure they’ll be there too, next to the Cliffs.
Don’t forget these Lunch 2.0s, coming soon:
As always, big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.
That’s right. Portland’s master of all things iPhone, Raven Zachary, has been tapped by O’Reilly to lead its latest conference, iPhoneLive.
And while this event is not going to be held in Portland (don’t get me started), I still chalk this up as a major win for both Raven and the Portland tech scene, as a whole. Anytime we have a local chairing a cutting-edge technology event, that’s a win. No matter where they hold it.
And it leads me to wonder… could Portland become more iPhoney than other technology hubs? It’s too early to tell, but let’s wait and see.
One thing is for sure: with Raven’s focus on this eyes-on-ubiquity Apple device, the interest in events like the Raven-founded iPhoneDevCamp, and Portland’s proclivity for the little bugger, it may only be a matter of time.
So, what’s iPhoneLive?
iPhoneLive will be a gathering of the best and brightest participants in the iPhone ecosystem today. Whether you’re already building apps for the iPhone or are a developer who wants to make a move to the iPhone platform; if you’re an entrepreneur or simply an enthusiast of the emerging iPhone industry, this is the event for you. It’s going to be a mind-blowing day filled with information that you just can’t get anywhere else. We’ll cover development issues from coding to release, as well as general market information and lessons learned from leading iPhone developers and entrepreneurs.
And, truly, what’s an Apple-oriented conference without some top-secret launch activity?
iPhoneLive will also feature Launch Pad, a showcase for the coolest, not-yet-public apps and startups. The iPhoneLive Launch Pad presents an opportunity for iPhone developers and entrepreneurs to unveil new applications and startups at a major event. There are a limited number of slots available for iPhoneLive Launch Pad, and there is no cost to participate. The deadline for submitting a proposal to participate is September 30th.
iPhoneLive will be held in San Jose, California, on November 18. For more information on the conference, see Raven’s post on the O’Reilly Radar. Already sold? Hit the iPhoneLive conference site to figure out how you can participate.