CVCA – Global Customers, Investors and Acquirers – October 15th, 2008

I will be speaking at the Canadian Venture Capital Association’s upcoming professional development day on October 15th. I will be on a panel with Rob Lane, from Overlay.TV and Maggie Fox from Social Media Group.

Our session description is

?Going global” is no longer an option for many companies. It is a necessity. This session will examine issues and strategies in building international networks that will lead to business opportunities and enhanced returns. Learn how to link into international networks of customers, partners, acquirers and investors to better position your companies for global success. The role that social technologies can play in fostering these global networks will also be discussed.

Other sessions include “THE BIG PICTURE ? KEY STRATEGIES FOR CREATING ESSENTIAL INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS” with Jennifer Brooy,Vice President, EDC Equity and Rajiv Pancholy, Chairman and CEO, TenXC Wireless as well as “RELATIONSHIPS WITH GLOBAL SYNDICATE PARTNERS AND ACQUIRERS ? THE VIEW FROM HOME AND ABROAD”

It looks like a good day and if it is typical of CVCA events, the biggest value will be in having a chance to hang out with some of the other attendees who tend to be other startups (the smart ones go to CVCA events when they can afford them) and funders.

The half-day event is $299 for non-CVCA members if you attend in-person in Toronto, and $70 if you watch it from one of the simulcast locations in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredricton or Halifax.

Devshop.com launches version 2.0

Devshop.com, which was one of the first profiles we ever did, recently launched a new version of their project management application for development teams.

The most unique aspect of Devshop is its focus on using historical data to estimate future performance. By monitoring past timelines, milestones and other aspect of a project, Devshop will estimate the risk associated with current time estimates.

Devshop also focuses on tying project requirements to the development schedule, so things don’t get out of sync.

Craig has methodically gone from a private beta through launch, a 1.0 and now Devshop 2.0 looks like a powerful tool for development teams of any size. I also took a look at the team that has come together in the last year and I was even more impressed. It’s not hard to tell that Craig is aiming to build a company that will scale when the opportunity comes.

AndyCamper.com – Get kids outdoors

AndyCamper.com launched this week. The Ottawa based startup is a sort of “activities portal” targeted at kids.

The site categorizes activities in the same way that kids tend to, using broad titles like “bugs”. When you click through there are all sorts of videos, ideas and games about what you can do to learn about bugs.

I would have been all over things like How to Create and Berlese Funnel and to be honest, it is still tempting!

The amount of content available on this site is incredible. It sort of makes me wonder if the days of “Mom, we’re bored!” will soon be a thing of the past. “Just go to AndyCamper.com kids”