Rush Week

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The next week has a set of crazy awesome events for  startups, founders, marketers, community builders and the like in Toronto. (Check out a fuller list of events at Toronto Startup Fall Event List 2012). Personally it looks like I will be attending JoltCo Demo Day, Royal Canadian Mint Challenge Awards Ceremony and A Conversation with Brad Feld about Startup Communities. If you’re interested in understanding Toronto’s startup landscape and participating, you could consider this rush week without the complete stupidity.

It feels like a crazy two weeks. I was in Halifax for HPX Digital last week. I skipped Hacking Health this weekend (Thing 1 learned to ride her bike this weekend, so it was totally worth skipping this event). This doesn’t event take into consideration that I’m going to see New Order on Oct 23 and there is a second show on Oct 24 with tickets still available.

Oct 23 – JoltCo Demo Day
Looks like an amazing cohort of startups presenting. Includes eProf, GreenGauge Mobile, ShelfLife, SlingRide, tout.it, Venngage. I’m excited to see the pitches/presentations and the progress that each of these teams has made. 
Oct 25 – Royal Canadian Mint Challenge Awards
What can I say I’m a judge…But seriously this event has an amazing lineup. David Wolman and some other big thinkers in commerce, currency and the future of money. The Royal Canadian Mint has done a great job.
Oct 25 – AndroidTO
This is a great lineup. Boris Chan of XtremeLabs who is on our 2011 Hot Sh!t ListMike Beltzner of Wattpad; Oleg Kosteur of Pair – back after raising $4.3MM, etc. If you are building on Android and in Toronto. Get tickets to this event!
Oct 25 – Startup Grind Toronto
A fireside chat with Nikhil Kalghatgi, an NYC-based VC with Softbank Capital, whose portfolio includes Huffington Post, Zynga (back when the model was working), Gilt Groupe and Buddy Media.
Oct 26 – TEDxToronto
Always inspiring talks this year includes Steve Page formerly of the Bare Naked Ladies, Dr. Joseph Cafazoo of eHealth Innovation, Sonya JF Barnett and Heather Jarvis of Slut Walk (ok not purely startup but it should be interesting)
Oct 29 – HackerNest Social
A fun, laid back social event to connect with developers, designers, marketers, and others. Hosted by ex-Extreme Labs participant Shaharris Beh (LinkedIn) and others.
Oct 30 – A Conversation with Brad Feld on the Starutp Community in Toronto
We’re hosting this event. Do you love or hate the Toronto startup community? Lots of people talk crap, but this is an opportunity to participate in a conversation with Brad Feld. Brad wrote the “Boulder Thesis” about growing, building and sustaining an entrepreneurial community in Boulder, CO. Join us and help make Toronto a better place for startups.
NOv 1 – Startup Ping Pong TO
Ping Pong, startups, do I need to say any more? Get your tickets! And come out and hustle.

Community is the platform on which all of our individual actions stand.

There are a lot of great events happening in the next 7 days. My advice is pick one or two events to attend and participate. A long time ago, Mark Kuznicki quoted me as saying “The Community is the Platform” and others have elaborated. My advice is get out there and participate.

Toronto Startup Event List Fall 2012

Getting ready for startup event fatigue? Toronto is an active ecosystem (based on total activity in the Startup Genome database). But there are a lot of upcoming events, here is my inital tracking of Toronto startup events list for fall 2012. The question is which events to attend and which ones to stay heads down and work. An actual guide would breakdown the benefits of each of these events. But I’m being lazy, I’ll add some commentary around each event. Or please feel free to add events and commentary. I’ll update the post.

And for those of you thinking about attending everything, go read Mark Suster’s Be Careful not to become a Conference Ho.

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

Mesh 2012 – Last day for Early Bird tickets

Mesh 2012 is set for May 23 & 24 at the Allstream Centre in Toronto. This year brings a special focus on big data, and the lineup is chock full of interesting speakers including:

If you’ve attended previously you know Mesh is an incredible opportunity to connect (even wandering the lobby during sessions). Stay tuned for details about the startup scholarship program as well.

Mesh explores how the Internet is changing how we live, work and play. The mesh team gather together leading thinkers and talented innovators who have earned their stripes doing great digital work. Mesh creates a platform for us to connect with others who are interested what’s next, share ideas, and be inspired.

Early bird sales end tomorrow (April 20) and student tickets are still available, get yours here: http://mesh12.eventbrite.com