MontrealTechWatch Open Meeting, Apr. 16th, 7.30pm (17)
OK, here is the story: MontrealTechWatch was never destined to be the one-stop destination for new technologies in Montreal. Personally, this was my first blog (well to be 100% correct, I started heri.madmedia.ca 2 months earlier) and was exploring then what was a blog and how it could be used.
1 year later, MTW turned into a full-fledged web destination, that people referred to get news, to see upcoming events, see pictures of local events, … there is even a job section. This is all very good, and personally quite exhilirating, but I feel I learned all I could from the initiative.
Now, what I would like MTW to be is to turn it into an independent, self-sufficient entity, that would cover new technology, entrepreneurship, hackers, video games, events in Montreal and beyond. Also being a media entity is not a viable business model these days, so MTW is going naturally to take the path of working with local entrepreneurs and other members of the community.
Now, this is not going to happen overnight, and I am inviting everyone interested into participating into an “open” meeting, over a drink. If you also have ideas, come and expose them at the meetup. If you would like to be part of the core team of the future MTW, come and we’ll talk about this. Details:
What: MTW open meeting. brainstorming about the future MTW. gathering ideas.
Where: Laika, 4040 bvd St-Laurent, Montreal
When: 7.30pm, 16th April, over a drink
Update: if you want to come, please leave a comment + your ideas about MTW so we’ll get a more productive meetup and come prepared
Photo : Road to heaven
Hey Guys
Great to see things moving forward. I wish I could come but I live in Toronto. I do love all the coverage you’ve been giving gaming and that is one area I would love to see you guys continue.
If you could post how the meeting goes, that would be great. Also, maybe you guys can get sponsored by some of the local companies. Uncrate (www.uncrate.com) has a similar way of bring in a source of revenue to keep it running.
Will try to make it :) I think you should have more “guest” posts covering various topics… I will try to think about it…
[...] the brains behind MontrealTechWatch, is calling an open meeting to discuss the future of the blog, and I think, by implication, the future of the Montreal tech startup [...]
Denis, the idea is not to have more guest posts. it’s to get MTW not as Heri’s blog but something that can run on its own even if I were busy for a few weeks. This is only possible if there is a core team committed to MTW.
You can view this as an opportunity to think about long-term options for MTW
Hello Heri, I commend your efforts to build a strong start-up community that cares about the long term health of the tech sector in Montreal.
For what it’s worth, we are attempting in Ottawa (a tech town now struggling) to use a wiki to create communities of interest (i.e., research, clusters, start-ups, etc) where content is voluntarily contributed by those motivated to do so. It’s still experimental, slow in growing but with the right core team I believe we can do some amazing things.
Our plan is to use content in the OttawaTechCommunity as a platform and invite entrepreneurs to develop applications and tools that make sense out of the content available. Like I said, we are still experimenting with this but hey that’s what innovation is all about in the first place!
OttawaTechCommunity Wiki:
http://www.ottawatechcommunity.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Luc Lalande,
I’ve just visited the wiki and it’s a great resource. You should write to Scott Lake by the way, they are also starting a ottawa startup directory.
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correction for the post: there is no plan currently to take MTW beyond montreal. When I wrote “.. and beyond..”, it meant focusing on Montreal, but still being open to the world, collaborating and being aware that innovation is taking place in other parts of the world.
Heri, you know I’m a huge fan of MTW. If it weren’t for your blog, Startup Camp Montreal would not be as well attended as it is.
I will be there on the 16th to offer any support and ideas our team can bring to the table.
Great job so far with MTW. V2 is sure to be even better, and I hope I can be a part of it.
Heri,
This is the same night at the TechnoMontréal 5 à 7. I think I’ll be able to make it.
Philippe, Thanks! I now you guys are very active and have lots of good ideas, so if we can come up with a better MTW.
Evan, right, that’s why it’s starting at 7.30pm.
Hi,
I appreciate what the site is doing for Montreal startups and the technology sector. We gain a lot of benefit in interacting with peers and networking, online or offline, I think we should orient the site to be the hub for events, forums etc..A good off the shelf application that can facilitate this interaction would be ning.com … either way, I’ll be there.
cheers,
Alok
I’ll be there to share ideas about the future of my favorite blog ;-)
I think job posting is something that we could see more and more on the site.
To help startups recruiting talents fresh out of school, MTW could also be used as a link between schools and entrepreneur (schools projects in startups, entrepreneur talks in universities, internships).
You know that I believe in your product … told ya before!
I’ll try to be there and discuss about it!
On our side, we just launch http://quebectech.branchez-vous.com/
Carl
Heri,
I will not be able to attend but if you’re looking for advice in my field… Do not hesitate.
Good initiative!
Thomas
Officiellement, je suis à Rawdon mais bon… je suis aussi beaucoup à Montréal ;)
Je croyais bien aller à la rencontre de ce soir mais voilà, 5h du matin et je n’ai pas fermé l’oeil. Un sujet qui est venu sur le site récemment et qui devrait, je l’espère, être discuté aussi c’est la question de la langue. C’est pour ça que je me permets ce commentaire en français.
Go Habs Go! :)
hi heri, don’t know if i’ll make it, I wanted to let you know that your blog is the only way that i keep in touch with the tech scene in Mtl, what I mean by that is that, since i’m more into internet marketing, i don’t really follow what’s going on in technology but by reading your blog i feel that I can, at least, keep connected to what’s going on in our beautiful city
Je trouve que tu es victime un peu du succès que ton blog a eu ;), good luck !
I’ll drop by.
Not that long ago you were reassessing your involvement in MTW, does this post follow a decision? (if so, what is it?) Or is this discussion part of your consideration for the future of your involvement?
Do you plan on becoming a kind of editor or are you looking for an editor and want to stay as a writer? Do you want to just give general direction and have others take the lead on content or…. ?
What are your plans advertising wise? It’s often a sticking point later on if people throw their hat in for content production on a non-ad supported site and a while later advertising starts appearing alongside their freely donated content.
I think you could easily add people in the following ways:
- Ask for volunteers on event coverage, I’m guessing covering everything is a huge time sink, you could certainly save some time by having others on site.
- Possibly put more emphasis on different “clusters” such as web, gaming, software, hardware, whatever. Gaming could certainly be a big pole of attraction and being able to go to a distinct page could be a good idea. Once split, you could conceivably have an editor or main poster for each pole/cluster.
- “Suck in” content from other sites through trackbacks, aggregation, tagging, delicious or some other method. It’s harder to get people to write specifically for your site than to offer them a cross-posting opportunity.
Heri,
Could you summarize your meeting’s content for those who couldn’t make it?
Thanks!
Thomas
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