The Precinct: Too Many Events!

So I went to The Precinct today because I had signed up for Ignite Ideas Information Session happening in River City Labs. But the packed elevator was full of people who indicated we should get off on level 2, instead of going to level 3 were River City Labs is located. There did seem to be an event in level 2, so I assumed it was the information session. It was not; it was a talk on Quantum Computing!

After thinking about it for a while and consuming copious amounts of cheese, I decided to stick around for the Introduction to Quantum Computing (and where AI fits) by Dr Adam Makarucha. I have a rudimentary understanding of Quantum Computing, but I do not watch the field as much as I probably should. So the talk was fascinating, and I enjoyed hearing about the tools IBM has available. I want to try some of them out and will try to find some time to do so.

As I was sitting there listening to him, I realised that three events were taking place in level 3 of the Precinct, including the Ignite Ideas Information Session! The saturation of events is why we couldn’t make Dev Start Meetup work.. There are just too many meetups, talks and events in Brisbane.

After Dr Makarucha’s talk, I did duck out and listen to what EY representative had to say about the Ignite Ideas grant. It’s interesting. I think I will suggest it to both Abide and Josari, and we can explore the possibility of applying for it.

Eventbrite QUT bluebox Accelerator 2019 Demo Night

So yesterday, I found myself in P Block just the QUT Bluebox Accelerator 2019 Demo Night was kicking off. So even though I didn’t have tickets, I crashed the party! Well, at least for a little while. I was feeling pretty sick, so I couldn’t hang around for the pitches. Still, I got a chance to chat with some of the participants. There were familiar faces like Bertonni, who were one of the graduates of last years Impact Boom Elevate+ program. There was also Excise Cloud who are in QUT Foundry with Abide and beat Abide to come second during the QUT Foundry IDEAS Launched Showcase: Pitch 'n' Party.

In addition, I got to speak with Gigshake, who are a digital platform connecting university students to career-relevant paid employment. I remember the terrible job boards from when I was a student. So if they can improve the experience just a little, they would have made a huge difference. But one thing I would like to see on their platform is some way for the students to share their experience with employers. We are too much on the side of employers. But bad bosses can be hugely damaging to young people and a university job board should have emphasis protecting students and teaching them their rights, as much as they should be able helping students gain experience and earn money.

I also spoke a little to Cardlify, who are a digital gift card solution and Software-as-a-Service marketing tool for businesses. I didn’t quite get how they were different from Rewardle. But I wasn’t at the pitch. They probably addressed how they were different. I didn’t get a chance to speak with them a lot.

The last startup I spoke to was Tokens for Humanity, who are a charity using blockchain technology to deliver efficient fundraising and governance applications for not-for-profits. I asked them if their Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, but they were Ethereum, I was secretly hoping they were paying in Doge coins!

The three startups I didn’t get a chance to speak to where Digital Surge  who are a cryptocurrency exchange platform, specialising in bitcoin trading that is accessible to all Australians. Vanguard Defence Systems who are a defence research and development startup, focusing on creating technology to improve defence force capabilities. Finally, SensaWeb who provide a real-time environmental monitoring solution with an initial focus on radiation area monitoring.

I learnt this morning that Bertonni was the winner of the demo night! That’s impressive returns for Impact Boom Elevate+ cohort from 2018. Because Chatloop, who were also alumni of cohort 2018 won UQ iLabs Germinate 12 Pitch Night. Let’s hope Abide is as successful post-Elevate+ as much as Bertonni and Chatloop!

A Busy Start to February!

Yesterday was packed and today is the start of the intense period that is the MIT Bootcamp! I am just hours away from meeting my fellow boot campers at the QUT Gardens Point. Most of them, coming here from all over the world, are already in Brisbane the Whatsapp group is awash with FOMO inducing pictures. But I, as the anti-social local, have to wait to join the fun. So what did I do instead?

River City Labs Friday Open House Drinks and Pitches

I forgot to take pictures, so here’s one featuring me from the River City Labs Facebook! That’s me holding a Red Bull Cola… I didn’t know they made Cola either!

The pitch was a big event for my CEO at JOSARI, Paul Buckwell, who pitched JOSARI to drum up some publicity as we get ready to launch the iOS version this month! We got some good questions during the Q&A. I’ll write more about JOSARI to mark the launch. So watch out for that!

Little Tokyo Two End of Month Drinks

I left the RCL pitch event straight after pitches, and apparently, I missed out on a TV crew showing up, because I wanted to at least show my face at the Little Tokyo Two end of month drinks. Yes, I realised that yesterday was the start of the month, but scheduling is never perfect.

So I attended my first LT2 drinks, they only had hard liquor so I couldn’t drink anything. But that’s okay; I had fun getting to know some of my fellow co-working space users. As I was going up to the rooftop, I ran into Hallie Wang from ACIC. She was putting up posters for the Pitching to China 2019-Australian Startups Breaking into the Chinese Market event. So I decided to drop by for that!

Pitching to China 2019-Australian Startups Breaking into the Chinese Market

The event was mostly an information session about what ACIC does, and they had a panel discussion with the startups that went to China last year. There were some familiar names, Codebots (who I first came across way back in 2017), Happy Dinosaur ( who were in the iLab demo day), and BOP Industries (who were in the Collider demo day), all of whom I have posted about before. I couldn’t stay for the panel as I wanted to get some rest ahead of the start of the MIT Bootcamp today. But I did get a lot of useful information and will keep the ACIC in mind for the future.

So it was a packed day, and it’s only going to be more packed as I start the Bootcamp in a few hours. I’ll be posting on Twitter, and Instagram during the Bootcamp. So follow those to keep abreast of what I get up to what is likely to be a long, exhausting week!

Women Who Code Meetup: Networking for the Socially Awkward

I made it! Seriously, after a year of flaking, either because I had last minute work come up or just being too tired to make it, I was finally about to attend a Women Who Code meetup! One New Year’s Resolution down, several more to go. As it happens, I choose a great meetup to break my “non-show” streak because Trish Khoo gave a great talk about networking for the socially awkward.

Trish is someone I have to know for a while now. She’s a talented software consultant and trainer specialising for software testing. She’s also an artist and designer. In short, she’s multi-talented, and one of her talents is being able to, in her own words, delivery a “stand-up comedy masquerading as a tech talk”!

In all seriousness, social awkwardness can hold people back. I have a strict “people” quota and have done or said stupid things once I am “peopled out”. I also have a good memory, and while a lot of people probably remember that embarrassing thing they did from five years ago, my memory itself has led to awkward situations where I remember conversations other people do not. So I can give the wrong impression just because I remember conversations from years ago that the other person has long forgotten.

However, as they say, practice makes perfect and also, you will never win a debate against yourself. The world revolves around connections, so socialising is important. So Trish’s talk that encouraged practice and to embrace awkwardness was something worth listening too. The fact that she made fun and not a serious talk, as a lot of self-help talks tend to be, will probably make it stick!

Silicon Beach Brisbane: Startup Christmas Party

Last Tuesday, I attended the first of the couple of holiday-themed meetups I have scheduled for this month. I was a bit apprehensive about this one because there was supposed to be 300 guests, and I don’t handle crowds very well. But fortunately, Cloudland is an amazing venue, so while there was a lot of people, you could still move and mingle easily.

The party was more about being celebrating the connections I made this year, as opposed to making new ones. I did meet a few new people and did hand out my cards to both new connections and old connections. I also got a chance to get updates on what some people I haven’t seen for a few months are doing now. But overall, it was about the food!

The food was delicious. I don’t drink. So all I can say on that front is that soft drink selection was good. It was a very well organised event, and I am very thankful that Silicon Beach Australia took the time to host the party!

Now, I was supposed to attend the Brisbane Tech Christmas Drinks, but family commitments got in the way so while I have plans to attend at least The Festive Season Startup Spectacular. But given my track record, I can’t say for sure I’ll make it. But if this ends up being my only Christmas themed meet-up, it would have been worth it!