What is the Startup Weekend Global Startup Battle?

You've been asking me every day about what Microsoft BizSpark will do to get more developers and startup people together around the world. Well, it turns out our partners at Startup Weekend have more than we had bargained for. I didn't know what it was, but I kept seeing this awesome graphic about the Global Startup Battle floating around Facebook. 

So, I asked John Beadle, the SF Bay Area Leader for  Startup Weekend, and this is the main gist, for those of you -- like me -- who didn't know what it encompasses. Turns out, this thing truly is global, so everyone who has been asking me about when we are going to have more coding, developer, and founder-- meeting events  you can do in places other than New York, Seattle, or San Francisco, your wait is over. 

Startup Weekend, in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week GEW (initiative sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation), hosts a Global Startup Battle. 

The Global Startup Battle consists of more than 120 startup weekends (occurring at the same time) all over the world during the two weekends before and after GEW. The winners then submit 90 sec videos to compete for the global championship to win a slew of prizes (shown on the site). 

Says John, "If you want to follow all the news, check out #gsb2012 on Twitter or the videos (soon to come) at Global Startup Battle Facebook Page."  Also, if you come to this blog a lot but are still wondering how you can use BizSpark, here is a great info-heavy blog post written by Bruno Terkaly, one of the Windows Azure technical evangelists in San Francisco.