Event Wrap Up–Adelaide Startup Weekend

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A few weekends ago (it feel like longer because of the Easter Break) I was invited to head to clip_image058[4]Adelaide to be a judge on the Adelaide Startup Weekend event. I missed my flight but fortunately made it onto the next one, lierally landing, rushing to the judging sessions and then flying back out. But boy am I glad I could get on the next flight! The 15 teams that pitched were amazing – and as much as I could write a great long post about how wonderful it was – I am going to defer to the great summary that David Truong put together that sums it all up nicely. I look forward to working with many of the teams in future and also want to thank the South Australian Microsoft State Manager Dean Swan for allowing the Startup Weekend teams to take over the entire office from Friday till Sunday nights Smile

The Sell Out:

30/3/2012 -1/4/2012

54 hours

$23,500+ prizes

70 attendees

42 non-technical attendees

21 developer attendees

7 design attendees

17 sponsors and supporters

24 mentors

4 speakers

5 judges

2 organizers

5 volunteers

46 innovative ideas pitched

19 teams selected

15 teams formed

5 winning teams and

A LOT of talent!

 

The Coverage:

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The Supporters:

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The Accolades:

"BDO was proud to participate in Adelaide Startup Weekend and delighted to see the buzz and ideas flowing. The event was very well run, providing an opportunity for BDO to leverage our sponsorship through your event promotions, media and web communications. During the event, we also had the opportunity to meet both the participants, mentors and other sponsors. As a professional services firm, being involved in the event ‘community’ is an important way we can develop relationships beyond brand association. Congratulations to you and the event team. I look forward to it next year!" KishenVijayadass, Sponsor, Partner for Private Clients – BDO.

 

“I would like to congratulate the entire Startup Weekend Adelaide team on such a successful event! The 15 pitches we judged were of a very high calibre and I can see the ongoing business viability of many of them. I am sure directly related to the quality of the companies was the fantastic mentors that donated their time to help each of the companies across the weekend. All in all the bringing together of smart mentors with eager startups looking to learn is a fantastic opportunity I recommend anyone with a business idea, or anyone wanting to experience this kind of energy and passion should absolutely get involved in the next event you run.” Catherine Eibner, Judge & Sponsor, Developer Evangelist - Microsoft Bizspark Australia.

 

"I attended the final pitch session at the Adelaide Startup Weekend and was amazed at what the teams managed to achieve in such a short amount of time. Most had even tested concepts on their target markets and built an application or prototype. All pitches were great and some were outstanding. Well done to Orren and David for pulling everything together to make Adelaide’s Startup Weekend such a success." PetaPash, Sponsor, Senior Policy Officer - Digital Economy & Technology Directorate, MEGA Project Manager, DFEEST.

 

“I was very, very impressed. In fact, I was impressed with so many aspects of it that I don’t know where to start! But perhaps the key thing to say is that it clearly is a fantastic event for promoting and encouraging entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurial activity. The enthusiasm and at times sheer brilliance and skill of the participants, especially the very large number of younger participants, was “awesome” to observe. In light of the weekend I have no hesitation in recommending to the “powers that be” at Flinders that the University become an avid supporter of this event in future years.” Kevin Kirchner, Observer, Discipline Leader, Entrepreneurship, Flinders Business School - Flinders University.

 

“Congratulations to the inaugural Startup Weekend Adelaide team for organising an outstanding event. Lead by David Truong and Orren Prunckun, they created an edgy, dynamic and high energy environment that attracted some high calibre individuals from around Australia, hungry to create and make an impact. The event produced some truly innovative businesses and confirmed once again that Adelaide is emerging as one of best places in the world to build a company.” Ken Saman, Mentor, VP Operations - YourAmigo Ltd.

 

"It was very valuable to jump into a mix of energised individuals from very different backgrounds, behaviours and thinking styles. Ideas morph due the synergy of inputs from team mates. " Rob Gordon, Participant - 3rdPlace Winner.

 

“One of the best things you will do. We had questions answered that we had been asking for almost a year.” Vinh Giang, Participant - Winning Team.

 

“It's awesome, come along. It will change your life.” Michael Kubler, Participant.

 

“It is definitely something that is very worthwhile if not to progress your career, but for a learning experiences. The amount of learning that you do in a place like this, and the people that you meet are invaluable.” William Revill, Participant.

The Organisers:

clip_image060[4]OrrenPrunckun – David Truong (0443-550-002)

– david@feedmybrain.info– adelaide@startupweekend.org

clip_image062[5] https://adelaide.startupweekend.org