Events in Vancouver: Lean Startup Conference

As some of you know, my cofounders and I all come from a technical background.  We use lean startup processes in our development work and we also apply it to  The Network Hub.  Lean startup is powered by three drivers –  use of platforms enabled by open source and free software, application of agile development, customer-centric rapid iteration.  A lot of people think it is for high tech only, I beg to differ.   We apply the same process to The Network Hub, lean startup is available to all entrepreneurs who is planning to start their business.

I highly encourage startup entrepreneurs checking out the conference, especially entrepreneurs in high tech.   You will learn why a startup successful and why another is unsuccessful.

This video will provide very compelling reasons why you should check out Lean Startup Conference 

If you are currently working for a startup or want to work for one and you haven’t heard of or understand lean startup – you definitely want to check out this conference.  Lean Startup Conference will be taking place in Richmond on May 5-6th at Hilton Vancouver Airport.

Who should attend? Anyone who is:

• either working for or planning to work for a start-up
• losing sleep because of having a brilliant idea and wanting to see it implemented
• tasked with designing new features and wants to know how to validate ideas and business assumptions with customers
• wanting to reduce waste and amplify learning
• curious to know what all the excitement is about

There are some amazing speakers lined up for the event such as Ash Maurya, Rishi Dean, Rob Walling, Owen Rogers and Steven Jones

For more information, check out www.agilevancouver.ca

This was the video that began our obsession with lean startup so I hope it gets you excited and wanting to check out Lean Startup Conference: 

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Places to eat in Vancouver: Campagnolo

Can I please gush about this place?

Let me set the stage, it is a Sunday night and as usual there is always people working at the office. By the time 8′clock came around, we realized well we are pretty hungry from working hard all day. We were split between Chambar and Bao Bei but after a bit of negotiation, we decided on Bao Bei. John (yes the REAL John Chow), Jaeny and Kevin (a friend from Winnipeg) left first to Bao Bei before we catch up to them. Well within a good 10 minutes, got 2 tweets that says the place is closed so we are heading to Campagnolo. Campagnolo?!? Where the heck is that and what kind of food do they serve? I somehow confused Campagnolo with some sort of social club so I had second thoughts about going but it wouldn’t be very nice to leave friends waiting so what the heck.

I drive by Main Street by Terminal more than 10 times a week to get from Commercial Drive to The Network Hub but I have never noticed Campagnolo, either that or I get incredibly distracted by its more flamboyant neighbors – Balmoral Hotel and Ivanhoe Hotel. The exterior of the restaurant is very subtle, the signage is downright polite compared to the ginormous red Ivanhoe Hotel signage I like to call a billboard.  Once I opened the door, I was floored how open but yet warm and inviting the Campagnolo is. 

While we were getting settled in, I took a quick look at their take-home menu instead of in-restaurant menu and my mouth dropped to the floor.  Conde Nast Traveller Magazine named  Campagnolo as one of the 50 Hottest New Restaurants in the World, Vancouver Magazine Award in 2010 named Campagnolo gold in Best New Restaurant, Silver in Best New Design and Silver in Casual Italian.  Now I am excited but I’m trying to not expect too much.  I’ve been to a few “award-winning” restaurants that definitely let me down.

John was selling to us the Polderside Chicken because Polderside Farms raise their poultry in low density, stress-free environment and they are fed a natural diet of grains and vegetables.   John stood behind the Polderside Chicken so strongly that half of our party ordered chicken, I ordered Linguine, Kevin ordered Slopping Hill Pork and Jaeny ordered a vegetarian pizza.  I figured since half of the table got chicken, I might as well try something else and take a nib from others.

The appetizers came out first, the highlight of the appetizers was the Seared Octopus which was AMAZING!!! I couldn’t control my fork, it kept visiting my neighbor’s plate and they were nice enough to let me keep picking at the Seared Octopus I wish I had more adjectives in my food vocabulary to describe the experience but goodness, it was soooooooo good!  My appetizer was a Peasant Chicken Soup and it was such a comforting and hearty soup.

I am so excited for my main course because the appetizers definitely set the tone of what is to come – oodles of deliciousness!!! And I wasn’t disappointed, the Polderside Chicken was sooo tender and so juicy at the same time.  My Linguini was simple but oh my goodness probably the best Linguini I have ever had so far!

I wanted more and was very curious about how amazing this place is.  A lot of restaurants shine for their food and fall flat when it comes to dessert or vice versa.  Of course when the waitress said they have a dessert sampler – I was sold.   The appetizers were amazing, the main courses were divine but the desserts really put it over the top.   In the sampler is a salted caramel dessert wrapped in waxy parchment like an old school taffy candy and let me just tell you, I had to reordered for a couple more.

Here is the kicker my bill after ordering:  a cranberry juice, one large hearty chunky and rustic Peasant Chicken Soup, one Linguini and a generous dessert sample with a reordering of the salted caramel dessert was well under $40!!!!  Seriously! I’ve paid more eating at regular chain restaurants without the same quality of service or food.

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Tool Tuesdays: How not to forget ever again… well almost never

Have you ever read an email or suddenly remember someone’s name but you don’t know how you know them?  You search your emails but if you are like me, sometimes your emails provide more confusions than clarity, especially if your email thread is a continuation of something discussed in person.  I host a monthly networking event for Vancouver Entrepreneurs with between 100-160 people attending each events on top of the numerous events I attend monthly, it is very difficult to remember every one I cross path with.   But I believe very strongly in making an effort to remember people’s name, what they do, how we met, where they meet and any other information they were kind enough to share with me.

Before it was writing notes behind every one’s business cards the specifics of the meeting and whatever I think is important for me to remember about the encounter.  NOW, Greplin is in my life.  Greplin is my very own social search engine.  No I’m serious, my very own because it is linked to my Google Apps Mail, Google Apps Calendar, Google Apps Docs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Gmail, Twitter with BaseCamp, Google Reader, Salesforce are coming soon.

Right now, Greplin has indexed about 273, 258 documents that I have produced in term of emails, status updates and calendar entry. All you have to do is type in a name, a place or bits of information that you can remember in the search bar.   You can filter the information to files, places, events, messages, or narrow down to the channel of communication – gmail, facebook, linkedin, etc.

The powerful thing about Greplin is that it also fills in the gap of information about the person, place and events with also search engine results – this is where all the search engines want to go except they can’t because we value our privacy too much to give it up.  If you feel uneasy about what Greplin will do with your data – read their simplified privacy policy.  I went through it and I feel very comfortable allowing Greplin to  index my information but that’s me, you have to do your due diligence.   It has helped me connect the dot and helped me put the best foot forward in the next meeting.   I was one of the fortunate few that got to be an beta tester last year but since February 17, 2011.  It is now open to everyone.   Give it a try after doing your own due dilligence and I hope it will help you too!

If you have used Greplin, let me know about your experience with it.  Otherwise, leave any questions or suggestions you have in the comment section, thanks!

Note: These are tools I have used for a substantial amount of time (> 2 wks) and have found useful for me, this is not a paid post and paid is defined as money, swags, free dinner, t-shirts, pens, free coffee, gift certificate… absolutely nothing!

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Strange Findings: Breakup Notifier

During my late night reading, I came across the Breakup Notifier – a Facebook app that allows you to follow the friends you’re interested in who are in a relationship and an email will be sent to your email to notify you whenever there is a relationship update.

I’m guessing the big sell here is if you interesting someone, you can follow their relationship updates in hope when they update their status to single you will conveniently lend a listening ear.  Kind of creepy but I’m surprise it took that long for this to come out because wasn’t it the relationship status update and profile picture that really help take Facebook to another level?  Although I do wonder how long it will take for Facebook to shut them down because I am certain this surely violates the terms of use that Facebook has set out.

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Things to do in Vancouver: Vancouver Flea Market

One of my favorite things to do on a nice sunny day is to grab a nice Chai Latte and stroll from Commercial Drive to Main Street. Somehow I usually end up at Vancouver Flea Market, I love this place because it is one of the few places you can find amazing vintage jewelery and little knick knacks. One of my goals is to reduce consumptions and reduce waste. I try my best to find knick knacks and jewelery to rework at the Flea Market before I purchase brand new.

Vancouver Flea Market is only open on the weekends from 9-5 and it is always packed whenever I go there. There are always amazing goodies to be had. You have to roll up your sleeves, pick through the piles of goodies and find your treasure.

If you are a vintage treasure hunter, this is an amazing place to be. Check out these vintage cameras! The great thing about this place is you can negotiate – don’t low ball, know when to walk away and negotiate respectfully.

Look at the jewelery selections that can be had and reworked!!!

I hope you take a day over the weekend and visit Vancouver Flea Market to find goodies or if you have goodies hanging in your house, you can rent a booth for only $30 a day!  There is over 30 000 square foot with 365 tables and customer count of approximately 4000 person a weekend so come on down.

http://www.vancouverfleamarket.com/

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The NOW Revolution Event

Unwinding the cable Jay Baer hits the stage and utters his first words of the night “This is so very Mick Jagger”. Instantly he has my attention. Let me take a step back and give you some background information. I attended The NOW Revolution event put on by Jason Baker, Teri Conrad from Red Barn Group and Kemp Edmonds, hosting Mr. Jay Baer as well as a local panel at Caprice, February 15^th.

I have to admit; I have never read Jay’s blog or his book and honestly didn’t know who he was before the event. After you go to so many events they all tend to run together. This on the other hand was an exception! The venue Caprice Nightclub on Granville Street is great for larger speaking events, sound quality was good, visual effects were easy to see, the chairs were even comfortable. These guys knew what they were doing with the set-up! Now back to Jay.

He was funny and witty with a very powerful message including visuals, excellent case studies and some bold quotes, for example “If you don’t love social media, you suck at social media” and “Hire for passion not for resume”. My favorite case studio is about a hotel with the most hilarious bad review. You will have to get the book for the full details.

The part of the message that got my attention as a Public Relations specialist is that twitter is a tool and NOT a strategy, I wholeheartedly agree! He conveyed the importance of building a culture within your business and how connecting with your audience is the key to successful business practices. Stressing the importance of brand management through answering your public as well as taking accountability through apologizing and he delivered his message with clarity and humor.

I am really excited to read the book that came with our ticket that night, another really solid move by this planning committee to learn more about the NOW Revolution. It was refreshing to hear someone eloquently speak on using the tools as part of building brand awareness and sharing culture and not just pump you with scores and numbers.

After Jay finished his portion there was a break and then the panel had a turn to add value. Kemp Edmonds did a really fantastic job of keeping his 4 panel members engaged and giving them questions that allowed them to showcase their particular skills. My two favorite tips came from Erin Gerrity “Take a step back and do an assessment of the big picture” and Shane Gibson “Social Media is not a video game”. There were questions from the audience and some good banter. All in all it was well done!

I would recommend events planned by this committee in the future as well as taking the time to check out Jay online (which I now do) at http://www.convinceandconvert.com/

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Hungry Girl’s Guide: Little Ongpin

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