Startup Weekend Comes to Stamford CT

Startup Weekend is part of a broader movement to provide support to entrepreneurs and the broader community who want to work in startups. Another great example is Founder Institute which and Meetup.com, which, while not truly focused on the needs of startups, has been a highly effective way for communities of like minded people to self-create and iterate on ideas without a formal infrastructure like a corporation or a university to help.

So I'm delighted to announce that Stamford, CT will host a Startup Weekend, March 30 to April 1 at the new Starmford Innovation Center.  Anyone with an idea for a startup, or anyone with business, technical or design skills that wants to learn what its like to be part of a startup should sign up here.

Here's a video on Startup Weekend and Startup Weekend Stamford.  My colleague John Blossom interviews me on the details:

Maker Faire Comes to Westport (and a town near you!)

Getting back on the video blog track with this interview with Mark Mathias.  Mark is a technology leader, often hired as CIO or CTO type to make sure that a business vision is supported with the right technology.  He's also a leader in the education space and is on the Westport CT Board of Education.

So Mark knows a lot about many different things.  Today we discussed Maker Faire, which is a series of local events organized to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset."  Westport, CT is hosting Connecticut's first Maker Faire on Saturday, April 28th at the Westport Public Library.  Click here for more details about Westport's Mini Maker Faire.

Maker Faire is part of a broader movement that is in support of solving problems with creativity and the idea of making new things that people want or need.  The online crafts platform Etsy "the world’s handmade marketplace" is another part of this movement, as is Pinterest.  If you can't come to the Mini-Maker Faire in Westport this April, check out Make Magazine (it was their idea), or the MakerFaire.com site for a Maker Faire near you.  And if enough great ideas keep getting seen and enhanced, who knows where this movement can take our economy?  A manufacturing economy needs new ideas all the time and Maker Faire is a great source for ideas.