Slattery IT is hosting Funding Connect Tasmania on Thursday 4th March, 2010; from 12 noon to 6:30pm. This event will enable a greater understanding of the ins and outs of funding, as well as providing an excellent opportunity for networking.

Specifically designed to allow attendees to gain an insight into the processes of securing funding, guests will have the opportunity to meet investors, learn how to find the right investment sources and to win their support. Leading entrepreneurs will also be on hand to offer inspiration on growing your business and the best ways to seek capital. Speakers include:

• Darren Alexander, Chief Executive Officer, Autech
• Bill Bartee, Managing Director, Southern Cross Venture Partners
• Emily-Jayne Drew, Senior Program Manager, Business Programs, Department of Economic Development, Tourism and The Arts
• John Dyson, Investment Principal, Starfish Ventures
• David Henderson, Managing Director, UniQuest
• Polly McGee, Business Development Manager, University of Tasmania Research Office Commercialisation Unit
• Matthew Michalewicz, CEO, SolveIT Software
• Fiona Pak-Poy, General Partner, Innovation Capital
• Rachel Slattery, Director, SlatteryIT
• Me!

Funding Connect will help the attendee make informed decisions about everything from when to seek an investor, to meeting, attracting and obtaining financial support, providing a wealth of information/advice to help focus your plans for 2010 and beyond.

DETAILS: Thursday 4th March, 2010; from 12 noon to 6:30pm at CSIRO Tasmanian ICT Centre Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania. Cost $220 inc. GST (50% discount for entrepreneurs and employees of public funded research institutions & start-ups) Register Online here.

Tech23 is over! Wow, what a great success! Over 320 attendees, 50 innovative companies, 23 great presentations and a full days worth of productive conversations.

From my perspective the companies that stood out included: Posse, IPScape, Heard Systems , Myzerr (demo site not live yet) and We are Hunted.

The standout presentation for me was 'We are Hunted' - Richard Slatter had the panel (and the audience!) eating out of his hand.

Thanks go to Rachel Salttery and the team @ SlatteryIT for a fabulous event. It was definitely the best event of the year. Some people were saying it was the best networking event for early stage entrepreneurs in Australia EVER! I'm looking forward to next years event already!

On Wednesday 27th May I am speaking at an evening seminar organised by Innovation ACT. InnovationACT was originally conceived by a group of PhD students at the ANU as a way to enable the flow of information and resources between academia and industry.

The seminar, titled "Financial and Resource Management Seminar " commences at 6pm in the Finkel Lecture Theatre, John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU campus (map).

I aim to keep the session interactive - hope to see you there!

On Wednesday 25th March I am speaking at a lunch time seminar organised by LESANZ. LES was established to recognise licensing as a profession, enabling its members to meet, to learn from one another and to encourage high professional standards among the individuals engaged in licensing of intellectual property rights and the transfer of technology. Membership is open to all individuals and students in the area of Licensing and Intellectual Property.

The LES family is business-oriented for the most part, and its nearly 11,000 individual members include management representatives from companies both large and small, scientists, engineers, academics, government officials, lawyers and patent attorneys.

The seminar, titled "IP issues - CSIRO spin out to VC backed: The Windlab Systems story" commences at 12:30pm and will take place at CSIRO, Entomology 12.30pm. Register here.

On Saturday 28th March 2009 Blue Cove Ventures will be participating in Earth Hour 2009. Earth Hour is a worldwide campaign that aims to educate the community about the threats of climate change, informing individuals and businesses about the difference they can make by reducing their emissions at home and in the workplace.

Earth Hour is an Australian initiative that began in Sydney in 2007. Approximately 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses took part in the first year. In 2008 Earth Hour was held on Saturday 29 March, 2008 and involved between 50 and 100 million people in 370 cities and towns around the world, including Chicago, Toronto, Copenhagen, Dublin, Atlanta and Bangkok took part.

Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach 1 billion people in more than 1,000 cities, encouraging them to cast their vote for the Earth by turning off their lights. This action will send a message to the world's leaders that strong action needs to be taken to combat climate change. In December 2009, the world's leaders will gather in Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference, which will create the most important international climate change agreement ever. People the world over will be directly affected by the decisions that will be made in Copenhagen.

Businesses, homes, schools and associations are encouraged to switch off lights and minimise energy use from 8:30pm – 9:30pm on Saturday 28 March. Blue Cove investee companies Windlab Systems and Simmersion Holdings are also planning to participate.

webDU the premier Antipodean Web Technology Conference is taking place on the 21st and 22nd May 2009 at the Star City Hotel and Casino complex in Sydney. This is the seventh year the conference will be held.

The conference offers the opportunity to get hands-on technical training, gain new skills, hear breaking news from the Web Industry, network with peers and industry leaders, and ultimately become more successful developing and delivering web applications.

This years conference includes five tracks focusing on User Experience, Web Development (x2), ColdFusion and the Flash Platform. The complete agenda is here.

Speakers from Microsoft, Google, Adobe and Yahoo will be there along with the best local talent from Australia, Switzerland, India and Germany.

I strongly support this conference as it is organised by Geoff Bowers and Julie Steadman. Back in my Allaire days (1997-2001) Geoff and Julie were great champions for quality web development using world-class tools. They have continued that advocacy through the Macromedia and Adobe generations.

You can register now and take advantage of the early-bird discount here .

webDU is proudly brought to you by Daemon Internet Consultants.

Slattery IT is hosting Funding Connect Connect - SA on Monday 1st December, 2008; from 1:30pm to 7pm. This event will enable a greater understanding of the ins and outs of funding, as well as providing an excellent opportunity for networking.

Specifically designed to allow attendees to gain an insight into the processes of securing funding, guests will have the opportunity to meet investors, learn how to find the right investment sources and to win their support. Leading entrepreneurs will also be on hand to offer inspiration on growing your business and the best ways to seek capital. Speakers include:

• Susan Andrews - Industry Development Manager, ICT, Electronics & Digital Content, Department of Trade and Economic Development
• John Ballard - Chairman, BioAngels
• Shane Cheek - Investment Manager, Playford Capital
• Rahmon Coupe - CEO, YourAmigo
• Frank Grasso - Managing Director, eChannel On Line
• Amanda Heyworth - CEO, Playford Capital
• David Landers - CEO, Allen & Buckeridge Emerging Technologies Fund
• Alan Noble - Engineering Director, Google
• Fiona Pak-Poy - General Partner, Innovation Capital
• Mike Richards - Principal Investment Manager, Venture Capital SA
• Peter Vroom - Co-founder, NetPriva

The event will be followed by Entrepreneur Resolutions, which will look at what the top entrepreneurs are aiming for in the New Year, and how they plan to get there. Attendees will get a peek at the market outlook ahead as well as plenty of time for questions and networking.

Funding Connect will help the attendee make informed decisions about everything from when to seek an investor, to meeting, attracting and obtaining financial support, providing a wealth of information/advice to help focus your plans for 2009.

DETAILS: Monday 1st December, 2008 from 1.30pm - 7.00pm at The Hyatt Regency, North Terrace, Adelaide. Cost $220 inc. GST (50% discount for entrepreneurs and employees of public funded research institutions & start-ups) Register Online here.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Infinity Venture Summit at the Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort in Miyazaki, Japan. The conference, run by two good friends of mine, Masashi Kobayashi and Akio Tanaka, is run twice a year and brings together the CEO's of many Japanese, Korean and Chinese mobile, internet and technology start-ups.

The image above shows the entrance to the Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort. Image courtesy of Ben Hamey.

The conference was attended by around 350 people had a wide range of topics under consideration. The sessions I liked best were by Jia Shen from RockYou, and Jason Calacanis.

The most innovative stuff was saved for "launchpad" on the final day when 12 entrepreneurs got to present their ideas (6 minutes each). My favourites from this were Cyber Figure Alice which has reportedly sold 10,000 units since launch; "Spear" a P2P server for mobile phones allowing handwriting recognition software to work from one phone to another (very cool), and finally a service which allowed Manga comic creators to easily publish their content for mobile consumption.

More pictures from the conference are here.

We did get to relax at the end of the day in the bar on the 42nd floor (Image below)

Image courtesy of Ben Hamey

Last week Slattery IT hosted Angel Connect - Tasmania. This follows on from the success of Angel Connect in other cities around Australia. Over 90 people attended the event at The Henry Jones Art Hotel on the Quay in Hobart. The program included sessions on:

• Meeting and attracting Angel Investors
• Understanding the expectations and motivations of Angels
• Doing the deal
• Working together
• Clever Angels and Active Investors
• Collaborating with other Investors

Attendees included:

• Entrepreneurs
• Employees of Australian ICT companies
• Venture Capitalists
• Incubators
• Angel Investors
• Research Facilities
• Universities
• Service Providers
• Government

It was a fantastic event and great credit goes to the team @ the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development and Tourism for having the vision to host and fund the event and Slattery IT for faultless execution.

In the picture above I am moderating a panel on 'Funding Strategy' with Martin Hosking (left), and Roger Allen (centre). Image courtesy of Slattery IT.

Slattery IT is hosting Angel Connect - Tasmania on Tuesday 28th October, 2008; from 12pm to 6pm. Following on from the success of Angel Connect in other cities around Australia this is the first time the event has been taken to Tassie. The event is designed to reveal everything you need to know about the process of Angel Investment. The Angel Connect program will include sessions on:

• Meeting and attracting Angel Investors
• Understanding the expectations and motivations of Angels
• Doing the deal
• Working together
• Clever Angels and Active Investors
• Collaborating with other Investors

Attendees will be given ample opportunity to network and meet potential partners, investors, mentors and friends. Attendees of Angel Connect will include:

• Entrepreneurs
• Employees of Australian ICT companies
• Venture Capitalists
• Incubators
• Angel Investors
• Research Facilities
• Universities
• Service Providers
• Government

DETAILS: Tuesday 28th October, 2008 from 12.00pm - 6.00pm at The Henry Jones Art Hotel, 25 Hunter Street, Hobart. Cost $220 inc. GST (50% discount for entrepreneurs and employees of public funded research institutions & start-ups) Register Online here or phone 1300 651 485

This week I received an email from Stephen Collins from Acid Labs. Steve has come to an arrangement with Dion Hinchcliffe's company to deliver their very successful and highly regarded Web 2.0 University Workshops in Australia and NZ.

The first ever Web 2.0 Exceutive Bootcamp in the Southern Hemisphere will be on 23 September as a pre-conference workshop at Web Directions South. Steve's announcement with pricing, location and registration details is here.