April 25, 2009

Saint John, NB, April 25, 2009 -  On May 8th, 9th, and 10th developers, designers and entrepreneurs from around the province will gather together for a community building startup event in uptown Saint John at the Delta Brunswick Hotel.   Similar to other startup weekends that have been held in cities across North America, the 54Hours event seeks to take business ideas from concept to launch in just one weekend.

Participants begin by Sharing idea pitches beginning on Friday evening and will then divide into teams to work on bringing the ideas to market by the following Monday morning.  “The entire weekend is meant to be a fun way for members of the ICT and business community to interact and network with one another at a deeper level than is generally possible at a traditional industry event,” says Michael Wilcott, an ICT project manager based in Saint John who is one of the organizers.  “54 Hours will be a lot of fun, and will hopefully result in the creation of several web-based enterprises that will enrich New Brunswick's ICT environment”.

There is no cost to attend the event and the only requirement is a little skill, a positive attitude and a willingness to roll with the punches.  The atmosphere is meant to be fun and the entire process organic.  “We’ve adopted the slogan 'No Talk. All Action.' for the event and we are intentionally keeping the agenda loosely defined.  We want to the weekend to be like the early days of a startup, where creativity and frenetic energy are the norm and there aren’t a lot of rules”, says Wilcott.

So what happens when the weekend is over?  Above all, it is hoped that a strong community bond will form but beyond that, it depends on the group. Some groups work beyond the weekend and continue to build and market their products; some may incorporate as companies and even engage in angel rounds. Issues like ownership and shares are determined by the members of a team over the course of the weekend and 54Hours will not retain any ownership of any company that might be formed over the course of the event.

 

"We strongly support these grassroots, creative activities that help people visualize what their ideas might look like in the shape of a business." says Jeff Roach of propel ICT. "There are plenty of good ideas but few people give their ideas legs. We are as interested as everyone else to see what might come from this weekend."

 

To participate in this fun, unique networking event, please visit www.54Hours.com and sign up for this free event!

 

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Media Contact: Michael Wilcott, (506) 647-3269