Entries Tagged 'Montreal' ↓

There was big news late last week that I haven’t yet mentioned here: Montreal’s Standout Jobs is Launching at DEMO 08, to be held in Palm Springs at the end of January. I was at DEMOfall in 2006 in San Diego and having been there, I know just how special an event it is. For all of the cynicism that exists in the tech/startup world, Chris Shipley and the whole DEMO team really do a great job at providing an amazing platform for any company whose up to the task of showing it, live, in just 6 minutes.

Congratulations to Ben, Fred, and Austin and the whole gang at Standout Jobs!

On January 23 at SAT they’re hosting StartupCampMontreal. StartupCamp “…is the forum where early stage companies, investors and on-lookers alike can share information and validate pitches live. Join us as we learn from each other about the ins and outs of starting up. This event is not just for Montrealers, all are welcome.”

My friend Hugh McGuire and an A-Team of Montreal developers and designers have launched earideas, which is, “a collection of the best thoughtful audio available on the web” (in their words). Go now and take a listen, and then take the earideas audio challenge.

Today is the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, the deliberate killing of fourteen women at the École Polytechnique. So, at some point during the day, please take a moment and think about those victims and all victims of violence against women. This day has also become the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women.

Almost 20 years hence, the events of 1989 seem at once remote and vivid. I remember almost every detail of the hours after I heard about the massacre - what I was doing, where I was, what was going on in my life, etc. At the same time, I spent the morning very close to the site of the events (I was at HEC) and it was if nothing had happened, nothing special was being remembered today. I guess that’s how the passage of time works: but as I have said before, for a certain generation of Montrealers, today is etched in our memories forever.

Nadia has written a post wondering who should be the next mayor of Montreal. Her conclusion - and mine as well - we could do a LOT worse than André Boisclair in that job. Boisclair is dynamic, (more or less) bilingual, young, knows provincial politics well (an essential point for the next mayor), and popular. Popular? Well it wasn’t Montreal that voted massively against him for Premier - that was the rest of Quebec. It’s time to turn to a new generation of politician. Tremblay has seemed bored and devoid of vision for years - Montreal needs someone who actually wants to do the job, and will represent Montreal as it really is. The election is coming in 2009 - there’s more than enough time left for him to turn his attention to municipal politics.

Kristian Gravenor has posted a Google map that locates every bar in Montreal in 1950 in his fun blog, Coolopolis.