MediaCore has been acquired by Workday!

Big news for the MediaCore team – who have achieved great things and surpassed many challenges in the 5 years since the company was founded, and also fantastic news for Tectoria – as MediaCore plan to continue to grow their team right here in Victoria!

MediaCore

MediaCore offers a powerful video platform that enables educational institutions to easily capture, manage and share educational content and drive real learning results.  The company was started in 2011 by founders Stuart Bowness, Nate Wright, Anthony Theocharis and Damien C. Tanner, who all shared an idea of transforming the way people teach and learn with video.

MediaCore’s journey has involved over 100 institutions and companies adopting their platform, being named “Employer of the Year” at the 2015 VIATEC Technology Awards and now joining forces with Workday.  Additional highlights include raising a large round of finances in 2014, volunteering many team members to help with the successful creation of Ladies Learning Code in Victoria, and dancing to dubstep at a Hong Kong night club.

What’s Next?

Joining Workday opens up a realm of new possibilities for MediaCore, and one of their first new ventures may involve using their video platform to enhance the world of workplace training.  The team has big plans for the future – plans which involve them continuing to grow their amazing team in Victoria!

To learn more about this fantastic local success story – hear from MediaCore team themselves.

You can also read a personal account from Founder/CEO Stuart Bowness HERE, or get more of a sneak peak at what MediaCore might be up to next: HERE & HERE.

Congratulations MediaCore, keep helping to drive Tectoria forward!

 

 You won’t believe what the panelists called Ben Kerr during Experience Tectoria’s Showcase Showdown!

 
Ben Kerr is a Victoria native, mountain biker, foodie, father, CEO and Lead Analyst for Foundry Spatial, and our Tectorian of the Week!

 There can be no arguing that Ben is not a true Tectorian.  He was born and raised here, is a UVic geography grad, gets involved in local organizations with his two young daughters, is growing a local tech company doing very cool things, and says “I have never had a reason to leave and plan for it to stay that way! Victoria has such a beautiful natural setting and it is really beginning to emerge culturally and business-wise. I feel like Victoria is starting to build an amazingly unique new identity which is up there with the best places in the world!”

 

 

 

 

 

Foundry Spatial

Foundry Spatial provides environmental analytics SAAS tools, with a primary focus on water.  They offer customers complete, streamlined environmental and watershed information – meaning they can answer questions that directly impact the viability and sustainability of both a business, and its surrounding environment.

Ben started the company out as a one man environmental consultancy, or as he recalls, “me in my garage with a bunch of spiders.”  Over the last 6 years Foundry Spatial has grown steadily, and now they’re rolling out a national service at the end of the year, that will provide a network of waterway understanding all across Canada!

 Why would someone need to know how much water is in a river?

The Showcase Showdown panel asked Ben the same thing during Experience Tectoria.  His answer really helped to win over everyone in the room, because of the information he provided, and the affable manner in which he responded.

If you asked Ben again he would say “people need water to drink and for day to day life. Fish and all kinds of other animals depend on rivers for their livelihoods. Farmers use the water from rivers to grow the food we eat. Industries need water too to keep our economy going, things like hydro and energy production, pulp and paper, and oil and gas. With demand growing from all these sectors and the challenges we’re facing in a changing climate, technology can help us find balance. It’s everyone that cares about water!”

Ben and Foundry Spatial participated in both the Demo Camp and Showcase Showdown during Experience Tectoria.  In the Showcase Showdown he reached the final pairing, and the panel called him “the hands-down friendliest contestant!”

 

 

 

 

 

What’s next for Foundry Spatial?

They have their sights set on expansion across the rest of North America in the next three years. Ben asserts that “we’ll continue to prioritize the areas of greatest need, where demand and shortages are causing conflict.”

 From water, to gravel (and the end of this article)

Ben started his career in gravel exploration. It may not be the most widely appealing topic, but Ben loves it, so one of the guys in his office offered to add some flair to that story for him…

 Born at age 7, Ben knew that one day, he would grow up to stare at rocks in a serious way. One day, he found the best gravel he had ever seen, but his bucket was broken.

His desire for gravel persists, driven by the one that got away.

The one gravel.

The end.

 

 If your interest is piqued – click here to learn more about Foundry Spatial

Our Tectorian’s of the Week are: All 11 of the VIATEC Board candidates! They pushed aside any nerves and got on stage at yesterday’s AGM at Fort Tectoria to tell everyone who they are and why they should be on one of the best boards around.

It was a fantastic turnout and during the AGM, VIATEC also officially changed its name from “Victoria Advanced Technology Council” to “Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology and Entrepreneurship Council.” Everyone is very excited for the next year and what growth it will bring. If you didn’t make it out to the AGM, below are the candidates’ bios. To see the final elected 2015-16 board, click here.

Jim Balcom (Elected)
Senior VP Operations, Redlen Technologies

Jim’s career has been spent working in the Tech sector in Silicon Valley, Seattle and Vancouver. Most recently, Jim relocated to the Victoria area to take a position as SVP Operations at the semiconductor developer and manufacturer, Redlen Technologies. Jim would like to contribute where he can to the continued growth of the Tech sector here on Vancouver Island. Jim has worked in a number of senior and executive management roles over the past 30 years including manufacturing, engineering, sales, venture capital, COO and CEO, and has developed and launched disruptive products and technologies in medical devices, electronics manufacturing and alternative energy. Jim has a Systems Engineering degree from Waterloo and an MBA from Harvard. Jim has been fortunate to experience both successes and failures in the Tech sector, and has learned a lot along the way from both. Jim has helped raise ~$75m in financing for numerous companies from various public and private sources including an IPO, follow-on financings, angel investors, VCs, and government programs. Jim has been a board member, angel investor, and mentor to a number of companies over the years, and is keen to share these experiences and give back to the Tech community.

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Robert Cooper (Elected)
President, PlusROI Online Marketing Inc.

I’ve worked in software and tech marketing internationally since 2001 for companies ranging from small start-ups right through to large organizations. I’ve been running my own small web marketing agency (PlusROI Online Marketing) since 2007 and have significant insight as to the challenges (and opportunities) faced by our local tech firms who want to grow internationally.

I’m a VIATEC member, board member, tenant at Fort Tectoria, booster for Accelerate Tectoria, member of 3 VIATEC Round Tables, and speaker to numerous VIATEC groups.

I’ve worked with a number of “visionary” leaders and while I don’t consider myself to be in that group, I am a very practical and effective strategist and have a unique ability to identify the small steps en route to the bigger goal.

I’m hugely passionate about the City of Victoria and a big fan of VIATEC and the organization’s major successes in the last 10 or so years. I’ve had the opportunity to closely watch as the industry has flourished in the city. I feel very grateful for VIATEC’s efforts and am excited to help out however I can on the board.

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Robert Dubicki
Manager, Online Marketing, Government of British Columbia

Back in 1983 when I told my mom that I was planning to leave my secure job in finance at General Electric to work as an Account Manager at a software company, she became very perplexed and asked: “Why on earth would you want to work selling underwear at Fruit-of-the-loom”? What people today refer to as dinosaurs were called mainframes back then and there were probably no more than 100 software companies in the entire world.

I say this not to age myself, but to provide context. Thirty years from now, when the future Board at VIATEC and its members look back at 2016, what will they say about the leadership of the technology sector in Victoria? What bold moves and decisions were made to help cement Victoria as a viable technology hub for future generations?

I’ve worked in small, medium and large technology companies, based here and elsewhere, mostly in sales and marketing management roles. Start-ups, enterprise mergers, dot com boom and bust: been there and done that, and this experience and perspective (hopefully) will help in charting the waters moving forward. This year, I made a significant career change by taking a position in government, with Trade and Invest BC, where I help promote B.C. businesses to the world and to attract investment to the province. As a Board member, I would strive to make a difference by helping ensure VIATEC continues to be viable and useful entity for years to come.

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Marc Foucher
Sales Associate, Colliers International

Marc works at Colliers International in Victoria as a Commercial Real Estate Advisor. Leading their Tech Practice Group, his primary focus is working with tech companies, exposing them to the funky, heritage-style office spaces that Victoria has to offer. A successful relationship involves finding a company a space that meets their budget, is reflective of their culture and brand, and aligns with their growth strategies. Marc works to fully understand the relationship between a tech company’s culture and business plan, and how that relates to real estate.

After graduating from the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria in 2013, Marc joined the Colliers team as the Research Analyst for all of Vancouver Island. He was responsible for producing all market update reports, which gave him an unparalleled understanding of the commercial real estate market in Greater Victoria and on the island.

Marc’s objective in joining the VIATEC Board of Directors is simple: to help members grow their business by offering advice when looking for a new location. Landlords and tech companies (especially those in their early stages) are often miles apart on negotiating a lease, and it is at this point that Marc believes his involvement with VIATEC and its Board would be beneficial to its members. In Marc’s opinion, this is the most important thing that VIATEC does as an organization – bringing together individuals with different skill sets and fostering a spirit of support and guidance to help each other grow.

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Ho Kim (Elected)
President & CEO,  Camacc Systems

Ho Kim moved to Victoria when he was 1.5 years old and at the tender age of 48, he cannot think of a better place to operate his business from. Ho is one of the founding members, director, president and CEO of Camacc Systems Inc., a video surveillance sales and installation company. Since their inception in 1998 in Central Saanich, they have branched out across Canada and have amassed a fantastic resume of national clients such as Best Buy, Petro Canada, Shell and London Drugs to name a few. Satellite offices include software engineering labs in Victoria and China selling their Vigil Digital Video Recorder (DVR) Software globally in a license form, a distribution sales office in Westminster, an in Colorado selling their turnkey Digital Video Recorders to a dealer market across the United States. Ho Kim was a 2014 Pacific Region Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

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Bobbi Leach (Elected)
CEO, RevenueWire

I’m an entrepreneurial leader with more than 25 years of experience, primarily in the high tech sector. I have a proven track record defining strategies for successful, sustainable growth for start-up ventures and existing enterprises alike. As the CEO for RevenueWire, I’ve established the company as the industry leader in our vertical, successfully launching new services and driving double-digit growth in revenue and profitability year-over-year. I’m also the CEO of an early-stage venture called FuturePay, which I’ve led from ideation to million-dollar revenue traction.

The Victoria tech community has been a wealth of support for me, especially the many VIATEC programs from networking and talent attraction to round tables and mentorships. By volunteering for the VIATEC Board, this is my opportunity to join in and give back to this vital part of our community. As a Board member, I’ll bring my strategy development expertise and broad management skills along with my enthusiasm to help VIATEC continue to grow and provide exceptional value to its members.

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Alex Mendelev (Elected)
CEO, TinyMob Games

Alex Mendelev is a co-founder and CEO of TinyMob Games Inc. Mr. Mendelev has been at the forefront of the game industry for well over a decade, holding key executive positions in technology, game production, product management and business development. Most recently, he served as the General Manager and Head of Studios, Canada at GameHouse, where he led a studio of over 50 people in the development of industry leading Free-to-Play games for mobile phones and Facebook. Prior to joining GameHouse, he served as Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at Backstage Games, a Victoria-based game company that pioneered the Free-to-Play business model in Canada and was the first game developer in the country to create free to play games for Facebook. At Backstage, he was instrumental in tripling the Backstage’s revenue in less than a year and structuring an acquisition with GameHouse, one of the largest casual game portals in the world. He previously held technical and management roles building and distributing games through mobile devices. Alex holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from McGill University.

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Christina Seargeant (Elected)
Director of People Operations, MediaCore

Christina is passionate about start-up communities and helping young companies grow. From planning events and bolstering culture, to managing international recruitment and growth – Christina leads all aspects of people operations for MediaCore, an ed-tech start-up based in Victoria, BC. Christina came to MediaCore with a deeply rooted background in technology, having formerly worked for amazon.com and the University of Victoria’s Computing Systems department. In her spare time, she can be found playing video games, leading the Victoria chapter of Ladies Learning Code, or frequenting one of the many acclaimed restaurants Victoria has to offer.

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Anthony Sukow
EVP Product Design & Innovation, Co-Founder, Terapeak

NOTE: This was submitted Andrew, CMO of Terapeak, as a nomination of Anthony with his support.

Big Data — for the past 11 years I have worked developing Business Intelligence tools for e-commerce merchants. As the Master Licensing Partner of eBay e-commerce Data, Terapeak has created systems to manage over 33.8+ Billion transactions, representing over $686 Billion worth of online spending from 150 Million consumers around the world. This single e-commerce data set is one of the largest unstructured data sets, and also one of the most valuable — with respect to real time consumer insights. Terapeak was building “Big Data”​ before “Big Data” was a catch phrase.

Currently Terapeak serves over 28,000 of the worlds largest e-commerce merchants, and has developed SaaS solutions for over 2,600,000 merchants worldwide.

 

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Carli van Maurik 
Partner, Whiteboard Law

Carli van Maurik is a senior business solutions lawyer and joined Whiteboard Law in 2014. Carli was formerly with a highly regarded business law firm located in Victoria, B.C., where she led their Corporate and Commercial Department.

An entrepreneur herself, she recently co-founded an innovative online start-up company.

Ms. Van Maurik is actively involved in VIATEC and is a booster with VIATEC’s accelerator program where she mentors start-up businesses and appears as a frequent guest speaker.

Carli has extensive experience in a wide range of business law matters including assisting her clients with (technology) start-up formation, debt and equity financing, sophisticated corporate/capital structuring, corporate governance, maintenance and compliance, as well as shareholders agreements. In addition, she regularly assists clients with complex corporate re-organizations and helps by avoiding and solving stakeholder disputes. Other areas of practice include negotiating and preparing share/asset purchase, franchise and licensing agreements. She has extensive experience in structuring corporate entities, societies and not-for-profits, cost-sharing arrangements, joint ventures and partnerships.

Carli has volunteered her time with the Access ProBono Society of British Columbia providing legal advice to low income individuals. She was sought out to make a guest appearance on a Victoria television show profiling the local business community. Carli is also an Advisor with ICE which is a resource for helping budding entrepreneurs research and potentially launch a new venture. It is also a resource for very early ventures that have yet to raise outside money (beyond early “friends and family”) and which are now reaching a stage where they need to polish a business plan and become “Investor-Ready”. ICE is an initiative of the Gustavson School of Business on behalf of the University of Victoria.

Carli is a graduate of St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia and attended law school at Dalhouse University where she received the Award of Academic Excellence and was on the Dean’s List for 2002 – 2003. Carli was called to both the British Columbia Bar and the Nova Scotia Bar in 2007.

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Brad Williams (Elected)
CFO/COO, Sockeye Technologies Inc.

Brad works as a consultant for various technology companies. Over the last 15 years Brad has held, CEO, President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles for companies. Brad has assisted in raising over $30 million in funds, lead the sales and diligence processes for several exits (including a $370M exit), lead and completed 3 CPC (capital pool companies) processes, completed a CCAA restructuring and more.  Brad is a passionate entrepreneur who has started his own start up (raising 750K in venture financing), attended the C100’s 48 hours in the valley and a keen following of all things lean startup related.

Brad has been mentoring start-up and early stage companies for many years as an accredited lead mentor in the BCIC AceTech VIATeC MVP Program and actively advising a number of companies at any given time.

Brad is a Board member and the head of the finance/audit committees with VIATEC and Power to Be Adventure Therapy.

Dawn McCooey is the Skills Development Manager for the Women’s Enterprise Centre (WEC), a BC based not for profit providing loans, training, mentoring and business advising to women entrepreneurs throughout the province.

She’s well known for her hard work, extensive travelling, bright smile, and the best baked goods you’ve ever tasted.

But there are a few other facts about Dawn many may not know…

• Dawn was the very first student to enroll at Royal Roads University, where she eventually earned a Masters in Leadership and Training
• For the first two weeks of university, she decided to ROW to school and back on an Alden rowing shell

• Her love for the ocean is obvious, having once run a yacht chartering business with her husband and the fact that she’s an experienced offshore sailor!
• At the culmination of her HR career she wrote a book called “Keeping good employees on board”

• Dawn used to own a career consulting company with 32 staff in 3 offices before joining WEC in 2005
• She’s won the impressive “Best boss in Victoria” award.

McCooey and WEC moved their office to VIATEC’s headquarters at Douglas and Hillside in 2012 and are now located in VIATEC’s new Fort Tectoria building at 777 Fort Street. “We are proud to support the tech community and want to encourage and provide support to women entrepreneurs in this important and growing sector,” commented McCooey.

The WEC has been increasing its profile for some time now, including the recent completion of Phase 1 for the “catalyst for growth” regional consultations.

In this project, they are taking the results and the energy of last October’s successful BC Economic Forum, “Women as a catalyst for growth,” and are developing recommendations from four regions of the province.

“This is a project that is action-oriented and community based,” explained McCooey. “The outcomes will positively impact business growth for women entrepreneurs, increase numbers of women on boards and in senior leadership, increase number of women in trades, STEM and emerging sectors.”

On September 8th McCooey is baking some more cookies, this time for the Women Entrepreneur Focus Group at Fort Tectoria.

The goal is to provide insight into a study of women, entrepreneurship and risk.

It’s conducted by Clare Beckton, Carleton University’s Centre for Women in Politics and Public Leadership executive director, and Janice McDonald of the Beacon Agency.

“Input in this focus group could add a unique perspective and contribute to the dialogue about female entrepreneurship.”

McCooey is a very strong advocate for women entrepreneurs and the tech community is honoured to have her making a difference every day. Smooth sailing, Dawn!

 

In the past, summer has been a fairly low-key time for the team at VIATEC, but this year we’ve had our heads down, working at lightning speed… and perfecting our computer-glow tan at the same time.

The transluscent appearance of VIATEC staff is the result of having a number of projects on the go; the biggest of which has been the NEW viatec.ca which launched one week ago today.  

In order to stay true to who we represent, VIATEC hired a local tech company to build our new site from scratch. Despite the fact that Silkstart has been onboarding for the past year, VIATEC is the first organization to use:

• Computed membership plans on the front-end
• A free subscriber plan
• Silkstart’s new, premium website theme
• Silkstart’s custom Job Board and,
• A custom “join” page.

Beyond the look and feel, we’ve made serious changes to how it all works. Members will now have more control over everything they want to post: from jobs, to news releases, to events. The site is MUCH faster and we built it with the intention of helping your whole team really connect with what VIATEC offers.

WHAT’S NEW

• More member control (faster and easier to post, edit and/or archive)
• More complete explanations of what VIATEC offers its members
• Better event registration, reminders and automatic discounts based on member types
• A living SAAS platform (powered by SilkStart) that will provide ongoing improvements and feature additions
• More member benefits including free or discounted meeting and event space at Fort Tectoria
• Two new member levels for companies that really want to support the tech sector and up their profile: Corporate Partner and Community Builder. Have a look here
• The new job board gives users much more control over posts, plus we added an archive so you can more easily pull up old postings to edit rather than starting from scratch or cutting and pasting.
  • We can’t reveal much just yet but we are in final negotiations with a partner that would expand the reach of job postings to a qualified audience and when we get it done, it will be included with all job postings on VIATEC.ca

WHY THE CHANGE?

The “old” viatec.ca was exactly what our members needed… in 2009. But times change quickly, along with website best practices and VIATEC as a whole. In 2009, VIATEC had a small office at the Vancouver Island Technology Park and a team of 4. After moving to Douglas and Hillside in 2012 and starting the Accelerator Program, VIATEC now has a team of 12, OWNS a newly renovated heritage building and cafe at 777 Fort Street, and rents out office and event space on top of all the services we’ve always offered (plus a few more). The old viatec.ca no longer represented who we are or what our members were in need of.

We normally don’t feature ourselves as Tectorian of the Week, but we are just so damn proud of this new site! Check it out and if you have any feedback or suggestions please contact info@viatec.ca.

As a child Nathan Wren would break apart old electronics, read everything he could and spend hours doodling. This fascination with understanding how things work has stayed with him his entire life.

Nathan was hired as a Mechanical Engineer in 2012 by Daniels Electronics, just weeks before its acquisition by Codan Radio Communications. He’s actually gone from breaking radios in his parents’ garage to designing them for a living in one of the most beautiful settings, Fisherman’s Wharf. Given his childhood fascination you’d think he’d know his path right away, instead he first earned a degree in Psychology before making the switch to Mechanical Engineering.

Nathan hasn’t looked back since and has had some impressive moments in his career.

“It was a great pleasure and honor to spend several months on a work term at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics; the level of talent in that group is truly something else,” commented Nathan. Another moment he will never forget is watching Codan’s new Stratus Repeater product get chucked off a 3-4m rooftop, hit the cement, and still power up and function properly.

Codan just launched a brand new suite of transportable products, anchored by the Stratus Repeater, that links conventional radio systems to the current cellular networks. This opens up a whole new range of uses for Codan’s transportable products, and is generating some real excitement in the market according to Nathan.

“I was lucky enough to see the mechanical design of the core repeater product from start to finish, and to work with a really talented and nimble design team. As for current projects, we’ve always got something on the burner… stay tuned.”

For the past several months, Nathan has also helped breathe new life into the Advanced Manufacturing Roundtable for VIATEC. This month’s event was held at Codan’s headquarters where members heard from Charlie Stuff, President of Codan, and received a site tour through their 30,000 square foot manufacturing facility.

Nathan has been having a blast so far with the roundtable and is looking forward to future meetups. “There are a lot of interesting companies and great product design going on in Victoria, and no shortage of topics to discuss.”

When Nathan isn’t working, you will find him, well… still working. He’s inspired by complex systems and hairy design challenges. “Whether it’s a wonky political debate, a challenging thermal design, or the arcane rules of a card or board game, if you can take it apart and figure it out, I’m there.”

We’re not quite sure what to call Ron Proulx, but “Renaissance Man” seems quite fitting.

Ron is a recent import from Toronto and contacted VIATEC to introduce himself with the most creative (and elaborate) bio they had ever seen:

“I’m from Toronto
I drove across the country in 2014 thinking I’d buy a place in Vancouver;
I decided I like Vic better.
I like the weather in Vic, because I used to live in Venice Beach, California.
I took possession of a condo on 6/1/15; every day is an adventure, with a killer view.
I own a music supervision company in film/tv.
I manage several TV composers.
I co-own a rights clearance company.
I had a digital company that got into podcasting; too early i might add lol.
I own a patch of trees in the BC Interior; the deer love me.
I have written 2 ebooks that I sell online; one has done well, the other not so much.
I’m entrepreneurial and/or a bon vivant lol.
I’m looking for the next adventure(s); passive or active.
I play poker once in a while; I raise with A9 suited.
I play piano and sing; good for the soul.
I am a big walker; see Vic for why that is good.
I had a record deal in another life; I also had purple hair, and now I have none.
I believe the arts are important; as is free speech.
I live for my iPhone and Apple products; and/or ability to be mobile/everywhere.
I was once addicted to Sudoku; I have that under control now.
I have made some short films.
I was in the middle of producing a feature length documentary for 2 years – shoot/edit/wrangle/produce/chief bottle washer… all until I pulled the plug due to my subject being “unavailable”… long story.
My axes = Canon5DMII + FCPX.
I am not looking for a job lol.”

Oh, and he won a Genie Award once…

Due to having a bit more freedom with his business, Arpix Media, (thanks to his amazing employees), Ron decided to move to Victoria, a city he feels is up and coming and more sustainable than Toronto or Vancouver.

He’s hoping to be proved right. And, who knows what opportunities will fall into his lap while he’s here.

“Being curious about any and all things is inspirational,” commented Proulx. “I love not knowing how to do something. It’s great fun to be on the learning curve, far more than once things start to get easy… that starts to get a little hamster wheel for me. I’m not big on hamster wheels.”

Proulx is also a public speaker with experience as a panelist and moderator. Topics have mostly been about music licensing, but occasionally regarding one of the ebooks he wrote (hownot2suck@businessnbeing), which is a primer for young people entering the workforce. His other ebook is called “How to license your music into movies and television”.

With his stay so far, Proulx has noticed that “people in Victoria sure like their beer!”

“I mean, people like beer everywhere, but if you really want to have a spirited conversation in Vic, I’ve found that discussing beer totally works!”

Yup, we’re definitely proud of our microbreweries. In fact, there’s now an official map with 25,000 copies placed in tourist traffic areas and at each location!

While Proulx still has a lot to discover in Victoria, he definitely has the same feeling we all have: That “an explosion is about to happen in Victoria due to its technology, distance working and mobility all smashing into a great climate and property values.”

“I thought I’d get here now, rather than later with the others.”

Cheers and welcome, Ron!

Silkstart helps member-based associations manage their web presence, events, members, job board and calendars by creating modern, affordable and custom platforms.

They’ve been very busy since forming in 2011. Shaun Jamieson, CEO of Silkstart, made the (smart) move to Victoria in the Spring of 2014 and the company consisted of just him. Silkstart now has 7 employees, another office in Toronto and they’ve quickly found their groove. Just last month they were finalists at the 2015 VIATEC Awards for Emerging Technology Company of the Year!

With their brand new shared office space at 838 Fort Street, they’re right where they need to be.

“We take inspiration from being a part of the Victoria startup community; whether it’s helping startups in VIATEC’s accelerator program, participating in Ladies Learning Code, WhiskyDev, or PyVic, or just networking at a Tectoria Social Club or Startup Meetup,” commented Jamieson.

You may have also seen Silkstart in the news in early July. They announced a seed round they raised earlier in the year for $550k that included HIGHLINE and a group of US and Canadian angel investors (Including Victoria’s Thomas Ahn of Mad Ventures, John Hopper of Torrent Investments and Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures (formerly based in Victoria and now located in Vancouver).

On the product side, they’ve modified their platform to support multi-chapter associations, something unique in the market, and they are starting to onboard their first large customers.

They’re also about to launch a Job Board, something many of their customers are excited to use right away, including VIATEC.

The team of Silkstart have been working on a brand new site for VIATEC and the Job Board feature is being customized for their needs. VIATEC’s current Job Board has high traffic and is something Members and Non-Members use daily to post jobs and apply for them. This was the perfect project for Silkstart to launch the Job Board. This large project is scheduled to wrap mid August.

“We work hard, have fun and really try to make a difference,” commented Jamieson. We all have a mutual goal of wanting to learn, develop and also to work somewhere we enjoy coming to. There’s a lot of mutual respect within the team and while we don’t always agree on everything, we know that’s a good thing and helps make us better as a company.”

When the Silkstart team needs to take a break, you’ll find them away from computer screens and playing board games.