A Look Back at Discover Tectoria

December 20, 2013 by thestevehof

Discover Tectoria

We were aiming for a big crowd but were blown away by the 4,500 people that came through the doors at Discover Tectoria 2013. The event was a massive success no matter which way you measure it, and it’s a testament to the profile the sector now enjoys and how fascinating the services and products created here really are.

With so much to do and see, chances are you weren’t able to see everything Discover Tectoria 2013 had to offer. So here are some of the top recaps of what turned out to be an iconic day in Tectoria history……

Official Recap by UberVideo

A selection of photos from the event:

Discover Tectoria Photo Album

Prefer a written recap? No problem, among many others, both TechVibes and the Times Colonist published articles about the event.

Thanks again to all of our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, organizers, and volunteers. You’ve set a very high standard for Discover Tectoria 2015.

Discover Tectoria 2013 – Your Insider’s Guide

December 13, 2013 by thestevehof

Ladies and Gentlemen: Start your Engines…… and robots, and video games, and smoke shows, and………. Oh man this is gonna be epic.

Pay attention and we’ll give you a heads up, an insider’s scoop, if you will, on what to expect, when to be where, what not to miss, and how to win some PRIZES!

Where is this event anyway?

Discover Tectoria is happening at The Crystal Gardens at 713 Douglas St.

What do I need to bring?

We’re raising money for the VIATeC Food Bank Challenge in support of Victoria’s Mustard Seed, so this is how it works. Everyone falls into one of the following categories.

You’re in the know, and you, therefore, downloaded a free ticket. Great! Please bring your ticket, on paper or your phone, and one non-perishable food item with you.
Unfortunately, you missed the download, and don’t have a free ticket. Please bring two non perishable food items with you, then sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss the next one. http://eepurl.com/Jlq99
Unfortunately, you missed the download, don’t have a free ticket, and didn’t bring a food item or cash to donate. Come on people! #TechFansGiveCans. But yah, you’re probably still a good person, so we’ll let you in anyway. Or, you could sing us a song? It’s just a suggestion.

Anyway, moving on:

When should I show up?

The event runs from 11am – 6pm, but if you’d like to be a wee bit more strategic, pay attention to the following:

The Keynote speeches by Bob McDonald and Ann Makosinski begin at 3:15pm. If you’ve registered for these speeches, you’ll want to arrive a few hours before that to ensure you see all of the exhibitors as well.
Camosun College Presents Mr. Wizard Rocketsauce Show – 11:15am, 12:45pm, 2:00pm
Coding for Kids by Mozilla – 12:00pm, 1:15pm
If you don’t have tickets to the keynote speeches, I’d highly recommend heading to the event around 2:30pm. You know, ’cause the lines might be a little shorter.

What’s there to do besides the scheduled presentations above?

There’s absolutely nothing to do or see besides the above events. ARE YOU CRAZY?? There’s so much to do and see:

More than 70 exhibitors
The Innovation Showcase (all the big, shiny, cool stuff that can’t fit in a booth)
Tectoria Video Game Lounge – 19 Victoria gaming companies set to blow your mind
and SO MUCH MORE – Check it all out here, if you actually need more motivation

Post, Tweet, Click, and Sign Up your way to Prizes

Here are the keys to walking away a winner:

Our social media accounts are going to be in full force, tweeting, posting, tagging, Instagramming and much more. For the latest, up to the second info, and to see what everyone at the event is talking about, log in often, and contribute to the #DiscoverTectoria conversation. And please, please, please, take a ton of ridiculous, off the wall, insane pics to share with us.
To win any of the prizes, you must have signed up for the This Week in Tectoria Newsletter.
Today is the launch of @Tectoriagram – our new Instagram account. To celebrate, we’re giving away a prize for Best Tectoriagram photo at the event. Don’t forget to mention us!
The hashtag for today’s event is #DiscoverTectoria and we’re giving away a prize for most creative tweet. Don’t forget to mention us (@VIATeC) and include the hashtag!

Keynote Speakers:

Bob McDonald

Loved by audiences across Canada for making complex scientific issues understandable, meaningful, and fun, Bob McDonald is in high demand. A fixture in broadcasting for more than 30 years, he is currently the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning science program that is heard by 500,000 people each week. He is the author of numerous bestselling books, and a member of the Order of Canada.

In addition to hosting Quirks & Quarks, McDonald is a regular reporter for CBC TV’s The National. As a writer, he has authored three science books, and contributed to numerous science textbooks, magazines, and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail. His latest book is Measuring the Earth with a Stick.

McDonald has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of science within Canada. He is a recipient of the “Michael Smith Award” from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; the “Sir Sanford Fleming Medal” from the Royal Canadian Institute; and the “McNeil Medal” from The Royal Society of Canada. He also won a 2008 Gemini Award for “Best Host in a Pre-School, Children’s or Youth Program or Series.” He holds six honorary doctorates from Canadian universities.

Ann Makosinski

You may recognize Ann as the 15-year-old Victoria student who won top prize in Google’s annual global science fair this year. Makosinski, whose entry was chosen from among thousands to represent Canada at Google’s global fair in California, created what she dubbed ‘The Hollow Flashlight,’ to show how humans can be a source of thermal energy.

Just last week Ann was also chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 30 People Under 30 Changing the World. She’s only half way to 30 years old!

Ann will speak about her experience at Google’s science fair and how she first came up with the idea of making the flashlight. There will also be a Q&A period where members of the audience can ask Ann their questions.

Food, Glorious Food

A great event needs great food. We’ve got not one, not two, but three of Victoria’s most popular food trucks parking right out front of the Crystal Gardens.

Leave your lunch at home.

Are you coming to Discover Tectoria Today? What are you most excited for? Do you have any questions?

Post your comments, questions, and concerns below.

And if you’re at the event, swing by and visit us at the VIATeC table.

by Steve Hof

Want Some Tectorian Support?

December 6, 2013 by thestevehof

Even Spartacus Needed a Little Help from his Friends

Searching for ways to have your story heard throughout the Tectoria community and beyond?

Having trouble making a dent on Twitter, Facebook, and other channels?

Your friends at VIATeC are here to help. We want to scream your story from the top of Mt. Finlayson, but we can’t do that until we hear the story ourselves.

So, how do you go about making this happen?

Help us Help You

Between this tectoria.wordpress blog, our This Week in Tectoria Newsletter, the VIATeC E-Bulletin, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Flickr, we have thousands upon thousands of people to tell your story to. That doesn’t even include all of our offline channels.

So Send us your Stories Already

Keep in mind, however, that what may be a story to you, could sound like a sales pitch to someone else; and the quickest way to lose an audience is to continuously scream sales pitches at them.

So How do you Know if you Have a Story or Not?

We’re going to keep this very simple. Especially at first, just err on the side of sending us too much stuff. We’ll wade through everything each week and determine what we feel will work the best.

Lets be clear about something though, by writing this post the way I have, I’m setting myself up for a great deal more work, haha. Now that’s fine, and could actually be quite wonderful, as long as it serves a purpose.

While we’re here to ensure that all your great Tectoria stories are given the audience they deserve, behaving like the startup who cried wolf by repeatedly sending us SELL SELL SELL material, is a sure fire way to get your stories to the bottom of the pile.

A Few Key Points to Remember

Starting this very second, send any stories / ideas to me, Steve Hof, at shof@viatec.ca
For blog posts, the stories need to be especially compelling, or motivated by a clear intention to help the Tectoria cause.
If you’re on Twitter, mention @VIATeC in a post and include the hashtag #I_AM_TECTORIAN
If you’re on Facebook, post to the VIATeC wall so we know you’re there.
Don’t want to do either of those things? Fine, be difficult. At the very least, however, send me an email listing the channels you’re on and the best ways we can support you.
There’s no ‘h’ in Tectoria. It’s the little things people.

Is there something I’ve missed? Do you have a mind blowing, or even slightly above average idea for helping us help you?

Post your ideas, questions, and concerns to the comments below. Lets hash it out.

Okay Tectorians, the ball’s in your court.

I mean, even Rod Tidwell figured it out eventually.

Help me……… Help you.

by Steve ‘Soon to be Very Busy‘ Hof

Not your Average Room Full of People

November 22, 2013 by thestevehof

Bob McDonald and Ann Makosinski Both Set to Speak.

You’re Welcome Victoria.

With Bob McDonald, host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks; Ann Makosinski, the 15yr old winner of Google’s Global Science Fair; and more than 70 other gifted presenters and exhibitors, Victoria’s Crystal Gardens promises to have the highest average IQ of any building in Victoria this December 13th for Discover Tectoria.

Ann Makosinski, of course, is the fifteen year old Saanich student who, motivated by her friend in the Phillipines who was failing school due to a lack of light to study with, invented a hollow flashlight powered by human thermal energy. Her invention and Google Science Fair Award have her in popular demand, with TEDx talks and many other coming opportunities. Yah, that’s the level of talent bursting out of Victoria right now.

For those of you living under a rock, Discover Tectoria is the preeminent Victoria tech showcase that happens but once every two years. Besides the more than 70 presenters and exhibitors, the local Gaming Studio and Innovation Showcases have some some incredible hands on experiences to offer; think robots, simulators, and everything in between. Just picture a room packed with geniuses giving you a sneak peek into both Victoria’s, and the world’s future.

by Steve Hof

It’s the Thoughtful Gifts that Count

November 7, 2013 by thestevehof

Ever tried to meet your hero? No? Well how hard did you really try? Local entrepreneur and proud Tectorian, Dylan Benson, decided he wanted to meet his hero. His hero just happens to be Alexis Ohanian, and for those of you living under a rock this past decade, Alexis is the co-founder of reddit, one of the most successful and notorious websites in the world. Dylan, however, managed to combine just the right amount of moxie, skill and random acts of kindness to make the meeting a reality.

Roughly 3 ½ years ago Dylan started spending time on reddit, quickly becoming involved enough to create subreddits with his friend Aaron to showcase their favourite content. As Dylan got more and more into the site, he realized its potential for social and community minded interactions.

Perhaps the most compelling of these social interactions came during Dylan’s first Reddit Secret Santa Experience. What’s a reddit Secret Santa Experience you ask? Well, Dylan was given a name, an address to send the gift to, and nothing else. Most people would have simply chosen a generic gift, and while he soon realized the difficulties involved with buying a gift for a complete stranger, he decided to press on. Dylan spent an inordinate amount of time combing through years of posts this anonymous user had made. Eventually, he came across one of this man’s posts detailing the childhood memory of losing his beloved Casey Jones action figure while out one day with his mom. Perfect. Dylan found the action figure online and quickly sent it along to his Secret Santa recipient. He was proud to have found a somewhat relevant gift, but had no idea what was about to happen.

Not too many days later, Dylan received a phone call describing a tearful conversation the recipient had just had with his sister. It turns out there was far more to this story than Dylan had been made aware of….. The man’s mother had since passed away, but that day still held a strong memory for him, not as the afternoon he lost his toy, but rather as a testament of his mother’s love for him. He could barely put into words how touched he was, and how much the small gift would forever mean to him. That day, two people who had never met in person, sealed a lasting friendship.

The Secret Santa Story doesn’t end there, however. During his quest to find a meaningful gift, Dylan came across numerous users who were frustrated with online gift giving sites. The sites seemed to offer very little assistance in finding gifts appropriate and meaningful to those they were purchased for. Dylan, an entrepreneur at heart, recognized the opportunity at hand. That moment sparked the creation of SomethingInTheMail.com, a successful Tectoria based website owned by Dylan and his two partners that strives to produce ‘The Ultimate Secret Santa Experience – Year Round.’

Shortly after the Secret Santa experience, Dylan joined the Alexis Ohanian Fan Club. And while he realizes how goofy it sounds for a grown man to join a fan club, Dylan did so because of how engaging an online presence Alexis was. (Often responding to fans, and involving himself in their conversations) Dylan received his Welcome to the Fan Club email, and responded in a unique way, mentioning a past blog post of Alexis’ surrounding a grilled cheese sandwich. Sure enough, Alexis responded to Dylan’s email personally.

Inspired, Dylan approached Alexis’ agent and began negotiating terms regarding a possible speaking engagement here in Victoria. Dylan also reached out to VIATeC’s own Dan Gunn for assistance. Dan was excited about the opportunity of bringing Alexis to Victoria for the Thinklandia festival, and swiftly stepped in to help. Together they were able to secure Alexis as a speaker, and to top it all off, Dylan was given the honour of introducing him.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Dylan used the ten or so minutes he had with Alexis to pitch the Startup community here in Tectoria as an ideal extension of ‘Small Empires’ (the name of a show Alexis hosts.) Needless to say, Alexis liked the idea and agreed to keep a dialogue going. (Dylan continues to work with Brandon Gains on making this project a reality, and we’ll keep you posted with any new information.)

Dylan’s story showcases the benefits of perseverance, creativity, and ingenuity. Thankfully, however, the Tectoria community is chalk full of similar tales, so we encourage you to swing by this blog whenever your day calls for a little extra inspiration.

By Steve Hof