Added bonus for StartupCampLondon: eProf at Chinaccelerator

On top of the other items on the schedule at StartupCampLondon tomorrow (Thursday) as an extra added bonus, we'll have Trevor Koverko from eProf talk about his experience spending the summer at Chinaccelerator, a TechStars-network accelerator in China. eProf was launched by Western students earlier this year and helped by BizInc, the new student incubator at UWO.

So we have:

• Featured speaker: Roger Skubowius, founder of Reqwireless, a mobile apps startup that was acquired by Google
• Trevor Koverko of eProf on his Chinaccelerator experience
• Titus Ferguson and Adam Caplan from UnLondon to talk about the open data app contest using the City of London's 2012 budget data
• An opportunity to see the UnLab hackerspace, which is right downstairs from StartupCamp

That's all on top of the informal presentations from startups (just sign your name on the whiteboard when you arrive and you can talk about your idea or startup and get everyone's feedback), which are at the core of the event.

And we may still get to hear from Jaafar Haidar about his experience last month in having his latest initiative, Carbyn, featured on TechCrunch—although it's looking like Jaafar may be on the highway coming back from Buffalo and unable to make it.

WHEN: Thursday, October 27, 5:30pm
WHERE: Convergence Centre, 999 Collip Circle, London [Map]
Register here

StartupCampLondon this Thursday

The second StartupCampLondon this Thursday, October 27, starting at 5:30 at the Convergence Centre. If you've got a startup or an idea for one -- or just want to be part of the local startup community, you won't want to miss this informal "unconference."

The centrepiece of the event will be brief presentations from startups or prospective startups. If you want to get feedback and suggestions on your startup, just sign up when you arrive and you'll get a chance to tell everyone about your idea or company. They probably won't be shy about giving their opinions, but it's all friendly and fun.

Our guest speaker is area resident Roger Skubowius who will share his experiences of starting a mobile apps company that was acquired (very secretly, at the time) by Google. That was the deal that brought Google to Waterloo and from which it has grown its current development office. Roger will talk about what it was like selling to Google--and not being able to tell anyone about it.

We'll get an update from Jaafer Haidar on what it was like for Carbyn to be featured last month on TechCrunch -- one of the world's highest profile tech business news sites.

We'll also hear from UnLondon about the contest they're launching to develop apps for the City of London's 2012 budget process. There are thousands of dollars in prize money to be won (assuming the proposal is approved by city council on Monday night) and lots of cool startup services as well.

And if you haven't yet been to the UnLab hacker space, it's located right downstairs in the Convergence Centre so you can go take a peek at one of the city's most exciting initiatives.

Windermere Manor will once again be serving food and drinks. StartupCampLondon is co-instigated by UnLondon and TechAlliance and co-sponsored by The Research Park. We had a packed room at the first StartupCampLondon earlier this year, and we hope to see you this Thursday.

WHEN: Thursday, October 27, 5:30pm
WHERE: Convergence Centre, 999 Collip Circle, London
Map
Register here

Roundabout crossings and yield to pedestrian signs

Just a quick followup to a Tweet that generated a couple of questions. The Tweet included a link to a news story in London showing a roundabout with no marked pedestrian crossings, no yield sign, and suggesting that the City of London was powerless to do anything about it. That seemed odd, having spent the last several years living near one of the many roundabouts in Waterloo -- one that has both marked crossings and yield to pedestrian signs:


So, somehow Waterloo found a way to have marked crossings and pedestrian yield signs. They aren't always as effective as you'd hope they'd be, although it got better over time. I think everyone who lives near a roundabout has stories of drivers not yielding. But the marked crossings are there and the signs are there, and the news story in London made it sound like that was something that couldn't be done.

UPDATE: Waterloo created its own rules for yielding to pedestrians at roundabouts. According to the Record, the Ontario Traffic Manual states: “In Ontario, there is no formal pedestrian right-of-way at roundabouts unless accompanied by a traffic control device.”