Ireland’s first ever ‘Startup Weekend’ will happen at the NDRC, Digital Hub from 7-9 May 2010. Those interested in developing a web or mobile application are invited to sign up.
Kicking off at the National Digital Research Centre on 7 May, Startup Weekend will be an intense 54-hour event, focusing on designing and building web and mobile apps, bringing them from concept to launch.
The NDRC will bring in speakers, mentors, advisers, investors, lawyers, meals and drinks. People are encouraged to come to Startup Weekend to pitch their idea or join a team to make the next big thing!
As well as technology enthusiasts, those with more general business ideas can also attend.
In operation since 2007 and headquartered in Seattle, Startup Weekend has already had success in more than 52 cities and 12 countries and now Ireland has been added to the mix.
How to build a web or mobile service
StartUp Weekend aspires to bring people with diverse skill sets and interests together to form groups, each focused on building a web or mobile service.
Globally, the weekend is known for its quick decisions, “out of the box” thinking, unique facilitation techniques and letting the participants show what they can do.
Creating a viable business
Those taking part will work intensively with local developers, innovators and entrepreneurs. At the end of the weekend, all of the groups will show their wares, demonstrate the system they have developed and communicate how it could be used to realise a viable business.
With companies such as Mugasha, Skribit, Foodspotting and Learn That Name – recently acquired by Gist – having been hatched from past Startup Weekends, the directors of the event, Clint Nelson and Marc Nager, say it proves that this intensive model works.
Sean Murphy, senior research fellow at UCD and NDRC collaborator on the LocalSocial project, has been instrumental in bringing Startup Weekend to Dublin.
First Dublin StartUp Weekend
Says Murphy: “The first Dublin Startup Weekend is very exciting; it provides opportunities for people to take a concept and bring it to commercial viability with positive support over an intense period.
“Without NDRC partnering on this programme it simply would not have happened.”
Ben Hurley, CEO, NDRC, adds: “At NDRC we are focused on bridging the gap between the lab and the market, driving concepts from ideas to income.
“Clint (Nelson) and Marc (Nager) have developed what is in essence a condensed version of the NDRC model, fitted into a single weekend. This 54-hour programme will provide participants with an unprecedented level of networking, team building, learning and entrepreneurial experience.”
Register your interest on LinkedIn or apply for a place on the Startup Weekend website.
Tickets cost €75 and numbers are limited.
By Carmel Doyle
This article originally appeared on Bizstartup.ie.
Photo: John Fitzpatrick and Tim Walsh who are from NDRC’s current LaunchPad Project ‘Point the Way’
