Our Startup Train last year was good. 50+ of us travelled together and by the time we returned home, most of us had met and knew a bit about each other’s projects. We speak with a lot of train alumni who have stayed connected and are even working together on projects.

This year we’d like to take this a step forward. We heard from a minority of people that the actual conference was good but a little expensive. I’ll be honest, I’m not a conference person but I know how hard Phil and his team work to put great speakers on stage at Startup Fest. Even putting the speakers aside, Startup Fest is 1000+ people from across North America and beyond who work in, and around, technology based businesses. That is a massive opportunity you can’t afford to miss out on.

So, this year our plan is to work on organizing our train riders as best we can ahead of the festival. Instead of sitting back and waiting for Phil’s team to walk over and hand each of us our silver bullet, our goal is to attack and take the value we need.

How? Well we’re still working on that so stay in touch. A few bits we’re considering:

• Pre-events in Toronto, Guelph, and Kitchener-Waterloo so we can meet each other ahead of time.
• Firing up our online shared space now so you’re in as soon as you purchase your ticket and can start conspiring with others.
• Profiles and videos on our site of train people. At the very least, profiles on our site of people coming on the train. Possibly short videos aimed at sharing what you’re up to and what you hope to get out of the conference. The goal being sharing with others to get help and feedback.

Other thoughts on what we can do, let us know!? Ticket sales will be starting this week, we’ll announce on our email list when we start selling.