Last weeks startup meetup was very interesting,we discussed the idea of having some form of startup contest – see Mark Ng’s write up on the contest idea here

In a rough summary:

Incubator idea – full time commitment / funded / fixed end date to contest (3 months?) / launch day where ideas/teams are founded

part time contest – part time teams / sponsored / fixed end date / launch day where teams can find missing members

or some combo of the two, perhaps a launch day where teams could pitch to be in the incubator and then a free for all for any other p/t teams who wanted to compete for the main prize… whatever that was.

Personally, I’m split on the idea… I totally see the commitment side that Mark argues for.. I also think a p/t contest has merits.

I was thinking last night, about how much the Bournemouth web/creative/geek scene (for want of a better phrase) is accelerating at the moment.

Within the last year (and please comment to correct/update me) Bournemouth has gained:

dotdorset

Dorset Digital

startup-meetup

Bar Camp Bournemouth

meetdraw

There’s also more arts focussed groups like, Bomo Creatives (which have been around a bit longer) and other business networking places.

Do we need all of these?

They fulfill slightly different niches but would Bournemouth as an area benefit from all the organisers coming together for the common good? I think it would.

Your thoughts please.

UPDATE: and BUNIX – thanks to @darkphnx

Thanks and hello to everyone who turned up for the first startup-meetup @ blend coffee shop in Christchurch.  You never really know who’s going to turn up or what’ll happen at these kind of events, I was pleased that we had a good turn out and that all involved seem to take something good away.

We’re using the twitter hashtag #supmup, here’s some of the comments from those who attended:

adammills:Just got back from Startup Meetup #supmup at Blend Christchurch running third Thursday of every month at 10am. Really useful networking.

First_Exact:Enjoyed #supmup this morning and ended up meeting a great new contact whose skills slot into a gap in my design and dev portfolio

simonmelaniphy:Enjoyed #supmup Dorset meet this morning – good to expand my local network with some interesting digital peeps

markng:finished up at #supmup – drove from wales this morning. Met some interesting people, and had some good conversations.

janineb:#supmup Bomo Startup Meetup underway and loads of interesting people talking about their projects and opportunities to make money!

I’d like to see more “show n tell” type stuff at the next one, I know there were a few people who through injury (Get well soon) or server failure couldn’t attend.

Personally, I’ve set myself the challenge to demo something at the next one… what will it be? Watch this space… See you on 19th Feb!