the flying squirrel

At [DevHouse Waterloo](http://devwaterloo.pbworks.com/) on Monday, [Jesse Rodgers](http://whoyoucallingajesse.com/) and [Joseph Fung](http://www.josephfung.ca/) broke from the usual software demo format and opened up a round-table discussion about how to build an online identity, a community, visibility, engagement and excitement around Waterloo.

The longer I live here, the more I can sense the *potential* of this place. Particularly when you hang around with high tech folks all the time. But right now it’s mostly just potential. True, there are lots of exciting things going on that few people know anything about, but it feels like a lot of the energy here is being dissipated on the wires.

Jesse and Joseph are mostly talking about the local startup community, and there are particular needs there. Finding mentors and peers, getting funding, and promoting your idea are all fundamental to getting a startup off the ground, and nobody outside of Silicon Valley seems to know how to do those things well.

But more than that, we need to build spaces and groups for people to meet and co-mingle, online and offline.

Offline, there’s plenty of cool stuff going on. Meetups and Tweetups, camps and clubs. It was pointed out, though, that they all seem to exist in silos. It seems to be hard for people to find out about them and there’s very little cross-over between groups. There’s also a lack of decent meeting space. Waterloo casts an envious eye at Guelph’s [eBar](http://www.bookshelf.ca/): a pub with decent atmosphere, free wifi, and a predisposition towards hosting meetups.

Online, as [James pointed out](http://waterloowellingtonblogs.org/2009/06/on-building-a-waterloo-wellington-bloggers-identity.shtml) there’s a lot of building to do to bring together a cohesive community. I signed on to the [Waterloo Wellington Bloggers Association](http://waterloowellingtonblogs.org/) because I think it’s a step in the right direction. (If you haven’t already, get your blog in the aggregator there). People are piling on Twitter these days, and you can find out a lot of great stuff that’s going on locally there too. But there’s still a long way to go. We don’t have nearly the online resources of places like Toronto or San Francisco. There’s lots of stuff going on in town that I only find out about *after* the Record posts a review. For a town that’s supposedly tech savvy, we really ought to be able to do more.

So I’m going to redouble my efforts and do more. This is a great place to live and an exciting place to be, and people ought to know about that.

As of today, I am unemployed. [Miovision](http://www.miovision.com/) is a great company, and I wish them all the luck in the world. But the economy is kind of crappy and small companies need to be able to change direction quickly. No hard feelings.

I’m still reeling a bit from the news. Not exactly how I expected to start my week. I’ve already got some things to follow up on, though, and I guess I’ll need to update the [[resume]].

Job searching is pretty far from my favourite thing in the world, but I’m feeling pretty positive this time. Wish me luck.

Previous years when I folks were promoting the [Commuter Challenge](http://commuterchallenge.ca), I felt a little left out, since I walked to work pretty much every day and setting aside a special *week* as a challenge seemed a bit silly. Where was *my* prize?

Well, now that work is a bit beyond walking distance (unless you consider a three hour walk walking distance–I’ve tried it once…), and I’ve been driving to work nearly every day. It’s not a bad drive: 15-20 minutes on the Expressway. But now I’m one of those horrible, planet-killing commuters, driving a single-occupant vehicle back and forth to work every day. Exactly the sort of person the Commuter Challenge is meant to… er… challenge.

So I figured I should take up the challenge.

Sunday: While not technically a commute, we had a Pathfinder game and since the place is about half-way to work, I figured I’d warm up and ride my bike there. It was a success, and I managed to figure out the detour around the construction on William Street.

Monday: Bus to work. I live near the McCormick [iExpress](http://www.grt.ca/web/transit.nsf/DocID/B556123DFF6AE13E85256B210066A182?OpenDocument) stop. So I could walk there and catch the bus. I missed the first one and had to wait 15 minutes for the next, throwing off my plan carefully crafted with [EasyGo](http://192.237.29.245/hastinfoweb/). As a result, I missed the connection at Fairway and had to walk the rest of the way (or wait 20 minutes for the #12 bus, which came out to about the same time). Total time to work: about 1.5 hours.

The only good thing about taking the bus is I can catch up on podcasts.

I caught the right bus and made the connection on the way home, so the trip home was closer to an hour.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Biked. I have to say, it’s a really nice ride into work. Total time: about an hour. I’m still not quite in shape enough to make it effortless. The ride home is a little harder, with a couple uphill slogs and more headwind. I think I might ride to Fairway on Friday and take the bus home.

I get to take the [Trans-Canada Trail](http://tctrail.ca) pretty much the entire way to work. Mind you, someone decided that in lieu of an actual trail, they should call Courtland Ave. and Manitou Dr. a “trail” for 3km despite being heavily trafficed motorways with barely a sidewalk. It’s not so bad, though, since I decided to take a detour along Vanier Drive through the residential area there. Most of the ride along the [Laurel Trail](http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=laurel+trail+waterloo&m=text) and [Iron Horse Trail](http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=iron+horse+trail+kitchener&m=text) is lovely and well worth the effort. Much nicer than driving, even if it does take four times as long.

* I was thinking about running off to the [Kitchener-Waterloo Social Media Meet-up](http://www.meetup.com/KW-SocialMedia/calendar/10276730/) tonight, and then I realized I haven’t updated my blog in weeks. Some social media dude I am.
* But! I’ve been busy. I had a bunch of people over to my house on Sunday for a Victoria Day Garden Party, and that was pretty awesome. With tea and everything! It wasn’t nearly as organized as I wanted it to be, but I think people enjoyed themselves.
* Yesterday, I went to the Communitech Agile group’s [Test-Driven Development Coding Dojo](http://waterlooagilelean.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/2009-05-19-test-driven-developmentdesign/) and was actually convinced to get on the keyboard. Good discussion followed, including a [book recommendation](http://www.amazon.com/Working-Effectively-Legacy-Robert-Martin/dp/0131177052).
* This weekend is [Anime North](http://www.animenorth.com/), but I’ll be posting about that from the con, probably.
* I’ve started playing in a [Pathfinder](http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG) game. It’s like D&D for people who don’t want to upgrade from 3.5e to 4th. I haven’t played since 2nd ed., so I’m indifferent to that particular religious battle, but I get to run around in dungeons with my gnome sorcerer and that’s all that matters.
* I’m currently contemplating gardening. I have some issues with my current landscaping setup, so I’m thinking about ways to make it better. If only I could find a free weekend…
* Each one of the above probably deserves its own post, honestly.
* Oops, doesn’t look like #[kwsmm](http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23kwsmm) is going to work out for me tonight. Maybe I have some free time after all…