Asterisk StartUp Bootcamp @ AstriCon 2012?
David Duffett July 19th, 2012
I was talking with Steve Sokol just recently, and he was saying how great it would be to add something new to AstriCon this year.
For those that don’t know, Steve is a co-founder of AstriCon, the grand-daddy of AstriCon, and he is one of only a very few people that have been to every AstriCon – the others being Mark Spencer (as one might expect) and Leif Madsen.
Steve’s amazing breadth of knowledge, experience of all things Asterisk and his history with AstriCon leave me feeling like the new boy, having only gone to my first AstriCon in 2006 (although I did speak at all 4 – yes, four – AstriCons that year – Berlin, Paris, London and Dallas, TX!).
Anyway, back to the conversation, that went a bit like this….
Steve: AstriCon is very much like Asterisk in many ways.
David: What do you mean, Steve?
Steve: Well, both have been around for a good long time now, they are both mature and they both do what they do pretty well.
David: Yes, AstriCon has all the great stuff that has built up over the years – educational tracks where one can learn about Asterisk and Asterisk-related stuff, the exhibition where people can see all manner of products and services from within the Asterisk ecosystem, the all-show party and, of course, the ‘Fastest Dude to the Dialtone’ contest…
Steve (getting up out of his chair, and gazing into middle distance): That’s all great, but I think we can do more…
David: More!!?
Steve: Yes, MORE! (grabbing me by the scruff of my well-worn AstriCon 2006 t-shirt). I think we could add a new dimension to AstriCon this year – something to capture the imagination of the entrepreneur in every AstriCon attendee!
David: What do you have in mind?
Steve: A start up competition…. Imagine having all the would-be entrepreneurs at AstriCon compete by building their own Asterisk-based product and business, right there at the show. Everyone who wants to participate gathers on the Tuesday evening. Those with ideas can pitch them to the crowd. After the pitches, the audience votes to determine the top four or five ideas. The winners of the vote form teams and go off to the CodeZone to build their products. On Thursday the teams present their ideas in the General Session. A panel of seasoned entrepreneurs act as judges and pick the most insanely great app as the winner….. What do you think?
David: I love it. I think the community would love it too – but the only way we’ll know for sure is to ask them.
Steve: Okay, Duffett – ask them!
….And that is what I’m doing right now…. Asking you:
Do you like the idea of a ‘Asterisk StartUp Bootcamp’ at AstriCon?
Let me know with an email to david.duffett@asterisk.org or by commenting on this post.
Can you think of ways to make it even better, or maybe of something completely different that you would love to see at AstriCon?
If so, please use that same e-mail address or comment on this post, so that your ideas can be discussed.
We do our best to put on a great AstriCon for you every year, but direct feedback and ideas from you could take it to a whole ‘nother level!
My inbox is waiting….
David
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- Comments(11)
hi also consider having a “Asterisk Advanced” training just before AstriCon
it easier to get approval to go one trip than 2
I would signe up for “Asterisk Advanced” in combination AstriCon
You are basically talk about Startup Weekend (http://startupweekend.org/). I participated in one here in Ottawa back in April and it was a great success. I’m not sure if Astricon would be the right place to have this, since I assume people are going for the seminars.
With Startup Weekend, we basically spec’d out an idea then work 54 hours it. This would conflict with the existing schedule. Additionally, we had investors as judges, so there was the chance to actually get some initial funding (up to $100,000) for your project. Obviously something on the same line would help bring attention / people to your event however not sure who would provide the possibility of funding.
Now if something like this happened before Astricon, it might work. But again, not sure it would work during Astricon.
‘Asterisk StartUp Bootcamp’ is a great idea! It really reflects the community spirit and energies of the Asterisk project.
Thanks for that idea Mark. I’ve passed it on to our training team.
Thanks for your thoughts Paul.
Thanks for responding Ruth.
@Mark – Thanks for your interest in Asterisk Training in Atlanta the week before Astricon! We’re definitely open to holding a class then, if there’s enough interest. Does anyone else out there want to commit to attending an Asterisk Advanced class in Atlanta the week before Astricon? Email training@digium.com if so…
In continuation to the Asterisk Startup Camp idea, which I personally really like – I’m all for creating crazy ideas. I’ve been having a really crazy idea that has been creeping around my head for 6 years now – never got around to actually doing it – Startup Camp is just the crazy enough place to get it off the ground
In addition, I’ll be willing to hold an Asterisk AGI developers seminar. Over the course of the past 6 years, I’ve developed some of the most craziest Asterisk based services, ranging from a prepaid application to prey at he wailing wall (Innovation award winner 2008) up to a 3600 concurrent calls automatic dialer using Amazon EC2. I’ll be happy to hold an AGI class, a Scalability class – or if you prefer, a security workshop (I was chief architect of Humbug till April, when I left the company).
In other words, I’m there, I’m game – let’s have some crazy fun!
Nir, Sounds great! I really hope to bring back a bit of the wild fun from the early days of Asterisk and AstriCon. With new features like WebRTC, solid Google integration and phones that are built to take advantage of Asterisk I’m sure that we can come up with some interesting products / services / ideas.
See you there,
-S
I think the startup camp is a great idea! I’m going for my dCAP at Astricon and it would be nice to have that opportunity. I think there are more and more of us out there that are administering Asterisk for companies and looking to get certified but don’t have the time to do both the classes and the conference. If it was all-in-one, that would be great!
Thank you for this article.
‘Asterisk StartUp Bootcamp’ is a great idea!