We're still here! We had a small hiccup with the site tonight (lasted about 20 minutes or so) and after everything was fixed, I realized that we haven't updated this blog in a very long time - our apologies for that!

We haven't disappeared, and we haven't stopped improving Podcast Spot. In fact, we've released a number of small improvements over the last month! We normally release updates in a big bunch, which is why we make an "update" post, but that doesn't work when you have small things appearing every few days. Perhaps we'll revisit this - maybe we should integrate and use Twitter more? It's great for small bits of information.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know we're still around :)

On behalf of Paramagnus, I'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May your holiday season be filled with the sweet sounds of podcasting ;)

As you may know, we've been working on an update to Podcast Spot for quite a while, and we aren't quite done yet. Our current release target is January 10th, 2007, but we'll have an update before then.

We've been posting mostly on our VenturePrize Experience blog for the last couple of months, but now that the business plan competitions are over, we'll get back to posting here. But before we do that, here's a recap of the last couple months (the highlights anyway):

• 3.29.2006 - Paramagnus Press Coverage - Mack | Dickson
• 3.23.2006 - Paramagnus wins National Wes Nicol! - Mack
• 3.22.2006 - Paramagnus "edged" in VenturePrize Finals - Mack
• 3.06.2006 - VenturePrize Finalists, Local Wes Nicol Winners! - Mack
• 2.25.2006 - Local Wes Nicol Presentation - Mack | Dickson
• 2.24.2006 - VenturePrize Semi-Finals Presentation - Mack | Dickson
• 2.15.2006 - VenturePrize Semi-Finalist! - Mack | Dickson
• 1.31.2006 - Business Plan Submitted - Mack | Dickson

As you can see, it has been an incredibly hectic and rewarding month, with a strong runner-up showing in VenturePrize and a win in the Wes Nicol competition. We're really happy with everything that we managed to accomplish in the last month, and we're more excited and energized than ever to get our products released.

And now, back to the code!

Dickson and I have been working on a blog specifically for VenturePrize (and Wes Nicol too) and it's finally ready for public consumption! Basically you can read all about our experiences in the two competitions, starting way back in October 2005 when we first decided to take part in VenturePrize. The address is:

http://ventureprize.paramagnus.com

With the exception of the March posts, all entries have been posted after the fact. So a post from November was actually written in the last two weeks, even though the post itself seems like it was written in November. We did our best to go back in time and remember what we were thinking and feeling so that the blog is authentic. I don't think we'll be adding any more "back posts", unless we remember something worth sharing, so the blog is "live" moving forward.

There are two main reasons for this blog. First and foremost, it is for us, so that we can look back and remember the experience. It should also come in handy when asked about timelines in the future, as it is often difficult to remember when things happened. The second reason is that we hope our experience will be useful to future participants of the VenturePrize and Wes Nicol competitions. Learn from our mistakes, and improve upon the things we did!

The blog is entirely comprised of text posts right now, but we're planning to add some media content at some point too, podcasts, pictures, etc. Enjoy!

Everything is public now, so it's time for an update on our business plan competitions! As you may recall, Dickson and I entered Paramagnus into two business plan competitions - VenturePrize and Wes Nicol. We had back to back presentations in February, and have been waiting patiently to find out how we did. We've known for a couple days now, but it was announced today that we're a finalist in the VenturePrize competition, and we won first place in the local portion of the Wes Nicol! Congratulations especially to our fellow finalists in VenturePrize, and indeed to all of the competitors we've met thus far. We've learned so much already!

We're now preparing for the final VenturePrize showdown which takes place at the annual EEDC luncheon on March 22nd. We'll be among the first people to see the brand new extension to the Shaw Conference Centre. The following day we need to be in Ottawa for the national component of the Wes Nicol competition, so it'll be a very busy two days! We're looking forward to it.

Actually the next few weeks will be busy. We did a brief interview tonight that will air on CBC Radio tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon we're filming our three minute video that will be shown at the luncheon on the 22nd. We're presenting to a class at the University next Friday. Over the next two weeks we'll be putting together an "insider's blog" for our experience in VenturePrize. And of course we've got to update our business plan, prepare our second presentations, and keep our business running (not to mention school, volunteering, etc). And it won't stop there - we've already got interviews and the like lined up into April. Definitely good for the business!

We've met a lot of people lately, and while it was nice to meet all of you, sometimes it's hard to get down contact information or remember everyone. If you'd like to get in touch, you can reach me via email or at 780.619.3864. Or of course you can simply subscribe :)

paramagnus ventureprize business plan wes nicol competitions edmonton

We just finished our first ever problem-free infrastructure upgrades! Our server room looks so much nicer and cleaner now. The changes took longer than expected, but that's why we work at night :) We're well on our way to launching our podcasting services now, so stay tuned!

I am really pleased to announce that Paramagnus Developments Inc. has been selected as one of six semi-finalists in this year's VenturePrize Fast-Growth Enterprise Award category. As some of you may know, Dickson and I have been working on a business plan for Paramagnus for the last four or five months, and we submitted it to the VenturePrize business plan competition at the end of January. From the press release:

These six semifinalists will present their concepts to a judging panel who will announce the final three contenders at a March 6 special reception. These three finalists will then make a final pitch to judges and a sold-out audience at the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) Annual Luncheon on March 22, 2006, where the grand prize winner will be crowned.

“This is an exciting group of contestants representing a range of innovative business opportunities,” said Jay Krysler, VenturePrize Program Manager for TEC Edmonton. “The business plan screening panel, who are business and finance industry professionals, certainly had a difficult time selecting only six from so many great business concepts. Alberta will be well-served when all these plans move forward.”

It feels very good to have your business receive validation and recognition from some very smart people. We've learned a lot throughout the process so far, and I know there's far more learning ahead.

We're really excited about making it this far in the competition, and we're going to do our best to blow the judges away with our presentation. If all goes well, I'll be posting again on March 3rd that we made it to the final three! No matter what happens, I'm proud of what we've accomplished already, and I am eager to see the feedback on our business plan.

I also can't wait to get our products and services launched!

As you've undoubtedly noticed, the "no more data will be lost" message has not been posted yet! The reason is that we're still in the midst of our final hardware upgrades. We were hoping to have them all completed by the time Northern Voice rolled around, but with only a couple days left until we leave, that doesn't look likely.

I'll have an update on this later, but for now, we're pushing back the "launch" by at least a week.

We'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dickson and I are blogging and podcasting live from Gnomedex 5 in Seattle, Washington today and tomorrow. You can read everything at my blog and on Dickson's blog.

We also launched our robot at the conference, check it out.

As you might know from reading our personal blogs, we have been moving into a new office lately. We're almost all moved in, except for some of our servers. By this time next week, the move should be complete! We've got a new address now too:

Suite 712, Empire Building
10080 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T5J 1V9

Check back later for some pictures!

If you subscribe to the RSS or Atom feeds, apologies! We were testing an update, and it messed everything up for a while. Should be fixed now though!

Earlier this week Dickson and I registered for Gnomedex 5.0, taking place in Seattle from June 23rd to 25th. We're really excited about the conference, and we're looking forward to meeting a bunch of new people! If the conference is anything like Northern Voice, it should be a great time. We're still working out the travel arrangements, but there's lots of time left for that.

Julie Leung is listed as one of the many speakers, and I am really looking forward to her session. I missed her talk at Northern Voice, but it seemed to be one of the favorites. This year's Gnomedex definitely has the podcasting vibe, with Adam Curry and Dave Winer keynoting, and a bunch of podcasters attending. I can't wait to see what people are doing with podcasting in two months, it should be amazing.

If you're going to be at Gnomedex (or in Seattle at the same time) and want to get together, let me know!

[Tags: gnomedex podcasting northernvoice paramagnus] [Categories: gnomedex]