Follow Friday – April 22, 2011
April 2011Fresh from a BarCamp Rochester event last weekend, this Follow Friday edition is very tech/startup themed. There are a lot of great people and organizations in this area working very hard to make this a great place to start a business and life. Below are just a few that I’ve met in the last week or so. I know there are more out there so please don’t hesitate to share their names with me so we can meet!
UNY Startups (@UNYStartups)
Julian Baldwin only founded UNY Startups about a month ago, but it’s been a busy month and he’s hit up conferences and seminars all over Upstate NY since. I met him recently at a BarCamp Rochester event and we’ve had a chance to chat a little bit since then. His passion for startups and entrepreneurship is evident and UNY Startups is all about fostering communication and cooperation between groups to reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit in Upstate NY. He’s working very hard at consolidating information on all the tech/startup related events being put on by different groups across the region so be sure to follow them for a convenient place to get the scoop on what’s going on in your city.
Dan Magnuszewski (@magnachef)
Dan and I have been following each other on Twitter for a while but only got a chance to meet in real life this past weekend at BarCamp, which he and some fellow Buffalonians drove in to attend. Dan is the Chief Data Architect for startup My Favorites, a great way to share your favorite things with friends. In his “spare” time, Dan works tirelessly on the Western New York Open Data project to make data compiled by civil organizations available to the public (in a usable format).
Terry Martin (@tzmartin)
Terry is another member of the Buffalo contingent that drove in for BarCamp and it was our first time meeting, although I’d heard his name mentioned quite a few times before by mutual friends. Terry is the founder of Semantic Press. He’s also a mobile developer and advocate for Appcelerator’s Titanium platform. His presentation at BarCamp has me sold on Titanium and I’m looking forward to pestering him with endless questions about it.
Justin Groden (@justingroden)
Justin and I were introduced online through a mutual friend when his startup, Stampede.it was looking for a designer. Stampede.it offer deals on digital goods like web and mobile apps, traditional software, digital content, and social gaming. Justin would love to see an event like Hack Weekend Boulder happen in this area, so if that’s something you’re interested in, get in touch.
Todd Clausen (@ToddJClausen)
As the Young Professionals Editor for the Democrat and Chronicle, Todd and I have had some interesting conversations about the challenges and opportunities for young people here in Rochester. Todd’s column, both online and in print, is a great resource to the young professionals community and he works hard to profile and raise the visibility of local individuals and businesses who serve as examples of success for the rest of us.
Rob Speciale (@RobSpeciale)
Rob and I met for lunch a few weeks ago and had a great chat about the events he’s working on for the Rochester Young Professionals. As chairperson of their Professional Development committee, Rob is organizing some upcoming events designed to connect younger members of our community with role models within the local startup community.
Similar Work:
- Follow Friday – February 18, 2011
- Follow Friday – January 21, 2011
- Follow Friday – February 11, 2011
