StartupCafe

There’s a nice amount of activity this week, and I’m pleased that for once that there doesn’t seem to be any major conflicts here. So knock yourself out, we’ve got fun for everyone in creative industries, mobile, angel finance, and brain/language realms.

Webcast of TSB debate Digital Horizons: Monday 2nd Nov, 12-12:45pm Online

The Digital Horizons: Commercialising Innovation webcast is an interactive debate on the future of digital innovation in the creative industries. The Technology Strategy Board will be hosting panel members including Jeremy Silver (Technology Strategy Board), Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy and IPA), Fred Bolza (Sony Music) and Julie Meyer (Ariadne Capital). The debate follows the launch earlier this year of the TSB’s Creative Industries Strategy 09, which you can access in their public library if you feel so inclined. Webcast is open to all, but you need to Register here beforehand to join in.

MoMo Edinburgh informal dinner: Monday 2nd Nov, 6:30pm at Holyrood Tavern (9A Holyrood Rd, corner of St. Mary’s St)

This month’s Mobile Monday gathering is an informal dinner instead of a Centotre lunch, so rock up to Holyrood Tavern if you want to join the lively discussion on everything mobile. Geoff informs us the venue ‘is good, serves gourmet burgers, and has Brewdog beer on tap!’ I’m sold! Note the group may be in the back room, but it shouldn’t be too hard to spot a bunch of gadgety folks in a pub. No RSVP needed this time, but try to bring a mobile issue or anecdote to chip in – that’s your ticket.

Angel Investing in Silicon Valley Today: Tuesday 3rd Nov, 6:30pm at Business School (7 Bristo Square) LT1

The Silicon Valley speaker series continues with a look behind-the-scenes at angel investment in the valley. Jim Papp is flying over to enlighten us, as he is the CEO of angel-funded Podaddies and a member of Band of Angels, one of the original Silicon Valley angel networks. As always E-Club talks are open to everyone – students and community members – so do come along if this is up your alley of interest. Wine and crisps 8-9pm, so it’s worth sticking around after the talk.

Global Innovation Tournament announced: Wednesday 4th Nov, 8am on the website

Organised by Stanford University, ‘the 2009 Global Innovation Tournament (GIT) is a fast-paced competition that will challenge student teams to solve a mystery challenge in about eight days, creating as much value and impact as possible. Teams must then convey their results in a short video posted to YouTube. The mystery problem will be revealed on November 4 and submissions will be due Nov 13 at 8am. In the past, the assignments involved common, everyday objects’ like rubber bands or water bottles. They say it will be a global problem this time. Any guesses? Details revealed on Wednesday.

Raising Business Angel Financing Masterclass: Wednesday 4th Nov, 1-5:30pm at Appleton Tower 8.02

Informatics Ventures sponsors another fantastic Masterclass, this time aimed at startups raising or preparing to raise angel finance. The class will be taught by Jim Papp, member of the famous Band of Angels network from Silicon Valley. It is open to emerging ICT companies in Scotland, and sign-ups appear to close at 1am Monday morning. If you miss the deadline or aren’t quite ICT, drop us a comment below and we’ll see if there are any more openings for you. Otherwise, make sure you catch his talk at E-Club on Tuesday.

DARE Foundation, Enterprise, and a Maasai Warrior: Thursday 5th Nov, 6pm at Appleton Tower LT1

How does a businesswoman from Edinburgh end up living in Kenya, married to a Maasai Warrior and involved in building social enterprises? University of Edinburgh graduate Emma Redfern will share her experiences, from running an online marketing company in Scotland to being the wife of a warrior and helping Kenyan communities start new businesses. Her husband Kitonga will be flying over as well, so you can meet a real warrior too – that’s just cool!! I’ve been helping pull the logistics together (with many thanks to FreshSight for hosting), and think this will be an awesome out-of-the-ordinary talk to hit. It’s open to everyone and you can just show up, but helpful if you can RSVP on the site so we have some idea of numbers.

InSpace Encounters: Friday 6th Nov, 6:30-8pm at InSpace (Informatics Forum)

A public outreach event takes place at InSpace this week entitled Encounters: Evolution In and Out of the Brain. ‘Synaptic complexity meets cultural exchange as we discuss the evolution of brains and language in the inaugural Encounter at Inspace.’ Jon Oberlander (Professor of Epistemics) will chair a discussion with Professor Seth Grant (Professor of Molecular Neuroscience) and Professor Simon Kirby (Professor of Language Evolution). Numbers are a bit limited so claim your spot on the event website.

Sign up now to get a spot at these exciting (*free* unless otherwise stated) events:

Dundee Girl Geeks Dinner: Saturday 14th Nov, 6-10pm  (£15 includes dinner and drinks, plus there will be cool speakers and lovely ladies to meet. You can catch the NEoN Festival while you’re there too!)

Scottish Open Source Awards: Friday 20th Nov, 6:30-10pm (celebrate contributions to open source software with a free dinner, drinks, keynote from Ian Ritchie, and the awards themselves. Can you believe there are still tickets?)

MIT Workshop on Global Sales Strategies: 20th-21st Nov at Heriot Watt (free for high-growth tech startups with under 250 employees, see details and registration info on the site)

SICSA DemoFest: Tuesday 24th Nov, 5pm (all the hot research and advancements in informatics coming out of Scottish universities).

Winning Through Innovation: Wednesday 25th Nov in Edinburgh, also Tuesday 24th Nov in Glasgow, 9am-1:30pm (a fun Scottish Enterprise conference with a good set of speakers)