Webconomist covered a few good points and to wrap up this i’ll just say:

I’m not slinging mud at anyone, I merely observe, listen and then blog. I write on topics that motivate me, interest my readers and are potentially of some benefit.

I occasionally attempt to take part, help where I can and in the case of the AIM Conference my emails went un answered for a second year.

At the end of the day there are not too many people with a voice in this region and well I’m not one of them. If I have an opinion I will more than likely share it.

I prefer coffee over beer, Carlitos on Quinpool Rd has some of the best coffee in Halifax!

As for mud-slinging; Robert did good to get conversation going, pointing out certain realities. Like the Tourism Club, there is also the Executive Hockey Club an informal club of business men and entrepreneurs where some serious networking gets done. No immigrants play on those teams, and thus get no business. The CFA concept is alive and well.

You make some valid points Rob. We all need to stop petty infighting and work together. There’s Fusion Halifax and Citizens for Halifax as examples of a “start” to better co-opetition and collaboration. There is a “perception” by many that AIM is an event serving the interests of a few. It’s “perception” sadly, that often wins over reality today, Ice being another example. We have some smart people round here, some good groups. We need to work smarter, better, closer and people and companies need to stop building walls or we’ll stifle future growth.

In terms of your title – I agree there’s something to that. There are many “clubs” here in NS that are hard to break into. We see it all the time. The Tourism club is a good example – Nova Scotia’s tourism industry desperately needs all the help it can get, but it’s been very hard to get their awareness… and this isn’t just coming from me, it’s a common topic of conversation even among those who work on the inside. This is sad – it hurts the province greatly – and for such an important industry is a highly visible example of poor leadership in an area where leadership and new ideas are very much needed.

It’s just the wrong title for focusing on AIM – by a mile. And it’s part of the problem your talking about. AIM is practically the opposite of it, with so many different competitors rubbing elbows and a tiny 2-person company producing it. Which is my problem with your posts – and my problem with a lot of bloggers. You say you are unbaised but sling mud at something very constructive for the region and the province. We managed to get Yahoo and eBay and Heavy.com and MSN, and Canada.com…. to come here and we brought many of the regions leading companies together. This had not been done before. The Ice Awards get the same kind of thing tossed at them – even though Extreme Group (who started it) are totally arms length from it now. (I don’t know the history – I was in Montreal until recently.) It’s easy to criticize, harder to actually perform – especially with the criticism that gets heaped on those who take initiative, such as Ice or AIM.

If you WANT TO contribute in a way that is productive – you can start by getting your facts straight and not slinging mud at others who are doing what you say needs to be done.

Regarding your suggestion of backroom deals (or whatever). In the past year we’ve only worked with 3 of the companies who spoke at the conference. If we’re making deals for companies to speak, we must be very poor at it. The fact is we don’t. We obviously need sponsors but outside of that we pick the most interesting and relevant speakers.

And I think I’ve said this before but if you feel shunned somehow, it’s probably because there is a ton to do and having a small team our communiciations are not perfect. Entering our third year, we have a bigger team and much more planning time and it’s a pleasure to say we’re already well along in planning for 09 – close to 5 months ahead of last year’s schedule – and with better systems in place. These things take time and effort. You’ll find that out with your own event I am sure. And I’m sure you will appreciate those who appreciate the work that goes into it, and the good for all who attend.

Maybe we need to make that coffee a beer.

Cheers,

Rob

And my title is bang on, a lot of businesses here choose not to work with others for fear they will some how end up out of business. And well to address what you said yes, Businesses here complain …. A LOT!

I don’t think any one has a grudge against anyone here, I don’t anyways. I just write it as I see it and as it’s told to me.

I have no suggestions for the conference, but I would appreciate better communications, I seem to have been brushed off for some time (since last years conference) and I’m not sure why. Through Tech East my only goal is to promote the region, what it has to offer and whats happening.

I’d be happy to have a coffee with anyone, anytime and anywhere.

Thanks for the Good Luck, The event should be great! We will be taking LOI’s from people interested in doing work shops at the event. Details will be on the TechOpen site soon.

To your central point that the AIM conference is somehow exclusive, with over 30 speakers including many who are direct or indirect competitors, I still don’t understand this.

We select a LARGE number of speakers based on providing a diversity of topics, knowledge, and voices – that’s what people want. If we did as you suggest, and barred large number of companies from speaking or exhibiting we could not possibly succeed in this market. Some people are disappointed that they weren’t chosen to speak: even with almost 50 sessions we simply have more applicants than we have places.

This item is called “Welcome to Nova Scotia, say out of my way”. You should call it “Welcome to Nova Scotia, where there will always be some people complaining about what you do, no matter how good it is or how much effort you put into it.”

Putting together a large conference like this in a small and fragmented market is not easy – it was a big gamble in time and resources to get it going. Companies who have had a high profile at both (only TWO conferences – hardly a conspiracy) like ISL and Bristol were ones who took that gamble with us. They have no lock on any profile and neither has ever made any effort to encourage us to discourage or refuse other companies from attending. No effort – nada, zilch, zero. We invited direct competitors of both companies last year including Extreme Group (who declined) and Hawk (who came) among many others.

I met with two visiting representatives of eBay Canada yesterday who at first thought I said we had fifty people come to the first conference and not two-hundred-and-fifty. They were shocked, and I think impressed. We’re proud of making this happen here where there was no major event like it before… and that other parts of Canada are noticing enough to send high quality speakers here, many for the first time like David UK from Heavy.com, Yahoo on everything from SEM to Mobile Marketing, Simon Jennings – a Canadian pioneer of the industry, etc – for someone to sit in a huff and miss out on these because they have some sort of grudge against one or two companies – is their own loss.

And Webconomist, you don’t NEED and invitation to attend. You just go Online and buy a ticket. Buy early – you’ll get the best rate. And we’ll be happy to have you there as we are with every delegate that takes time out of their week to come and learn and share ideas, and network like everyone else.

This being the case, and with all the effort that goes into pulling off this diverse event, we know it can always get better. And if even a small group of people are thinking it somehow doesn’t have anything for them it is disappointing and something we want to hear. If you two would like to meet to suggest how we can make the conference more interesting for folks like you, I’d be happy to listen. This is the last post I will make on here about this. I know you have my email address, so write me directly if you want to meet.

RS

PS: Good luck with your own event this fall Robert. If you need any speakers, let me know.