Bloomington Startup Feb. 8-10, 2008 [a startup weekend event]

Bloomington isn’t going to be like any other Startup Weekend, and at the same time we’ll be like them all. We are going to benefit from the transparency provided by the previous cities. Our ability to cope with whatever faulty group dynamics may arise is improved significantly by past reporting on how things went.

We thank the hundreds of past founders for sharing. Soon, it will be our turn to do the same.

I am challenging local bloggers to help our event out by posting something about our event this week, encouraging people to register or follow our activities at City Hall on February 8-10. We want to make sure Bloomington knows about this, even as we wait for the Herald-Times and IDS coverage.

Some local bloggers have already published entries about Bloomington Startup Weekend. We will keep a running list in our resources page, but here are the mentions we have already received:

• BlogSchmog, Kevin Makice
• Smaller Indiana, Pat Coyle
• The Glass People, John Hill
• First: Principles, Ben Fulton
• StrangeWork 2.0, Brad Williams
• phoenixblaze’s LiveJournal
• User Experience Network
• The Web Shop, Clay Mabbitt
• Pin-the-Tail

Thanks to all of these local bloggers.

Two Fridays from now, the final preparations will be made and a few dozen motivated people will gather at City Hall to build something new. Up until that moment, the organizing committee will be busy recruiting participants and sponsors, making sure the logistics and materials are in place, and trying to do this while living other parts of their lives.

In the coming days, some local press should start to appear about Bloomington Startup Weekend. This should spur a registration drive to reach our participation and sponsorship goals. We still have some other needs, though, that will continue for the next two weeks. We are currently looking for people interested in helping:

• Music Director—talk to local musicians and get us a daily little dose of live break music.
• Childcare Director—coordinate the needs of participating parents with some local childcare providers to allow people with kids to contribute all weekend.
• Materials Director—make sure there are white boards, markers and other staples of a marathon development session.
• Meta Manager—we will be transparent with our process, which means making sure there are regular updates to local blogs, video and tweet streams, as well as generating the excitement for people to pay attention.
• Street Marketing Manager—chalk + sidewalks = free advertising. We also help locals be more aware of our event through bulletin board fliers.

My own computer issues are ending in the form of a replacement MacBook from Apple. Expect regular blog posts from here on out.

There have been a few people showing a strong interest in attending but encountering a multi-body problem: they have kids. We are attempting to respond by arranging for childcare during the event.

Bloomington Startup is actively recruiting sponsorship to pay for a few sitters to watch kids in a room at City Hall. Wonderlab, our local science museum, has reportedly offered some group discounts for the event, giving the kids somewhere to climb, play and explore beyond whatever office space we can childproof.

If you are interested in attending but have hesitated because of this important obstacle, please comment here or email Kevin Makice (kevin -at- makice -dot- net).