Startup Weekend Boston

Jeremy has been interviewing people about SWB all weekend and we thought we would snap a shot of what the room he is doing it in looks like.

• Huge tripod and a tiny camera
• Huge camera and no tripod.

At any rate here is the photo of the room. Jeremy needs to get a bunch more videos uploaded to this blog and he only has a few more hours left.

It seems every blogger and tweeter at every Startup Weekend has always said on a Saturday or even Sunday: “We’re on track to launch on Sunday night”. For those that have been reading this blog I’ve definitely stayed away from that phrase. And I doubt you’ll ever see anything here proclaiming that we will launch tonight.

Yes, SW is all about building and launching a company in 3 days time. But the overlying factor is community. It’s what this is all about. It’s why I am here, It’s why you are reading this (I hope), it’s why everyone else is here. If it weren’t for the community SW would be a failure every time no matter if a product was launched or not.

It seems that some people get so caught up in the “we need to launch” mentality that they push away everything else. This should not be the case and we won’t be killing you if we don’t launch anything. In the end it all comes down to this one simple question.

You went to SW and the best thing you got was?

For me it’s the new people I’ve met that I’m sure I’ll be chatting with for a long time.

Our poor camera has bit the bullet. For some reason it has stopped turning on all together. We’ve plugged it in and it’s not powering on and the same goes for battery power. Luckily for us though we have 10 videos shot already so we can put our camera worries aside for the time being and really start focusing on getting them edited and into the application so we can launch tonight.

Just had a meeting and had some great news come out of it. Here we go.

• design has been coded. Last minute tweaks I’m sure but it’s good to go.
• Andrew found a way for us to do our own video hosting so we’ll be doing that.
• legal has buttoned up the last bit of what we needed to do.
• Marketing has almost of their materials completed.
• We just finalized the logo, so I’ll get a copy of that up here asap.
• Biz Dev is all about making the ill bills so they are running with the monetization schemes.

As per Master Chief Ben over in Dev they are waiting on the skin which is being coded up by Chris. Backend is done as well as front end besides some basic tweaks. Ruby on Rails saves the day again! Great news though for sure!

So what are we waiting on?

• Skin to be coded from Chris
• Videos that have been edited

Well from what I just heard everything creative has made has been pushed off to the Dev’s. They’re going to go back over everything and make sure nothing has been forgotten but for the most part it seems as if Creative has accomplished what they set out to do late yesterday.

Now everything rests with the Dev’s and the Video Editors. Jeremy & I are trying to keep the energy high and getting some folks to laugh and be DeskHappy (wow, ok). We’ll update you soon with some more tasty treats.

Thanks to the Intense Debate guys and their support for getting our comment system back up and running. So for all of you who have been holding back now is the time to let loose before we break something else.

Just got an update from PR and there’s a ton of things going on so I figured I’d share with you.

• A 30second elevator pitch is being worked on as I type this.
• Blogger outreach email is almost done so we can blast some people about what’s going on here.
• Our very own blog template for DeskHappy is being installed so once we’re done here we can start blogging on the webiste and giving people updates.

That’s about it for updates from the PR side. I’ll update the other teams in about an hour.

DeskHappy - for the beta

Some of you might be in the dark about what exactly DeskHappy is so I figured I’d give you a run down of what we are trying to accomplish here.

DeskHappy keeps you active and healthy during long hours at the computer.

Been on your computer too long? How is your posture right now? Do you forget to take short breaks throughout the day? That takes a toll.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports; heavy computer users missed an average of 4.5-5 days of work in 2002 due to repetitive strain injuries.

DeskHappy is a quick, simple way to take a moment for yourself and your sanity. It’s a new application that helps intensive computer users improve their health, focus and productivity. DeskHappy seamlessly delivers amusing reminders to step back, stretch and breathe. The tips and exercises help you work healthier, sharpen your mind and fire up your productivity. It’s a moment to reset, recharge and re-focus – to be you again.

Chris Hayes, developer, pointed out “it’s a short break from the world, for you.”

DeskHappy makes it easy to incorporate simple, fun exercises into your day. Reminders arrive on a schedule and in a way that fits your needs. Throughout your day you take short stretching and exercising breaks. You stay healthy, focused and productive in all that you need to get done.

Still not sold? Head over to DeskHappy at http://www.deskhappy.com and sign up for the beta!

Dev is back from lunch and working their asses off. We’re into the afternoon hours now and this is the start of crunch time. It’s time for the big pushes to happen or start happening.

9 hours left in SWB and the engine is going at full steam and needs to stay that way until the end.