Startup Weekend Green Bay – Reflections from behind the camera.

Last night I met up with Chris Schmitz, a local developer and entrepreneur in Northeast Wisconsin. We met to exchange photos that I had taken from the very first Startup Weekend in Green Bay. I was hoping to attend this year for the whole weekend, but I had some plans that didn’t make it possible. Luckily I had a chance to get a taste of it when I was asked to take photos for the event on Friday, which was the first day.

Before I jump in, here are some facts about me. I am not a developer, my wisdom mostly lies within photography and video production, with a knack for some graphic design. I have some strategy knowledge through my corporate job as well. I am also a writer and editor through Pressgram.net as well as this blog you are reading now. Within the past year I have also been testing and doing community development for the Pressgram app on the iPhone.

So now that you know a little about me, it can help you understand where I am coming from. I know little to nothing about code or proper business development at this moment in time, this is why I recommend to check guides like this one on how to get paystubs which is one that will sure help your business. I think you will find this perspective refreshing and hopefully inspire you to attend a Startup Weekend yourself.

Enough blabbing, tell us about Startup Weekend! 

All righty then!

So first off, it was super cool to be asked to shoot photos for Startup Weekend Green Bay. When I arrived there was great energy going on. I honestly can say I was very excited to see how things would progress. There were introductions to the folks that made the event happen and eventually some presentations from folks that have been both successful and unsuccessful with startups in the past. Their brutal honesty was great to hear.

Since I wasn’t being active in the exercises and activities they were doing, I was mostly being observant. That gave me some great insight in such a short amount of time.

As a person that knows next to nothing about taking an idea and turning it into a real thing and successful business it was nice to know that they were once in my shoes. They spoke of how ideas take great people and hard decisions to become a true business. You have to learn to take risks and work your butt off. Nothing great is supposed to be easily attainable, especially when it involves other people.

I could honestly talk all day about each part of the night, but I would like to share a list of things that I learned from my one day at Startup Weekend Green Bay.

Just because you don’t know how to make it happen, doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Sometimes you just need to find the right people with the right skills to make it happen. Startup Weekend does that. Being able to connect with great talent is sometimes all it takes. Startup Weekend even offered some great resources and knowledge from financial institutions, business developers and even legal advice. It’s pretty darn cool.

Making new friends creates great opportunities. It was so cool to see people becoming friends. Not only that, once in a while I would hear, “I know a guy that can do that” or “I know how to do that”. It is not only creating opportunities for you, but for others you know as well.

Team work is awesome. Sometimes all it takes is a new pair of eyes or ears to really refine an idea or a product. I saw so many good ideas become molded into great ideas in a matter of hours. Other people see things differently than we do. Honest opinions have great value when working on an idea or product. Not to mention, things get done a lot faster with more people involved.

You become part of a community. It is amazing to see and hear everything that is going on in the area. Things that I had no idea existed. Being part of a community that supports each other to create new businesses is just an incredible feeling. A community that is changing lives is something special. The event brings people together for a common good.

If you don’t know how to code, you might to learn. The internet has some great resources for you to learn from and many are even free. Learning code can bring great new opportunities for you if you aren’t an idea guy. If you’re bored with your day job, maybe code is how you can be a part of something new. Startups are happening all the time across the world. I’m actually just starting a course on html and css myself! It’s never to late to start.

If you are thinking about attending a Startup Weekend in your area, I encourage you to do it. Even if you feel like you don’t know anything or have authority in any specific skill, give it a shot. Odds are you will learn something new, make new friends and maybe even become a part of something great.