It's interesting to note that when you're not doing one thing you're most definitely doing another. As a certain Lou once said, "you always gotta be doooiiin'" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwnywD-HPI -Torontonians will get the full effect, you've been warned).
So what have I been doing? In this great city there's always something going on, so at the beginning of the month I attended How To Web, a conference with a very self-explanatory name. It was held in the bowels of Club Midi, and I'm only using the word 'bowels' because once you're in there, the sun really don't shine, not one bit. It was a cool atmosphere though and it was great to see there are quite a few Romanians involved in social media, entrepreneurship, and smartphone development. I saw familiar faces from TEDx Cluj and it felt like somewhat of a business and technology focused sequel. Other than what the speakers had to share, I also realized that involvement in specific events ends up reflecting the fact that we don't live in a metropolis but a mid-sized city where it's easy to see the same people in many different places with some regularity.
That aside, running a start-up in Romania is no walk in the park, not a picnic, and not a day at the beach either. Basically, outdoor activities are out the door when you're neck-deep in responsibility, clients, issues, team management, and whatever else you think of when you think 'start-up'. And yet, I'm happy. It's good to be here, where the future clearly belongs to the energetic youth I meet at the aforementioned conferences, to the students that make Cluj the vibrant city that it is (unpatriotic though they may be), and the kids in the high school next door who seem like real teenagers compared to what is classified as "young person" in Toronto. Somehow, this is not a place where one loses hope -just focus.
I think I owe it to myself more than anyone to keep this blog going, so I'll be back with Romania's Grand Action Plan. I'm sure it will become the White Paper this country so desperately needs.
So what have I been doing? In this great city there's always something going on, so at the beginning of the month I attended How To Web, a conference with a very self-explanatory name. It was held in the bowels of Club Midi, and I'm only using the word 'bowels' because once you're in there, the sun really don't shine, not one bit. It was a cool atmosphere though and it was great to see there are quite a few Romanians involved in social media, entrepreneurship, and smartphone development. I saw familiar faces from TEDx Cluj and it felt like somewhat of a business and technology focused sequel. Other than what the speakers had to share, I also realized that involvement in specific events ends up reflecting the fact that we don't live in a metropolis but a mid-sized city where it's easy to see the same people in many different places with some regularity.
That aside, running a start-up in Romania is no walk in the park, not a picnic, and not a day at the beach either. Basically, outdoor activities are out the door when you're neck-deep in responsibility, clients, issues, team management, and whatever else you think of when you think 'start-up'. And yet, I'm happy. It's good to be here, where the future clearly belongs to the energetic youth I meet at the aforementioned conferences, to the students that make Cluj the vibrant city that it is (unpatriotic though they may be), and the kids in the high school next door who seem like real teenagers compared to what is classified as "young person" in Toronto. Somehow, this is not a place where one loses hope -just focus.
I think I owe it to myself more than anyone to keep this blog going, so I'll be back with Romania's Grand Action Plan. I'm sure it will become the White Paper this country so desperately needs.
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