Balsamiq Sponsorships & Raffle Update for October 2019
Hello again friends!
If you’ve launched, or one day hope to launch a new company without venture funding you should consider attending MicroConf Europe â a two-day conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia where like-minded people gather to learn and share strategies. And this year our own Founder & CEO, Peldi Guilizzoni will be a featured speaker.
There’s an all too common story in startup world. Founders are tempted into taking venture capital, expand too quickly, loose control over their product strategy, and eventually the company fails. The good news is it doesn’t have to be that way!
At Balsamiq we’re focused on longevity and growing at a sometimes slow but entirely natural pace. This means we’ve had to turn down some serious offers because we know it’s what’s best for our customers and for the company.
A conference is a great place to learn how to make products that endure. Read on for a list of the events we’re sponsoring this month.
Current Raffles
We are raffling away FREE TICKETS (travel and lodging not included.) Enter to win! Good luck!
Sponsored Events
North America
"The Montreal Student Space Associations (MSSA) is excited to bring you the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2019 in Montreal! All curious and enthusiastic problem-solvers, regardless of your backgrounds, are welcome to join the challenge. Participants are encouraged to work in teams to engage with NASA's open data to address challenges and set out innovative solutions."
"Make a Mark is a 12-hour design and development marathon benefitting local humanitarian causes. Each make-a-thon is organized independently by locals in each community that want to make a difference on the problems that matter most to their region."
"AngelHacks is a 12-hour hackathon. 100 students from across LA will come for the weekend. Youâll team up (or go solo, if thatâs what you prefer) to build an app, game, or website. Weâll provide free meals & drinks. In the evening, judges will pick the best projects to demo for everyone and win prizes. There'll be raffles and giveaways throughout the event as well! Youâll meet people, create amazing new things, & have fun."
"Learn new technologies and software from experienced mentors and develop your programming and teamwork skills. Make your ideas into a real product with access to state-of-the-art tech and free food (and caffeine). Connect with students and mentors like you from around the Bay Area and forge new, inspiring relationships."
"Join us in foothills of the majestic mountains of Utah for an intimate, one-of-a-kind UX and Product Management training experience. Select 5 half and quarter-day workshops, for 2 intense days of learning and practice. No passive education here. This isnât for the faint of heart. Weâll be working together in small groups of six, where youâll be expected to collaborate and engage."
"For 12 hours, we gather the best designers and developers to work on projects for the most impactful organizations in the most creative and purposeful communities around the globe. Make a Mark is about creating an equity of design for organizations that worry about the toughest problems in our cities, slave over grants and reports, and sacrifice money and time with their families so we donât have to think about or solve these same problems."
"This year's skills building theme helps you expand your impact as a product leader through user insights, business model innovation, social impact, and new product interfaces. Once again the beautiful Times Center hosts our growing community! Master the craft of product management. Register now!"
"Forge is the largest student-run startup weekend in the midwest! Engage with venture capitalists, seasoned entrepreneurs, successful community members, and other top student startups from across the midwest."
"Students have the opportunities to build apps, video games, network, and expand their skills and grow as developers. Even better, our event is 100% free! No matter what age, skill, interest, we have something for everyone! From talks to workshops, we engage every hacker!"
South America
"Latin America's largest and most important conference for Interaction Design, User Experience, Technology and Innovation. Interaction Latin America 2019 theme is Convergence, a point where geography, people, cultures, technologies and ideologies meet and evolve. ILA19 is an amazing opportunity to connect design and innovation leaders, in pursuit of the same objective: contribute to build a better society."
"World Usability Day is single day of events occurring around the world that brings together communities of professional, industrial, educational, citizen, and government groups for our common objective: to ensure that the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use."
Europe
"It's a two-day conference focused on self-funded and indie-funded software startups, with an emphasis on SaaS. If you've launched, or want to launch a startup outside the traditional venture-backed path, MicroConf is designed for you. Our speakers are hand-crafting their sessions for founders building ambitious, yet sane, software startups. No talks about spending your huge piles of venture capital."
"Join the 17th edition of Plone Conference in the amazing Ferrara and gain an unparalleled opportunity to discover insights from the inspiring keynote speakers and exchange experiences with designers and developers from all over the world. We are building for you a great gathering of the global Plone Community with a lot of networking and growth opportunities."
"Create Leicester proudly presents an exclusive day event for digital creators, producers, managers and administrators. Createâs first day-long event will welcome diverse digital talent from all over the UK to learn from inspirational speakers in the heart of the UK digital scene."
"HackTheMidlands is a 24-hour, inclusive hackathon being hosted in Birmingham on the 26th - 27th October at Millennium Point. Over the 24 hours, people aged 14+ of all skill levels (you don't have to be a professional or a student! Just be lovely, passionate and interested in tech!) will come together to share ideas, and create new and awesome projects!"
"At this year's conference, we want to focus on the craft of design: on expanding our understanding and the skills we need to build fluid and rewarding experiences. We want to stimulate discussion and enrich design knowledge, elevating the importance of design in the UX process. We want to help widen the understanding of design, so that everyone who builds UX outcomes can speak the same language. You'll find UXers of all levels â from those just starting out to senior managers â all looking to embrace the latest thinking."
"UX LIVE is the world's fastest growing UX training conference. Spanning user research, product & service design, emerging technologies and design leadership; UX LIVE 2019 presents three days of practical, actionable insights into the UX methodologies and best practices employed by some of the world's leading researchers and designers. Featuring a world-class lineup of over 40 industry leaders, UX LIVE will continue to provide unrivalled variety and flexibility."
Africa
"Port Harcourt Design week is a festival featuring a week-long series of exhibitions, activities that seeks to promote and celebrate design heritage and contemporary design scene. weâll bring together designers, creative thinkers & entrepreneurs to learn, share ideas, mingle, there will also be inspiring talks from seasoned designers, design discussions about design practices, career growth, how to design inclusively and lots more."
"BEYOND USERS â Design is not only an experience, it has evolved to a way of life. People have become dependent on intuitive design, ease of access and kindness in simplicity. With various user-centric initiatives, methodologies, process and relational roles, how are we solving the challenges of tomorrow, today? How are creating not only for the user but also the world? How has the information helped to improve your product / service which ultimately aims to improve on usability, accessibility, user-centricity, etc ."
If you are attending MicroConf Europe this year, be sure to say hello to Peldi. Wherever you are in your business journey, he’d love to help!