Two members of our 4-person team have just come away from an exhilarating 52 hour weekend of pitching, validating and developing a couple of awesome ideas as part of this year’s Startup Weekend Christchurch.
My team, Journey, was formed around the concept of an app that allows tourists to become more immersed in travel by having access to more information about local history, significant landscape features and personal stories. By the end of the weekend we had a working prototype that spoke to the user and informed them of nearby points of interest using information sourced from Google Places and Wikipedia. The future intention is to source additional information from local councils and individuals.
The problems around community participation and consultation in local council decision-making were the focus of Chris’s team’s pitch. GapFinder proposed a digital platform that would allow locals to contribute their thoughts on council policies and actions, giving more transparency and citizen input to these processes. Throughout the weekend they developed a thorough business plan and validated their idea, receiving offers of support and funding from the Christchurch City Council and former town mayor Vicki Buck in the process.
Both of us were well and truly worn out by the end of the weekend but wouldn’t change a thing, with a huge amount of behind-the-scenes work by a large volunteer base the weekend was one we won’t easily forget.
See more here.
