NCFA Advisor Katherine Hague | September 25, 2013

On Friday September 20th, ShopLocket and Extreme Startups hosted the Toronto stop of Indiegogo’s Canadian Road Trip. It was an amazing experience for the ShopLocket team to meet more Indiegogo campaigners face-to-face and learn about their crowdfunding experiences first hand. It was also great to see the number of people that attended simply to learn more about crowdfunding, how to run a successful campaign, and connect with like minded individuals.

We are really starting to see crowdfunding gain momentum in Canada, and this was reinforced by the number of people at the event that mentioned plans to launch their own campaigns in the near future.

The pizza and beer filled evening didn’t follow any strict format; just a casual Friday evening to mingle, ask some questions and get answers. Ayah Norris, in charge of marketing and community for Indiegogo Canada, was present to share her stories from her stops across Canada, along with her overall knowledge in the field. Ayah’s experience in working with Indiegogo campaigns across categories really helped bring valuable insight to those looking to get the most out of their campaigns. We heard discussions around everything from tips on generating press, how to choose rewards, and even growth hacks to maximize your funding. Overall, it was remarkable to see the passion in the room as people discussed their projects and campaign ideas over the course of the evening.

Also in attendance was tech writer Tom Emrich, who is particularly interested in the impact of crowdfunding in Canada’s technology market — with the recent successes of InteraXon’s Muse, Bionym’s Nymi, and Blacksumac’s Piper as main topics of conversation. In fact, you can usually find Tom covering Toronto’s hottest tech events, sporting his very own Google Glass.

We also wanted to give a shout out to a few recently launched campaigns that came out to the event and shared their projects; Alertly, Moss Graffiti Kits by Sprout Guerrilla, and Sea Mystic.

The great news is that there’s still more stops left on the Canadian Road Trip. Check out the remaining places on the tour and get your tickets before they’re gone. If you’re thinking about doing an Indiegogo campaign or are looking for insider tips on how to crush your funding goal, you can’t miss this event.

About ShopLocket:

ShopLocket helps entrepreneurs sell their products online after their crowdfunding campaigns end. By enabling pre-orders, ShopLocket offers the fastest way to take payment information and charge later when you’re ready to ship. Get set up in minutes, create an elegant checkout experience, and start taking orders, without the hassle of a traditional ecommerce platform.

Author: Dan Kalmar @shoplocket

Dan Kalmar is the Community Manager at ShopLocket. He also makes a mean cup of tea.