IoT meetup brings together hardware community

Hamilton’s first ever Internet of Things meetup took place last night, drawing out a new 30+ person audience (with some familiar faces) of experts, hobbists, students and curious folks oriented around hardware and IoT devices (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and others).

Unfortunately the planned speaker at the event Omega 2 was unable to make it, but the discussions that took place anyways were well received:

“I was pleasantly surprised at the large turnout for such a quickly organized event, with a newer/switched date. Doug did a fantastic job at “MC’ing” the event, and despite the no show Onion guys, the quality of conversations following Doug’s intro to the Onion’s new product “Omega2″ were outstanding. It was an excellent networking event and honestly I enjoyed meeting and speaking with so many of the attendees. I had a great time, I urge everyone that was thinking of coming out, to make sure they come out next time, because you’ll regret it if you don’t. Thanks again Doug! Looking forward to the next one.” (Meetup Group Comment)

Co-organizer of Startup Weekend Hamilton Maker Edition Doug Petican put together the meetup, he told the attendees, “I want this meetup to be different, I want it to be about having discussions, helping each other and solving problems”. He discussed a plan to build a library of IoT devices and sensors that the members can use, and a desire to bring the skills of the hardware and software experts together.

We’ve had local hardware startups like Roboteurs and Chipsetter for awhile now, and the interest in the student community in Arduino and similar devices couldn’t be higher, so it’s fantastic this is happening. I can’t think of anyone better to lead up an initiative like this in Hamilton than Doug, and I look forward to future events!