I’ve never been east of Rimouski. But I remember the world’s most beautiful sunsets and a long drive. Today will be longer.
I’m driving 11 hours to the tip of Quebec, as far east as I can get before I fall off the land, a feeling I know well from living in St. John’s, Newfoundland most of my life. But it’ll be my first time in the wild, Eastern section of Quebec. It’s further than New Brunswick, way past most of Maine, and about as far as Halifax. All without leaving the province.
Why am I there? For an entrepreneurship conference called La Tournée des Entrepreneurs. Specifically, the BBQ, which I’m helping prepare. Provender, a Montreal startup that links local farmers directly to restaurants with a handy ordering website, is charged with preparing sausages, corn, and gourmet salads for 60. That’s more than a one-person job. I chopped a lot of potatoes, beets, and mint for the first version of this event in Baie St-Paul two weeks ago.
The Baie St-Paul trip two weeks ago.
The gist of the event is that a bunch of Montreal entrepreneurs with successful startups in the city head out to more rural parts of Quebec to have relaxed, open-air, round-table discussions with local entrepreneurs. Most of the Montrealers have financing from angel investors, venture capitalists or other sources of millions. And most of them are under 30-years-old. They’re mostly tech-related, but they’ve grown their businesses from ideas to reality, from twinkles in their eyes to adolescents. And they want to share what they’ve learned in other parts of Quebec. There are lots of conferences in Montreal where entrepreneurs can come for this kind of experience in a more official setup (think conference rooms and boxed coffee), but that’s 11 hours of driving for all those local entrepreneurs, and the fact is, most don’t do it. So why not go to them? thought entrepreneur LP Maurice, Notman House director, Noah Redler, and Christian Belair of the Regroupement des Jeunes Chambres de Commerce de Quebec.
In the video above you see what the Montreal entrepreneurs were doing outside the conference in Baie St-Paul, as well as the discussions that took place at a local B&B during the annual Festif music festival. Since the entrepreurs from MTL aren’t paid to attend, the weekend is pitched as a fun weekend away as well as an opportunity to share their startup knowledge. For all the participating entrepreneurs and their businesses (Altitude Sports, Frank & Oak, Dix au Carré and others), check the website. And if you happen to be in Abitibi in another two weeks, that’s where the third edition of this event will be, gourmet BBQ and all. Turns out it’s only 7 1/2 hours to Abitibi. Seems like a breeze.
Onward and upward! Or, rather, “go east, young woman!”
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