Reliving the VeloCity 5 Year Celebration
The sun was shining on Saturday, September 28th, as a large tent complete with oversized VeloCity stickers was raised on the Minota Hagey Residence green. VeloCity celebrated 5 years since it’s founding in 2008, by rewarding the startup community and its mentors with a fun filled opportunity to network, catch up with the VeloCity Team, and connect with alumni. The event included free movie theatre quality popcorn, an unlimited access photo booth, a bar courtesy of UW Catering, a live DJ, and a magician wearing red contact lenses!
Some of the more memorable moments include VeloCity Director Mike Kirkup paying tribute to VeloCity founder Sean Van Koughnett, who has now moved on to work at McMaster University in Hamilton. Van Koughnett was honored with a “Thank you Sean” mural painted in the Great Hall of the Minota Hagey Residence. After the cake cutting, DJ Brandon Orr from UWDJ turned up the noise at the party. Many of the VeloCity residents and even some of the VeloCity staff joined in to form an improvised dance party/circle. The dancing style spanned anywhere from limbo, to a Congo line, to the VeloCity version of the Harlem Shake!
It is evident that the passion for startup culture and entrepreneurship is alive and well in the University of Waterloo community. A love for the entrepreneurial side of life draws this community together, but it is also the desire to enjoy their lives by doing something fun and interesting with their time that allows them to stand on common ground. It is an environment that breeds a “work hard, play harder” mentality, a strategy used in many marketing firms to foster creativity and improve company culture. VeloCity’s emphasis on having fun with events like their 5 Year Anniversary, create strong bonds within and outside the entrepreneurial community. These bonds act as the glue that holds VeloCity together, assembling different people from different backgrounds together under the roof of a common cause: entrepreneurship.