All was atwitter last week in Vancouver as some of the best Internet entrepreneurs, influencers and investors flocked to our beautiful city from across Canada and Silicon Valley for the highly anticipated, first annual Grow Conference.

Here’s a little sample of funny, inspiring and thankful tweets and “overheards”  at the conference, around town and in the Bootup Labs office:

OH @growconf:

• • ellenlevy: nice to be back in Vancouver for the Grow 2010 Conference… last time I was here I was running the Vancouver marathon! #in
  • ericries: Feels like everyone I know is in Canada. Congrats #Grow “@danmartell: serious freakin’ #startup talent in this room http://yfrog.com/nekp6aj
  • RobHayes: Headed to #GROWconf up in Vancouver.  Can’t wait to get me some Tim Horton’s and a Molsen Canadian #broughtmytoque
  • tconrad: Vancouver is amazing — beautiful, clean, incredible setting. Met 100 inspiring Canadian entrepreneurs yesterday.
  • MayorGregor: potent morning @ grow conference. 450+ all stars in tech+finance. silicon valley #vancouver mashup#growconf
  • chrisarsenault: OH: @davemcclure to entrepreneurs: if you don’t feel “out of control” you aren’t going fast enough #growconf
  • jtoeman: Quantity of ipads at @growconf is astounding. Even for a tech conference it’s high.
  • barbie_t: The 2 rules from Lane Becker: #1 startups are hard, #2 nobody knows anything. Follow your own vision at the end of the day. #GrowConf
  • brian_wong: At #growconf – phenomenal day so far. Great to catch up with everyone!
  • kevin_swan: It’s not about accepting failing, it’s about not fearing failure – Lane Becker #growconf
  • robinaxon : 24 hours into the conf and the energy is still high. Tom Conrad from Pandora is just taking stage. #growconf
  • springad: @tconrad shares that Pandora has no product roadmap. Stays simble and allows them to react to market changes #growconf
  • alexcapehart: Maple Leaf Mafia. You heard it here first.#GrowConf (@deblanda, @flowtown)
  • sonsryan: building a billion dollar business in 2 years doesn’t accelerate how fast you’ll get through customs.#growconf
  • KatrinaCF: @Groupon’s Andrew Mason: “my biggest f**k up was waiting too long to launch”. #growconf #inspiring
  • @davemcclure just got the wave going in the conference room at #growconf!!
  • kevin_swan: They should put a 30 second delay on this panel with @davemcclure and @superrewardsCEO participating.#fbombs #growconf
  • GundersonLaw: awesome weekend @growconf . Many many thanks @deblanda. Top of the food chain event.
  • jeff : Back home. #growconf was a blast (congrats @deblanda). Jetlag + conference = beat. Way too many emails to dig in. Good night/week-end y’all!
  • bwertz: GROW was probably the best web conference ever organized in Canada – great speakers, very good networking, amazing event venue. #growconf
  • chrisalbinson: Awesome #growconf. @debbielanda rocks(-: Fun to see #c100 come north.

OH @growconf after parties and around town:

• • CathyBrooks - Hanging at the #growconf pre party…if this crowd is indicative of the start-up scene here, color me impressed.
  • quikness: @robertslewis, you’re such a ladies man! http://ow.ly/2rZJa #growconf
  • albertsupdates: @MediaTemple Party was awesome. They had awesome Chocolate bars too! Thx to @freelilly & #growconf ppl!
  • mapmove: Great day at @growconf then @stevewandler buys dinner then at the@mediatemple after party …….utopia …until a 8am flight
  • maurar: OH: loved the vibe @growconf. It was like All of Us came together to say “Canada f**kin matters!”

OH @bootuplabs:

• • foodtree: The @bootuplabs office is BUZZING. If you’re in town stop by for tech talk, wifi, and coffee. (magic combo, right?).
  • bmann: I’m not getting much “work” done, but there is a ton of @growconf related networking happening at @bootuplabs. MTL is in the house.
  • skanwar: Out @bootuplabs – great conversations with @sonsryan, @summify, @strutta and more. #growconf
  • davidcrow: @extremevp I’ve had so much fun with open office hours @bootuplabs @wavefrontac met many companies, must repeat in TO at EVP.
  • alkarim: Finding masses of inspiration all in one place.
  • kevindahl: Just “put yo weight on it” during slideshow karaoke @bootuplabs. Human centipede not allowed…
  • anulman: Thanks again, @bootuplabs! #PPTKgrow was loads of fun. Presents in your fridge.

Martin Ertl of Contractually, LPV9 Startup Competition People’s Choice Winner
Photo credit: Jeremy Lim

Our ninth edition of Launch Party Vancouver on June 17th was definitely our biggest event yet.  As Debbie Landa tweeted, LPV9 was definitely a “who’s who of Canadian tech.” We were thrilled to have Chris Albinson, Katherine Barr, Dan Martell, Debbie Landa, and Anthony Lee from the C100 fly up from Silicon Valley as well as Chris Arsenault and Shawn Abbott from iNovia Capital in the house.  A great big thank you to all of our out of town guests for making the trek to Vancouver.  Go Canada!

Chris Albinson of the C100 Organization and Panorama Capital
Photo Credit: Jeremy Lim

Put your hands together for…
We rely on public and private donations and a whole lot of sweat and sometimes tears to make this all possible.  Many thanks to Sonia Ryan and volunteers Melissa Joaquin, Angela Baldonero, Tarlan Klo, Tina Hoang, and Laurent Munier for working the door and helping us set-up.

We could not do any of this without the backing of our LPV9 Partners:

• BCIC – the lead organization charged with advancing innovation and commercialization in British Columbia.
• Canpages - fastest growing local search company in Canada with a nationwide API for smart phone application developers.
• Clark Wilson - BC’s Law Firm for Business. Mark Longo & Brock Smith are the go to guys.
• HSBC - the world’s local bank with startup banking packages.
• Fasken Martineau - a leading international business law and litigation firm. Keith Spencer and Shahrooz Navabi are the real deal.
• Strutta - the platform for creating online contests and the brains behind the LPV9 Startup Competition.
• Lonsdale Rentals – the place to go for all of your corporate and private party rental needs. From bar rentals to glasses, they have it all.
• Pixstar - Pixstar Photo booths provide the perfect memento to remember any party.
• Mission Hill – Mission Hill has an amazing selection of Okanagan wines. They featured Rigamorole red and white at LPV9.
• Russell Brewing - committed to brewing 100% natural, real Canadian beer. And it shows!
• Jeremy Lim - Check out Jeremy’s awesome LPV9 photo set on Flickr and contact him for your event.

Our Media Sponsors rock:

• Techvibes - our favorite technology blog does an amazing job highlighting all of the LPV9 startups and covering daily tech news in cities across Canada and the United States. And best of all, Techvibe’s President & Editor, Rob Lewis always shows up as promised   ——->
• Startup Digest - All you have to do is enter your email address and choose your favorite hubs to receive the best startup events in your inbox every week.  Jon Chui runs the weekly Vancouver newsletter.

Thank you all for making LPV9 so great!

New Ventures BC Seminar: The Business Case with Mike Volker

• Tuesday, May 4
• 6:30pm
• SFU Segal School of Business – 500 Granville St., Vancouver
• $20

Silicon Valley VC Investment in Canadian Technology Companies: Past, Present and Future with Panorama Capital’s Chris Albinson

• Thursday, May 6
• 8:ooam
• Clark Wilson LLP Offices – 885 West Georgia St., 8th Floor, Vancouver
• $30

Northern Voice 2010 Kick-Off Party

• Thursday, May 6
• 7:00pm
• Grandview Lanes – 2195 Commercial Drive., Vancouver
• $15

Mentor Speed Dating 2.0

• Friday, May 7
• 3:30pm
• Clark Wilson LLP Offices – 885 West Georgia St., 8th Floor, Vancouver
• Free

Northern Voice 2010 Conference

• Thursday, May 7 & Friday, May 8
• 8:45am
• Life Sciences Centre – 2350 Health Sciences Mall, UBC Main Campus, Vancouver
• Sold out

If we’ve missed an event, please add it below as a comment.