Some of us might take 3 years to launch a startup. Instead, how about teaming up with total strangers to build a business from scratch in 3 days? That’s the premise of Startup Weekend, a global phenomenon that is coming to the Twin Cities this September. The cool part? It’s just $75 to participate, which (along with your sweat equity) entitles you to piece of the action if your startup is successful.

We’ll post more info as it becomes available. Meanwhile, you can learn more from the cool cats at Tech.MN.

Weekly lunchtime chats*
The idea here is to offer a free, low-key discussion on a favorite topic. Patrick Rhone piloted our first chat last week with a discussion on all things Mac. We had about eight people show up and it was perfect. We’re aiming to have one of these a week, usually on a Friday. Next one: A discussion on GTD (Getting Things Done), with Meghan Wilker of Clockwork and the Geekgirls Guide. Beyond that? We’re looking for people who want to host discussions on:

• Copywriting
• Web design
• Mobile app marketing
• Usability
• Information architecture
• Typography
• Python
• Joomla
• Ruby

Got any topics you’d like to suggest (and possibly host)? Please let us know in the comments.

*We’re not currently offering lunch, but if there’s enough interest we’d be happy to bring in a tasty lunch for, say, $5?

Daycamps
Our friends at The 3rd Place have tried an interesting idea: to have themed days (e.g., Tech Thursdays), so that like-minded people can plan on showing up on the same day. Building on that concept, we want to offer day-long evens in which different communities can enjoy breakfast, participate in a facilitated conversation (or listen to a speaker) and then spend the rest of the day coworking and collaborating.

Our first Daycamp, on Wed., Jan. 27, will be for current and future entrepreneurs and will kick off with a talk by attorney Ernest Grumbles III on “IP for Startups.”

We’re lining up future DayCamps and will try to schedule a couple of them per month, usually on Wednesdays. Potential topics include:

• Public relations
• Digital job hunting
• Blogging
• Microblogging (Posterous vs. Tumblr)
• Potcasting
• Launching a freelance biz
• Launching a tech startup
• WordPress
• Mobile app development

Same offer: if you want to suggest a worthy topic (and an appropriate speaker/discussion facilitator), please drop us a comment!