Even though mesh has been around since 2006 and established itself as one of Canada’s leading Web conferences, there is always some anxiousness when we (aka the mesh gang) launch a new event.

Some of the questions we ask ourselves is whether there’s room in the market for a new conference, can we put together compelling programming, and will people pay for something with no track record. It was with some trepidation that we launched meshmarketing in 2009, particularly given the economic downturn had pounded marketing budgets. With some luck and great content, we’ve established a pretty strong foundation for meshmarketing.

So when we decided to pull the trigger on meshwest, there was a combination of excitement and trepidation. We always wanted to take mesh national, and the time had come to either do it or shelve the idea. In the end, we decided it was a good idea, and we launched meshwest last week in Calgary.

With a mixture of happiness and relief, meshwest got off to a great start. We had a full house at the University of Calgary that were engaged and enthusiastic. And we had a great line-up of speakers – people such as Tobias Lutke, Keith Boulis, Danny Robinson, Dan Debow and Mark MacLeod that came in from out of town, and a local crew led by Doug Lacombe and Greg Hounslow.

As important, we met lots of interesting people and made some great connections that will only help us make the next meshwest in Calgary even better – along with meshevents in Edmonton and Vancouver later this year. From a personal perspective, it was insightful to get a handle on the local high-tech community.

Some of the highlights from last week include:

- The keynote conversation with Shopify.com CEO Tobias Lutke. Shopify is one of Canada’s most successful Web companies with an e-commerce platform that has more than 15,000 customers that generate sales of about $250-million. Lutke provided some great insight into how to start a business, the ways to maintain a healthy corporate culture, and how Ottawa-based Shopify has financed its growth.

- The panel featuring Leigh Himel, Sarah Dickinson and WestJet’s Greg Hounslow, which was focused on how companies can establish a strong foundation to succeed with social media. Hounslow provided hands-on insight into what it’s like to operate a corporate social media program, while Himel and Dickinson

- The Twitter panel with Allyson Simpson, Tony Rino and William Bakker. Rather than talk about the strategy or the tools, the panelists offered up first-hand experiences in using Twitter to drive marketing campaigns and business. In particular, Simpson charmed the audience by talking about how the Melrose Cafe has used Twitter to build a community and attract business.

Here’s a video of Doug Lacombe talking about the social media landscape in Calgary:

Doug Lacombe Talks About Calgary’s Social Media Scene from Mark Evans on Vimeo.