Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

CoCo Expanding to Fargo with Emerging Prairie

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coco-emgprFargo, June 25, 2014 – CoCo announced today that it will partner with Emerging Prairie to open a new location in Fargo, N.D.  CoCo Fargo, slated to open in early August, 2014, will be located in a 6,000 ­square ­foot space at the historic Merchants National Bank Building, 112 1⁄2 N. Broadway. Both individual and group memberships at CoCo Fargo are available now, with registrations being taken at http://cocomsp.com.

Full press release is below…

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Contact:
Don Ball don@cocomsp.com

CoCo to Partner with Emerging Prairie on Fargo, ND Location

Fargo, June 25, 2014 – CoCo announced today that it will partner with Emerging Prairie to open a new location in Fargo, N.D.

CoCo Fargo, slated to open in early August, 2014, will be located in a 6,000 square foot space at the historic Merchants National Bank Building, 112 1∕2 N. Broadway. Both individual and group memberships at CoCo Fargo are available now, with registrations being taken at http://cocomsp.com

This new CoCo location – the company’s first outside the Twin Cities – is the result of a three year grassroots effort by Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC), the Kilbourne Group and the founders of Emerging Prairie. “With the continued growth of Emerging Prairie and the partnership with CoCo, the preeminent coworking space operator in the Midwest, Fargo is ready to take the next step in its entrepreneurial development. This partnership supports local business growth and sustained economic development for the region,” said GFMEDC President Jim Gartin.

As part of this ongoing partnership, CoCo will manage the space and membership, while Emerging Prairie will organize events and meetups. “We are committed to supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Greg Tehven, cofounder of Emerging Prairie. “We believe that a collaborative work space improves the work experience for people, especially entrepreneurs. Our new partnership with CoCo is an important step toward increasing innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship in the region,” he said.

Although planning and construction is still underway, CoCo anticipates having enough space to serve at least 100 members, including dedicated space for individuals and small startups. In addition, the space will be reconfigurable to allow for events. CoCo Fargo members will have access to all CoCo locations.

For CoCo, expansion to Fargo is part of a strategy to connect entrepreneurs and innovators across the region. “We’re honored to be invited to Fargo,” said CoCo CEO Kyle Coolbroth. “There’s an extraordinary level of enthusiasm and commitment in this city. Our goal is to actively support all those who want to build new businesses and help Fargo grow,” he said

About CoCo coworking and collaborative space

CoCo is a shared workspace where entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, small businesses and corporate workgroups can gather to share ideas, team up on projects and get work done. CoCo has locations in downtown and Uptown Minneapolis, Minn., St. Paul, Minn., and now in Fargo, N.D. More information: http://cocomsp.com

About Emerging Prairie
Emerging Prairie is a digitalmedia company committed to informing, connecting and activating the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the upper great plains. With a primary focus on startups, technology, and innovation, we operate an online publication and host events that highlights the entrepreneurs, creatives and innovators shaping our region’s future. More information: http://emergingprairie.com

Tech Cocktail’s Twin Cities Mixer & Startup Showcase

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tech-cocktail-mpls-largeAnother Tech Cocktail Social is happening in the Twin Cities this September! You will want to attend to network since these are very fun events and so many key people are in attendance.

That said, if you are a startup know this: Two of the Tech Cocktail Minneapolis startups who present will be chosen by the local audience and will have a chance to attend Tech Cocktail Celebrate and meet a ton of VC’s and influentials in September. More on that event below and in the section HOW DOES OUR STARTUP GET CONSIDERED?

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TO ATTEND, NETWORK & PARTY

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TO ATTEND, NETWORK & COMPETE AS A STARTUP
If you are a startup that meets the criteria below, you could win a spot to the Tech Cocktail national shootout called Tech Cocktail Celebrate, held October 6th & 7th in Las Vegas. If you are selected as one of the two Tech Cocktail Minneapolis winners, you will attend and present at this two-day conference with hundreds of attendees, industry leaders and inspiring speakers.

You will also meet the hottest startups and investors from around the country, as well as learn and collaborate with others turning their communities into startup cities. In addition, you will enjoy music, parties and llama spotting.

Here is a two minute video recap of the 2013 event:

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HOW DOES OUR STARTUP GET CONSIDERED?

You will apply and then selections will be made for Tech Cocktail Minneapolis startup presenters. To be considered, you must qualify with these criteria:

  • Overall Criteria:
    • Less than 3 years old
    • Raised less than $1M thus far
    • Be an independent company (no subsidiaries)
    • Startups must have a working beta or better product.
  • Regional Event Criteria:

Application page: Apply now for inclusion at the Twin Cities event. Please note, unlike Tech Cocktail Mixers, startups will not showcase at the event and must be in attendance when winners are chosen in order to win.

spacer_newkim-garretsonTech Cocktail Social/Minneapolis is hosted by Kim Garretson (LinkedIn), now a Research Fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at University of Missouri; Board Member at Twin Cities Public Television; and Founder & General Partner of Ventures at Ovative/Group.

 

Minnov8 Gang 269 – The Real Snidley Whiplash?

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snidley_mainA handful of important stories are covered this week as well as a goofin’ around reference to someone you may know: Snidley Whiplash. So who IS the real one?

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off this week).
Music: Stone Cold Heart Breaker by Texarillo. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:56 — 34.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

Last Week’s Other Big Stories

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Beware of “Juice Jacking” and why you might need a USB “condom” for your smartphone.

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 268 – It’s Twangy

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Hosts: Steve Borsch, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson (Tim Elliott is off this week). Music: Muddy Water by Adam Traum. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:06:24 — 39.0MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

Last Week’s Other Big Stories

Other Links to Topics Discussed During the Show

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

  • Prey Project device tracking software enables you to find a stolen or misplaced Windows, Mac, Linux, Android or iOS device.

Upcoming Events

Verizon Wireless Connected Tech Tour

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Verizon Wireless Business is running a Connected Technology Tour around select U.S. cities and yesterday’s stop was in Minneapolis. Its focus? The impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) and how attendees could, “…learn how businesses and public agencies are leveraging the accelerated growth of connected devices to increase operational efficiencies, enhance safety and security and, in some cases, generate new revenue streams.”

Did it deliver?

The short answer is “yes” since it was incredibly useful and informative to talk with the partners who had booths setup. The things I learned about using wireless technologies for failover and redundant connections—and what solutions were already available—has already enlightened me on possibilities and proved useful for the IoT startups I advise.

Jack Uldrich

Jack Uldrich

The longer answer is “maybe” since several of the attendees I spoke with were very interested in what the keynote speaker, Jack Uldrich, had to say. Billed as a “Global Futurist and Best-Selling Author” Uldrich’s overview of IoT was fairly basic to anyone who has spent any time investigating IoT.

It was unclear to me whether or not the audience knew much of what Uldrich covered—and like me wanted stats-and-facts about the size of the IoT market, what categories are growing and where investments were occurring—but perhaps I was in the minority due to my extensive study of the Internet of Things.

What I really liked (and was probably the point) is that Uldrich’s message was focused  to motivate attendees to investigate IoT now and get moving before they were disrupted by some competitor who would, or before their business model was modified or destroyed.

Uldrich defined IoT, talked about why it was happening, that the audience needed to prepare for it, and what was next, all while sprinkling in fun examples to show how we audience members don’t perceive change well. He was undoubtedly preparing us to strongly consider that IoT was a market that would experience exponential change, and if we weren’t paying attention it would suddenly be all around us and we’d be caught flat-footed.

Getting the audience to think about IoT’s growth as exponential change, instead of linear or geometric change, was done by Uldrich using what I’ve always thought was the best example to explain exponential growth: lilypad’s and a lake…

lakelilypadsTo those who don’t believe IoT will change the world in the near future just because it hasn’t accomplished much yet, consider this little quiz: If a single lily pad began doubling on a small lake on the first day of June and doubled each day thereafter until the entire lake was covered by the end of the month, on Day 20 what percentage of the pond would be covered with lily pads?

The answer is one-tenth of one percent. That’s right, .1%! What happens over the next 10 days is a little short of amazing—the entire pond gets completely covered with lilypads. Such is the nature of exponential growth.

I can say from personal experience (and that I already own about thirty ‘things’ installed at my house already due to SmartThings), that there will be exponential growth of the purchase and use of internet-connected things quickly in the home. But home automation is not the big opportunity.

Businesses adopting IoT—and connecting to the internet mostly in a wireless way—is where the action is. Tracking assets, monitoring remotely, managing vehicles (and where they are, their load and more), and all the possibilities in health care is a huge opportunity for the arguably more dependable (and often the only option for specific use-cases) wireless connectivity.

If the IoT technology space plays out even somewhat like the personal computer, multimedia, and internet space did over the last 35-45 years, once businesses see early adopters enjoying successful implementation of IoT sensors, hubs and analytics to streamline operations and make more money, every other business will scramble to get on board…

…and Verizon Wireless M2M Solutions (machine-to-machine) positioning, services and partners will place them directly in the path of much of this IoT exponential explosion. I’m guessing Verizon thinks so too since they’re investing in seminars just like this one all over the country.

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Recent Articles on the Internet of Things:

Honeywell Takes On Google’s Nest

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honeywell-nestMany articles about Honeywell’s new Lyric thermostat and this one from Time give a great overview:

When it comes to the Smart Thermostat Wars (is that a thing yet?), there’s no love lost between Honeywell and Google-owned Nest. The high-profile Nest Learning Thermostat triggered a nasty patent scuffle back in 2012, when longtime thermostat behemoth Honeywell went after Nest over several claimed patent infringements.

Fast forward to today, and Honeywell is rolling out its own smart thermostat, the $279 Lyric. It’ll actually be part of a broader network of home automation devices, also fitting under the Lyric moniker, but the thermostat will be the first device in the line. It’ll be available now-ish from Honeywell’s home contractor partners, and in August from Lowe’s.

Read the Time article…

Ignite Minneapolis Event on Thursday

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ignitemplsIgnite Minneapolis 7 will be held Thursday, June 12, 2014 at Riverview Theater in Minneapolis, home of Twin Cities’ best movie theater popcorn. Get tickets here.

NEW…A LIVE STREAM! In case you’re not coming to Ignite in person, there will be a live stream brought to you by Rewire. To access the live stream, just visit the Ignite Minneapolis home page on Thursday evening and click the live stream link which will then appear.

spacer_newWhat is Ignite?

Ignite Minneapolis brings together local thinkers, writers, designers, coders, makers and entrepreneurs for an evening of rapid-fire talks given by people with a burning passion for their topic. Some talks are serious science, others are pure satire – but each talk must be about a compelling idea or story. Attendees come to learn and to be inspired.

The Ignite format works like this: Each speaker prepares a deck of 20 slides which auto-advance every 15 seconds, giving each speaker 5 minutes to give their talk. The rapid-fire pace of this format often makes for a frenetic delivery, and the variety of topics means the audience is unlikely to ever get bored. The motto of Ignite is, “Enlighten us, but make it quick.”

Minnov8 Gang 267 – Dick Tracy is PO’ed

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dick-tracys-tech_mainWe’re hearing a lot about wearable technologies, but a certain detective is pretty pissed off that he isn’t getting credit for it. We talk about Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), rumored iWatch for this fall, and much more.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off this week).
Music: I’d Rather Get Shot Down by Texarillo. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:04 — 34.1MB)

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Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

Last Week’s Other Big Stories

Other Links to Topics Discussed During the Show

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Do you connect up to any Wifi location that’s handy? Do you have auto-connect enabled on your smartphone or tablet? Do you double-check that “Caribou Wifi” is actually Caribou Coffee’s…or is it some black hat hacker’s laptop pretending to be Caribou’s Wifi to which you’ll be connecting?

Steve discusses “The Evil Twin Hack” and will give you tips on how to stay safe. Also mentions VPN Private Internet Access.

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 266 – Nah, You’re Not Being Watched

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spy-cat_mainThe boys tease Borsch (again) about wearing his tinfoil hat during this week’s show. Are they right to call him paranoid when he does his security tip of the week?

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Now is Now by Dan-O. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:49 — 36.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Discussed During the Show

Minnesota’s Top Stories

Other Big Stories

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Upcoming Events

The Meaning of Memorial Day

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The Minnov8 Gang Podcast will be back next week on May 31st. We are having time with our families this Memorial Day weekend. In the meantime, enjoy this post that has some intriguing, and surprising, factoids about the origin of the holiday.

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Civil War Veterans in Ortonville, Minnesota, on the Fourth of July, 1880 – also called 
“Decoration Day” prior to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act almost a century later.

We all know what Memorial Day is all about, right? “That is obvious,” you might say. But if you are like us then it is likely you haven’t spent much time learning about the origins of this holiday (and your education on it was probably like ours: one chapter in your American History course in high school). Also, unless you have loved ones who have served and fought in the United States military—and died in that service to our country—Memorial Day is often one when most of us play and don’t think too much about what the day means.

We must admit to being surprised about all the competing origin stories about how Memorial Day began.

What is Memorial Day?

This Wikipedia article about Memorial Day starts out with a straightforward overview of what the day is all about:

“Memorial Day is a US federal holiday wherein the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces are remembered. The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the final Monday of May, was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.

By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.”

But how this remembrance holiday began is not straightforward.

How Did Today’s Memorial Day Celebration Begin?

The March of Time, oil on canvas. By Henry Sandham (1842-1910)

The March of Time, oil on canvas. By Henry Sandham (1842-1910)

This is what was most surprising about that article and other items we read: That there are several competing claims of ‘ownership’ of the beginning of what is now today’s Memorial Day:

  • In 1863, the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. Local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers’ graves on July 4, 1864. As a result, Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day.
  • A claim that African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina:

The first widely publicized observance of a Memorial Day-type observance after the Civil War was in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 1, 1865. During the war, Union soldiers who were prisoners of war had been held at the Charleston Race Course; at least 257 Union prisoners died there and were hastily buried in unmarked graves. Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers.

  • Another claim was made in 1906 that the first Civil War soldier’s grave ever decorated was in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861, implying the first Memorial Day occurred there.
  • On May 26, 1966, President Johnson signed a presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day.

The kicker? The article goes on to discuss several other views on what led up to the formalization of a holiday to remember soldiers who died in wars. While the competing claims and variety of perspectives is a bit of head-scratcher—aspects we had no idea was the case as we’d always thought the remembrance day was straightforward and its path to today clear—it really doesn’t matter.

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To us the origins (or possible origins) of a national holiday are intellectually interesting, but it is the meaning of the day we celebrate now that matters: Honoring the sacrifices of those who have given their lives in war. So while we are all enjoying the holiday with family and friends, let’s pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of the day and on those who have fallen.