Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

“Little Seth Godin” Becomes MIMA Summit Ambassador

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sethgodinactionfigureAs the early-bird registration deadline of September 7th closes in for the annual MIMA Summit, our friends at MIMA are taking the word ‘action’ in action figure literally! Observe “Little Seth” Godin as he pops up on the internet, hides out in the Twin Cities, and most recently, visits the Minnesota State Fair.

MIMA has employed the use of a small Seth Godin action figure, acquired by MIMA Summit diva Jenn Kane, as a central figure in it’s marketing campaign. Though the concept of a marketing guy action figure is a bit disturbing (on so many levels), it’s clearly a fun way to get the word out about the October 5th event.

Check out Little Seth at the Minnesota State Fair video produced by Minneapolis video shop ThreeVolts as he sees “what’s poppin'” and looks for the ever elusive “cheese turds”. Of course, there are plenty of references to the MIMA Summit along the way…hey, it’s marketing!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj6aoiQAdvw&feature=player_profilepage

If you’re interested in free registration for the Summit this year, you might try your hand at the “Find Little Seth” game. Follow @mimasummit on Twitter for clues and you could score a ticket worth $550* or more.

The Summit looks to be a great event this year and Minnov8 will be there for the seven programming tracks, 35 sessions and the more than 40 speakers on interactive marketing trends and technology.

*non-member early-bird price

MinneDemo Joins MIMA Summit For Tech Track

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mima_logo_4cThe folks at MIMA have struck a deal with our friends at MinneBar/MinneDemo to present a Technical Track at the upcoming MIMA Summit (Of which Minnov8 is a media partner.) The track will run in conjunction with an already full slate of speakers and presentations scheduled for Monday, October 5 at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. Fundamentals, Strategy, Tactical, Trend and the MinneDemo Technical tracks will allow attendees to tailor their experience at the Summit.

minnedemo-logoAccording to notices from both MIMA and MinneDemo the track will consist of “a curated slate of entrepreneurs who will showcase their internet and web innovations and demo real working software.” The ‘Best of’ slate from past MinneDemo presentations will be featured in groups of three with Q&A time allowed throughout the day.

While one might ask, taken as a whole, what do demos such as these have to do with MIMA’s interactive marketing focus, the ability to showcase our local innovators and startup community is always welcome. MIMA President Matt Wilson, echos that sentiment. “I think a lot of our members are going to be incredibly impressed by the technology talent here in town and hopefully this added exposure will mean more development work stays here.”

Of note is the mention in the MinneDemo communication of a fall MinneDemo event to be held in November. It’s the first mention of the follow-up to May’s MinneDemo at Intermedia Arts. We’re also still awaiting news of a MinneBar. We’ll let you know as soon we hear more…

Minnov8 Gang Liveblogging: ‘BlogWell by Gaspedal at General Mills’

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BW-topUPDATE: The event is now over and we’ve archived all of our posts, images and videos on our BlogWell page here.

The Minnov8 Gang (Tim, Graeme, Phil and Steve) will be liveblogging the BlogWell event being held at General Mills tomorrow.

We’ve setup a separate page that self-updates with our entries and is located here.  It’s currently password protected (we’re still experimenting with some of the liveblog engine’s features) but won’t be tomorrow morning before the event.

Stop by and watch the event unfold in near real-time as the Gang gives you a high level overview of the event.

A Joint Podcast with Social Media Breakfast

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SMBMSP podcastFollowing the recent Social Media Breakfast on Friday Brad Bellaver gathered a group on the patio at Vic’s for a rather unique conversation and podcast. We had a chance to chat about the meeting and social media in general. Joining Brad and those of us from Minnov8 were founder of the Social Media Breakfast concept Bryan Person, SMBMSP founder Rick Mahn, and Marketing Edge podcast host and Provident Partners principal Albert Maruggi.

Brad graciously billed at as a joint podcast wiht the SMBMSP. But like most things, 80% of success if just showing up. Thanks for inviting us to join Brad. Catch a bit of video from the impromptu gathering at http://www.qik.com/video/2364510.

Gary Koelling Gets Personal With Radio

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I’ve written before about my involvement with the Conclave , an organization that seeks to educate radio broadcasters. This year I had the pleasure of heading up the planning of the Tech/Interactive Track at this year’s Learning Conference (#clave09), underway right now in Minneapolis. I’m thrilled that I have been able to include many of Minnesota’s tech, interactive and social media “stars” as part of the agenda.

One of those “stars” is Gary Koelling, Best Buy’s Social Media guru and founder of Blueshirt Nation, Giftag and IdeaX. I asked Gary to talk with my broadcast brethren about increasing radio’s ‘signal strength’, a phrase Gary coined during a conversation we had some time back that refers to reaching customers through social media.

I met with Gary about an hour before his presentation because he wanted to show me what he came up with. I trust Gary implicitly to put together a great presentation on this topic…and he did. No surprise! I had expected to politely preview his slides, say “Cool!” and move on.

What I experienced, and what the attendees saw was a deeply personal story reflecting Gary’s passion for this medium and what it has meant to him over the years. He told me that every time he sat down to build his presentation he found himself “yelling” at radio for what it has become. He told me, “That’s not helpful to anyone.” So what he did was take everyone through the emotional relationship he has, and I bet all of have had, with radio.

“Other stations can steal your listeners, they can’t steal your friends.”  …  [Read More…]

BlogWell Coming to the Twin Cities

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blogwellThere’s an event coming up next month called “BlogWell: How big brands use social media” being hosted by General Mills on August 13th and you can go!

About BlogWell: Walmart, McDonald’s, CME Group, H&R Block, Mayo Clinic, Progressive, Ford and General Mills share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250.

blogwell-cosBlogWell is all about how big brands use social media. No agencies, no startups — just big companies sharing what they’ve learned. Get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, getting management buy-in, educating employees, keeping lawyers and regulators happy, simple and ethical disclosure, and engaging fans.

You’ll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — and learn it all in four hours (and be home for dinner).

BlogWell is presented by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council.

Register here and use the coupon code “Minnov8Rocks” to snag a 10% discount.

Event in Edina July 13 to Explore ‘PR 2.0’

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Kane-logoConference organizer Kane Consulting says that it’s now a “brave new world” in public relations.  And to help managers of local businesses and PR practitioners alike better understand how “new hybrid media forms” are changing the game, it’s organized an event that includes a national speaker who’s an expert on the subject.

Called “PR 2.0: The New Tools of the Trade,” the event will be held Monday July 13 from 8:00 am till 4:00 pm at the Westin Galleria, 3201 Galleria, in Edina, MN 55435.  JasonKintzlerPitchEngine-logo The keynote presenter is Jason Kintzler, founder and CEO of PitchEngine, “a social media release service” that enables PR professionals to package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers, and influencers via the social web.

Jennifer Kane, founder of Kane Consulting (pictured here at left with colleague Kary Delaria), said in announcing the event, “If you’re in the business of sharing facts, telling stories, starting conversations, and monitoring dialogue about your company or client, this is stuff you need to know.” JenKaneKaryDelaria

The conference will also feature eight breakout sessions reflecting the most cutting edge and innovative thinking on how to navigate this rapidly changing industry.

…  [Read More…]

Could MSP Be the Social Media Capital of the World?

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SMBmsp-logoOr at least the social media breakfast capital of the world? It felt like it Friday, as a mob of people began gathering bright and early, with the smell of bacon and eggs wafting above the expansive lawn at Deluxe Corporation’s headquarters in Shoreview, MN.  The scene was the 16th consecutive monthly meeting of an organization called Social Media Breakfast-Twin Cities, or “SMBmsp” for short.   Complete with a “Jumbotron” on wheels for the presenters’s slides, the event was unofficially dubbed “Social Media Palooza” by the sponsor, and beach balls were even bouncing from row to row before the morning was over.

The event was originally slated to be held indoors at Deluxe, but free tickets for the 125-person capacity room sold out on the group’s online sign-up site within two hours. So, organizer Rick Mahn and sponsor PartnerUp (a Deluxe company) scrambled to accommodate demand. They quickly decided to open up the event by holding it outside, and then promptly sold out all 250 tickets.  WideShot-8am

Just what is a “Social Media Breakfast”?  As explained on the group’s web site (a social networking site, of course!): “It’s where folks get together to talk about using social media and social networking tools in their business or careers. It’s about networking, it’s about learning, and mostly it’s about people.”

The SMB concept has taken off nationally, now with 25 chapters. But in early 2008 the Twin Cities group was one of the first to get started — the third, actually, after Boston and New York City, according to Bryon Person, the founder of Social Media Breakfast. Person spoke at the local “SMPmsp 15” event at Concordia College in St. Paul on May 16. (Person is based in Austin, TX and is a blogger, podcaster, speaker, and social media evangelist for LiveWorld. He is @BryanPerson on Twitter.)  Person also said the Twin Cities SMB group has held the most meetings of all the chapters, and consistently has the biggest attendance.  Thus, one could conclude that Friday’s outdoor event was the biggest SMB breakest ever held nationally, since attendance was about twice that of the largest previous SMBmsp event. …  [Read More…]

Changing the World at MIMA

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MIMA’s monthly gathering at the Nicollet Island Pavilion last Wednesday allowed us some great insight into the design and workings of the now fabled use of online and social media in the recent…and successful…campaign by President Barrack Obama.

Much has been made, as it should, of how this campaign took advantage of a relatively untapped medium and how it reached its audience with the message of the Democratic President. And no one had better stories to tell than Scott Thomas (SimpleScott). Scott held the position of Design Director during the Obama campaign and is currently writing a book about the experience.

Scott took to the stage armed with a confident understated attitude and a slide deck that would help him tell the story of a campaign that moved at the speed of light and expected its online efforts to move at the same pace. “We were truly building an airplane…while in flight!” noted Scott. Throughout his presentation it was obvious that the message of “Change” heralded by the Obama campaign was not just a campaign slogan limited to bumper stickers and yard signs….  [Read More…]