Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

How Many Social Media Day Cards Did You Get?

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Yesterday (June 30th) marked the first ever Social Media Day. By no means was this a national “bank” holiday, nor a holiday proclaimed by the recognized official holiday creator…Hallmark. No, this was a day proclaimed by perhaps the purveyor of social media news, Mashable.

What pray tell is the purpose of Social Media Day? The folks at Mashable are glad you asked. It’s “A day that honors the technological and societal advancements that have allowed us to have a dialogue, to connect and to engage not only the creators of media, but perhaps more importantly, one another.”

Um…yeah. Allow me to translate; It’s a day to get your butt up from behind the monitor, your nose out of your smartphone, relax you thumbs and meet the people you tweet, poke and follow face to face.  A day to put the social in social media. Oh, and there’s booze and munchies. Of course, Mashable’s Pete Cashmore embellishes it a bit more in his welcome video. (Really…the video was meant to be played at gatherings around the world. Kinda creepy…) Perhaps he has a desire for this to be much more of a “revolution”. No matter, the intent is to get you out and about.

The local Minneapolis meet up was superbly organized by our friend and social media maestro, Mykl Roventine. Mykl is responsible for, or part of, everything social media from Social Media Breakfast, to Unsummit, to Tech Karaoke and beyond. When Mashable sent out the word to have a Minneapolis Meetup, Mykl stepped up and secured Chino Latino in Uptown, gathered up some sponsors (SMBMSP and Sterling Cross Media) and rallied the troops. Mykl tells the story in the video below.  (Forgive the sound quality..I guess the EVO 4G won’t replace my Flip cam, at least not without some sort of outboard mic.)

At 6:30pm some 50 of the 70+ who signed up began to congregate, the drink flowed and the tasty appetizers were savored. Much of the Twin Cities’ Social Media actives were in attendance and some new faces were spotted and welcomed. It was a great time. Of course, those of us who dig the social “media” are never really far from it as everyone checked-in, tweeted and posted photos throughout the evening. Yep, there was a tweet wall. However, well…there was just very little discussion of this “revolution” of which Mashable was speaking. It was just plain social.

Perhaps it’s because we, here in the Land o’ 10,000 lakes, already get the whole social part. While the concept of Social Media Day is all well and good, there are any number of meet-ups, tweet-ups, happy hours and  breakfasts of which you can attend during any given month in and around the Twin Cities. It makes me feel kind of sad for those in other cities who must look to, or be prompted by, Mashable to get together in “real life”. While no specific date for another gathering has been past down from the social media mount, you’re encouraged to once again step away from the warm glow of the screen and meet and greet your friends and followers in person at a location of your choosing. Oh…and don’t forget to check in on Foursquare.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqjwUlIFk0E

MN Cup Announces Semi-Finalists

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Out of a field of 1,000 participants from around the State, 48 of them have been chosen as semi-finalists to enter the next phase of the competition. If you don’t know the Minnesota Cup, it,  “...presents entrepreneurs and start-up companies with a unique opportunity in these challenging economic times. More than $130,000 in seed capital and many hours of professional services are awarded to competition winners across six divisions. Beyond the cash and prizes, participants gain exposure for their ideas, strengthen their business plans, and make strong connections in the business community. The payoff is real: 2009 Minnesota Cup finalists have already secured more than $8 million dollars in capital and brokered numerous business partnerships, collaborations and distribution agreements.”

It’s not just the dough, though, it’s the “professional services” mentioned that can make a huge difference in the life of a startup enabling them to “…connect with local business leaders and mentors arranged by the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management.”

The 2010 semi-finalists will be honored with a reception at the James J. Hill Library on Tuesday, June 22 from 6:00-8:00 p.m and Minnov8 will be there covering it live. Read the press release here.

Strong Community of Innovation In Attendance at Minnebar

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Saturday saw another Minnebar come and go at the sprawling (OK, really big) Best Buy campus. Boasting over 900 who’d signed up for the event, it appeared to the Minnov8 Gang that there were roughly 500 or so people in attendance which still made it the biggest Minnebar yet and the largest Barcamp event of its kind in North America. Ben Edwards and Luke Francl continue to raise the bar (easy pun) for these events.

Founders Ben Edwards & Luke Francl address the crowd at Minnebar

It was a good thing there was plenty of room. The session list was chocked full of a diversity of topics. What struck many of the attendees, myself included, was the challenge of deciding what session to attend…I always feel like I might miss something. That, and the inability to meet more than a handful of people who’d carved out a Saturday to attend, makes Minnebar a venue that will surely continue to grow and solidify its place as the premiere event for entrepreneurs and startups in Minnesota.

Sessions were all relatively well attended and ranged in adherence to the Barcamp-unconference expectations. Some were very engaging and some were straight ahead presentations…and those “presos” resulted in a less than stellar 40 minutes of time spent. Then again, that’s the fun, and risk, of the unconference style.

Steve Borsch w/Chief Inspector Robert Stephens

Fellow Minnov8er, Steve Borsch noted of defacto host Best Buy executive Robert Stephens, Chief Inspector of the Geek Squad, as “…passionate believer in entrepreneurship and a steadfast supporter of the Minnesota startup community. It was a delight to see him totally immersed in sessions, more than willing to talk to anyone willing to engage in conversation with him, and demonstrated Best Buy’s commitment to innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit simply by acting as a catalyst for this Minnebar.”

Our own Graeme Thickins added, “We need that — more big players who get it!  It’s heartening to know that so many people at Best Buy realize that new innovation often comes from the small companies, the startup teams, the individual developers. Robert had just gotten back from the huge Google IO event in the Valley, and wanted to talk about Google TV and all that. But he was also fired up to talk about ideas and technologies going on right here. It’s impressive that he and so many others dedicated a Saturday to talk about ways we can make tech in MN stronger.”

Mykl Roventine leading his web session

For one writer to try to indicate the highlights and lowlights would be pointless. No one person could truly appreciate all of the sessions. Minnov8er  Tim Elliot points out, “As we recounted in our podcast recorded at the event, MinneBar this year was quite varied than in past years…” He goes on to note topics like, “…web innovation, design, application development or social media.” Tim also said, “Mobile technology was a theme that ran through many of the sessions with iPhone, Android and iPad applications being featured on stage and in the audience as participants tweeted the proceedings.”

The real take away is the simple fact that the Minnesota innovation community continues to grow, it continues to draw energy from itself and those involved…and there is no sign of that letting up.

Graeme summed his experience up in one tweet, “..best evah!“

Minnov8 Gang 79: The Facebookers

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The Facebook privacy controversy continues to heat up. In fact, as of May 2010, the Better Business Bureau gave Facebook a D rating, stating “We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it.” To bring another perspective in to the podcast, our guest this week is Tom Borgerding, CEO of Campus Media Group, an organization that assists brands with leveraging Facebook and other new media.

Show Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music by Kahuna Kawentzmann w/tune, “Late Bird” from podsafe Music Alley.
Modified image based on the James Bond 007 knockoff from the 1960s, the Matt Helm movies series starring Dean Martin.

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The Podcast

Podcast (m8-audio): Download (Duration: 1:07:49 — 41.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:49 — 41.2MB)

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Links discussed during the show:

MHTA Angel Tax Credit Panel

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Join MHTA on Monday, May 24 at the ADC Auditorium for MHTA’s Angel Tax Credit Panel.

Registration:  7:30 a.m.
Program:  8:00 – 9:30 a.m.

The Angel Tax Credit Panel will feature an outstanding line-up of panelists who will discuss the recently enacted 25% tax credit for angel investors who invest in Minnesota high tech start-up companies.

  • Dan McElroy, Commissioner, MN Department of Employment and Economic Development
  • John Alexander, Chairman, Twin Cities Angels
  • Dan Mallin, Co-founder, Minnesota Cup & Managing Partner, Magnet 360 (and Co-chair of the Science & Technology Economic Development Project Task Force last fall)
  • Jay Hare, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Moderator:  Joy Lindsay, President, StarTec Investments and chair, MHTA board of directors

The cost for this event is only $25 and free for start-up companies. Start-up companies can indicate their status by selecting “start-up company” on the registration page.

This event is being co-presented by the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, MN Nano and the Minnesota Cup.

Google, Bing & Nat’l Experts on Internet Marketing

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GetListed.org, a company committed to helping small business owners maximize their online presence, is presenting a seminar called “Local University” on Thursday, May 13th at the Westin Edina Galleria. The event will feature representatives from Google, Bing, and respected leaders of the local search marketing field.  The goal of the seminar is to provide business owners actionable advice about how the search engines work, and a clear understanding of what they can do to improve the presence of their business on the Internet.

The event features two identical half-day sessions (8am – noon and 1pm – 5pm) and the cost is $129 but you can visit them here and if you’d like to attend, use the discount code ‘minnov8‘ and get in for only $49.

Minnov8 Gang 76 at the Minnesota “High Tech” Association

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The Gang is joined by Rick Mahn, founder of the Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis/St. Paul, for an end-of-the-day podcast at the Minnesota High Tech Association Spring Conference. We talk about the missing “high tech” (e.g., Wifi) at the event and its impact on our ability to publish to this liveblog and other general impressions about the day that is mostly favorable.

Show Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 41:39 — 24.4MB)

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MHTA 2010 Spring Conference & Minnov8 Liveblog

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Tomorrow is the Minnesota High Tech Association’s 2010 Spring Conference and the Minnov8 Gang will be liveblogging here. Check us out throughout the day and watch for the hashtag #MHTA10 as you search Twitter.

MHTA positions the conference this way:

As we enter the second decade of the 21st Century it is time to examine the assumptions and approaches that are fundamental to our success.  The New Deal of the last century was about getting the basics right – productivity and efficiency, providing people with meaningful work, getting the economy on its feet – using production lines and automation tools.

Today, the New Way Forward is about achieving these same goals while using distinctly different tools and approaches. As Minnesota business leaders look at a greatly changed global economy, they know their companies not only measure up – they frequently outperform global competitors.

Join us April 22, 2010 at the Minneapolis Convention Center for another outstanding program filled with immediately applicable strategies and practices to help you do the same.  Collectively, these ideas will do more than just get us back on track – they will propel us forward faster than ever before!