Events — Page 8

MinneWebCon: Less Than 3 Weeks Away

March 25, 2010 By Steve Borsch

MinneWebCon 2010 (web • twitter • facebook) is less than three weeks away! Join Minnov8 (we’re the media group covering the event) and hundreds of your fellow netizens at this fantastic get-together focused on next generation internet, web and social media creation and delivery.

Here’s the latest from MinneWebCon Director, Kris Layon, about the region’s 3rd annual web design and social media conference:

1. Schedule: This year’s conference schedule has now been finalized. (subject to change, of course, but we’re hoping it’s final)

2. Registration: 210 of our 300 available spots have been filled! Rates remain the same as in 2008 and 2009:

Standard registration: $200
With University of MN staff discount: $150*
With student discount (any school): $100

3. Pre-conference Facebook discussions: You’re invited to help kick off the Social Media unconference session by joining any of the discussions now available on the MinneWebCon Facebook page. Three topics, “Social networking and your marketing strategy,” “Monitoring and managing your social networking sites,” and “Measuring social networking” are online now. Participate in a discussion on the MinneWebCon Facebook page by clicking on the “Discussions” tab. We’d like to hear your thoughts and comments!

4. Yahoo! Developer Network: We’re pleased to announce that we have a third national sponsor for MinneWebCon this year, Yahoo! Specifically, the Yahoo! Developer Network group (that develops great open source projects such as the Yahoo! User Interface, or YUI, library).

5. Free stuff reminder — tech books: We’re once again giving away a limited number of tech books to the first people who check in on the morning of Monday April 12 (check-in will begin at 7:45 a.m., one hour before the morning keynote). The first shipment of books arrived last month from New Riders. Another batch from O’Reilly should be arriving shortly!

6. Free stuff reminder — commemorative poster: This year there’s something completely new and very exciting — we’ve commissioned art! Every conference attendee will receive a limited edition, silkscreened Adam Turman cityscape poster. Adam is a graphic design graduate of the U of M, so we couldn’t be happier to partner with him on this poster.

For more information and to register, please visit: http://www.minnewebcon.umn.edu/

24 Hours, a New Site and Real Fun.

March 22, 2010 By Phil Wilson

Some 36 hours after the conclusion of the event and after about 11 hours of sleep I am still amazed by the experience that is the Overnight Website Challenge.

In case you missed it, I joined fellow Minnov8er Tim Elliott’s Team, dubbed Full Court Press as a bond to the WordPress platform we used, for the 3rd annual Nerdery sponsored event. This unique gathering pairs 10 person teams of web site professionals with deserving non-profit organizations. Those non-profits, some who have no web presence, receive brand new websites valued at well over $25,000 at the end of the 24 hour period. (Check out the Minnov8 podcast that originated from the Challenge.)

You couldn’t help but be taken by the dedication of these web pros. It’s not easy to spend a relatively short period of time with a “client”, then accelerate the design and creation of a website that accomplishes the goals of the non-profit…much less spending part of it in a sleep deprived state.

This being the third year of the event the folks at The Nerdery do a great job providing what teams need including entertainment and food. The carnival-like atmosphere is definitely not what you would expect from a bunch of web site developers. From human pyramids and massages to oxygen bars and ice cream the 24 hour period was anything but sedate…. [Read More…]

One Librarian’s Trip to SXSWi

March 22, 2010 By Meg Canada

I have procrastinated writing about my South by Southwest- Interactive experience for six days. I was still procrastinating about an hour ago, when vacuuming my fiance’s apartment. Catch that? I was vacuuming rather than sit here and process my experience at an amazing event.

I think my reticence stems from a desire to compare SXSW-i to the dozen library conferences I have attended over the past decade. Without any disrespect to the professional organizations of librarians both local and national, this blew all of them out of the water. Of even more consequence, the sessions I attended at South by Southwest- Interactive were more pertinent to my profession than I ever dreamed. I hope the library world is paying attention. We may not be able to afford the speakers, but let’s start ruminating about the right to delete, content strategy, and the future of search. That said, I was in Texas, by the grace of my occasional employer, good friend and Southby roommate, Minneapolis’s Nicole de Beaufort of Fourth Sector Consulting.

I was proud of the turnout of Minnesotans, and ran into friends at every turn. Friday night included a meet-up of epic proportions: 22 people, 20 from Minnesota for seafood at the Boiling Pot. Sometimes you have to leave town to meet people who live in your own backyard.

At its surface, Southby is simply a conference held in the Conference Center in Austin, Texas spilling over into a neighboring Hilton and Mariott. Punctuated by parties, meet-ups, and strange buses that take people to places called the Social Media Clubhouse, there are three or four possible sessions a day. Each day at 2pm, a keynote speaker fills a huge space for an hour. I heard danah boyd (social media anthropologist), Valerie Casey (Designers Accord author), and Evan Williams (Twitter founder) speak.

The measure of success of a session or keynote is the retention of an audience. If it starts to get dull, a presenter’s ego fills the room, or the session’s content doesn’t match the description, people move. They left Evan Williams session in droves after it was dubbed as a dull disaster on par with the Facebook CEO’s interview style keynote of 2008. There are high expectations to challenge the intelligent designers, artists, information architects, and digital entrepreneurs, and this not an easy crowd. danah boyd has been addressing the backchannel ever since the debacle at her remarks at the Web 2.0 Expo, but the audience seemed rapt with her message about privacy (I know I was).

So as a librarian, here are authors and sessions about books I loved:

Tim Sander’s author of Love is the Killer App (http://www.timsanders.com/)
Ramit Sethi’s blog and book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich (http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/)
REWORK’s author Jason Fried of 37 Signals (http://37signals.com/rework/)

Other highlights… I traveled with my beautiful foodie friend so gourmet food from a truck, watching people play foursquare (with chalk and a ball), and giving the developer of Google Wave some feedback. It was an incredibly well-done conference. Now, if only there were more than a dozen librarians in attendance….

Meg Canada (@megcanada) is a frequent guest, and now contributor, to Minnov8. Meg is a senior librarian for Web Services and Training at Hennepin County Library and currently coordinates public training and social media efforts for the library. She volunteers helping with the Unsummit, recently presented at MinneWebCon, and is a regular contributor to Social Media Breakfast.

Minnov8 Gang 71: At the Overnight Website Challenge

March 21, 2010 By Steve Borsch

Tim Elliott started a team for the Overnight Website Challenge called “Full Court Press” and the team members are comprised of folks in the Minneapolis/St. Paul WordPress Users Group. He and Phil Wilson hosted an on-site podcast this week by having a conversation with Mark, one of the Nerdery founders of the Challenge as well as with Brad Slaker, head of the non-profit DesignWise Medical, Inc. whose site Full Court Press is building out.

When it comes to websites and technology that can improve outreach and increase donations, many nonprofits are lagging far behind. Thus was born The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge.

Beginning the morning of March 20, 2010 and concluding the next day, The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge will again provide a fun forum to highlight creative ways for nonprofits to strategically use web technology to accomplish their missions.

Hosts: Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Steve Borsch is off today and Graeme Thickins is on his way to DEMO & will liveblog here)
Music by Dexter Freebish and their song, “Everybody Knows Somebody” from the SXSW Music Showcase.
Update: Apologies to Brad Slaker (sounds like laker) of DesignWise Medical for the name mispronunciation by an already punchy Phil Wilson.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:40 — 10.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Google’s High-Fiber City: Why Not Duluth?

March 16, 2010 By Phil Wilson

I can see the signs now as I tool into to town on I-35…Welcome to Duluth, Now With More Fiber!

You may not know it but the clock is clicking down to Google’s deadline, March 26th, for nominations of cities interested in being their laboratory for an “ultra high-speed fiber network”. In fact, that clock can be found at the top of the page at GoogleTwinPorts.com, just one of the assets in Duluth’s well choreographed campaign to become a high-fiber community.

According to Google, the city chosen will be built out with a fiber network that will deliver “Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second” at a “competitive price”. And it will provide that network to anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people in the chosen community. It’s all part of their plan “to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better, and faster for everyone”.

Oh sure, there have been more than a few cities that have made very public pushes to be chosen for this slice of web-surfing nirvana, but none have done it with quite as much panache as our own Duluth.

They have dedicated a website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and YouTube Channel to the cause. There’s a Fiber Business Idea award being offered, web badges, a coloring contest, a pledge to sign, Google Fest on March 20^th and there’s even a movie in the offing. (No details on the plot…hopefully a romantic comedy…there aren’t enough of those, ya know.)

Then there’s the celebrities…Hey Topeka, Kansas we’ll see your Mayor renaming the city to Google, KS for a month and raise you a State Senator.

The most recent addition of voices to the campaign is Minnesota State Senator Al Franken.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2i_piWVXuc&feature=player_embedded

The fact is that Mr. Franken, back in his days working with Tom Davis, was the “Duluth Answer Man” in a series of commercials for the city. Here’s a little known fact: Franken filmed these commercials just two years ago. Boy those Senate bids can age a guy. (OK, not a fact. He actually filmed them in the 80’s). In the video he even credits Google with freeing him from his duties as the Answer Man so that he could join the Senate.

Details of when Google will announce which city will be the recipient of all this fiber are still a bit sketchy. Their website only goes as far as saying “We plan to announce a target community or target communities this year.” When would the network be up and running once a community…no…once Duluth is chosen? Google gives no time frame.

Needless to say, though vague, the Google initiative is an exciting one. Hopefully, like the FCC Broadband Plan, it will yield a low cost way to bring a bigger pipe to all of the US…not just one city. Our collective digital future, with all its applications, opportunities and business ventures, really depends on it.

In the meantime, a city on the shores of Lake Superior can dream, as well as showcase it’s innovative community…and have a lot fun doing it.

Day-Long Conference Highlights Mobile’s March

February 11, 2010 By Tim Elliott

What organizers hope will be the first of an annual event dedicated to Mobile technology and it’s application, Mobile March is scheduled for March 27th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Minneapolis.

The two track conference will offer sessions that appeal to active software developers as well as mobile users including marketers, advertisers and enthusiasts. Attendees can choose a single track of learning and information or pick and choose from either track to maximize their experience.

According to event founder and organizer, Justin Grammens, “There are plenty of meetings focused on mobile development or mobile marketing and use. We wanted to bring the two groups together to better understand the overall mobile platform.” Grammens, President of mobile development firm Recursive Awesome and founder of Mobile Twin Cities noted, “We have assembled an agenda of mobile experts and users that will offer unique perspectives on the opportunities with the local, national and global mobile community.”

The agenda, available online at www.mobilemarchtc.com, includes technical sessions addressing the development of applications for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry mobile devices. These sessions will be presented by local developers Aaron Kardell, Robert Green and Shawn Butler respectively. The technical track also includes Beyond the Code: User Experience, Testing, and Support presented by Breon Nagy.

The non-technical mobile users track includes What Do They Want, providing results from a consumer study presented by Carlson Marketing’s Doug Rozen and On the Air and In the Papers, featuring a panel of representatives from local TV, Radio and Newspaper companies. Other sessions slated are Show Me the Money, discussing the future of mobile commerce with Farhan Muhammed, and Mobile Marketing: Watch That Step presented by a panel of marketers highlighting the process of initiating a mobile strategy.

Other agenda items including a keynote to start the day will be announced in the near future.

Registration is now open for Mobile March, Saturday July 27th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Downtown Minneapolis via the Mobile March website or directly through Eventbrite. The cost is $20 and includes lunch.

Minnov8 is pleased to be a sponsor of this event* and joins other event sponsors including: Verizon Wireless, Fusion Room, Best Buy, The Nerdery, Recursive Awesome, Focus Business Development, and RemainComm Media Strategies.

*Minnov8 contributor Phil Wilson is a Mobile March organizer and is the founder of sponsor RemainComm.

Event: Grow Your Own IT Business

February 10, 2010 By Steve Borsch

With I.T. spending beginning to accelerate nicely, now is the time to look seriously at an entrepreneurial adventure in this area. Bill Coleman from Community Technology Advisors reached out to me this morning about an upcoming event that Minnov8 readers would likely have an interest in attending. With support from the Dakota/Scott County Workforce Investment Board, Minnesota Workforce Center, Dakota Future and the Dakota Scott IT Entrepreneur LinkedIn group, it’s shaping up to be a solid session.

A panel of successful IT entrepreneurs will talk about their startup success and will include: Kelly Schaefbauer of Danbury IT, a 14 year old I.T. services firm; Mike McBrady of ImageTrend, a 120 employee software firm; and Michelle Jennings of Netmajic, a web asset development shop; all people with solid companies and a wealth of experiences.

It will be held Thursday, February 18th from 4-6 pm at Old Chicago Pizza (map) in Apple Valley. Cost is $10 (appetizers are provided). If you’re interested, RSVP/register by contacting Cindy Johns (email).

Startup Roundtable to Convene, Huzzah!

January 27, 2010 By Phil Wilson

Thomas Knoll is gathering the Knights of Tech Entrepreneurship for a meeting at the MN Startup Culture Roundtable, scheduled for February 5th.

Thomas, currently residing in the sunny climes of San Francisco, is familiar to most in the Minnesota tech and social media world through his time working as a web designer here. He made the move west in 2008 to work with Seesmic and has since since gone freelance, working with the likes of Swordfish.

Though this would appear to be a result of the recent discussion surrounding Paul DeBettignies’ article on less talk and more walk when it comes to our own start up community, it had it roots well before it. “I was motivated by the startup atmosphere in San Francisco and wanted to get more of that vibe back to Minnesota.” He goes on to note, “There are so many people that are working on startups here. In fact, I know two baristas that have real, viable projects going on the side.”

The timing isn’t lost on Thomas. “I originally wanted to talk culture but it morphed into a call to action in response to the current local startup discussions. Paul outlined what he would do to help and I felt I should to the same.”

The roundtable discussions will highlight the differences between here and ‘the valley’. What type of differences for example? “Here we are so secretive. We keep everything quiet, rather than share it with the community. In San Francisco you are constantly putting out ideas. So many that you hope someone will pick it up and run.”

If you plan on attending the event there is some homework. Follow the links on the Eventbrite registration page to become familiar with the discussion so far and most importantly the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach Thomas is planning on including to move ideas into action.

Let the discussion…and action continue!

« Previous Page