Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Comcast Launches 100Mbps Tier in MSP

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ComcastThe Twin Cities is the first market in the nation to enjoy Comcast’s newest high speed offering: 100 megabit per second business class service, leveraging their investment in DOCSIS 3.0, a cable internet standard. Their new service offering delivers up to 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) downloads and up to 15 Mbps uploads for $369.95 per month.

If you haven’t heard of DOCSIS 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification which is explained in this video) and don’t know why this is important, it’s the next generation of cable standards for delivering data over cable with theoretical speeds between 170mbps and 340mbps download with upload speeds of 120mbps.

Not only is Comcast’s new offering significantly faster than what a telecom company offers (e.g., a T1 line speed is 1.544Mbps upload and download speed), it is also substantially cheaper than a T1 usually offered at $500 or more. Even three T1’s, combined in a T3 offering, is only 43Mbps and can run in to the multiple $1,000’s per month. Once this new speed tier hits other major markets, the telecom companies will have a hard time winning the race for broadband internet connections in the SMB space.

Not only is this significantly faster than telecom company offerings, such as a 1.544mbps T1 line, it is substantially cheaper than a T1 usually offered at $500 or more.
If you haven’t

Comcast clearly sees the market need in small to midsize businesses (SMB) due to the acceleration in cloud computing and SMB adoption, VoIP services, online storage backup and other bandwidth hungry uses. Having an affordable high speed option is an SMB imperative and I’m really pleased to see Comcast rolling this out in the Twin Cities first.

TED Hits Town, Throngs Converge

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TED Hits Town, Throngs Converge
And a lot more Minnesotans were wishing they could have gotten this hot ticket, it turned out.  Screw the Fair, this was the place to be in St. Paul last night.  There was nothing on a stick — in fact, no eats or drinks at all that I ever saw (more on that later).  But it was the first time any TED event had ever hit town — and it was freeee! — so it was a no-brainer that demand for seats would far exceed supply.
TEDxTC http://tedxtc.com/, an “independently organized TED event,” as they labeled it, was held last evening at the Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul, from 7:00 till something approaching 10:00, I suspect. (I bailed early.)  The very nice theater-style auditorium could only hold about 280, and it was indeed maxed out. Those of us who saw the somewhat obscure promotion for this event back in mid-August, and signed up, even got a special followup email on August 26, begging us to please let them know if we could not attend, because the waiting list was already up to 221!  That was a sure-fire way, of course, to get everyone registered to be certain to show up, knowing they had something so many others wanted. And they got that ticket for absolutely nothing, just by responding to an email. Such a deal.
TED originally stood for “Tech, Entertainment, and Design” when the conference series was launched in the 1980s. But, several years ago, the organization began positioning its events (including the pricey national conferences) with the tagline, “Ideas Worth Spreading.”  How’s that for a broad-reaching mission, huh?  And now they’ve essentially gone worldwide by letting local volunteers and sponsors roll their own mini TED events. (Quite the franchise, this TED thing.)  Sponsors for our local event were Worrell (official design partner), Boston Scientific, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The host and MC was Chadburn Blomquist of the Science Museum. (By the way, Chad, smart idea to cosponsor — great way to show off your employer’s wonderful facility.)
The presentations, in order, were:
– Dan Buettner, speaking about his study of longevity related to his Blue Zones venture.  http://www.bluezones.com/  This was the high point of the evening for me (followed closely by the next speaker).  Fascinating research, and well presented.  Great stories about the healthy old-timers he met all around the world in the longevity zones his organization  identified.
– Benjamin Zander, a classical musician and conductor, speaking about music and passion. (Presentation via video, as recorded at a TED event in February 2008 – here’s the link. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html) The man exudes a passion and love for music, and all “possibilities,” which is extremely catching!)
– Ed Driscoll, an entrepreneur (he cofounded local firm WAMnet in the ’90s), talking about our energy future and his new company, Rational Energies. http://rationalbioenergy.com/
– Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist, who spoke about her experience suffering a debilitating stroke and her slow recovery. (Presentation via video, as recorded at a TED event in Feb 2008 – here’s the link.http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
– Matthew Stanford, a parapalegic, who spoke on mind-body integration. (Here’s a video about him on YouTube, produced several months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpmbzAwL5ws)
No word at this point if the three live presentations are available yet as videos to view online, but they’re sure to show up on the TEDxTC Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minneapolis-St-Paul-MN/TEDxTC/63321962217?ref=ts
(currently at 389 fans)
The TEDxTC people say that, in addition to their Twitter feed http://twitter.com/TEDxTC
(what, only 167 following? tells us something about the TED demographic maybe…), that Facebook page linked above is the best source to get information post-event (videos, photos, etc) — and it’s also where you can learn about future TEDxTC programs.
And, of course, to read the play-by-play, just search twitter using the hashtag “TECxTC” and you’ll see a huge amount of tweets posted by audience members — and those who were wishing they were.  I tweeted extensively myself last night www.twitter.com/graemethickins , till I finally had to bail about 8:45, starving. (Note to organizers: next time, either hold the event in the afternoon, before din-din, or at least throw us some crackers, cheese, wine — somethin’! — beforehand, so we can get through the 2+ hours. I later heard a reception was held afterwards, which no one mentioned beforehand, but I was long home with my head in the refrigerator by then.)
Photos by me, from my Flickr set http://www.flickr.com/photos/graemethickins/sets/72157622101518813/ — a somewhat abbreviated set for me, because I was so busy tweeting, and there wasn’t a whole lot to shoot since we were all in a darkened room most of the evening.

TEDxTC-signIt was a mob scene, but a lot more Minnesotans were wishing they could have gotten this hot ticket, it turned out.  Screw the Fair, this was the place to be in St. Paul last night.  There was nothing on a stick — in fact, no eats or drinks at all that I ever saw (more on that later). But it was the first time any TED event had graced our town — and it was freeee! — so it was a no-brainer that demand for seats would exceed supply.

TEDxTC, organized by local sponsors, was held last evening at the Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul, from 7:00 till something approaching 10:00, I suspect. (I bailed early.)  The very nice theater-style auditorium could only hold about 280, and it was indeed maxed out. Those of us who saw the somewhat obscure promotion for this event back in mid-August, and signed up, even got a special followup email on August 26, begging us to please let them know if we could not attend, because the waiting list was already up to 221!  That was a sure-fire way, of course, to get everyone registered to be certain to show up, knowing they had something so many others wanted. And they got that ticket for absolutely nothing, just by responding to an email. Such a deal. TEDxTC-audienceview

TED originally stood for “Tech, Entertainment, and Design” when the conference series was launched in the 1980s. But, several years ago, the organization began positioning its events (including the pricey national conferences) with the tagline, “Ideas Worth Spreading.”  How’s that for a broad-reaching mission, huh?  And now they’ve essentially gone worldwide by letting local volunteers and sponsors roll their own mini TED events. (Quite the franchise, this TED thing.)  Sponsors for our local event were Worrell (official design partner), Boston Scientific, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The host and MC was Chadburn Blomquist, who identified himself only as “Curator” of TEDxTC.…  [Read More…]

Web Design Workshop/Seminar for Creatives

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tenseven If you’re a designer creating websites, web applications are someone working with a developer on a project or initiative, then this workshop and seminar will empower you with the things you should know before you design your first website; what the content management system Drupal can do for you and your clients; and simple project management for design projects using the wildly popular web application called Basecamp.

If you are a person who will somehow be interacting in the process of creating a website, but won’t actually be doing the coding or development of it, and are a copywriter, graphic designer, illustrator, art director, creative director, or project manager, then you’ll find the $149 fee for this full day session incredibly beneficial.

I interviewed Ivan so you can hear him describe the day and also so you can gain some insight in to the strategic reasons why you must pay attention to what’s happening on the web, and how this session would enable you to learn in ways you might not expect.

Listen to the interview with Ivan by hovering over the ‘speaker’ icon on the left, or download it as an mp3. (Note: The Drupal 7 user interface project mentioned is here: http://www.d7ux.org).


Podcast: Download (10.9MB)

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“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.