Mobile Technology

Fargo Roadtrip: Midwest Mobile Summit

May 3, 2013 By Phil Wilson

There are very few reasons for me (a 6′ 5″ guy) to want to drive for four hours. Family is usually the only reason…with Iowa and (gulp) Kansas frequent destinations. With destinations like that, I’m never looking to see more flat terrain like that found heading to Fargo from Minneapolis. However, the lure of the first ever Midwest Mobile Summit was strong enough for me to caffeine up and set out Sunday for the 2 day event.

I was excited to be heading to an event with a very grassroots vibe. Jake Joraanstad and Ryan Raguse of Myriad Devices were responsible for putting this event together that attracted some 150-200 to downtown Fargo and it appears to have been a resounding success.

The multi-site format showcased mobile technology, strategy and industry tracks and three different downtown locations. The Fargo Theater, with it’s nostalgic feel, including an organ front and center, provided homebase for keynotes as well as the setting for the strategy track. The event even started with the organ rising to the stage. After some brief remarks we were all treated to ‘feats of yo’ from John Narum, Yo-Yo World Champion at 11 years old. It was a nice way to get everyone engaged.

The Sunday keynote from Ryan Raguse set the tone with a dramatic smashing of the “box” that represented pre-mobile technology. The rest of the day and , for that matter, the rest of conference presented an array of topics. Some presentations were ok at best but most were above average and some simply crushed it. (Johnathon Rademacher of Sundog and Livefront‘s Mike Bollinger were the clear standouts.)

Many real world mobile experiences were shared throughout the Industry track. While finance and heavy equipment may not be sexy industries that represent a category that has plenty of need and opportunity for mobile solutions.

For a first-time event this was huge. Not only was there plenty of local talent in attendance but plenty made the trip from outside the state. The chance to enjoy strolling from the historic theater to more modern and artistic spaces provided a nice transition. There was a clear passion for mobile and plenty of opportunity to learn. I look forward to next year. I can even visit my son since is heading off to NDSU in the fall. (See, family is once again I drive for hours across the plains of the heartland.)

*Many of you know I’m co-founder of Mobile March and am happy to see the birth of another mobile event with such a community focus.

Mobile Fans Have a Big Day at the Farm

March 24, 2013 By Graeme Thickins

A whole bunch of busy tech professionals dropped everything on Thursday and headed to the farm — the Earle Brown Farm, that is (now called Earle Brown Heritage Center — a very cool place). Okay, it wasn’t all that far out of town, only Brooklyn Center, but it was like a trip to the country in a way, getting out of the office to focus on a where our world seems to be heading these days: mobile everything! (Wonder what Earle would think of that?*)

The occasion was, of course, the 4th Annual Mobile March Twin Cities conference, and it drew a sellout crowd of some 300. This conference gets bigger and better every year. The 2013 iteration offered myriad opportunities to network with mobile developers, designers, enterprise IT people, gaming enthusiasts, marketers, and knowledgeable vendor representatives. And an awesome agenda of 32 break-out sessions made for a jam-packed day of learning as well. This ever-changing industry we call mobile is made up of many moving parts and pieces, and it touches every segment of the Twin Cities business community — from the smallest of startups to the hugest Fortune 500 giants. All those segments were well represented at MobileMarch, and there was some serious mixing of the pot going on!

Sessions were in four tracks: Mobile Strategy, Mobile Development, Mobile Gaming, and Mobile Business. A sampling: “Four Key Principles of Mobile User Experience Design” … “The Beginning and End of Mobile Marketing” … “BYOD & MDM FYI” (for enterprise IT types) … “Avoiding Apple Rejection” … and the ever-playful “Using Chipmunk Physics to Create an iOS Game.” It was damn hard choosing from the four concurrent sessions going on throughout the day! Which is why getting to see presentations you missed will be helpful — and many are in the process of being posted on the event site here. So keep checking back.

To get the real lowdown on the event as it happened, one can, of course, go read the very active #mmtc13 hashtag stream. During the day, I was trying to do my share on the Minnov8 tweet stream myself, and I also posted some pix here on Flickr — shot with a mobile device, of course! The official tweets of the @MobileMarchTC team were flying all day, too.

Next time you see one of that team, who do such a great job organizing this event, be sure to thank them: Justin Grammens, our own Phil Wilson, Linda Cummings, and Mike Bollinger. Also, Phil made me tell you to lavish the sponsors with copious amounts of gratitude, as this event would definitely not happen without them: Verizon, Fusion Room, Livefront, Code 42 , SDG, W3i (now NativeX), Microsoft Windows Phone, Compuware, Intertech, and Digineer. They rock, each and every one of them! It was great meeting and talking to many of their people during the breaks and cocktail reception.

Postscript: To illustrate the reach and impact of this four-year-old MobileMarch event, I learned on Thursday that it’s inspired the Fargo tech community to launch one of their own: Mobile Summit, taking place April 28-29. The organizers were in attendance and have already landed some Twin Cities-based speakers.

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* Earle Brown Farm, which went through a major renovation that transformed it into an impressive, sprawling conference center, is the namesake of, you guessed it, a really cool guy named Earle, who was Hennepin County Sheriff in the early 1900s and founded the Minnesota Highway Patrol. He was also quite a horseman. He just never got to own a mobile device, as he died in 1963. More history here. When I worked for Medtronic early in my career, my office was in an adjacent building and looked right down on horses romping around the large corral, which is now a parking lot. See what you learn reading Minnov8! (No, I didn’t ride a horse-and-buggy to work — we had cars then. Just no airbags.)

Mobile March 2013 Agenda Announced

February 18, 2013 By Tim Elliott

The final agenda for Mobile March 2013 has been released for the 4th annual conference. Keynoted by Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters, the event also features multiple tracks including Mobile Strategy, Mobile Business, Mobile Development and Mobile Gaming. Mr. Schukai’s keynote will highlight best practices for business model development, and creation & deployment of world-class user experiences.

The conference will take place at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Park on March 21st.

“We’re honored to be offering insight from thought leaders that have successfully made those thoughts reality,” said Mobile March organizer Linda Cummings. “From business to development, the day will cover the full range of mobile capability for both the enterprise and the consumer.”

Registration for Mobile March is now open via the Mobile March website or directly through Eventbrite.

Registration Now Open for Mobile March 2013

December 11, 2012 By Tim Elliott

The date for Mobile March, the annual Twin Cities mobile conference has been set for March 21st, 2013 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Park. Now in its 4th year, the conference features multiple tracks with sessions on mobile app development, mobile advertising, strategic planning, mobile education, marketing, design, user experience and, new this year, mobile game development.

The conference organizers have also announced Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters, will keynote the event. Other speakers will be announced closer to the conference after an open call for speakers closes.

No question mobile is “the tail wagging the internet dog” as more and more of us get connected. But don’t believe us, take a peek at Mary Meeker’s latest internet trends report entitled, “2012 Internet Trends Year-End Update.” In it she reveals her latest update showing the explosion in mobile device use around the world and how it is shifting and disrupting more of what we learn, how we communicate, shop and buy. Whether you make money with mobile or just use it to stay connected, we invite you to join us for Mobile March.

Tickets can be purchased at the Mobile March website or Eventbrite. The cost of registration prior to January 15th is $85. Full PR follows.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2012

4th Annual Mobile March Set For March 21, 2013

The Twin Cities’ premier mobile event to present multiple tracks including business, development and gaming.

Minneapolis, MN – The Organizers of Mobile March have announced the date for the 4th annual conference. The date for the Twin Cities’ premier mobile event is set for March 21st, 2013 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park. Long known for presenting top level speakers and seminars at a fraction of the cost of most events of its kind, Mobile March 2013 will include tracks of learning that address development, mobile advertising and strategic planning as well as mobile education, marketing, design, user experience, and more. New this year is a track dedicate to mobile game development and the use of gaming in mobile business.

Organizers have also announced that Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters, will keynote the event. Schukai is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of the mobile growth strategy globally for Thomson Reuters and is a noted speaker on the topic of mobile technology. The keynote address will anchor an agenda that will draw heavily from an open call for presenter submissions underway http://mobilemarchtc.com/be-a-speaker/.

Mobile March’s Justin Grammens commented, “Our goal continues to be to bring people from all aspects of mobile together. Those with a technical focus like developers as well as business leaders including CEO’s, marketers, and more can benefit. This year’s addition of a gaming track opens the door even wider.” Grammens continued, “There is much to be learned by different constituencies sharing their knowledge with each other.”

Registration is now open for Mobile March, Thursday March 21st, 2013 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center via the Mobile March website at www.mobilemarchtc.com or directly through Eventbrite. The cost of registration prior to January 15th is just $85.

Speakers interested in presenting may make submission at http://mobilemarchtc.com/be-a-speaker/. Topics on Mobile Business, Business Strategy and Marketing, Mobile Development, Hardware Expertise, and Quality Assurance, Gaming and Game Development, as well as Design including UI, UX, Responsive and Native will be considered.

About Mobile March

Founded in 2010, Mobile March is an event dedicated to exploring the latest in mobile technology and trends. According to founders Justin Grammens, Phil Wilson and Linda Cummings, the name Mobile March not only denotes the month in which it takes place, it also emphasizes the ongoing advancement and growth of mobile technology and the related lifestyle.

By offering content that appeals to mobile developers, business people, and users we hope to facilitate a greater understanding between the constituencies that make mobile happen. Whether you make money with mobile or just use it to stay connected, we invite you to join us for Mobile March.

Event sponsors include: Code 42 Software, Livefront, Fusion Room and Verizon

CONTACT: Phil Wilson
612-743-7860
phil@mobilemarchtc.com

MobCon and Mobile Twin Cities to Dole Out $25,000 Prize for Mobile App

September 14, 2012 By Phil Wilson

MobCon, the latest addition to the Twin Cities mobile conference calendar on November 13th and 14th, is teaming with Mobile Twin Cites and Lazard Middle Market to hand out a hefty prize to a Minnesota mobile app developer.

Dubbed MobDemo, Minnesota developers are invited to submit their mobile applications to be ultimately judged bu the attendees of the MobCon attendees. A cash prize of $5,000 plus a $20,000 credit towards mobile development will be awarded to the developers of the mobile application deemed most “technical, innovative and profitable”.

According to James Williams of MobCon, “We’re proud of Minnesota’s emerging mobile enterprise businesses. We want to take time to show them off and reward one for its outstanding efforts.” Mobile Twin Cities Founder, Justin Grammens said, “Some of our past Mobile 3D demo events really brought forward some exciting mobile developments. Joining with MobCon to showcase these apps and companies as well as awarding such a generous cash prize is a real thrill.”

If you’re a developer that thinks you’ve got the goods to score the loot, apply now to present a mobile application demonstration at MobCon 2012. A committee of judges will select finalists to showcase their applications and MobCon attendees will vote to choose a winner. Deadline for entries is October 15th, 2012.

Mobile March Grows to Two Days

February 9, 2012 By Steve Borsch

Mobile, mobile, mobile. If you had to give advice to some kid you were mentoring regarding an industry they should focus on with their career, anything mobile would be great advice.

We humans are not going to get less mobile (though our waistlines might state otherwise) and new mobile devices, apps, and ways to connect us all will only continue to become better and more prolific. As such, knowing trends in mobile, how to (and what’s involved in) develop mobile apps, and what you should do next are just a few of the things you need to know if you have any interest in the mobile space.

This is the primary reason that you need to make certain you attend MobileMarchTC (and maybe bring along that young person you’ve given advice to!). The agenda just came out and the press release is after the jump which you can read after clicking “(more…)” below.

MobileMarchTC not only looks like a fabulous event, in my estimation you would need to travel to San Francisco or New York to find a mobile event to rival it. Event registration can be found at http://mobilemarchtc.eventbrite.com/.

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MN Attorney General on Cramming Scamming

February 3, 2012 By Steve Borsch

Here is a followup to the post, “Mobile Text Message “Cramming” Scam” since I’ve received a response, embedded below, from an assistant with the State of Minnesota Attorney General’s office.

The AG’s letter below had four key responses:

Yes, I was a “victim” of cramming and it is an old scam, with players in the game like the Gambino crime family in the late 1990s
Our MN AG, Lori Swanson, is very concerned about these practices. What I did not know is that Attorney General Swanson, alongside Senator Amy Klobuchar, is already going after this category, albeit it appears to be only landline cramming and not mobile cramming, the latter an arguably bigger problem (WCCO story from January 7th here)
Minnesota law provides some protection ONLY FOR LANDLINE CRAMMING and NOTHING FOR MOBILE
In addition to the MN AG’s office, the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission take complaints, and I was encouraged to file mine with them.

Visibility is what matters and Congress will only take action if enough consumers scream about this theft to them. That’s why I was so pleased to see a story on WCCO about mobile cramming (aired on February 1st) so they are paying attention.

Hats off to the journalists at WCCO for covering this story. As more and more of us get online with mobile phones — and our kids get them and respond to who-knows-what online — we need to scrutinize our cell phone bills and most people aren’t savvy enough to even know what’s going on with scams like these.

The wireless companies and scammers economic interests are aligned so there is little incentive for AT&T, Verizon, TMobile, Sprint and others to stop this practice of stealing from all of us. Congress needs to take action…now.

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Robert Stephens Rocks the #DefragCon Crowd

November 13, 2011 By Graeme Thickins

The 5th Annual Defrag Conference was held November 8-10. 2011, in Denver, and I was there once again reporting on all the action during this much heralded meeting of the Internet’s big minds. One of the highlights this time for me was the keynote on the final day by Robert Stephens, CTO of Best Buy and founder of Geek Squad. Robert was a huge hit, as I’d been telling all my Defrag friends for years that he would be. (A selection of the scores of tweets during his talk is shown below — screenshots I grabbed from my Defrag 2011 Live-Blog archive. The hashtag #defragcon was lighting up the web over the three days of the event, and still is with the afterglow. One of my favorite tweets, not shown below, was someone quoting Robert saying, “Everything at Best Buy is an accessory to your mobile phone – including your car.” Hmmm, and maybe even your electric motorcyle, a product category that’s been expected to show up in Best Buy stores, and may finally be coming soon — the first hint: there are actually reviews for one already posted on BestBuy.com — but Robert didn’t touch on this topic.)

In a 10-minute video interview I did with Robert while we were having coffee and rolls before the general session started Thursday morning, we covered a range of topics — including the recent announcement that Best Buy is acquiring managed services provider MindShift for $167 million. I also got a sneak preview of other topics Robert was going to talk about in his opening keynote:

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Tech Cocktail Mixes It Up In Minneapolis

October 5, 2011 By Graeme Thickins

We were really honored to have Tech Cocktail in town last night hosting its first startup and entrepreneurial mixer in Minnesota. The event was held at CoCo Minneapolis (on the floor of the historic Grain Exchange in downtown Minneapolis). I’m here to tell you it was a blockbuster success! More than 200 people were in attendance.

I’ve been *so* wanting these folks to come to our town, and was delighted to represent Minnov8 at the event, along with my colleague Steve Borsch. Tech Cocktail’s events have the stated purpose of “helping connect, amplify, and showcase the local technology scene” — and it’s now held such events in more than 20 cities, founder Frank Gruber told me. The local sponsors who made this one happen were W3i and Ovative Group — kudos to them! (And a special shout-out to our friend Kim Garretson.)

It was a really fun evening, with a group of technologists, investors, bloggers, and entrepreneurs as diverse as I’ve seen at a local tech event, mingling and learning about a great group of local startups that were selected by the TechCocktail folks to show their stuff:

Best Attendance – Take attendance, manage event schedules, and update membership rosters online.

BookBottles – Reserve VIP service at the hottest clubs in the world.

ByME – A digital community that is powered through user connections and location to provide an easier way to navigate and interact.

Fantools (Four51) – Connects businesses and customers so businesses can deliver relevant deals to active consumers.

fitparel – Find correct size apparel no matter the brand – just enter a brand that fits you, and they will recommend other brands.

Proliphiq and Shopntella (Echidna Inc.) – Proliphiq delivers credible people, topics, and content to you, while Shopntella lets you shop with the wisdom of crowds.

My Gluten Free Deals – Deep discounts at gluten free-friendly restaurants and on gluten free products.

ServerCyde – Build web apps for most platforms, in the least amount of time, with only one language and zero server configuration

TelemetryWeb – Their AgSphere tool helps manufacturers of agriculture technology build solutions that harvest data from the farm.

Toovio Software – A real-time decision-making solution that is focused on centralized orchestration of each customer marketing interaction across every channel.

Zingstring – An intuitive, web-based interface for non-technical folks (marketers, customer service people, etc) to create pre-programmed conversations that are triggered by keywords in incoming messages, on Twitter, Facebook, SMS, and other messaging platforms.

I shot some pix during the event and posted a Flickr set. Thanks again to Frank Gruber and his great team at Tech Cocktail! We’d love to have you folks back soon — how about twice a year? : – )

Minnov8 Gang 133 – OMG! A ‘Feature’ Phone?

July 29, 2011 By Steve Borsch

Mobile is changing dramatically and the strategic-level changes are a challenge to stay on top of, which is why we have Lisa Foote on as our guest for this podcast. No one in the Twin Cities is on top of the mobile space like Lisa is, and the Gang did a lot more than our usual homework to prepare for our time with her. As such, there are several fabulous links below that you’ll undoubtedly find enlightening if you’re at all interested in the mobile market (and where the “OMG!” about the death of feature phones comes from).

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott & Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off this week).
Music: “Only the Bird Knows” by Kelly Richey via Music Alley.

Discussed during the show:

PAST WEEK:

GUEST SEGMENT: Lisa Foote, CEO and Co-Founder of MixMobi (Twitter)