All this week, the University of Minnesota Institute for New Media Studies is holding Emerging Digerati Week 2008 with multiple venues showcasing everything from digital vision and display technologies to virtual reality to new media.

Though it would’ve been nice to have time to cover the entire week-long event, Minnov8 will be covering the New Media Showcase on Friday, April 4th from 10am-4pm at the Weisman Art Museum and two of our founders, Garrick Van Buren and Phil Wilson, will be involved in showcasing their own startups at this event.

If you are interested in what’s happening right here in Minnesota when it comes to Internet and Web-centric new media innovation, carve out time from your busy schedule and head on over to the Weisman this Friday.

As our world becomes increasingly interconnected and the need for collaboration with others — regardless of geography or time zone — grows as a business imperative at all levels within organizations, just talking with people over the phone or with Skype, instant messaging, sending an SMS or email, or even using some sort of Web-centric tool just won’t be enough.

Most of us are visual learners and communicators and thus have to see what you’re talking about and, of course, doing so is at the core of the idiom, “to be on the same page.” To communicate your vision in the most profound, efficient, synchronous and impactful way means that your virtual communications must include the ability to show others documents, presentations, Web pages, images and more in real-time so you can interact in the most powerful way possible.

In addition (and perhaps more vital) reason to find virtual ways to connect with others and be on the same page is the explosion in personal and company actions globally that are “green” in nature. More of us are trying to discover ways to consume less oil, spew fewer carbons into the atmosphere, and be just as, or more, productive without continuing to move atoms around (either our bodies or physical goods) like we’ve been doing in the past.

Meeting these needs (and more) is at the heart of what a Minnesota firm, Yugma (pro. “Yoog-mah” and not like many do “yugg-mah”) offers to the marketplace. As they say about themselves, “The name Yugma is a word from the Sanskrit language meaning “the state of being in unified collaboration.” Yugma, Inc. is a privately held venture-backed company headquartered in Minnesota , USA and has offices in Minneapolis, Mexico, Argentina and India.”

To me, being in unified collaboration means collaborating with others has to be easy to understand for everyone participating, nearly instantaneous to connect, and as simple to use as a to use as a word processor. Yugma delivers as you’ll see.

…  [Read More…]

One of the mega trends of 2008 is green tech and I will be following this environmental issue here from a Minnesota perspective.

One interesting take on green tech is from Stillwater-based startup ecoEnvelopes that hopes to bring a green touch to the well established envelope business. Literally my first job out of college was selling custom printed envelopes so I am well acquainted with the “tech” of envelope manufacturing (at least circa 1982). And ecoEnvelopes’ novel twist on the old “reuse, recycle” axiom makes this a Minnesota startup to watch.

After closing a round of financing with TC Angels late last month, founder & CEO Ann DeLaVergne looks to staff up and bring her innovative envelopes to market. The idea is to make each envelope easy to use two ways, eliminating the return envelope and reducing the amount of paper required for mailing.

As environmentally sound products become more mainstream, socially responsible choices in many product categories will emerge. And as electronic as many of our lives have become, we still receive a lot of paper mail so ecoEnvelopes makes sense to me. Visit their FAQ for more details.