Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

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.

It’s the NGIN that will make TST Media go

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tstmediaA company started in Eau Claire WI, TSTMedia, has moved to the Twin Cities in order to capitalize upon the talent pool, venture capital and (I assume) the balmy winter weather and to get faster access to Minnov8.

Seriously, this company has a uniquely strong value proposition that has already put them on the map in Eau Claire and in several markets where organizations have adopted TSTMedia’s offerings for mission-critical sports websites.

Founded in 2004, TSTMedia started off as a web development shop but focused their efforts around the sports passions of college buddies and co-founders Justin Kaufenberg (CEO) and Carson Kipfer (COO). Quickly they identified that the sports niche was woefully underserved and filled with group and collaboration needs not being addressed in the marketplace.

They quickly began moving forward with Team Sport Technologies, building out sports-specific web applications. The applications enabled amateur sports organizations to efficiently manage a website with little or no previous technical knowledge. TST Media, under the Team Sport Technologies brand, then released a complete roster of sports specific products for hockey, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball, football, volleyball, swimming and others.

The websites they built and delivered for sports clients included a combination of online tools (online registration, interactive multi-team calendars, highly sophisticated statistic engines, etc.) that made publishing website content, sharing information and communicating with members extremely easy.

In 2009, they combined their Ruby on Rails experience, knowledge of the sports domain, and the engine they’d already created to make it brain-dead-simple for non-technical users to deliver a great team or organization website, and consolidated their various organization products and features into a single platform called NGIN.  …  [Read More…]

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.

BusinessCard2: “The Big Upgrade” Launch is Near

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bizcard2-newSince I’m a user of BusinessCard2 — and been following CEO Lief Larson’s journey to make it the killer app for your web identity — I’ve been staying close to what they’ve been up to as the next version, the “big upgrade”, looms near (disclaimer: they’re also an advertiser on Minnov8).

Though they’ve been playing it pretty close to the vest for months, and I’ve been bugging Lief the entire time, he did agree to a quote and my posting of the graphic above. From Lief, “For the last 24 months our team has been working hard behind closed doors to create something we think has transformative potential.  What we have up our sleeve, nevertheless, is not being released until August.  We want to under promise and over deliver.  The internet is changing rapidly and we intend to launch something leveraging the cutting-edge.  Think web container, meets social, meets cloud.  Best of all, it’s 100% made in Minnesota.”

Go sign up now so you’re in the queue to get “the big upgrade” when they launch.

Obama Administration’s Focus on Innovation

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Delighted techies and geeks throughout the U.S. agree: the Obama administration understands open source software, leveraging social media, and providing transparency in governmental activities wherever possible. Unfortunately, unless you’re paying very close attention, it’s easy to think most of this stuff is a wish-list and needs to be battled out in Congress so bills can be passed.

Fortunately most of these initiatives are policymaking in nature and therefore can, and are, able to be developed and delivered quickly.

To that end, on July 1st, Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra sat down with White House director of new media, Macon Phillips, to answer questions from Facebook and WhiteHouse.gov on technology, information, and transparency. Kundra discussed the new IT Dashboard, which enables everybody to look at how the government is spending money for information technology, and allows us to analyze and evaluate these investments.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HZ-BESVVck&feature=player_embedded

With respect to innovation and its impact on Minnesota, there are three key parts to the Administration’s initiatives (which go beyond Kundra’s sphere of influence):

  • Innovation in the Economy: Drive Economic Growth and Solve National Problems By Deploying a 21st Century Information Infrastructure
    This includes everything from a comprehensive national broadband plan, to new health care information technology, to a modernized electrical grid, along with a focus on cybersecurity.
  • Innovation in Science: Invest in Science and Science Education
    Climate change, energy and other initiatives are key as is a focus on education.
  • Innovation in Public Administration: Creating an Open and Secure Government
    Strategic federal IT investments will make Government more transparent and accountable. At the same time, Americans will know that these investments by their Government are being leveraged to produce maximum value, and that the security of information systems nationally, and the privacy of Americans, are being protected. Strategic investments in IT are at the heart of the efforts to make Government services more effective, accessible, and transparent.

Microsoft Launches Expression 3 & Sketchflow

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silverexpressSaw a tweet yesterday from my buddy, Microsoft’s Doug Olson, that said, “Getting ready for a very exciting day tomorrow — the culmination of why I am working at Microsoft.” He was either finally getting a free Zune, he’d completed that Redmond, WA to White Bear Lake, MN fun run, or his group was going to ship a major release. I suspected the latter so pinged him right away and he emailed me a bit ago since he’s in the midst of launching now.

douglaskolsonDoug is the Product Unit GM of the Expression group (who recently put in place a Microsoft engineering office in St. Paul), is today launching Silverlight and Expression 3 at a press event in San Francisco. It’s a big day for his main product, Expression Blend 3, which finally gets to the point where is it very competitive with Flash & Flex. Not only that, but Microsoft is including a major innovation with it called SketchFlow (here is a good overview of it) which is getting tons of buzz and changing the way folks think about conceptual design (prototyping).

One other note: SketchFlow, and another big-deal feature (fully enabled Photoshop file format support, apparently done better than even Adobe’s Flash CS4 does it) have both come out of the team based right here in St. Paul lead by Bob Pappas and Rick Keeney.

Event in Edina July 13 to Explore ‘PR 2.0’

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Kane-logoConference organizer Kane Consulting says that it’s now a “brave new world” in public relations.  And to help managers of local businesses and PR practitioners alike better understand how “new hybrid media forms” are changing the game, it’s organized an event that includes a national speaker who’s an expert on the subject.

Called “PR 2.0: The New Tools of the Trade,” the event will be held Monday July 13 from 8:00 am till 4:00 pm at the Westin Galleria, 3201 Galleria, in Edina, MN 55435.  JasonKintzlerPitchEngine-logo The keynote presenter is Jason Kintzler, founder and CEO of PitchEngine, “a social media release service” that enables PR professionals to package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers, and influencers via the social web.

Jennifer Kane, founder of Kane Consulting (pictured here at left with colleague Kary Delaria), said in announcing the event, “If you’re in the business of sharing facts, telling stories, starting conversations, and monitoring dialogue about your company or client, this is stuff you need to know.” JenKaneKaryDelaria

The conference will also feature eight breakout sessions reflecting the most cutting edge and innovative thinking on how to navigate this rapidly changing industry.

…  [Read More…]

Extendr: Your Web. One Place.

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extendr

If I googled you – what would I find, how fast would I find it, and what initial impression would I form?

Personal branding is in and the premise is simple: people search for other people online and extendr.com makes it easier to be found online while enabling one to retain control over their own unique digital introduction destiny.

Call it a launch pad, virtual porch, or online hub. It’s all the same if you can take your digital breadcrumbs (social links, contact info, portfolio, CV, favorites, etc.) and aggregate them into one customizable & search engine friendly source.  It’s simple, free, and it works especially well for those too illiterate and/or cheap for a professional personal website and too busy to consistently maintain a functional blog.

The tour feature allows for someone to visit your extendr page and browse the various links/websites that you have included, all within the extendr frame.  This offers two distinct benefits: (1) ensuring that whoever is seeking can find everything (and then some) under one roof, and (2) less time spent back and forth jumping from site to site.

Isn’t it pleasurable when you can efficiently locate and access what it is your looking for online? Consider extendr a great personal marketing tool, as we (as searchers) are forming unforgiving subconscious first impressions and subsequent judgments based on how accessible people are choosing to make themselves online-or rather-not.  For example, if you’ve taken the upfront time to make it easy for me to find you online then it tells me that you respect my time.  This would likely lead to a favorable first impression as opposed to having to sift through pages of SERPs.

Go to extendr.com now and get running in a few minutes.  What’s that? You already have a personal website/blog?  Already profiled in google? Fair enough… but isn’t it better to cast one’s personal branding net as far and wide as possible given the option?

FCC Launches Broadband Site

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fccsiteThe Federal Communications Commission has launched Broadband.gov, a website that’s focused on all of the data and initiatives being gathered as the Federal government marches toward a National Broadband Plan 225 days from now (via BlandinOnBroadband).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Broadband Initiatives funded in the Act are intended to accelerate broadband deployment across the United States. The Recovery Act authorizes the FCC to create the National Broadband Plan, that “shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.” This website contains information on the FCC National Broadband Plan. Please visit www.fcc.gov for more information about other FCC efforts, or browse the “Initiatives” section of this web site to learn what exciting efforts other agencies are pursuing to support the goals of the Recovery Act.

Check it out. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that there is a serious effort underway with this important infrastructure that is, in my opinion, more important going forward than the interstate highway system.