Ignite Des Moines 2008 HUGE Success

Last night Impromptu Studio hosted the first Ignite Des Moines in their coworking space. It was a HUGE success at around 70 people. There was free beer provided by Olde Main Brewery. There was an Egg Catapault contest and in the end “150 second” mock presentations.

If you are unfamiliar with the Ignite platform it is meant to be a fun gathering of tech/entrepreneur community. These events are held all over the country so you should look into attending one. The premise is to have a group of presenters perform what I call “shotgun” presentations. Basically you get 20 slides that are rotated automatically every 15 seconds. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds.

Here I am presenting on building hyperlocal communities… And, yes - I am drinking a beer while presenting… So what?

photo courtesy Justin Carlson

There were presentations about a broad range of topics, including…

• 20 Things Des Moines Needs Now!, Nathan T. Wright
• Hyperlocal Localization, Andy Brudtkuhl
• 10 Legal Issues That May Shut Down Your Website, Brett Trout
• Networking for Nerds, Justin Brady
• Nerd Herding, Tony Bibbs
• Homelessness in Des Moines: Why You Should Care, Claire Celsi
• How to Keep Your Business Out of Court, Rush Nigut
• Position Yourself for Success, Brant Ausenhus

More media coming soon… Pictures and videos are being uploaded as I type… Tune back into this post or this bookmark feed for more coverage on this kick ass event.

I also want to let everyone know if you are in Des Moines, Impromptu Studio is offering *FREE* coworking for the entire month of November.

Pictures
- Juice Coverage
- Justin Carlson Flickr Set
- Impromptu Studio Flickr Set

Video
- Ignite Des Moines Video Experience - CreateWowMedia

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Highlight Midwest - October 29th

October 29th will be a special day here in the midwest as the Highlight Midwest Conference debuts. This FREE event will highlight some of the greatest entrepreneurial, new media, and web gurus from some of the finest cities in all the land - Des Moines, Omaha, and Kansas City (aka the next Silicon Valley, err Silicon Prairie :-) )

This day long event in our “flyover states” will be segmented in two parts. The first part of the day will be “focused highlights” which include demos and presentations from of the great companies that you’ve never heard of (but definitely need to). The second part of the day is a formal reception at the Kauffman Center featuring reps from each of these great cities to explain what the web means to their cities and how it is creating change.

If you are in the midwest and are into the web, social media, or are an entrepreneur YOU NEED TO COME.

Want more info?
Twitter @highlightmw
FriendFeed Room
Rob Jensen - Highlight Midwest: Oct 29 in Kansas City
Jeff Slobotski - Highlight Midwest - October 29th

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Twittad Launched This Week - Monetizing Twitter

Earlier this week Twittad launched a new advertising platform for Twitter. It’s a very ingenious idea - one that Twitter itself should have thought of and probably should adopt to start making money… Basically it allows Twitter users to sell ad space on their profile page. I did a quick interview with James Eliason, the founder of Twittad and also a local Des Moines entrepreneur..

How did you come up with the idea?

I came up with the idea in early July after reading the mashable article regarding extending the background on your twitter profile. I then heard about Scoble putting his background on Ebay..so I thought there needed to be a 3rd party site to handle the transactions between Twitter users and Advertisers.

How long did it take to build from conception to launch?

Conception was around July 5th and we just launched yesterday [August 27th]

What are your plans for the service?

The plans for the service include forming with other twitter “add-on” sites to help the promotion of Twitter users and advertisers. One site in particular, Twellow, I was just informed of today by Mike Templeton and they would be great to work with because they have categorized a twitter user. Advertisers could then target specific demographics for the purchase of their background images by using Twittad. It is partnerships like this that will help TwittAd become a leader in the monetization of Twitter. My ultimate goal is to work side by side with Twitter on creating a truly innovative product for the passionate Twitter community. Many people are going to be suspect of the Twittad concept, which is fine. However, it is my opinion that if we provide a backbone for users to help an advertiser promote their website or product, TwittAd will grow pretty quickly.

Even though you launched this week, has it been successful thus far? Have you had good coverage? Buzz?

We had pretty good response yesterday including a few comments from Wayne Sutton and also a nice article written by Mike Templeton at Microblink. [Link]

For more information on how Twittad works, read the how-to or follow Twittad on Twitter.

More on this interesting service to come…

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BarCamp Des Moines Tomorrow!

Well, I’ve been meaning to post about this for the last two weeks and I’ve put it off. But it’s never too late to spread the word!

So what is BarCamp?

BarCamp is the ultimate geek “unconference”. It is a gathering of people learning from and sharing with the other participants. BarCamps, although loosely structured, usually follow a set of rules of format and participation. The event is designed to promote as much interaction and participation as possible.

When and Where?

Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 8:30am - 10pm

Adventureland Inn
3200 Adventureland Drive
Altoona, IA 50009

8:30 - 9:30: Registration/Breakfast/Networking
9:30 - 10:00: Opening/Introductions
10:00 - 11:00: Sessions
11:00 - 12:00: Sessions
12:00 - 1:00: Lunch
1:00 - 2:00: Sessions
2:00 - 2:30: Sessions
2:30 - 3:00: Break/Networking
4:00 - 5:00: Sessions
5:00 - 6:00: Dinner
6:00 - 7:00: Sessions
7:00 - 8:00: Sessions
8:00 - 9:00: Sessions
9:00 - 10:00: Wrap-up Panel

If you are interested in going, you can register here.

If you want more information, check out the Bar Camp Des Moines website.

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Des Moines Web Geeks Kickoff

Thursday, August 14, 2008
6:30 PM

Impromptu Studio
300 SW 5th Street Suite 220
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

Des Moines Web Geeks Kickoff event is planned for Thursday, August 14th.

We’ll kickoff presentations at 7, come around 6:30 to get a tour of the new coworking space. First up will be an overview and discussion of the Django framework followed by an adhoc session discussing latest and greatest trends. Please RSVP, there will be a few door prizes as well.

RSVP Here…

More Info Here..

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