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Daily Digest Highlight Midwest Edition is coming at you later today but to summarize everyone - Highlight Midwest kicked ass.

Update: For some reason the daily digest post did not work. All the posts about Highlight Midwest are archived here.

We drank, we discussed our respective media revolutions, we presented awesome stuff, we saw cool robots, and pound scarf was conceived. I don’t want to go into all the details because the next Daily Digest post will have links from everyone that covered #HM1 really well - but most importantly we showed that we are doing just as cool things as they are on the coasts. And now that we have all joined forces we have a ton of momentum and are more powerful than ever.

Next Up: The BIG Omaha Conference

Proceed media dump:

Chris Pirillo’s Highlight Midwest Introduction from Highlight Midwest

Sarah Lacy’s Highlight Midwest Introduction from Highlight Midwest

Gary Vaynerchuck’s Highlight Midwest Introduction from Highlight Midwest

Nathan’s Interviews

Hey, it’s me! courtesy Nathan

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There are some kick ass events coming to the midwest this Fall and I get the opportunity to join some great minds on stage for presentations…

First up is the inaugural Highlight Midwest conference on October 29th. I, along with 25-ish very smart people will be giving a wide range of talks around technology, entrepreneurship, social media, and other cool trends revolving the business and the web. I’ll be giving a talk about “hyperlocal localization” of which I’ll be posting here when it’s all said and done. Other speakers include Mike Ferrari of SmartyPig, Mike Templeton of Microblink, Dan Shipton of Impromptu Studio, Brett Trout on Online Legal Pitfalls, and Nathan Wright and Hillary Brown of Lava Row fame.

It’s on October 29th in Kansas City. There are two sessions and two tweetups. Should be some great parties and great speakers. Take that SXSW!

Next up is Ignite Des Moines on November 6 starting at 6:00pm. If you’ve never been to an Ignite event you should definitely attend this one. Hey, there’s free beer - how could you pass it up? Ignite consists of what I call “Shotgun presentations”. You have 5 minutes to present 20 slides, while each slide automatically rotates every 15 seconds. It’s a fun challenge! I’ll be giving a similar talk on creating “hyperlocal” communities. The initial speaker list is growing so be sure to get your talk proposal submitted!

Oh, and we will be presenting the 2008 Iowa Web Awards in between presentations (winners to be announced this week btw).

Last, but not least, I’ll be joining some great minds on November 20 for a “Using Social Media for B2B” panel with Dave Kurns of Meridith, Nathan Wright of Lava Row, Brianne Sanchez from Juice, Jill Haverkamp from Olde Main Brewing, and Mike Templeton from Dosovo.

Sidenote: Here is my Ignite talk from two years ago… I was not very well prepared :)

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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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