Highlight Midwest

Highlight Midwest 2009 was a big success! From our best estimates we had over 100 people in and out of the event through the day and the quality of the presentations were just amazing!!!

None of this could not have been done without the support of our sponsors. Their support allowed us to host Highlight Midwest at no cost to the attendee and speakers. So with that said please give a big thank you to:
- Technology Association of Iowa
- Iowa life | changing
- Davis Brown Law Firm
- LWBJ Financial
- Smarty Pig
- MyEntre.Net
- Catchfire Media and
- Iowa Capital Investment Corporation

Many companies also donated their time and services to make the day extra special. Please also thank the following companies for their hard work and support:
- Lessing Flynn
- Foundry Coworking
- Global Reach
- Olde Main
- Boesen the Florist

Thank you all again for participating and supporting Highlight Midwest and the entrepreneurs across the region. It was an amazing day and I look forward to doing this again next year!

Yesterday the great people at Lessing-Flynn helped write and distribute a press release for Highlight Midwest. The press release was distributed out to through their channels and we are extremely grateful for their help promoting the event!

If you are blogging about Highlight Midwest you can download a copy of the press release here.

Enjoy and we look forward to seeing you next week!

Highlight Midwest was born out of BarCamp. Before the first Highlight, Kansas City, Omaha, and Des Moines were all hosting their own unconference. So this year its no surprise that each city is doing it again. If its not too late, make the weekend free to attend one or all of the following:

Kansas City - September 26
http://barcampkc.org/

Des Moines - September 26
http://dmbarcamp.org/

Omaha - October 2-3
http://barcampomaha.org/

Highlight Midwest is an opportunity to learn about some most innovative projects coming out of the Midwest and network with the people behind them. However you don’t have to wait until October 23rd to start learning the names and making connections.

After you have registered for Highlight Midwest through our eventbrite page head on over to our Facebook to find others who will be at the event. Not a Facebook fan? No problem, you can also add your name to our pbworks wiki. We had an impressive list in 2008 and I look forward to seeing who is coming this year in advance.

Whatever your preference get your name out there and start making connections now.

This October, Highlight Midwest is coming to Des Moines, Iowa.

If you haven’t been through the site lately check out the latest information about this year’s gathering. We have the date set (October 23rd) and hope to share more information as often as possible through our blog.

The eventbrite page is also up so register, start making your travel plans and we’ll see you in Des Moines on October 23rd!

This morning’s Wall Street Journal has an article cheerily entitled Midwest States Cut Spending in a Hurry as Region’s Economy Deteriorates but hey turns out the news isn’t all bad:

…the outlook is less dire than for states hardest hit by the housing market, such as Florida and California, says Ernest Goss, regional economics chairman at Creighton. “The pneumonia on both coasts is a bad cold here,” he says.

…

The Midwestern economy has diversified since the deep recession of the early 1980s. Cities such as Chicago broadened their economic base from manufacturing to include more professional and financial services. A booming farm economy and growth in the ethanol industry helped states such as Iowa.

A fun video from the Ideas and Angles crew.

• Ignite Des Moines (tonight!)
• Iowa Code Camp Nov 8 in Des Moines
• Emergent Behavior in Design Nov 11 ODYNUG meeting in Omaha
• Day of Dot Net Dec 6 in Kansas City
• Social Media Club Kansas City breakfast Nov 7 @ 7:30

Vince, meet Michael. Michael, Vince…

So somewhere in the trenches on the continuum that stretches from helping others selflessly to Lamborghinis and supermodel wives, there’s a crumpled up sticky-note with this compound question written on it:

What does it mean to be a high-growth company and why should anybody give a damn?

One possible answer: the National Commission On Entrepreneurship says a high-growth company is one that grows their employment by at least 15 percent per year or at least doubles their employment over five years.

One possible take: Those comments we heard at the evening event, the ones stressing the importance of high-growth companies in our region, maybe had less to do with selling to Google for $100 million, having nice things, or engaging in altruism, and more to do with keeping and improving our region’s economic health.

-pete

Silicon Prairie News brings us a great video of the comments by Carl Schramm:

~3:15:

We are committed to the notion of lots more high-growth businesses…we’re committed to that not just because Mr. Kauffman thought it was an important thing to do but increasingly…certainly in the last few months or weeks…it’s become more and more critical we need to understand the actual guts of the American economy…

…pretty sure that was an iPhone causing all that interference..