2009 Presentations
Entrepreneur Highlights
Through Highlight Midwest we are creating a platform for business owners to talk about their business and services, what they are developing and how they are doing it. The presentations are aimed to be part business awareness and a part education. Sessions are scheduled to be 45 minutes in length which includes time to setup, tear down and questions/answers.
The following presentations are taking place during the entrepreneur highlight sessions; we’re adding more presenters and activities as they confirm. Want to be added? Email: highlightmidwest@gmail.com with your topic, description and headshot to be published on the site.
Pete Thomas, ShowIgniter: Live Event Catalyst - showigniter.com
ShowIgniter, is the first system challenging fans to directly finance the shows they want to see. Skirting around the bureaucracy and expense currently baked into the live entertainment industry, ShowIgniter let’s us, the fans, control what shows will happen, where they will happen, and when they will happen. Artists and venues are paid in advance, and live events that don’t make financial sense are allowed to expire to make way for the shows that do make sense.
Ben Milne, Dwolla - http://www.dwolla.com
Dwolla is a internet software startup which allows users to send and receive money instantly.
Timothy Kephart, Graffiti Tracker - http://www.graffititracker.com/
Graffiti Tracker helps law enforcement catch and prosecute graffiti vandals by offering graffiti analysis, intelligence reporting and interactive mapping services through their innovative web-based software system.
Andy Peters, Ninth Division - http://www.ninthdivision.com/
Andy is the owner of Ninth Division in Omaha, NE, specializing in Apple Platform development and iPhone development
Brett Trout, Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs - http://blawgit.com/
The most valuable asset of any new company is its intellectual property. Understanding patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets and how to protect them is critical to the success of any business. A few simple preventative steps can protect your company from catastrophe down the road.
Daniel Shipton & Neil Roberts, BitMethod - http://bitmethod.com
Web services are allowing nimble companies to build businesses and new business models on top of the shoulders of giants (Amazon, Facebook, Twitter). This talk will explore this new ecosystem and the potential pitfalls within.
Ben McDougal, Jet Set Studio - http://www.gatheringofgamers.com/
Jet Set Studio was established in 2007 to support the launch of a unique video game community at Gathering of Gamers. While “The GoG” was being established throughout the video game industry, Jet Set Studio spawned into a larger company due to its professional video game event management services. Ben has worked at the Iowa web development firm, Captain Jack Communications, for over 4 years and will also be sharing insight on website development trends, search engine optimization, social media, and business development.
Dan Beenken, MyEntre.Net - http://www.myentre.net
MyEntre.Net is Iowa’s online community for entrepreneurs and small business owners. You’ll find connections to start up funding sources, expert advice for business start up and expansion questions, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and services providers to interact with about your business. In our presentation we will talk about how entrepreneurs from all over the country are utilizing MyEntre.net and its resources to start up and run their small businesses. We’ll share some stories of how you can use this social media outlet to help grow your business. Its all completely free, so come and join us!
Rich Drake, Next Gen Event Badges - tweetupbadges.com
Rich produces event badges as core part of his business which allowed him to discover a new market in creating social badges for tweetups. In this talk, Rich will talk about advancing mobile technology and how it is impacting the next generation of event badges by leveraging technology like QR codes.
Joe Frost, Creating a business on the Twitter API - tweetwhileyoueat.com
The team at Tweetwhileyoueat.com will discuss their new service built leveraging Twitter and how they were able to start their business from idea to revenue in three weeks.
Dusty Davidson & Jeff Slobotski, News from the Silicon Prairie - Silicon Prairie News
Dusty and Jeff have been growing a news resource for the Midwest with their site Silicon Prairie News. Over the last year plus the site has expanded its coverage and showcased many the exciting entrepreneurs and creatives setting up business around us.
Catchfire Media, Building Your Business With Social Media - Catchfire Media
Catchfire Media is a Des Moines-based social media strategy and consulting firm, offering comprehensive planning and analysis. Catchfire will discuss why social media should be part of your business strategy as well as tips and best practices for getting results.
Josh Fleming, Giving a Facelift to a 100-Year-Old Brand Through Social Media - Lessing-Flynn Advertising
David Snodgrass, RockDex - RockDex
Kevin Schlutter, A Better Way to Build - Synergie
Igor Dobrosavljević, Innovative Resume Postmortem - Grand Consulting Group
Igor will examine the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of the InnovativeResume.com project which launched in 2009. The talk will go through the background of the InnovativeResume.com and finish with the top 10 takeaways of the process. Igor owns Grand Consulting Group which specializes in designing, installing and maintaining the networks and computer systems that drive small and medium sized businesses every day. Grand Consulting has implemented and managed solutions for clients in the health care industry, legal practices, accounting firms and large retail stores.
Dave Weis, Building an ISP and telephone company - Internet Solver
Mike Sansone, Build a Global Voice to Reach a Local Audience - ConverStations
Focusing on your target geographical audience is important in building your business, but ignoring the global audience can be perilous to our findability. This session examines why your global voice is important, why it’s easier to go global than local, and how to do so.
Patricia Hunter, Social Fusion - Transcendental Web Services
Jason Stone, Legal Information for Entrepreneurs - Davis Brown Law Firm
Scott D. Mikkelsen, Legal Information for Entrepreneurs - Davis Brown Law Firm
Kathy Zehr, Financial Management and Funding Alternatives - LWBJ Financial
Dave Watson, Finance Information for Entrepreneurs - LWBJ Financial
City Hightlights
We have keynotes too! These amazing speakers will be closing out the event and presenting their take on entrepreneurship and conducting business in the Midwest.
Kansas City
Simon Kuo, is one of the founders of LightThread, LLC. He brings a diverse set of skills and significant experience in technology and communications to this dynamic startup focusing on social media, business strategy consulting and web application development.
Omaha
Joe Olsen, is the CEO of Phenomblue a multi-platform digital software creation company. Since 2004, they have been the single-source solution for some of the biggest advertising agencies and consumer brands in the world.
Des Moines
Mike Draper, is the owner of SMASH, an apparel and screenprinting store located in the East Village in Des Moines. Mike has been an outspoken public figure about small business and entrepreneurship. Along the way he has testifyied before the House Ways and Means Committee on the how the cost of health care is affecting small businesses and has been quoted in BusinessWeek.
