Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, and they may very well be correct. As we continue to reminisce about this year’s Big Omaha, we find ourselves saying the same. With each of the photos taken by Malone & Company, it’s hard not to share your reflections and experiences from the conference. We’ve put together a spread of photos to take us through each day of the conference, providing enough snippets that there may be more than a thousand words to say.
Below are some of the best from our collection from Wednesday, May 11 (all taken by Malone & Company).
Big Omaha brought together our Silicon Prairie News contributors from all over the region to welcome attendees to the Opening Party presented by Rackspace. Pictured above, Levi Rosol and Willis Jackson tear tickets and greet the faces of attendees we had long waited to meet.
Thanks to our sponsor
For the next two and a half days, attendees were outfitted with an appropriately themed cow-jumping-over-the-moon lanyard courtesy of Hayneedle. And, from the get-go, we weren’t letting attendees down on the innovation front — well, at least that’s what speaker Neil Blumenthal made mention of in his tweet: @NeilBlumenthal: Best conference innovation – double sided name badges! #bigomaha.
Kansas City contributor Royce Haynes, middle, chats with Sioux Falls contributor John T. Meyer, right.
In addition to their roles as the night’s super intimidating bouncers, the two along with the rest of the contributors, would soon switch hats, loosen up their typing fingers and prepare themselves for a few good days of live-blogging ahead of them. Pictured above: Sioux Falls contributor John T. Meyer.
Low pressure systems couldn’t stop the atmospheric pressure clearing through the Capitol Lounge. Attendees braved the cloudy weather and arrived just in time to start the Big Omaha experience.
No, Chris McCain did not just win a ticket to Disney World. But, he did have a ticket to Big Omaha and he was just one of many cheery faces at the opening party. With more than half of this year’s attendees fresh to the conference, newcomers and veterans alike were excited to be here and experience the conference, no offense Walt.
Located on the north side of downtown Omaha, the new Capitol Lounge served host to the evening’s festivities. This tri-level venue provided a dynamic vibe to fit any attendees’ style.
With a party to start the conference off, attendees had the opportunity to break the ice casually and meet other attendees before they hit the seats of KANEKO for the next day’s speaker presentations.
Attendees kicked back and enjoyed the sights, lights and sounds right from the start of Big Omaha 2011.
The laser light show combined with the bass-driven DJ and electric violinist, proved to be an eclectic combo and a unique way to greet our Big Omaha attendees.
A streetview from the Big Omaha opening party shows attendees mingling post-storm. However, this was the calm before the storm of Big Omaha action as the conference was just beginning.
Part of the Hudl crew from Lincoln, Nebraska rallied together to snag this photo at the photobooth Malone & Company brought along to the opening party.
Veteran conference attendee Corey Spitzer spent time preparing for this year’s photo booth. He contributed to the photo repertoire by imitating a few classic 2010 poses, like this one seen above. To see side-by-side comparisons of Spitzer’s reenactment photos, see twitpic.com.
Rick Knudtson of Tripleseat posed for this classic gem as Big Omaha volunteers Heather Tomasek, Brittany Mascio (myself) and Marlina Davidson hoisted him proudly.
A few groups from the Prairie repped their cities and took time to ham it up for the camera. Attendees from Kansas City were no exception.
Some of the Iowa attendees grouped together for an enthusiastic fist-pump for the Hawkeye state.
From behind the lens to square in front of the camera, the folks at Malone & Company (part of their team pictured above) were dispersed everywhere throughout the conference taking snapshots of the moments that told the Big Omaha 2011 story. Big thanks to Malone & Company for all their coverage of the conference. To view the complete album of Big Omaha Day 1, see flickr.com/photos/siliconprairienews.
Stay tuned for a photo walk through Day 2 of Big Omaha 2011 memory lane.
