Video: IdeaMensch founder Mario Schulzke introduces #IM48.
IdeaMensch, a Los Angeles-based blog and event company sharing the stories of entrepreneurs, is 21 days into a four-month trek through the nation’s contiguous 48 states. The undertaking, titled #IM48, is a road trip to showcase entrepreneurs.
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During the first week of August, #IM48 will make stops (below) in Kansas City (Aug. 2), Omaha (Aug. 3), Des Moines (Aug. 7)* and Sioux Falls (Aug. 8). At each stop, they’ll put on an event featuring local entrepreneurs.
“People with ideas live everywhere,” IdeaMensch founder Mario Schulzke said in a phone call today. Schulzke, a native of Germany who immigrated to the United States at 16, said he’s always been obsessed with entrepreneurs. And recently, he became one himself, making the jump to work full-time on IdeaMensch.
Now, he’s on the road with three others, some of whom are working on a documentary about the trip, and he’s relying on local entrepreneurial communities to help him find speakers and venues and show him around the city.
“The only way that we can organize a successful event in 50 different cities is if local communities embrace us,” Schulzke said. “What we did in actually choosing the cities had nothing to do with, you know, ‘Are there big businesses? Are there famous startups?’ We tried to look for are, ‘Are there people in this community outwardly passionate about entrepreneurship and startups?’ “
Details for the events in Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines and Sioux Falls are still being planned, including venues and speakers, but Schulzke said each will run from 6-9 p.m. Each speaker will have around 10 minutes to present and another 10 minutes to field questions from the audience.
Past IdeaMensch events have featured familiar names to Silicon Prairie News readers, such as Philip Rosedale of SecondLife, a Big Omaha 2012 speaker, and Sarah Lacy of PandoDaily, a Big Omaha 2011 speaker.
Stay tuned for event details on Silicon Prairie News, and if you’d like to get involved – be a host, sponsor or speaker – or submit a story pitch to IdeaMensch, contact mario@ideamensch.com or visit the #IM48 information page.
*Update July 25 – Dates for Kansas City and Des Moines each moved back one day. Kansas City is Aug. 2 and Des Moines is Aug. 7.
Note: Silicon Prairie News is a media sponsor of IdeaMensch events in Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines.
Credits: Video from IdeaMensch on Vimeo. Map from ideamensch.com. Photo from im48.co.
