Silicon Prairie News, in cooperation with the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and NMotion, is proud to announce the OMA/LNK Startup Bus to shuttle community supporters from Omaha to Lincoln for the NMotion Demo Day on Thursday, August 10th.
SPN’s recent State of the Silicon Prairie Report recommended that the Lincoln and Omaha startup communities join forces to foster stronger collaboration. This is a perfect opportunity for Omahans who are interested in the midwest innovation scene to form stronger ties with their Lincoln counterparts.
The bus will depart from The Exchange Building at 1905 Harney in Omaha at 4:45 PM and return around 10:00 PM.
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In setting up the logistics of the bus, I had a chance to catch up with Keevin O’Rourke, Program Manager at NMotion, Inc.
“This is chance for the whole state of Nebraska to come together to celebrate entrepreneurship and everything we’ve built as a community, as well as showcase this year’s five incredibly strong companies and the progress they’ve made over the last 90 days,” said O’Rourke.
“Omaha and Lincoln have incredible resources, and if they want to compete with other Midwest hubs like Minneapolis, Milwaukee or Denver, they need to be able to pool their resources and work together to attract talent, companies, and people in general. I think the best way to do that is simply by collaborating and creating a bridge between communities.”
We agreed that we all want to see the Midwest startup community grow and that means reaching out to anyone who is interested in innovation, even if they are not involved in anything currently.
When I asked him who should attend Demo Day, he responded, “Anybody who wants to support startups, who’s interested in entrepreneurship, who’s looking for a great community event, to have a chance to celebrate innovation and all the cool things that are happening in where you might not expect to find a hotbed of startups.”’
O’Rourke continued, “The easiest way to get involved is by simply showing up. What I’ve learned is that the startup community as a whole, they’re super willing to get you plugged in. The first step might be to attend Demo Day and meet people to get an understanding of what startups and entrepreneurship is all about. Then, there are several programs and events in both Omaha and Lincoln that can get you immersed into the startup community.”
NMotion Demo Day will be held at the historic Rococo Theatre in Downtown Lincoln on the evening of August 10th.
The schedule for the evening is as follows:
6:00 – 6:30 Mixer & Networking
6:30 – 7:00 Welcome
7:00 – 8:00 Team Pitches
8:00 – 9:00 Reception
What can attendees expect to see from the NMotion participants?
“They’re going to hear from five companies, their stories, what they’re working on, where they were [before] and where they were now. They’re also going to get a chance to see what we’ve built as a community over the last five years. That’s sort of the underlying theme: how the community has matured, and how everybody who’s been a part of it and touched it in some way has helped to create this incredible place to start a company,” said O’Rourke.
Riding the OMA/LNK Startup Bus is free, but seats are limited and you must have a reservation. If you’d like to join us, please register here. Click “Register” for NMotion Demo Day and the option to reserve a seat on the bus will appear on the next page.
We really think the Startup Bus is more than just a free ride.
“The idea is, it gives you an easy shuttle and transportation between communities, it gives you a great chance to connect with other local entrepreneurs that you may not have time in the day to grab a beer with, and it gives you an opportunity to get loosened up before a networking event.”
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Brian Lee is the Managing Director of Silicon Prairie News.
