When Chris McCann moved to Silicon Valley last summer he wanted to get to know others in the entrepreneurial scene so he began compiling a calendar of the best events for the startup community. Soon, he was receiving requests from others for the same information, and as a result, Startup Digest, a weekly newsletter of the best startup events in the area, was born.
Chris (pictured) quickly saw the need for a localized version of his newsletter, and with the help of others, he’s made it available in 20 cities or regions around the world, from Mumbai to Pittsburgh. On March 1, six new cities will launch, including Des Moines, the first Midwest city to be included. Each version is organized by a local curator and finding the right person to play that role is an important of his expansion decision. According to Chris, “to go into any city we look for a high quality curator (someone who is in the local startup scene and a part of the community) and most of our curators are founders themselves.”
In Des Moines, that curator is Shane Reiser, a local startup enthusiast who was referred to Chris by the national organizers of Startup Weekend. The connection to Startup Weekend is a key reason for this expansion. Chris said, “Des Moines is one of the strongest cities for Startup Weekend so it was a natural fit for Startup Digest.”
Shane (pictured right) wanted to be involved to help strengthen the startup community that is continually evolving in Des Moines. He sees it as another opportunity for knowledge transfer and a way to increase engagement, reaching out to those who would prefer to see a list of upcoming events in their inbox rather than accessing an event calendar online.
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Shane will rely on nominations from the community to inform him of events, but he’ll use some discretion to determine “the best” events in the region, which is part of Startup Digest’s mission.
“I’ll have to exercise some judgment in deciding which events to list each month, my goal is to make it as helpful to the community as possible,” Shane said. “I’m going to rely on subscribers to send me information about the events they organize or support. I’ll be unbiased to size, history and location (though it must be in Iowa). If there’s a new event that seems interesting but is struggling to get the word out, I may list it in favor of an event that already has a huge following.”
