Cornstalks is tonight – Ask SPN: In the future, who would you like to see?

(Heath Mello speaks at the Omaha Chamber’s Cornstalks event on July 29, 2010. Photo by Andrea Ciurej.) The Cornstalks group is meeting tonight at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s downtown building (1301 Harney Street). Cornstalks organizer Tom Chapman, director of entrepreneurship and innovation for the Chamber, has moved the meeting up one week due…

Heath Mello speaks at the Omaha Chamber’s Cornstalks event on July 29, 2010. Photo by Andrea Ciurej.

The Cornstalks group is meeting tonight at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce‘s downtown building (1301 Harney Street). Cornstalks organizer Tom Chapman, director of entrepreneurship and innovation for the Chamber, has moved the meeting up one week due to Thanksgiving next Thursday – Cornstalks usually takes place the last Thursday of the month.

Tonight will be a change of pace as there will be no speaker. Drinks and cookies will still be served starting at 6:30 p.m., but instead of a speaker coming on at 7:30, Chapman will lead a short discussion regarding new ventures in the Omaha area and the current climate for business ventures.

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Looking to future Cornstalks gatherings, Chapman has asked us at Silicon Prairie News to poll our readers: “Who would you like to see?” That is, in future Cornstalks who would you (attendees and potential attendees) like to see talk? Chapman told us he’d do his best to schedule those suggested (if they fit the focus of Cornstalks) and that he is open to bringing in regional (such as Ben Milne last month) as well as national speakers (such as Matt Galligan this past February.)

So, we present the first “Ask SPN,” a category of posts inspired by the users of Hacker News who have created an “Ask HN” section.

Ask SPN: Who would you like to see speak at future Cornstalks? Who have you enjoyed in the past?

Please leave your suggestions or feedback in the comments below.


   

Also, for those of you unfamiliar with Cornstalks, here’s a “Cornstalks FAQ” put assembled by Chapman.

Cornstalks FAQ

By Tom Chapman, Cornstalks Organizer

What is Cornstalks?

Cornstalks is a forum that is provided on a monthly basis for regional high growth entrepreneurs and/or inventors. The monthly forums typically have a standing agenda that includes – introductory updates, a presentation from an entrepreneur, light education, and a topic to discuss amongst the group.

When does Cornstalks meet?

The meetings take place on the last Thursday of the month at 7pm, usually at the downtown Chamber of Commerce building (1301 Harney Street).

Who is a member of Cornstalks?

The high growth entrepreneurs and inventors in Cornstalks tend to be computer enabled, engineers, biotechnology workers, or creative artists. Many of the ideas or companies are in social media, software, energy efficiency and hardware. Meetings have had attendance of as little as five people and as many as thirty-five. Generally, the audience is about twenty to twenty-five.

Why was Cornstalks created?

Cornstalks was created to be a forum that allowed high growth entrepreneurs to come out of their labs, garages and basements to meet and discuss real problems that were facing them and their companies. Some issues include finding investors, creating a good capital structure, intellectual property protection and finding good employees. These challenges are typically topics of the presentations and discussed amongst the group.

Why haven’t I heard of Cornstalks?

Cornstalks is neither by invitation only nor is it widely publicized. However, meetings are open to the public. All of these things are intentional. One of the issues that was revealed during formational meetings was that existing entrepreneurial groups have become diluted due to the intrusion of lifestyle entrepreneurs or pure service providers seeking new business (lawyers, accountants, etc.). These groups are intentionally excluded from Cornstalks to keep the mission and message pure. Thus, Cornstalks has elected to a word of mouth and light channel marketing strategy to grow slowly but deliberately around the central audience of high growth entrepreneurs and inventors.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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