From two of our own events (Startup Lessons Learned viewing party taking place now and a meetup on Wednesday) to Think Big Kansas City and Startup Drinks in Des Moines, there’s quite the range of activity taking place on the Prairie this week. With startup events every day this week, Thursday’s Cornstalks presented by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and Venture Fridays in Kansas City will wrap up the week.
Details from the event websites are below followed by links to sites where you can learn more. Find more upcoming events on our event page, siliconprairienews.com/events, and submit an event for consideration to info@siliconprairienews.com.
Monday, 10:30 a.m. – Startup Lessons Learned Simulcast
Omaha – Silicon Prairie News (5018 Leavenworth St.)
Although it’s physically taking place in San Francisco, we’ve teamed up with local lean startup enthusiast Matt Secoske to host a viewing party in our office. This is guaranteed to be a day filled with awesome content, discussion and new connections.
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To learn more see our post: Join us Monday for Startup Lessons Learned viewing party
Monday, 11:00 a.m. – Startup Lessons Learned Simulcast
Kansas City – Five Elms Capital (3500 West 75th St.)
We’ll be getting together at the Five Elms’ offices starting at 11:00 AM to watch the broadcast of the conference. Our offices are located in Prairie Village, 1 block east of Mission Road on 75th street. Please register here so we know how many people to expect.
Learn more at kansascity-sllconf-simulcast.eventbrite.com
Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. – Think Big Kansas City
Kansas City – Kansas City Convention Center (301 West 13th St.)
Think Big Kansas City, the Premier Conference for Entrepreneurs, Investors and Startups has been created to provide the educational forum and launch pad in order to ignite the hard work of entrepreneurial excellence and potential startup companies.
Learn more at thinkbigkansascity.com
Tuesday, 5 p.m. – Beer && Code
Omaha – Follow @BeerCodeOmaha for location
Once or twice a month, programmers in Omaha, NE get together for a tasty beverage at an Omaha pub to work on some code. If you code, grab your laptop and come out.
Learn more at beerandcode.org
Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. – Startup Drinks Des Moines
Des Moines – Tally’s Restaurant Bar (2712 Beaver Ave)
A simple concept: startup culture in cities around the world gathers around a bar to have a pint and discuss what they are working on, what they need help with and what they can do for each other.
Learn more at dsmstartupdrinks.com
Wednesday, 1-2:30 p.m. – AIM Members Forum: How to Create a Start-Up Within an Existing Business
Omaha – Thompson Alumni Center at University of Nebraska–Omaha (6705 Dodge Street)
Presenter: Steve Dee – CTO, Hayneedle
Creating a new business is challenging, but when trying to fit it within an existing business model, corporate culture and IT infrastructure, it creates new dimensions to the challenges. This session will feature discussion on the philosophy, strategies, processes, management and technology used to create Hayneedle’s discount retail site, The Foundary. Topics will include how the idea was formed and tested, how the teams were organized and how existing technology was used, combined with new features and custom functions to support this new business concept without stifling the creativity and innovation a startup needs.
Learn more at aiminstitute.org
Wednesday, 5 p.m. – Silicon Prairie News Meetup
Omaha – blanc burgers + bottles (3157 Farnam Street)
This one is going to be tasty. Join us next Wednesday, May 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. at blanc burgers + bottles at Midtown Crossing for our second Silicon Prairie News Meetup. Just over one month since our first meetup, we’re hoping to bring folks together to converse about stories on our blog, new startups and products that have launched in the region and, of course, the happenings of Big Omaha. Let’s take the energy that hit the hallways of KANEKO at Big Omaha and keep it flowing in the strong community that continues to grow.
To learn more see our post “Silicon Prairie News Meetup on May 25 at blanc burgers + bottles“
Thursday, 6:30 p.m. – Cornstalks
Omaha – Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce (1301 Harney St.)
Steve Kiene and Patrick Smith from Nebraska Global will be presenting.
For those of you who don’t know much about Nebraska Global, I would highly recommend that you check out their website prior to next Thursday. A quick summary is that Nebraska Global was formed about 18 months ago to help build great software companies in Nebraska. The founders have created a pool of money, about $20 million, to strategically invest in software companies and build some. They have strategic relationships with a number of entities including the University of Nebraska Athletic Department, the Raikes Computer School and some larger corporations.
In my opinion, hearing Steve and Patrick talk would be extremely valuable for people building a software enterprise in Nebraska. They have both been part of a number of multi-million dollar revenue companies here and are now growing multiple companies here. Please come at 6:30 p.m. for networking and at 7:30 for the presentation. This is an open meeting and you should invite people that you think would benefit.
Friday, 4 p.m. – Venture Fridays
Westwood, Kan. – Offices of Red Nova Labs (4830 Rainbow Blvd)
Ready to come out of the entrepreneurial closet and meet like-minds in KC?
Red Nova Labs is pleased and eager to be part of a Midwest startup “uprising” proving that web/tech/app/game/mktg advances and success do not solely happen in the well-funded ‘burbs of Silicon Valley. Being a web/tech/app/game/mktg startup in the Midwest isn’t an easy feat. By bringing knowledge of technology startups to the farmbelt, we hope support a future beyond our own. That’s why we’re hosting “Venture Fridays.”
Learn more at meetup.com/venturefridays
