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Omaha ad agency, VC firm launch “idea incubator” Drop Kick Ventures
Omaha digital advertising agency Phenomblue and venture capital firm Dundee Venture Capital today unveiled Drop Kick Ventures, an “idea incubator” that aims to commercialize products developed inside creative, marketing and communication agencies. Its model brings together three entities – agencies, investors and entrepreneurs – to launch startups. “We were brainstorming one …
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Phenomblue think tank produces Movie Lotto, Daydreamer
For about a year now, Omaha ad agency Phenomblue employees have been seeing what they can do outside their daily tasks of digital advertising. “The agency elects a committee of three team members twice a year to solicit and select ideas and ultimately execute an experiential interactive project,” said Joe Olsen, CEO of Phenomblue. Known…
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Stack, Omaha Creative Week bring out the community (Photos)
Last week, two unconferences took place in Omaha amidst Omaha Creative Week. On Tuesday, Stack, an event geared towards advertising and design professionals, attracted nearly 100 attendees. On Saturday, BarCamp Omaha, an event with three tracks – entrepreneurship, creative and technology – bought together more than 200. Together, that’s more than 300 individuals (with some…
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Guest Post: The value of Stack, an un-conference for creative professionals
This is a guest post by Joe Olsen, CEO and director of strategy and innovation at Phenomblue, an interactive brand experience agency. With Omaha Creative Week just around the corner (Sept. 5-11), we’ve invited Olsen to author a guest post about Stack, an unconference he’ll be heading up for the second year. With Stack taking…
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Guest Post: The Internet is F@$king Amazing
(This is a guest post by Joe Olsen, CEO, Director of Strategy & Innovation at Phenomblue) The internet is f@$king amazing. I know most of us know that already but like any belief, it’s good to have reaffirmation from time to time. Thanks to Ted Williams and the Columbus Dispatch over the past 24 hours…
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Pics from last week: Omaha 10-10-10, Big O! Show, TEDxOmaha & more
Part of the Omaha Silicon Prairie News team – Jeff, Dusty and I – made the rounds last week to three events in Omaha. Kicking off Monday morning with Omaha 10-10-10 and then closing it out on Saturday with TEDxOmaha. Learn about the events in our “Out & About” post and check out the pictures…
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Joe Olsen: Post-Omaha Creative Week interview
When a group of individuals came together earlier this year to lay the groundwork for the first-ever Omaha Creative Week, we spoke with one of its team members, Joe Olsen of Phenomblue, to learn more. In our June interview with Olsen, he told us that the idea to hold Omaha Creative Week (OCW) was “a…
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Omaha Creative Week: Stack un-conference attracts 60 attendees
From roughly 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. yesterday, 60 individuals gathered at Nomad Lounge for Omaha’s first-ever Stack un-conference, one of the events held under the umbrella of Omaha Creative Week. Stack, which was marketed towards individuals in creative fields, is described as “a forum to talk to your peers, learn new things, and build…
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Omaha Creative Week opens with Caretakers Forum (video)
Last night, about 50 individuals gathered in KANEKO’s Bow Truss Room (above) to take in the Caretakers Forum, the first event of the inaugural Omaha Creative Week. Led by myself (moderator), the 50-minute discussion began with an introduction of our four panelists, the defining of the word “creative”, and four questions about creativity’s measurement and…