Startup Weekend Des Moines is a success

I first met Geoff a few months ago after he reached out to me indicating he was considering moving back to Omaha and wanted to sit down and chat about the community developing in the city. After connecting him with several individuals and organizations around town, I’m happy to announce that Geoff is indeed moving…

I first met Geoff a few months ago after he reached out to me indicating he was considering moving back to Omaha and wanted to sit down and chat about the community developing in the city. After connecting him with several individuals and organizations around town, I’m happy to announce that Geoff is indeed moving to Omaha within the next few weeks!

Enjoy this piece from Geoff on his experiences at Startup Weekend Des Moines a few weeks back!

0805_JeffWoodGeoff Wood (@geoffwood) is an Iowa native that is currently moving from Indianapolis to Omaha. His wife is in this fall’s class at Creighton’s Law School and he’s looking for ways that he can contribute to Omaha entrepreneurial community. Learn more about Geoff at geoffreyhwood.com.

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0806_SWDSMAs most people know the Silicon Prairie’s creative class extends beyond Omaha’s city limits, and that was never more evident than last weekend at Startup Weekend Des Moines.

Startup Weekend is a non-profit corporation based in Washington with the purpose of putting on three day entrepreneurial gatherings in cities all across the world. These events bring together back-end developers, user interface specialists, project managers, business development folks, and others to form teams with the purpose of taking an idea from concept-to-release in a mere 54 hours.

Clint Nelsen (@clintnelsen), a partner in the organization, traveled to Des Moines to facilitate the event. In discussing the idea, Clint noted, “Startup Weekend has been in 52 cities and 12 countries in just a little over two years. I’m continually blown away by the creativity and drive of local entrepreneurs and am passionate about providing the mechanism for entrepreneurs to take their ideas from concept to execution.”

Startup Weekend Des Moines was organized locally by Shane Reiser (@shanereiser) with the purpose of driving his fellow entrepreneurs to action, “I’ve met a lot of people in Des Moines with great ideas for new businesses, but few seem to take action. After hearing about the success of the Kansas City event, I recognized that Des Moines could benefit from something similar. Startup Weekend Des Moines could be the catalyst to help people get their ideas off the ground and running.”

Startup Weekend Des Moines was just that:

Seventeen ideas were pitched by the thirty participants at 6 p.m. on Friday evening. Through a caucus process, the group settled on four and went to work:

  • ToyBinTrader.com (@toybintrader) – a web application to match those wanting to swap children’s toys so that kids can always have something “new-to-them” without parents having to always purchase them from the store.
  • SparkNight.com (@sparknight) – A service that allows clients to “punch up the excitement” of date night with surprise date every month that has been planned from start to finish.
  • Classtrack.org (@classtrack) – a online classroom management tool which allows teachers and parents to track and collaborate on student progress
  • ReAuthor.Me (@reauthorme) – an application to allow blog publishers to quickly sort and organize their existing blog content into an ebook that can be published for profit.

Fueled by 1,056 ounces of coffee, 24 pizzas, 70 bagels, and one keg of beer, the weekend was a success; each of the four companies formed launched applications, services, or information web pages by Sunday evening. Continued success for each team will be measured by their ability to follow through and execute on their vision without the support of the community. ClassTrack.org already has a step ahead as they were chosen via community vote for a grant to go toward expenses in taking their startup to the next level.

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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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