Silicon Prairie News

Screenshot from nebraskaentrepreneur.com

Hopefully this post isn't too late for you to take the day off or make plans for a short road trip to La Vista next Friday, February 25th* to attend this year's Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship. With an increased tech and creative presence on the speaker lineup (which includes our own co-founder, Dusty Davidson), we're especially excited about the event. Whether it's the Archrival co-founders addressing the term "Flyover" or one of the Hudl co-founders talking about "unlimited vacation and Jets tickets," this year's Summit features a slate of individuals we've either profiled and reported on or plan to do so.

The Summit kicks off at 8:30 a.m. on the 25th (doors open at 8 a.m.) with a talk from James Milliken, president of the University of Nebraska. The day will conclude with a talk from Joe Moglia, chairman of the board of TD Ameritrad, at 3 p.m. The cost for a regular attendee is $25 (students get in free) and tickets can be purchased at cariregistration.unl.edu. The event is taking plate at the Embassy Suites Omaha-La Vista Hotel & Conference Center (12520 Westport Parkway, La Vista).

Here's the day's schedule (from nebraskaentrepreneur.com/2011-summit):

8:00 a.m. – Registration, Networking and Light Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – Opening Session

• James B. Milliken, President, University of Nebraska
• Rick Sheehy, Lt. Governor, State of Nebraska
• Opening Keynote: "Flyover" – Clint! Runge and Charles Hull, Archrival Co-founders

10:00 a.m. – Breakout Sessions:

Track 1: Discovery & Innovation

"Can The University Really Develop Entrepreneurs and Innovators?" – David Keck, Director, Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Track 2: Start Up

"Entrepreneurship and Job Creation" – Sangeeta Badal, Senior Consultant, Gallup Consulting

Track 3: Growth

"Phenomblue: Finding Partners" – Joe Olsen, CEO, Director of Strategy & Innovation, Phenomblue

11:00 a.m. – Breakout Sessions:

Track 1: Discovery & Innovation: 

• "Innovative research fuels future advances in health care" – Jennifer Yentes, Laboratory Manager, Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Track 2: Start Up

• "The Devils Surrounding Angels" – Brad Bernthal, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, University of Colorado

Track 3: Growth

• "Falling Means Getting Back Up" – Scott Kleeb, President, Energy Pioneer Solutions
• "Genomics and the GeneSeek Experience" – Abe Oommen, General Manager Neogen Corporation/Geneseek

12:00 p.m. – State-wide Award Recognitions

• Luncheon Keynote – Pamela Dingman, CEO, Engineering Design Consultants

1:45 p.m. – Breakout Sessions:

Track 1: Discovery & Innovation

• "Next Generation Projects Inside a New Venture" – Dusty Davidson, Co-Owner Tripleseat (and co-founder of Silicon Prairie News)

Track 2: Start Up

• Matthew Wegener, President & CEO, ISoft Data Systems and Turbine Flats
• Steve Frayser, President, University of Nebraska Technology Park
• Nick Hudson, Founder, Halo Institute
• Megan Hunt, Owner, CAMP Coworking

Track 3: Growth

• "How to rapidly grow a Nebraska startup – unlimited vacation and Jets tickets" – John Wirtz, Chief Operating Officer, Hudl
• "Review of Internet and Traditional Company Growth" – Stephanie Healy, Co-Founder, Vente

3:00 p.m. – Closing Keynote

• Joe Moglia, Chairman of the Board, TD Ameritrade

3:30 p.m. – Adjourn

Also: There's an event taking place the night before in La Vista, "Greater Omaha Young Professionals: Summit for Entrepreneurship Welcome Reception," which incorporates this month's Cornstalks, the gathering put on by the Omaha Chamber.

*Updated 10 a.m. – When orginally published, the post incorrectly stated "Thursday, February 25th." The day should be "Friday, February 25th."