Attendees from across Iowa gather for a group photo at the Big Omaha 2011 opening party. Photo by Malone & Company.
Thinc Iowa week is here! Can you believe it? It’s somewhat surreal that we started working on this idea over a year ago and now the time has come to make it happen.
This is going to be a special event, bringing people from across the nation to Des Moines for an important conversation about how startups and established corporations can learn from each other. In that spirit, I love looking at the excitement in the picture at the top of this post. It was taken at the Big Omaha Omaha Party in May when someone decided to round up as many Iowans as they could find and pack them into the photobooth. The enthusiasm on the 23 faces in the picture was palpable that night and I can’t wait to see how it translates to Thinc Iowa – an event in our collective backyard.
Thanks to our sponsor
While the speakers for Thinc Iowa are coming in from coast-to-coast, I’m most proud of the number of local partners who’ve put their support behind making the event a reality. It includes community partners like Performance Marketing, Shift, John Pappajohn Education Center, Greater Des Moines Partnership, Evolve, Event1 Video, Anna Jones | Art of Photography, Drake University, Internet Solver, Karl Chevrolet, Seed Here, OCA Ventures and Confurrent.
As one of our speakers, Ben Milne of Dwolla, wrote in a guest post last week, it’s that community that is at the core of why we’re putting on Thinc Iowa.
To those of you who bought a ticket, I thank you for your participation and your investment in the community. To those who didn’t buy a ticket, yet, what are you waiting for?
We’ll be writing a lot over the next two weeks about the awesome sponsors that have turned out to make this event a reality. These companies truly believe in Iowa and in the Silicon Prairie as a center of innovation – so much so that they put their money behind it. Whether you’re joining us or not, please go out of your way to thank them and utilize their services and products whenever you can.
It’s going to be a busy week for the Silicon Prairie News team as we get the last minute details in place. So, if we don’t run into you now, be sure and join us at the Thinc Iowa Opening Party presented by T8 Webware at the Des Moines Social Club on Thursday at 8 p.m., an open to the public kickoff to our inaugural event.
A limited amount of tickets remain. If you would really like to attend but can’t afford the full cost of a ticket, please contact me at geoff@siliconpraireinews.com for scholarship information.
