Third Startup Job Crawl makes way through Silicon Sixth (Photos)

Fresh off the start of a new school year, around 40 students and recent graduates ascended on Des Moines’ Silicon Sixth Avenue on Tuesday evening for our third Startup Job Crawl in the city. With more than 20 exhibiting startups across four crawl stops, the event provided students the chance to visit with companies and…

Jon Thompson of Evolve (right) speaks with Startup Job Crawl participants in the Silicon Prairie News office.

Fresh off the start of a new school year, around 40 students and recent graduates ascended on Des Moines’ Silicon Sixth Avenue on Tuesday evening for our third Startup Job Crawl in the city. With more than 20 exhibiting startups across four crawl stops, the event provided students the chance to visit with companies and learn about potential internship and employment opportunities.

“Startups represent the beginning of something, like they have so much potential to be those big things,” said Katie Minnick (below, left), a Drake University senior. “To be a part of something really big, bigger than yourself, is a real cool opportunity and something I would enjoy being a part of.”

This crawl drew a smaller crowd than its predecessors, but a dip in numbers didn’t seem to hinder the hunt for interns or internships.

“It really shows some initiative for students to come out to something like this rather than just go to the university career fair,” said Liz Souers (far right), a recruiting assistant for Ames-based WebFilings.

For Mitch McLaughlin, a Drake sophomore interested in business, the event provided an opportunity to meet local startups for the first time. After the event, he said the startups were welcoming and that, among the startups he spoke with, WebFilings stood out for what he saw as an innovative approach to regulatory compliance.

Olivia Young, a Drake senior, said she enjoyed meeting with Dwolla. “They had a really cool space, the people are really cool, they were very familiar with their product, which I think represents their brand well,” she said. “And, they got me to sign up, so I think that was a success in itself for them.”

Our second and final Startup Job Crawl of this semester takes place tonight in Omaha from 6-8 p.m. at the Mastercraft building. Registration is still open at 2012jobcrawlomaha.eventbrite.com. If you’re planning to attend tonight, check out the Startup Job Crawl mobile site, built by Torsion Mobile.

For an additional look at Tuesday evening’s Crawl, see the photos below.

Kim Foster (left) registers participants for the Startup Job Crawl in the Midland Building.

Thomas Frank (left), Zach Westpfahl (middle) and Martin Boehme picks up their name tags.

SPN’s Geoff Wood welcomes the participants with a short overview of our job board. 

The crawl kicks off on the Midland Building sixth floor.

Dwolla hosts one of the four stops of the event, providing snack and drinks for participants.

Banno lead developer Luke Amdor speaks with crawl participants.

Emily Tozer (center) signs up for Dwolla while the Dwolla’s Jenna Hogan (seated) speaks with participants.

Lyndsay Clark and David Ziemann work the Hatchlings booth in Dwolla’s office.

Brenda Jacobs (far left) and Kariel Post (middle) learn about Goodsmiths in StartupCity Des Moines.

Jordan Engbers (left) hands a business card to Emma Peterson of Tikly while Jay Olsen of Emploi.us looks on.

Torsion Mobile’s Richard Kirsner (middle) greets crawl participants in his company’s office in the Midlands Building.

Jon Thompson of Evolve speaks with Sumit Sen and Andy Hewitt.


Credits: Photos by Danny Schreiber. 

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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