February 2, 2011 by Guest Contributor
Lincoln (Editor's Note: In this four-part series, Tom Chapman breaks down four bills that are a part of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman's "Talent and Innovation Initiative.") The Nebraska Internship Bill provides a matching grant to private, for-profit employers who add internship jobs that did not exist prior to the program. The goal of the program is to keep students in and from Nebraska in the state working for… read more
January 28, 2011 by Guest Contributor
Omaha It seems like a post about Hacks/Hackers should start with some rumination on the future of news and information. I just… read more
January 24, 2011 by Guest Contributor
Omaha (Editor's Note: We've asked Tom Chapman (left), director of innovation and entrepreneurship for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, to contribute a guest post on his 2011 goals for Cornstalks, the monthly meetup he organizes.) Cornstalks is a group for pre-seed and seed entrepreneurs in high growth businesses. It provides light education and networking on a monthly basis. It is intended to be a group that is welcoming to a select group of entrepreneurs and nurturing of their entrepreneurial efforts. read more
January 10, 2011 by Guest Contributor
Lincoln (This is a guest post by Matt Mueller, Coach Relations Manager for Hudl.) The Ducks do not slow down. The New York Times called their style "Speed-Freak Football." During games, opponents routinely ask them to slow down or fake injuries after plays to prevent Oregon’s offense, which leads the FBS in both scoring (49.3 points per game) and yards (537.5 yards per game), from firing off another play. Off the field, the motto “Fast. Hard. Finish.” read more
January 5, 2011 by Guest Contributor
Omaha (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 more than 4.5 million people have had that this opportunity. The internet allows millions of people to… read more
January 3, 2011 by Guest Contributor
Omaha We here at Silicon Prairie News, Brightmix, and Tripleseat had a great time putting our holiday card together this year. 138 friends, family, and readers submitted their results online. As a fun wrap up, and since we kept track of a bit more information than just name, we have some statistics for those who played the game. As we expected, Jeff's reflection was the hardest difference to find by a large margin. In 57 percent of the responses… read more
December 16, 2010 by Guest Contributor
Omaha As the founder of Learning Innovations, I work with learners and leaders to dream about the way things should be and then figure out how to get there. Since coming to Omaha in 2008 from Palo Alto, California, the main project I have been working on is the Omaha Science Media Project, a collaboration between Omaha Public Schools, research biologists, and journalists to train teachers and students as science journalists. In 2010, I started leading seminars locally and globally for education and non-profit leaders on “design thinking” that build on the work from Stanford University’s “d.school” and IDEO. read more
November 2, 2010 by Guest Contributor
The following is a guest post by Brad Feld of the Foundry Group (left). Originally published on his blog, FeldThoughts, he's given us permission to re-publish it here. We've followed Brad's writings for a few years now since learning about him through the TechStars community. In looking at the successes that he and the Boulder community have experienced over the years, we've been encouraged as well as motivated to take what they've learned as a roadmap for what we're striving to build here. Brad is coming to Omaha… read more
October 21, 2010 by Guest Contributor
Council Bluffs (At left, the product of ClickRWeight, one of the Forum's presenting companies.) This is a guest post written by Tom Chapman. – The 2010 American Food Venture Forum took place this past Tuesday and Wednesday, October 19-20, at Harrah's Hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The forum was the brainchild of Jude Conway of Entrepreneurial Advisors, Inc. in Clive, Iowa. The Forum… read more
October 19, 2010 by Guest Contributor
Des Moines (The following is a guest post by Ben Milne of Dwolla.) A road map is kind of like a runway. You need a runway to get things off the ground. You need a clear road map to get companies off the ground. Until our culture is so ingrained in us we see the road map as part of our regions identity (like the Valley) we need to be working to make it clearer. We need to assume no one knows what the road map is or looks like and that companies trying to grow are clueless. Like me. Every company has a road map to attain their goals whether or not they are aware of it is… read more
Through August 22, help us decide the winners of our inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards, which will recognize 12
companies and individuals. You can vote once per day per category.
Winners will be announced live on stage at
our August 30 event.