Silicon Prairie News

Posts by Michael Quinlan
3808_20285d530b_small March 28, 2012 by Michael Quinlan

Omaha An idea born out of a small Omaha company looking to get more exposure and return on investment from its own local self-storage facility advertising has grown into one of the nation's leading online self-storage directories. USstoragesearch.com is an Omaha-based online directory for shopping, comparing … read more

3512_0e3a2a502b_small January 26, 2012 by Michael Quinlan

Omaha Artifact Bag Co. and its founder Chris Hughes are a unique up-and-coming prairie company – a refreshingly old-school startup in a technical community. Hughes makes bags. Great bags. One in particular, the No. 215 Lunch Tote (below), has earned attention from popular tech blogs to established media outlets. "It's a simple, elegant design," the New York Times wrote. Using American-sourced waxed … read more

3062_68677dd783_small October 24, 2011 by Michael Quinlan

Des Moines Douglas Olson brings almost two decades of lessons learned in the software business and entrepreneurial development to his current position as the partner director of development for Microsoft’s suite of creative design and media applications: Microsoft Expression Studio. Now the head of the Expression team, Olson manages development and user experience within Expression Studio. … read more

3045_68b3368359_small October 21, 2011 by Michael Quinlan

Des Moines Jerri Chou, co-founder of Lovely Day, All Day Buffet, The Feast and TBD, firmly believes that we can create a better world by purpose-driven social collaboration in which people "do well by doing good." “Social enterprises are driven not by just the bottom line but by purpose and passion to make the world a better place,” Chou said this morning during the second talk of Thinc Iowa. Five T.I. Takeaways … read more

3028_b5f002b0e1_small October 18, 2011 by Michael Quinlan

Omaha Tom Miller thinks small. 40k small. That’s the size restriction called for by most ad agencies in online banner advertising today. “That’s what I take a lot of pride in, the ability to squeeze large amounts of visual information into teeny, tiny ad restrictions," Miller said. "That’s where I get a lot of my repeat business.” Miller is a freelance designer and Flash developer working out of What Cheer’s office space in the ever-evolving Mastercraft building … read more