Silicon Prairie News

Iowa City Articles
NEWS

Busy Coworking carves out shared workspace in downtown Iowa City

4021_8f2ebc53d6_small April 23, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City A new coworking spot in Iowa City is open for business. And for busyness. Busy Coworking earlier this month officially opened the doors to its third-floor space at 218 East Washington St. It's starting small but has plenty of room to grow as it aims to provide affordable, comfortable workspace to independent professionals in downtown Iowa City. The opening was the culmination of a year worth of work by co-founders Sheila Samuelson and Jordan Running. Samuelson, a sustainable business … read more

SERIES

Prairie Portrait: Fredrick Galoso, senior at the University of Iowa

4001_0eae1bebf0_small April 19, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City Silicon Prairie News: What does your typical schedule look like when you're juggling school, Stackd, KRUI, Bridgestone and — if there's any time left — enjoying your waning time as a college student? | Fredrick Galoso: Believe it or not, it's not too bad. I schedule my classes to be as one big block as much as possible, and usually I get done with class each day before 1 p.m. Then from 1 to about 5 every day I devote time to day-job type activities. After that, I split time with homework, extracurriculars, Stackd and hanging out with friends until I go to sleep. It can take a lot of focus and discipline, but it's amazing how much you can get done. I'm all about … read more

NEWS

SkyDog Kickstarter campaign aims to bring ‘iPhone’s best friend’ to masses

3886_6b6a899f84_small March 30, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City Industrial designer Grant Schultz believes he has a companion that can become iPhone's best friend. Meet SkyDog, Schultz's system designed to help people get the most from their iPhones while on the go. Tailored to the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, SkyDog consists of a three components: an iPhone case, a form-fitting cradle and a swivel-mount base. The base can attach to bars (bikes, strollers … read more

NEWS

ActiveGrade names advisory board, co-founder confirms $200k raise

3638_5e8f11a9e5_small February 15, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City ActiveGrade, a startup established to help educators better track pupils' development, has assembled a group of educators tasked with keeping a similarly watchful eye on the company's own progress. Iowa City-based ActiveGrade last week unveiled a seven-member advisory board, which is made up of educators and teacher leaders from across the country. The group will help advise and guide ActiveGrade in the ongoing development of its feature product, an online gradebook we reported on last month that … read more

NEWS

Ex-teachers look to sharpen focus of student feedback with ActiveGrade

3401_0610b2a4f5_small January 6, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City It wasn't long ago that Michal Eynon-Lynch (far left) and Riley Eynon-Lynch (near left) made their living as teachers, educating students on subjects like math and science, history and humanities. Now, the wife and husband are getting an education of their own — on bootstrapping a startup. The Eynon-Lynches, along with designer Dan Sweeney, make … read more

NEWS

Follow the live blog of TEDxIowaCity starting at 10 a.m.

3161_d4820a628b_small November 11, 2011 by Brittany Mascio

Iowa City Tune in here starting at 10 a.m. to follow the live blog of TEDxIowaCity, the local, independently organized … read more

NEWS

Startup Weekend Iowa City starts Sept 30, Tony Hsieh slated as keynote

2820_f668b6daab_small September 14, 2011 by Danny Schreiber

Iowa City Pulling out the tech scene star power, Startup Weekend Iowa City (Sept. 30 - Oct. 2) is featuring a video introduction by Zappos CEO and best-selling author Tony Hsieh. "(I) defintely encourage all of you, if you've got an idea, pitch it," Hsieh says in a five-minute video that also features Dylan Bathurst of Zappos' development team. "A bunch of us went on this bus across the country last year to … read more

PROFILES

Q&A: Josh Cramer on selling one company to take another next-level

2766_7e05f8e120_small August 25, 2011 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City After years of nurturing two companies and overseeing both as they grew side by side, Josh Cramer decided it was best for both of his babies to bid adieu to one. Cramer, 35, the founder of Iowa City-based shops Cramer Dev and Cramer IT, recently sold Cramer IT to focus on Cramer Dev, a decision he explained in a recent blog post. Cramer IT closed its sale to Circle Computer Resources, which is based in Cedar Rapids, on July 1. CCR retained Cramer IT's entire team and its office space. Cramer sold his entire stake in the company but is currently assisting in a transitional period, which he said has unfolded without any major hiccups. … read more

NEWS

With more than 100 attendees, inaugural BarCamp ICR a success

2723_2d8acb14ee_small August 16, 2011 by Guest Contributor

Iowa City The inaugural BarCamp ICR was held on Saturday at the Iowa City Public Library. We couldn't have had a better event! We met over 100 attendees and our day was extended hours longer due to many more people wanting to talk than we could have imagined. Just three minutes after opening up the grid for talks, we had the entire schedule filled for the day. Our deepest thanks goes out to our attendees, speakers, sponsors, organizers and volunteers … read more

NEWS

37 Gs for 140 characters: at U of Iowa, money grows on tweets

2662_1e5763d900_small August 8, 2011 by Michael Stacy

Iowa City Copious dollars/ From a dearth of characters/ Money grows on tweets Fortunately for John Yates, his recent try at haiku was substantially stronger than our attempt to tell the story of his unusual scholarship in 17 on. Last week, Yates won a full financial award package (valued at $37,240) from the University of Iowa Tippie School of Management for writing the best application tweet. He did so with haiku: "Globally minded/ Innovative and driven/ Tippie can sharpen" … read more