Des Moines This week on PrairieCast we discussed migrating to Des Moines for the purpose of creating your business. We had two guests, Mike Sansone of ConverStations.com and Doug Mitchell of Create WOW Media, both natives of California who independently made the decision that Des Moines was the best place to create their businesses. We talked about the process they used in seeking out Des Moines, other communities they considered, their biggest surprise after moving here… read more

Omaha Mentioned this week: * Filming on location from Slowdown at the Greater Omaha Young Professionals Summit aterparty * Interview with Summit keynote Blake Mycoskie coming next week (recorded by Malone & Co) * Omaha YP Summit recap * WordPress Happy Hour coming to Des Moines * New Silicon Prairie News weekly features… read more

Omaha Mentioned this week * Filming on location at Greater Omaha Chamber's Cornstalks gathering (held fourth Thursday of the month) * Next Thursday's Greater Omaha Young Professionals Summit – interviews with keynote speakers Blake Mycoskie, Patricia Martin, and next week William Taylor * Startup Digest launched in Des Moines with Shane Reiser… read more

Des Moines This was a week of firsts for PrairieCast. We had our first two-part show as well as our first two guest show. Nathan T. Wright of LavaRow and Jeff Slobotski of Silicon Prairie News joined us to talk about the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference in Austin, Texas. Nathan and Jeff are veterans of this show, dubbed by many to be "spring break for geeks," and both are presenting sessions this year. We discuss their presentations, The Silicon Prairie Party hosted by… read more

Omaha Mentioned this week: * Filming on location at Barley's TipTop during the Greater Omaha Young Professionals' Style Your Sole Party, a pre-party for this year's Young Professionals Summit * Happy (belated) Birthday Dusty! * Upcoming interviews with Young Professionals Summit speakers: TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, CEO and founder of LitLamp read more

Des Moines This week's topic grew from an experience I had when I first moved to Des Moines in August of last year. In my initial wave of networking in the entrepreneurial community, I asked the simple question of "where do entrepreneurs gather?" As you can imagine, I received a variety of answers. This week, Andy Brudtkuhl and I discuss the pros and cons of individual coffee shops as entrepreneurial venues throughout the community as well as few other locations that we frequent for discussions… read more

Omaha Mentioned this week: * Filming on location Creighton University's Harper Center * Guest co-host Brook Matthews, marketing director for Creighton's College of Business * Testifying on behalf of LB 1109 - Adopt the Nebraska Innovation and High Wage Employment Act * Dusty's post on having a vibrant social scene read more

Des Moines This week, Andy Brudtkuhl and I talk with someone that many in this community know, Silicon Prairie News co-founder Dusty Davidson. Dusty talks about his experiences as an entrepreneur with both Silicon Prairie News and BrightMix, BrightMix's Tripleseat product, what he's learned as BrightMix transitioned from a consulting firm to a product company, and the best and worst things about being an entrepreneur in the Midwest. read more