[
{
"id": 510,
"participant_id": 2244,
"presenter_name": "Wendy Meadley",
"presenter_bio": "**Global Communications Leader > Digital + Social Expert > Full-Funnel Integrated Marketing Practitioner > Author**\r\n\r\nAs a seasoned strategist I am poised on the cutting edge in: technology, food/beverage/cuisine, health care, transportation + infrastructure and higher education. Through my consulting practice, I optimize my clients' business opportunities through creative full-funnel-focused performance marketing and communication systems. \r\n\r\n*Background/ Experience include:*\r\n- Go-to-Market Communications Strategies \r\n- Web + Digital Project Leadership\r\n- Social Marketing Design + Development \r\n- Innovation Team Communications + Strategy\r\n\r\nI hold both Executive MBA and Project Management Certifications which provide a strong business framework to my marketing and communication strategies.\r\n\r\nAnd, I currently volunteer my time and talents on the Expo 2023 Board of Directors trying to bring the World’s fair back to the United States and as the Co-chair of the Cuisine Committee for Minnesota’s Super Bowl 52 Host Committee.\r\n\r\n*For more information here is a handy link to my LinkedIn profile http://bit.ly/WMeadleyLI*\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @socialwendy",
"session_title": "Convening the Minnesota Food Influencer Community Campaign",
"summary": null,
"description": "Convening the best of Minnesota’s food landscape to capture the global digital stage being created by the Big Game being hosted in Minnesota on February 4, 2018 at US Bank Stadium.\r\n\r\nIf you live in Minnesota, you are fully aware that we are hosting the largest media platform in America in 2018. More than 50,000 media set their eyes on us here to tell the story of Minnesota from every angle, including our rich food and cuisine landscape. From chefs to cuisine to personalities and one-of-a-kind experiences, Minnesota’s impressive food landscape has it all. And, we’ve convened Minnesota food industry thought leaders to establish the Minnesota Food Influencer Campaign to set the promotional stage for 2018 and beyond. \r\n\r\nWendy Meadley, Interactive Agency Lead of SWG, will provide an introductory overview of the digital platforms being used for this innovative influencer campaign being created by a community of volunteers, that will provide a unique digital promotion platform to benefit Minnesota’s food and beverage industry. And how you can join in if you are interested in supporting Minnesota's promotion on this global digital stage.\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 4,
"created_at": "2017-03-23 21:10:10 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 509,
"participant_id": 1220,
"presenter_name": "hotlou",
"presenter_bio": "hotlou – aka Lou Abramowski – spent a decade joking he could build a 100k follower list on watching paint dry. Today, much to his surprise and delight, that’s no joke. Dozens of brands, big and small, have benefited from his professional guidance on growth and entrepreneurship, including\r\n\r\nwww.Evergreen.to - founder, ceo, social media automation for SMBs\r\n\r\n8thBridge – cofounder, MN Cup Grand Prize 2009, acquired in 2014\r\n\r\nJack Link’s Beef Jerky – from 0 to 1M LIkes on Facebook\r\n\r\nOurFamilyWizard – first tech hire, from startup to #1 family management tool in the world\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @hotlou",
"session_title": "Anatomy of Killer Social Media Strategy",
"summary": null,
"description": "Find out how Lou Abramowski (a.k.a. Hot Lou) used a fascinating social experiment involving his Facebook birthday to repeatedly acquire millions of followers for online communities, for unknown artists, and for large brands.\r\n\r\nAnd then learn how those tactics have evolved into a critical piece of killer Social Media Strategy for businesses that lack the time, resources, or expertise to manage their social media effectively -- including a way to set up your social media to run on auto-pilot for months at a time. \r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 31,
"created_at": "2017-03-21 22:55:31 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 508,
"participant_id": 1247,
"presenter_name": "Senthil Kumaran",
"presenter_bio": "Senthil S. Kumaran is a technology executive, architect, and educator with over 30 years of experience in software engineering and leadership. He has driven digital transformation and technological innovation across various sectors, including healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing. His expertise includes strategic IT leadership, cloud-native architecture, enterprise architecture, and the implementation of advanced technologies like applied AI and machine learning to create scalable, impactful solutions. He is also a recognized thought leader in applying agile methodologies and DevOps practices.\r\n\r\nKumaran currently serves as the CIO at MNGI Digestive Health and holds a part-time position as an Adjunct Professor at Concordia University. In this academic role, he teaches courses in software engineering, emerging technologies, and data management. He is also a sought-after speaker who has presented at over 100 technical and healthcare conferences on the intersection of technology, healthcare, and AI.\r\n\r\nAs the technical co-founder of Virtuwell, a pioneering telehealth platform, Kumaran designed and implemented a HIPAA-compliant system that served over one million patients, earning a 98%+ positive feedback rating. His contributions included developing clinical decision support systems and optimizing patient engagement workflows. At Virtuwell, he led the AI, Machine Learning, and Enterprise Architecture group, driving over $100 million in savings, innovation, and growth through digital product development.\r\n\r\nHe holds a Master's in Electronics Engineering from Bharathiar University, India, and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. He is also an active contributor to various nonprofits and frequently presents at technology events worldwide.\r\n",
"session_title": "Use Technology to cut your Health care cost",
"summary": null,
"description": "Deductibles are rising, provider networks are shrinking, and insurers have been switching from fixed-dollar co-payments to coinsurance. Your out-of-pocket costs is rising significantly every year. You need to learn some key strategies to become a better health care shopper. How to know the cost, how to do comparison shopping, how to leverage Technology, when and how to leverage Telehealth and how to maximize HSA dollars are some of the key elements in cutting down on our cost. Let us also explore some apps that helps us on prescription drug shopping. This session will give you ideas on how \r\nto be a savvy Healthcare shopper. \r\n",
"room_name": "Florida",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 14,
"created_at": "2017-03-21 15:01:27 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 507,
"participant_id": 1899,
"presenter_name": "Mark McCahill",
"presenter_bio": "Mark McCahill has been involved in developing and popularizing a number of Internet technologies since the late 1980s.\r\n\r\nMcCahill led the development of the Gopher protocol, the effective predecessor of the World Wide Web, he was involved in creating and codifying the standard for Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and he led the development of POPmail, one of the first e-mail clients which had a foundational influence on later e-mail clients and the popularization of graphical user interfaces in Internet technologies more broadly. He also coined the phrase \"surfing the Internet.\r\n\r\nHe currently works as a systems architect at the Office of Information Technology at Duke University.\r\n\r\nwikipedia entry: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_P._McCahill]",
"session_title": "Minnesota Computing Aesthetics: TIES to CDC Cybers to Apples to Macs to the Internet",
"summary": null,
"description": "After taking up programming in BASIC when the first unsupervised Teletype 33 terminal arrived at Minnetonka West Junior High in the early 1970s, I've spent the next 45 years on a search for truth and beauty as world of computing evolved — with mixed results.\r\n\r\nHow do you get things done, and more importantly, get the right things done? I’ll tell you about some lessons that I learned the hard way.",
"room_name": null,
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 08:45:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 53,
"created_at": "2017-03-21 03:50:13 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-21 04:24:08 UTC"
},
{
"id": 506,
"participant_id": 1984,
"presenter_name": "Tarik Crespo",
"presenter_bio": "Tarik Crespo, 12 year-old Scratch programmer, learned about Scratch through the Science Museum of Minnesota. He took what he learned to his school, leading a scratch programming club, where he taught other kids how to use the program and share their creations.",
"session_title": "Scratch Programming from a Kid's Perspective",
"summary": null,
"description": "Are you looking for a fun and interesting way for you or kids you know to learn about programming? Scratch may be the program for you (or them). This kid-led session will lead you through how to set up an account, cool things you can do with scratch and how to share it with your friends and the world.",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 26,
"created_at": "2017-03-20 22:40:55 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 505,
"participant_id": 1270,
"presenter_name": "Daniel Feldman",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a software engineer working on open source network security stuff. Follow me @dfeldman.org on BlueSky.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/dfeldman)\r\n",
"session_title": "⚡ Lightning Talks ⚡",
"summary": null,
"description": "Did you know that lightning travels at 220,000 MPH, can carry up to 1 billion volts, and strikes the earth more than 100 times per second? **Now you know!**\r\n\r\nLightning talks -- a bit like real lightning -- are fast-paced, powerful, and spontaneous. If you've got a project you want to brag about or an idea you need feedback on, this is your chance to stand up in front of our audience of crack tech geniuses and get a few minutes in the limelight. \r\n\r\nSlides are not necessary, but welcome. The shortest talks will get to go first, and then we'll do longer talks as time allows (so be brief!).\r\n\r\nNow let's look at some lightning striking an active volcano eruption. \r\n\r\n![](\"http://i.imgur.com/eIkgvPL.jpg\")
",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 64,
"created_at": "2017-03-20 22:01:33 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 504,
"participant_id": 2038,
"presenter_name": "Sarah Wick ",
"presenter_bio": "I am a co-founder of idea2Launch, a St. Paul based company that helps startups, start up. My background spans from non-profit to direct to consumer retailers, to real estate. I do my best work when I'm analyzing businesses to determine and repair inefficiencies and help companies evolve. Additionally, I have started real estate teams, worked and found funding for non-profits, collaborated and developed brand and sales strategy for one of the largest brands in the world. \r\n\r\nSarah is a Scorpio, enjoys long walks on the beach, and is a UMN graduate. ",
"session_title": "If Your Key Consumer Base is EVERYONE, You Are Wrong.",
"summary": null,
"description": "So often startups have a \"sky is the limit\" mentality and expend more energy than necessary making their product appeal to anyone and everyone who needs it. (Which is anyone and everyone, right?!) This session will be about refining that outlook and while everyone might need what you're selling, we will help determine who needs your product MOST and FIRST. We will help determine who your biggest fans are/will be, discuss different strategies on designing for and marketing to your A-Team, and have a collaborative discussion around these topics. ",
"room_name": "Florida",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Design",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Lisa Zufall"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1841
],
"attendance_count": 23,
"created_at": "2017-03-20 17:15:05 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 501,
"participant_id": 1992,
"presenter_name": "David Herring",
"presenter_bio": "A software engineer with just enough hardware experience to be dangerous. Entrepreneur and tech lead.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/dwherring)",
"session_title": "Actionable Intelligence Infrastructure for Sensor Data",
"summary": null,
"description": "The path from \"the edge\" of a sensor network, where data are gathered, to the cloud, where data can be aggregated and actionable intelligence can be derived, is beginning to open up. Standards are emerging but the current state of the art is a bit like the wild west, with many proprietary formats and one-off implementations.\r\n\r\nThose that can navigate this pathway and provide solutions that present data in a meaningful way can solve outstanding problems in control infrastructure management.\r\n\r\nThis session explores some challenges in gathering data and traversing the path of those data from sensors to the cloud. We'll look at how to debug when the hardware doesn't work and what tools are available to streamline the data pipeline.\r\n\r\nWe'll look at specific cases with examples of real hardware challenges and explore solutions along with the application of those solutions to interesting commercial problems.",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 33,
"created_at": "2017-03-20 03:28:32 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 500,
"participant_id": 410,
"presenter_name": "Dan Frankowski",
"presenter_bio": "I have worked at twin cities startups (Net Perceptions, Orasi Medical, code42, Blue Shift Labs), at larger companies (Google, Amazon, Pinterest), and as a fellow in the GroupLens research lab at the University of Minnesota. I was a data scientist at Pinterest for six years (from startup to big). See more at [linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfrankowski/).",
"session_title": "Comparing the twin cities and silicon valley",
"summary": null,
"description": "I'd like the twin cities to have a healthy tech ecosystem. Can we learn anything from silicon valley? Help me figure that out. I'll prepare some remarks from my own experiences, and leave time for discussion and Q&A.",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 79,
"created_at": "2017-03-20 02:01:54 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 499,
"participant_id": 859,
"presenter_name": "Sara Cowles",
"presenter_bio": "An advocate for the power of design thinking to help companies innovate and thrive, Sara leads design and engineering teams to collaborate, experiment, and learn toward a better understanding of the humans we serve.\r\n\r\nCurrently Director of Product Design at [When I Work](http://wheniwork.com). Formerly Director of UX and Engineering at enStratus and Dell Software.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @saracowles",
"session_title": "Being data-driven and human-centered",
"summary": null,
"description": "> All of the answers we want are not in the data. They never are. Sometimes we need to go outside and talk to people. — Hilary Mason\r\n\r\nThere are a million ways to deceive ourselves into believing our projects will succeed. Data is key to keeping us grounded in reality. It helps us learn quickly what’s working and (even more importantly) what’s not working. \r\n\r\nBut data is not enough. Data won’t tell us WHY our customers are not taking the action we expected them to take, and it won’t reveal the insights we can gain from actually talking to our customers and observing their behaviors.\r\n\r\nWe’d like to have a conversation about how this looks at scale. How can we take the insights generated by talking to relatively few people, identify patterns that are meaningful and promising, and feed these into quantitative experiments to validate our ideas at scale. What does this iterative loop look like? What are some of the good ways to go about it, and what are the common traps to avoid?",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Jeff Snyder"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1747
],
"attendance_count": 105,
"created_at": "2017-03-19 21:13:13 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 498,
"participant_id": 8,
"presenter_name": "Casey Helbling",
"presenter_bio": "[SfG Team Bio](http://www.softwareforgood.com/team/)\r\n\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n- [LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/caseyhelbling)\r\n- [Bsky @chelbs](https://bsky.app/profile/chelbs.bsky.social)\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/caseyhelbling)\r\n\r\n\r\n[Twitter @caseyhelbling](https://twitter.com/@caseyhelbling)\r\n[Twitter @softwareforgood](https://twitter.com/@softwareforgood)\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "MinneBar 12 on MinneBar",
"summary": null,
"description": "A conversation about the mission/vision of the minne✱ organization. We'll cover where we've been and where we are going over the next few years. Some current board members will be in attendance to answer your questions. \r\n",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 34,
"created_at": "2017-03-19 19:32:40 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 497,
"participant_id": 1885,
"presenter_name": "Alex Ives",
"presenter_bio": "I manage the Database group at GitLab where we're building (mostly) internal tooling to help our team deliver database changes faster and more safely.\r\n\r\nYou can learn more about me on [my website](http://alex.ives.mn/).\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/alexives)\n- Twitter: @alexeives",
"session_title": "Let's Talk Keyboards! (The typing kind)",
"summary": null,
"description": "I suspect that for many of us at minne**bar**, the keyboard is one of the primary tools of trade. Personally as a software engineer, I think that the keyboard may be one of the most important parts of my setup. At least that's what I tell myself to justify the amount of time I spend thinking and talking about keyboards.\r\n\r\nAt any rate, I'm pretty in to keyboards and I suspect there are other people interested in them as well. This session will be a simple gathering of people who want to talk about keyboards. You don't need to know much of anything about keyboards in order to talk about them, given you probably use them day to day.\r\n\r\nFeel free to bring in an interesting/cool/different/old keyboard if you've got one, otherwise bring yourself! I'll probably bring a couple of the stranger ones I've got around my house.",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Hardware",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 39,
"created_at": "2017-03-19 19:08:22 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 496,
"participant_id": 982,
"presenter_name": "Eugene Belinski",
"presenter_bio": "iOS+Swift developer building cool things // http://swiftly.dev // http://iosref.com // he/him\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/ebelinski)\n- Twitter: @EugeneBelinski",
"session_title": "Privacy for Everyone Workshop",
"summary": null,
"description": "> “Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” – Edward Snowden\r\n\r\n**Privacy** is your right to decide what to share and with whom you share it. This session is for anyone who wants to learn how to take charge of that right. We'll have a 20 minute presentation at the beginning, and the rest of the session will be open for questions, so please bring some! I will be showing examples, so feel free to also bring your smartphone or other devices and follow along.\r\n\r\nThe topics we will cover include:\r\n\r\n* Keeping data on your devices encrypted and safe\r\n* Secure messaging and calling with Signal\r\n* Secure internet browsing with Tor\r\n* Avoiding trackers online\r\n* Keeping your account safe with password managers and two-factor authentication\r\n* Maximizing your privacy on social media\r\n* Avoiding phishing attacks",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 79,
"created_at": "2017-03-19 15:04:26 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 495,
"participant_id": 911,
"presenter_name": "Aaron Hurd",
"presenter_bio": "Aaron Hurd is a nationally recognized expert about credit cards, loyalty programs and travel rewards. He has been published by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Rolling Stone and dozens of other outlets. \r\n\r\nIn 2020, he left a corporate job to pursue freelance content creation and now spends most of his time helping people access new travel adventures, discover new places and make better use of personal finance products.\r\n\r\nIn addition to freelance writing, Aaron runs a strategic consultancy where he helps clients reexamine their business processes and learn how to run their businesses better.\r\n\r\nHe is on Twitter at [@aaronmhurd](https://twitter.com/aaronmhurd) and has a [personal website](https://aaronhurd.com/).\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @aaronmhurd",
"session_title": "Nonprofits in the Twin Cities – 5 Minute Speed Sessions",
"summary": null,
"description": "Many of us donate our time, energy, and resources to nonprofit organizations that make our community stronger. Let’s share what we are doing!\r\n\r\nYou should come to this session if:\r\n• You are looking for opportunities to volunteer\r\n• You have a favorite nonprofit that you work with and you want to tell others about it. (See additional information below.)\r\n• You are curious about how nonprofits in the twin cities can support the entrepreneurial and tech communities\r\n\r\nOrganizations will be called to present on a first-come, first-served basis. Organizations will get five minutes to talk. It’s recommended that those presenting focus on the following:\r\n• What nonprofit organization do you represent and what is your position?\r\n• What does your organization do?\r\n• What can the Twin Cities technology and entrepreneur community do to help your organization?\r\n• How can your organization help the Twin Cities technology and entrepreneur community?\r\n\r\nIf you are interested in presenting, email aaronhurd@gmail.com. Please include the following, which will be included on a slide:\r\n• Organization name\r\n• A sentence describing what your organization does\r\n• Organization website and how people can contact you/your organization for more information\r\n\r\nIf you’re reading this the day of Minnebar and want to present about your organization, come anyway and see Aaron during the session. If we have open slots, you are welcome to present.\r\n\r\nA list of contact information for organizations presenting will be sent out to anyone attending the session who is interested.",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 56,
"created_at": "2017-03-19 07:47:21 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 494,
"participant_id": 1215,
"presenter_name": "Lee Prinkkila - CPA, CGMA ",
"presenter_bio": "Lee's mission is to leave this place better off than he found it. \r\n\r\nFor over 20 years Lee has read the Tax code filed thousands of returns and audited many times and does the fractional CFO thing for startups, established companies, and even a publicly traded CFO for a spell. \r\n\r\nAs a CPA and Fractional CFO, Lee gets in and builds financial statements to comply with the tax code so you can keep more of what you earn. Then you can help more people with it. Lee specializes in designing the strategy for the R&D tax credits and help comply with the tax code - the ever-changing tax code. In his spare time, he writes articles for Tax Preparers and will this year start a series of training classes for CPAs across the country on leadership, speed and innovation in the tax preparers world after the tax reform changes and Wayfair. \r\n\r\nTo quote the rule of acquisition number 255 A wife is a luxury, a smart accountant a necessity.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @LeePrinkkila",
"session_title": "The Pirate Ships CPA unlocking a treasure in business",
"summary": null,
"description": "As a CPA (Cutthroat Pirate Accountant) for 20 years and worked with many startups, mid-sized and over 150 publicly traded companies throughout the world. I have bought them, sold them and even scuttled them by banks order. \r\n\r\nMy passion is business, all types and learning new things especially their secrets. \r\n\r\nI have compiled them all into a treasure map - and eventually a sit-com - but it will be an entertaining tale of setting sail with many of the greatest pirate legends you never heard of yet. \r\n\r\nWe will learn the four things all successful business have in common, you will walk away with that mighty treasure trove of knowledge especially if you are a start-up. \r\n\r\n\r\nAre you worried about the government catching you for not complying with the Stamp Tax? I can give you the keys to keep you out of the stocks by doing these two things. \r\n\r\nAre you afraid of the sharks? Don't worry the lamprey are who you should fear. Sharks kill and eat you. \r\n\r\nAre you afraid of the Crew Mutining? I can tell you the secret to that as well. \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThis is like a TED Talk given by one of the most extroverted CPA in the State who has spent years on an adventure he would like to share with you, except I can talk longer than 15 minutes. You will walk away with energy and the map to a world of secrets to be a successful startup. \r\n\r\nTake Aways - \r\n1. I can source out some Free Resources for your journey as I know all the good ports of call. \r\n2. The inside scoop on financials the only thing you need to know - the things the auditors can tell you things about your company \r\n3. Complimentary Spreadsheets - \r\n4. Maybe Rum. ",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 21,
"created_at": "2017-03-19 05:11:11 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 493,
"participant_id": 1927,
"presenter_name": "Chris Macgowan",
"presenter_bio": "Chris Macgowan is a Software Engineer, Filmmaker and Co-Founder of gstream\r\n\r\nChris has been building software since 1985. \r\n\r\nHerrn Macgowan has worked on a couple movies!\r\nhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm3807016/\r\n\r\nAfter failing to become a Film Director - he went back to software. Chris has developed various applications running under Windows, Linux/Unix and now iOS. Back in 1986 - Chris wrote assembler targeting the 8051 Intel Microcontroller.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/cmacgowan)\n- Twitter: @macgowan2",
"session_title": "Test Automation with Java, Selenium, Cucumber",
"summary": null,
"description": "We will discuss Test Automation using Java, Selenium and Cucumber. A general overview of Test Automation will be given to cover: Code-Driven Test Automation, GUI-Driven Test Automation, Test Automation Approaches, Test Automation Tools and Framework Design. \r\n\r\nLooking closer at test automation framework design using Java, Selenium and Cucumber the following topics will be addressed\r\n\r\n- Test Automation in the Agile environment\r\n- Regression tests\r\n- UI tests\r\n- REST and other web services \r\n- Page Object Model\r\n\r\nUse of a well designed framework\r\n\r\n- A complex test automation framework can provide easy test implementation\r\n- Promotes reuse of critical components\r\n- Reduce maintenance efforts\r\n- Support any test automation\r\n- Adopt and use a standard automation framework across the organization\r\n\r\nAnd ...\r\n\r\n- Continuous Integration\r\n- Jenkins and Maven\r\n- Reporting\r\n",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 58,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 20:26:47 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 492,
"participant_id": 402,
"presenter_name": "Tim Erickson",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a long time resident of the Twin Cities who is very active in the local, national, and international Drupal community. I've presented at several regional Drupal camps and national conventions and recently I've become very involved in the Backdrop CMS community.\r\n\r\nI spent many years working in the area of online civic engagement with E-Democracy.org and have a strong interest in online communities. I'm a frequent participant at local hack-a-thons and Open Twin Cities. \r\n\r\nI am the owner of Triplo. Triplo is a local Drupal Development shop that also provides mentoring and support services to local freelance internet designers and developers.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/stpaultim)\n- Twitter: @stpaultim",
"session_title": "Open Source Software as a Political Act",
"summary": null,
"description": "There is something inherently political about participation in an open source community. Those of us who contribute to open source through code, testing, writing documentation, or planning community events are making a conscious decision to contribute towards the creation of a public good that is used by individuals, non-profits, educational institutions, and multi-national corporations alike.\r\n\r\nI’m an active member of the Drupal community and find that most active members of the Drupal community got their start in Drupal by building a website for a school, arts organization, political campaign, or a non-profit organization. We were drawn to Drupal, not only because the code was free, but because of the welcoming community that answered our questions online or took time to work with us one on one at a Meet-Up.\r\n\r\n- Let’s talk about the political implications of using and developing open source software?\r\n- How do open source communities like Wordpress, Drupal or Joomla fit into the larger landscape of open source software, the free software movement, and growing concerns over privacy and government data?\r\n- How do we continue to ensure that open source software is not only affordable but accessible to the small non-profits and organizations of change\r\n- How can non-coders participate in open source communities?\r\n\r\nIn this session we’ll provide some background and context, but we want to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic.",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 52,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 18:36:42 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 491,
"participant_id": 1886,
"presenter_name": "Howard Sadoskas",
"presenter_bio": "Legal and financial consultant.",
"session_title": "How Venture Capital Financing Affects A Start-up",
"summary": null,
"description": "When venture capital becomes part of the equation, the structure of a start-up and its requirements going forward change drastically. This session is to serve as a primer for this process to help burgeoning start-ups, and their entrepreneurs, understand key aspects of VC financing and how it affects their enterprise. \r\n\r\nThere is a tremendous amount of material in this domain, but a 30,000’ overview will be given for: Business structure (re)formation, IP assignments & protection, Employee expectations & contracts, Term Sheets & other documentation, Financing Requirements, Cap Tables & Dilution, and the fabled Liquidation Event.\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 39,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 18:24:04 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 490,
"participant_id": 1923,
"presenter_name": "Elliot Robia",
"presenter_bio": "Elliot is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at [Tinket](http://www.tinket.com), the app that makes it easy to meet. Prior to Tinket, he's held biz dev and product roles at MN companies like [Zipnosis](http://www.zipnosis.com) and [Pixel Farm](http://www.pixelfarm.com).",
"session_title": "How to Get a Meeting with Anyone",
"summary": null,
"description": "If at least 20 people show interest by EOD Monday, March 20, I'll host this session and show the process I've used to get meetings with billionaires, venture capitalists, and the Fortune 500 C-suite.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 118,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 18:13:48 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 489,
"participant_id": 1921,
"presenter_name": "Josiah Austin Gulden",
"presenter_bio": "\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/josiahgulden)\n- Twitter: @jgulden",
"session_title": "Supercharging Your Design Workflow with Nested Symbols in Sketch",
"summary": null,
"description": "Learn how using nested symbols in Sketch can help you manage complexity, scale patterns elegantly, avoid design debt, simplify developer handoff, and generally keep yourself sane while building digital products and design systems.",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 29,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 17:44:56 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 488,
"participant_id": 1545,
"presenter_name": "Draeke Weseman",
"presenter_bio": "Business Attorney at Messerli & Kramer P.A.\r\n\r\nhttps://www.messerlikramer.com/attorney/draeke-h-weseman\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @draeke",
"session_title": "Planning the Exit at the Start",
"summary": null,
"description": "Understanding buy-sell agreements and exit planning is a crucial part of the startup founder's journey. This introductory session by Certified Financial Planner Tyler Furger and business attorney Draeke Weseman will lay out the concepts and issues startup founders should know about as they go through the business life cycle. \r\n\r\nSome of the talking points for the presentation will be:\r\n\r\n(1) The value of building a business to sell (regardless of when or how you want to sell it.)\r\n(2) The relationship between business value and your personal financial plan.\r\n(3) How to leverage your financial and legal advisers effectively to build business value.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Tyler Furger"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1208
],
"attendance_count": 33,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 16:47:48 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 487,
"participant_id": 1281,
"presenter_name": "Erin Warhol",
"presenter_bio": "Erin has led Information Technology and Information Security initiatives for 21 years for large corporations, K-12 and higher education, and start-ups. She also consulted for a risk management company that focuses on physical security, including intelligence and behavioral assessment. She also consults for small businesses and mentors in STEM. \r\n\r\nShe specializes in:\r\nThird Party Security\r\nSecurity Program Creation\r\nTraining\r\nRisk Assessment and Threat Modeling\r\nManagement Strategies",
"session_title": "Recruiting, Hiring and Maintaining Diverse Talent",
"summary": null,
"description": "This session will bring both conceptual and specific strategies to achieve a diverse and inclusive workplace. We'll present about what it means to set and meet your goals, and about the different phases for the entire employment cycle from recruitment to off-boarding. \r\n\r\nThis session will be helpful for both hiring authorities who want to improve their organization's diversity, and employees without hiring responsibilities who want to help make their own environments more inclusive.",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 51,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 16:45:32 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 486,
"participant_id": 74,
"presenter_name": "Jeffry Brown",
"presenter_bio": "Jeffry Brown\r\nLearner - Doer - Storyteller\r\nhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrybrown\r\n \r\nTHINKING DIFFERENTLY - ENTREPRENEUR - CREATE POSITIVITY - INVESTOR\r\nJeff has spent his career starting, leading, leaving and coaching businesses, after first working at Apple in that company's early years. There he worked directly with Steve Jobs on creating the company's future and culture. He is one of the founding members of Hill Capital and coaches entrepreneurial businesses in growth strategy, ROI and human relations. 12 year, Advisory Board member at Sunrise Banks. \r\n\r\nLifelong teacher and learner never looking back but always looking forward. \r\nNot retired but re-fired to happily help others find and enjoy their purpose.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\nLinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrybrown/\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "Entrepreneur Mentorship - RSVTea an idea to product in the market in 6 months",
"summary": null,
"description": "In this session you will see the value of having a mentor through a case study of RSVTea, a new drink born as part of Macalester Collages Entrepreneurial program. Sarah Nichols a student in the program and her mentor Jeffry Brown will discuss how the concept turned from idea to product in the market in 6 months. Including investment, packaging and market acceptance. Think of RSVTea as a new good for you technology drink, the principals discussed in this session can be applied to any new product launch. \r\n\r\nPLUS! you'll get to sample RSVTea\r\n\r\nMentors. They've been there, done that and have seen it all. Yet, a woeful number of entrepreneurs start their careers without one. In an age where instant gratification is glorified, it's unsurprising that many entrepreneurs and young founders do not seek out a mentor as hard as they try to find investors. In some cases they could be one in the same. While arguments abound on why entrepreneurs do not need mentors but should only follow their own instincts and gut feelings, most successful entrepreneurs are founders who had mentors. ",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Sarah Nichols"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1915
],
"attendance_count": 29,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 13:41:15 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 485,
"participant_id": 1840,
"presenter_name": "Brian Dolan-Goecke",
"presenter_bio": "Brian Dolan-Goecke Hacking Un*x for 30 year, started on AT & T SYS VR3. Work as DevOps Engineer @ ReachLocal. Started and still participate in the Penguins Unbound Linux User group.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/bdgoeko)",
"session_title": "March Bashness",
"summary": null,
"description": "Bash the most used shell ( and shell scripting language) in the World! Bash is holding the universe together... everything from systems startup to system shutdown and everything in between! I will step you into creating Bash scripts. Talk a little about how I build bash scripts and give you some pointer on how to make good bash scripts! So stop by and do a little March Bashness! Learn bash, do better bash, and keep the universe in order!\r\n\r\nYou can view the slides here:\r\n\r\nhttp://www.goecke-dolan.com/Brian/Projects/Presentations/March_Bashness/reveal.js",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 37,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 03:47:54 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-29 07:35:27 UTC"
},
{
"id": 484,
"participant_id": 737,
"presenter_name": "Joel Gerdeen",
"presenter_bio": "Many years of experience in all levels of computer technology from punch cards to SSD, from microcomputers to mainframes. Career in Engineering IT technology and management at three Fortune 100 companies. Published social media apps on Apple AppStore and Google Play. Collector of old Apple, Texas Instruments and other computers.\r\n\r\nActive member of the Mini'app'les user group. https://miniapples.org\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @njerd",
"session_title": "Vintage Macintosh Computing",
"summary": null,
"description": "I have been using Macintosh computers for 32 years and have accumulated over 50 Macs from the 1985 Mac 512k to a 2-year-old Mac Mini. If I had purchased all of these, I would have spent over $140,000 and probably be single. Friends have given me most of them. Recently, I decided to clear out some and refine my collection. I’m finding out that many don’t work anymore, most due to failed hard drives, power supplies or other electrical components. I have also accumulated over 800 floppy disks of software and data, again many of which are failing.\r\n\r\nIn this discussion, I will present my methods of dealing with this old technology. I will review my techniques of archiving old floppies, creating image files to restore from and managing the collection to find what I have. I will also discuss some new replacement hardware such as a floppy disk emulator and a SCSI controller that can store thousands of floppy images on a micro-SD card and replace the failed drives. In addition, I will provide information on methods to repair the old failed hardware and Mac OS emulation. \r\n\r\nIn addition, if there is time and interest, I can discuss my similar efforts with the TI 99/4 home computers. \r\n",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Hardware",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 27,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 03:18:43 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 483,
"participant_id": 1913,
"presenter_name": "Susan Quakkelaar",
"presenter_bio": "Susan Quakkelaar is the Digital Manager at Twin Cities Public Television. She joined TPT in 2012 and leads internal and external teams to define, design, build, test, launch and maintain various digital applications and web sites.\r\n \r\nSusan brings over ten years of digital experience to her role at tpt. She’s held positions with local ad agencies including Carmichael Lynch and JWT, positions with client-side firms including Best Buy and Cambria, and she’s managed various freelance projects as well. For extra fun and sport, she taught project management for seven years at her alma mater, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.",
"session_title": "Practical Application of GTD",
"summary": null,
"description": "This session will provide a quick overview of David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology and then promptly dive into a demonstration of how the speaker uses various tools and tricks to achieve a peaceful state of GTD bliss.\r\n\r\nIf there is time, we'll have an open discussion of audience favorite tools and tricks, too.",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 60,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 02:51:43 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 482,
"participant_id": 1583,
"presenter_name": "Jennifer Nowlin",
"presenter_bio": "Jennifer is a Principal at Minneapolis-based Accredent. She is a 20 year M2M and IoT industry veteran and expert in both the business and technology of IoT. Working across the complete IoT value chain over a wide range of use cases with hundreds of companies, she has successfully brought new to world IoT solutions to market, led business transformations, and engaged markets effectively leveraging integrated partnerships with large corporations and emerging companies. Jennifer has a BS in Electrical Engineering from University of Wisconsin Madison and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. \r\n\r\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\r\nAccredent is a eight year old pioneer in IoT Connected Data-driven Business, internet of things and advanced analytics. Accredent works with emerging technology companies to accelerate Scale and high-valuation Exit, and private and public companies through IoT connected data-driven business transformation, strategy and merger and acquisition.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @Accredent",
"session_title": "Connected Customer Journeys - Turning Internet of Things (IoT) insights into interactions",
"summary": null,
"description": " The age of the connected data-driven consumer relationship is here. Internet of Things is fundamentally redefining customer intimacy and brand affinity, changing how we compete for customer attention, and even how we operate our businesses.\r\nLearn how IoT, mobile, social, commerce, physical, and smart product customer interactions are converging to deliver compelling new customer experiences and laying the groundwork for a whole new business reality. See the technologies and platforms that make this happen and understand how businesses are utilizing connected customer journeys for their own digital transformation. \r\n",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other",
"Design"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 73,
"created_at": "2017-03-18 00:05:44 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 481,
"participant_id": 1581,
"presenter_name": "Kent Strand",
"presenter_bio": "A pioneering Minnesota Tech Entrepreneur and successful NASDAQ senior leader. Kent is Managing Partner of Minneapolis-based Accredent – a national specialty advisory firm focused on the business of the Internet-of-Things and Data Analytics. A technology industry veteran with 33 years of experience - Kent founded a successful start-up after leaving university, and went on to serve as divisional GM and senior executive on the management teams of several disruptive and innovative NASDAQ companies which successfully achieved exit. For the past eight years, he has advised public and private technology and non-technology companies on growth strategy, digital transformation, business development and merger & acquisition. Kent also works with emerging companies through Accredent’s concierge Exit acceleration program focused on accelerating the growth, value creation, and value realization of companies preparing to scale.\r\n\r\nsee: \r\naccredent.com/busdev\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @Accredent",
"session_title": "Scale Up! Achieving Scale & Exit",
"summary": null,
"description": "Achieving Scale and Exit are the least well understood and most important parts of being an entrepreneur.\r\n\r\nFor founders and leaders of emerging companies interested in skills and knowledge needed to maximize the probabilities that their company are among that successfully scale and achieve exit. \r\n\r\nDeveloping scale is one of the most challenging aspects of starting a business or even of an existing one. And, most of the time, even after entrepreneurs scale to a saleable company, we fail to successfully exit. When we miss the ideal time to exit, the most likely end result is that the company will fail - completely. \r\n\r\nThis session will focus on why this happens so frequently and give you the skills and knowledge to maximize the probabilities that your company is among those that are ultimately successful.\r\n",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Tim Bates"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1331
],
"attendance_count": 47,
"created_at": "2017-03-17 21:38:08 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 480,
"participant_id": 1910,
"presenter_name": "David Duccini",
"presenter_bio": "Founder and CEO of Silicon Prairie, a collection of regulated financial technology companies centered around the formation of capital publicly or privately. The group includes Silicon Prairie Capital Partners (SPCP) an SEC registered / FINRA reporting Broker-Dealer with an Alternative Trading System (ATS) license, Silicon Prairie Registrar & Transfer, an SEC regsitered Transfer Agent, and Silicon Prairie Portal & Exchange (SPPX) a technology holding company that builds and manages platforms, marketing, and smart documentation automation technology.\r\n\r\nIf you're curious about our master plan for Global Domination, check out [the 2017 TECHdotMN 'Minnesota Moonshot' article](https://sppx.io/moonshot) to see where we've been and where we're going!\r\n\r\nConnect with David: \r\n\r\n- [LinkedIN](https://linkedin.com/in/dvduccini)\r\n- [The Big Idea Podcast](https://shows.acast.com/thebigidea)\r\n- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TheLittleDuke)\r\n- [X/Twitter](https://x.com/TheLittleDuke)",
"session_title": "Blockchains are coming! Forewarned is Forearmed!",
"summary": null,
"description": "In this session international blockchain expert David Duccini and local boy lawyer does good Zach Robins will lay out the value proposition for the coming era when distributed ledgers aka blockchains will be used for everything from patch management, identity and reputation and making wall street obsolete.\r\n\r\nThis isn't your brothers Bitcoin (well it IS AND so much more!)\r\n\r\nDavid recently launched Silicon Prairie Online, a registered MNvest crowdfunding portal with Zach's help and together they will be bringing a new level of corporate governance and liquidity to small companies using blockchain technology.",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Zach Robins"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
869
],
"attendance_count": 113,
"created_at": "2017-03-17 21:36:06 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 479,
"participant_id": 182,
"presenter_name": "Jeff Lin",
"presenter_bio": "I'm the founder of Pennant and Bust Out. I love ice cream.",
"session_title": "Entrepreneurship and Parenting",
"summary": null,
"description": "Starting a business is hard. Starting a business while raising a family is totally ridiculous. But we do it anyway!\r\n\r\nThis session is a panel and open group discussion about what it takes to go all in on starting a company while remaining fully present in family life without losing your freaking mind. We'll hear stories from people who are going down this path, and we'll take a look at some examples of successful entrepreneurs who have managed to find a balance between entrepreneurship and family.",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Mana Bhatt Sanghvi"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1904
],
"attendance_count": 60,
"created_at": "2017-03-17 15:09:37 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 478,
"participant_id": 678,
"presenter_name": "Paul Cantrell",
"presenter_bio": "Paul fell in love with programming at first sight on an Apple ][+ and never looked back. He teaches computer science at Macalester College and is a freelance software developer (often with the fine folks at Bust Out).\r\n\r\nLiving a secret double life as a classically trained composer and pianist, he brings a musician's passion for aesthetics and nuanced detail to the craft of writing software, thus making his bio sound all fancy.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [Personal site](https://innig.net)\r\n- [Mastodon](https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands)\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/pcantrell)\r\n",
"session_title": "What’s the right way to learn (and teach) programming?",
"summary": null,
"description": "What kind of education do programmers need?\r\n\r\nAre code camps worth it? Is college worth it? Is self-teaching sufficient?\r\n\r\nI’ll share insights from my life alternating between software freelancer and professor on how all of us — students, teachers, and professionals — should approach software education. There is no one right answer, of course. (The title of this talk is a trick question.) There are, however, ways of approaching education that make the effort worth it — no matter what kind of education you choose.\r\n\r\nThere will be some philosophy, some solid practical advice, and some discussion. I can't promise any magical easy answers. But I can at least help you get rid of that nagging feeling that you’re doing it wrong and everyone else knows something you don’t.",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 159,
"created_at": "2017-03-17 15:05:15 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 477,
"participant_id": 1844,
"presenter_name": "Jenessa White",
"presenter_bio": "Jenessa White is a Front End Developer at [Software for Good](http://softwareforgood.com). She also is/has been a part of many local tech organizations. When she's not on the computer she doing CrossFit or playing Tight End for the [Minnesota Vixen](http://mnvixen.com).\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/jenessawhite)\n- Twitter: @jnessview",
"session_title": "Diversity & Inclusion - Let’s get started",
"summary": null,
"description": "Acknowledging that there is a lack of recent year's biggest buzzwords, diversity and inclusion, is the first step. Yes, a lot of racism and exclusion is systemic, but because tech is a smaller community, we should be more comfortable holding each other accountable. When we do this we strongly believe what we learn will trickle back into the communities, workplaces, families.\r\n\r\nThis goal of this session is to discuss:\r\n\r\n - Why should you care about D&I?\r\n - In general? In tech?\r\n - We have to start talking about this (really talking)\r\n - Share experiences\r\n - What are your priorities?\r\n - Whatever company leadership focuses on or wants done, gets done. So once you make it one, it will happen.\r\n - This is a don’t talk about it, be about it type of issue.\r\n - Stop hiding behind “being introverted”\r\n - We(Marginalized groups) have to start showing up\r\n - Q&A:\r\n - What would you like to see at events? Strategies?\r\n - What actions will you take? What actions do you think we ALL need to take?\r\n - How do we scale inclusion to larger events? \r\n - We know there are some smaller groups that do this well, but how do we kick it up to the next level?\r\n",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Lanice Sims"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1901
],
"attendance_count": 85,
"created_at": "2017-03-17 12:33:38 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 476,
"participant_id": 1330,
"presenter_name": "Brandon Wetzstein",
"presenter_bio": "Brandon is driven by a passion to reshape the way we collaborate. In a world brimming with digital tools and automation, he's convinced that our real strength lies in how well we work together. With this belief, he founded IN8 Create, aiming to unearth the hidden potential in all of us. Given the right tools, environment, and support, Brandon believes we can reach incredible heights, enriching our lives, relationships, and communities. \r\nBrandon also loves burgers and welcomes all /any burger discussions and recommendations. \r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/brandonwetzstein",
"session_title": "Leverage Improvisation to Unleash Creativity and Strengthen Teams...and Have Fun",
"summary": null,
"description": "Improv has been described as “The art of not knowing what you are going to say or do and being OK with that.” Life and business don’t offer a script to follow and improvisation develops skills such as solving problems with no clear solution in sight. Truly innovative or disruptive ideas don’t come easy. Improv can help you generate ideas and work “without a net.” It is frightening for two people to walk on stage without any idea of what is going to happen and create something on the spot. But starting a business or launching a new product is exactly the same.\r\n\r\nImprovisation can help you to generate more ideas, more creative ideas, silence your inner critic, think on your feet, trust your instincts and learn how to build trust with your team members. This workshop will introduce you to how improvisers develop their skills and spark creativity.\r\n\r\nThis is not a lecture; you won’t be sitting there taking notes. We’ll push the furniture out of the way and get you on your feet. Come prepared to join in improv exercises all the while not knowing what will happen next.\r\n\r\nSpeakers: Jim Barrett & Brandon Wetzstein",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Jim Barrett"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
904
],
"attendance_count": 28,
"created_at": "2017-03-16 23:58:02 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 475,
"participant_id": 1082,
"presenter_name": "Elizabeth Wehner",
"presenter_bio": "Astronomer turned web developer, I now work at BuzzFeed as a full-stack software engineer. When I'm not writing code, I'm either playing board games or giggling with my toddler.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/ewehner)\n- Twitter: @elizabethwehner",
"session_title": "Mentoring Junior Developers: How to do it and why you should",
"summary": null,
"description": "Companies often want to hire senior developers, but sometimes finding enough of them can be a challenge! One often overlooked alternative is to hire junior developers and grow them into senior developers within your organization. There are a lot of advantages to mentoring junior developers, for everyone involved, but sometimes companies are still reluctant because they may feel unsure as to how best to mentor them. In this talk, I will make the case for why hiring junior developers is awesome and why you should do it. I will also talk about ways to mentor them successfully and how to turn then into the senior developers you’ve been looking for. ",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 89,
"created_at": "2017-03-16 21:51:34 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 474,
"participant_id": 1282,
"presenter_name": "Sara Heitkamp",
"presenter_bio": "I’m a people-first, high-energy engineering leader specializing in Site Reliability Engineering, Incident leadership, and operational resilience at scale with 10+ years of experience managing Incidents and living the #oncalllife spanning Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 companies across e-commerce retail, telecommunications, SaaS, and highly regulated healthcare, leading reliability, performance, and engineering functions at scale. **I've recently wondered *is everything falling apart?!* as I've navigated career losses, my son's autism diagnosis and worked through health issues (including surviving septic shock)**.\r\n\r\nKnown for strengthening system reliability and cultivating high-performing teams, I collaborate across engineering, product, infrastructure, and business functions to execute complex cross-organizational initiatives while fostering environments grounded in clarity, accountability, and psychological safety. **I bring energy, momentum, and even joy to the work so that people and platforms thrive together.**\r\n\r\n**At the core of my leadership philosophy is the belief that reliability is both a technical and cultural discipline. I lead with energy and positivity, intentionally creating a team environment where people feel safe, supported, and even have fun—because I’ve seen firsthand that when people enjoy working together, they perform better, solve problems faster, and show up strong even on the hard days.**\r\n\r\n**I’m a mom to a 22-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son, and raising them has been both my greatest joy and my greatest teacher.** I love creating moments of adventure, curiosity, and connection with them. Outside of work, I’m drawn to movement and growth—whether that’s volleyball, strength training, yoga, learning a new skill or getting lost in a good book. I’m always exploring ways to live with more intention, energy, and authenticity.\r\n\r\n[LinkedIn] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarajheitkamp/)",
"session_title": "Communicating When Stuff Is Going Wrong",
"summary": null,
"description": "Your team successfully rolled out a new product feature. Great! A project was completed on time, within budget. Awesome! You've built something really cool and it works! Your boss is impressed. \r\n\r\n**But what happens when things go wrong?** How and when do you inform your stakeholders? Who should you include in that communication? How should you word it? How technical in nature should it be? What do you do when a successful professional relationship begins to deteriorate? What happens when things go really, really wrong? Like an application becomes unavailable or worse, there is a full on outage? \r\n\r\nIn the midst of these stressful moments we have stress hormones running through our bodies, making communicating all the more challenging.\r\n\r\nDrawing from my experience in Emergency Management and working in Web Operations, I will share best practices (and failures) I have learned along the way. **Topics including**:\r\n**1. A brief overview of the science behind what's going on in our brains during stressful moments**\r\n**2. Steps to take before communicating**\r\n**3. Communicating when you're in the middle of things going wrong**\r\n**4. Following up with a communication after the thing that has gone wrong is resolved.**\r\n\r\nCome to share what you've learned from success and failures while communicating under stress! \r\n",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 135,
"created_at": "2017-03-16 18:55:39 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 473,
"participant_id": 291,
"presenter_name": "Adam May",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a software developer at Livefront who enjoys learning and exploring mobile technology.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/yammada)\n- Twitter: @yammada",
"session_title": "Talk to the Hand: Making Your App Accessible with VoiceOver",
"summary": null,
"description": "Join us for our third co-presented session on iOS development at Minnebar!\r\n\r\nThis year, we'd like to share a few things we've learned over the years about VoiceOver. We'll take stock of the accessibility features available on iOS, introduce VoiceOver, and demonstrate some techniques you can use to add VoiceOver support to your own apps.\r\n\r\nWith any luck, we'll cover the following:\r\n\r\n* An overview of the many accessibility features of iOS\r\n* VoiceOver\r\n* VoiceOver notifications and how to use them\r\n* VoiceOver audio queues and user context\r\n* Basic VoiceOver support via UIAccessibility and related protocols\r\n* Advanced VoiceOver support for custom controls\r\n* Tools to help you develop and debug accessibility in your apps",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Sam Kirchmeier"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
34
],
"attendance_count": 25,
"created_at": "2017-03-16 05:05:33 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 472,
"participant_id": 1899,
"presenter_name": "Mark McCahill",
"presenter_bio": "Mark McCahill has been involved in developing and popularizing a number of Internet technologies since the late 1980s.\r\n\r\nMcCahill led the development of the Gopher protocol, the effective predecessor of the World Wide Web, he was involved in creating and codifying the standard for Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and he led the development of POPmail, one of the first e-mail clients which had a foundational influence on later e-mail clients and the popularization of graphical user interfaces in Internet technologies more broadly. He also coined the phrase \"surfing the Internet.\r\n\r\nHe currently works as a systems architect at the Office of Information Technology at Duke University.\r\n\r\nwikipedia entry: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_P._McCahill]",
"session_title": "Jupyter Notebooks are cool: from a MySQL MOOC to an Apache Spark Cluster",
"summary": null,
"description": "Jupyter [notebooks](http://jupyter.org/) are open-source interactive web applications that make it fun and easy to author documents combining live code, visualizations, equations, and text -- just what you would want to learn or experiment with a data analysis tool.\r\n\r\nThis session will demonstrate how Jupyter is used at Duke University for interactive course applications ranging from a [Managing Big Data with MySQL](https://www.coursera.org/learn/analytics-mysql) Coursera MOOC featuring live MySQL queries for thousands of students to a graduate-level computational biology class where students develop and run genome analysis tools on an [Apache Spark](https://spark.apache.org) cluster.\r\n\r\nWe will also look at the infrastructure used to run Jupyter at scale, how to containerize Jupyter notebook servers with Docker, automate deployment of new versions of the notebooks with [GitLab continuous integration](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-ci/), and the pitfalls of providing students with live SQL query capability against million row databases - and countermeasure for those pitfalls.",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 28,
"created_at": "2017-03-16 03:35:11 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 471,
"participant_id": 1475,
"presenter_name": "David Perez",
"presenter_bio": "David has been a software developer for Livefront for the last 2 years and has specialized in making remarkable mobile apps.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/dperez37)",
"session_title": "Finger Painting - Using a Canvas in Android",
"summary": null,
"description": "Learn ways of using Android's Canvas APIs to create unique views. Introduce how to translate user input into something meaningful to display on the screen.",
"room_name": "Florida",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 16,
"created_at": "2017-03-14 23:59:47 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 470,
"participant_id": 17,
"presenter_name": "Jaim Zuber",
"presenter_bio": "Apple Platforms Engineering and Leadership. Mobile and desktop.\r\n\r\nHacking on speech-to-text (ASR) systems while he searches for the next gig.\r\n\r\nHe likes hockey, BBQ, and making noise with a modest array of instruments… sometimes in public.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n- [jaimzuber.com](https://jaimzuber.com)\r\n- [BlueSky](https://bsky.app/profile/jaimzuber.com)\r\n- [Mastodon](https://mspsocial.net/@jaimzuber)\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/sharpfive)\r\n",
"session_title": "Beyond Open Office Hell - What’s The Evolution Of CoWorking?",
"summary": null,
"description": "Calling all creatives (developers, writers, artists)!\r\n\r\nCoWorking sites like CoCo fill a much needed workspace gap between coffee shops and a full time office. But the ills of Open Offices are well known, especially for workers who do brainwork.\r\n\r\nOpen Office CoWorking cost me hundreds of dollars a day in lost productivity. I ended up working nights and weekends to accomplish what I could crank out in a normal work week in my old home office. But finding office space is hard for indies and small companies. \r\n\r\nWe need quiet to do our jobs, but collaboration and community are important too. You're not alone. There is a major gap in the office space market that needs to be filled.\r\n\r\nLet’s come up with a plan to fix this.\r\n",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 56,
"created_at": "2017-03-14 18:08:47 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 469,
"participant_id": 159,
"presenter_name": "Matt Pacyga",
"presenter_bio": "Matt Pacyga | Product Strategist | Innovation Leader | Community Builder\r\n\r\nI’m Matt Pacyga, a product strategist and innovation leader passionate about creating transformative user experiences and empowering businesses to thrive. Guided by my StrengthsFinder Top 5—Futuristic, Woo, Communication, Arranger, and Includer. I bring a visionary yet inclusive approach to every challenge, inspiring teams and communities to achieve their full potential.\r\n\r\nEntrepreneurship and community-building are central to my journey. I co-founded Innovate MN, an Idea Jam event platform that fosters collaboration and problem-solving to tackle real-world challenges. I also bring years of experience as a mentor for Techstars' Future of Food Powered by Ecolab accelerator, where I guide startups in the digital food ecosystem toward success.\r\n\r\nIn addition to working with corporate leaders like Dairy Queen, Focus Brands, and Best Buy, I’ve launched and led startups, including Slice Engine and Gray Squid Division. These experiences honed my specialties in Product Leadership, Innovation Strategy, Strategic Vision, and Business Growth.\r\n\r\nWhether speaking at events, mentoring teams, or strategizing for the future, I’m committed to creating meaningful, community-focused solutions that make an impact. Based in Minneapolis, MN, I thrive on connecting people, exploring new technologies, and inspiring organizations to evolve.",
"session_title": "Game of Drones - Future Technology for Drone Racing ",
"summary": null,
"description": "The Tiny Whoop by Jesse Perkins changed everything as the first inexpensive FPV (First Person View) drone that could race. Yes, that means anyone can race drones and it's under $200 on [Amazon](http://a.co/b0hCGfx \"Amazon Link\") to get started. We'll show some of the gear and demonstrate how easy it is to take up the sport of drone racing at home.\r\n\r\nWatch this video of Tiny Whoops racing - it's really cool and worth a look. [YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3wbEKjUW8w \"Tiny Whoop Racing in Hong Kong\") \r\n\r\nWe'll also share a few ideas we're working on to address some growing pains in the drone racing industry.\r\n\r\n* drone tracking gates\r\n* ease of use for setting up a race \r\n* analog to digital\r\n* apps that can manage the complicated bits\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Marty Wetherall",
"Matt Otterstatter",
"Joel Stewart"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1421,
984,
134
],
"attendance_count": 66,
"created_at": "2017-03-14 01:28:00 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 468,
"participant_id": 1243,
"presenter_name": "Ginger Sorvari Bucklin",
"presenter_bio": "Ginger leads [The Nerdery Foundation](http://www.nerderyfoundation.org/), a 501c3 nonprofit organization that works to activate technologists to use their talents and skills to better our world. Through its flagship event, The Overnight Website Challenge, over 1200 volunteer web pros have donated about $6.4 million in pro bono services to 183 nonprofits. In 2017, it is expanding to offer more events and services to connect tech pros with volunteering opportunities.\r\n\r\nIn addition, Ginger is a Founding Partner at [Cimarron Winter](http://www.cimarronwinter.com/), a digital innovation consultancy. Whether engaged by enterprise Marketing, IT, or the Business team, Cimarron Winter strives to deliver a great customer experience based on a solid technical solution and an effective business operation.\r\n\r\nGinger has a passion for volunteering, is active in Minnesota's nonprofit community, and remains forever a Nerdery Fangirl. She spends her offline hours in the Boundary Waters.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @lovelyginger",
"session_title": "Why You Should Code for Free",
"summary": null,
"description": "You love tech. After you're done getting paid to invent, design, develop, test, or maintain the software that is your day job, you go home and play with tech some more. Just for fun. \r\n\r\nWhat if you donated a bit of your time and skill to a cause that needs your help? Local nonprofit organizations are desperately seeking tech pros, but they rarely have funds available. Still, there's probably (at least) one that works to address something you're passionate about -- whether that's animal rescue, health issues, economic development, or the arts. There's opportunity for you to have fun while doing good.\r\n\r\nIn this session, we'll:\r\n\r\n* share the benefits of offering your services pro bono\r\n* discuss how to start, manage, and conclude a pro bono project successfully\r\n* suggest ways to find a nonprofit opportunity near you",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 73,
"created_at": "2017-03-13 21:09:31 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 467,
"participant_id": 1887,
"presenter_name": "Kevin Stanton",
"presenter_bio": "Hey! My name is Kevin, and I’m excited you’ve found this kick starter campaign!\r\nI’m from Lino Lakes, Minnesota, home of the great Globe University, where I graduated in 2008 with a degree in IT, and studied both psychology and business as elective classes. A few years after my time working for US Navy Military Sealift Command I noticed that nobody seems to know how to have a genuine relationship through the help of priests, laity, ministerial standards, et al. Due to the drastic career change I decided to go to the Archbishop Harry Flynn Catechetical Institute to gain the credentials to speak on the topic of courtship. It was such an emotionally heartbreaking experience experience to know that people who say they're interested in someone don't know how to follow through with action for what they want!\r\nI am still single.\r\nHigh school, college, and adult life were all such formative times in my life; my mentors really helped shape my future individually. For this reason, my heart is forever close to those entering this awesome, but trying time in life. I only hope to give back in some small measure with the same generosity that was so graciously shown to me.\r\nDue to the emotionally heartbreaking time of people not knowing how to follow through, I decided to write a book straight from my heart, called “The Trial Marriage: Courtship”. Discerning Marriage can be complicated and breakups can be dramatic and just plain hard sometimes. The book is the fruit of observations, many conversations with men and women, and expert critique from many different stages in life. I am not an expert, and it’s not meant to be an academic book or even a research article. It’s this simple: if I could grab lunch with you, have a cup of coffee with you, or write a letter to you, this book is what I would want you to know about courtship. I wrote the book for both men and women, because we are all in this together.\r\nI hope you enjoy the book once it's shipped! Think of it as hope and encouragement for this crazy thing we call life!\r\nThere is someone for you,\r\nKevin Stanton\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/n/a)",
"session_title": "Class You're doing it wrong",
"summary": null,
"description": "I will be doing a **deep dive** talk into how using Public/Private/Protected when programming will make your code bloated in the number of **cycles** and how functional programming will actually reduce the amount of cycles it will take to execute what you wish to have your code perform.\r\n\r\nI will be organizing my talk similar to [Hey Underscore, You're Doing It Wrong!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3svKOdZijA) but focusing completely on **Class**, and **Functional** **OOP**",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 36,
"created_at": "2017-03-13 20:14:26 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 466,
"participant_id": 151,
"presenter_name": "Genghis Philip",
"presenter_bio": "Genghis is an ultimate player, boxer, and gamer. He has spent well over a decade making sure teams work well together at various and sundry tech companies around the cities, with titles ranging from Scrum Master to Director of Engineering to COO. He also sits on the board of the Twin Cities Ultimate League and is an assistant coach for the Strike, Minnesota's professional women's and nonbinary ultimate frisbee team.\r\n\r\nI guess you could follow him on Twitter (@hawksfire) or Bluesky (@genghis.bsky.social), but only if you're particularly interested in all-caps tweets about the Chicago Bears and Ultimate.",
"session_title": "Reality Based Hiring",
"summary": null,
"description": "Unless you’ve got HR training, hiring is probably kind of a black box for you. It's the most important part of growing a team, and a hell of a financial investment, but a lot of companies end up hiring people who are good at interviewing, not good at their jobs. Chances are, you don't need someone who's only good at talking about their resume. \r\n\r\nThis talk details a system for establishing what you’re hiring for, evaluating candidates, confirming with stakeholders, and ultimately making an offer. You can never be absolutely certain a hire will work out, but reality-based hiring makes sure you can be clear about what you need and how a candidate fits your requirements while wasting as little time as possible.\r\n\r\nAs a note: This talk does NOT address recruitment, which is important but beyond the scope of this system. Go see one of Paul Debettignies' sessions for that!\r\n",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 63,
"created_at": "2017-03-13 16:34:15 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 465,
"participant_id": 1844,
"presenter_name": "Jenessa White",
"presenter_bio": "Jenessa White is a Front End Developer at [Software for Good](http://softwareforgood.com). She also is/has been a part of many local tech organizations. When she's not on the computer she doing CrossFit or playing Tight End for the [Minnesota Vixen](http://mnvixen.com).\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/jenessawhite)\n- Twitter: @jnessview",
"session_title": "So you don't hire Jr. Devs? Tell me more",
"summary": null,
"description": "\r\n*thanks Matt D =)*\r\n\r\nJunior Developers are the next generation of developers, just like children are the next generation of adults. So why is it that companies and more experienced developers seem to be anti-juniors?\r\n\r\n**This goal of this session is to discuss:**\r\n\r\nWhy junior developers are important, necessary and amazing.\r\n\r\nLearn about how we junior devs can market ourselves as assets.\r\n\r\nHow we can foster a company culture that embraces junior devs.\r\n\r\nLearn why the hell people say they don't hire junior devs.\r\n\r\nI'm hoping to facilitate a positive discussion about different experiences and thoughts on junior devs. \r\n\r\nIf you've been a junior dev, are no longer a junior dev, are a hiring manager, or just have opinions -come through!\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 70,
"created_at": "2017-03-13 16:22:43 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 464,
"participant_id": 23,
"presenter_name": "Toby Cryns",
"presenter_bio": "Hi, I'm Toby Cryns! \r\n\r\nI founded [Minneapolis St. Paul WordPress User Group](https://mspwp.com) and [The Mighty Mo! WordPress Design](https://www.themightymo.com). \r\n\r\nI also write for [WP Tavern](https://wptavern.com), [blog about biz stuff](https://tobycryns.com) and [talk WordPress tech](https://themightymo.com/updates).\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n- [My WordPress Tech Blog](https://themightymo.com/updates/)\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/themightymo)\r\n- Twitter: [@tobycryns](https://x.com/tobycryns)",
"session_title": "Hi. I'm Having a Mid-Life Crisis. Let's Read Some Shel Silverstein.",
"summary": null,
"description": "So...As I approach 40 years of life on Earth, I find myself wondering, \"What's the point of it all?\"\r\n\r\nAnd I go down and down the spiral until I'm on the verge of trading in my Kia minivan for a Porsche. \r\n\r\nAnd then I remember that Shel Silverstein gave us all the answers to life's greatest questions.\r\n\r\nIn this session, we'll read verses from the great Silverstein, we'll share some laughs, and wonder aloud what the point of it all is. Bring your favorite Silverstein verse if you are so inclined, and prepare to hug it out.\r\n\r\nSmoke 'em if you got 'em.",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 59,
"created_at": "2017-03-13 03:33:45 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 463,
"participant_id": 766,
"presenter_name": "Andy Gikling",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a computer/software/hardware/Linux enthusiast.\r\n\r\nI currently write medical device software for Minnetronix Inc. in Saint Paul.\r\n\r\n@SoundGains\r\nhttp://www.soundgains.com\r\n\r\n#GripAndRip\r\n#LinuxForTheWin\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/andygikling)\n- Twitter: @SoundGains",
"session_title": "Yocto Linux Primer for Embedded Systems",
"summary": null,
"description": "![alt text](http://www.emtrion.de/uploadimages/yocto_project_standard.png \"Yocto Project\")\r\n\r\nHave you been hearing more and more about Yocto Linux? Have you ever thought, jeez, I wish I could build the Linux Kernel from source code and make it run on a mini computer? Or perhaps you regularly loose sleep thinking about what an awesome dude Linus Torvalds is? Do you LOVE open source software?\r\n\r\nThen this is the technical presentation for you!\r\n\r\nThis talk will be an information rich, crash course on how to build Yocto Linux and deploy it on a Raspberry Pi (or any other CPU architecture for that matter).\r\n\r\nWe will discuss topics such as:\r\n\r\n1. The Bitbake build system\r\n2. Software recipes and meta-layers\r\n3. Git and where the source code comes form\r\n3. How software packages are managed\r\n4. Configuring the kernel\r\n5. Using the SDK to develop software against you new OS\r\n6. The Qt Framework\r\n7. How all the major pieces fit together\r\n\r\nHope to see you there!",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 37,
"created_at": "2017-03-12 23:36:03 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 462,
"participant_id": 1466,
"presenter_name": "David Radcliffe",
"presenter_bio": "I am an organizer for the Minnesota Quantum Computing Meetup, and a cofounder and software developer for GogyUp. Our company develops assistive reading technologies for adult learners. I have a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/Radcliffe)\n- Twitter: @@davidradcliffe@mathstodon.xyz",
"session_title": "Playtime with Pentominoes and Python",
"summary": null,
"description": "[Pentominoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentomino) are shapes made by connecting five squares edge to edge. They are like Tetris shapes, but with an extra square attached. There are 12 different pentominoes (or 18 if you don't allow them to be flipped over).\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThese shapes can be arranged to create many fun and interesting shapes. In my presentation, I will show how Python can be used to solve pentomino puzzles, using only a few lines of code. I will also show that the same code can be used to solve other puzzles, such as Sudoku and the Soma cube.\r\n\r\nI will bring several sets of pentominoes for participants to play with, and I will leave plenty of time for creative exploration. Children are welcome to attend!\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 32,
"created_at": "2017-03-12 05:15:53 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 461,
"participant_id": 1801,
"presenter_name": "Adeel Ahmad",
"presenter_bio": "Founder/Principal at [Lab 1908](https://lab1908.com), a startup studio in St. Paul. \r\n\r\nInvestor/advisor at a bunch of startups around Twin Cities and San Francisco. \r\n\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeelahmad/)\r\n- [The Misophonia Podcast](https://misophoniapodcast.com)",
"session_title": "Misophonia - Coping With a Hatred of Sounds",
"summary": null,
"description": "Do the sounds of throat-clearing, coughing, eating fill you with intense rage?\r\n\r\nMisophonia is a neurological condition where certain sounds trigger intense fight-or-flight feelings in the person affected.\r\n\r\nIt has finally been gaining acknowledgment in recent years in the media as sufferers are finding each other online and the community grows. See below for links to recent articles.\r\n\r\nIt can be particularly difficult for sufferers working in open-concept style offices that are popular in the tech community.\r\n\r\nIf you think you suffer from misophonia, join me for a safe, support group style session. \r\n\r\nThis session is obviously niche but if this description resonates, it will resonate strongly.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06annoy.html\r\nhttp://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/05/17/do-you-have-misophonia/\r\nhttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/misophonia-certain-noises-really-drive-people-nuts/\r\nhttps://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/please-stop-making-that-noise/\r\nhttp://time.com/4659308/misophonia-noisy-eating-science/\r\nhttp://onlineathens.com/features/health/2017-03-05/drs-oz-roizen-overreaction-everyday-sounds-may-be-misophonia\r\nhttp://www.today.com/id/44438402/ns/today-today_health/t/when-annoying-sounds-spark-major-rage\r\nhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/health/sounds-people-hate.html",
"room_name": "Georgia",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 13,
"created_at": "2017-03-11 23:15:39 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 460,
"participant_id": 958,
"presenter_name": "Andrew Rahn",
"presenter_bio": "Andy is a developer at Modern Logic. He has experience in a wide variety of platforms and languages and is fearless when it comes to exploring new technologies. In the past few years, he's been an avid user of the programming languages Swift 4, Kotlin and Typescript. He's also a big data nerd who thrives on AWS technologies such as Athena, Pinpoint and Firehose.\r\n\r\nAndy lives in Minneapolis. He loves dogs and plays the oboe.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/paddlefish)\n- Twitter: @paddlefish",
"session_title": "Yarn-Bot: Solving a yarn problem with a robot",
"summary": null,
"description": "The problem: To build a tool to help a teacher divide up a ball of yarn to make small samples for students. In this talk, I tell you the four phases I used to create a robot to wind mini-skeins: research, hardware, electronics, and software. I'll show how I broke the problem into small tasks, and highlight the technologies that I used. After solving the physics problem of angular momentum and the \"yarn octopus\", I built a laser-cut enclosure and aparatus. Next, I developed the software using the Arduino IDE, and \"hijacked\" a microcontroller built-in to a LED display to be the \"brain\". Finally, I'll show you my secret trick for controlling both a 7-segment LED and a stepper-motor at the same time through cooperative multi-tasking. I'll wrap up with how I'd improve the design for \"Yarn-Bot 2.0\".\r\n",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 35,
"created_at": "2017-03-11 20:59:31 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 459,
"participant_id": 455,
"presenter_name": "Patrick Barrett",
"presenter_bio": "Patrick Barrett graduated from the University of Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering. He's currently taking a sabbatical, but was last employed as an embedded engineer that also wrote a suspicious amount of JavaScript and marketing materials. He also finds it slightly odd writing in the third person.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/azdle)\n- Twitter: @zdle",
"session_title": "Tech Fun Time; Using Rust, Elm, and Docker to Build Something Mildly Useful",
"summary": null,
"description": "You're not going to learn anything earth-shattering here, but you still might see some things you've never happened upon before. This will be, essentially, a \"book report\" on the process I've gone through so far to build https://stockfaces.com as well as a gentle introduction to some of the technology I used to build it, including:\r\n\r\n* Rust\r\n* Elm\r\n* Machine Learning (in Python)\r\n* Docker Containers\r\n* Git Lab CI & Container Registry\r\n\r\nI don't plan to make a presentation for, I'll just be going through some of the source, describing my high level decisions, and hoping to foster some discussion, so please bring questions.",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 34,
"created_at": "2017-03-11 15:35:38 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 457,
"participant_id": 1880,
"presenter_name": "Michael McCarthy @ Inkit",
"presenter_bio": "Michael is the Co-Founder, CEO of Inkit. Inkit makes direct mail software.\r\n\r\nFrom Acquisition to Advocacy, Drive Measurable Results.\r\n\r\nFind out how you can accelerate growth with Inkit. See here for more information\r\nhttp://www.inkit.io\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @@inkitmail",
"session_title": "What is Direct Mail Marketing? And How to Deliver Win Ready Results.",
"summary": null,
"description": "You’ve heard about how direct mail is a great tool to promote your business. You’ve probably gotten hundreds of direct mail postcards delivered to your own mailbox, at home and at your workplace. But how do you make direct mail postcards work for your business?\r\n\r\nWith this session we are going to walk you through our software product, Inkit, and the 6 things you need to create direct mail postcards that get customers in the door.\r\n\r\n1. An Offer\r\nYou need to know what you’re selling. Are you giving a 2 for 1 special on a specific item? Are you promoting a coupon for 25% off the first service a new customer buys? What are you giving people to get them in the door?\r\n\r\nYour offer has to solve a problem that your customers are having. Do you run an auto repair center? Every driver needs an oil change. Or how about a special on winterizing services? Do you own a bakery near an industrial area? Offer a special deal on cookies or cupcakes for office parties around the holidays.\r\n\r\nThe possibilities are endless. But you want your offer to be the perfect solution to your customers’ problems.\r\n\r\nThis may take a bit of research on your part, but it shouldn’t be too hard. There are a few ways to figure out what your customers want.\r\n\r\nAsk Them\r\nI know this sounds obvious, but it can be more subtle than that. For instance, ask your customers what occasion they’re buying your most popular products for.\r\n\r\nI’ll use the bakery example again. If someone buys 3 dozen cookies every other week, ask who they’re for. If one person’s office or organization has a bi-weekly meeting where cookies are served, there are probably others out there with the same need.\r\n\r\nReview Your Records\r\nSee what products or services sell best, and at what times of year. If you see patterns, use those to create offers on those best-sellers. Or you could offer an upgraded service or companion product to those best-sellers.\r\n\r\nPay Attention to Your Competition\r\nAnd to businesses that compliment yours. What are other businesses in your area offering their customers? What is the competition doing to attract customers? You can get some idea of what your customers want this way, and you can improve on these offers to get more people buying from you.\r\n\r\n2. A Compelling Message\r\nIt’s not enough to say “2 for 1 Deal on Product XYZ.” You need to tell your customers why they need product XYZ. Your message doesn’t need to be long and involved, it can be a headline and a couple of sentences. But it does need to persuade people to buy.\r\n\r\nYour message needs to tell customers:\r\n\r\nWhat you’re selling\r\nWhat problem this solves for them\r\nHow this product or service will make their lives easier\r\n\r\n3. A Deadline\r\nYou’ll notice the second sentence of the second to last paragraph of my offer above includes a deadline. You want to add urgency to your offer so people take action right away.\r\n\r\nYou need to give your customers a deadline or a specific date of some sort. This could be a limited time offer, like the one above. You could also have a reoccurring date, like every first Tuesday of the month is Free Cookie Tuesday, get a free cookie with every purchase.\r\n\r\n4. Your Contact Information\r\nWhen you’re sending a direct mail postcard campaign, you need to make sure people can take you up on your offer. Tell them exactly how to get a hold of you.\r\n\r\nMake sure you include:\r\n\r\nYour phone number\r\nYour website URL\r\nYour physical address (if you are a brick and mortar business)\r\nYour hours of operation (this is for brick and mortar businesses and online businesses that have customer service representatives.)\r\n\r\nI know this seems obvious, but I am always shocked at how many direct mail postcards I see in my mailbox that don’t include this information, or that don’t make this information easy to find.\r\n\r\nYour customers are looking for the easiest way to get a hold of you. So, make it as easy for them as possible. You’re more likely to get a positive response and increase your ROI.\r\n\r\n5. A Tracking Method\r\nYou want to know how your direct mail campaign performs, right? You’ll need some way to track your results.\r\n\r\nAn obvious way would be how many people walk through the door or sign up for your service. But it’s always best to have a specific way to measure how many people responded to your direct mail postcards.\r\n\r\nHere are several methods you can use:\r\n\r\nCoupons or coupon codes\r\nQR codes\r\nCampaign specific URLs\r\nPersonal URLs (these can be specific to demographic groups, areas you mail to or per customer)\r\nUnique offer IDs\r\n\r\n6. A Simple Way to Build and Send Your Direct Mail Postcards\r\nInkit lets you create your direct mail postcard in our Custom Campaign Builder. You can design your own postcard using your company logo and preferred graphics.\r\n\r\nOnce you’ve got everything laid out the way you want it, we recommend sending yourself a test copy. That way you can make sure everything looks exactly the way you want it to when it’s printed. Your postcard “proof” should arrive in a couple of days.\r\n\r\nOnce you’re happy with the way the postcard looks, just upload your mailing list and hit “Send.” Your direct mail postcard campaign will go straight to the front of the printing queue at one of our printers. It will be printed and sent to USPS for delivery to your customers within a few days.\r\n\r\n\r\nGo Forth and Build Your Direct Mail Campaign!\r\nNow you know everything you need to create your first direct mail postcard campaign. We look forward to seeing what you create!",
"room_name": "Georgia",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 15,
"created_at": "2017-03-11 03:43:00 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 456,
"participant_id": 1878,
"presenter_name": "Jennifer Simon",
"presenter_bio": "Jen recently joined Microsoft with over 25 years of Consultative Sales Experience. She started her career in selling ads for The Onion in Madison before they were online. Since then Jen has sold Advertising, Software as a Service, Human Capital Management, IT Consulting and Staffing. Jen’s passion for solving business problems with technology has driven her to Microsoft and she couldn’t be more excited! \r\n\r\nJoining a company so passionate about building companies and communities matches Jen’s need to give back. She is very involved with MHTA (Minnesota High Tech Association) and sits on the board of WLiT (Women Leading in Technology). \r\n\r\n\r\nNever forget, relationships matter!\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @@JenniferLSimon",
"session_title": "Networking 101 - Relationships Matter",
"summary": null,
"description": "Jennifer has been in sales for over 20 years, networking with people has been a key factor in her success. Early on in her career she realized that helping others came naturally and in return people are willing to help her. All of her job opportunities have come from some kind of networking, she continually builds new business through her connections and is constantly helping others connect with the right people to reach their goals. Whether it’s through direct personal relationships or simply making connections on Linked In. \r\n\r\nAs she has integrated into the IT Industry, she become aware that networking does not come naturally to a lot people. This presentation will help those who want to learn some basic tips and tricks on how to meet new people. ",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 106,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 20:27:50 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 455,
"participant_id": 1877,
"presenter_name": "Steven Fahrenholtz",
"presenter_bio": "Steve is an innovation expert who believes that every organization already has, in-house, the resources, knowledge and human potential to revolutionize its business. Rather than dispensing advice, Steve co-creates innovation strategy with the teams that he supports. \r\n\r\nUsing co-creation as his guiding principle, he founded the iSquad, a best in-class, internal innovation department that worked with the Business Units at General Mills. The iSquad routinely co-created new products, with their Business Teams, and continuously replenished General Mills’ new product pipeline for ten years.\r\n\r\nHe has been a keynote speaker at the National PDMA conference on the importance of consumer empathy. In addition, he has spoken at the Minnesota PDMA several times on innovation discovery and other innovation topics.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @sfahrenholtz",
"session_title": "Five Essential Innovation Team Conversations",
"summary": null,
"description": "Innovation requires teams to step into the tension of not knowing on a daily basis and yet, remain highly effective. They need to listen with positive intent, be able to have frank discussions while maintaining their relationships and have intimate conversations without the fear of disclosure.\r\n\r\nSignpost language is a four step process of identifying the change that is needed, developing a short phrase that signals how we are going to act, teaching others the meaning of the phrase, and then as with all behavior change acting in accordance with the way we said we were going to act.\r\n\r\nTypically, when we approach topics like active listening, constructive conflict or trust, we focus on our behaviors and how we act. Signpost language is the concept that we should focus on what we say and we will intuitively act differently and more importantly, people will naturally react to us differently,\r\n\r\nAs evidence that signpost language works, teams using Signpost Language and other tools have scored in the top 1% on team dynamics surveys",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 58,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 15:02:09 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 454,
"participant_id": 168,
"presenter_name": "Damien Riehl",
"presenter_bio": "Damien Riehl is a lawyer and technologist with experience in complex litigation, digital forensics, and software development. A coder since 1985 and for the web since 1995, Damien clerked for the chief judges of state and federal courts, practiced in complex litigation for over a decade, has led teams of cybersecurity and world-spanning digital forensics investigations, and has led teams in legal-software development. \r\n\r\nCo-Chair of the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Connected and Automated Vehicles, he is helping recommend changes to Minnesota statutes, rules, and policies — all related to connected and autonomous vehicles. \r\n\r\nDamien is Chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association's working group on AI and the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL). \r\n\r\nAt FOLIO, the legal ontology project from the ALEA Institute, Damien helps corporations, their law firms, and legal technology vendors implement legal data standards. For years, Damien led SALI, the legal data standard, where he developed and greatly expanded the taxonomy of over 18,000 legal tags that matter, helping the legal industry's development of Generative AI, analytics, and interoperability. \r\n\r\nAt vLex Group — which includes Fastcase, NextChapter, and Docket Alarm — Damien helps lead the design, development, and expansion of various products, integrating AI-backed technologies (e.g., GPT) to improve legal workflows and to power legal data analytics. \r\n\r\nIn 2019, Damien gave a TEDx Talk about his All the Music project, which to date has computationally composed over 400,000,000,000 (400B) melodies, has written them to disc (fixed in a tangible medium), and has given the public access through Creative Commons Zero (CC0), which provides rights similar to rights to works in the Public Domain. Arguably improving copyright law through legal decisions that appeared to draw upon his TEDx Talk's arguments.\r\n\r\n“This guy [Damien] rocks!” - Elon Musk\r\n\r\nLinkedIn\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- Twitter: @damienriehl",
"session_title": "Top 10 Developments in Tech Law",
"summary": null,
"description": "What are this year's most important developments in technology law? Notable lawsuits and legislation span areas that include autonomous vehicles, blockchain, API use, trade secrets, data privacy, social media, copyright, patents, trademarks, security, cloud computing, IoT, and net neutrality. In this fast-paced session, an attorney and coder will discuss the evolving tech law landscape, as well as trends that will likely continue to affect technologists in the coming year. Damien Riehl is a lawyer and educator who frequently speaks and writes on legal topics that affect businesses, including the legal implications of the Internet and technology.",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 122,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 14:04:54 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 453,
"participant_id": 1873,
"presenter_name": "Kathi mishek",
"presenter_bio": "Not sure why but I love digital marketing, building teams who do this work, and changing companies from the inside. I've helped start ups grow, but actually prefer to grow new ventures and organizations inside large companies. I have a couple of years of experience, and have learned some things along the way. I'm at minnebar to share what little I know, learn from other participants and - hopefully - help someone else who might be battling through change from the inside. LinkedIn: Kathimishek\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @@kmishek",
"session_title": "How to succeed at digital marketing inside a traditional BtoB company ",
"summary": null,
"description": "Learn how to enjoy transforming a traditional company into the digital era, step by step, and how to avoid the terrible 10. \r\n\r\nSpeaker is a veteran of transforming marketing and communications teams into digital powerhouses. Bring your toughest questions! ",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 31,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 03:17:59 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 452,
"participant_id": 1818,
"presenter_name": "Márcio Porto",
"presenter_bio": "\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/MarcioPorto)",
"session_title": "Bitcoin and Decentralized Apps 101: Build your own digital currency",
"summary": null,
"description": "Join me in looking at what Bitcoin and decentralized apps are and how they work.\r\nWe will talk about smart contracts and how they can be used to create applications powered by blockchain technology.\r\nI will show you how to build your own digital currency (let's call it MinneCoin) and how you and other people can start using it. In the process, you will learn the basics of how to build your own decentralized apps.",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 72,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 02:26:12 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 451,
"participant_id": 1869,
"presenter_name": "Amber Christian",
"presenter_bio": "SAP Techie at heart, and not afraid to admit it. I've spent my career working with companies in the Fortune 1000- implementing systems, reengineering processes, and adopting SAP platforms. This little SAP thing has taken me around the world- implementing for over 40 countries to date. I also host the Thriving at the Crossroads podcast for fun.\r\n\r\nLove my day job, but a big fan of start-ups as well.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @AceTreasury",
"session_title": "Speaking SAPenese. AKA: the largest bank of IT jobs you've probably never heard about or considered",
"summary": null,
"description": "Do you speak SAP? For many, it seems like learning Klingon would be easier. Attend this session to hear from two SAP industry veterans that have spent the majority of their careers working on SAP technology. How did we get into the industry, what do we actually do, and could you do it too? Where are we and our industry headed? Join us for an interactive conversation about all things SAP.",
"room_name": "Florida",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Paul Modderman"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1871
],
"attendance_count": 13,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 02:25:31 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 450,
"participant_id": 1866,
"presenter_name": "Troy Strand",
"presenter_bio": null,
"session_title": "MN Bot Makers Bot Out",
"summary": null,
"description": "Bots are software that automate a task. Chatbots automate a conversation, and they work inside the world’s most popular apps. That makes them (and the A.I. the drives them) the NEXT BIG THING.\r\n\r\nMN Bot Makers ([link](https://www.meetup.com/MN-Bot-Makers/)) is a brand new Twin Cities-based Meetup group that gathers botists who like botting out so we can all get down and bot out together. It's sponsored by Minnedemo 24 alum Raisable.co and their chatbot Max, who makes smart crowdfunding super simple.\r\n\r\nJoin us for a look at how we designed Max as the ultimate \"Lean Startup\" M.V.P., share your own cool bot projects, and help chart a course for future meetups around this fast-growing space.",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Eli Krumholz"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1695
],
"attendance_count": 79,
"created_at": "2017-03-10 00:59:35 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 449,
"participant_id": 1864,
"presenter_name": "David Dubé",
"presenter_bio": "In 2004 David saw a need for better relationships in the workforce and created his first course **How to Make Lifelong Clients in 30 Seconds** where he taught businesses and sales organizations how to cultivate relationships quickly and easily through his personality typing methodology. Since beginning David has expanded his teachings to how to deal with difficult people, cultural personalities, negotiating, influence through NLP, mindsets and much more. He has also co-authored the book *HD Mindset* with his good friend and business partner Anthony Verderame and co-founded [http://cutmedicalbills.com] with David Hold, a healthcare and business attorney. \r\n\r\nFind more about David Dubé @ [http://onlyoneyouneed.com]\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @OnlyOneYouNeed1",
"session_title": "Make Lifelong Clients in Just 30 Seconds (People & Personalities)",
"summary": null,
"description": "The quality of your life is dictated by the quality of your communication skills. The better communicator you are the more opportunities can be opened to you. Learn to better connect with people; whether they've always been in your life or you're just meeting someone for the first time. In this course you will learn personality types, learning styles, communication styles and how to put it altogether to better connect with anyone. ",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 86,
"created_at": "2017-03-09 15:13:52 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 448,
"participant_id": 1188,
"presenter_name": "Brian Yencho",
"presenter_bio": "Brian is an Android Developer with Livefront and one of the hosts of TC Mobile Hack Night (http://tchacknight.com). With a Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics, he brings his desire for deep understanding and love of problem solving to every project.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/byencho)\n- Twitter: @brianyencho",
"session_title": "Meaningful Motion : Make the Transition!",
"summary": null,
"description": "With the advent of Material Design it is becoming increasingly more important to provide transitions with meaningful motion that surprise and delight. We’ll be reviewing some recent tools---including Scenes and the now-backported Transition framework---and offering an in-depth case study on how to approach building a very challenging transition.",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Sean Weiser"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
731
],
"attendance_count": 34,
"created_at": "2017-03-07 14:18:08 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 447,
"participant_id": 1787,
"presenter_name": "Kathy Harrell-Latham",
"presenter_bio": "Attorney and co-founder of Cadre Scheduling. I moved to Minneapolis because of a temp job and used it as a spring board to do many different things in business and law. Runner, mom of twins, and rap aficionado.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @@kharrelllatham",
"session_title": "Being a non-tech founder of a tech company",
"summary": null,
"description": "Cadre Scheduling is a SaaS company founded by non-developers. Join us to hear the story, lessons learned, and how it became possible.",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 38,
"created_at": "2017-03-07 11:34:19 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 446,
"participant_id": 1847,
"presenter_name": "Ben J MacKinney",
"presenter_bio": "Hi! Thanks for checking out my bio. \r\nIm an entrepreneur and advise startups. More than anything, I love to help people bring their ideas to life and help with strategic planning. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, product owner or marketer I'd love to connect and jam with you after the conference!\r\n\r\nI love MINNESTAR and am a huge advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation as ways to change the world for good. \r\n\r\nLooking forward to chatting!\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @BenMacKinney",
"session_title": "Ideation for Entrepreneurs",
"summary": null,
"description": "Good ideas are not accidents!\r\n\r\nAspiring entrepreneurs frequently cite lack of a good idea as the primary reason for not starting their own tech company. \r\n\r\nJoin us to learn a framework for consistently producing better ideas. \r\n\r\nWhat information do I need to know? \r\n\r\nWhere do good ideas come from? \r\n\r\nHow to come up with something original? ",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 68,
"created_at": "2017-03-07 05:37:30 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 445,
"participant_id": 1846,
"presenter_name": "Timothy J. Salo",
"presenter_bio": "Mr. Timothy J. Salo is the founder and president of Salo IT Solutions, Inc. (SaloITS). His current projects include developing an Android system that will use Bluetooth beacons to deliver environmental contextual data products to public users’ smartphones. Mr. Salo has over three decades experience researching, designing, developing, marketing, deploying and operating data communications and Internet technologies, products and networks.\r\n\tIn his current role, he has served as the principal investigator for research contracts awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He has previously served in principal investigator for research contracts funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA).\r\n\tMr. Salo has earned a B.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. in software engineering from the University of St. Thomas. He is currently a graduate student in computer science at the University of Minnesota.\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "A Technical Introduction to Google's Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacon Technologies: Nearby, Physical Web and Eddystone",
"summary": null,
"description": "You’ve heard that Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons are coming to a retail location near you. But, what are BLE beacons and how do they work? This session will answer these questions and more. Beacons are small, wireless, electronic devices that repeatedly broadcast short Bluetooth messages. BLE-capable mobile devices, when in proximity to a beacon, may display contextual information relevant to the current location. Of course, retailers want to use BLE beacons to enhance your shopping experience, but countless other applications are possible.\r\n\r\nThis session will include a brief review of the capabilities of Bluetooth Low Energy. The wireless communications protocols used by Google (Eddystone) and Apple (iBeacon) will be described. A use case, delivering local tide times to nearby mobile devices, will be used to illustrate the components of the beacon ecosystem that discretely delivers contextual information to proximate smartphones. Google’s beacon-related products, including the Eddystone protocol and related APIs (including the Proximity Beacon API and the Nearby API) will be examined. The session will conclude with observations about the current state of beacon products and technologies. The presentation will contain an extensive bibliography for those who may wish to delve more deeply into, or even experiment with, beacon technologies.\r\n\r\nAudience participation may be required (you may configure your phone to receive Bluetooth beacons present in the classroom).",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Hardware"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 65,
"created_at": "2017-03-07 00:50:39 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 444,
"participant_id": 1845,
"presenter_name": "Stuart Renner Anderson",
"presenter_bio": "Stuart is a freelance developer in Minneapolis. He enjoys working with other people. When he's not working with other people, he helps folks make safe and legal choices when fishing for trout at https://2016.troutspotr.com. We can't choose our obsessions! :)\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/andest01)\n- Twitter: @andest01",
"session_title": "Please don't fight! Fostering trust between Design, Dev, and QA.",
"summary": null,
"description": "**Sometimes we fight with one another.**\r\n\r\nSometimes it's because of institutional factors - we are different roles, after all - and sometimes it's because of distrust. But if the three sides of UX, Dev, and QA can work as a team, then projects move forward, and work becomes - you know, fun!\r\n\r\nThree folks will give this talk. Stu is a developer, Briana is a designer, and Alex is a quality assurance engineer. Sometimes we fight. We're going to share how we've turned naturally adversarial relationships into a partnership where we each genuinely love working with each other.\r\n\r\nThe core of the talk will be about perspectives of our roles, and what we can do in our roles to really help each other make something to be proud of.\r\n\r\nHere's a question we'll help answer: What are the three things that the other two departments need to understand about your role that would benefit them every day? For instance, Designers would both benefit from anticipating what happens when things go wrong - things that developers and Quality Assurance engineers think about every day. \r\n\r\nAnother question that we'll address: What are the really great things that only your role can bring to the other two to make their work better?\r\n\r\nThis talk will have time for an open discussion, so there will be open mics for folks to add their input. We're all in this together; nobody can do this by themselves.",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 88,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 23:44:18 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 443,
"participant_id": 1815,
"presenter_name": "Keith Resar",
"presenter_bio": "[Keith Resar](https://twitter.com/KeithResar) is a consumer of and contributor to open source. While at [Red Hat](http://redhat.com) and [Ansible](http://ansible.com), he's consulted with dozen's of organizations helping them successfully implement IaaS, PaaS, and automation. \r\n\r\nHis most active project is [Appointment.one](https://appointment.one), which takes the guess work out of scheduling appointments, interviews, and product demos. Once the entire team’s calendar is visible, phone tag and double booked meetings become a relic of the past.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/KeithResar)\n- Twitter: @KeithResar",
"session_title": "Hosting for Your Startup, Side Project, or Big Dollar App",
"summary": null,
"description": "We all know hosting options are more diverse now than ever before. Get a download of the latest providers and solutions for your project of any size. Consider:\r\n\r\n\r\n**IaaS (by the virtual machine) or PaaS (by the application) models**\r\n\r\nImplications for entry cost, scaling, maintenance, caveats.\r\n\r\n**Building or Buying on a Per-Feature Basis**\r\n\r\nConsiderations when determining whether to use public cloud higher-order services vs. building and maintaining your own. Consider databases, queues, load balancers, storage, and more.\r\n\r\n**Hosting Provider Review**\r\n\r\nFrom the big cloud providers to some small niche players that may be new to you, evaluate their performance, pricing, and capabilities.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 71,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 21:41:26 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 442,
"participant_id": 1815,
"presenter_name": "Keith Resar",
"presenter_bio": "[Keith Resar](https://twitter.com/KeithResar) is a consumer of and contributor to open source. While at [Red Hat](http://redhat.com) and [Ansible](http://ansible.com), he's consulted with dozen's of organizations helping them successfully implement IaaS, PaaS, and automation. \r\n\r\nHis most active project is [Appointment.one](https://appointment.one), which takes the guess work out of scheduling appointments, interviews, and product demos. Once the entire team’s calendar is visible, phone tag and double booked meetings become a relic of the past.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/KeithResar)\n- Twitter: @KeithResar",
"session_title": "Ansible Automation Best Practices From Startups to Enterprises",
"summary": null,
"description": "Ansible is the Swiss Army knife of DevOps, capable of handling many powerful automation tasks with the flexibility to adapt to many environments and workflows. Not all approaches are created equal though. Don't let yours undermine the simplicity and power of Ansible. Based on actual experiences helping Ansible users, we'll show you what to do, and what not to do, to create the most reliable, resilient, and easy-to-manage solutions.",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 56,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 21:27:06 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 440,
"participant_id": 1281,
"presenter_name": "Erin Warhol",
"presenter_bio": "Erin has led Information Technology and Information Security initiatives for 21 years for large corporations, K-12 and higher education, and start-ups. She also consulted for a risk management company that focuses on physical security, including intelligence and behavioral assessment. She also consults for small businesses and mentors in STEM. \r\n\r\nShe specializes in:\r\nThird Party Security\r\nSecurity Program Creation\r\nTraining\r\nRisk Assessment and Threat Modeling\r\nManagement Strategies",
"session_title": "Security for Starters",
"summary": null,
"description": "Start-ups don't generally have the resources to employ full-time physical and cyber security staff, but still need to address the threats. This session will teach you some inexpensive, low-effort security strategies to help you reduce risk to your organizations.\r\n\r\nIf there is time, we will discuss the significance of security events that have hit the news recently.",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 102,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 20:29:56 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 439,
"participant_id": 1421,
"presenter_name": "Marty Wetherall",
"presenter_bio": "Daddy, Entrepreneur, co-founder of @FanChatter (YC S09), launching #DroneRacing Entertainment co @HydraFPV and racing at a bar near you http://hydrafpv.com\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @mcw719",
"session_title": "The Crowdfunding Hype Cycle",
"summary": null,
"description": "Have you ever considered running a crowdfunding campaign? Or have you done so already? Have you backed any crowdfunding campaigns? Will you do so again?\r\n\r\nThe rise of Kickstarter and Indiegogo ushered in an exciting new way for projects to scale awareness and raise essential funds online, but a string of high profile failures has many beginning to question the validity of crowdfunding campaign promises.\r\n\r\nWith the growing cost of running a campaign (due to content creation and promotion expenses), the emergence of competing platforms, and now the dawn of equity crowdfunding, the question is: **where are we on the Crowdfunding [Hype Cycle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle)?**\r\n\r\nRepresentatives from **Fallon StarterKit** (\"We tell stories that fund ideas\") and Minnedemo 24 alum **Raisable.co** (\"Smart crowdfunding made simple\") will lead a support-group style discussion to explore what we want from online fundraising and where it's all headed, keeping in mind that *“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”* (Amara’s Law)\r\n",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Hardware",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Eli Krumholz",
"Troy Strand"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1695,
1795
],
"attendance_count": 48,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 17:52:58 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 438,
"participant_id": 1839,
"presenter_name": "adam bezemek",
"presenter_bio": "Adam Bezemek is an accomplished Director of Front-End Technology. He specializes in helping companies write better quality, easily maintained and more scalable user interfaces; ultimately, increasing their bottom line. For over ten years, he has been crafting creative solutions to unique business problems and leading teams into better tomorrows.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/adambezemek)\n- Twitter: @adambezemek",
"session_title": "Getting to know Atomic Design",
"summary": null,
"description": "Atomic Design is a methodology composed of five distinct stages working together to create interface design systems in a more deliberate and hierarchical manner. We'll be getting to know the methodology and how you can integrate it into your design/development workflows to create better interactive experiences for the web.",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 91,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 16:57:06 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 437,
"participant_id": 1801,
"presenter_name": "Adeel Ahmad",
"presenter_bio": "Founder/Principal at [Lab 1908](https://lab1908.com), a startup studio in St. Paul. \r\n\r\nInvestor/advisor at a bunch of startups around Twin Cities and San Francisco. \r\n\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeelahmad/)\r\n- [The Misophonia Podcast](https://misophoniapodcast.com)",
"session_title": "Sit Back and Let the Computer Evolve Software - An Intro to Genetic Algorithms",
"summary": null,
"description": "You know about evolution in the natural world. Did you know the same principles can be applied to software?\r\n\r\nGenetic algorithms have been used to solve tough problems - often finding novel optimizations that no human would have considered.\r\nNASA launched a tiny antenna evolved by a genetic algorithm that was orders of magnitude smaller than conventional antennas.\r\nGenetic algorithms have been used to teach robots to learn to walk.\r\n\r\n\r\nThis session will be a very gentle introduction to the fascinating fields of genetic algorithms and genetic programming. \r\n\r\n- examples of evolutionary algorithms in practice\r\n- the steps to create a genetic algorithm\r\n- popular libraries for evolving code\r\n- challenges in using a genetic algorithm\r\n- how this relates to AI and deep learning\r\n- where to find resources",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 107,
"created_at": "2017-03-06 14:07:45 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 436,
"participant_id": 12,
"presenter_name": "Mark Gritter",
"presenter_bio": "Mark Gritter is a Founding Engineer at ThirdLaw, his fifth startup experience, building monitoring and control for AI systems.\r\n\r\nMark formerly worked at Akita Software and Postman on API observailbity; at HashiCorp on the Vault team; co-founded Tintri, an enterprise storage company that IPOed in 2017; and was a day-one employee at Kealia, a video streaming startup acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2004.\r\n\r\nMark's previous Minnebar presentations have covered topics such as correctness of algorithms, combinatorial auctions, scaling a startup, building a file system, and procedural content generation.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/mgritter)\r\n- [Mastodon: @markgritter@mathstodon.xyz](https://mathstodon.xyz/@markgritter)\r\n- [Bluesky: @markgritter.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/markgritter.bsky.social)",
"session_title": "Mad Science with Tracery",
"summary": null,
"description": "[Tracery](http://tracery.io/) is a language for generating random text based on a grammar you specify, with implementations in JS, Python, Ruby, and Twine. It has been used to create a wide variety of content, from [Twitter bots](http://cheapbotsdonequick.com/) to [dialogue in games](http://squinky.me/2015/01/19/new-game-interruption-junction/) to [SVG graphics](https://twitter.com/tinyspires?lang=en). Tracery itself is just JSON, so you can write Tracery code that outputs Tracery!\r\n\r\nBring your laptop, and this quick introduction will have you writing your own procedurally-generated content in no time!\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 43,
"created_at": "2017-03-05 23:02:15 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 435,
"participant_id": 1841,
"presenter_name": "Lisa Zufall",
"presenter_bio": "My journey with startups began in the mid 90's and my mission is to help those who are ready to bring their ideas to life. \r\n\r\n[Birch Solutions Website](https://birchsolutions.net)\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "Going to Market - How, When, Where (Open Forum)",
"summary": null,
"description": "Let's face it, sometimes it just easier to have an unbiased 3rd party to help you identify strategic partners, referral partners and your niche. \r\n\r\nWe will first cover the basics in identifying your market and then we will open it up for you to ask questions about marketing your product/service.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Georgia",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Other",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Sarah Wick"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1279
],
"attendance_count": 21,
"created_at": "2017-03-05 22:49:29 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 434,
"participant_id": 122,
"presenter_name": "Colin Lee",
"presenter_bio": "Colin is an experienced software engineer specializing in Android development. He worked for Mozilla on the Firefox for Android rewrite. He has worked for many successful companies in the past fifteen years, including Amazon, Flipgrid (acquired by Microsoft), Cray, Pearson VUE, and When I Work. He runs the Twin Cities Kotlin User Group in his spare time. He now works full-time for Meetup and enjoys traveling the world during their generous paid time off.\r\n\r\nHe has been programming since he learned BASIC on the TRS-80 computer in his parents' basement at age six. He has been writing Android apps since soon after the first Android phone launched and has done so professionally since the last space shuttle landed. In that time, he's probably been pitched every silly app idea and been offered a percent stake in the zero dollars most actually earned.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/colintheshots)\n- Twitter: @colinmlee",
"session_title": "Kotlin: Java for the New Millenium",
"summary": null,
"description": "\r\n\r\nTL,DR: Learn about the hottest new language taking Android and server developers away from Java.\r\n\r\nKotlin. It's not just a small tourist town in Poland. It's also a new Java Virtual Machine (JVM) language.\r\n\r\nThe Kotlin language was initially conceived over five years ago by the JetBrains team in Russia that built highly regarded integrated development environments (IDEs). Some of their products include IntelliJ, Android Studio, PhpStorm, PyCharm, RubyStorm, and WebStorm.\r\n\r\nJetBrains liked the JVM, but were underwhelmed by the state of programming languages for the JVM. Java is a solid language, but the standards committee moves slowly and backwards compatibility hamstrings it. Many feel that some modern language features might never reach Java.\r\n\r\nKotlin came about because JetBrains wanted a modern language with the utility of Scala, but with shorter compile times and backwards compatibility with mature Java libraries.\r\n\r\nKotlin was designed to have:\r\n\r\n* Full Java Interoperability\r\n\r\n* Compilation as fast as Java\r\n\r\n* Safer defaults than Java\r\n\r\n* More concise code than Java\r\n\r\n* Simpler code than Scala\r\n\r\nMy talk will investigate the reasons why Kotlin is among the fastest growing JVM languages today.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 47,
"created_at": "2017-03-05 18:56:49 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 433,
"participant_id": 131,
"presenter_name": "Jachin Rupe",
"presenter_bio": "Jachin is a former full time software engineer, now he's mostly a stay-at-home dad, but he still has time for some consulting and an endless parade of personal project. His favorite programming language is [Elm](https://elm-lang.org/).\r\n\r\nHis name is pronounced JAY-kin; it's a Hebrew name, but he’s not Jewish.\r\n\r\nHe's got a blog at [jachin.rupe.name](http://jachin.rupe.name/)\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/jachin)",
"session_title": "Casual DevOps: Automate Server Management and Configuration with Saltstack (for people who only need to do those things every now and then)",
"summary": null,
"description": "Do you have to manage a server every now and then? Maybe you are a developer working on a side project, you would like to put what you have made on the Internet, but managing the server infrastructure sounds like a huge pain. Maybe you are interested in a career change and are looking to add ‘automated server management and configuration’ (plus any number of other buzzwords) to your skill set. Maybe you’d like to be a bit more of a “full stack” developer. SaltStack is a very helpful tool to achieve these ends. However learning it requires a paradigm shift from other kinds of development and the wherewithal to navigate a few pitfalls. In this talk, I will make the case for why SaltStack (and other tools like it) are valuable and worth learning. I will give a brief overview of how it works, focusing on the parts that confused me the most. Then I will talk about some of the things I’ve done with it.",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 46,
"created_at": "2017-03-05 18:22:26 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 432,
"participant_id": 1644,
"presenter_name": "Kyle Smaagard",
"presenter_bio": "Kyle Smaagard is a former Air Force Officer and self-taught programmer. His knowledge is all over the place including:\r\n\r\n* Satellite [Construction] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-221)\r\n* Supply Chain Management\r\n* 3d Printing\r\n* Android Development\r\n* Product Management\r\n* Machine Learning\r\n\r\nHe taught himself to code in the middle of the desert and has leveraged that knowledge to be effective in building Android Applications and a 3d Printing business. \r\n\r\nFor his real job he works at an awesome company called [Calabrio] (http://www.calabrio.com/) and for the last 3 years has been running an AI/ML research team.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/easycheese)",
"session_title": "Practical Machine Learning - Handwritten Number Recognition on Android",
"summary": null,
"description": "We'll do the following:\r\n\r\n* A quick primer on multi-class classification machine learning\r\n* How multi-class classification applies to handwriting recognition\r\n* A quick dive into a working Android app that implements a a handwritten number recognizer\r\n\r\nAlthough math is involved, don't let it scare you, we'll keep it fairly high level. The goal is to demonstrate how surprisingly easy it is to implement machine learning concepts!",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 74,
"created_at": "2017-03-05 02:36:32 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 431,
"participant_id": 46,
"presenter_name": "Neal Tovsen",
"presenter_bio": "Tech nerd specializing in product development and software engineering. Cofounder of two tech startups, and years of helping build teams, build software, and launch (or reinvent) products.",
"session_title": "Shopping for Nerds: I need to build something. Um...now what?",
"summary": null,
"description": "Launching a new startup or building any innovative tech product is seriously hard work. There is a ton of information out there on how to achieve product-market fit, find investors, and market your product.\r\n\r\nIf you're a non-techie and you're still left wondering how you *actually go about building something*, this session is for you.\r\n\r\n* Do I need a technical co-founder? Should I hunt for a freelance rockstar? How about a local agency? What about offshore?\r\n* How do I know we've made good implementation decisions, like programming language, platform, etc?\r\n* How do I reduce the risk of being taken hostage by a co-founder/contractor/outsourcer?\r\n* What kinds of missteps will require me to throw it all away and start over, and how do I avoid them?\r\n\r\nHaving the wrong kind of technical talent on your team will result in wasted time, money, effort, and customer/investor goodwill. It can also result in complete disaster.\r\n\r\nSpoiler alert: There are more ways to cook an omelet than than there are eggs to break while trying them all. I'll share some of the guidelines I use when I've been asked for advice, and I hope you'll share some of your war stories and hard-learned lessons, too.",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 54,
"created_at": "2017-03-03 19:29:50 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 430,
"participant_id": 1835,
"presenter_name": "Rajiv Tandon",
"presenter_bio": "◄ Mentor ★ Consultant ★ Serial Entrepreneur ★ Educator ★ Senior Manager ★ Learning & Development Pioneer ★ President & CEO ★ Board of Directors ► (LinkedIn: Rajiv Tandon, Ph.D.)\r\n▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬\r\nAs an Executive Fellow at the University of St. Thomas Dr. Tandon combines his passion for entrepreneurship and education to help in developing more robust innovative entrepreneurial enterprises through the “Rocket Network”, an ecosystem for entrepreneurs who, through forums and a collaborative network, fearlessly tackle the issues created within startups. He also runs a peer group of Leaders of Fast Growing Companies. Twin City Business Magazine listed him as one of the “200 Minnesotans You Should Know” for his focus on “EduTech”. \r\n\r\nHe is a serial entrepreneur and has been involved with Technology in Education/Training ever since there has been that domain; including founding Adayana listed in Inc 500/5000 fastest growing companies for 5 years in a row. \r\n\r\nHe held several positions at National Car Rental including corporate vice president and general manager of the Car Rental Division also serving as President of the American Car Rental Association.\r\n\r\nAs a Bush Leadership Fellow, his doctoral dissertation in entrepreneurship examined critical success factors in emerging companies that became the basis of the earliest and very successful program in Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas where he was a tenured Professor. He was awarded the Edwin M. Appel Prize by the Price-Babson Program, Boston \"for bringing entrepreneurial vitality to academia\".\r\n\r\nRocket Network Programs\r\nCafé-X: Monthly forum for common problems dealt with conceptual framework and exemplars\r\n100 Launches: Helping ideas develop into MVP\r\nSmart Financing: Alternative financing sources/ methods to funding through a VC\r\nClean Tech Open: Curricula for entrepreneurs developing clean tech organizations\r\nExecutive Group: Facilitated Peer Group with an edge of Education and Foresight.\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "Daring (But Practical) Process of Starting 100 New Companies in Minnesota From Your Ideas ",
"summary": null,
"description": "Background: Minnesota is credited as the birthplace of the computer, medical technology, healthcare, educational technology as well as 3-D printing. In addition there are many other \"Technologies\", such as Healthcare and Retail that are prevalent here. All of these have changed the world. Many local entrepreneurial firms led to the creation of entirely new industries; and also spawned numerous other companies in our area. This has been a source of pride and vitality for the region. \r\n\r\nAll organizations ultimately age and decline and are not capable of sustaining the economic vitality without fresh seeds being planted. Today our large companies are aging and showing stress and decline. The last Fortune 500 Company, which was born in Minnesota, was in 1977. At this rate we will not be able to sustain the present healthy economic climate in the future decades. \r\n\r\nProblem: MN ranks very poorly in the nation in terms of New Venture startups. We are #47 in the nation and 3 steps below last year. Yes! we are below Mississippi. This is in the background of a 50% decline in New startups in the US. It is a crisis silently developing for the future.\r\n\r\nPotential Solution: We have an infinite source of ideas, in the region, simply from the permutation/combination of world class technologies and the experienced personnel to support them. The increased focus on entrepreneurship requires starting many new ideas but an additional focus on those seeds that have sprouted. The ventures that survive the birthing process, and can grow are the best source of future economic prosperity and deserve the support and attention. \r\n\r\nMission \"100 Launches\": All ideas are welcome. We are scalable! It is a practical support system for new ideas that, as the name implies, aims to build 100 strong companies by helping entrepreneurs to navigate successfully the birthing process and work through the myriad of issues in building a successful company.\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 52,
"created_at": "2017-03-03 15:44:06 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 429,
"participant_id": 1801,
"presenter_name": "Adeel Ahmad",
"presenter_bio": "Founder/Principal at [Lab 1908](https://lab1908.com), a startup studio in St. Paul. \r\n\r\nInvestor/advisor at a bunch of startups around Twin Cities and San Francisco. \r\n\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeelahmad/)\r\n- [The Misophonia Podcast](https://misophoniapodcast.com)",
"session_title": "Forget VC - Side Projects for Fun and Profit",
"summary": null,
"description": "This session is aimed at those interested in starting side projects that make real money to supplement and replace your day job.\r\n\r\nIt's easier than ever to start one, or even multiple projects that make money. The benefits are obvious: independence, no outside investment, no boss other than your customers, and the freedom to really set your own schedule.\r\n\r\nI'll lead a hopefully interactive session with my thoughts on how to get a project off the ground and humming along. Some things we'll cover are:\r\n- how to pick ideas to work on\r\n- how to organize your time\r\n- how to launch an MVP\r\n- how to find an audience\r\n- how to handle customer issues\r\n- lots of probably unconventional personal opinions on this topic\r\n\r\nDuring the session I'll talk about the latest tools and platforms available to launch an app and automate as much as possible. It may get slightly technical at times but I'll try to keep it as high-level as possible. \r\n\r\nNot every startup needs VC money - only VCs think you need VC money. It helps them get a piece of your action, and it helps scare you away from competing with their investments.\r\n\r\nIf you've got an idea you want to get off the ground - come join!\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 105,
"created_at": "2017-03-03 15:33:39 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 428,
"participant_id": 1832,
"presenter_name": "Andrew Brobston",
"presenter_bio": "Andrew Brobston is a principal software engineer at Hobsons, developing software to help academic institutions advise their students for success. Previously, he was a lead full-stack software developer at SJV Data Solutions, an Atlanta-area company specializing in background checks. Before SJV, he was a full-stack developer with Stack Overflow.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/abrobston)\n- Twitter: @AndrewBrobston",
"session_title": "When Will It Be Done?: Practical Software Estimation for Developers",
"summary": null,
"description": "If you ever need to tell your boss or some other stakeholder when to expect your software, this session is for you. Expect to hear about:\r\n\r\n * What is an estimate, *really*?\r\n * Using a little math to estimate your task lists\r\n * Handling the politics around estimation\r\n * What to do when things don't go as planned\r\n\r\n...and more! Bring your questions.",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 144,
"created_at": "2017-03-02 18:17:58 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 427,
"participant_id": 688,
"presenter_name": "Reed Robinson",
"presenter_bio": "Founding Partner of Groove Capital\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @indeeditsreed",
"session_title": "Hey... how about a hub?",
"summary": null,
"description": "Our work with founders (via Beta.MN) has exposed us to a number of needs and desires currently being expressed by the local startup community. In this session, we will share a few of those topics, paying close attention the need for a startup hub.\r\n\r\nHere, we'll answer...\r\n\r\n- Do we have a central address for startup activity? (We don't)\r\n\r\n- Should we? (We think so)\r\n\r\n- What would it look like? (Think bigger)\r\n\r\n- Is it possible? (We think so)\r\n\r\nI'll also plan to throw in a few brief activities, so please come ready to participate.",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 46,
"created_at": "2017-03-02 02:06:54 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 426,
"participant_id": 1826,
"presenter_name": "Thong Nguyen",
"presenter_bio": "Founder and CEO of [Roomera, Inc](http://www.roomera.com), and a CTO-in-Residence at [Rêve Consulting](http://www.reveconsulting.com).\r\n\r\nEnjoys inventing things that make life better. Fascinated by how people (and groups of people) work. Appreciates polyglots. Can occasionally be found on Twitter [@instapreneur](http://www.twitter.com/instapreneur)\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @instapreneur",
"session_title": "Hacking Brains and Businesses With Virtual Reality (with LIVE EXPERIMENTS!)",
"summary": null,
"description": "Many people still associate virtual reality with first-person shooters, 360 videos of being on a roller coaster, phones you put on your face, people accidentally walking into walls, or just another version of 3D TV. While all of these are possible uses, we (and the VR industry) see them as only a small part of a much bigger picture. \r\n\r\nThis session will be taking a deeper look at how VR (and MR/AR) is actually a much more robust way to **access our brains through software**. We're pretty convinced that this will have profound effects on how people work in the future - but will also be sharing some examples of where it has already had impact today. \r\n\r\nRather than talk at you, we're structuring this session as a series of live demos (with a HTC Vive) & discussions. \r\n\r\nThings we'll be touching on:\r\n\r\n- Quick overview of VR and the industry\r\n- If a picture is worth a thousand words, then VR must be worth a gadjillion\r\n- Hacking human perception\r\n- Digital therapy\r\n- Time permitting: VR vs AR vs MR\r\n",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Other",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Zach Wendt"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
781
],
"attendance_count": 67,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 22:15:52 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 425,
"participant_id": 729,
"presenter_name": "Nick Roseth",
"presenter_bio": "Nick is a passionate technology leader that works at the intersection of business, creative, and technology. Over the course of a 20 year career in digital, he has touched design, development, management, leadership, and a host of other disciplines. He works with forward thinking companies to reveal strategic business objectives, develop a digital strategy, build the team, and execute.\r\n\r\nDriven by lifelong learning, Nick is involved in the community on a variety of fronts. From the www.documntary.com project to personal education to educating others through advisory boards, speaking engagements, and mentoring, he continuously seeks to broaden his skills and grow himself and the community.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @nickroseth",
"session_title": "Connecting Rural America to Tech Careers",
"summary": null,
"description": "Among the variety of differences between urban and rural america is the types of jobs available to our communities. There is significant talent gap in that there are rural communities without jobs and urban communities without enough talented workers. Let's figure out a way to reconnect and bridge the divide by connecting rural america with tech jobs. ",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 54,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 21:23:40 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 424,
"participant_id": 1219,
"presenter_name": "Eric Caron",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a technologist in Minnesota. I love my family and strongly believe in giving back to the community. I've worked in startups, Best Buy and I'm currently at Caribou Coffee.\r\n\r\nAt the core of it all, I love demystifying technology and making it approachable to everyone. I've been lucky enough to keep having jobs where I get to learn about the business, listen to the customer, and imagine ways to serve both.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/ecaron)\n- Twitter: @ecaron",
"session_title": "InnerSource - The first step towards open sourcing company software",
"summary": null,
"description": "Once a company has more than 1 department developing code, a problem inevitable arises: How do you share source code that's mutually used? There are many different thoughts on the matter, but one that's starting to gain a significant amount of attention is \"InnerSource\". [PayPal defines InnerSource as](https://paypal.github.io/InnerSourceCommons/):\r\n\r\n> \"InnerSource takes the lessons learned from developing open source software and applies them to the way companies develop software internally. As developers have become accustomed to working on world class open source software, there is a strong desire to bring those practices back inside the firewall and apply them to software that companies may be reluctant to release. For companies building mostly closed source software, InnerSource can be a great tool to help break down silos, encourage internal collaboration, accelerate new engineer on-boarding, and identify opportunities to contribute software back to the open source world.\"\r\n\r\nIn this talk we'll cover how to get from where you are (\"Hey, we've got some source code that multiple people find useful!\"), where you're going (\"Look, we're more popular than ReactJS\"), and some hurdles along the way (\"Oh shoot, it looks like there is already a library to convert FLAC to MP3s...\"). We'll give real-world examples of doing it right, and leave with some takeaways that people can immediately implement at their own companies.",
"room_name": "Discovery",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 21,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 19:33:50 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 423,
"participant_id": 703,
"presenter_name": "Patrick Meenan",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a Partner at Arthur Ventures here in Minneapolis. Our goal at Arthur Ventures is to be the first capital partner to the fastest growing SaaS businesses outside the valley. My favorite time to get involved with founders is when they are seeing the first signals that what they are working on is bigger than anybody else realizes and they believe capital can help accelerate their customer acquisition. We invest all over the country, but some MN companies we've partnered with include LeadPages and WhenIWork.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @pmeenan1",
"session_title": "What's your startup worth?",
"summary": null,
"description": "A no BS, open, and transparent conversation about seed/Series A startup valuations.\r\n\r\nIn this session, I'll share:\r\n1.) Aggregated seed/Series A valuation data of actual deals done within the Arthur Ventures portfolio.\r\n2.) Guidance on how to set your own valuation expectations for your startup\r\n3.) Advice on how to handle the valuation conversation with investors\r\n\r\nLast year had a great turnout - lets do it again this year!\r\n\r\nhttps://arthurventures.com\r\nhttps://arthurventures.com/team/patrick-meenan",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 87,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 18:38:27 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 422,
"participant_id": 2,
"presenter_name": "Adrienne Peirce",
"presenter_bio": "I'm a Senior Product Manager at Credly, which was recently acquired by Pearson. I'm also a former board member of Minnestar. I'm a productivity tool enthusiast, a beekeeper, and a devout supporter of this tech community.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennepeirce/)",
"session_title": "What the &#%!@? is Product Management?",
"summary": null,
"description": "There are a lot of approaches, philosophies, titles, roles, organizational structures out there for this thing we call PRODUCT. \r\n\r\nIs the Product Manager CEO of the product? \r\n\r\nIs Product the intersection of Business + UX + Technology?\r\n\r\nHow does it work at Apple/ Google/ Facebook/ Amazon/ my favorite local startups?\r\n\r\nLet's discuss.",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Jeff Meier"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1743
],
"attendance_count": 124,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 17:00:08 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 421,
"participant_id": 137,
"presenter_name": "Patrick Donohue",
"presenter_bio": "[LinkedIn Profile](www.linkedin.com/in/patrickedonohue/)\r\n\r\n[Hill Capital Corporation](http://www.hillcapitalcorp.com/)\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "Local Dollars. The Impact of Local Investing. ",
"summary": null,
"description": "If you are interested in: impact investing, place-based investing, books such as \"Locavesting, \"Local Dollars, Local Sense\", let's get together and have a conversation. \r\n\r\nPotential Points of Discussion:\r\n- what is impact investing and specific examples\r\n- where to look for local investors\r\n- ways to raise capital in a local or regional market\r\n- what is Mission-Related Investing and Program-Related Investing and who is doing it\r\n- what local organizations are actively promoting investments in local businesses\r\n- where and how is local investing happening in our region\r\n- what questions do you have?\r\n- what insights can you come and share?\r\n\r\nThis is a group discussion will be led by a panel active in local investing. We will ask for points of discussion at the beginning and throughout the session. Please come prepared to ask questions AND participate in the conversation. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 26,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 15:52:34 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 420,
"participant_id": 1819,
"presenter_name": "Leah Cunningham",
"presenter_bio": null,
"session_title": "Zen and the Art of Agility",
"summary": null,
"description": "In this session, we will go beyond the “how” of agile and take a real-life story telling journey into why agile works.",
"room_name": "Calhoun",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 103,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 15:47:11 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 419,
"participant_id": 208,
"presenter_name": "Paul DeBettignies",
"presenter_bio": "Paul DeBettignies is the Founder of Launch Hiring and is better known as “Minnesota Headhunter.” Recognized as a Talent Leader, for 25+ years Paul has sat at the intersection of talent advisory and talent strategy building software, tech, product and digital teams with startups and tech companies throughout the country with a focus on Minnesota and the Midwest while creating recruiting strategies for Fortune 500 clients.\r\n\r\nHe is a regional and national writer speaker, trainer, subject matter expert and trusted media source on recruiter, HR, career, job search, networking and social media topics.\r\n\r\nBorn and raised in Minneapolis, Paul despises bios and does not take himself as serious as this all sounds. He loves sunsets, fishing, gardening and still believes that one day the Gophers will go to the Rose Bowl.\r\n\r\nStay in contact with him by clicking: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnheadhunter) | [@MNHeadhunter](https://twitter.com/mnheadhunter) | [Minnesota Headhunter Blog](http://www.mnheadhunter.com)\r\n",
"session_title": "Managing Your IT Career v8 - (Why do recruiters suck so bad?)",
"summary": null,
"description": "This is the 8th year of doing this kind of presentation... a few slides and a lot of Q&A and discussion.\r\n\r\nFrequent conversations I have had lately include (and bring what is on your mind):\r\n\r\n- What is the local job market like right now?\r\n- Is this a good time to look for a new job?\r\n- What's a reasonable salary increase year over year?\r\n- Should I stay a developer or move into management?\r\n- I'm thinking about moving to \"fill in the blank\", should I go?\r\n- Why is there so much recruiter spam?\r\n- How much personal info should I share with corporate/search firm recruiter?\r\n\r\nAnd every year someone asks, \"Why do recruiters suck so bad?\". I'll pull the curtain back on what it is like to be one.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 80,
"created_at": "2017-03-01 03:04:48 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 418,
"participant_id": 485,
"presenter_name": "Dan Ficker",
"presenter_bio": "Dan Ficker has been building websites since 1997, when he wanted to tell the world which rock bands he was a fan of. Since then, he has helped build hundreds of websites, most of them using the PHP programming language. He went to college, learned more about development in Java and Oracle, but still builds websites, these days most often using the Drupal or WordPress content management systems built on top of PHP. In the past 14+ years of professional development, he has built and worked on the PHP code, MySQL queries, HTML output, and performance of hundreds of websites. Dan still gets excited when a band he's a fan of comes to town and enjoys learning about other areas of technology.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/dficker)\n- Twitter: @deliriousguy",
"session_title": "3...2...1... Launching Your Website",
"summary": null,
"description": "Overview\r\n----------\r\nYou have created a beautiful, shiny new web site or a stellar partner has created one for you. It is ready to launch and usually someone just hands it over to a server administrator or the DevOps team. Instead, this time you are the launch team. Don’t panic. This session will give you the knowledge to understand what you need to make it a smooth launch.\r\n\r\nTo launch, you need various pieces of information about domains, DNS, SSL and more. You then have to set these up correctly. If you do so, you should have a smooth launch of your new site.\r\n\r\nThis session is for any developer or website stakeholder who wants to better understand how the Internet works and how visitors come to and interact with the website. There is not any code, but there will be talk of how the Internet works and resources on how to configure a site to be secure and serve visitors well. To explain domains and DNS, the session will get a bit nerdy about networking, but it should be accessible to folks who do not work in IT.\r\n\r\nTopics Covered\r\n------------------\r\n* Gathering domain ownership information.\r\n* Setting up DNS records or getting DNS changed smoothly.\r\n* Requirements and recommendations for SSL encryption and implementation.\r\n* Evaluation of hosting requirements and hosting options.\r\n* Considerations from moving from an old site to a new site.\r\n\r\nMy Experience\r\n-----------------\r\nThis session is based on the presenter’s 12+ years of building, launching and maintaining dozens of websites both freelance and at a design/development agency. From launching a brand new site to moving an existing live site from one server to another, I have launched hundreds of sites on various hosting environments.\r\n",
"room_name": "Challenge",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 53,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 20:35:53 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 417,
"participant_id": 1545,
"presenter_name": "Draeke Weseman",
"presenter_bio": "Business Attorney at Messerli & Kramer P.A.\r\n\r\nhttps://www.messerlikramer.com/attorney/draeke-h-weseman\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @draeke",
"session_title": "Preparing your Startup for Investment",
"summary": null,
"description": "The goal with this session is to provide information about what legal housekeeping should be done ahead of investment from friends and family, angels, and venture capital firms. \r\n\r\nSome topics that may be covered:\r\n\r\nTerm Sheets and How to Negotiate Them\r\nPurchase Agreements and How Key Provisions Could Affect Your Deal\r\nThe Due Diligence Process and How to be Ready for It\r\nWhat to Expect at Closing and Afterward\r\n",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 55,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 20:17:36 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 416,
"participant_id": 1805,
"presenter_name": "Collin Flynn",
"presenter_bio": "Collin is a Principal Software Engineer with Livefront\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/cdflynn)\r\n- Twitter: @collin_flynn",
"session_title": "The Language of Motion - Touch Handling in Android",
"summary": null,
"description": "Learn to translate the stream of touch events into delightful interactions, in a reusable way. We’ll introduce combinations of effects, including tension, anchoring, and boundary, and provide real world examples. We’ll also see how these effects can be plugged into any view, without needing to re-write touch processing.",
"room_name": "Texas",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 28,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 20:05:51 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 415,
"participant_id": 1809,
"presenter_name": "Josh Thelemann",
"presenter_bio": "Josh Thelemann, co-founder of 26 Letters, leads business development. His work building and fostering relationships across many communities began when he found his first non-profit, Save Our Schools, in 2011. Since then, Josh has helped start New Leaders Council - Twin Cities, which is a cross-sector, leadership institute for young professionals; he has founded two other entities in the private sector. He has served on several for-profit and non-profit boards and committees with a bevy of focus areas. In wearing these many hats, Josh has witnessed first-hand the need for growth in Diversity, Engagement and Inclusion in the public, private and academic arenas.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @@joshthelemann",
"session_title": "Our Workforce's $550 Billion Dollar Problem",
"summary": null,
"description": "\"A mere 30% of all employees are engaged at work according to Gallup. It's no surprise then that the US sees $550 billion in lost productivity each year. That's not to say however that something can't be done. \r\n\r\nIn a recent study by the Harvard Business Review they found companies that invest in meaningful employee experience experienced 4x profitability than those that did not. Furthermore, in a study done by Forbes, diverse teams outperformed non-diverse teams by 35%. In fact almost 60% of all current employees wish their employers were more diverse.\r\n\r\nThe modern workforce looks much different than it did in previous years and the expectations of how a modern workforce should function are vastly different than the were even a generation ago.\r\n\r\nThis session will focus on the current landscape of the modern workforce (including Gen-Z whose first members are getting ready to join the workforce after this summer) and why you need to be focusing on inclusion and engagement if you're to remain relevant.\r\n\r\nWe'll address the $550 billion dollar problem, talk about some solution and provide a few simple activities that you can begin to incorporate on Monday to begin fostering a healthier work culture.\"\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Florida",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 33,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 19:21:41 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 414,
"participant_id": 1085,
"presenter_name": "David Middlecamp",
"presenter_bio": "About David\r\n---\r\n\r\nDavid helps people build amazing things, and he loves to ship solutions to hard problems. David is an early employee at [Particle](https://www.particle.io/) *(a Minneapolis Startup)*, and is **frequently put on the spot to write code under pressure.** (yay startups!). Particle provides a popular IoT platform for makers and enterprises.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/dmiddlecamp)\n- Twitter: @dmiddlecamp",
"session_title": "Lets build a thing!",
"summary": null,
"description": "This is your chance to watch a random volunteer from the audience learn how to program a robot from scratch. I'll bring a robot kit to play with, the audience will nominate someone, and we'll go through an introduction to coding, electronics, robotics, and IoT LIVE in the room, unscripted.\r\n\r\nWill we succeed in driving a little robot around? Is this the largest pair programming session ever? Come find out! \r\n\r\nIf you're the volunteer and make it through, you'll leave this talk with a robot of your very own. :) \r\n",
"room_name": "Nokomis",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Hardware",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 104,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 17:30:23 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 413,
"participant_id": 1802,
"presenter_name": "Timothy Smith",
"presenter_bio": "[Tim Smith](https://ttimsmith.com) is a designer and frontend developer from Saint Paul, MN. He's worked on the web for a decade, working with different companies and clients. Tim writes *[Brightly Colored](https://brightlycolored.org/)*, a blog about design, development, technology, and most importantly, Star Wars. When away from his desk, he spends time with his amazing wife Kelly, eating brunch, watching movies, walking the mall, and other sappy-sounding couple stuff.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/smithtimmytim)\n- Twitter: @smithtimmytim",
"session_title": "Let's Learn CSS Grid",
"summary": null,
"description": "CSS Grid Layout is gaining more browser support everyday!\r\n\r\n- But what is it?\r\n- How does it work?\r\n- Why should you use it?\r\n- And what are some practical ways you can incorporate it into your project? \r\n\r\nI'll show you how CSS Grid is a better solution for some problems, and how CSS Grid is not the end all, be all solution too.",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 112,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 17:05:32 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 412,
"participant_id": 136,
"presenter_name": "Jason Sprenger",
"presenter_bio": "Jason Sprenger is the President and Founder of Game Changer Communications. His agency offers full-service PR/communications services, with particular experience and strength in the tech and B2B arenas. \r\n\r\nPrior to starting his firm, he held prominent PR roles with two tech companies. At FICO, Sprenger and his team tripled media prominence for the company in North America in one fiscal year - a result that had a material impact on the company's stock price. Also, at X-IO Technologies (formerly Xiotech), he built the company's PR department from scratch and used it to help take the company to the doorstep of an IPO. He's also worked for three Twin Cities PR firms, where his clients spanned the entire gamut of business: public and private, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit and industries across the entire spectrum of the economy. Former clients include Target, Coca-Cola, Lawson Software, Qwest, the University of Minnesota, U.S. Trust, TIAA-CREF, Medtronic, the United Health Foundation, the Minnesota Twins and many more.\r\n\r\nAn increasingly sought-after industry leader, he served as the 2016 President of Minnesota PRSA and is now in his seventh year on the chapter's Board of Directors. He speaks regularly around the country to PR and other audiences about the value of communications to organizations. He serves on the SXSW Programming Committee, and also has volunteered as a member of several Twin Cities-area boards, a judge of the Silver and Bronze Anvils and much more. He features insights from his work and his travels regularly on his popular blog, The Game Changer.\r\n\t\r\n",
"session_title": "The 3 P’s to Business Success: Products, Profitability and … PR?",
"summary": null,
"description": "Executives and investors both focus much of their time on ensuring their organizations have the best product/service they can offer and making sure they are profitable. Both of these are critically important to achieving any company’s desired endgame, whether that’s a sale, an IPO, etc. Yet Jason Sprenger has seen first-hand that there’s a third critical element to a company’s success: PR. How does a company build and maintain the relationships it needs to succeed? How does its brand, message, strategy, etc. support or hinder that success? How does it hold a company back, or propel it forward? How it can raise red flags and signal you’re not ready for prime time? It’s amazing how much influence this has on a company’s endgame, yet they are rarely explored or invested in at the same levels as other aspects of a business. This session will explore how PR and strategic communications can make just as much of a difference in a company’s success as anything else, and how to use it to maximize your potential.",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Advanced",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 42,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 16:43:40 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 411,
"participant_id": 136,
"presenter_name": "Jason Sprenger",
"presenter_bio": "Jason Sprenger is the President and Founder of Game Changer Communications. His agency offers full-service PR/communications services, with particular experience and strength in the tech and B2B arenas. \r\n\r\nPrior to starting his firm, he held prominent PR roles with two tech companies. At FICO, Sprenger and his team tripled media prominence for the company in North America in one fiscal year - a result that had a material impact on the company's stock price. Also, at X-IO Technologies (formerly Xiotech), he built the company's PR department from scratch and used it to help take the company to the doorstep of an IPO. He's also worked for three Twin Cities PR firms, where his clients spanned the entire gamut of business: public and private, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit and industries across the entire spectrum of the economy. Former clients include Target, Coca-Cola, Lawson Software, Qwest, the University of Minnesota, U.S. Trust, TIAA-CREF, Medtronic, the United Health Foundation, the Minnesota Twins and many more.\r\n\r\nAn increasingly sought-after industry leader, he served as the 2016 President of Minnesota PRSA and is now in his seventh year on the chapter's Board of Directors. He speaks regularly around the country to PR and other audiences about the value of communications to organizations. He serves on the SXSW Programming Committee, and also has volunteered as a member of several Twin Cities-area boards, a judge of the Silver and Bronze Anvils and much more. He features insights from his work and his travels regularly on his popular blog, The Game Changer.\r\n\t\r\n",
"session_title": "How to Visualize and Integrate Public Relations For Success",
"summary": null,
"description": "In his 15 years of agency, corporate, nonprofit and solo experience, presenter Jason Sprenger has developed a world view of public relations that he's dubbed “The Umbrella Model of PR.\" In the model, PR is thought of as a holistic discipline in which any number of communications elements can come together to move an organization toward whatever high-level goal it’s trying to achieve. It integrates both the art and the science of communications, and explores how various PR strategies/tactics are inter-related and how they can work together to move organizations forward. What is this model, how does it work and how can it help us drive value and help our organizations achieve their biggest goals? Be a part of a discussion that has taken place and added value all over the nation the last couple of years: from Miami to Minneapolis, Orlando to Omaha, Laguna Beach to Las Vegas and more.",
"room_name": "Florida",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Advanced",
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 23,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 16:33:37 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 410,
"participant_id": 1529,
"presenter_name": "Mike Palmquist",
"presenter_bio": "Currently leading Instructional Design and Curriculum Integration for myON.com\r\n\r\nSpecialties: EdTech (K-12) Software Design and Development\r\n\r\nDirector of Product Development. 2010 - 2017 myON.com\r\n\r\nPartner and President of Portage Interactive. 2000-2010. \r\nAn independent software developer, that created HP/Dreamworks Activity CDs; Shrek 2, Madagascar, Over the Hedge, Shrek the Third, Kung Fu Panda. Designed and built Focus Reading. Designed and built interactive products for KB Gear, Plato Learning, Twin City Public Television, Learning Through Sports, NCAA, and Paxton/Patterson.\r\n\r\nDesigner and Producer 1989 - 1999 MECC/Learning Company\r\n\r\nDesigned or produced: Oregon Trail 4, 1999. Oregon Trail 3, 1998. Amazon Trail 3, 1998. Oregon Trail DVD, 1998. Amazon Trail II, 1996. Explore Yellowstone, 1996. Troggle Trouble Math, 1994. (Awards: CES Innovations '95 Software Showcase; Parents' Choice.) Amazon Trail & Amazon Trail CD (1993 & 1994) (Awards: 95 Newsweek Editor’s Choice, 95 Kidsoft Kids' Choice, 94 HomePC Editors' Choice; CES Innovations Showcase; 1994/95 Only the Best Winner) and 20 other classroom titles for the Apple IIe, IIGS, and Mac.\r\n\r\nHarvard Graduate School of Education M.Ed. 1986\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @MikePalmquist",
"session_title": "60 million sessions. How we rode the wave in 2016.",
"summary": null,
"description": "myON.com is a SaaS personalized reading platform. Think Netflix for kids with digital books with recorded audio and highlighted text that tracks reading performance over time for teachers, schools, and school districts around the world. \r\n\r\nIn 2016, we had more than 60 million sessions with an average session duration of almost 20 minutes. \r\nCompared to 2015, this was a 61% year-over-year traffic increase and a 70% increase in users (16.9M vs 9.9M) \r\n\r\nLearn how we use Google Analytics and AWS services to help us maintain a 99.999% uptime.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Gandhi",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 42,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 15:54:42 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 409,
"participant_id": 1523,
"presenter_name": "Jeremy Ward",
"presenter_bio": "\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/jmichaelward)",
"session_title": "Meta Fields and All: Developing a Reusable Components Framework in WordPress",
"summary": null,
"description": "Your clients just approved the design for their new custom WordPress theme, and you're ready to dive in and start hooking together the components that will power their templates. But wait, you've seen some of these pieces before: that big banner image with the enticing headline and link to learn more; the set of social media links in the footer; those repeating blocks of feature descriptions and imagery. Time to start setting up meta fields and custom logic that will output your markup, right?\r\n\r\nInstead of retracing our past steps, what if you could simply install and modify some of the common elements that tend to show up from theme to theme? And, even better, what if those elements also came with the meta fields that power them?\r\n\r\nIn this talk, I will discuss [Atomic Design](http://atomicdesign.bradfrost.com/), the value of developing a reusable patterns library, and demonstrate an approach to writing custom components using object-oriented programming principles, Composer, and the meta fields plugin of your choice.\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 11:15:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 26,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 14:59:15 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 408,
"participant_id": 1796,
"presenter_name": "Dev Jana",
"presenter_bio": "By day, [Dev](https://twitter.com/devjana) is a *Director of Instruction: Full Stack Development* at [Prime Digital Academy](https://primeacademy.io), *Adjunct Game Professor* at Augsburg University, *Treasurer for International Game Developers Association, Twin Cities*, and *President of Code and Noises* at [DevNAri LLC](http://devnari.com) whose first release Newt One is available on [XBox One](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/newt-one/9pljwpmqjq18), [Nintendo Switch](https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/newt-one-switch/), [Playstation 4](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/newt-one-ps4/), and [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/842850/Newt_One/).\r\n\r\nFavorite Games: Arkanoid, Rocket League, Mario Series (specifically SMB & 64), Journey, X Wing, The Legend of Zelda, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Doom II, Red Dead Redemption, Tetris, The Last of Us\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/devjanaprime)\n- Twitter: @devjana",
"session_title": "Developing a non-violent videogame for Today's World",
"summary": null,
"description": "\r\n\r\nFor the past two years, we've been developing **Newt One** - a completely nonviolent videogame that will be coming out in 2017 for XBox One, PC, and Mac. We'll discuss the design, development, and process of developing such a project. This includes the following:\r\n\r\n* Art Direction\r\n* Platform/Controller support\r\n* Level Design\r\n* Sound System\r\n* Art Pipeline\r\n* Project Management\r\n\r\nLet's have a talk about games and non-violence in general, as well! \r\n\r\n**Newt One** will also be playable at the [Mega Minne Multi Indie Mini Arcade 2](http://sessions.minnestar.org/sessions/405)",
"room_name": "Zeke Landres",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Startups",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Ari Carrillo"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1222
],
"attendance_count": 68,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 14:52:11 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 407,
"participant_id": 1794,
"presenter_name": "Robin Thomas",
"presenter_bio": "I never expected to get into computers. My past jobs include cook, dry-erase board salesman, and mascot for a minor league baseball team. They also include API Support Supervisor, Lead Web Development Instructor, and currently Solutions Architect for [MentorMate](https://mentormate.com). I like my job because it lets me have really strong opinions about technology and development. [RobertAKARobin.com](http://robertakarobin.com) [robin.thomas@mentormate.com](mailto:robin.thomas@mentormate.com)\n\n**Links:**\n\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/robertakarobin)\n- Twitter: @robertakarobin",
"session_title": "Was the boot camp I worked for a scam?",
"summary": null,
"description": "I taught at General Assembly, a coding \"boot camp\", for a year and a half. Some of my students went on to do well. Some didn't.\r\n\r\nI'm self-taught, which means I sold something that I got for free.\r\n\r\nWhat's the difference between someone who learns code through a class, someone who learns code on their own, and someone who can't learn code at all?\r\n\r\nIs it a question of book smarts, teacher quality, student discipline, or *destiny* where some people are just \"meant\" to be programmers?\r\n\r\nI'll draw on my experience to make bold assertions about why coding education is the way it is.",
"room_name": "Harriet",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 66,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 14:33:38 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:38 UTC"
},
{
"id": 406,
"participant_id": 917,
"presenter_name": "Matt Decuir",
"presenter_bio": "Matt (he/him) is a software engineer, entrepreneur, and Minnestar board member. Past projects include [Invisible Network](https://www.invisiblenetwork.com/), [Mpls Jr Devs](https://mplsjrdevs.com/), and [OMG Transit](https://omgtransit.com).\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/experimatt.com)\r\n- [GitHub](https://github.com/experimatt)\r\n- [Personal website](https://experimatt.com/)\r\n",
"session_title": "What it's like to be a junior developer in MN",
"summary": "",
"description": "**TL;DR:** This session is for junior developers, by junior developers. We'll talk about the challenges we've faced throughout the learning/job search process, as well as strategies for how to overcome them.\r\n\r\n\r\n- - - - \r\n\r\n\r\nWhether you're self taught, went through a boot camp, studied CS in school, or are just interested in the topic, join us to talk about what it's *really* like to be a junior developer in MN.\r\n\r\nThis will be very casual and informal. Come prepared to be part of the discussion.\r\n\r\n**What to expect**\r\n\r\nIf the group is small enough, we'll go around the room and introduce ourselves, share a little about our backgrounds and where we're at career-wise. Otherwise, we'll skip introductions.\r\n\r\nThen, members of the audience will be encouraged to share their experiences/opinions about a list of discussion topics and we'll go from there.\r\n\r\n**What we are going to talk about** (not a final list)\r\n\r\n* **Motivations** to get into software engineering\r\n* **Transitioning your career** into software engineering & how to do it\r\n* **Learning approaches:** Bootcamp? Go back to school? Teach yourself?\r\n * **Bootcamps:** What's a bootcamp like? Is it worth the time/money investment? Differences between Prime, Iron Yard, and others?\r\n * **Going back to school:** Is it necessary/worth going back to school for a BS/MS?\r\n * **Teach yourself:** How hard is it to teach yourself? Where do you even start? Strategies to stay motivated & make continual progress?\r\n* **Language:** What language should you start with? (everyone has a different opinion)\r\n* **Learning topics:** What are the most important topics & areas to learn about first?\r\n * i.e. OOP, algorithms, data structures, etc...\r\n* **Getting experience:** How to get experience starting out, whether outside of, or at work?\r\n* **Getting your first job:** What to expect? What's the process like? Advice, tips or tricks?\r\n* **You got a job! Now what?** What to expect on the job? What happens next & what to do going forward? (i.e. never stop learning)\r\n* **Challenges:** What were some of the biggest challenges you faced & how did you overcome them?\r\n* **Culture:** What's the culture like, and how can we make it more equitable & welcoming for *everyone*?\r\n* **Minnesota:** What's it like to be a junior dev in other places and how is Minnesota different?\r\n\r\n**Who this session is for**\r\n\r\n* **Aspiring software engineers:** people who want to transition their careers or get into software engineering\r\n* **Students:** bootcamp, self-taught, or traditional school, it doesn't matter!\r\n* **Junior software engineers:** based on experience, not age\r\n* **Experienced software engineers** who want to help\r\n* **Anybody else who's interested** in the topic\r\n\r\nAny and all experience levels, ages, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations and personal pronouns are welcome. (No, you don't have to be a programmer to attend)\r\n\r\n**Future events**\r\n\r\nThis session will hopefully be the first in a series of events going forward. After Minnebar, we hope to start a monthly meet-up where we'll continue to get together and share experiences with each other.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to help lead the session and/or organize future events, please let Matt know!\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 131,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 04:20:19 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-25 13:21:39 UTC"
},
{
"id": 405,
"participant_id": 18,
"presenter_name": "Ian Fitzpatrick",
"presenter_bio": "![](\"http://ianfitzpatrick.com/assets/images/dadcore.png\")
\r\n\r\nLet's make it weird.\r\n\r\n- I made you a video game\r\n- I made you a twitter bot\r\n- i made you a web site\r\n\r\n-- \r\n\r\n@ianfitzpat\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @ianfitzpat",
"session_title": "Mega Minne Multi Indie Mini Arcade 2",
"summary": null,
"description": "![](\"http://ianfitzpatrick.com/assets/images/minne-arcade1.png\")
\r\n\r\nWe're doing it again this year!\r\n\r\nHello Computer Friends, what if I told you there was a vibrant community of independent game developers in your very own state of Minnesota (and surrounding principalities) making seriously excellent video games?\r\n\r\nYou would demand PROOF, as is your right.\r\n\r\n**Mega Minne Multi Indie Mini Arcade** is here to provide you so much proof that you are like \"Okay, okay, I get it. Enough already.\"\r\n\r\n*We got:*\r\n\r\n💪 4 big screen TVs running a selection of locally made games\r\n\r\n💪 1 multiplayer VR game (starts at 10AM)\r\n\r\n💪 This thing's going all day long\r\n\r\n💪 In the main hallway area of Minnebar\r\n\r\n\r\nHere are some of the games we'll be featuring:\r\n\r\n**anti|priacy**
Tribe Games (@TribeGames) | Charles McGregor
[website](http://www.tribe-games.com/games/)\r\n\r\nanti|piracy is an intense action dodge ‘em up with a minimalist design. Evade countless amounts of enemies as you try and outlast your friends for the highscore. Change up the how the game plays with various modifiers ranging from the speed and size of your player to manipulating the arena itself.\r\n\r\n**Chimera Genesis**
North Games
[website](http://chimeragenesis.com)\r\n\r\nChimera Genesis is a four player cooperative adventure game. You plays Chimera--animals who journey through the world finding--or stealing limbs from other Chimera, which you can attach to your own body to change your abilities. Play with friends and family of all skill levels to help your characters resolve their pasts.\r\n\r\n**Claw Breaker**
Team Claw\r\n\r\nClaw Breaker is a crustacean fighting game! Cut your opponents claws off to win! Or if you are a peaceful crab you can win by collecting three stars. How many crab battles can you win in a row against your crustacean pals?\r\n\r\n**Earthbeat (VR Game)**
Team Earthbeat?
[website](http://globalgamejam.org/2017/games/earth-beat-vr)\r\n\r\nDemoing VR at a party? Now you can play locally with up to 5 people at the same time. Mother Earth has had enough of stupid humans messing with her climate and has decided to take matters into her own hands. She has sent a Polyp, a massive, gooey creature, to protect what is left of her domain. She will do battle against up to four human spacecraft, in a fight that's sure to get your heart racing. One person will play the Polyp using a Vive, against four aircraft piloted by players with game controllers who are determined to land in the landing zone at any cost. The Polyp will defend itself by flicking its arms and slapping the aircraft out of the sky. Prepare for a ton of laughs and also a sweaty HMD. \r\n\r\n**Fingeance**
Escape Industries
[website](http://www.escapeindustries.net)\r\n\r\nFingeance is a four-player shoot-em-up that places emphasis on teamwork and strategy, discarding traditional twitch-based gameplay.\r\n\r\n\r\n**Glowbots**
Alex Carlson
[website](https://vividredemption.itch.io)\r\n\r\nCouch Multiplayer Arena Fighter Robot Deathmatch\r\n\r\n**Joggernauts**
Space Mace
[website](http://joggernauts.tumblr.com)\r\n\r\nJoggernauts is a cooperative auto-runner party game for 2-4 players where you try not to kill your friends. Take turns (probably failing) to lead your team through deceptively difficult color-coded platforming levels.\r\n\r\n**The Legend of Equip Pants**
Zachstronaut
[website](http://gogetyourpants.com)\r\n\r\nThe Legend of Equip > Pants is an episodic, puntastic pantsventure comedy RPG where instead of equipping and upgrading a sword, you have to equip and upgrade your pants.\r\n\r\n**Newt One**
DevNAri LLC
[website](http://devnari.com)\r\n\r\nA fun, colorful, & musical 3D Platformer, Newt One is coming to XBox One, PC, and Mac this year (2017)! You play as Newt, a new tone in a musical land that has fallen to the Gray Slumber. Awakening this sleeping, silent world is Newt's rite of passage.\r\n\r\n\r\n**Trigger Discipline**
Victor Thompson - @i2
[website](http://www.caperacademy.com)\r\n\r\nTrigger Discipline is an arcade action game rendered in ASCII text. The player character can move or fire their weapon in the four cardinal directions. Each level ends when all non-player characters have been killed. Trigger Discipline runs in a terminal, and can be played remotely via telnet or ssh.\r\n\r\n\r\n**Verdant Skies**
Howling Moon Software
[website](http://verdantskies.com)\r\n\r\nVerdant Skies is a life simulation game filled with friendship, exploration, farming, and crafting. Lose yourself in the lovingly hand-painted world and ensure the success of the colony as you make friends and pursue romance with a diverse cast of characters.\r\n\r\n\r\n--\r\n\r\nAlso, would you like to get plugged into the local game dev scene?\r\n\r\n**Ice Cold Games**
\r\n[website](https://icecold.games)\r\n\r\nA one stop shop for upcoming game dev related events, game creators, organizations, and more.\r\n\r\n**Glitch Con**
\r\n[website](http://www.glitchcon.mn)\r\n\r\nDigital Games Festival happening May 5-7th, you should go!\r\n\r\n**IGDATC**
\r\n[website](http://www.igdatc.org)\r\n\r\nThe local chapter of the International Game Developers Association has monthly general meeting plus a VR meeting.\r\n\r\n**Nice Games Club Podcast**
\r\n[website](http://nicegames.club)\r\n\r\nThe podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming. Nice! And, local!\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": null,
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Design",
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Zachary Johnson"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
724
],
"attendance_count": 77,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 03:51:09 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-25 04:23:17 UTC"
},
{
"id": 404,
"participant_id": 1332,
"presenter_name": "Brett Brohl",
"presenter_bio": "Director - Techstars Startup Next Food & Ag in Partnership with Land O'Lakes\r\n\r\nEntrepreneur in Residence - Techstars Retail in Partnership with Target\r\n\r\nStartups - BoomBoom Prints, Scrubadoo, Easy Info, Conrohl, Propkeepr, Triumvirate Innovations\r\n\r\nSurround yourself with amazing people, have fun, and do great things.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @brettbrohl",
"session_title": "Speed Pitch & Feedback ",
"summary": null,
"description": "Need Pitch Practice? \r\n\r\nWant feedback on your concept or startup? \r\n\r\nCome ready with a 90 second speed pitch (you will be on a clock). No slides or AV allowed!\r\n\r\nReceive 90 seconds of feedback from one of the Techstars crew, active investors and the crowd! \r\n\r\nAnyone is welcome to pitch! There are no qualification/stage requirements. However, to guarantee a spot to pitch email brett.brohl@techstars.com and I will add you to our list. If we have time we will take pitches from the crowd.\r\n\r\nMake sure you have fun with it - it will go fast!\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Stephen Leacock",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 16:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Will Allen"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1799
],
"attendance_count": 33,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 03:16:29 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 403,
"participant_id": 1792,
"presenter_name": "Eryn O'Neil",
"presenter_bio": "In her 13 years in the industry, Eryn O’Neil has been a developer, a tech lead, an independent consultant, a manager, and a director. Coming from the agency world, she has worked on everything from e-commerce and online promotions to crafting a proprietary framework and CMS. Her philosophy is to build software by placing humans first: both the people who will use it and the developers who will build it with you (and maintain it afterward).\r\n\r\nLiving in Minnesota, Eryn spends most of her free time teaching blues dancing, being a new mom, and wishing it weren’t snowing. You can follow her on Twitter at [@eryno](https://twitter.com/eryno).\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @eryno",
"session_title": "You're the Tech Lead! Now What?",
"summary": "",
"description": "You’ve been programming for a while now. You know your way around the code, and you’re becoming a go-to for technical advice. And it looks like someone else noticed, because you’re the technical lead on your next project. Congratulations! But now what? \r\n\r\nBeing a lead is a lot more than just coding: The technical lead can be responsible for designing software architecture, writing requirements, interfacing with clients or management, or dividing work amongst the team– and those are just the parts of the job they tell you about ahead of time.\r\n\r\nThis talk is for anyone who is in charge of wrangling programmers. We’ll discuss how to motivate your team members without overstepping your bounds, how to oversee the technological vision of a project without losing sight of what’s happening on the ground, and some tactics to deal with challenges you might not anticipate, but will almost certainly encounter.",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Other"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 113,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 01:22:18 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-25 13:21:45 UTC"
},
{
"id": 401,
"participant_id": 423,
"presenter_name": "Martin Grider",
"presenter_bio": "Martin Grider is a game designer and contract software developer (mostly native iOS). He releases games periodically at [Abstract Puzzle](http://abstractpuzzle.com), and writes about games and game development on his blog at [chesstris.com](http://chesstris.com/).\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\n- Mastodon: [@grid@mastodon.gamedev.place](https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grid)\r\n- GitHub: [github.com/mgrider](https://github.com/mgrider)\r\n- Resume/bibliography: [martingrider.name](http://martingrider.name/)",
"session_title": "Using Unity for iOS/mobile/VR Development",
"summary": null,
"description": "A session on the whys and hows of using Unity (http://unity3d.com/) for general application development. (Note that this is not a talk about game development, and in particular delves into uses for Unity that are not specific to game development.)\r\n\r\nMartin Grider will talk about the various pros and cons of developing with Unity, projects in Unity that he's built, as well as a few practical development tips for building 360 video apps, VR projects, and mobile projects in Unity.",
"room_name": "Proverb-Edison",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Intermediate",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 55,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 00:58:05 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 400,
"participant_id": 74,
"presenter_name": "Jeffry Brown",
"presenter_bio": "Jeffry Brown\r\nLearner - Doer - Storyteller\r\nhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrybrown\r\n \r\nTHINKING DIFFERENTLY - ENTREPRENEUR - CREATE POSITIVITY - INVESTOR\r\nJeff has spent his career starting, leading, leaving and coaching businesses, after first working at Apple in that company's early years. There he worked directly with Steve Jobs on creating the company's future and culture. He is one of the founding members of Hill Capital and coaches entrepreneurial businesses in growth strategy, ROI and human relations. 12 year, Advisory Board member at Sunrise Banks. \r\n\r\nLifelong teacher and learner never looking back but always looking forward. \r\nNot retired but re-fired to happily help others find and enjoy their purpose.\r\n\r\n**Links:**\r\n\r\nLinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrybrown/\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "Entrepreneur Mentorship - RSVTea an idea to product in the market in 6 months",
"summary": null,
"description": "In this session you will see the value of having a mentor through a case study of RSVTea, a new drink born as part of Macalester Collages Entrepreneurial program. Sarah Nichols a student in the program and her mentor Jeffry Brown will discuss how the concept turned from idea to product in the market in 6 months. Including investment, packaging and market acceptance. \r\n\r\nPLUS! you'll get to sample RSVTea \r\n\r\nMentors. They've been there, done that and have seen it all. Yet, a woeful number of entrepreneurs start their careers without one. In an age where instant gratification is glorified, it's unsurprising that many entrepreneurs and young founders do not seek out a mentor as hard as they try to find investors. In some cases they could be one in the same. While arguments abound on why entrepreneurs do not need mentors but should only follow their own instincts and gut feelings, most successful entrepreneurs are founders who had mentors. ",
"room_name": "Tackle",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 09:25:01 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups",
"Other",
"Design",
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Sarah Nichols"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
1915
],
"attendance_count": 35,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 00:42:07 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
},
{
"id": 399,
"participant_id": 1789,
"presenter_name": "Hassan Syed",
"presenter_bio": "Hassan Syed is the CEO of Bir Ventures and a board member at TechCast Global. A technologist at heart, he has 30+ years of broad international experience and an impressive track record to convert concepts into successful products. As the CEO of Bir Ventures, Hassan leads the development of new ideas and focuses on growing the partners network. At TechCast Global, Hassan is leading the development of new technology that will enable TechCast Global Customers in using the same tools that TechCast Global uses for forecasting Emerging Technology Trends.\r\n\r\nAt Bir Ventures, Hassan amalgamated and leads a collaborative network of 90 professionals from diverse backgrounds. Harnessing the power of this network, he has launched four knowledge-based products in the market, including www.ideagist.com, first ever SaaS based virtual incubator, which now connects more than 300 communities worldwide.\r\n\r\nHassan firmly believes that behind every success story was a good idea, and every good idea needs a robust execution plan. He has brought numerous products to the market from when they were just an idea, developing intellectual property that provided great return on their investments. The success Hassan brings to the table is his ability to lead teams by creating seamless synergy where everyone is connected to the vision, understands what roles they play, and find personal fulfillment as well. His colleagues describe him as visionary, big-picture thinker, and innovative.\r\n\r\nBefore starting Bir Ventures, Hassan worked as the Executive Director for Twycross Zoo in the UK, leading Finance, IT, Fund Raising, Project Management and HR. During his job at Twycross, Hassan let the future search for the organization and also helped in a Horizon Scan for Species Conservation by Zoos and Aquariums, under the banner of the World Association of Zoo and Aquaria.\r\n\r\nFrom 2003 to 2011, Hassan worked as the Chief Information Officer at International Species Information System. Hassan led a global team on the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) project since its inception in 2002 through to its launch in 2010. ZIMS is a SaaS-based solution for the global aquarium and zoo community, currently in use by 900+ institutions worldwide. During his role as a CIO, Hassan managed a team of 600+ scientists and other subject matter experts from 40+ countries worldwide, developing more than 350 data standards for the global zoo community.\r\n\r\nHassan is always interested in new ideas and always willing to hear about them. He is an advisor to many technology startups.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @hassansyed66",
"session_title": "⚡ Seed level funding for startups in Minnesota",
"summary": null,
"description": "Entrepreneurs in Minnesota struggle with finding angel capital at an early stage of their idea. Angel networks in Minnesota mostly focus on the later stage companies that are generating revenue. Over the past years, I have many startups move to Silicon Valley or to East Coast.\r\n\r\nIf we like to see a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Minnesota, we need to think about the serious shortage of capital and come up with ideas on how to address it.\r\n\r\nI would like to invite all interested parties, entrepreneurs, investors, and support organizations to work with me on an action plan.",
"room_name": "Learn",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 10:20:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 49,
"created_at": "2017-02-28 00:19:14 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 398,
"participant_id": 1788,
"presenter_name": "Jeff Pesek",
"presenter_bio": "cofounder of [TECHdotMN](http://www.tech.mn) - Minnesota's tech news creator and curator with an emphasis on the startup culture.\n\n**Links:**\n\n- Twitter: @@techdotmn",
"session_title": "The State of Startups 2017",
"summary": null,
"description": "Let's have a real conversation about the startup culture in Minnesota! \r\n\r\nWe will introduce the facts and data that surround the startup community and explore questions such as: \r\n\r\nWhat are our strengths?\r\n\r\nWhat are our weaknesses?\r\n\r\nWho is making it happen?\r\n\r\nHow can we be better? \r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Theater",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 15:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [
"Mike Bollinger"
],
"other_presenter_ids": [
100
],
"attendance_count": 155,
"created_at": "2017-02-27 23:55:35 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:37 UTC"
},
{
"id": 397,
"participant_id": 660,
"presenter_name": "Aba El Haddi",
"presenter_bio": "El Haddi is a software engineer and entrepreneur. Aba is the CTO and founder of EnduraData\r\nwhere he develops cross-platform automated secure file replication, synchronization, and sharing solutions. \r\n\r\nEl Haddi's experience spans more than 40 years in education, government labs, and the industry as an engineer, a scientist, a professor, and as a geek entrepreneur. \r\n\r\nEl Haddi holds DE, MS degrees in soil physics (IAV and UMN), an MS degree in computer science (U of MN), and an MBA (St Thomas). El Haddi is the co-founder of Constant Data (sold in 2005), and Hawk Technology(sold in 1998) and is the founder of Enduradata. El Haddi is a senior member of **IEEE** and a member of **ACM**.\r\n\r\nEl Haddi is a geek and writes lots of code in C to make networks and file systems talk to each other :-). \r\n\r\n More information about El Haddi:\r\n\r\n* Linkedin: [link](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aelhaddi/)\r\n\r\n* How did we get here: [link](https://www.enduradata.com/how-did-we-get-here-road-to-cross-platform-computing-file-replication-software-and-data-distribution/ )\r\n\r\n* Google Scholars: [link](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NWfII8sAAAAJ&hl=en)\r\n\r\n* Contact: [link](https://enduradata.com/contact)\r\n\r\n",
"session_title": "Cross platform does not mean Java",
"summary": null,
"description": "\r\nIn this session I will discuss how [ EnduraData ] (http://www.enduradata.com) builds cross platform solutions without using Java.\r\n\r\n* Why this decision even if it is expensive?\r\n* What are the costs?\r\n* What are the benefits?\r\n* How to reduce dev costs?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n",
"room_name": "Georgia",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 14:00:00 -0500",
"level_name": "All levels",
"categories": [
"Development",
"Startups"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 10,
"created_at": "2017-02-27 21:15:34 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:36 UTC"
},
{
"id": 396,
"participant_id": 156,
"presenter_name": "Dan Lew",
"presenter_bio": "Dan Lew has code in his DNA and has been speaking since he was two years old. He's focused these skills on software development for the past two decades, working on many large mobile apps (FlightTrack, Expedia, Trello) as well as maintaining some open source libraries and applications. Currently he works on civic tech projects at [Mighty Acorn Digital](https://www.mightyacorn.com/).\r\n\r\nWhen not speaking, he's silent.\r\n\r\nYou can [contact him on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/danlew42.bsky.social), [read his website](http://danlew.net/), or [stalk his commit history](https://github.com/dlew).",
"session_title": "Introduction to Functional Reactive Programming",
"summary": null,
"description": "Functional reactive programming (FRP) and reactive libraries (e.g. RxJava, Rx.NET, RxJS, Reactive Cocoa, RxSwift) are all the rage these days... but you don't know why! I'm here to help. In this talk I'll walk through the core concepts of reactive streams, functional programming, and why you may want to use these patterns in your software.\r\n\r\nWhile the code samples will be in Java, the concepts discussed are applicable to FRP as it exists in any language.",
"room_name": "Minnetonka",
"panel": false,
"projector": false,
"starts_at": "2017-03-25 12:10:00 -0500",
"level_name": "Beginner",
"categories": [
"Development"
],
"other_presenter_names": [],
"other_presenter_ids": [],
"attendance_count": 118,
"created_at": "2017-02-27 13:52:28 UTC",
"updated_at": "2017-03-24 21:05:35 UTC"
}
]