For those of you who don’t know about it already, Wire Me Awake is a conference that promotes and celebrates innovation and technology in the Midwest, particularly in cities along the I-29 corridor.
The inaugural event was yesterday, Oct. 4, 2012, at the Easton Archery Center in Yankton, SD.
This was a great event with an excellent speaker lineup put on by Ben Hanten and company.
Speakers
(in order of which they presented)
Dan Hall — CEO & Founder of Gun Up
Bozell — Omaha advertising agency featured on AMC’s “The Pitch.”
Emma Peterson — CEO & Founder of Tikly
Jim Beddow — Rural development advocate
Nic Zahasky — CEO & Founder or Barrel Aid
Frank Fritz — Co-star on The History Channel’s “American Pickers“
Take-away message
A plethora of talent already exists in the Midwest. Our goal now should be to embrace each others talents. Yes, this might involve tearing down some walls that you’ve built up between you and the “other” agency. It might also mean attending a conference and shaking hands with someone in real life.
It’s been said before, and I cannot place enough emphasis on the fact that each of us in the Midwest tech startup community are better off as a whole than as individuals.
Many speakers mentioned in their presentations that if you should decide to start a new company it’s best to do so with a co-founder, or, in the case of some companies, a brofounder.
Highlights
I always get really excited when I have the opportunity to put real faces to the avatars I see on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn day in and day out.
Frank Fritz gave an excellent presentation. No slides needed. I also really enjoyed catching up with him after the event and learning some insider information from the “What Happens In Sturgis” episode.
Do you have a brother Ben? Maybe Brian can adopt you!
I do have a blood brother so the brofounder hopes are still alive.