TechFuel: New Modes

Memphis may not be used to being in the spotlight, but the city has received its fair share of attention over the past several months, due in large part to the efforts of LaunchMemphis and their partners.  The latest TechFuel event, that took place in the Launchpad of the Emerge Memphis building, was just the most recent of those efforts.

“TechFuel: New Modes” by LunaWeb on Flickr.

C.C. Chapman and Adrian Ho, two of the top thought leaders in the online community, joined us to share their passion about Social Media and the new climate of “online marketing”.  Both men gave insightful presentations that went far beyond the tools and how-to of Social Media.  They also allowed for exhaustive Q&A in which great questions were met with equally strong answers. The real value, as always, was in the conversation.

A great turnout to the event translated into a valuable forum for networking, brainstorming, sharing ideas and meeting the movers and shakers of the Memphis community.  C.C. and Adrian stuck around through the late evening hours, and tirelessly conversed with Memphis’ entrepeneurs.

Check out the Commercial Appeal coverage of the event.

Next for LaunchMemphis is the 2nd Startup Weekend in Memphis.  A wide range of thinkers and creators will be needed to band together in an ambitious attempt to launch a new startup in just one weekend.

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The fun doesn’t stop

Last week was a busy week. Not only did we have the Social Media Expedition breakfast, but we gave a half-day workshop for the Grizzlies Foundation.

The workshop, held at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis focused on the ways non-profit organizations can use social media to promote their message and attract supporters. We had representatives from over 50 local non-profits show up.

By all accounts, everyone was grateful and eager to learn why and how Facebook, Twitter, and blogging can all be great tools to spread your organization’s message.

But one busy week can lead to another, and another after that.

April 16, for example, marks the second time we’ll be holding TwilightCamp, the evening time equivalent to our Social Media Expedition Breakfasts. It’s the same idea, plenty of time to learn and network with fellow Memphians, and with those core conversations to tap your new friends’ minds for answers to your social media questions.

Twilight Camp will take place from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. We’re still not sure on the location- we want to be sure we can fit everybody, so please RSVP immediately.

And then, on April 23, Launch Memphis, along with Southern Growth Studio, is hosting Tech Fuel, a combination private workshop and open panel discussion. This time around, the theme is “Mastering the New Modes: Insights and Innovations from the Blending Worlds of Technology, Marketing, and Culture.”

The speakers for this event are Adrian Ho of Zeus Jones and C.C. Chapman of The Advance Guard. These two are leaders in innovation at the blurring intersection of marketing, interactivity, and user experience.

You’ll need to reserve your seat for the private workshop in advance. You can do that through the Launch Memphis website.

blogpost by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

LaunchMemphis Enjoys the View at Techfuel

LaunchMemphis’ latest TechFuel networking event was all about atmosphere.  This past Thursday, Memphis technologists, media, creatives and entrepreneurs assembled at the top of Clark Tower to meet old friends, make new connections and have a great time doing it.  The evening was graciously sponsored by MPACT Memphis, who share LaunchMemphis’ mission to promote growth in the Memphis entrepreneurial community.

The LaunchMemphis group has been hosting these networking evenings as part of its ongoing effort to bring focus to entrepreneurial activities in Memphis, TN, and to deliver new technology business startups to the economy.  The organization was very successful in making progress towards this goal last year.  In that spirit, they have designed a schedule of events for 2009 that will continue moving Memphis to the forefront of the business community.

Upcoming on the LaunchMemphis Calendar are:

SocialCamp Memphis – March 6 & 7
Location: Memphis College of Art
SocialCamp Memphis is an unconference focusing on Social Media and Social Networking.  Just imagine a conference where the morning is comprised of designated speakers/topics, and the afternoon is comprised of focused discussions and impromptu presentations that are decided on by the attendees.  There will be a networking event the evening of March 6th, and the main event during the day on March 7.  See more information at the SocialCamp site and Facebook page.  Register early!

Startup Weekend Memphis 2: Back by Popular Demand – May 29, 30, & 31
Location: EmergeMemphis and Mercury Launchpad
Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of technologists and entrepreneurs to build a community and new business ventures in a weekend in a short 54 hours.  These motivated individuals come together form teams and decide what to make. Attendees are responsible for bringing the ideas, desire, and passion and walk out of the room with a brand new businesses launched or started.  Startup Weekend is a national program that has once again selected Memphis, TN as one of the cities that it will visit this year.  See more information and don’t forget to register.

blogpost by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

LaunchMemphis Generates Big Money for Memphis

Aside from being a lot of fun, it turns out LaunchMemphis’ 2008 inaugural season was a huge financial success.  LaunchMemphis kicked off in May 2008 with a well-attended Tech Fuel event.  Things have only gone up since then, with several events having been hosted already, and many more on the horizon.

The best news, however, comes from a recently published LaunchMemphis financial report for 2008.  The program, since its inception, has taken $16k in investment capital and produced nearly $500k in economic impact, all right here in Memphis.

This success is attributed to a host of factors.  Among them is a very dedicated group of founders dedicated to the growth of Memphis’ entrepreneurial community. Eric Mathews, Dave Barger, Harry Brown, Sridhar Sunkara, Chris Allen, Anna Ivey, Gwin Scott, Douglas Scarboro, Marc Diaz, and Lori Turner have all dedicated immense time and effort into seeing this program accomplish all that it has.

LaunchMemphis also owes a great deal of success to its sponsorship base which has consistently provided funding and resources that have helped maximize the programs potential.  FedEx Institute of Technology, Bosco’s Brewing Company, Memphis Regional Chamber, Center City Commission, Sun Microsystems, JumpBox, Cadre5, Flying Circle, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, & Berkowitz, Naked Lion Brewing Company, Starbucks Coffee, Domino’s Pizza, Neely’s Bar-B-Que, Innova, Mercury Technology Labs, Impact Memphis, Red Bull, Open Road Technologies, Small Business Chamber, Red Bull, LunaWeb, and Rendezvous BBQ, all played a crucial role in events over the past year.

Visit the 2009 schedule for upcoming LaunchMemphis events and links to more information.

blogpost by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Commercial Appeal Follow-up Post

Great thanks to the Commercial Appeal and writer Lisa Kelly Eason on the story, Social media gaining interest for networking that ran today.

This is a follow-up to that article specifically to acknowledging some key individuals (in no specific order):

Justin McGregor – - – Joan McGrory, PhD — Beth Sanders
Joe Spake – - – Susan Mealer – - – Daniel Pritchett
Bob Hazlett – - – Debbie Neal – - – Melanee Hannock
Robert Staub – - – Eric Mathews

Sites to scope for Social Media in Memphis:

LaunchMemphis

Social Media Memphis
Social Media Memphis FriendFeed
Memphis E-Marketing Group (Next meet: Thursday February 26, 2009)
Social Media Expedition

Local blogs to check out that have related posts:

OneHalfAmazing
SharingAtWork
LunaWeb

Thankfully, more to come.

BarCamp Memphis is a HUGE success

First of all, a HUGE thanks to everyone who had anything to with making BarCamp Memphis the success it was. Attendees, presenters, volunteers, sponsors, and planners all came together to make BarCamp Memphis a truly great weekend.

The weekend began, staying true to our Memphis roots, at Ground Zero Blues Club in downtown Memphis. We met a lot of wonderful new faces, and found some pleasantly familiar ones there for some great mixing and meeting. The crowd was fun, the food was great, and it really set the mood for our Memphis-style tech conference.

Early the next morning, we were greeted at the Emerge Memphis building by a mountain of Red Bull and a slew of great presentations. Topics varied from Ruby on Rails programming, to RSS feeds. All of our speakers gave home-run presentations including LunaWeb’s Dave Barger demystifying LinkedIn and Mitch Canter teaching attendees to “Make WordPress Dance.” There were also some very passionate words exchanged during a great open conversation about Social Media privacy/etiquette.

Between all of that, and some great Memphis BBQ from Rendezvous, BarCamp Memphis was one of our best events yet with the Memphis community. Thanks again to absolutely everyone who made it possible!

blogpost by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.