Starting last Friday at midnight (UTC) through Sunday at midnight, over 200 different teams of 1-4 people went heads down for the weekend to build the coolest web app using node.js,  an evented I/O framework for the V8 JavaScript engine with the purpose of providing an easy way to build scalable network programs.

Representing Minnesota in this battle for the best is a foursome led by Andy Atkinson who recruited complimentary talent including designer Nate Kadlac and developers Paul Armstrong and Zachary Johnson for the event.

“We wanted to leverage the asynchronous nature of node in the real-time sense,”  says Kadlac talking about the genesis of their entry.  “We considered emergency and geolocation, but settled on a form of web stats since it was something we felt personally connected to.”

And literally three minutes before the submission deadline on Sunday night, Jackalope was officially born. From the demo site, here’s the essence of the application this distributed quartet created in just under 48 hours via Skype, iChat and Basecamp/Campfire:

“Every movement you make with your mouse is instantly transferred back through our Node.js server to the admin page using Web Sockets, generating a heatmap in real-time for the admin to view!

Every person mousing over the page will have their data sent back and compiled together with others, allowing you instantly see what areas of your page draw the most attention.”

And a nifty screencast demo:

Public voting (50% weighted) ends tonight at midnight with Jackalope currently floating around the number 10 spot (again, out of over 200) at time of publishing. If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to show some love for these spontaneous innovators — voting ends at 7pm CST.

“GeaCom is committed to breaking the language barrier in critical communication. To improve service, reduce costs and to save lives we are developing an innovative new solution…Phrazer.”

Beating out Inveni (formerly known as Open Preferences) & Curation Station, GeaCom nabs $20k cash + services as the company proceeds compete against the winners of five other divisions for The Cup on Sept 13 (and  an additional $20,000).

“Honestly, when it’s down to three companies like it was, out of so many, you know there’s lots good things that can emerge from a contest like this.  We’re pleased to make it this far,” said  GeaCom CEO Mat Johnson in response to the achievement.

Over the past two months, ten judges have reviewed the detailed plans of ten semifinalists and trimmed the list down to the three that will advance to the next stage — pitching the review board.

In no particular order, the 2010 Minnesota Cup High Tech division finalists are:

“Open Preferences is a consumer web service for media (starting with movies and television) that facilitates personalized discovery and empowers word-of-mouth.  Users can discover new content, receive highly personalized recommendations (based on their custom taste profile), and share with friends. We are revolutionizing personalization online, by using data to improve people’s lives.”

“Curation Station is software which enables brands to gather, select and share the best content on any product, subject or category—the kind of marketing effort that makes your customers smarter. It’s easy to implement. And the results are remarkable.”

“GeaCom Inc. is committed to breaking the language barrier in critical communication. To improve service, reduce costs and to save lives we are developing an innovative new solution…Phrazer.”

The Minnesota Cup High Tech division winner, to be coronated on August 31st, will receive the following awards and benefits prior to competing against the winners of five other divisions for the grand prize on Sept 13 (and  an additional $20,000).

• $20,000 in seed capital

• Business organization (or services of similar value) from the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty

• Accounting assistance from Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP

• Scholarship to The Collaborative’s 24th Annual Minnesota Venture & Finance Conference on October 14, 2010

• Video production and 3 months of hosting via Startupshoppe’s Minnesota Startup Showcase

The Minnesota Cup was Founded by Scott Litman and Dan Mallin in 2005 through a collaboration with the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management and Wells Fargo bank.  What is now largest statewide business plan competition has since engaged 1000’s of Minnesota entrepreneurs across 6 distinct divisions:  Student, Social Entrepreneurship, General, High Tech, Clean & Renewable Technology and BioSciences.

Last year, Alvenda won both the High Tech division as well as the overall Cup.

Congratulations to the three Minnesota Cup High Tech division finalists as well as the initial semi-finalists! This is an intensely competitive division full of many solid plans and early-stage ventures with great potential.

A few weeks ago we shared the exciting news that Startup Weekend is coming to the Twin Cities over the weekend of September 18.  This 54 hour hackfest will bring together 50-100 startup enthusiasts at CoCo MSP to create and launch real products in a fun, fast and collaborative environment. Registration for the event is growing daily and early bird tickets are available here until September 1st.

We checked in with organizer Shane Reiser earlier this morning to find out how things are moving along — starting with the speaker lineup:

Friday night will feature Robert Stephens, CTO of Best Buy & Founder of The Geek Squad; Jon Dahl, Co-Founder of YC-backed Zencoder; Lisa Foote, Co-founder of mobile venture MixMobi. These three speakers will be discussing lessons learned from their respective startup experiences.

On Saturday morning, I, Jeff Pesek*, will be thinking out-loud and at random,  about the future Minnesota’s startup community (for whatever that is worth). Later in the afternoon, Rob Weber will be telling his story, “from dorm to millions”, around the conception of w3i (originally Freeze.com), an Internet-based company he Co-founded in 2000 with with his two brothers Aaron and Ryan.

Fingers crossed, it’s quite possible that another well-accomplished Minnesota tech entrepreneur could be making a stop at CoCo MSP on Saturday afternoon to meet, greet and inspire the teams (more on this as it’s known).

On Sunday night, a judging panel including: Pete Birkeland, Ernest Grumbles, Kathy Grayson, Luke Francl, Dan Grigsby, Matt Bauer and TECHdotMN’s own Mike Bollinger will be deciding which team and technology has the greatest potential to grow into a full-fledged startup company.

Above and beyond recruiting all the names above, organizing the logistics and setting up the vendors, Shane has been busy sweetening the pot for the the Startup Weekend champions.  CoCo MSP has donated 2 free months of Co-working to the winning team and 5 hours of consulting (IP, fundraising and business logic) is provided by MOJO Minnesota.  If the biz has real legs, midVentures, a technology consulting group in Chicago, has reserved a spot for the winners of Twin Cities Startup Weekend in either the COMPETE track or MVDEMO area at their upcoming midVentures Launch, a midwest startup conference on Sept. 28 in Chicago.

From the peer to peer interactions to the speakers, judges, recognition and prizes — Startup Weekend Twin Cities is shaping up to be a most remarkable experience for those doers throughout Minnesota who love to create new things, meet new people and ultimately, expand their horizons.

“I’m amazed by the hospitality of Minnesota’s startup community and those who have stepped up to help execute this event. Thanks to our speakers, panelists, promotional supporters and sponsors like CoCo MSP and The Nerdery, I’m seeing more early interest in the Twin Cities than in any other city in which I’ve previously organized Startup Weekends, including NYC.” – Shane Reiser, Startup Weekend.

To inquire about sponsorship and prize packages, Shane Reiser can be reached at [Shane@startupweekend.org]

*Disclosure: I wrote this article and have a personal interest in seeing Minnesota tech be all that it can be. Can you dig it?

Whether sipping espresso over stories about work and hobbies or gathered around laptops debating the intricacies of GIT and version control syntax, the women of last weekend’s She’s Geeky unConference made possible an important milestone for the Minnesota high tech community: the first all-female gathering focused on STEM professional development.

Over two days at the Science Museum of Minnesota, women and girls gathered to discuss everything from managing one’s personal identity online to web analytics to entrepreneurship.

Most importantly, it wasn’t just any old conference. The Open Space Technology format made for a relaxed schedule full of timely and interesting topics. Personal style consultants Sasha Westin and Gretchen Ditto led sessions on professional dress, wardrobe management and making good first impressions.

And there were small touches – like a free espresso cart, and yogurt & granola parfaits in the breakfast line – that made the event feel more like a weekend retreat with girlfriends than a conference.

This is, I think, an important point: women in STEM careers need the opportunity to share ideas and meet women with similar experiences, for which an event like this is perfect. Of course professional development component is important, too – and it was certainly present at She’s Geeky.

But at a time when the numbers of women in STEM careers are falling and the gender gap is wide when it comes to technology entrepreneurship, this event serves a need by facilitating connections and helping women support one another in their professional pursuits.

I hear the organizers are planning another She’s Geeky Twin Cities in 2011, and I hope it will be as interesting and fun experience  as the first. A larger crowd of diverse industries and ages will only add to the value. Our tech community should be proud to be the first non-coastal city to host a She’s Geeky unConference – and keep your eyes on all the women who attended, they’re doing great things.

For additional perspectives on the event, check out these blog posts by attendees and sponsoring organizations:

Nicole Harrison
Jenna Pederson
ipHouse
Fabuliss
Kay Roseland

“Netroots Nation, the progressive blog conference that this weekend welcomed Sen. Al Franken and state Sen. Tarryl Clark to its podium, is coming to that duo’s home state. At the end of his keynote speech Saturday, Franken announed that the 2011 edition will be held in Minneapolis next June 16-19.

“It’s a little bit less glitzy and glamorous than Las Vegas, but it’s also a little bit less hot,” Franken said. “Great fishing, beautiful scenery, and tons of energetic progressives ready to show Netroots Nation a good time.”

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Startup Weekend is coming to the Twin Cities at CoCo MSP the weekend of September 18th, 2010 — starting Friday (17th) afternoon and ending  Sunday evening (19th). Get together in teams with local developers, marketers, designers, and entrepreneurs to vet, pitch, build, and demo new products over a single weekend.  Intense!

This weekend warriors’ event has happened in 100’s of cities across the globe from San Francisco to Athens, Greece.  It’s been covered in TechCrunch, the Washington Post , ABC News and beyond.

Final details will be announced over the coming weeks, but it is confirmed Zencoder Co-founder Jon Dahl will be kicking things off in style on Friday night.

Participation is limited to the first 100, and registration ($75 $50) is now open.  Tickets include food & beverage (yes, beer) throughout the event, with reduced pricing for students and demo only.     Startup Weekend Twin Cities  comes our way thanks to coordinator Shane Reiser who has successfully orchestrated Startup Weekend Des Moines, Omaha and NYC.

“Startup Weekend provides an unprecedented level of networking, team building and learning  for its attendees and their communities.  With the goal of forming at least one new venture in under 54 hours,  participants are sure to leave with more experience, insight, knowledge, friends and resources than they came with…I can’t guarantee you’ll get any sleep though.” – Shane Reiser

Why Minnesota? Mostly thanks to the persistent efforts of Elizabeth Tupper, who attended last November’s She’s Geeky unConference in Washington D.C. with the goal of bringing it to her home state.

“We’ve been trying to build a women’s technology group, and it just wasn’t moving as quickly as we wanted it to,” says Tupper, who attended the D.C. conference with fellow self-proclaimed geek Jacque Urick. “It was such a phenomenal experience, to be surrounded by other smart women who had such amazing stories. We’re so often outnumbered in our profession. We need this kind of event to support, educate and inspire women in technology,” explains Tupper.

Tupper and Urick became the first conference attendees to win the blessing of the original She’s Geeky organizers and plan an event in their own state. “We wanted them to realize that we’re not a flyover state,” says Tupper, “and that there is a community of women in tech here that needs our support.”

Now, with the help of She’s Geeky organizers (who convened the first Bay Area event in 2007), Tupper is planning the first She’s Geeky Twin Cities unConference as a two-day event at the Science Museum of Minnesota. It is open to women and girls in all areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)– as well as gamers, coders, designers, IT administrators, and non-professionals who just have a passion for technology.

“So far, the response has been amazing,” says Tupper. “Everywhere I go, people have already heard about the unConference.” They’ve already sold about half the available seats, which are available through the group’s EventBrite page. There is discount pricing available for girls so that women can bring their daughters, nieces and mentees, and Tupper says a number of young women have already taken advantage of the opportunity.

Aside from the first of its kind in the Midwest, the unConference is unique in format. “At an unConference, the attendees set the agenda,” Tupper explains. “When you arrive, everyone sits around a big white board and suggests topics. People can give prepared presentations or discuss issues on the spot. The point is that we talk about what the attendees want to talk about.”

Heidi Nobantu Saul from the She’s Geeky team in Northern California has been helping Tupper prepare for this first event. “They’ve provided so much support – from FAQs for the volunteers to information about the layout to language for reaching out to sponsors,” says Tupper. The Twin Cities event has four major sponsors so far: the Science Museum of Minnesota and Clockwork Active Media Systems at the corporate level, and Fabuliss and Minnebar at the community level.

With capacity for about 100 attendees each day of the unConference, Tupper says she’s looking forward to inspiring discussions and lots of connections between women interested in technology. “We hope this will be a big conference someday, but for now we like that it’s a grassroots sort of thing,” she explains. “Right now we’re focusing on building a remarkable event for 2010 and generating momentum for the future.”

Six startups gave their four-minute pitch at the second Crowdpitch Minneapolis event hosted yesterday by Rain Source Capital and FundingUniverse, but MinuteBids stole the show.

Crowdpitch is a competition event designed to bring together local tech entrepreneurs, mentors and service providers. Winners receive in-kind services valued at about $4,800.

Jon Coudron, co-founder of MinuteBids, made the pitch. After the event he said, “This was a great experience all around—not only did we get to field some great questions and receive feedback on our pitch, but we were able to walk away with some additional validation that we’ve got a good business.”

MinuteBids is a free service for property owners/managers designed to save them time and money by streamlining the process of obtaining multiple bids from reputable local service providers for property maintenance needs. Think lawn-care, snow removal, painting, carpet cleaning, etc.

At the event, both the audience and the panelists asked post-pitch questions of the presenters and cashed in their “funny money” towards their favorite. Shane Van Cott, Director of Events for FundingUniverse said, “I can tell you it was a landslide. They were at least double the next closest presenter.”  This is momentum-building for MinuteBids, who was also recently announced as a semi-finalist in the MN Cup, an annual statewide business plan competition.

MinuteBids receives the following for their win at Crowdpitch:

• $2,500 of startup services from FundingUniverse
• $500 of web services from Amazon
• 12 hours of financial and accounting services from NOWAdvisors

Rain Source Capital also announced the dates for its 7th annual RAIN Makers Conference today.  On September 23 & 24, 2010, nationally recognized tech investors such Seth Levine of the Foundry Group and Richard Sudek of Tech Coast Angels will be in Minneapolis covering all things Angel Investing.

“Last night’s turnout at the James J. Hill Library for the Minnesota Cup Semifinalist kickoff was impressive and quite large for an event of its kind. In attendance were 125-140 entrepreneurs, investors, sponsors, MN Cup judges and those of us covering the event (Minnov8 and tech.mn) as well as the people who were the entire reason for the kickoff itself: the semifinalists.”

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