By Camella Mendez (updated 1/21 with quote from Senator Klobuchar)
Yesterday’s ‘SOPA blackout’ was cause enough to close the curtains on major websites like Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing for extended periods of time — up to 24 hours in some cases. Google, craigslist, Mozilla and many others leveraged their reach to inform the masses of congress’ radical plans to legislate, control and censor the global Internet in name of piracy.
But the heightened awareness – or lack thereof – failed to reach Minnesota’s own Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar who are co-sponsoring SOPA’s sister bill, PIPA. Though SOPA has been halted in the House (for now), PIPA is still alive and has the ability to inflict a crippling blow to Minnesota’s startup community if passed on January 24th.
On Tuesday evening, November 29, over 200 women gathered at the latest Brave New Workshop location in downtown Minneapolis to launch a new association: Women Leading in Technology (WLiT). Run by a volunteer steering committee and with the support of MHTA, its board, and community sponsors, the group aims to be an open and supportive community for the advancement of women in technology leadership positions in Minnesota.
In the weeks before the launch event, buzz about the event reached beyond the high-tech community to healthcare, consulting and marketing professionals. Over 240 registered for the launch party, which included a presentation on innovation and culture by Dr. Jacqueline Byrd of Creatrix, Inc.
Via News Release
“The Minnesota Science & Technology Authority (MnSTA) has awarded a $129,000 grant to the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) to administer internships for 40 college students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines under a new program called SciTechsperience.
“The Minnesota High Tech Association’s experience in working with science and technology initiatives makes it a wonderful partner to implement SciTechsperience,” said Betsy Lulfs, executive director of the Minnesota Science and Technology Authority. “We are excited to be working with them on this new opportunity to retain Minnesota’s young talent.”
The Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) honored more than a dozen Minnesota-based technology and innovation leaders with a 2011 Tekne Award during tonight’s ceremony at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
“The Tekne Awards recognize innovative technology achievements across a range of fields, from manufacturing to sustainable technologies to non-profit organizations”
Congratulations to the following companies:
Computer Hardware and Electronics Devices: Global Traffic Technologies
Edutech: Sophia Learning
Collaboration of the year: Maverick Software
Mobile: GeaCom
Software: Imation (large) & Calabrio (small)
Technology services/consulting: Thomson Reuters (large) & Apex (small)
Via News Release
“MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 14, 2011 — Recent growth in Minnesota’s educational and robotic technology sectors emphasize the state’s position as a leader in technological advancements, while other technology-based sectors also remain strong.
In recognition of last year’s innovations, the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) announced finalists for the 2011 Tekne Awards. Forty-two finalists were named in fourteen categories that recognize the best and brightest in innovation, development, commercialization and management of technology in Minnesota.
Presented on Thursday, Nov. 3, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Tekne Awards honor those who play a significant role in discovering new technologies that educate, improve lifestyles and impact the lives and futures of people living in Minnesota and all over the world.”
Show notes from TECHdotMN TV Episode 1: Robots!
Lawson’s Approva acquisition vs. St. Paul’s future
Best Buy’s third party marketplace
ReconRobotics / MHTA Robotics Alley event on November 17th
MSP MakerBot blog | Foundry Group’s investment | Stratasys 3D Printing Challenge
This is the first installment of an eight week experiment…ideas + feedback welcome!
Via News Release
“EDINA, MN, Sept. 8, 2011 — ReconRobotics, Inc., world leader in tactical micro-robot systems, in partnership with the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) will host the first Robotics Alley event at the Carlson School of Management on Thursday, November 17th, 2011 beginning at 1:00pm.
The event will bring together 250 business and government leaders to discuss the global market growth in the robotics industry, and learn how companies from various fields in the Upper Midwest are leveraging robotics technology and generating job growth.”
Via MHTA
“The Minnesota Tekne Awards honor companies, innovations and individuals that positively impact Minnesota’s technology-based economy. The Tekne Awards began in 2000, and are presented by the Minnesota High Tech Association.
Applying for a Tekne can bring extensive visibility to an organization and provide great opportunities to celebrate and showcase products and innovations within the Minnesota technology community.”
About Executable #3:
Internet entrepreneur Duane Crandall experienced two consecutive failed ventures before finding his sweet-spot with SaaS email marketing and analytics business Knowledge Marketing.
Hear the journey of how almost ran out of cash early on with Knowledge Marketing but eventually worked through it to build a $5 million company with 28 employees, serving corporate clients such as HP, Great Clips, and TCF Bank. Learn why he’s leery of taking VC money and something every web entrepreneur should realize before they start thinking they’re the next big thing.
Previous Executable interviews include: Matt Meents, CEO of Reside & Phil Soran, CEO at Compellent.
*Special thanks to Stemmler Productions for the video editing services.
About Executable #2:
Reside Co-founder and CEO Matt Meents got his entrepreneurial start by promising a custom application to a real estate company that he quickly learned he could never deliver on as promised.
Hear the journey of how almost ran out of cash early on in his venture but eventually worked through it, raised money, and has since grown his enterprise cloud consulting company to 40 employees.
Learn how he worked through that ugly period when sales plateaued and how one book changed it all for him by telling him that he was his own bottleneck.
Previous Executable: Phil Soran, CEO, Compellent
*Special thanks to Stemmler Productions for the video production services.
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