Greatest City of All » Tech scene

New Columbus Site Metropreneur Focused on Entrepreneurs, Small Business

cherylharrison — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:20:21 +0000

Thinking of starting a new business? Own a local business and looking for resources and new ideas? Looking for a directory of solopreneurs and small businesses in Columbus? Just plain interested in local news and growth in your community? Look no further than Metropreneur.

Launched Tuesday, August 3rd, TheMetropreneur.com seeks to be the go-to Columbus news source and directory for small businesses and entrepreneurs, in addition to offering social networking functionality to connect its user community.

I chatted with founder Walker Evans (of ColumbusUnderground.com fame) about the project.

What made you decide to start Metropreneur? Who else is involved in the site?

Around six months ago, my wife Anne and I were wrapping up the process of bringing her into a full-time position with our company, Evans Creative Group, and we had just started to brainstorm about what our next goals or projects would be. We’re continuing to grow ColumbusUnderground.com, but we were also toying with the idea of creating some sort of “spin off” type project that would focus on topics that we only occasionally cover on CU. The topic that quickly rose to the top of our list was “Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship”. We did quite a bit of local and national research, started reaching out into the community to assess our ideas for the project, and after a few months of development, TheMetropreneur.com was launched on August 3rd. Anne and I are handling most of the operations side of the new business while our launch team is rounded out by Melanie McIntyre, our Editorial Director and Jared Thompson, our Advertising Director. Both are seasoned media professionals and are great assets on this new venture.

What kind of information do you plan to share on this site?

The Metropreneur is a local/regional resource that will cover small business news throughout Central Ohio. We have small business profiles and success stories, topical and trend-based articles, Q&As and interviews, community spotlights, guest editorials and more. We feel that The Metropreneur will be a unique resource as the only dedicated media outlet in town that focuses exclusively on small businesses and startups. We’ve also put together a “Local Resource Database” that contains over 100 individual organizations and companies that provide different types of assistance to local entrepreneurs. That includes financial assistance, marketing firms, social media consultants, local government programs, retail opportunities and more. That database will continue to grow as we regularly add new resources to those lists. I should also mention that all of this content is provided for free.

What audience do you think will benefit the most from Metropreneur?

Our primary target audience is the small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur. We want The Metropreneur to play a proactive role in local economic development by helping new businesses get started and existing small businesses thrive. Additionally, we’re already seeing that some of our audience on the site falls into the category of “B2B” Service Providers… business owners or outreach coordinators who are looking to connect with small business to network or to provide services or products. And last but not least, we’re anticipating that the general public will become more and more interested in what we have to offer as well. The locavore and “buy local” movements are rapidly growing as more and more customers are preferring to support their local economy and get to know more about their local businesses and business owners. Even if those customers aren’t interested in starting their own business, they may find a lot of our content interesting as it allows them to see a little bit more of what is happening within the local small business community and build their own personal awareness.

If someone is interested in contributing articles, what should they do?

If anyone is interested in contributing a guest/community editorial, send a quick idea or pitch to Melanie McIntyre: mmcintyre@themetropreneur.com. We’re looking for rich content that is topical, timely, thought-provoking and informational. Also, if there is a topic that anyone would like to see covered more in-depth, or an idea for a small business that deserves some media attention, send those ideas to Melanie as well.

Startup Weekend Columbus April 23rd – 25th

Jason Blanton — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:15:05 +0000

The third Columbus StartUp Weekend kicks off tomorrow night at Tech Columbus at around 6:00 PM. So there is still a little bit of time to sign-up. This will be my 3rd time attending StartUp weekend and each time is equally as exciting as the first for me. For It is one of the only events that I get to spend an entire weekend with other like minded people working on really cool stuff. If you are free this weekend and enjoy building technology related businesses then this is the event for you. If nothing else you will make some new business connections and build friendships with people you might not have met otherwise. If this interests you at all, then keep reading.

What is StartUp Weekend?

Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects.

How do I know what company I would build?

The participants that attend a Startup Weekend decide what they want to tackle over the weekend and come out at the end with several developed companies or projects. Attendees are responsible for bringing the same desire and passion to the project and walk out of the room with the task at hand, in a short 54 hours. Sound intense? It is.

How is the Weekend Structured?

6pm Friday: Everyone gets together; figures out who else is there; what would be interesting to build. 7pm: Pitches start (if you have an idea for a product you pitch it to the group). 8pm: Teams start breaking off (generally about nine teams will form during the weekend, creating nine products or companies). 9pm: Hopefully teams have solidified their concept and created an elevator pitch (even a simple one) by now. 10pm: Break off to a bar or coffee shop to continue the discussion and attempt to paper prototype out their application.

9am Saturday: Crowds pour in; work starts on development. Noon: Lunch.

3pm: More coding, business plan development, and a special guest (music, vc, sponsor etc). 6pm: Special guest drop-ins and pitches from the teams. 9pm: Gut check on the product; basic prototype building; group get-together for drinks and to talk about the products everyone is working on.

9am Sunday: The day’s work starts again. Noon: Projects are being developed; live website with signup is possibly set up; more special guests drop in. 6pm: Sink or swim time for those looking for a weekend launch. 9pm: Presentations from each company; what worked, what didn’t, what could go better and contacts are exchange for those continuing in the future.

Ok sounds good. Where do I sign up and find more information?

There are a couple of places to get information about StartUp Weekend Columbus.

Columbus StartUp Weekend Site
Columbus StartUp Weekend Registration Page

Parent StartUp Weekend Site

Help Make Columbus a Test City for Google Fiber!

Jason Blanton — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:28:08 +0000

The following post is from an email I received from Amy Marshall of Webbed Marketing in Columbus Ohio.

Can you imagine an Internet connection running at speeds up to 100 times faster than what you are used to today? It’s pretty hard, isn’t it? After all, most Web sites today already load in a matter of seconds. How could it possibly be any faster? And yet, this is exactly what Google is proposing to do.

Introducing Google Fiber – Bringing you the Web at the Speed of, well, Google!

Google is planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. The idea is simple – considerably faster speeds will result in considerably more advanced Web content and applications. Here are just a few of the scenarios Google engineers and designers are envisioning:

The ability to stream critical information, such as 3D medical imaging, in real time
Exciting and explosive new applications to usher in a new age in Web design

Enhanced visual communication capabilities

The possibilities are as limitless as the imagination!

What does this have to do with Columbus?

The decision makers at Google want to make sure they select the perfect locations to test these new networks. They have decided to hold a “contest” of sorts to determine the cities, municipalities and other locations that would make the best fit for a trial. Residents can nominate their community, and Google will use these nominations in making its decision. If Columbus is selected, Google plans to offer this revolutionary service at a competitive price to at least 50,000, and potentially up to 500,000, people.

How can I nominate Columbus?

Please visit Googlumbus.com. We have created a micro-site with more information and with a link to Google’s nomination form. The deadline to submit nominations is this Friday (the 26th), so please hurry and make your voice heard! You can include a short video or anything you think will sell our case to Google on why they should pick Columbus! Don’t be shy – tell your friends!

Here are just a few of the ways you can share a video to voice your support:

Post them to the TechColumbus Facebook page as fan videos – facebook.com/TechColumbusOhio

Upload them to the Vimeo Googlumbus Group

And don’t be afraid to get creative with your video nominations – Google is into that kind of thing. Just remember, the deadline is Friday, March 26th!

Googlumbus.com

CrunchGear meetup at The Surly Girl, Monday Nov 11

Jason Blanton — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:59:12 +0000

After a very successful meetup last December 2008, the Gadget geeks of CrunchGear are doing it again. This time around it will be Monday November 11th at 6:30 in the back room at The Surly Girl Saloon. See Scott Merrill’s post here for more info.

I attended last years meetup and it was great networking and conversation. Not to mention the great beer at The Surly Girl. So if your a gadget geek or tech enthusiast like me, you won’t want to miss this.

IT Martini Hour 6: Fall Forward

Jason Blanton — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:24:01 +0000

One of the greatest meetups in Columbus is happening this Thursday, September 24, 2009. The event is happening at Park Street Patio in the Arena District. IT Martini 6 is the premier networking event for I.T. professionals in Central Ohio. During this meetup there will be a panel discussing how to handle career adversity followed with a talk about mobile security. And of course there will be tons of people to network with. So be sure to bring a stack of business cards.

Special Greatest City promotional offer: Help spread the word and get in free! All you have to do is Tweet this post and include @greatestcity and we’ll send you a discount code to register for free. That’s a $35 savings and some priceless networking at the event.
*Be sure you are following @greatestcity so we can DM you your code.

If you haven’t signed up yet you still have time. Just head over to the IT Martini registration page and get your ticket.

So come on out for some tasty appetizers and refreshments and bring your business cards to exchange with other IT Pro’s from all around central Ohio. Oh and did I mention they always give away some nice door prizes and Schwag?

I’ll see ya this Thursday.

Toobla – Visual Bookmarking made easy

Jason Blanton — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:06:02 +0000

When it comes to cool startups on the web most point to San Fran and the West Coast. What if I told you there is a very cool startup right here in the Greatest City of All? That’s crazy talk right? Think again.

Toobla started right here in Columbus Ohio is getting ready for public consumption on September 14, 2009.

So what is Toobla?

Toobla is a visual bookmarking service to help gather and organize your favorite stuff on the web in a nice visual way. Toobla makes it easy to collect, enjoy and share your favorite stuff from the web. Toobla folders are portable, sharable containers into which you can put anything interesting you find on the web
Toobla folders can hold any number of digital media items: web page bookmarks, videos, images, documents, games, music, and any kind of embeddable application or widget. Toobla is evolving the way sharing works online. People naturally build collections of content they enjoy and now have a way to share multiple things with one URL.

So let me give you an example. I created a folder on Toobla called Webalicious music. I added several cool videos from YouTube and then grabbed the embed code and added it below. Now you can click on a video and it will play in a shadowbox thing right here on this site.

Pretty slick huh?

One of the biggest problems these days with sharing things on Twitter, FaceBook or even my blog, is that once I share it more content comes along and gets added on top and covered up. Then when I want to find it again I either have to dig back through old stuff or try and search for it on Google. Fingers crossed that I ever find it again.

Toobla Team

The team behind Toobla consists of 4 full timers and an intern.
Jake Saxbe – Founder, attorney, built Internet music related .coms and has TV production background, lives in Mill Valley north of San Francisco.
Brian Link – CEO, previous VP of Technology at Digg (managed development, QA and R&D for 3 years, growing Digg from 200k users to nearly 4MM), lives in Columbus
Matt Yoho – Lead Developer
Mike Busch – Developer
Tony Schneider – Intern developer

Mark your calendars

So mark your calendars for September 14th and you can see what fun I’ve been having creating and sharing content with this really cool visual bookmarking system. Oh and they have a bunch of new things that will come out when they launch publicly that aren’t currently available.

What others are saying about Toobla

TechCrunch: Toobla Takes Over Where Ma.gnolia Left Off
CrunchGear: Toobla: Collect and share your favorite stuff from the web. 1000 Beta accounts available.
Listio: Toobla – Collect and Enjoy Your Favorite Stuff in Visual Containers

Local Game Developer Throwing Party on Santa Maria TONIGHT!

cherylharrison — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:52:30 +0000

Few things are more “Ohio” than the game of Cornhole. That’s why Columbus casual gaming startup Jufti created a Cornhole application for the iPhone. To celebrate it’s official launch, Jufti is having a huge party tonight on the Santa Maria – corner of Broad & Front on the river – and you’re invited. There is a free public parking lot on Front St, free cocktails and, of course, cornhole on the deck.

Ignite Columbus 3 at The Ohio State University Campus

Jason Blanton — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:00:45 +0000

Pick your topic, create a 20 slide deck and prepare 5 minutes to talk. That’s the concept behind Ignite. In 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis started Ignite in Seattle Washington and since has spread all over the world. The talks can be anything geeks are passionate about. And when I say “geeks” I’m not just referring to computer geeks. These are, art geeks, food geeks, social media geeks, you name it. You never know what to expect in some of these talks. The one thing you can count on is that you will learn something new. And for me, that’s when I get geeked.

This past Friday Ignite Columbus 3 took place at The Ohio State University in Mendenhall Labatory. It was a great venue for Ignite Columbus. I particularly enjoyed the theater style lecture hall. Made me feel like I was back on campus in school, especially after the Mathematical Infinity talk that Bobby Whitman gave. Which I actually enjoyed since that is one type of geek that I am. Although as much as I like technology and math my favorite Ignite of the evening was given by Matt Slaybaugh, “Columbus Artists Need You (Even More Than You Think)”.

SPEAKER LIST

Matt Barnes – American acculturation as new civic and national identity

Ryan Bauer – “Too Many” Great Ideas!?!

Tom Carpenter – From Poverty to Passion

Malcolm Lanham – To YOU Who is Jesus?

Angie Meeker – The Iraq You’ve Never Seen

Andrew Miller – A New Social Movement I Call Digitalocracy

Matt Slaybaugh – Columbus Artists Need You (Even More Than You Think)

Anthony Trippe – Why Patents Matter to Entrepreneurs

Bobby Whitman – Mathematical Infinity

Gotta give a shout out to the two guys behind Ignite Columbus, Alvin Boromeo (The270) and Dan Rockwell (have doodle | meh porn). They do a great job of putting this together at great locations with food and drink and tons of people willing to talk about what they know.

Update: I almost forgot. After Ignite, a couple dozen of us headed over to Park Street Patio for FREE pitchers of beer and some live entertainment. Good times had by all.

Photos from Ignite Columbus 2

Creative Commons photo credits from Flickr: Alvin Boromeo – Wyliemac

Hilo Bike Ride and Dougstock 2009

Michele Savoldi — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:47:27 +0000

Mix high tech, biking and philanthropy and what do you get?

You get the Hilo Bike Ride and Dougstock 2009. A two-day bike ride from Westerville, Ohio to Mt. Vernon, Ohio and back.

What makes this ride unique? The scenery, the commitment to environmental responsibility, the training for non-profit fundraising events and the overnight camping!

While in Mt. Vernon, bikers, their families and friends will camp on Doug Morgan’s organic farm in the hills of Knox county where they will enjoy delicious food, live music and community! Dougstock is the perfect way to recharge. It’s also a great way to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock. That’s right Woodstock was 40 years ago!

So when is the Hilo Bike Ride and Dougstock? This Saturday, June 27th at 10:00 a.m. (rain date July 11, 2009)

Want to ride, volunteer, or just attend Dougstock? Visit the MeetUp page to sign-up and for more details.

Hilo is great training for some of the summer’s big non-profit cycling events:

American Cancer Society Pan Ohio Hope Ride – July 30th through August 2nd

OSUCCC-James Pelotonia Bike Tour – August 28th through August 30th

StartUp Drinks recap

Jason Blanton — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:20:52 +0000

The first StartUp Drinks Columbus was a huge success last Wednesday night with about 30 participants showing up. StartUp Drinks is a social for those interested in startup companies whether it be starting their own startup, funding a startup or already have a startup.

The first StartUp Drinks event was held on Wednesday June 25th at Surly Girl Saloon in the short north. Got to give it up to Brian Jones and Ashley Routson aka The Beer Wench for getting this thing together and making it happen.

Wyliemac over @the270 took some pictures of the event. Check them out

If you missed this one don’t worry there is sure to be more in the future. We’ll make sure we get word out as soon as we know the next time and place.