Minneapolis Archive

CoCo teams up with Carlson Ventures Enterprise

April 3, 2013 | By
dball
CoCo teams up with Carlson Ventures Enterprise

CoCo is working with the Carlson Ventures Enterprise (CVE) at the University of Minnesota to launch the Carlson Resource Desk at CoCo Minneapolis!

The Carlson Resource Desk will be staffed by full-time MBA students from Carlson School of Management, who will offer a wide variety of services in-person and via email to CoCo members , with a turnaround time of approximately one week. Some examples of services include:

  • Market sizing
  • Demographic information
  • Consumer insights
  • Market segmentation
  • Competitor analysis
  • Assistance with financial models
  • Assessment of tax incentives and policy influences on business

The Carlson Resource Desk Associates will hold roundtable conversations at CoCo Minneapolis to field questions regarding projects and learn more about what services CoCo members will need. Roundtable dates/times:

  • Tuesday, April 9: 12 – 2 p.m.
  • Wednesday, April 10: 9 – 11 a.m.

A four-week long pilot program will begin on April 9, in which services will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis for a limited number of projects. During this launch period, each CoCo member will have access to three hours, sponsored by Carlson and CoCo, after which members will be charged $20/hour.

Carlson Resource Desk hours of operation:

  • Tuesdays  12 – 3 p.m.
  • Wednesdays  9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
  • Fridays  9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

> Request project services online

Email questions and project request forms to: uofm@cocomsp.com

Become a better soloist at SoloCamp

April 3, 2013 | By
dball
Become a better soloist at SoloCamp

Sat., April 27
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
CoCo Minneapolis

Eventbrite - SoloCamp

How’s business? Got all the clients you want? Making as much money as you need? How’s your work life/balance?

If you’re not satisfied with your solo practice (guess what: you’re not alone!), then have we got an event for you!

SoloCamp is a one-day conference focused on improving business skills and learning new tools. Think of it as a shot of adrenalin for your solo practice, whether you’re a designer, programmer, writer or consultant.

Like a regular conference, there are some pre-planned sessions on a variety of important topics, taught by seasoned freelancers and business owners. But it’s also an unconference, which means we’ve got room for sessions that can be suggested and even run by you! (We’ll tell you more about that after you register.)

Pre-planned sessions include:

  • The basics (and not-so basics) of marketing yourself  How and where to tell your story
  • Using social media to promote your business
  • Online marketing 101  An overview of what’s possible with SEO, PPC, Re-marketing, Authorship Pages, Video and Conversion Optimization (applicable to yours or your clients’ business)
  • Stop leaving money on the table!  Ideas on how to earn more from your projects and client relationships.
  • Business 101 for freelancers  Tons of practical advice on incorporation, taxes, banking, insurance, partnerships, positioning, etc.
  • Portfolio sites  Comparing portfolio platforms, with input from other freelancers
  • Designer tech  A review of essential tools
  • Working alone sucks!  An intro to more collaborative ways of working

Schedule:

  • 9 – 10 a.m. – Coffee/rolls, socializing, orientation to unconference format
  • 10 – 11 a.m. – Sessions
  • 11 a.m. – Noon – Sessions
  • Noon – 1 p.m. – Lunch (included)
  • 1 – 2 p.m. – Sessions
  • 2 – 3 p.m. – Sessions
  • 3 p.m. – Optional tours of CoCo & Design Works

Eventbrite - SoloCamp

Brought to you by:

  • AIGA Minnesota
  • Navitor
  • CoCo

April at CoCo

March 29, 2013 | By
vilay
April at CoCo

Spring may not have officially sprung here in Minnesota, but you wouldn’t know that here at CoCo. We’re “springing” into action with a bevy of Google for Entrepreneurs events to kick off the month and we hope the weather takes our lead! Most of these events are free with complimentary food & drink included…so what are you waiting for? Register already!

UPCOMING APRIL EVENTS:

Monday, April 1st: HealthcareMN
How Healthcare Startups can Pilot w/Large Health Systems” Panel
One of the biggest challenges that healthcare entrepreneurs face is finding customers to pilot their product with. At our last meetup we established the need for our health systems to be more tech-startup friendly. To continue the conversation, Jon Pearce will be talking about how you can connect with large healthcare providers in the Twin Cities to test your product.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

Tuesday, April 2nd: Android Users Group
We’ve got a great night of content lined up starting with +Adam Grocholski  from Microsoft who will introduce us to the new Azure Mobile Services and their Android SDK. Learn how this turnkey backend solution can easily give you a scalable and secure hosted backend with structured storage, user authentication and push notifications within minutes.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

Thursday, April 4th: Pine & Gilmore’s How-To Workshop Series
How to Create a Sense of Place // Hosted by Joe Pine
How does Starbucks get away with charging over $3 for less than 3¢ worth of coffee beans? It’s the primacy of place. How did Apple become the #1 retailer in the world? It’s the power of place. How do ING Direct Cafes generate infinite ROI? It’s the profitability of place. In this session Joe Pine shows you how to create places where guests can experience who you are – and thereby have them perceive you as authentic – and where you can also generate great demand for your core offerings, whatever they might be.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

Monday, April 8th: RailsMN
Building Freecamp (a project management tool) – A Learning Series
As we kick off our first meetup as part of the Google for Entrepreneurs at CoCo program we will have monthly sessions to help you get started building a real Rails app and learn best practices and fundamental web development concepts. Each session in the series will build on the previous session.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

Monday, April 15th: PR For Startups
You’ve been hard at work building your business and want to get the word out, but how do you actually get media attention? Learn how you can build some buzz without hiring a PR firm–or making the same mistakes they do. We’ll discuss some unconventional ways to get your name in print, build relationships with writers and editors, create an individualized media strategy, and save a whole lot of time in the process. We’ll also bust some myths about what you can expect as a result of media coverage.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION 

Monday, April 15th: Black Box Monday event — THIS SLOT STILL OPEN!
In theater, a black box is a space that can be transformed to suit the needs of different types of productions. We’ve used the black box idea to describe what will be happening on Monday nights at CoCo. As part of the Google for Entrepreneurs event series, we’re opening up our Classroom at CoCo Minenapolis for…whatever the tech startup community wants. Classes, meetups, demos, lightning talks  – it’s all fair game.
SUBMIT YOUR IDEA 

Monday, April 22nd: Black Box Monday event: Minneapolis Quantified Self Meetup
Minneapolis Quantified Self is the local branch for the rapidly growing, global Quantified Self movement (quantifiedself.com)! Quantified Self is a collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in self knowledge through self-tracking. We exchange information about our personal projects, the tools we use, tips we’ve gleaned, lessons we’ve learned. We blog, meet face to face, and collaborate online.” Our local Minneapolis group is starting-up again with monthly meetups to share experiences with devices and tools, present interesting ideas or results, demo new products, and just network with other QSers.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

 Saturday, April 27th: Solocamp
Want to improve business skills and learn new tools? Since designers already have resources for creative ideas, your host Navitor—in partnership with CoCo, the coworking business center—is offering a focus on the business, tech, and tool aspect of design. We want designers to walk away with lots of ideas on how to be smarter about the business side of things: marketing, legal, accounting/billing, technology use, etc. Four topic areas and presenters to be announced. Includes lunch and networking opportunities.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

Tuesday, April 30th: Fall in Love With Sales April Edition: SALES PROCESSES
No matter what you are selling, you will be more efficient and effective if you have a process. Plus, following a process will provide you with insights about your customers, your product or your pricing that might not be apparent to you. So come prepared to listen and share your experience with effective &/or ineffective sales processes that you have used.
DETAILS & REGISTRATION

2013 Google for Entrepreneurs events

March 5, 2013 | By
dball
2013 Google for Entrepreneurs events

Thanks to everyone who came to Google for Entrepreneurs Day at CoCo on Feb. 20. If you missed it, check out this awesome highlight video.

The big announcement that day was the launch of a Google-sponsored, two-year run of events at CoCo – all geared toward startups and tech. These events will take several forms. You can see them all plotted on one page…or read on.

Big events

The backbone of the year will be several larger scale events, where we can invite lots of people in to share ideas, socialize and develop new ideas and businesses:

  • Google for Entrepreneurs Happy Hour (Fri. May 3rd, 2013)  Word on the street is that Google+ will be a hot topic!
  • Startup Weekend Twin Cities (Spring & Fall) Already a successful semi-annual event, SWTC will be bringing the party to CoCo.
  • Fail Fest (July) A suggestion from one of our members, this evening event will encourage attendees to tell their failure stories and talk about the role of failure in developing character and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Google for Entrepreneurs Pitch Event (December) The culmination of the year’s events, in which startups can practice their pitches and vie for special prizes.

User groups and meetups

During the year, we’ll play host to recurring tech and startup-focused meetups, including:

  • Google Developers Group – Twin Cities (monthly) A meetup for developers who work with the Google software stack.
  • Android Users Group of MN (monthly, alternating between CoCo and Code 42) A meetup for developers, marketers and others who are interested in the Android environment.
  • House of Genius (semi-monthly) A new event in the Twin Cities that brings together startups and a diverse and changing cast of mentors.
  • Rails MN (monthly, 2nd Mondays) A meetup designed to help those learning Ruby on Rails build new business, cool prototypes or side projects.
  • Healthcare.MN (monthly, 1st Mondays) A meetup for healthcare-focused tech startups.

Hangouts

CoCo wil host two types of online-only events, which will be held via Google Hangouts and will be open to all who are interested. These events will feature local entrepreneurs and tech and marketing experts from Google.

  • Startup Marketing 101 (March, June, August, November)
  • Future of Technology in MN (April, October)

Black Box Mondays

Following the Google event, we received so many suggestions for events (thank you!) that we realized we needed a way to accommodate new and interesting ideas as they come up during the year. The solution? On nearly half the Mondays in 2013, we’ll open up our Classroom in Minneapolis for meetups, workshops and classes that are geared toward tech and startups. Below are some of the potential classes and meetups, many of which were suggested (and we hope will be led or moderated) by our community.

  • Investor education
  • How *not* to love your startup
  • Entrepreneurship & economic development for the rest of MN
  • How and when to pivot
  • Coders & Makers meetup
  • Google Apps for mere mortals
  • “For startups” series
    • UI design for startups
    • PR for startups
    • SEO for startups
    • Content marketing for startups
    • Finance & accounting for startups
    • Strategic partnerships for startups
    • Tech marketing for startups

Got and idea for a Black Box session? Let us know!

Evening coworking

March 4, 2013 | By
dball
Evening coworking

Evening coworking. It’s our top request, only 2nd to “when are you going install a coed sauna?”

So, while we’re waiting for the contractor bids on the sauna, we’d like to roll out the next best thing. 

Starting March 18th, CoCo will be open for evening coworking every Monday night from 5 to 8 p.m. at CoCo Minneapolis.

If you’re already a CoCo member, you’re free to show up or stick around on Mondays.

If you’re not yet a member, say, because you work a day job, all you have to do is get one of our Uno memberships (1 day a week access for $50/mo.) and you can be a Monday night coworking warrior!

 

Photo Credit: wstryder via Compfight cc

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