Come learn more about SaaS and network with fellow SaaSers. Ideal for practitioners building SaaS application, entrepreneurs running SaaS businesses, vendors & educators of SaaS.

Your instructor, Leif Larson, is CEO of Workface, a MN-based SaaS company with more than 110,000 users, and is arguably the most knowledgeable person in Minnesota on SaaS models.

Instructor’s statement:
“I think I can save SaaS-based businesses here in Minnesota a lot of time, energy, blow-ups, and money by sharing what I’ve learned growing my venture backed company and rubbing elbows with executives at some of the largest SaaS companies out there.

This is a serious class with a tuition cost of $199, which will help defray space, lunch and printing costs.

Instructor’s guarantee:
“If you are not satisfied that you have gained incredible knowledge, and your day was not worthwhile, we will issue a complete refund.”

> More information and registration

>Register

We developed-world types too often focus on how smartphones and apps driving mobile innovation. But what if we had access to neither like in the developing world?

Josh Nesbit is driving mobile innovation in the developing world through smart use of SMS and cheap feature phones.

During a trip to rural Malawi in southeastern Africa, Nesbit saw patients walk 50 miles or more just to see a doctor. He also noticed that his cellphone got better reception in the tiny village of Namitete than it did in California. That realization led to an idea that evolved into a social venture: Medic Mobile.

Since then, Nesbit has been using cheap mobile phones to connect the developing world’s poor with remote medical professionals. He’s transforming the efficacy of decentralized rural public health by reinventing the role of community health workers. Medic Mobile supports a wide range of programs – from infectious disease surveillance in rural Malawi to emergency response after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti – in 15 countries across East and West Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

He drives dramatic innovation and change with the humble feature phone. For his efforts, he was recently named by Forbes as one of the world’s 30 Top Social Entrepreneurs and selected as an Ashoka Fellow.

Join us for an engaging conversation with Josh Nesbitt. Learn more about his innovative work. And see how innovations from the developing world can inspire us in our developed world.

This event is hosted in partnership with Ashoka Twin Cities.

>Register

PopTech 2009 Social Innovation Fellow Josh Nesbit from PopTech on Vimeo.

Last year, we screened parts 1 & 2 of The Geospatial Revolution, a series of film shorts by Penn State that describes how geospatial technology is transforming just about every domain you can name.

Well, guess what? They’ve now finished 4 episodes (15 min. each). We intend to show them all and then talk about the geospatial future.

Check out the trailer below and join us for a geektastic geospasm.

> Register on Eventbrite

Thursday, March 15
CoCo St. Paul, 3rd floor
Social hour at 6 p.m. | Program at 7 p.m.

Get your geek on with the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists as tech-savvy Twin Cities journalists share byte-sized presentations on the web services and mobile apps that help them find news, dig up sources, and stay organized.

Presenters will include tech columnist Julio Ojeda-Zapata(Pioneer Press) and mobile/social media editors Jon Gordon(MPR) and Colleen Kelly (Star Tribune).

Free and open to all journalists.

This event is a collaboration between The Society of Professional Journalists Minnesota Pro Chapter, the Pioneer Press and CoCo.

Tuesday, March 13
6 to 11 p.m.
CoCo Minneapolis

Agenda

CoCo Member Bill Petrich, CEO of Suntava, (recently featured in the Star Tribune) will talk about his company’s breakthrough product: a natural substitute for Red Dye No. 40, made from Peruvian purple corn.

Bill will talk about the challenges he faces in trying to grow the business and ask for ideas from attendees.

We’ll even serve up some purple corn in the form of homemade “chicha” (a traditional Peruvian soft drink) and purple corn chips. Come learn about an innovative business model and offer your ideas!

This is a members-only event.

Register at Eventbite

Click to see more pictures on Facebook

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt paid us a visit on Nov. 30. We gave him a tour and he then held a round table discussion with three small business owners (plus Don and Kyle). Afterwards, he held a quick press conference, at which he praised the Mayor and the city for its tangible support of projects like CoCo.

During his visit, Mr. Schmidt met the Naiku crew, Dave Allen and Toby Cryns, Matt Woesthoff of The Foundation and Jason Burnett and Chuck Olsen of The Uptake.

Check out the resulting media coverage (or see the page CoCo member Joseph Rueter put together using his cool megablogging platform Rifr!):

• USA Today: “Minneapolis as a tech center? Start-ups say yes”
• WCCO TV: “Local Business Owners Meet with Google’s Eric Schmidt”
• KSTP TV: “Google Chairman Brings Encouragement, but No Jobs to MN”
• KARE 11: “Google boss stops in Minnesota”
• Minnesota Public Radio: “In Mpls., Google boss reiterates free services and slams online piracy bills”
• Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journals: “Google Chairman Schmidt lauds Minneapolis entrepreneurship”
• Downtown Journal: “Rybak hosts roundtable with Google chairman at CoCo Minneapolis”
• Finance & Commerce: “Key to growth? Google exec says it’s Google”

Verizon is playing Santa and bringing some mobile goodness to CoCo.

Stop by over the lunch hour for a chat about the future of mobile gadgetry and for some ideas on what gadgets to give for the holidays, whether you’re shopping for a mobile geek or a mobile grandma. Albert Maruggi will host the conversation in his inimitable style.

Verizon is springing for lunch (thanks!). There will be tables with the latest Verizon devices and accessories. And you’ll have a chance at winning a 4G LTE smartphone as well as CoCo day passes.

Register at Eventbrite

(Please register so we have plenty of lunches on hand!)

Have you heard of Tech Cocktail? It’s a national global tech blog that hosts events across the country, including cities like Chicago, DC, Boston, San Francisco, Austin, Boulder, San Diego and Barcelona. Tech Cocktail is coming to Minnesota to help add fuel to the bonfire that is our growing local tech scene.

Join us for an evening of fun mingling with other technology enthusiasts, investors, bloggers and entrepreneurs as we showcase local technology companies and take a closer look at their latest achievements.

Register now

Tickets: $10 early bird, $15 standard ticket, $20 last minute

Tech Cocktail offers a handful of startups an opportunity to show off in an expo-style to the rest of the Minneapolis entrepreneurial community for FREE.  If you have a startup you would like to show off at Tech Cocktail Minneapolis please submit this form. The Tech Cocktail team (which sees hundreds of startups a year) will evaluate the entries and contact you if your startup is selected. Please note that space is limited.

Apply to demo your startup at TechCocktail Minneapolis!

Thanks to our co-organizers, the Ovative Group

Tuesday, March 8
5 p.m. until ?

That’s right, it’s a bus full of geeks working on new businesses as they the journey from Chicago to SxSW in Austin. And they’re making a pit-stop at CoCo.

Come meet the intrepid entrepreneurs and send off Minnesota’s own Andy Erikson, who will join the ride.

Full story at Tech.MN