DeMo Des Moines returns to Startup City Des Moines on Tuesday, February 21 at 4pm.
Not clear on what DeMo is? Check out the recap from January’s event.
You don’t have to register to attend or present, but a heads-up is always appreciated. Hope to see you there.
I’m often asked if DeMo is just for “tech stuff”. It’s definitely not, and the conversation we had at January’s DeMo session proved that out. Four presenters shared a diverse group of projects and ideas including web startups and brick-and-mortar initiatives.
I used this slide deck to start things out. While it doesn’t contain info about the presentations (those are generally improvised on-site by the presenters), poking through it may give you a better feel for the event.
Below are my notes on the January 2012 #DeMoDSM presentations.
Jake Kerber from Locusic presented at DeMo for the second time. Locusic hadn’t even launched yet when Jake first presented. Locusic has generated a lot of buzz since then, and Jake is looking to add to that buzz with social media integration features. Discussion ranged from the literal (you could add a Like button right there) to the conceptual (could you encourage users to share “stories” generated by their behavior on the system).
Jake said he’s looking for a few hours of help from a developer experienced with social integration for web services and is open to discussing trade or pay.
Yas Kuraishi from iapps24 (also the sponsor of January’s DeMo) went through a sales deck for iDealer, a white-label app available to be branded and customized for deployment as a B2C app from auto dealerships for their customers to use. Yas sought ideas on how to best market the iDealer service to dealerships and how to structure the feature/benefit pitch.
Nicholas Casber and Scott Bents talked through an idea for a combination bike shop and coffee shop they’d like to see launched in downtown Des Moines. They’re excited by a successful cafe with a similar model in nearby Minneapolis and thought it would be a great fit for Des Moines’ developing downtown. The group talked through possible various models, such as partnering with existing organizations and businesses, as well as potentially launching a traditional business such as a bar or restaurant with a strong focus on being cyclist-friendly, showers and all. Nicholas and Scott seemed most interested in simply connecting the right people to start making this happen, and are looking to have conversations with others excited about the idea. Ping me if you’re interested and I’ll put you in touch.
Local ad man and buy local advocate Michael Libbie talked through an idea for the “Iowa Stimulus Club”, an organization designed to connect a network of local-shopping supporters with truly local businesses. Discussion included the plusses, minuses, and appropriate ways of integrating a charitable component as well as what kind of benefits and access consumers are interested in with local businesses.
You might not guess it from the above, but it’s still a bit of a struggle getting presenters to volunteer for DeMo. I plan on holding a session in February, but may play with the format a bit to see if I can make anything happen. I don’t expect to change the time or date for February (4pm on third Tuesday).
If you’re not familiar with DeMo, read about it here, first.
I’ve been running DeMo for several months now with varying levels of success. With a full house and a slate of energetic presenters, it goes great. There’s one little problem: I’m having a hell of a time getting people to present. I don’t know why. I need your help.
I’m looking for whatever insights and opinions you can offer to see if this event is worth saving. I want to reach a point where people just ping me on Twitter, chat or text and say “Hey, I’ll take a slot, see you Tuesday.” That’s not even close to happening. Last month involved a lot of cajoling, arm-twisting, and even a little begging.
In a recent Juice article that talks about DeMo, I offer up advice for people starting a new project and seeking feedback to first give themselves a thorough critique and dressing down, thinking through possible problems. I’ll try and eat my own dogfood here with possible problems I’ve been able to think of:
What’s keeping you from presenting at DeMo? I really need to hear from you. If it’s all still crickets come Monday, I will probably call off the event, and may decide to pass the torch or just put a kibosh on the whole thing. I hate to do it but booking for DeMo is unfortunately starting to eat up way too much of my attention.
Ping me on Twitter at @scottrocketship or write me at scott@scottkubie.com. Thanks.
DeMo returns to Startup City Des Moines on Tuesday, January 17 at 4 p.m. It’s in the Bank of America Building on the 5th floor, downtown. You can enter from the street or the skywalk.
WHAT THE FIRETRUCK IS IT?
DeMo is a monthly check-up for Des Moines’ designers, developers, makers, builders, hackers and planners. Whatever you do, you can show it off at DeMo. It’s a sort of focus group meets design review.
CREATIVITY + TECHNOLOGY
Presenters DeMo app concepts, event plans, plug-ins and widgets, hobby projects, websites, whatever…if it’s got a little bit of creativity and technology jammed together, we’ll want to hear about it.
EVERYONE PARTICIPATES
Everyone at DeMo is a participant. If you’re not presenting, you’ll be expected to pay attention, take notes, ask tough questions, give feedback, and offer help. Lots of people come just to learn. We had roughly 25 people at the last DeMo and of those, five presented.
DEMO WHATEVER YOU’VE GOT, DONE OR NOT
DeMo is low-key but high-energy. No pixel-perfect pitch decks; bring storyboards, screenshots, sketches and the like. It can be raw and rough or perfectly polished. Share with the group and see what happens. Maybe you’ll get some good honest feedback. Maybe you’ll meet a kindred spirit that wants to get involved. Heck, you might learn something just from trying to explain it in front of an audience.
HOW TO PRESENT
The five presentation slots are first-ask, first-serve. To reserve a slot, write scott@scottrocketship.com with your name, a link for you or the project (if you have one), and a topic. Be specific; “Pongr’s New Account Creation Workflow” is better than “Pongr”.
BUY THE BEER!
Want a guaranteed DeMo slot for you or a friend and guaranteed adoration? Be a sponsor — aka, buy the beer! Hugs, friendship, mucho social media love, and I’ll read anything on Earth you want me to read in front of the group (within reason, anyway). $50. scott@scottrocketship.com
Accent theme by Handsome Code
Hello, I'm Scott.
I help people make things.
I'm a recovering journalism major working on the content and community sides of tech. My current favorite project is The Flyover Effect, a weekly podcast about startups, design, and all things internet.
This site is where I collect my goings-ons from about the web. I also blog about art and artists, writing, user experience design, content strategy, activism, and using the internet as a playground.
