Fire Marshalls may be on hand to contain the crowds expected for the MIMA 07 Annual Summit. As a Gold Sponsor, we see this event as one of key venues to bring in thought leaders from all over the country. If you are attending, stop by and check us out during Happy Hour as we are strategically placed next to the bar and DJ. If you didn’t get a swanky swag bag, stop by to say hello and pick up a 45 (yes, they actually have songs on them) and get a chance to win iTunes by playing our SMS contest. We teamed up with our fantastic partner, OnCall Solutions, to bring this interactive strategy to life.

At Saturday’s Minnebar, we caught up with David Heinemeier Hansson of 37Signals. David is the creator of the web-application framework Ruby on Rails. Leonardo da Vinci once stated “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” This is what David has developed with the Rails framework. David talked about his passion for developing aesthetically pleasing code that inspires web developers to do great work. Although most marketers wouldn’t need to know (nor necessarily need to care) about Ruby on Rails, for us it is an instrumental tool to ensure our clients’ marketing message and metrics are achieved on the web.

David’s technology foundation – although not visible to the customers – is the major strand of the DNA for the 37Signals brand. It comes across in their no nonsense approach. It shows in their passion for delivery solutions that customers need, not what they want.

David’s company develops phenomenal products that we use daily at ideapark to foster collaboration and creativity. From left-to-right: Chris Henslin (ideapark) David Heinemeier Hansson (37signals) Brian Brown (ideapark)

Btw, this meeting in the Twin Cities was the largest BarCamp outside of India. (What is BarCamp?) Even though it’s the un-conference, great job to the organizers. Noted blogger, Graeme Thickens, gives a great overview. Photo credit to Graeme with yours truly captured looking back from the throngs of attendees.

We also strive to deliver what our customers need, not necessarily what they want. David, thanks for making the trip up.

UPDATE: Leslie Brooks Suzukamo’s article in the Pioneer Press

ideapark’s annual “Vernal Equinox Party” is a time to celebrate with our customers, employees, and business partners the transition from winter to spring and exchange insights on emerging trends in marketing for the new year.

We also showcase emerging uses of technology for marketing professionals. This year, ideapark partnered up with Michael Bragg and talented team at Digital Dialogue to demonstrate SMS in a fun and engaging way. One of the best examples is how American Idol uses text messaging to drive audience participation. How can we make this relevant for traditional marketers within a reasonable budget?

For example, let’s say you are a major sporting event (or a vernal equinox party) and you want to capture real time insights from the audience.

Here’s how it works, ideapark develops an engaging and branded SMS experience for your audience via cellphone or interactive kiosk. You offer the audience the latest product information, prizes (like a Wii), discounts, or an update about their order. In return, you can gain valuable insight into what matters most to them.

Here’s an example of one the questions we asked as part of the demonstration. The answers were surprising:

We also asked fun questions and almost 70% of the attendees knew the answer to: “What is the airspeed velocity of a laden swallow?”

We were able to turn this around in less than a week.

Also, congrats to Charlie, Maryanne, and Dennis!

If you’d like to see how we did this and the outcome to some of the more serious questions, just drop me a line at mark@ideapark.com.

We’ve always believed in the Twin Cities (and Minnesota in general) as an exception place for entrepreneurs. The diversity in talent that Minnesota attracts means innovation becomes part of the local DNA. This has been going on for decades, but not necessarily getting the recognition. For example, everyone that uses the internet might want to pay a special homage to the Twin Cities. (Anyone remember the significance of local innovations like gopher?)

Check out the launch of www.GetGoMN.org site that connects Minnesota based entrepreneurs, companies, and supporters together. Similar to the sites like Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, GetGoMN is a great resource that showcases the talent and breadth of companies that get their start in the Twin Cities. We applaud this and it’s about time we started being more vocal and organized about sharing our collective experience. (Yes, we can still do it in our “Minnesota nice” way.)

By the way, we did a quick count here at ideapark on the number of organizations that we have started up ourselves. The tally: 19.

Lessons learned? Priceless.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our most recent project, Live Dynamite. Check out this hot new company that helps people expand and create momentum in their lives, set goals, and make things happen. As the founders of Live Dynamite would say, “Sometimes, we all need a little nudge…”

We’re pleased as punch to announce the following additions to the ideapark wreckin’ crew:

Sy Harris – Interactive designer
As a newcomer to Minnesota, I would have thought Sy’d be a little more shell-shocked by our recent cold snap, but he’s taking it all in stride. Sy’s experience includes working as a designer and art director on interactive and print projects for clients such as Marvel Comics, Gateway Computers, Hearst Publications and Sotheby’s. He’s also skilled at high definition underwater videography which may or may not be useful here in the land of 10,000 lakes (but we’re not counting on it).

Mark Kurtz – Vice President of Client Services
Mark’s been a friend of ideapark for several years and we’re very excited to mix his skills and interests into our group. He brings extensive experience in technology and marketing from both the agency and client perspectives. During his time spent with Seattle-based Garrigan Lyman, Mark worked with clients such as Microsoft, Wall Street Journal, Aveda, Polaris, Nikon, and SAP. As a voracious entrepreneur, he’s started companies in Australia, Singapore and St. Paul. Most recently he served as the Vice President of Marketing and Sales for the wiki wizards at MindTouch (which recently moved to San Diego). Mark’s lived all over the world, but he’s a Midwesterner at heart (we’re hiding the fact that he’s from the Green Bay area for obvious reasons).