Compute Midwest Debuts in Kansas City Nov. 8-11

It's much more than a typical conference.  It's more like a conference + hackathon + speakathon + party + networking event all crammed into 4 days.  That's what Compute Midwest is all about, and it's debuting in Kansas City on November 8-11, 2012.

Compute Midwest, organized by Kansas City IT Professionals (KCITP), is a 2-day convergence of tech centered around new people, new ideas and innovation in Kansas City.

What can you expect at Compute Midwest?

DAY 1: KICK-OFF PARTY

All entrepreneurs love a good party, don't they?  Compute Midwest is catering to the wild entrepreneur by throwing a kick-off party on November 8th from 6:00-9:00pm at The Cashew.  At the kick-off party, attendees will get the chance to network with other CM attendees and learn more about what the weekend will entail.

DAY 2:  IMAGINE THE FUTURE

Day 2 starts at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts where attendees can learn about what's next in technology straight from tech leaders, startup founders and visionaries.  Of course, as with many Kansas City events, there will be a lot of discussion about KC's Google Fiber.

DAYS 3 & 4:  CREATE THE FUTURE

It's hackathon time!  On November 10, Compute Midwest will host the first 24-hour app-building challenge ever on Google Fiber at the Google Fiber space in Kansas City.  There will be thousands of dollars worth of prizes...but the biggest prize of all may be getting the chance to develop a new app with the world's fastest gigabit fiber network.

Are you ready to network, learn, engage, and build with KC's growing tech scene? Purchase your ticket for Compute Midwest today.  To learn more about Compute Midwest, be sure to visit www.computemidwest.com or follow the event on Twitter at @ComputeMidwest.

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig 

023 Think Big Radio: Inside Kansas City's Google Fiber Experience

Google Fiber Space in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Click to listen: 

023 Think Big Radio: Inside Kansas City's Google Fiber Experience

Kansas City isn’t just experiencing big things this summer...it’s experiencing fast things, too.  This summer, Google opened its very own home in KC and the location quickly became known as Google Fiber Space.  Google Fiber Space is a modern, techy place full of Google Fiber demonstrations, interactive video, hands-on activities and even free food!  It all sounded too good to be true...so we decided to take a look at Google Fiber Space for ourselves. 

Google Fiber Space is decorated with modern pieces
(and perhaps a nod to the Nelson-Atkins Museum?)

And it was better than we imagined.  We even had the opportunity to sit down with Google Fiber Community Manager Rachel Hack and ask her a few questions about Google Fiber’s implementation in Kansas City...and what we can expect next.  We asked Rachel about Google Fiber for business, the ins-and-outs of Google TV, Kansas City as the home of Google Fiber and we even took questions from people on Facebook and Twitter who had interesting questions about the high-speed Internet.  Want to hear what Rachel had to say?  Give episode 23 of Think Big Radio a listen (above).

Let's do this for Think Big! 

To learn more about Google Fiber, visit https://fiber.google.com/about/.

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig

Inside Kansas City’s Google Fiber Space

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to tour Kansas City’s newly-established Google Fiber Space. Located at 1814 Westport Road, right in between KC’s Wesport and Plaza areas, the Fiber Space is a ridiculously awesome, nerd drool-educing neat, techy place that allows Kansas Citians to experience Google Fiber before it becomes commercially available.  The space is open to the public by reservation, which can be made here. I highly recommend checking it out.  The technologies on display are remarkable and exciting to say the least. If you can’t make it however, I took plenty of pictures and some video for your enjoyment.  Take a look: 

"Let's do this for..." is the rallying cry to encourage visitors to pre-register.

The stage doubles as a waiting room and event speaker space.

Inside the Fiber Space, glass walls carry the theme of "100 times the..." to get patrons to think of all possibilities. 

Speed test shows just how fast Google Fiber really is.

This small toy car world serves as an analogy to show how the internet has evolved and where it is going. 

(Top) The 2 terabyte storage box. (Bottom Left) The network box that provides fiber to the home. (Bottom Right) The TV box that will provide endless hours of entertainment.

This was the “Nerd Bot” art piece—an ode to Google’s Android platform. 

This live map keeps track of how many people have pre-registerd per Fiberhood.

A fiber space rep shows how you are able to mimic a laptop screen via in-home wireless.

The OnLive cloud gaming system's full potential can finally be exploited finally (thanks to Fiber!).

This cool mosaic is comprised of Chiefs and Royals player cards. 

A display from Sporting KC shows how Kansas City's soccer team will use Fiber when it becomes available.

Nerding out on so much tech can make a person hungry!  Refreshments and treats are provided by Mud Pie Vegan Bakery. 

Watch the video above for even more Fiber sneak peeks!