Dustin Ruge
President, SEO Consulting Firm, New York City

Dustin W. Ruge is the founder of the SEO Consultant Firm and brings over 12 years of successful experience in the technology industry. Dustin’s experience ranges from sales, marketing and strategy consulting for Fortune 500 companies to technology startups. Dustin currently works with law firms in New York City as a client marketing consultant for FindLaw, a division of Thomson Reuters. Prior to joining FindLaw, Dustin’s career included marketing and strategy consulting for such companies as Scotts Miracle-Gro, McKesson, ABI and Global Scheduling Solutions, Inc. Dustin was also a founder of AllAboutLawns.com, a leading lawn care information and e-tailer, and Customer Feedback Solutions, Inc., the largest international and industry leading beta testing system provider.

Session: Using SEO to Turn Websites Into Revenue Centers

Scott Meyer
Chief Outreach Officer, 9 Clouds, Sioux Falls, S.D.

John Meyer
Chief Creative Officer, 9 Clouds, Sioux Falls, S.D.

The brother duo of Scott and John Meyer grew up in Brookings, SD. After Scott graduated from Luther College in 2001, he spent four years in Europe obtaining a masters degree in Peace and Conflict Transformation from the University of Tromsø, Norway, teaching English in Spain, and teaching political philosophy and methodology in Norway. While teaching he helped create an online network connecting peace researchers around the world. His love of teaching and utilizing technology to coordinate group-action fit perfectly with his brother John's experience with business and technology. John graduated from Luther College and worked for Accenture in Minneapolis, Minn., as a project manager at Best Buy. While learning the corporate ropes, he developed the idea of starting his own social marketing firm. John and Scott found a way to combine their passions and were rewarded with a business acceleration grant in June 2009. This grant helped them start the social marketing firm 9 Clouds, Inc., in Sioux Falls, SD, where they currently work, live, and play.

Session: Don't Crowdsource, Be the Source of the Crowd

Will Flavell
Social Media Specialist, Bozell

As Social Media Specialist for Bozell, Will has had the opportunity to develop a variety of social media strategies for businesses in many categories. He offers clients creative solutions to a variety of social media tools including viral video production, blogging, social networking, SMO and much more. Will’s public relations and social media initiatives have been recognized by the PRSA. He has spoken at a variety of functions about social networking including The AIM Institute’s Infotec 2009 and the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Annual Executives Meeting. Will also operates a successful personal blog that deals with social media issues and more at www.everybodysagenius.com.

Sessions : What Your Business Should Know About the New Facebook

David Graff
CEO, Agile Sports

David Graff is the CEO of Agile Sports, a company he co-founded in 2006 to help coaches at all levels win. The company's video coaching software, Hudl, was first used by the Nebraska Huskers and New York Jets, and now boasts clients from youth to the NFL, across 42 states and three continents. Hudl has changed the way that coaches interact with each other, their athletes, recruiters, and fans using the latest in web-based video technology. David graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with an MBA from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School in Computer Science and Management.

Session: Coaching Football in the World of Facebook

Jimmy Winter
Founder, RockDex

Jimmy Winter is the Founder and Chief Architect of RockDex, a music marketing tool that collates data from social networking platforms into a user-friendly dashboard to help record labels, managers, and artists make business decisions based on their online buzz. He has 11 years of experience in the music industry, both on the technology side and in label consulting and concert promotion. In 2006, Business Week named Winter one of the 25 Best Entrepreneurs Under 25.

Session: A Music Tech Startup in Omaha?

Dusty Davidson
Co-Founder, Brightmix and Silicon Prairie News

After a short stint in corporate America, Dusty decided to join forces with his good friend Kevin Zink and start BrightMix. The goal with BrightMix was to create the type of company that you’d see in Silicon Valley or other “startup hubs.” Thus was born Dusty’s interest and passion for finding other startup-minded companies and individuals in and around the Omaha area. Teaming up with Jeff Slobotski on SPN allowed Dusty to connect and promote some of the truly innovative companies around, and place BrightMix smack in the middle of a burgeoning and vibrant creative and entrepreneurial community.

 Session: Lean Startups

Joe Petsick
Chief Financial Officer, Proxibid

Proxibid has created a $2 billion online marketplace, inventory that is included in the rapidly growing number of live auctions clients are hosting with Proxibid services. Proxibid Chief Financial Officer, Joe Petsick, has worked from the moment the company was not much more than a neat idea to a company that is projected to have over $200 million in sales in 2010. Joe helped secure initial funding for the business, whose participation in the Scott Technology Incubation Program, played an instrumental role in supporting the company’s rising profile and successful launch in 2001. Proxibid has moved forward each year; in 2003 the company hosted 159 live auctions, a level now consistently achieved every week. Joe is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has a bachelor’s degree in both economics and finance and holds the Series 7 General Securities Representative License and the Series 63 Uniform Securities State Law Agent License and is a 2008 40 Under 40 award recipient.

Session: Challenges in Creating a New Business in a New Industry
 

Adam Coomes
President, Infegy, Kansas City

 Adam Coomes, President, Infegy, is an entrepreneur with a passion for technology and a drive for innovation. Adam has spent much of his life studying web development and building social websites. In his current role as President of Infegy, Adam oversees many aspects of the company, including product development, public relations, and sales. As a co-founder of the company, Adam has helped Infegy achieve startup success without help from outside investors. Prior to Infegy, Adam worked as the vice president of business development for CDG Commerce, an online e-commerce company. During his tenure, he worked to nearly double the company’s revenue through new business and a variety of campaigns. Adam also gained valuable experience over the years working with several other startups companies in many different developer and management positions. Adam understands and identifies with the worlds of development, sales, marketing and social media, and offers a unique perspective that has helped him create a great work environment and an all-star team.

Session: Midwest Entrepreneurship: New Technology Breaking Old Geographic Barriers