Connect Ann Arbor

LA2M, Lunch Ann Arbor Marketing announces a new format, new venue, and new speaker schedule for 2008. LA2M is a weekly meeting of marketing professionals from both digital and traditional backgrounds. Founded in January 2008, LA2M meets every Wednesday from 11:45 – 1:00 PM.

New Format: LA2M expert will speak on a topic for 10-15 minutes, discussion will follow on the topic. Speaker will provide handout to attendees.

New Venue: LA2M will be held at Pizza Pino, 221 W. Liberty.

Speaker List:
Aug. 6 – Corporate Blogging, Nicole Burguess, MS&L Digital
Aug. 13 – Services Marketing, Dee Davey, Creative Ideas Marketing
Aug. 20 – Landing Page Optimization, Ross Johnson, Ingenex Digital Marketing
Aug. 27 – Engaging User Experiences, Jamie Cope, Nformation Design
Sept. 3 – SEO for Small Business, Kai Blum, MS&L Digital
Sept. 17 – Mobile Marketing, Shawn Smith, Optimal Web Works
Sept. 24 – Naming Your Brand, Scott Hauman, Q LTD
Oct. 1 – Building Relationships With Bloggers, Daniel DeMoss, MS&L Digital
Oct. 8 – Corporate Brand Management Online, Derek Mehraban, Ingenex Digital Marketing

LA2M is changing its format to provide more value for its lunchtime participants.  The diverse group of marketing professionals felt it was time to step up a notch and put more order into its weekly free knowledge exchange. The new format will spotlight one area of marketing each week. Subject matter experts will present and then lead group discussion, “stimulating new ideas and giving us a chance to learn from one another.  We all have a lot of knowledge about what we do, and this is a great way to share and to learn” said Dee Davey, an LA2M regular.  The range of marketing subjects, over the coming weeks is extensive, ranging from traditional marketing to new and emerging marketing concepts and technologies.

Derek Mehraban founder of LA2M commented, “The whole idea behind the format change is to give more value to the people that take the time to come together. There is a great willingness in the Ann Arbor community to share information and I’m really excited and looking forward to kicking the new format off first week in August”.

LA2M is open to client and agency side marketing professionals, and anyone else who wants to learn marketing.  It’s a chance to exchange ideas and get to know other professionals during lunch in a relaxed and friendly environment.  We are known for giving free advice to businesses that attend our meetings. There is no membership fee, and communication is run through the LA2M Facebook group and the Connect Ann Arbor Yahoo Group. For more information visit Connect Ann Arbor or contact Derek Mehraban of Ingenex Digital Marketing.

Attention women in business. You may want to attend our NEW Monthly Inforum - Women’s Networking in Ann Arbor. The first event is this Thursday, June 26 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM at Bar Louie at Division and Liberty in Ann Arbor.

This is the first Inforum Women’s Networking group in Ann Arbor, and a new venue for meeting women in business. Come on out for a drink and some apps. There is not cost to attend, drinks are on your own. It should be a good time, and good networking as Inforum members are smart, and successful women (and some men) in business.

Tell a friend and see you on Thursday!

Derek

There is something Big coming to Ann Arbor on June 20. Startup Weekend is an event where you form a company in one weekend. You come up with the idea, you name it, your file paperwork, and you get crackin on creating something wonderful.

Startup Weekend has been huge in cities like Portland, San Francisco, Boston and LA and now it’s coming to A2.

The Ann Arbor Startup Weekend will gather 100 bright, talented people from the region to develop and launch 10-12 companies in a single marathon weekend.

Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects.

The event will be held in the lower level of Liberty Square, 510 E. Washington, Ann Arbor. Parking is available at the Liberty Square structure ($2 flat rate, free on Sunday) or at the Thompson Street structure (80¢ an hour, free on Sunday).

The event runs Friday, June 20 from 6 to 11 p.m., Saturday, June 21 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday, June 22 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This isn’t a series of classes or speakers, it’s a bunch of people rolling up their sleeves and creating companies with the help of a facilitator.
Here’s an excerpt from the Startup Weekend Page on 10 Reasons to Attend Startup Weekend:

1. Be a part of your local tech community, help build it and connect people.

2. What did you do last weekend? Experience an amazing energy, it could change your life.

3. Meet brilliant, amazing, motivated people. Find people that you know can work hard, finish projects and work well with an unknown landscape. Find a cofounder.

4. Be a part of something bigger, get excited.

5. When is the last time you had a challenge such as launching a company in 54 hours with 100 or so strangers? When is the last time you saw your company on the front page?

6. Grow as a person and as a professional, see different parts of a company, feel free to join different groups and learn by doing.

7. Learn a ton.

8. Crazy idea + brilliant people + passion + drive + talent = (you have to come to see). It might just be what your city needs.

9. Get some cool swag.

10. Over 1000 have had an amazing experience. You can read about some feedback here.

For more information on the Ann Arbor event visit: http://annarbor.startupweekend.com/

To register, visit http://startupweekendannarbor.eventbrite.com/

On June 10, 2008 Ann Arbor will host our first ever MotorCityConnect lunch. The event will be held at Vinology at 110 South Main Street in Ann Arbor. Lunch will cost you $20 (cash is preferable), payable at the event, and will include a selection of Vinology lunch specials. Lunch runs from 11:00 - 1:00 PM.

The schedule works like this:

11:00 - 11:30 Open Networking
11:30 - 11:45 Formal Introductions and lunch delivered to your seat
11:45 - 12:15 Topic Discussion over lunch
12:15 - 12:45 Share (best practices, table discussions, business tips)
12:45 - 1:00 Specific Asks

I will be the official host of the MCC Ann Arbor lunch, though Terry Bean and Charlie Wolborg will come out to kick off the Ann Arbor event, and make sure we know how to run things proper. This lunch will take place the second Tuesday of every month in the Bubble Room, downstairs at Vinology.

From past lunches I can tell you this is pretty intense networking. You need to come with a specific ask for what you need. And it should be very specific for that matter, including the name of the person, the company, and every detail you have.

MotorCityConnect is Networking 3.0 and it’s for business owners, members of companies, people looking for jobs and connections. The people who come to MotorCityConnect meetings share referrals, and really go out of their way to help people.

MotorCityConnect also sponsors blood drives for the Red Cross and supports other charities. So if you live/work/play in Ann Arbor come out to our first MotorCityConnect lunch and meet some friends. The food will be tasty, and you can meet some very interesting people.

Hope to see you there! Derek Mehraban