Big Omaha acting as conduit for Midwest’s entrepreneurial energies

Sometimes, bigger is better. At least, that’s the philosophy the Silicon Prairie News staff — the organizers of this year’s Big Omaha event — are adhering to. Held in the KANEKO space of Omaha’s Old Market, this year’s gathering of entrepreneurs, innovators and creatives appears poised to outdo last year’s inaugural event in every way, boasting more speakers, more attendees and more enthusiasm than ever before.

“Last year was our first year putting on Big Omaha,” said SPN co-founder Dusty Davidson. “We like to see the event as an extension of what we do with Silicon Prairie News, trying to get people excited about building companies or starting businesses or just going with their passions. To us, Big Omaha is the offline version of that goal.”

And one look at this year’s line-up of prominent speakers is evidence enough that sort of zeal won’t be wanting at Big Omaha 2010. Dennis Crowley, co-founder of the hotspot-hopping, city-exploring mobile phone application foursquare, and Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water (an organization providing clean drinking water to impoverished third world nations), will both be addressing the crowd.

“This year, we’re not focusing specifically on start-ups, but rather how do you just start something, whatever that might be? In Scott (Harrison’s) case, he’s got an amazing talk about how he was a nightclub promoter in New York City who got fed up with his life and became moved by the idea of helping bring water to places in the world that need it most,” Davidson said. “And then there’s Dennis (Crowley) from foursquare, which is gaining huge traction and getting lots and lots of buzz. Plus, he’s a young guy who started and built a company and already sold it to Google, and now he’s building another.”

“Those are the sorts of stories we’d like to bring in and share it with the audience,” he added. “Those kinds of stories that are fantastic to share with a group of people who aren’t as familiar with these kinds of things.”

In addition to the impressive stable of a dozen industry-experienced orators speaking their mind at Big Omaha, two old favorites from last year’s event will be returning for an encore performance. Both Jason Fried and Gary Vaynerchuk, of 37signals and Wine Library respectively, were brought back by popular demand.

“In looking at some of the folks who had the greatest impact last year, both Fried and Vaynerchuk had two distinct styles of approaching business,” said SPN’s other co-founder, Jeff Slobotski. “We felt that, by bringing them back to Big Omaha for 2010, we could learn from what has changed in a year for both of these gentlemen’s businesses.”

Unfortunately, due to the event’s widespread appeal, tickets have long since sold out. However, anyone still hoping to attend can sign up for the Big Omaha 2010 waiting list. And if that doesn’t pan out, well, there’s always Big Omaha 2011.

“One of the best parts about Big Omaha isn’t even the speakers — it’s getting the right people in the room, that mix of investors and entrepreneurs, and seeing the kind of energy that comes out of that,” Davidson said. “The speakers are there to raise the energy level, and from there, you just see the crowd buzzing.”