I have been planning this trip since I started at New Marketing Labs – and we are off to a dramatic start!
Yesterday, while cooking meals for my family to enjoy while I am away, I sliced my finger open. More accurately, my through my entire fingernail. The doctor at the emergency room said that he could apparently stitch through the fingernail to keep things together, but he thought that my finger was doing a good job of ‘staying together’. Stitching through the fingernail sounded so wrong anyhow.
So this morning Jim and I arrive at the airport – a beautiful snowy day, not enough to really stop things, just slow us a little. We get on the plane, pull back, get de-iced and wait… and wait… .and wait… then… ‘Ladies and gentlemen, our indicators tell us that our left flap is not functioning, we are going to pull back into the gate and have maintenance take a look.’
Originally Jim and I were hoping to see Scott Monty of Ford at the Detroit airport at roughly 11am. Now that looks like it will be closer to 5:30pm. Luckily Jeff and John will be arriving a bit earlier!
The adventure has begun!
/colin
Anything can happen on the road, but we wanted to share with you our rough itinerary for the trip. If you know a great innovator that we should talk to along the way, please let me know (colin AT constructingsocial DOT com).
- Day 1: Monday, March 9th – Detroit & Dearborn, MI
- Day 2: Tuesday, March 10th – Cleveland and Columbus, OH
- Day 3: Wednesday, March 11th – Cincinnati, OH
- Day 4: Thursday, March 12th – Louisville, KY
- Day 5: Friday, March 13th – Dallas and Austin, TX – ARRIVAL at SXSW!
Now that is just the way down… The way back begins Sunday, March 15th!
/colin
I wanted to take a moment and introduce the members of the team that will be driving through the heartland together. We each have a unique perspective and a range of great experience in building online content – most importantly we are all very excited to get started and start sharing our experiences!
- Jim Storer: Jim is an experienced community builder and social media strategist. Over the last ten years he’s built and managed both small and very large communities and consulted with both start-ups and large enterprises on how to effectively build lasting value with social media solutions. Follow Jim’s blog at: http://jimstorer.com or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jimstorer
- Jeff Cutler: Jeff Cutler is a content creation specialist and the owner of far too many URLs. Therefore, when he’s not writing for clients, he blogs for himself in about 14 locations. Follow Jeff’s main writing blog at: http://jeffcutler.com/jeff, his random inane blog at: http://bowlofcheese.com/ or chase him on twitter at: http://twitter.com/jeffcutler
- John Johansen: In John’s words, “I am a marketer. I like being clear about that because it’s something I’m passionate about. The application of Internet tools to marketing is the current focus of my career. My blog explores the evolution of marketing as discovery becomes more fragmented.” Follow John’s blog at http://originalcomment.blogspot.com/ or follow John on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jljohansen
- Colin Browning: Colin is the Vice President at New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency educational event company. Previously Colin was Director of Business Development of Mzinga where for the past 3 years he has worked with a wide variety of organizations and their agencies and helped them to architect and build successful social media strategies. Follow my blog at: http://constructingsocial.com/ or follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/crbrowning
/colin
Road trips are one of those great American experiences. After reading great books like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, On the Road, or even The Road (shudder), I have always seen a trip across or through America as a great way to discover more about the wonderful people and companies that make up this great nation.
Starting next Monday (March 9th), my friend, Jim Storer and I (and hopefully a few other passengers… stay tuned), will be starting in Dearborn, MI and driving to Austin, TX.
Jim and I are continuing (and sharing) a conversation that started with Liz Strauss at last year’s SXSW. Over some great BBQ there we talked about how the east and west coasts of the US seem to be the focus for innovation and social media – yet, there is a ton of great work happening in through the middle of America.
We look forward to sharing our conversation with you as we drive through the Heartland of America and Innovation and talk to the innovators at Ford, Makers Mark, Gannett’s Moms Like Me and many others.
We do have to thank the folks that are making this trip possible for us. First, our families for letting us travel away from home for so long! Second, Ford, for some of the best road tripping wheels in the country! And our sponsors, Ripple6, Powered and New Marketing Labs!
Stay tuned – much more to follow!
-Colin
Plans are underway for the American Innovators Road Trip! Jim Storer and I (Colin Browning) are busy planning the trip and talking to sponsors now.
We can’t wait to share this adventure with you and show you all the great innovation that not only has driven this country, but continues today.
Stay tuned as we share our preparations and then the trip starts March 9th!
/colin
