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  • BrightMix

    December 7, 2009

    BrightMix is doing great!  Here are some pictures of the BrightMix Crew from this past year (and a few from December 2008).  Business is doing great and Dusty is staying busy.  We feeling really blessed.

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  • Good Reviews For Big Omaha

    December 5, 2009

    Dusty and many others worked very hard on the Big Omaha conference and the question was at the end of the day, was it as success. Well, It looks like it was. A big technology and news website, ReadWriteWeb, did a write up on Big Omaha and gave it really good reviews. There’s also a video of Dusty and Jeff (one of the other organizers of the event and good friends of ours) that you should check out to see how professional Dusty sounds. I’ve been giving him some lessons on public speaking and he’s really been getting a lot of practice Check out the article to hear what others said about the conference!

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  • As some of you know, Dusty helped start a website called Silicon Prairie News. As the website says,

    Silicon Prairie News is dedicated to providing news and information about Omaha, and the region’s, creative class. This includes, but isn’t limited to: entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, artists, visionaries and creatives. In short, those looking to make our region an even better place to live and work! Knowing that our area is filled with insanely talented and passionate individuals, we are playing a role to highlight and connect these groups with one another. 

    One of the big things that they worked on this past year was to host a conference in Omaha for over 400 people. Big Omaha was a lot of work for Dusty and the rest of the crew but it’s gotten really big reviews and they’re planning to host the event again this summer. Here’s what the website says about the event.

    What happens when the country’s foremost creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators descend on one place? That place explodes. Which is precisely what we plan for Omaha. The energy will be impossible to contain. We will begin building communities, companies and friendships. We will inspire new thoughts and completely new ways of thinking. We will develop visions: personal, shared, and civic. Speakers will come from some of the most innovative companies in the nation. And you’ll hear fantastic stories from numerous emerging businesses. In the end, you’ll take away a network and an energy that will propel those new connections to greatness. For you. For your business. For your community. Come to the heart of the Midwest. And let’s rebuild this country from the inside out.

    Some of our family members were nice enough to come and help out with the event.  Dusty’s mom, Jane, worked all day directing all of the volunteers and helping make sure everything ran smoothly.  Dusty’s sister, Sara, helped with the planning of the event and worked on the day of the event, making sure everyone stayed happy.  My mom, Suzane, even pitched in, bringing us some much needed ice for all of the soda and water the participants were drinking.

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    Photos courtesy of Malone and Company

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  • Media_httpwwwdustyand_lruob

    One of Dusty’s goals when starting BrightMix was not only to be a forward thinking company but to also be active in the community and to help encourage entrepreneurship locally. While doing this, some of his efforts have been highlighted in some of the local papers. Here are just a few.

    Venture to offer a co-working combo BY STEFANIE MONGE WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Omaha entrepreneurs in need of work space will have another alternative when a new venture that seeks to expand companies and foster creativity opens later this summer. The project — called Jailbreak Omaha — will function as part co-working space and part incubator for startup companies. Co-working involves individuals and small companies sharing office space to save money and exchange ideas. The concept is gaining popularity among freelance workers and independent designers across the country, said Dusty Davidson, one of the project’s coordinators and co-owner of Brightmix — a small Omaha-based Web development company. So Davidson and other project coordinators, including Jeff Slobotski of Silicon Prairie News, decided to open a co-working space in Omaha. They want to bring “the coffee shop crowd” together to work and to collaborate, Davidson said. It can be difficult for small companies to rent office space when first starting out, he said. Entrepreneurs frequently work out of their homes or coffee shops as an alternative to paying for space. Davidson said the group is looking at locations in or around the Aksarben Village area because of its central location, proximity to the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the new development in the area. He and his partners initially chose the name Jailbreak as a code name, modeled after a similar place called “Gangplank” in Phoenix. The group liked it, and the name stuck, he said.

    And here’s another article below.

    New program brings UNO delight By Chad Purcell WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER When Dusty Davidson and Kevin Zink first opened BrightMix, a company that develops Internet-based software applications, they worked out of Zink’s basement. Within three months, Davidson and Zink moved into their own Omaha office space. Today, just two years after startup, they employ three other computer whizzes and oversee a paid summer internship program. Davidson, who graduated from Iowa State with a computer science degree in 2003, said he never imagined when he got out of school that he’d be his own boss. He worked at an unsatisfying corporate job before he ever got the bright idea to create BrightMix. But Davidson said he might have been able to get where he is today even more quickly had he been enrolled in a program like the one the University of Nebraska at Omaha will begin offering this fall.

    It’s amazing how much Dusty and BrightMix have accomplished in just a little over 2 1/2 years.  Not only has Dusty been in the paper, he’s also been speaking around town.  It seems that almost on a week basis Dusty’s going somewhere to speak about BrightMix, Silicon Prairie New, or just entrepreneurship in Omaha.

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  • icecreamsocial_005icecreamsocial_006
    This summer we celebrated BrightMix turning 2 and Silicon Prairie News 1st Birthday.  It was a huge event and we had lots of great supporters.  We’d like to thank our family and friends for coming out to celebrate with us.  The event was ice cream themed.  BrightMix supplied the ice cream and those who attended were invited to bring their favorite ice cream topping.  We had a variety of different toppings from the usual to the unusual.  Some toppings included chocolate syrup, bacon, gummy bears, and sprinkles.  Check out the other pictures and see who came to celebrate!
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  • BrightMix Construction

    June 7, 2009

    We are still living in the Old Market but sometimes I feel like we’re living in a little fixer upper because we’re always doing something to the BrightMix office.  Dusty and his business partner, Kevin decided they needed to create more space at BrightMix.  Within the past year BrightMix has gained two full-time employees and several other people coming in and out of the office that are taking up space. This summer the BrightMix crew (including myself) and others helped to update the basement and make more room for Silicon Prairie News to move in to the basement.  Here are some pictures but go to Office Construction, Round 1, Office Construction, Round 2, and Office Construction, Round 3 for more pictures and updates.

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  • BrightMix Is Growing

    October 7, 2008

    Dusty’s been very busy molding BrightMix into a really innovative and topnotch company. In January Dusty and his business partner Kevin went to Boston to meet up with one of their clients. They had a great time and managed to find time to work a little.

    In February, only seven months after they had officially started BrightMix, hired their first full-time employee, Erin. Erin was a great addition to the group and keeps the boys in line.

    Back tracking a little, in January Dusty and Kevin started to prepare for the BrightMix internship program. Dusty’s sister, Sara, helped publicize the internship and get the word out. They wanted to offer full-time, paid internship positions over the summer, hiring a few talented programmers and one talented designer to help build a brand-spanking-new Web 2.0 application.

    They had hundreds of applicants and in the end hired two fantastic programmers and two talented designers. The interns started in May and launched a website, Fiesty Paranha, to tell their story of the internship program. At the end of the summer Dusty and Kevin decided they needed another hand around the office and hired Erin, one of the designer interns. This is how their second employee was hired.

    I’ve been helping around the office a little as well. This summer I was the official lunch lady and brought gourmet lunches and on Fridays grilled out for the bunch. It was a really nice treat to be able to come to the office and be a part of the BrightMix family. I also help keep the books organized and make sure the office is clean.

    BrightMix continues to grow and provide a contribution to the Omaha community. Dusty has been a great support in not only having a successful business but also being a part of the entrepreneurial community in Omaha.

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