The idea for the session stems from two rather obvious trends:

• Everyone’s a startup
  Thanks to the downturn, the streets are littered with talented but unemployed professionals. Some are using the occasion to go into business. Others are hanging out a shingle only until something steady comes along. And then there’s the rest of us who were already on the “eat-what-you-kill” diet.All of us are looking for ways to be more effective in how we conduct business, while keeping our costs down. Which leads to the next trend…

• Cheap biz tools are everywhere
  There have never been more cheap tools available to entrepreneurs for creating work product and managing and promoting their business. It seems to me that someone just getting into business could run their business using mostly Web-based freemium services — without compromising quality, and possibly with noticeable improvements in some areas.

What’s on your short list of must-have business tools for small business owners?
Let me see if I can identify some categories and give you my current picks… Perhaps you know of some cool services I’ve never heard of. My goal for the session at UnSummit is simply to gather everyone’s favorite tools in each category and find out how people are using these tools.

My favorite business tools

Info Architecture
OmniGraffle (not free, but it beats the pants off Visio)

Content creation
MS Word (I know. Not very free, nor very cool. But old habits die hard.)

Content collaboration
Google docs

Email client
We just switched from Entouage to Apple’s Mail app, running off a virtual Exchange server. Not crazy about Mail, but it’s only been a week.

Backup/storage space
Amazon S3

Recruiting (for freelancers, other help)
Twitter

Project collaboration
Basecamp

Conference calls
Freeconference.com

Webconferencing (screen sharing)
GotoMeeting.com

Web site/blogging
WordPress

Media relations
Pitchengine.com

Webinars
GotoWebinar.com

Business cards
Moo.com (looking for something new, though!)

Web analytics
Google Analytics

International calling
Skype

Social media monitoring
filterbox

Bookmarking
delicious

Image searches
Compfight.com (searches Flickr for Creative Commons photos)

Marketing (This category requires multiple entries, as I tend to use all these tools in tandem.)

• Twitter (current client: HootSuite)
• Delicious
• WordPress
• Pitchengine
• Flickr
• Slideshare
• Vimeo

Networking (this category also calls for  multiple entries)

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Ning
• Foursquare

Hmm, have I missed anything? I’m mostly a strategy and content guy, so you coders and designers will probably have a bunch of resources that I’ve missed. I’m eager to hear (now or on the 10th) what tools work for you!

So, what are we going to talk about at the next UnSummit? I’ll bet you’d really like to know. Yeah, me too.

The first UnSummit was all about social media. Big surprise, eh? At the time, it we were all excited—breathless, actually—about how all these great social tools might fit together. The fact that UnSummit came together in the space of a week was itself a testimony to the power of these tools.

For the 2nd UnSummit, we tried to put forth a theme, “Hacking the Recession,” to see if that might spark some good conversation. And, for the most part, it worked.

(A quick aside: during the run-up to the last UnSummit, some unconference evangelists informed me that even having a theme was a heresy. True unconferences don’t even set an agenda, much less a theme, until the day of the event. The way it works is that you show up, propose sessions and start attending. I think the principle is that you shouldn’t try to impose order on the event. That’s what makes it so “un.”)

And indeed, as we saw, the conversations that happened just happened, regardless of any theme. People just wanted to connect, find common ground and get inspired.

So…back to the central question. What’s on the docket? What will be the frequency, Kenneth? Here are my thoughts. Please join in the conversation!

• Personally, I wouldn’t mind trying a theme again, but don’t think it’s a necessity. We’ll be fine and will have a great time without one.
• Some of the themes that have been proposed revolve around user experience and innovation. The innovation theme interesting because it’s universal. We all need to innovate and get out of our ruts and comfort zones, no?
• At the last UnSummit, Pete Barry and Keith Wolf presented their vision for what UnSummit could become. They proposed that UnSummit could be a conference of conferences, in which attendees nominate speakers from other events during the year to come and be conversational peers at UnSummit. So, it’s a way to loop back on the ideas that capture our attention and mix it up with our favorite speakers.
• I’m really interested in a variation on Pete and Keith’s idea: What if we let people nominate speakers and topics, but also bloggers and topics. For instance, I might nominate Phil Willson and his blog post “Is Keeping Up Holding You Back?”. I am in effect saying to Phil: “I like your ideas on this topic. Will you come to UnSummit and lead a discussion about it?” This approach woud allow us to mine the riches that sit quietly in many of the blogs that are produced by our community. What’s more, there are no limits on the potential subject matter. You can nominate someone who blogs about something different, like raising sheep or evolution.
• Speaking of different, is anyone else fatigued by all the discussion of marketing, branding and media, social or otherwise? It’s in our blogs, our tweets, our conferences. I know, I know. Marketing is what a good number of us actually do for a living. Granted. But I assume that you do have other interests. Do you drink wine? Are you writing a novel? Have you been to Romania? Have you struggled with chronic illness? Do you have dreams that can’t even begin to be captured by 140-character tweets? I don’t mean to be cheeky or iconoclastic, but in the spirit of the old saw about “all work and no play,” let’s see if we can’t introduce some play to the next UnSummit. What would be more “un” than that?

What are your ideas? Please leave a comment, register and post your thoughts on this blog…or post on your own blog (we’ll link to you).

Photo credit: Un ragazzo chiamato Bi

Where to park?
The library has a parking ramp (garage for non-Minnesotans) beneath it. Just take the elevator to the 2nd floor. There is also ample surface and ramp parking available nearby.

When to arrive?
Everything kicks off at 9 a.m. Feel free to come earlier for coffee and chit-chat.
Volunteers, please come at 8 a.m. so we can all pitch in to finish setting up and also divvy up any last-minute tasks.

When to leave?
The event comes to a raucous conclusion at 4 p.m. Happy hour at Moto-i [site | map] begins soon after.

What to bring?
Feel free to bring your laptop or any other computing device you have an attachment to. The Library offers free Wi-Fi. Facilitators, you don’t need to bring a projector, as we’ll have one in each room.

What to eat and drink?
We’ve arranged for morning and afternoon coffee/tea, as well as lunch (slices and pop) at Pizza Luce. This will be covered by your $10 admission fee. If you need additional alimentation, there is a Dunn Bros on the first floor.

Questions?
Feel free to drop me a line or direct a tweet to @UnSummit on Twitter.

Photo by Mykl Roventine

We’ve  arranged for the following eats and drinks at UnSummit, for $10 per attendee:

• Morning coffee & tea
• Slices & pop at Pizza Luce
• Afternoon coffee & tea

So, to defray the cost of food, we’re looking for a few good sponsors. If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor, you can see below the costs we’re trying to defray. If you want to sponsor an entire segment (e.g., morning, happy hour) or just part of a segment (e.g., part of lunch, one round at happy hour), we’re wide open to suggestions!

Morning coffee + muffins (catered by Dunn Bros)

• Cost per person: $3.50
• Total: $525*

Lunch (various lunchy foods + softdrinks, all TBD)

• Cost per person: $15-$20
• Total: $2,250-$3,000*

Happy Hour
There are a number of places near the Library that could hold 100+ people, so we’re open to suggestions. Knowing that a sponsor will cover one or more rounds will make it easier for us to make arrangements ahead of time and get a better deal.

• Cost per person: $5-$15 (depends on how many drink tix we want to hand out)
• Total: $750-$2,250*

*Assumes 150 attendees. See attendees page for the latest totals.

It’s a conversation that could touch on many aspects of how the Twin Cities works:

• How we attract and reward talented people
• How we promote the Twin Cities as a destination for business, meetings, movies, etc.
• How we nurture startups and entrepreneurs
• How we attract conventions and tourists
• How the press covers technology and innovation

And it’s a conversation that calls for participation from people who make decisions on a city-wide or metro-wide scale. I’m talking about government officials, politicians, business owners & executives, non-profits, associations, etc.

Specifically, I’ve come up with a list of people I’d love to have attend UnSummit and participate in these discussions. But I think it’ll take some active recruiting by other attendees, as many of these people would have no reason to know about UnSummit and might find the unconference format a little strange.

So, who wants to do some outreach? Below is my list of desired attendees. Perhaps you know someone on the list? Feel free to write or call them and give them a warm invitation to the next UnSummit.

• Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
• St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman
• Thomas Lee, Star Tribune
• Representatives of the Minneapolis CVB (a.k.a. Meet Minneapolis)
• Representatives of the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Authority
• Representatives of local chapters of Adfed, American Marketing Association, IABC, MIMA (Prez. Matt Wilson is coming), PRSA, SHRM, Womenventure
• Representatives of the U of M Alumni Association

BTW, This list is being maintained at the bottom of the Attendees page at Unsummit.org. Feel free to go there and add any folks you feel belong on the list.

Woo hoo! This week at the Minnov8 podcast, Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson review both the MIMA Summit and the UnSummit. As some of you know, Phil led the “Social Media Reality Check” session at UnSummit and later blogged about the experience. Graeme attended the MIMA Summit and blogged about it as well.

The podcast devotes a good amount of time to discussing both events and the gentlemen make some interesting observations.

Graeme Thickins on the MIMA Summit:

• The event pulled in some high-profile, national speakers.
• ZeFrank was the highlight of the day.
• The audience was quite diverse, but seemed to be geared toward downtown advertising agencies. As a result, some people complained that it wasn’t “interactive enough.”
• Except between sessions, there weren’t too many opportunities for deep discussion.
• The swag bags were chock-full of promotional goodness.

Phil, in his review of UnSummit, says:

• The event was all about intimate conversations.
• Discussion focused primarily on social media and social marketing.
• The conversations revealed that many businesses are monitoring social media right now, but not yet marketing with it.
• By contrast, our swag bag consisted of a bag with Cheetos written on it. (Ed: Actually, even that might be an overstatement!)

Thanks, guys, for providing a comparative rundown of the events! Your commentary cements my view that just as much as this town needs national speakers and expert forums, it also needs forums for conversation and hands-on collaboration. Just as we thrive on peer-to-peer interactivity on the Web, we need it in our real-life meetups. I’m encouraged to see events like Social Media Breakfast, Likemind, Social Media Happy Hour, MinneBar and UnSummit can help satisfy this need.