Doug Mitchell and J. Michael McCoy in the studio.
Impromptu Studio is excited and to announce that we now have a full audio and video recording studio. Our most recent additions to the space are Doug Mitchell and Paul Gratton of CreateWow Media who made the new studio a possibility. Doug Mitchell and Andy Brudtkuhl along with the help of Paul Gratton as producer will be putting out a weekly podcast from the new studio. We want to invite those of you thinking about starting a video blog or podcast, or even looking to try out a new studio, to stop in a take a look at our facilities. More pictures coming soon!
What Now? a six-part entrepreneur survival guide is a six-part educational series for recent entrepreneurs, layoff casualties looking for a networking edge, and anyone who thinking about ditching “The Man” and starting their own business. For each conversation, we’ve paired up two really smart people from here in Des Moines to share their personal experiences. Highs, lows – everything. What Now? a six-part entrepreneur survival guide is brought to you by 
Michael Libbie was kind enough to invite Daniel Shipton on to his radio show “Highway 6, Your Road to the Country” to speak about coworking and how it would be a great concept to bring to rural Iowa. They discussed how community centers in rural Iowa are an untapped resource for shared workspaces and about the options those living in rural areas have for internet access and the hurdles they face trying to work from there. Daniel Shipton grew up in rural Iowa and his parents still live there. He frequently helps them work through the problems they face bringing in the technology they required for their small business.
Our very own local photographer 
At the meeting there were several people that had shown up with the sentiment ” I have a great idea, you should give me money.” Realistically, this is not how the world of VC works. We need to work together with Iowa leaders to build a community that supports young business and recognizes the type of idea that, when given funding, will really take off. We need to not be so caught up in thinking about what that money would mean to our business if . We also feel that VC’s will not be the central solution to the brain drain. There are many other factors involved with making Des Moines a thriving community. We’ve attached a few others opinions of the meeting.
I think the impasse our community is at right now is that not a lot of people are willing to work in the middle on this issue. On one side, you have snotty 20 and 30-somethings who already have good jobs and money to burn that bellyache non-stop about how terrible Des Moines is, how there’s nothing to do, how much the nightlife sucks, etc etc. On the other side, you have advocacy organizations and people in positions of power sugarcoating everything and blathering non-stop about what an amazing community this is for art and culture, how the next creative-class revolution is already happening here, how easy it is to be an artist or musician in Des Moines, etc. And then, somewhere in the middle, you have the reality of the situation. There are some good things happening in Des Moines, but there are some major, major problems as well. There are too many excuses being made on both sides. The “everything sucks” crowd is apparently illiterate, as I rarely seem to have trouble finding an interesting band to check out or art exhibit to peruse on any given night of the week. The “we’re doing just fine” crowd has apparently never spoken to an actual artist or musician or someone else trying to make a living as a cultural entrepreneur. I’m working on a collaborative art studio right now and am running into plenty of artists that can’t even afford $100 a month for studio space.
Over a hundred people showed up to make the Ugly Christmas Sweater party a success. We had 
After the Ugly Sweater Party we took the donations to the Central Iowa Shelter and started organizing for a New Years Eve dinner at the shelter which we were helping 
