On October 22nd, 2009 the Movers & Shakers of Des Moines are throwing a big party for all of the folks who are helping put the Midwest back on the map. This party is called the MOVEMENT BASH and it will include free bevvies, free food, and free entertainment:

Keep checking back for more info about the BASH but here is the lowdown-

• What: MOVEMENT BASH
• When: October 22nd, 2009. 6pm.
• Where: Impromptu Studio
• RSVP at EventBrite

It is time to start putting the world on notice. Des Moines is ready to step up.

Don’t let Des Moines’ polite people and little big city atmosphere fool you – it’s home to a tech savvy, hard workin’, ass kickin’ crowd of creative workers with opportunities to spare.

As local social networking consultant Nathan Wright puts it: “Des Moines is the greatest city in the world because you can make epic shit happen here, period.”

Des Moines is home to TweetUp Badges, the Sarah Lacy Square, a butter cow, 80/35, Market Street Media Foundry, and, of course, Impromptu Studio – the first (and most badass) coworking joint in the Midwest ran by Daniel Shipton. Des Moines has grown a lot in the two years since Fast Company proclaimed it “The Hippest City” in 2007 and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Locals work hard and play harder, so we had to celebrate our first anniversary as part of Advance: A Week to Move Forward!

Advance: A Week to Move Forward

cultivate:dsm is launching with a week dedicated to collaboration, inspiration and Moving Forward. A partnership of Impromptu Studio and Market Street Media Foundry and the brainchild of Dan Shipton, cultivate:dsm is dedicated to providing a platform for big thinkers to rally the support they need to act big.

Advance will be held July 20-25 with events at Impromptu and Market Street. All Advance events are free and open to the public. The program is designed for creative and business professionals alike with useful, casual events encouraging people to work together and get to work.

Wednesday’s events will anchor Advance week with conversation, learning, and socializing. Acclaimed author Tara Hunt (The Whuffie Factor) will lead a presentation and Q&A about using social capital to build your business. A social meetup with conversation and karaoke led by local and national coworking and arts leaders will conclude the evening. Other Advance: A Week to Move Forward events include the Ignite Des Moines Remix luncheon, Your Baby’s Ugly aesthetic critique night, Rewrite copywriting workshop, Freelancer Friday, Expert Mode, and Market Day.

Bring on the Whuffaoke!

Did someone say Karaoke?  HELL YES.  Wednesday, July 22nd the Whuffaoke crew are helping us celebrate our one year anniversary in style!

“Shortly after the successful release of Tara’s book The Whuffie Factor, Tara desperately wanted a way to have the time and space to write her next book and continue to travel around. Taking a look at her current situation, she knew that, in order to do that, she would need to quit her job and move back to Canada (where she is a citizen). She picked Montreal, because it’s awesome and beautiful and incredibly affordable to be a writer in. Within minutes, it dawned on her that this was the PERFECT opportunity to pursue her dream of karaoke-ing across America. Why just move when you can move AND bring karaoke happiness in the process?” – via the Whuffaoke site

More information and the full schedule for Advance Week can be found the cultivate:dsm site.

Des Moines, Iowa - Impromptu Studio, a membership-based coworking community in downtown Des Moines, will house a salon-style art gallery featuring work from members of Market Street Media Foundry beginning in June.

MSMF member Cat Rocketship – recently named Best Artist in Cityview’s Best of Des Moines reader survey – will be curating the exhibits. Work will be updated every other month and feature an assortment of pieces from MSMF members.

“We’re really excited to be able to share this space with our friends at Market Street,” said Daniel Shipton, founder of Impromptu Studio. “Their business and our business are different sides of the same coin. I hope that the entreprenuers and professionals working at Impromptu find inspiration for their projects in this gallery.”

Market Street Media Foundry (MSMF) is a collaborative art and media studio located in Des Moines’ downtown Market District just south of Court Avenue on East 4th. Members of MSMF include photographers, painters, textile artists, video editors and other creative entreprenuers.

Scott Kubie, co-owner of MSMF, said that he is excited to offer this benefit to their members. “Unless you want to rent your own space or deal with the same stale crowds, there aren’t a lot of options to get your work on display in Des Moines. Impromptu attracts a uniquely connected crowd and wil be a great outlet for our artists.”

The MSMF gallery at Impromptu will only occupy a portion of their available wall space, leaving the coworking space free to host larger exhibitions for individual artists.

Artists interested in participating in MSMF are encouraged to visit http://www.marketstreetmediafoundry.com or contact Kubie at scott@therevuecreative.com.

Visitors are always welcome at Impromptu Studio and coworking plans start at $25 a month. Impromptu is located at 300 Southwest 5th Street.

Websites: Market Street Media Foundry – http://www.marketstreetmediafoundry.com
Impromptu Studio – http://www.impromptustudio.com

View of Downtown from Impromptu Studio

Impromptu Studio is asking those out there that support us and our mission to come out be a part of our Town Hall style meeting and discussion Wednesday, March 25th at 7pm. Initially we are organizing a community driven marketing committee headed up by Holly Eggleston and Andy Drish that will need volunteers to help with their goals and ideas. A main component of this will be a membership drive.  We will also be announcing our next big event and giving you a sneak peek of Impromptu Studio 2.0.

If you are interested in volunteering to help Impromptu Studio continue on its mission then please come out Wednesday March 25th at 7pm to our space and see if there’s anything that you can help us with.

Update:

Agenda and additional details have been posted.

Des Moines Web Geeks Hack Day

DSM Web Geeks has re-convened after the Holidays and is bringing “Hack Day” to Impromptu Studio. Hack Day will be held Saturday March 28th starting at nine o’clock. Two topics will be voted on and chosen for the development of “solutions” for the day. One will be Wordpress and the other Drupal. Teams will form to tackle the tasks and at the end of the day everyone will get back together and show off what they’ve accomplished.

If you’ve never been to a DSM Web Geeks meeting you should definitely stop by and check them out. Their next meeting is April 6th at 7pm and Josh More will be speaking.

Paul Gratton working on the first art piece.

A little bit of frustration can be squashed with mind opening excercises.  Impromptu Studio has a few bare canvases that need some love and attention for those that need a break.  One of our members picked up a paintbrush for a few minutes to clear their mind…later on another member picked up where the first left off and added to the painting.  This off the cuff art collaboration is a nice way for people to take a minute out of their day and channel their creative side.  To that end, we will have a canvas with art supplies readily available for anyone who wants to stop by and paint a bit.  We have about 5 canvases to get painted so we won’t run out of room (canvas) soon! So if your feeling a bit down or frustrated then stop by and paint a square, triangle, circle, house, cat, car, skyscraper….whatever comes to mind! The best part is that you won’t have to worry about how much or how little you paint as someone else can pick up where you left off.