Last year, I got involved in organizing this event with Brandon Chesnutt (@bchesnutt) and Sarah Worsham. (@sazbean) It was held at the Magic Stick and there were three hundred in attendance. This year’s projected audience is five hundred or more. The venue can comfortably fit up to one thousand.

The Sound Board at Motor City Casino Hotel is a top notch facility, with all the latest in technology, lighting, video and audio. I recently attended Fashion in Detroit there and was absolutely amazed. This is truly going to be a time the speakers and attendees will never forget.There will also be music provided by local Detroit artists, and possibly more surprises as we obtain more sponsors and get approval for some of the great ideas we have.

Here is my presentation from last year on ethanol:

If you’re interested in speaking at this year’s event, come up with a good pitch and submit your topic with our speaker submission form. I am looking forward to seeing what this event brings to Detroit’s technology community.

The madness begins! Follow along at: http://highfivesxsw.com/

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 presented somewhat of a challenge for the fast-growing community. Metro Detroit was preparing for what is projected to be the biggest Midwest Winter snowstorm in recorded history. On Twitter, the pending storm had been given all kinds of names, like Thundersnow, Snowmageddon, SNOMG, Snowtorious B.I.G., Snow Schembechler and Snowpocalypse. So far, the mayhem happening outside of my house is living up to expectations.

The Tweetea community rose to the challenge, in the first edition of the weekly tweetup that was conducted entirely through the #tweetea hashtag on Twitter. No one really knew what to expect. The discussion moved rapidly, and probably annoyed some of our out-of-state friends, but ultimately turned out to be a great success.

The topic of discussion was, “Why do you think many artists struggle so much to create full-time?” The topic veered off in a lot of directions, just like in real life, but the core topic was discussed at length and we were all enlightened from many perspectives.

This is just another example of our resilience in a mutual struggle to make Detroit a better city. If New York is the city that doesn’t sleep, we have to hustle harder to compete in the global market. More importantly, this shows a sense of urgency among Detroiters. There are so many ideas floating around our heads that we all want to put to action. We want Tweetea to be successful, because it will lead to good things for all of us. Next week, when Tweetea resumes at its normal time and locations, we will pick right up where we left off, and we will continue to build a better Detroit. I hope to see you there!

They later released How Progress Was Made, a collection of tracks that led each artist from the start of their career to where they are now. It Includes D. Allie’s work with United States of Mind, his solo work, and tracks that Eddie Logix worked on over the years. On Pop’s Guitar Pt. 3, D. Allie explains a little bit about Progress Report, accompanied by his father on the guitar.

Progress Report now needs some help from the online community to release their first full-length album. They set a goal to raise $5000 to get the album off the ground. By placing a donation, you can help out two talented Detroit artists, and get a little something in return as well.

For a $10 donation you will receive a signed copy of the CD and entry to the album release party. For a $25 donation you get the same, plus a Junkie Rockstar t-shirt or hoodie. $50 will get you the signed CD, Junkie Rockstar shirt, Progress Report shirt, Vinyl Single and VIP access to the album release party. For an even larger donation of $250 or more, you get a big stake in Progress Report, including album credits, and access to all of their future events.

The deadline for donating is Monday Jan 31st at 11:59PM EST. Unfortunately, if they don’t make the deadline, the album isn’t happening. I have made a small donation myself, and I’m asking you to do the same. We are all going through some tough times, and it’s times like this that we need to help each other out the most. Check out their Kickstart Page for more details on how to donate, and thanks for supporting Detroit music.

A lot of great things have happened since then, both for me and the city I love. I hoped that I could not only participate in SXSWi this year, but also participate in the road trip challenge. My dreams came true this week, as Chris Barger (@cbarger) from GM emailed me to let me know that I’ve been selected as a team member. This year’s challenge will be slightly different. There are ten teams this year, and one of those teams will also be from Detroit. My team consists of Shauna Nicholson, (@shaunan) Bobby Mercader, (@rmercader) Joe Minock (@AdrenalineJoe) and me. Detroit’s second team consists of Nikke Stephan, (@NikkiStephan) Jacki Halas, (@Jacki_Halas) Kyle Stuef, (@KyleStuef) and Brian Ambrozy. (@primesuspect)

My initial thoughts are that I’m just really excited for this. I’ve spent the entire day RSVPing for SXSW events and bantering with my teammates and opponents online. My wheels are turning, and I’m brainstorming ideas of fun and creative ways we can make this trip successful, and memorable. I’m looking forward to the banter between my friend Brian Ambrozy and I, as we compete against each other. I’m preparing my brain for the mental Olympics I’m about to put it through, and my liver for the massive consumption of alcohol that is about to go down.

Please follow along with me here on my blog, twitter, facebook and foursquare. I’m planning to record a new mix within the next two months and dedicate it to my road trip team. I’m looking forward to what is undoubtedly going to be the time of my life, the friendships that will be made and made better, and the hard work that is ahead of me. Good luck to all the teams, and may the best one win!

Last week, my friend Mike (@p7lbass) and I spent five days listening to records and recording a demo for our new DJ super group called Prisoners of Atlantis. While this project is very new, there are 20 years experience between the two of us in the dance music scene.

We specifically recorded this demo with the hope that it would land us a very special gig. If we win, we get to play after DJ Kenneth Thomas (@djKennethThomas) at Bleu Detroit on New Years Eve!

The new mix is hot. It consists mostly of old tech house and progressive house records, blended with some newer music of the same style. Some of the records featured are Detroit native DJ Seoul’s (@djseoul) Detroit Techno Militia release titled “Electrified Planet”. Another record is an eclectic house track called “Don’t Leave Me This Way” from Palms Out Records, and was mastered by another Detroit native, Noel Jackson. (@noel)

To help us win, we need to build some chatter on the site spindetroit.com over our mix. However, I’m not asking anyone to blindly support me. PLEASE, listen to the mix first and judge for yourself.

Prism Break by Prisoners Of Atlantis

After that, follow these steps:

1. Register at http://spindetroit.com

2. Go to http://www.spindetroit.com/nyedjmixcompetition and log in if you haven’t already.

3. Leave a comment saying you vote for DJ Meph and include the URL to my Spin Detroit profile. http://spindetroit.com/djmeph

3. Click on “My Audio” (Make sure you’re still at the nyedjmixcompetition profile)

4. Look for “Spin Detroit NYE 2011 Mix”. It’s at the bottom of the last page, page 11. Make sure the title matches in case it moves. Click on “Rate” and give it an honest rating. 5 stars of course would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for your support, and get ready to rock out with me on New Years Eve!

Many of you who read my Twitter feed know that I’ve been very critical of the new show “Detroit 1-8-7″. However critical I may be, I also think there are great lessons to be learned from this television experience. I think these lessons can and should be applied towards the ideas that are considered tonight as Startup Weekend begins.

Most importantly, we have to remember that there is a lot of power in the name, “Detroit”. So much power, in fact, that even with the murder code from another state attached to it, it can sell a crappy, uninspired cop drama to the masses by name recognition alone. The characters don’t have to be realistic, the local references don’t have to be accurate and the acting doesn’t have to be, oh what’s the word I’m looking for… Good… to get 8 million people to watch a network show. The show proves that Detroit has power in the name alone.

The name of Detroit does indeed have a lot of power. In the music industry, many artists from around the world have respect for our music culture, and not just from the Motown and Rock n Roll days. We are also respected for innovating techno music, creating our own style of hip hop and continuing to produce talented pop icons like Jack White and Eminem.

What we need now is to continue to restore the integrity behind the powerful name of Detroit. As Startup Weekend participants work their brains overtime this weekend to come up with the ideas that will move this city forward, they should consider the power that is in the name, Detroit, and how they are using and representing it, both individually and as a community.

This goes beyond Startup Weekend, of course. Many of us are giving a lot more than we’re being compensated for, working overtime to come up with our own ideas to shape this city. The executives at network television stations don’t know any better, but we do. Make sure that everything you slap the English D on is worthy of the name. Perhaps we should all consider, when using Detroit’s namesake to craft our ideas, if the name is helping the idea, or if the idea is helping the name.

What turns a good idea into a worthwhile enterprise is creativity and hard work. We are living in an age of nearly complete transparency, where even if you try to hide your intentions, someone is going to recognize your true agenda. Don’t let this city be defined by bad ideas, or let good ideas die because of poor implementation.

Most of all, let’s preserve the power of Detroit by keeping the name sacred. What you attach this name to represents all of us. It represents our resilience, perseverance, innovation and creativity. It inspires other fallen cities to walk in our path. It challenges bigger cities to work harder if they want to stay ahead. As Detroit moves forward, creates, inspires and innovates the name will only get stronger.

Ask not what Detroit can do for you… Ask what you can do for Detroit.