Putting Kansas City on the social media map

SMCKC July HH: Kickstarter

We had our July happy hour at Innovation Cafe. A new low cost collaborative workspace in the Crossroads District of KC. An awesome space and we thank them for letting us use it.

The theme this month was all around the Kickstarter platform. What is Kickstarter? Well this explanation comes straight from thew website:

Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.

All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.

Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse. We hope you agree... Welcome to Kickstarter!

Basically it allows people with a creative goal to reach out and crowdsource the cash needed to turn it into a reality.

Pretty cool huh?

We've had a lot of successes in the KC area with the platform but we wanted to highlight our favorites.

We heard from 4 Kickstarters:

Heidi Van (@theheidivan) Fishtank Performance Studio

Heidi really brings the performance arts piece to the table and she knows what she's talking about when it comes to Kickstarter because she's raised almost $15k for multiple projects and has had success in each. The awesome thing about Heidi is that her community isn't the traditional online social media kind, but people that visit the Fishtank for a show or artists that support the community. She gets the word out to them using email and through touchpoints at the shows. Very cool to have her out and good luck to her on all of the KCFringe Fest performances taking place at the Fishtank this weekend.

Mike Reinhardt (@heavenlybrew) and Nate Watson, Wilderness Brewing Co.

Mike and Nate made friends with everyone quickly as they were sampling some of the beers they've made so far. These guys were really great and you could tell how passionate they are about quality beer making and giving people a beer experience they've never had before. Mike & Nate not only have the largest money goals out of the group tonight with $40k to start their own Nano-brewery, but they also where the only ones that's goal was still active! They are almost 45% their with only about week left- Go give them some support! For $1k you can get a beer named after you, so that is all kinds of awesome.

Renee Kloeblen (@ms_nene) Takes the Cake Bakery, CoffeeCakeKC.com

Our favorite cupcake master and social media diva Ms Nene raised over $8k to get her cupcake truck business up and running. It is still going strong and she even has a new storefront space by the Boomerang in midtown. Renee got to her goal leveraging her relationships that she made through twitter and she's a true example of how being true and honest to yourself, having a real passion and sharing it over social media can make a business work. Reach out to her on twitter and get the truck out in your neck of the woods.

Jeremy Fuksa (@3rdmartini) Cocktail Napkin Podcast

Jeremy used Kickstarter to take his podcast, the 3rd Martini to the next level. Jeremy brings a lot of energy to the discussion and it was great to see how he is tapping into his viewership to create a better product for them. The best way to see what Jeremy does is subscribe to his podcast and check out one of his videos below.