Why we want to Build IT Together

My experiences with the Kalamazoo entrepreneurial community

For the past couple of years I have had the privilege of being involved in the growing entrepreneurial community in Kalamazoo. A series of events and meetups over the course of that time, sponsored by Startup Zoo, have brought many like minded folks together, caused businesses to be formed, partnerships to emerge and has brought me into the lives of some fantastic people.


Many of these people are now my friends and StartupZoo meetups and events have become fun opportunities to get together with those friends and talk about what we love, technology and entrepreneurship. I’ve also gained very meaningful support and insight from other entrepreneurs and business owners in the area like Jen Randell of Maestro and Matt Mace of Blue Granite.

Why can’t we strengthen the IT community?

Sounds like a lot of fun right? It has been. But the experience has gotten me thinking. Why can’t we form the same connections and collaborative relationships in the IT community here in Southwest Michigan.

I am convinced that we can.

That is what our Build IT Together event is all about. I want to bring the IT community together to form relationships, learn from each other, and have a lot of fun doing it. I hope that this can be the start of many more IT community focused events, not just presented by Newmind, but presented and hosted by other IT leaders in the area as well.

Speaking of which, I’ve got some new announcements about the event to share with you.

Meraki added as sponsor

I’m excited to announce that we have added Meraki as a sponsor of our Build IT Together event. Meraki has been leading the networking equipment space in recent years with their cloud connected and managed network equipment. Their recent acquisition by Cisco validates that leadership. They will be sponsoring our 4th workshop and I am hoping that we will be able to send you home with some opportunities to get some free Meraki gear as well.

Strong participation from the community, Thank You!

Finally, I want to thank the community for the strong participation and support they are already showing for the event. We have confirmed that IT leaders and staff from Cornerstone University, MPI Research, Kalsec, Greenleaf Hospitality, Davenport University, the City of Kalamazoo, and many more, will be in attendance.

Thank you so much for supporting this event and the IT community in Kalamazoo. I’m really looking forward to meeting you and learning from each other on May 21st.

Daniel Jefferies is the founder of Newmind Group. Based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Newmind Group began as a small, regional IT company in 2003. Since then, we have opened offices in Charleston, Minneapolis, and Silicon Valley, and have grown in scope and size to become a national provider of cloud computing solutions for businesses of all sizes. Our specialty is moving legacy systems to more cost effective and reliable cloud based systems hosted by Google, Amazon, and Rackspace.