It’s been a wild, wonderful year. So much so, that it’s hard to bundle up those 365 days into one piece. Instead, we chose some of our favorite photos to showcase here. Each photo is coupled with a short caption and a link where you can read more, if you choose. When combined, they paint a story arc for the past year of 2015.
Emerging Prairie’s Top 15 Photos of 2015
We started off 2015 just as we will start this one – with 1 Million Thanks, a celebration built on gratitude for our community. Here, guests raise a marshmallow-topped glass of champagne, which is now a signature part of our event. Read more about the award-winners from last year’s event, here!
Claim your ticket 1 Million Thanks 2016. You’re invited.
Thanks to the efforts and generosity of Miguel Danielson, founder of Danielson Legal LLC, the Fargo Startup House began to gain traction in 2015. This is a house where active entrepreneurs of all ages are welcome to live for free (up to 4), paying only with their efforts to make their idea a reality. Currently, there are 4 residents of the Startup House, each working on their own entrepreneurial endeavors. Read more about the Fargo Startup House here.
Pictured: Sarah English and Trent Cahoon.
1 Million Cups also had another successful year, with an average of around 160 people at each event and some of our highest attendee records breaching 300. This beautiful photo by Rick Abbott captures the vibrancy and energy that attendees say brings them back each week.
We kick back up with 1 Million Cups this week, Wednesday January 6 at 9:15 AM at the Stage at Island Park. Join us!
Great Rides Bikeshare launched this year with overwhelming success. With over 143,154 rides taken during the season, it is now the most successful Great Rides bikeshare in the nation. Overall, data shows that it was mostly used by NDSU students; the hope is that it will further integrate students into Fargo’s flourishing downtown. Read about it here!
Startup Weekend Fargo 2015 again rocked the house, with many new startups born out of one hectic, sleepless weekend.; from a university that integrates being a student and an employee, to an app that tracks baby data at daycares. Read about it here.
Fargo’s independent game-maker community continues to grow with meet-ups like the Fargo Game-Makers meet-up. Other programs, like PODS Game Design, are teaching young game developers the skills to create video games as well. The combined growth is aiding in success of local games; CJ Schnase is building a game for Wii U, Big 4 Productions has a virtual reality horror game in the works, and locally made game On My Own surpassed 100,000 worldwide users and is now going to launch on Xbox One. Read more here!
Uber also came to Fargo in 2015. This was a step that was not only a plus for those tired of poor taxi service, but also further solidified Fargo as a growing city. Read more here.
The inaugural Drone Focus Conference was held in 2015, with around 100 guests and a handful of speakers from the drone industry. The success of the conference speaks to the strength of the drone industry in North Dakota, and the widespread interest in jumping into the industry here in Fargo. Read about it here.
This isn’t the best photo, but we felt it needed to be included because this was much of the summer for Emerging Prairie. This is right after CoCo pulled out their coworking space, and the Prairie Den moved in. Shout out to Emerging Prairie’s amazing interns Jackson Ridl, Liv Stromme and Bri Lee (and honorary Mark Staples) who spent a lot of time and energy transporting furniture. From these humble beginnings, the Prairie Den began to grow into a thriving coworking hub that it is now.
Tech Tailgate launched for the first time in the summer as well, featuring pizza, beer, and nine local organizations from Fargo’s tech scene. Again, the fantastic turnout and success of the event illustrated a shifting view of Fargo as a flourishing hub for techies and tailgaters alike. Read about the event here!
TEDxFargo took place in July, with its biggest success yet. Over 1,800 people came out to hear great speakers and enjoy the “spa for the mind.” Read all about it here.
The State of Technology was held on August 26, and further outlined Fargo and North Dakota as a whole, as a state with high potential to be a leader in the tech industry. Nearly every single speaker was a former 1 Million Cups speaker, and spoke openly about their gratitude for the supportive community in Fargo. It was a proud moment. Read about it here.
1 Million Cups held its first ever Reunion event in November, featuring over 20 past speakers. Each speaker gave an update on failures and successes in their endeavors. Senator Hoeven was in attendance, and was so moved by the event that he postponed his other meetings to stay in Fargo for a bit longer. Read about it here.
Australia software company Atlassian also went public in one of the biggest IPOs of the year, and Fargo’s Doug Burgum is Chairman of the Board. Exciting stuff. Read our interview with Burgum, here.
We finished this year with a fantastic article by Melanie Kaplan published in Fortune Magazine, calling Fargo “America’s Most Undervalued Tech Hub.” Shortly after, North Dakota’s drone industry was featured in the New York Times as well. A celebratory way to finish off the year and swing into a new one.
Photos by a bunch of different people.
