Jamie Thingelstad

I was having a conversation last week about Minnebar and there was a question about the name. What does it mean? Why Minnebar? It has nothing to do with being a bar with drinks. And it isn’t mini!

A super abbreviated history to get to the name.

It starts with Tim O’Reilly and O’Reilly Media. At one point O’Reilly hosted these “Friends of O’Reilly” events which as an acronym is FOO. It was Friends of O’Reilly, or Foo Camp. These were special events with an open agenda. Think wiki meets conference — or unconference.

The community decided there should be more of these to encourage sharing ideas in an unstructured way. In 2005 the first BarCamp was hosted to do that. In programming the most common variable reference is foobar, which isn’t the military fubar. So, not FooCamp but BarCamp.

There were BarCamps all over the place. It was a big trend. So when Ben, Luke, and a handful of folks decided we should have one in Minneapolis. But instead of it being BarCamp Minneapolis, let’s brand it a bit. Minnebar!

That is how you get there. So Minnebar is the largest unconference in North America, and I’m nearly positive it is also the longest running.

Session 0 feat. Dr. AnnMarie Thomas!

AnnMarie Thomas

AnnMarie is an engineer. An artist. An educator. A maker. A writer. A lifelong learner who built her career mixing science, art, tech, and curiosity into something new – over and over again.

From Squishy Circuits (playdough that lights up!) to OK Go Sandbox (music videos as STEAM playgrounds), to founding the Playful Learning Lab (at the University of St. Thomas), her work reminds us: when we make space for play, we make space for possibility.

Today, she leads Listo Idea Co., LLC, where she consults on projects ranging from workshop design to ocean focused VR/AR. She’s also an enthusiastic amateur in a wide range of hobbies – including trapeze and magic.

Recipe for play:

• Joy
• Whimsy
• New People
• Surprise

Playful learning rules:

• Be kind
• Play well with others
• Clean up your messes

This Machine ____s Fascists (fill in the blank)

Paul Cantrell

Around the world and at home, democracy is in decline and authoritarianism is on the rise. Technology is smack dab at the center of this authoritarian movement, both in terms of how it spreads and in terms of the damage it can do. Unfortunately, as designers, builders, managers, and funders of technology, we cannot look away.

What actions can we, the creators and stewards of technology, take to protect democracy and human rights? What power do we have when our own spheres of influence feel small? What harms are preventable? What harms are not obvious? What choices do we have? What kinds of action can we take?

When presented with an ethical dilemma, how will you fill in that blank?

• Woody Guthrie inspired quote
• Build capacity to imagine; Build capacity to act
• Computer science and ethics
• Government and companies. What is intersection.
• Options: embrace, ignore, rationalize, adjust, refuse, expose, sabotage, and document

🐝 Honeybees: Click to Save

Joe Meyer

Technology and beekeeping might seem like an unlikely pairing, but the “Save the Bees” movement has inspired a surge of tech innovation in the hive. In this session, we’ll take a look at the gadgets and technologies gaining traction in the beekeeping world. I’ll also talk about my own personal journey developing an app using AI not to disrupt tradition, but to support it. This talk is for anyone interested in the tension between tradition and innovation, and how we can design technology that honors the communities it’s meant to serve.

• Business to raise queens that can withstand local winters.
• Technology and Bee Keeping
• Hive Scribe: Note Taking app for sticky fingers
• HiveGenie
  • Temperature humidity weight
  • Seems data for sake of data. Does it matter
  • Too late to take action
• BroodMinder
• HiveTool: Open source, Raspberry Pi
• QR codes attached to bees
• BeeHero
• Four Seasons Apiaries
• Not a dev but using Cursor to create prototype.

Deepfakes 101: What’s Real, What’s Not, and What to Do About It

Greg Swan, Jenny Swan

Deepfake fraud attempts have skyrocketed by 2137% in just three years. And today, it takes less than 27 seconds to clone someone’s voice.

But what is a deepfake, and why should you care? AI-generated misinformation is more than just a tech curiosity–it’s a growing threat to trust, security, and even your personal identity. If people can’t tell reality from manipulation, skepticism toward AI will only grow.

Join Jenny and Greg Swan from _The Cave Project_as they break down how deepfakes work, the risks they pose, and (most importantly) what you can actually do about it. From setting up family passwords to recognizing red flags, this session will arm you with the knowledge to stay ahead of the fake.

• 2,137% increase in deep fake fraud in last three years
• Good and bad use cases.
• Media examples.
• Great examples of deep fakes and how convincing can be.
• Take it down act. Amy Klobouchar coauthored it.
• Deepfakes as phishing and scams
• Deepfakes as selling avatars on shopping streams.
• “Content hole”
• Pickle
• Deep fakes of you in your office?
• TikTok digital avatars
• Proof of humanity
  • World coin
• Call to action: Create a family password.
• Recap of session.

Minimal Viable Polka: My 100 day plan to win valentines day

Jim Bernard

This personal narrative includes practical tips and easy-to-implement suggestions that can be applied to your life. Bring your groaning to-do list, spiraling imposter syndrome and be prepared to be bossed into doing that thing that you’ve always wanted to do. You’ve got this!

WARNING: This session will include a modest amount of beginner accordion music.

• For sure the first Minnebar session ever to have an accordian played.
• Great framing around having a beginners mind!
• Reminded me of Punk Rock, just play, stop thinking so much.
• Lessons:
  • Getting going is 1,000x easier than your dumb brain thinks.
  • Set (and reset) your goal.
  • Work around constraints; work everywhere.
  • Your sense of how good you are is weird.
  • You are ready enough!
  • Being a beginner is the best.

3D Printing: How to Get Started

Cameron MacDonald

Are you interested in 3D printing but don’t know how to get started?

This session is to give newcomers to 3D printing a rundown of what it is, what it isn’t, and how to start trying it out if you’re interested.

We’ll be exploring:

• Types of 3D printers
• Types of filaments / resin
• Software for creating objects
• Slicing software for prepping files for printing
• Caveats, considerations, and drawbacks
• Safety

There will be time for a Q&A at the end for anyone who has specific questions. 3D printing is an exciting, fun, sometimes frustrating, and extremely vast and deep hobby. I hope you’ll join and find out more about one of my favorite hobbies!

Materials from talk.

Build game changing products using Product Discovery workshops

Bill Gintz, David Quinn

This presentation will delve into the dynamic use of Product Discovery workshops within our organization. We’ll explore the insights our team has garnered through these sessions and illustrate how they can help synchronize product, delivery, and stakeholder teams. This alignment will pave the way for a more efficient, stress-free delivery process, ultimately leading to the creation of game-changing products.

Great TeamSPS presentation on using discovery to make sure your doing the right things in the right way.

How To Newsletter

This was my session, you can read the article version.