Less than five months after Roadtrippers launched its web app mapping the quirkiest routes for road trips, the startup introduces its iPhone app just in time for the busiest travel period of the year.

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What is IEEE? The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the world’s leading resource for technical innovation and professional networking in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and computing. University of Cincinnati has a student run, IEEE branch on it’s campus.

What is a hackathon?An event in which computer programmers and others in the field of software development, like graphic designers, interface designers, project managers and computational philologists collaborate on software projects. Rob Rieman, UC IEEE President, hosted a Hackathon at The Brandery on Friday, November 2nd with a great turnout of college students. We are excited to host these events and provide a new venue for these students to collaborate between themselves and immerse in the broader startup community. Hackathons are a great way to grow the tech base in Cincinnati and to expose the tech talent already existing in our city. Here’s what some of the students had to say:

“What better way to blow off steam from a hard week of graduate work and club activities than to go to an off campus networking event with tech savy individuals. Got me off campus, got to enjoy some good food, drink, friends, and network with some amazing individuals. Also a more relaxed environment to pitch yourself for possible future employment. No way you can build these kinds of relationships at a career fair or general networking event.” –Jon Lockhart, PhD Candidate – EE Systems.

“I was able to get a little bit of my homework done with the help of the developers. A lot of things you learn in school are applied in the real world.” – Adam Wilford, Computer Engineering Student.

You have to BUILD your company’s BRAND EQUITY…. AND there are processes to do so.

Mike Bott talked through the ins-and-outs of branding for your startup company last night. The working session included background into understanding WHY building brand equity is important, examples of the POWER of strong brands, the process by which to BUILD your equity pyramid, and the nuances of a brand’s promise versus a brand’s characteristics.

The crowd included people in publishing, technology startups, medical device companies, agency designers, and large corporate types.

It was a great class with working take-aways and relevant information. BIG THANKS to Mike Bott for putting the presentation together and kicking off the first class of the NEW Brandery Community Class series.

Next up! “Gamification” with Chris Bergman, the CEO/Co-Founder of ChoreMonster.

CALLING ALL CINCINNATIANS!!

REGISTER NOW!!! Click the link below to register for each event.

Dates: listed by class; Time: 5:30pm-7:00pm; Cost: $20/person/class.

11/12: Branding 101

11/26: Gamification

12/5: Social Media for Startups

12/10: Inspiration is all around

12/17: Financing a small business

1/7: Technology for your company

1/14: Top 10 legal mistakes

1/22: Nerd Whisperer

1/23: How to get startup famous

1/28: Tweet about it #startups

Startup Grind Cincinnati is excited to announce our first event at The Brandery on Thursday, December 6, 2012. Cincinnati entrepreneurs, investors and supporters are invited to hear Tim Schigel, the Chariman and Founder of ShareThis, the largest ecosystem for sharing and engagement across the web, speak about his experiences growing a company in Cincinnati. Tim has been on the forefront of digital media technology and the burgeoning Cincinnati tech scene. He served as a Director at Blue Chip Venture Fund; he was highly involved with the growth of Nielsen Buzzmetrics, the leading platform for measuring sentiment on blogs and forums, and Third Screen Media, the first mobile advertising platform.

In recent history, violence, gangs and serious racial tensions tainted downtown Cincinnati and the surrounding communities. Due to targeted infrastructure investments, expanding real estate opportunities, the construction of urban parks, the community is creating a live-able and exciting urban center for individuals and businesses. The changes the city is seeing are dramatic and the potential of the area is tangible. It is clear that the past few years have marked a turning point for the downtown areas of Cincinnati.

To couple with these amazing new developments, the low cost of living in Cincinnati makes startup life significantly more sustainable than in larger startup hubs, WHILE retaining a shockingly high quality of life. Downtown Cincinnati and the surrounding areas are becoming hubs of engagement, collaboration, creativity, and learning.

The pressure is ON, entrepreneurial world. To continue the development of Cincinnati, we need value creation; new jobs. We need to channel the great energy of our area into startup successes.

Join us for the inaugural Startup Grind on Thursday, December 6th from 6pm-8pm at The Brandery (1411 Vine Street). REGISTER NOW as space is limited. Meetup page.

Media sponsor:

On Thursday, Brandery will be traveling to the fantastic accelerator space of 1871 to host a pitch event for local investors. After garnering national attention and drawing hundreds to the Great American Ballpark for the official Brandery Demo Day in early October, we could tell that the crowds were practically screaming, “Encore, encore!”… And we can’t say no to that!

Demo Day Chicago will take place Thursday, November 1^st from 6-9 pm at 1871.

The evening will feature 10 of The Brandery’s 2012 graduates. Each company will have the pitch their company idea to interested investors and hang around after to answer any questions people have about their business, story and entrepreneurial passion. Attendees are invited to join us afterwards at McFadden’s Bar to celebrate what is sure to be another successful Demo Day!

As the father of a 4-year-old, I was naturally drawn to this site. Although my son doesn’t have his own iPhone (yet), ChoreMonster.com still gets me thinking about the future of putting him to work! Child labor laws aside, this site is awesome for so many reasons. One aspect I really love is that it appeals to parents and kids alike. On the parent side, the purpose (helping kids responsibly manage their chores at home) is clear and powerfully presented. From a kid’s perspective, the site’s theme is fun and enticing. The trick in designing websites for kids is to not overdo the goofiness. This kid-friendly website achieves the right balance between thematic design and meaningful content. Love it.

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3 months. 11 companies. Countless hours spent developing, designing, pivoting, re-developing, re-designing, and transforming ideas into reality. And it all comes down to this: Demo Day 2012.

On October 3rd, The Brandery will present its third class of startups. Each of the eleven companies will have approximately 6 minutes to pitch their business in front of an audience of hundreds of investors and venture capitalists looking to fund the next big thing. Attendees from across the country are flocking to Cincinnati for the big day, eager to see firsthand what new innovations are emerging out of Cincinnati, the Brand Hub of America.

The Brandery would like to thank sponsors Cintrifuse and Ernst & Young for making Demo Day possible; ExactTarget, CincyTech and Taft for making Brand Fusion and the Investor Dinner possible. Also, special thanks to our keynote speaker, Tim O’Shaughnessy, founder and CEO of Living Social.

You could spend untold weekends touring barbecue joints on the backroads of Texas and never run out of places to try.

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Looking out onto Vine Street, more and more people have traded their shorts and flip flops for jeans and sweaters. Some of them carry a coffee in hand, probably a pumpkin latte. There is a briskness in the air and the leaves have ever so slightly begun changing color. Yes, fall has arrived in OTR. And that can only mean one thing: OKTOBERFEST!

That’s right Zinzinnati, it’s finally here! Oktoberfest takes place this weekend, September 22-23, and the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District Group and The Christian Moerlein Brewing Company (one of The Brandery’s very own partners!) have an exciting weekend in store. Events include the Hudepohl 14-K Brewery Run which will travel by many historic breweries, tours of the historic German neighborhoods, collections of commemorative steins and historic brewery memorabilia on display at the Moerlein Brewery, and a sneak peek at the “Cincinnati Beer Story” documentary. But if running, tours, antiques, and documentaries aren’t exactly your thing, there will be plenty of good old-fashioned beer drinking, sausage eating, and general merrymaking!

Still not sold on Oktoberfest? Not sure what to expect? Check out some of these Oktoberfest FAQs below:

Q: How much fun is it?

A: Barrels of fun will be had!

Barrels of beer will also be had.

Q: But I’m not German…

A: Zis weekend, you are!

Q: What if I don’t like beer?

A: …

eat zauzage instead!

German or not, Oktoberfest is sure to please. So grab your beer steins and your bekannters (that’s German for “friend”) and come be a part of a true Zinzinnati tradition this weekend.

No, it’s not some ridiculous Swiss Army-style household implement for mopping, dusting, scrubbing, and generally taking care of the house. Instead, ChoreMonster ($Free) is a clever little app that helps parents convince their kids to do their chores. As a parent, you can set up scheduled chores worth certain points, that you can approve once they’re done. As your offspring collect enough points, they can “purchase” different rewards using their points, such as an hour of gaming, a trip to the movies, or a trip to Disney (that’d better be a lot of points).

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In case you haven’t heard, this week is AIGA Design Week in Cincinnati! From studio tours to mixers to educational sessions given by local designers, Design Week celebrates and showcases Cincinnati’s creativity and passion for design.

Yesterday, The Brandery was proud to host Justine Arreche of EdgeCase. A self-described print-design and letterpress enthusiast, Justine spoke about her 12 year background in design and what it means to “go digital”. With experience in a variety of design software, including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, Justine had a lot of insights for both designers and design enthusiasts in general. Designer, LeAnne Wagner (currently working with 360pager, a Brandery accelerator company) had this to say:

“This is AIGA Cincinnati’s first ever Design Week and we’re very excited to be featuring a strong representation of local talent… We want to establish the chapter as a resource for creatives, and be the place to bring new ideas or ask for a helping hand, whether you’re a student or a seasoned professional, agency or small business owner, AIGA wants to collaborate with you. Design Week is an example of the passion and dedication AIGA Cincinnati has for the local creative community."

Justine’s presentation was just one of many exciting events that are part of Design Week 2012. The week kicked off with an introduction to AIGA’s new “Design for Good” initiative. The discussion featured speakers from CoreChange and Green Umbrella and focused on how design and creativity can be used to positively impact the community. Upcoming events include a digital takeover panel, a roundtable discussion about the potential and challenges digital design and social marketing has to change the way we design, and a downtown studio/agency crawl.

While each of the events is unique, one common thread connects them all: the wealth of passion, creativity, and talent that is so alive and present in our city. Our designers are one of the reasons why Cincinnati has become so widely recognized as a hub of branding, innovation, and design.

Join us in celebrating this week! For the complete listing of Design Weeks events, click here.