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OTA is an organization focused on bringing together creative catalysts and community changemakers to strengthen and encourage the social and creative capital of the "OTA" states (South Dakota, North Dakota & Minnesota) as well as the surrounding areas.

Along with a number of smaller, local events, OTA annually hosts The OTA Sessions, a conference created to provide an opportunity for the Midwest to "shine as a hub of creativity and innovation" in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. OTA was founded by Hugh Weber in Sioux Falls, SD in 2009.

Background
OTA was launched in March 2009 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota by Hugh Weber, a marketing consultant and possibility strategist, as a way to bring together local creative communities in the "OTA states" and encourage them to think and dream beyond the confines of their Midwestern borders. Along with a series of smaller, local events, the main OTA Sessions event has brought together nearly 300 attendees each year for three consecutive years. In an interview with Silicon Prairie News, OTA Sessions founder Hugh Weber states, "The concept [for OTA] has been brewing since I came back to South Dakota in 2006. It just makes sense to bring the best from around the world to meet with the best from around this region..."

According to the OTA website, "since the first OTA Sessions in 2010, over 1,000 people from the Midwest have come together to celebrate the unbridled strength of this region." .

In the Seth Godin book, The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly, Godin describes OTA as, "nothing less than a catalyst for a regionwide explosion in creativity and possibility."

Author and speaker Sally Hogshead says of OTA in a Sioux Falls Argus Leader story, "'I'm excited to get to know how creativity applies in Sioux Falls - across jobs, levels and professions to see how creativity really lives and breathes within the people in that community...it's not just about bringing new types of thinking into Sioux Falls but also celebrating what's happening there and sparking more of it."

Author CC Chapman writes of OTA, "After a day spent in a darkened theater with a variety of speakers taking the stage, I can safely say that I left South Dakota much more inspired than when I arrived and it is all because of the magic that is The OTA Sessions."

Events
Over 1,000 creative professionals have attended OTA events since the very first OTA Sessions in 2010. Conferences typically involve a full day of speakers and entertainers throughout the day of the event, which is always a Friday, as well as a pre-party typically held the night before the event (Thursday night).

OTA also hosts several smaller, local events throughout the calendar year, including OTA Conversations (emphasizing a single speaker/presenter of note), OTA Experiences (a behind-the-scenes view of local organizations and businesses), and other OTA-hosted events such as the Found Film Festival and IdeaMensch.

OTA is also a partner with the Sioux Falls Design Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Speakers
A number of creative professionals, presenters, and entertainers have been a part of OTA, including:

Locations
In 2010 and 2011, the OTA Sessions were held in the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 2012, the OTA Sessions moved to the Edith Mortenson Center Theatre at Augustana College (South Dakota), also in Sioux Falls. The 2013 OTA Sessions will also be held in the Edith Mortenson Center.