iRoadTripIf someone that hadn’t been to the South by Southwest conference/festival/party asked me what they should do leading up to the event, I’d probably suggest rest. And then maybe some more rest. I might even suggest naps in the middle of the days leading up to the Austin adventure. I certainly wouldn’t suggest hopping in a car (as comfortable as it might be) and driving close to 1,500 miles. And if they asked me what I thought of them augment that long drive by constantly posting to their blog and interviewing interesting people and visiting places they’d always dreamed of visiting, I’d think they were certifiable.

Well, color me insane.

I’m joining former colleague and good friend Colin Browning on the trip of a lifetime (and by the time all is said and done it might take my life) – The American Innovator’s Road Trip!

The idea is simple really… if you asked most people where the real innovation is happening in America they’d likely say “on the coasts”, referring to hotbeds like Silicon Valley, SF, NYC, the 128 corridor outside Boston and Seattle to name a few. But Colin and I believe there’s truly great stuff happening in the heartland of America and we plan to prove it on this road trip.

We’re flying to Detroit on Monday where we’ll be met by friend Scott Monty with a 2010 Ford Escape (thanks to Scott and the Ford Motor Company for support the Innovator’s Road Trip (#iRoadTrip for those of you who like to collect hashtags) by giving us the use of such a great car).Thanks also to Ripple6, Powered and New Marketing Labs for supporting the road trip.

We’re kicking off the trip by touring the Henry Ford Museum and then going to a Detroit-area tweetup organized by Shannon Paul (I hope to see Ken Burbary and Lisa Dilg there too) and then it’s off to Cleveland.

In Cleveland we’re touring the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, then heading to Columbus to talk with the folks at Nationwide and then it’s on to Cincinnati where we hope to have dinner and drinks with some of the Twitter faithful. I think Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders sums up this day best in saying “Oh Ohio!”

The next day we’re talking with Proctor & Gamble and folks from Moms Like Me before gassing up the car and heading to Lousville, KY – anyone want to tweet-up there? Jason Falls and Todd Earwood I’m talking to you. :-)

I think it’s Thursday and we’re touring Louisville Slugger and Makers Mark. As a guy who once turned his own bat from a piece of ash cut from our property in Vermont, this is going to be really a cool leg of the trip. Oh, and what time is ok to start tasting bourbon?

From here we have a little breathing room, but a lot of miles to cover (about 1,000 miles by my calculation). If we make good time, Graceland might be in the cards as well as time at Dell.

We’re still ironing out all the details, but look forward to bringing you updates/photos/videos from the road. If you know of someone we should meet along the way, please let me know with a quick comment.

Innovators here we come!