February TechBrew in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the NewBo Ale House

TechBrew Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the NewBo Ale House

Tech Brew logoWent to the Cedar Rapids TechBrew event at the NewBo Ale House tonight. I was able to mingle with a diverse group of people who are in the technology community. Doug Savey & Dan from Enseva, an amazing company that specializes in custom cloud-based solutions with their amazing servers and maybe the highest speed internet in all of Iowa! Mingled with Jeri Frank from Asset Rover. Asset Rover is currently in Beta and offered as a free tool to analyze your real estate investments, so you can LIVE! Plus had dinner with the owner of Evil Twin Software, Mr. Eric Chrisman. He creates custom built apps for businesses.

Promotional restaurant Table Tent Marketing idea to engage social media

“Table Tent” Marketing with Social Media Promotion

This print advertising campaign was designed to get patrons who are already at Forbidden Planet in Iowa City to share on social media that they are at this location having fun and are posting pictures of their good time. This type of printed advertisement is called a “table tent.” The purpose is to give away 10 free tokens to play the games if you post on social media and tag this restaurant. This, in our opinion, is an under-utilized technique to get the word out in a somewhat organic way. After all, who likes forced promotions by a company that they follow on social networks? However, when a post shows up from a friend saying how much fun they are having, that will catch our eye and it’s intended to have a much different effect than self promotion.

Wanna get some free tokens? It’s easy! Take a picture of fun #icforbiddenplanet times, tag us and claim your tokens at the bar. #tokens #arcade #iowacity #downtowniowacity #uiowa #iowa #universityofiowa #fun

Posted by Forbidden Planet: Pizzeria & Video Arcade on Friday, January 22, 2016

From left to right: Mike Irvine, Don White, Nate Houstman, Aaron Van Noy and Andrew Miller

Cedar Rapids WordPress Continuing Education meetup group

wordpress logoFantastic evening of sharing, learning and hanging out with fellow friends at the January 20th 2015 WordPress Meetup at Creative Corridor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Tracking billable hours:

https://toggl.com

~50 pages worth of plugin recommendations:
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/298401/Documents_for_download/Ultimate_guide_to_plugins_07.pdf

Great web firewall service: Sucuri.net

Concatenate JS and files:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoptimize/

SEO blueprint that I use:
https://bigtenwebdesign.com/our-program/seo-process/

Scrum boards:
https://trello.com
https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
https://www.17hats.com
Video Blog at:
http://www.wpwatercooler.com
http://wordpress.tv

All in one events calendar:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-event-calendar/
Here’s a list of some theme creators that have good support. These themes are built on the Genesis Framework. You would need the base Genesis Framework from StudioPress to use these themes. ($60)
http://www.studiopress.com/
https://www.web-savvy-marketing.com/
https://prettydarncute.com/

Our favorite forms:
http://www.gravityforms.com

Business directory form:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/geodirectory/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/business-directory-plugin/

eCommerce:
https://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/

Themes:
http://my.studiopress.com/themes/genesis/
http://themeforest.net/item/avada-responsive-multipurpose-theme/2833226

 

From left to right: Mike Irvine, Don White, Nate Houstman, Aaron Van Noy and Andrew Miller

From left to right: Mike Irvine, Don White, Nate Houstman, Aaron Van Noy and Andrew Miller

Tech and Freelancers lunch in Iowa City

Tech, Web & Freelancers Lunch in Iowa City, IA

Startup Iowa logo startup Iowa City logoWe joined 8 other tech industry members in the Iowa City area for a Freelancers lunch and discuss how to better interact with clients. From using videos to show clients what we worked on that day to digital scrum boards to just email. We were all in agreement that dealing with clients, that email maybe one of the worst things to use. Phone calling using a google voice number was far above just sending end of day emails. But in short is what is manageable for you and the client. Its not always an easy thing to balance or find.

Tech and Freelancers lunch in Iowa City

Tech and Freelancers lunch in Iowa City

Participants of Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

Fun at the Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

Startup Weekend LOGOHad fun participating in the 2015 Iowa City Startup Weekend! I worked on several projects. All pivoted and ended up going in lots of different directions. From a “Daily Special” app for local restaurants to fun but simply not practical “Corn Caucus” that was at first designed to be a satirical look into Iowa politics but also pivoted into a kids book later on in the weekend.

It isn’t all ways hard work!

My group at Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

My group at Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

In the video below the Corn Caucus Crew is discussing the characters in the book that we ended up working on for this project.

Local SEO and Web Design in Iowa

How to Choose the Right Website Design & Search Engine Optimization Company?