Local Review: Jason Mitchell from Wingate Web

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Jun 25

I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Jason Mitchell from Wingate Web recently.  Wingate is real force to be reckoned with in the event planning and management space.  They help some of the biggest brands in the world manage events all over the world, increasingly (as you will hear from the interview) overseas.

Once again, Wingate shows us how many real giants in their spaces are sitting right here in the valley around us.

Jason is also one of the forces behind Feed The Habit, an extremely successful site that reviews and announces cool stuff around the outdoor industry.

Please join me in watching the interview (or click through to the post with the video in it here)

(Also, please forgive us… we had some issues with the tripod :)  I promse the next video will be less wobbly )

• 1 Comment
• Posted in Cool Utah Tech, Events, Podcast

Jason Alba speaks on effective social marketing, and his books

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Jun 05

A couple of years ago I started looking into the local Social networking/blogging/twitter/etc scene, and wondering where to start.  What could I really do to get value, and build a helpful network without just spinning my wheels?  Many people here in, and outside of the valley were a huge help (far too many to list here now).  But one in particular seemed to really be able to cut through all of the crap, and ignore all of the hype, and point a valuable path based on experience.  Not only that, but he has always been so willing to share what he has learned, and so humble to deal with.

I know many others have shared similar experiences with Jason.  For those that haven’t, I hope you enjoy the video.  Give him a call… he;ll go to lunch with anybody!

• 2 Comments
• Posted in Cool Utah Tech, Events, Podcast

Utah Innovation Awards

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on May 29

Last week Stoel Rives and The Utah Technology Council held their 2008 Utah Innovation Awards Ceremony.  The eight winners this year were chosen after much deliberation by a committe of 60 experts from private industry, government, and higher education.  We from the Tech Spotlight were also pleased to have an opportunity to attend and get video with several of the winners.  The eight winners this year, and their respective categories include:

We hope you enjoy the footage as much as we enjoyed the event.  We will also be posting a full transcript in the coming days.

• 3 Comments
• Posted in Cool Utah Tech, Events, Podcast

Podcast: Jeremy Hanks from Doba

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Dec 04

You know, Jeremy Hanks is a very easy person to get excited about. If he’s not busy making his company of one Inc’s 50 fastest growing companies, then he’s probably busy interviewing with Utah Business Magazine about the fact that his companies is one of the best companies to work for (You can see his smiling face on the cover of this month’s issue), or just generally finding ways to make Utah a better place (such as wit the event where he got Guy Kawasaki here to Utah to speak to 500 people, and then donated all of the proceeds to charity!)

As I read through the article on why people love working at Doba, there were several specifics… renting out theaters for family movie nights, ping pong tables, and more. But one thing that I know is really at the core of it all (and I think you will hear this come through in the podcast) is that Jeremy is just a really nice guy. There are few people I have ever met that are more genuine, and just generally likable.

Please join me during this podcast in learning more about what is not only a successful, and exciting (not to mention fun to work at) company here in Utah, but also in celebrating a person who is a real icon of what an entrepreneur, and a person should be.

Listen Now (34.2 MB, MP3)

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• Posted in Events, Past Events, Podcast

Podcast: Unspam

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Nov 12

For those who were at the event with Unspam, you will know already that this local company does an awful lot more than the Child Protection Registry that got them their initial start. Unspam has got a lot of really interesting products that they are making available to folks (most of them for free) to help put a collar on this beast we call Spam. They have solutions to protect your web servers, and keep an eye on questionable users, and other solutions to track the email address harvesters that are at the head of the Spam food chain. Check it out. Watch for the Doba podcast in a few days, and look for some exciting announcements about upcoming events (we are planning to change things up a bit, to make sure that people get more value from the events.) Let us know what you think, who we should be spotlighting, and if there’s anything we can do better!
Listen Now (34.2 MB, MP3)

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• Posted in Events, Past Events, Podcast

HireVue Podcast

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Jul 16

Well, unfortunately I was not able to get the audio all pulled together and online before leaving to Norway for two weeks, so forgive me for the delay, but we now, finally, have the Podcast interview with Ryan Money from HireVue. Kudos go out to Ryan and Mark from not only making HireVue the company to watch in their space, but for making yet another Utah company into a front-runner. In doing these interviews, I really found Ryan and Mark to be some of the most grounded entrepreneurs I have worked with yet. Bringing HireVue to the point where it is is an impressive feat on its own, but I think that the fortitude they have shown in overcoming some of the real obstacles of being a startup is what gives them a seasoned, realistic perspective that people don’t always get to learn when everything goes well.

I really enjoyed getting to know them both as part of this Spotlight, and will look forward to (and keep us all posted on) their continued success.

Listen Now (34 MB, MP3)

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• Posted in Past Events, Podcast

Event 3 Review: Control4

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on May 23

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the event on May 18th to hear Eric Smith from Control 4. For those who might have missed the event, or those of you who attended and would like to hear more from Eric, have a listen to the following podcast. Eric and I speak at length about Control4, and how they home automation solutions allow you to have access to all of your media from on on-screen menu on the Television… How to watch all of your movies without ever having to touch your DVD’s again… How to access your MP3 shares, adjust the temperature, control your lights, make your family safer, and all sorts of other really slick stuff. We also touch on what Eric has been up to with Charter schools here in Utah, and what Eric and his partner, Will West have done with their companies, and how they are giving back to Utah.
Listen Now (34.2 MB, MP3)

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• Posted in Past Events, Podcast

Podcast Episode 3: Jon Butler from Mediaport

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 24

Jon Butler from Mediaport talks to us about his company, and their music ATM. This provides some interesting insight into some of the financial pains that the music industry is facing, and creative steps that Mediaport is helping them take to address them.
Listen Now (34.2 MB, MP3)

• 2 Comments
• Posted in Podcast

David Politis speaks out on Utah

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 19

In this episode we met with David Politis, from Politis Communications. David has been an icon of the Utah valley, and has been instrumental in the success of many Utah based companies. Listen along as we compare notes with David on Utah, where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going, and what all of it really means.

Listen Now (31.2 MB, MP3)

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• Posted in Podcast

Episode 1: Josh Coates, Founder and CEO of Berkeley Data Systems

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on Apr 02

In this episode, Steve and Brad interview Josh Coates, Founder and CEO of Berkeley Data Systems, the makers of Mozy Online Backup.

Listen Now (27.1 MB, MP3)

• 5 Comments
• Posted in Podcast