Just a few days away from Ignite Boulder 12, this Thursday at Chautauqua!

Here is a list of the speakers:

Amy C. Christensen @expandoutdoors Stripping down on  Kaua’i
Jeremy Tanner @penguin On Travel
Stephanie Lee Su-Ling @nuancechaser The Rationality of Fear
John Common @johncommon Beautiful Empty
Andrew Hyde @andrewhyde How To Build a Trail
Kendall Ruth @iamkendal Inconceivable or That Word Doesn’t Mean What You Think it Means
Jesse Weaver @jweav1 The Independence Day Theory: Why an Alien Visit may be Humanity’s Only Hope for Survival
Mary Kuehner @daisycakes Life Lessons of a Children’s Librarian
Rise Keller @vanillagrrl Baking at High Altitude: It’s All About Atmospheric Pressure
Sam Stauffer @redhead_wilma Take a Chill Pill: Dealing with Anxiety Disorders and other Mental Illnesses
Kate Brown @invinciblekate Lunch Lady Land – Food Activists on the Front Lines of the Childhood Obesity Battle
Danya Michael @theroseinbloom Fairy Tales as Education, or Why It’s OK to Read Harry Potter after High School
Emma Nicoletti @dollemma A Post Apocalyptic Experience without an Apocalypse: Working as a Waitress.
Joel Gratz @gratzo Hire a Meteorologist, Not a Stock Broker.

1/3 organizer picks, 2/3 community picks.  You can follow them all on twitter with this handy link.

Tickets are on sale now!  http://bit.ly/igniteboulder12

• Pivotal Labs
• Viget
• Slice of Lime
• Imulus
• GB Studios

The general theme is test driven development (TDD). For a full list of potential topics and all other details, see the announcement. Come hungry!

The address:
1919 14th Street
Suite 714
Boulder, CO 80302

[Disclosure: I work at Quickleft.]

Fortunately, after the hangover wore off they decided upon dojo4. But they kept the swords and a bit of the theme – 4 is the Japanese symbol for death. Then something strange happened. David said once they named their space, the work began pouring in. Now, they are helping start-ups and other more established companies with their branding, video production, development, packaging, photography – essentially any creative development concept. The folks at dojo4 aim to use art and technology to help companies with their development projects. As important as the creative and technical development of a project is the relationship doJo4 establishes with a client. Jeff stressed how important this component of their business is and in many ways builds on their ideas around community space. They want to get to know their clients, understand their needs and figure out how dojo4 can help – they want their clients to be as proud of the end-result as Dojo4 will be to include it in their portfolio!

The dojo4 group is comprised of Corey Kohn, Dave Clements, Jeff Larrimore, Justin Crawford and Ara Howard.

Sustainability and performance are key elements to the clothing they produce. The shirts are stamped instead of labeled on the back, and the tags that are safety-pinned to each shirt are wild flower seed tags – soak them overnight and plant. The shirts are printed locally and are produced using phthalate-free and pvc-free water-based inks. Jeff and Claire have really thought through the production of their designs, the choice of fabric and how they market their products to ensure they have the smallest footprint.

Alchemist provides casual, earth-friendly clothing for athletes who live and play in the outdoors. They fuse premium, sustainable materials with smart, original graphics for the active outdoor community. Organic and recycled materials come together to create threads that are buttery soft and comfortable. Green never felt so good.

I’m getting this one for my husband.

The goal of the offering is to make usability best practices and user interface design techniques based on 20 years of web usability experience accessible to even the smallest of companies at an affordable price. The Web site review works in the following way:

1. Sign up.
2. Provide some typical customer information.
3. Define a scenario. A scenario is what you want a customer to do when they get to your site
   • For example, a customer visiting a jewelry store’s Web site may search on necklaces and compare prices on two of them in a similar price range.
4. Review the video. After a two to three day turn around, Lyn and her team will provide you with a video, including recommendations.

The charge for this service is $139 and is really tailored-made for small businesses, small design shops or web design groups wanting a second set of eyes to review their work.

According to Lyn, there has been some push back from the usability community regarding the low cost of the offering and assertions that real recommendations can’t be provided without substantial audience analysis. It’s a point Lyn concedes but she asserts that her and her team have over 20 years of experience in the usability and UI field and are applying industry best practices and methodologies to each review. Further, it’s a chance for businesses unfamiliar with usability testing to learn of the real value of testing and user interface design. Unlike the many online “remote usability” sites that are available, usablefeedback.com’s site does not require companies to know how to design research studies, write research questions, or interpret data from the feedback.  But the service can help companies understand why something is happening on their site and how to fix it, which is the key to effectively redesigning a site.

A new Social CRM tool from Collective Intellect does exactly that. Their new Social CRM tool goes beyond simply monitoring social media conversations to allow businesses to analyze the sentiment, considerations and true voice of a customer. This type of analysis allows businesses to better understand the true nature of customer sentiment – the ‘heart of the conversation‘. The tool is web-based, automated and real-time, which can give companies timely, relevant and actionable insights into their customer’s experience. One of the distinguishing features of the tool is its ability to provide trending details. In other words, a company can get a clearer picture of customer sentiment over a period of time, which provides a much broader and deeper understanding of customer feedback than a daily or even monthly view. This type of detail allows companies to establish baselines and dig deeper into their competitive analysis.

I had the chance to speak with Greg Greenstreet, CTO & SVP Engineering, about the new product offering and he is excited by the feedback they have received so far.  He mentioned that many of their newer customers end up trying out Collective Intellect after becoming frustrated with other tools that simply monitor customer conversations. According to Greg, what differentiates Collective Intellect Social CRM is that although you can still view the snippets of customer conversations you can pull back and study the full expression of conversations and glean so much more.

Collective Intellect just moved offices but is still located in downtown Boulder. Greg is excited about the new place but even more enthusiastic about the company itself.   He said, ‘…we have a great culture here, and some truly talented and amazing people. It’s an exciting place to be.”

The organizers credit the success of Startup Women — they are moving to Atlas Purveyors because of its greater capacity — with the high quality speakers that have been willing to share their expertise and the level of engagement of attendees and co-organizers, Fiona Schlachter, Andrea Meyer, Jennifer J. Breazeale. The group has expanded from 5 to approximately 40  in just five months.

While they are not  entirely certain how the organization will evolve, the organizers hope that this new vs. experienced entrepreneurial collaboration will result in “real magic”.  Both  groups stand to benefit: one from their hard-earned experience, and the other sharing new ideas or new ways of doing business.

In the future, Startup Women is planning to organize an all-day event and include other local organizations that have been so supportive of this effort, including Girls in Tech and the Boulder Open Coffee Club. If you are a woman interested in the startup community in Boulder, have a startup or are just beginning the journey, the meetings are bi-weekly from 8 am – 9 am at Atlas Purveyors.  Stop by to share “the good, the bad, and the ugly of starting and managing your own business.”

• connecting customers with deals and discounts from their favorite local businesses
• enabling merchants to instantly communicate special offers to local customers

The software is available for customers as a free iPhone app (a Droid version will be available soon) or you can visit their Web site, if you want to check out merchant discounts. So, if you are out and looking to grab lunch or drinks with friends you can quickly browse a list of merchant offerings and see if your favorite place is giving a discount.
duckduckDeal! allows merchants to instantly create offerings, like happy hour discounts.  So, instead of simply throwing out a coupon and possibly having them redeemed at peak times, merchants  can target special promotions during their less busy times and connect with  an audience that may have a little more flexibility, like students.

Treasure Hunt

This coming Monday, July 19th, duckduckDeal! is having a treasure hunt. Clues will be released via Twitter @duckduckdeal), Facebook (Facebook.com/DuckDuckDeal), and on their website and the free iPhone app that lead to ducks hidden around Boulder. Find a duck, win a prize. The finders of the first three ducks will win prizes including gift certificates and cash. Along with a prize to the finder, the discovery of each of these ducks will release a piece of our treasure map on this page.

Eric

I met with Eric Jackson founder of Boulder Community Computers a non-profit that is addressing the digital divide starting in Boulder.  Eric got the idea for starting Boulder Community Computers while working at Community Cycles in Boulder and his idea is based loosely on the same spirit – education, volunteerism and community. Boulder Community Computers not only provides training but also gives individuals an opportunity to work towards “earning” their own computer. Individuals can “earn” through their volunteer hours. They also refurbish old computer equipment, including iPhones. This serves two purposes:

• provides a way for individuals to earn their own computer by learning how to install an OS or refurbishing a machine
• keeps these items out of the landfill

One of the principles of the organization is to provide individuals with real world skills, which they can market about themselves today. It is also serving to provide an alternative to people spending $500 on a new computer; they can come and volunteer, get trained, meet experts, join a community  and get involved. The value of the community aspect is worth more than the $500 some may spend on a new PC.

Eric wants to blend the best of the for-profit and non-profit worlds. Boulder Community Computers has the soul and heart of a non-profit but is operated like any for-profit business. They use proceeds from their store to help fund this effort. Eric is a strong believer in creating a sustainable, working business model that isn’t simply a charity.

I asked Eric what has been one of the biggest accomplishments and he said, “We are building a community here, which I think is synonymous with the idea of family. We have people come in and express a need and we feel great knowing that we are an organization that can help or we have others dropping in, who don’t need a computer or training but want to help out because they want to see this idea succeed”.  But Eric admits they still need help developing their business model. If you have an interest in helping out, applying your business expertise  to help build an organization with a soul, contact Eric. But if you are in need of a computer, or training stop by the shop and volunteer.

2232 Pearl St, Suite 200
Boulder, 80302
Phone: 303.335.0411

Since we know the Vanilla guys so well, it was a natural choice.

http://boulder.vanillaforums.com/

Lets jump on it and start some discussions, you never know who is out there.