tekMountain

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Say It Social - "Top Digital Marketing Strategies for 2015″

Staying atop all of the developments in digital marketing is a challenge that we at SayItSocial gladly accept. Each team member at SayItSocial monitors unique newsfeeds and trade publications that help them to excel at carrying out their individual responsibilities for our clients. Servicing our range of clients (small to enterprise sized organizations) and evaluating our efforts through analytics gives us unique perspective upon which we make educated predictions for the future of the digital marketing industry. Going into 2015, we decided to combine our individual experiences and research efforts into a comprehensive digital marketing guide.

Within this White Paper, you will find cutting-edge strategies, best practices, external resources, and valuable insights for the most important digital marketing topics for 2015. Below please find a list of topics covered within “Top 15 Digital Marketing Strategies for 2015” We hope you enjoy our “marketing ingenuity”, and are confident that this guide will prove a valuable resource in guiding your brand’s digital marketing efforts for 2015!

By: Say It Social. tekMountain Member

Monday, January 5, 2015

A New Year, A New Mountain to Climb

This past year was busy; we held our grand opening, a UNCW pitch competition, IT breakfast panel, 10X10 with Cucalorus Film Festival, multiple DevOps meetups, a Full Belly Project charity event, crowned the ping pong “King of the Mountain” in a friendly competition among our members, held monthly home brewing classes at tekMountain Brewery, and so much more.

As we Climb into the New Year our focus continues to be on nurturing education and student career guidance technologies. As a young, privately owned, community-driven incubator/accelerator we are essentially a startup for startups backed by a great team dedicated to discovering and enhancing new technologies. We are not alone here in Wilmington; MakerSpace by Elite Innovations LLC and the UNCW CIE are helping to grow the entrepreneurial scene as well. Together we are proving that Wilmington NC really is a great place to live, work, and play. This year Wilmington was voted to have the best river front in America and made the National Georgraphic list of World's best Surf towns. Our in-house surfboards and standup paddle boards get plenty of use.

Metaphorically, in rock climbing lingo, we have been “belaying” others while we ourselves are belayed. Our New Year’s Resolution is to ensure that our tectonic plates collide strategically and propel our Mountain to higher heights. We invite you to join us this year while we continue our ascent to success. Visit www.tekMountain.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

By: Alex May, tekMountain Team Member

Monday, December 22, 2014

tekMendations: Uber issues

Lindt Chocoloate and Uber have been innocently inserted into a fatal hostage situation by an ISIS terrorist in Sydney Australia — but only Uber was found capitalizing upon it. The situation left three dead and many others fleeing for their lives, turning to their Uber apps to escape the area of violence.

Uber has had other negative press recently for questionable behavior of a driver in Washington D.C. But this time it was not the nature of the ride that was in question: it was the action of the app itself. Desperate customers naturally increased the demand for Uber rides during the emergency, and Uber responded to that demand by quadrupling fare prices. Taking advantage of helpless people in need.

Uber did try to make up for this extreme error by refunding passengers and providing free rides. When a company fails to rise to the occasion AND backstabs its users, it is hard to save face with that current customer base. Uber's action broke the trust, the essential element of a strong customer relationship; not just a faulty product or rude service employee that could be remedied by discounts or free product. Hopefully Uber has learned to take the high road, and reap the benefits that would have overshadowed the profit: being a beacon of customer care, safety and dependability without question for the sake of their customers.

By: Alex May, tekMountain Team Member

Monday, December 15, 2014

tekMendations: weekly recommended knowledge from the Mountain

Inventor Kodjo Afate Gnikou, of the West African town of Togo, asks: “why is Africa always lagging behind when it comes to technology?” Yet his invention, the W.Afate 3-D printer, answers quite loudly that they no longer are.

Gnikou has disrupted the 3-D printing industry with his model constructed from e-waste bones revived from a junkyard in the city of Lomé . He has done so through the WoeLab hackerspace and his crowdfunding campaign, and for only $100. Not only is he recycling useless digital trash otherwise left to soil the landscape and harm inhabitants, but he is doing so to potentially relocate said waste to Mars and produce tools to colonize it (fitting, considering the successful launch of the Orion December 5th ).

Africa is increasingly showing promise of entrepreneurial spirit, and this revolutionary creation fully embodies that spirit. The W.Afate will propel Africa bravely into the international technology market and bring 3-D printing to the masses while cleaning up after them.

By: Alex May, tekMountain Team Member

Friday, December 12, 2014

We are expanding!

tekMountain is located on the third floor of CastleBranch's new building. However for the past 6 months only one side has been occupied. Each week of operations has brought in new members and quickly filled the existing space. Now as we look toward the future we will soon be opening an additional 10,000sqft of office space for new members. Aside from all the perks you get like Forged Strength + Conditioning gym classes, access to our on site brewery and food truck (Vittles), mentorship, Internet access, free printing, access to a variety of workshops, there are many great reasons to join tekMountain. Here, are some of our favorites.

BETTER PRODUCTIVITY
Working in your living room or at Starbucks by yourself (or crammed in your garage with the rest of your team) is not inspiring, comfortable, or suitable in creating optimal productivity. More than likely these spaces don't have enough space for everyone to work and lack the appropriate IT infrastructure you need. Working from home allows for endless distractions like honey due lists, children/pet seeking attention, and your lazy boy and TV taunting you. tekMountian is a place that makes you feel good and enables you to do your best work.

NETWORKING TO BUILD A COMMUNITY
The opportunity to network with other startups and other entrepreneurs throughout the day or at one of the many events we host weekly – everything from breakfast panels, happy hours (in the brewery), pitch competitions, guest speakers, and DevOps/IT meetups! We don't take just anyone of the street, everyone has to apply to join tekMountain. We aim to gather innovative people and businesses with a high caliber of potential.

EVENTS
Classes and events happen all the time, whether they are hosted by tekMountain staff or our members. panel events, allow entrepreneurs to meet industry leader and learn about trends related to various topics. Pitch competitions give aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to gain exposure, and industry specific Meetups allow for collaboration.

BE INSPIRED, BE INNOVATIVE
Being creative is tough when your surroundings are static and uninspiring. We believe in innovation and inspiration. tekMountain staff constantly work to add more tools and resources for members. Helping encourage interaction and collaboration we are always looking for creative ways to inspire our members.

Want to learn more? Email us at info@tekMountain.com

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

King of the Mountain

Welcome to the underbelly of ping-pong where fortunes are won and lost. I'm exaggerating, of course, but you get my point.

Daniel Wilson of Quintify Database Solutions and Ian Western of SayItSocial ping-ponged like no man has ponged before in the first ever tekMountain ping-pong competition! For the trophy and title of “King of the Mountain!”

In an all out, best of 3 grudge match, the score was neck and neck during each bout. Smashes increased near the end as the focus and intensity from each player grew. After 45 minutes of pong Ian Western pulled through to victory earning the tile King of the Mountain.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Beef Cakes: Men of Business

tekMountain Member Forged Strength + Conditioning was featured in Wrightville Beach Magazines November article about the Men of Business.

Brian Parke, Razz, and TJ Welsh (not picuted) are co-owners of Forged Strength + Conditioning a premier personal training boutique with specialized classes offered throughout the day such as, yoga, pilates, ForgedFit, barre, and kids yoga. With classes at their CastleBranch location being offered to, CastleBranch employees, tekMountain members and the greater Wilmington community.

ForgedCB features one of two indoor corporate turf fields in the country. Forged is redefining the corporate wellness landscape with their various classes; ask any member of Castlebranch, tekMountain, or the Wilmington community that has attended class. .

#TodayWillBeDifferent