Something that’s become an annual tradition for BatchBlue is sending out tumblers at the holidays. We admit to borrowing this idea from my old place of employ Amazon.com, but also we just really enjoy hot, caffeinated drinks in bitter cold weather. Plus, my mom owns Vermont’s most awesome coffee shop (Hi Mom!) so it seems like a tumbler is a natural way to express our appreciation to all our friends and fans.
For the third year in a row, we sent out our tumblers to say “Happy Holidays” and “Thanks” and “Hey, we like your shirt!” to some of our favorite folks. Here’s Customer Experience superstar Scott Blitstein and his wife Gina enjoying theirs alll the way out in Chicago:
Christelle had so much fun designing these this year, she actually did two versions: a blue one and a white one. Here’s a cute photo our friends at MOO sent over when they received their mugs – everything looks so fancy all together like that! Thanks for making the cute stickers and MOO cards, MOO!
As makers of a web-based app, we’re all about folks working from where ever they happen to be in order to get the job done. In fact, I’m writing this from my house where I’m currently snowed in with almost a foot of snow outside and one slightly stir-crazy pre-schooler making paper snowmen at the kitchen table. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do!
Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have a place to go to do your work where there are not piles of laundry stacked around you and no one is licking their fur really loudly while you are trying to write (LOOKING AT YOU, KITTY). Which is why we’re such fans of the co-working movement. Co-working is the best of both worlds: your schedule is flexible and yours to make, you can talk to folks or not, and you can choose a place that’s conducive to the type of work you need to get done. And all this without the expense and hassle of actually keeping a full-time office.
Many great co-working spaces and apps have cropped up over the last couple of years. I recently gave a presentation with my friend Amy Ellis of MailChimp at the gorgeous Link co-working space in Austin, TX, where we met founder Liz Elam. They have an interesting model where you become a member (like you would for a gym) but rather than working out, you get a lovely, airy, fully-stocked and functional office at your disposal with kitchen snacks and instant, smart co-workers. Genius!
Here’s a quick interview with Liz (sorry for the shaky camera work and the skinny picture: I was actually getting sick that day)
At BatchBlue, we still sort of think of ourselves as a start-up. After four plus years of being in business, we’ve enjoyed some success and want to continue to help others along the way. Giving back to our communities, whether they be the local Providence community, the greater New England community or the start-up community in general, is as much part of our company DNA as, well, the color blue.
This past year, we were lucky enough to help sponsor a number of smaller, but we feel important events. Here’s a little about each one – if you weren’t able to make any of these, perhaps we’ll see you there next year!
SXSBW (South by Small Business Web)
For us, the mother of all events is still South by Southwest (SXSW) It’s here where we first created and launched the Small Business Web, which has grown beyond our wildest expectations. Last year, we partnered with twelve other vendors to through a big party celebrating our customers and small business owners in general. We had a blast spending time with our partners, meeting new partners, and even awarding a prize to our “Most Connected Customer“. We’re busy planning this year’s event, so watch for more on that in the coming weeks.
Start-Up Weekend Chicago
I had the chance to go to Chicago (one of my favorite cities!) to witness an army of entrepreneurs and wannabe enterpreneurs get together for an intense weekend of business-buildng during Start-Up Weekend Chicago. Along with fellow sponsors MailChimp and FreshBooks, we provided participants with burritos and beer so that they had the energy needed to flesh out their killer start-up ideas. We enjoyed introducing our respective business tools to attendees as well as acting as unofficial advisors on the fine art of the start.
If you happen to be in Austin this week, we invite you to swing by Moonshine for a delicious drink or two this Thursday night. I’ll be in town for a few meetings and so will Amy Ellis from our good friends and partners over at MailChimp. We thought it would be fun to meet up with some Austin-based customers, tech-enthusiasts, fellow geeks, whomever!
Here’s the official invite. So come on by between 7pm and 9pm, have a drink on us and say hello. Or I guess in Texas that would be howdy…
Here at BatchBlue, we love a good cause. This year the holiday season afforded us a few great opportunities to get involved (as well as share a few laughs over growing-in mustaches!)
We kicked off the season in November when we joined the international effort to raise money for men’s health with our own Movember team. Movember is a month-long effort to raise awareness (and cash) for men’s health issues by growing mustaches. The funds raised through Movember’s US campaign benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation. For thirty days, the BatchBlue “Mo Bros” fearlessly grew their mustaches in spite of the pitfalls of somewhat prickly upper lips and lots of good-natured teasing from friends and family. The BatchBlue Mo Sistahs joined in the fun, too and helped cheer the team on! Team BatchStache raised $1012.00 for the cause thanks to our family and friends.
In December, it’s a BatchBlue tradition to partner with our friends from the Providence Geeks and collect donations for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. Food and funds were collected at the Providence Geeks December meeting at AS220. The third annual “Geeks for Good” event collected $404.00 and 188 lbs of food. That goes a long way to help feed the hungry in our state: we’re grateful to all the local geeks who helped make this donation possible.
We also made a donation on behalf of the employees of BatchBlue to Boys’ Town of New England, a great organization that provides temporary housing and support to children in crisis situations (abusive homes, custody issues, etc.) If you haven’t heard of them before, please check them out as they are doing really good and important work in helping kids in our area.
