Last month, I celebrated my two year anniversary with BatchBlue. I can’t believe it’s been two years already. I can’t believe it’s only been two years.
I also had a birthday right around that time, so the oh-so-thoughtful Sean figured that made it a perfect time to upgrade my laptop. So, I went from the older white MacBook to the shiny new aluminum one. While I love the new computer, it is with some hesitance I let the white one go. The thing has been essentially an extension of my body for the last couple of years. And let’s just say, it’s been well loved:
This was the first laptop I ever stickered up. Each sticker has a story and now is as good a time as any to share them.
Belle: Before we had our lovely Providence office, we were a completely virtual company. Living rooms became conference rooms. One day, I got up from sitting on the floor at Pam’s house. I had a Belle sticker stuck to my butt. Pam has three kids, so this isn’t very surprising. The laptop was already well-stickered at this point, so on it went.
BatchBook: Well, that’s us silly!
Twitter: When Saul Colt sent me an autographed FreshBooks sticker (see #8), he also tossed in an extra Twitter sticker. While there may not be many things I like more than Twitter, Saul Colt is one of them.
WordPress: I’m a big WordPress fan, and Matt Mullenweg gave this sticker to me at SXSW 2007 after I said something nice to him. I saved the sticker until I finally had something worthy to stick it to.
HubSpot: As the developer of a marketing website, I love HubSpot. So many things that were previously trial and error have become well oiled machines (SEO keyword selection, inbound link monitoring, etc.). HubSpot even interviewed Michelle and I for a case study (and released a portion of the interview for their inbound marketing blog). The fact that I just linked to them with their favorite SEO keyword shows you what I learned from HubSpot!)
SimpleBits: Similar to the WordPress sticker, I had this one for a while (since 2006) before applying it to something. SimpleBits is the design shop run by Dan Cederholm in Salem, MA. I got the sticker (and my trademark SimpleBits shirt that I always seem to be photographed in) at a Carson Systems workshop with Dan. Dan’sbooks and his blog heavily inspired the approach I take to design. And he’s a swell guy to boot.
Creative Commons: Michelle gave this one to me, and Creative Commons is a wonderful thing. Personally, I often pretend it’s a CC Chapman sticker.
FreshBooks: As mentioned in #3, this was given to me Saul Colt (that’s his autograph!). At the time, he was the Head of Magic for FreshBooks. Now he holds the same title for Zoocasa.com.
iStockPhoto: Like HubSpot, iStockPhoto just makes my life so much easier. Specifically, I’ve written before about how Kemie (an iStockPhoto contributor) is essentially an honorary member of the BatchBook design team. I got this sticker from the nice iStock team at SXSW in 2008.
bata: When Stephanie went to Japan, she had a little sticker set to help her learn the language. One of her favorite words in Japanese was bata (butter). It kind of became an inside joke and the sticker found it’s way on my laptop.
Firefox: Along with the WordPress sticker, I got this one at SXSW in 2007 and saved it. While I use Safari for browsing, Firefox simply can’t be beat as a development browser.
Kidoinfo:Kidoinfo is a Rhode Island-based site for parents run by our friend Anisa. Anisa has built an amazing resource for local parents. It’s so handy to quickly find something to do on a rainy day!
Barcamp Austin III: Michelle and I made it for the very end of Barcamp during SXSW in 2008. Barcamp is an “unconference” (meaning it is essentially a “user-generated” conference put on by the attendees themsevles). We missed out on the sessions, but we did get to hang out for the incredible live karaoke band Karaoke Apocalypse. That was the night my respect for Chris Brogan and Laura Fitton shot throught he roof.
DEMOfall07: The very last one is the very first sticker to grace the MacBook. When we launched our public beta at DEMOfall07 in San Diego, this laptop was the demo unit. It’s just a simple inkjet label with the company name, station number, and date & time we presented (which actually changed, so it’s not totally accurate). But it might be my favorite of all the stickers.
I’ve been using Macs exclusively since my dad got us an Apple IIGS in 1986. I’ve had quite a few Macs over the years. This white MacBook was definitely my favorite since my beloved PowerBook G3 Pismo. It was powerful. It was dependable.
As the person who is ultimately responsible for the tech going-ons around here, I found the DEMO launch stressful in a different way than my colleagues. Schmoozing and doing product demonstrations were secondary to my fears of making sure the app was working at all times and in such a way that my team could show it off.
The smartest thing we did was keep our top tech man, Riley, back home in Providence. Actually, it was Riley’s idea and it turned out to be a good one. While we would have liked to have the whole team at DEMO, having someone available who has a reliable internet connection and was ready to jump in and work without the distraction of the conference was golden. Riley saved us numerous times when I was unable to provide my full attention to server problems or code issues.
Sometimes the best decisions for your small business are not the most glamorous ones. So a public thank you to Riley. I owe you a trip to San Diego!
-sean
Riley launching Batchbook at home in Providence while the team was wheeling and dealing at DEMO in San Diego:
When we were working on our script in preparation for DEMOfall2007, we knew we had a huge task ahead of us. Not only did we have the pressure of trying to showcase what our product did in the allocated six minutes, but we were also the underdogs. The only company at DEMO from Rhode Island, BatchBlue was representing the smallest state to the biggest tech crowd in the country.
We brainstormed for ideas that would really wow them onstage. Beholden to the six minute, no-props-no-slides-no-acting-no-video rules of DEMO, we ultimately decided to just be ourselves. We showcased how we, a small company, were using BatchBook to do our jobs. We mentioned our families, our passion for finding work and life balance, and how we truly want to empower other small business owners to not just organize their businesses but to better live their lives. We knew it wasn’t going to be the flashiest presentation (how could it be? We were demonstrating with medical breakthroughs, video games, digital media, all sorts of products that would make the audience stop their frenetic text messaging and email checking and glance up at the stage for a moment), but we felt the presentation well-conveyed what our product does, who it’s for, and who we are as a company.
During the hours (and hours!) of script rehearsal, Pam often said a line and one of us (usually Adam) would jump in with “And…wait for laughter.” This became shorthand for acknowledging that we might not knock them out of their chairs at DEMO, but as we encourage our soccer-playing kids on game day, we were going to do our best and have a good time. UPDATED: Here is the link to BatchBlue’s presentation at DEMO.
The four days at DEMO were a blur of web apps and product pitches. The other demonstrators we met were incredibly fun, nice people and it was a pleasure to be around them and their great energy (see interviews with some of our favorites linked below). We saw the occasional bouts of bad behavior: the guy screaming “There’s no ‘I’ in team!” into his cell phone, someone snapping at a crew member during rehearsal, a man kicking a wall because he didn’t win a DEMO god award, but for the most part, the atmosphere among the demonstrators was very supportive and upbeat.
Where things got a little weird was the political goings-on that swirled around us, the proverbial sharks in the water. By its nature, DEMO is attended by people who want something, whether it’s funding, press or connections. The hustle and schmooze seemed like second nature to many of the attendees, part of a larger, unending conversation with and among industry insiders. To us it just felt…not like us.
What was us: performing a lobster dance unwittingly in front of a reporter to illustrate that we were from Rhode Island (Michelle); tipping over backwards in a chair in the middle of the pavilion – twice! (Sean); charming the pants off of other demonstrators and trading coffee for massive amounts of chocolate (Adam); bonding with the stage crew during rehearsals (Pam and Adam); packing up boxes though she was dressed to the nines (Keri); sending drinks over to Chris Shipley in the hotel bar at the end of the conference (BatchBlue staff).
We are not from Silicon Valley and nor would we want to be. BatchBlue had a huge amount of fun as a team, a great release from the sleepless, caffeine-fueled six weeks leading up to DEMO and the neglected health and home life the endless work created. We whole-heartedly congratulate our fellow DEMO attendees and appreciate the many great connections that we made there.
But the best connection we made was to each other. Staying true to who we are as a company was what felt right to us. We now return to our home state and to our work with a renewed commitment to making great products for small businesses. For its flaws, DEMO has given BatchBlue and, by proxy, small businesses, a seat at the tech table. As long as we’re still having fun, we have no intention of leaving.
The BatchBlue team is back now from our exciting trip to DEMO. It was a whirlwind of product pitches and speech rehearsals. We’ll be posting many stories (and pictures and videos) starting next week, but I just had to share one telling experience.
Sean, Michelle, Adam and I made the cross country trip back from San Diego yesterday. Exhausted from late nights, active days and a fluctuating time zone, I parked myself in the gate area of the Cincinnati airport and checked the blackberry for incoming mail. I had 17 new messages, including:
Inquiries from venture capitalists
An invitation from us to speak at an event in NYC
New Google alerts telling us we were picked up in Inc. and PC Magazine
A message from the parent’s association at my daughters’ school asking for a crock-pot to use at the caramel apple booth at the upcoming fall festival
It was a fabulous trip. We are thrilled with the great reception that BatchBook received and is receiving. But it is so nice to come back to reality. We will spend the next day or two catching back up with the families and enjoying a little down time. And then back to the business of building our business.
But first, I need to dig out my crock-pot.
Editor’s note: Here’s a video from DEMO where Pam seamlessly juggles work (script rehearsal) with life (long-distance help with pumpkin-carving).
Well, we’re here—sitting in the hotel lobby at the Sheraton San Diego and getting ready to debut the public beta version of BatchBook at the DEMO conference. This could be a watershed moment for us. We hope so, but not necessarily in the way you might think.
One of the goals of BatchBlue is to serve as high tech scouts, bringing the latest and greatest coming out of the tech industry to the small business community. DEMO for us means a seat at the groundbreakers table, but it also means that we’re bringing our concept to some of the tech industry’s greats. We’ll get some top rate feedback on our product, good or bad, from the geek factor. These are the folks who have helped launch products that today are household names. They understand the latest offerings and how they filter down to new markets.
Our job is to gather this collective wisdom and use it to make our product better. We’ll make BatchBook smoother and easier and more functional to our audience; the small business owners who do not have the time themselves to keep a watchful eye on the Silicon Valley gadget-du-jour. Our customers are the folks who are willing to take the time to learn a new technology but only if it will truly make their business more efficient or profitable. That’s where we fit in. We love this stuff; the standardization movement happening now on the Web that makes information-sharing easier; the rapid development methods that allow us to respond much faster to feedback from our customers, and the new delivery models that let us manage the “tech heavy” tasks of security and accessibility so our users can concentrate on the more important job of running their business. And of course, living their lives.
