Ahhh, the wait is over my friend.  On April 25th, at 6PM at the parking lot of the old Amway Arena, join the foodies and the techies as they get together to provide some awesome meals paired with technology discussion and demonstrations.

This event is generating a lot of buzz and shaping up to be quite a turnout with already close to 400 people committed on their event Facebook page with still a month to go.

Who’s going to be there you ask?

Speakers:

• Jonathan Taylor – Chairman, CEO and Chief Evangelist at Voxeo
• Larry Meador – CEO of Evok Advertising
• Joe Tenczar – CIO of HardRock International
• Lewis Broadnax – Executive Director, Lenovo.com Sales & Marketing
• Ted Murphy – CEO of IZEA (Event Host)

Food Trucks:

• All Things Sweet
• The Mangia Mobile
• Melissa’s Chicken & Waffles
• The Pastrami Project
• Soup to Nuts
• and others still to be named…

For more information on the event, please visit their website, or visit their Facebook Event Page.

TriNet held their annual National Field Operations Meeting at the beautiful Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona this year.  The event was amazing to say the least and it was an opportunity for all of the field representatives to get together, share best practices, and plan for what will be an outstanding finish to 2012.

The real highlight was the team building event Friday that will be talked about for years, and remembered forever.   They assigned us all to groups of 8 identified by different colored bandannas.  Our task was to barter with other groups to find the tools to assist with assembling both a boys and girls bike.  The bikes then had to pass inspection and finally cards were made by hand that would later be donated to kids in the Boys & Girls Club.

Once the teams finished the activity, we gathered in the center of the room for a large tricycle relay race amongst all the 8 person teams.

This is where it gets good… rather than talk about it, take a look at this clip of what happened next:

The look on the kids faces when they realized they could pick out a bike sent tears of joy and fulfillment to the majority of our TriNet team.  We have continued to talk about it all week on emails, calls, and all of our social media outlets.  It was a long week of work in a beautiful location, but only 1 hour of beautiful work that will remind me of that place for the rest of my life.  Thanks TriNet!

The banner on their startup landing page reads:  “Most startups have incredible ideas. Most entrepreneurs want to focus on them.“  Below it, there is an option to access a free library of 5 startup white papers that outlines best practices on employee benefits, compliance, human capital, and HR cost cutting strategies.

In addition, they have also released a 2-page data sheet that mentions some of the startups here in Central Florida and across the country that have partnered with TriNet.  I have included the contents of the data sheet below and made it available to download here. 

What they don’t have is HR expertise. That’s where TriNet comes in.

TriNet provides startups with an instant HR infrastructure that allows them to manage and scale their business. We structure healthcare benefits, manage payroll, and reduce HR liability risks so you can concentrate on what’s most important:  growing your business.

The Right HR Partner

TriNet works with many startup firms in technology, financial services, and professional services. That means we know
your language, understand your objectives, and deliver the premium HR services that highly compensated employees
expect.

We’re uniquely positioned to solve such challenges as:
• Maximizing time and resources
• Attracting and retaining talent
• Managing rising HR costs
• Minimizing exposure to risk

What’s Inside TriNet’s HR Services

TriNet professionals understand that as a startup enterprise you need HR services and guidance that encompass more than just one HR function. We serve your core HR needs by implementing and maintaining our HR outsourcing model that provides you and your workforce direct access
to a comprehensive Service Team, a turn-key HR services portfolio, and industry-acclaimed HR technology.

6/12/2012

Florida Technology Journal’s inaugural “FTJ Live” event was a huge success for Orlando’s growing tech community.   Envy Labs‘ 20th-floor workspace that overlooks downtown was a perfect venue and it played host to some amazing views of the city.  FTJ Live Executive Director, David Glass,  brought his online Florida Technology Journal conversation to the Plaza Building on Orange Avenue where there are over 100 tech related businesses within a 1 mile radius.

In speaking with David during and after the event, he was excited by the overwhelming support for FTJ Live and what Orlando is doing to rally around their tech community.   David has consistently put on events with relevant content that have contributed to Orlando’s Tech boom and the turnout for FTJ Live is an example of just how popular his events are.

If you missed FTJ Live, Orlando-based FilmScape Productions has put together an outstanding video of the event that includes the full panel discussion:

FTJ Live Panel:

(The FTJ Live Panel (L to R) Pete McAlindon, CEO of Blue Orb, Daryl Holt, COO of EA Sports, Ben Noel, Executive Director at Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, Craig Ustler, Developer of Creative Village Orlando, Gregg Pollack, CEO at Envy Labs, Carlos Carbonnell, CEO at Echo Interaction, Kyle Christian Steele, CEO at Doccaster, David Glass, Publisher at FTJ, Sponsors:  TriNet and Modis)

Downtown Orlando’s thriving tech district is a global hub for high-tech and creative industries including; gaming, simulation, e-learning, app development, software, digital media and creative agencies.   This year’s FTJ Live digital leaders will discuss talent, culture, capital investment, entrepreneurship, and the impact of the Creative Village development in Downtown Orlando.

Panelists:

• Daryl Holt, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, EA Sports
• Ben Noel, Exec. Director, Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
• Carlos Carbonell, Co-Founder & CEO, Echo Interaction Group
• Pete McAlindon, Co-Founder, Gazelle Lab Orlando
• Craig Ustler, Real Estate Developer, Creative Village Downtown Orlando
• Gregg Pollack, Co-Founder, Envy Labs and Code School

Moderated By: Kyle Christian Steele, Co-Founder & CEO, Doccaster

Join technology professionals, entrepreneurs and investors from across Florida at the new Envy Labs headquarters in Downtown Orlando’s high-tech district. Networking opportunities, cash bar and light appetizers served.

When: Tuesday, June 12, 5:30pm – 8:00pm

Where: Envy Labs, 189 S. Orange Avenue, 20th Floor, Orlando, 32801, View Map

Registration Fee: Free with Online Registration

Sponsors:

Reblogged from PROFESSORJOSH.COM:

“TechVenture 2011 My Top Tech Startup Picks: Code School, Dropost.it, EventGrabber, and Row Sham Bow” by Joshua Murdock (ProfessorJosh.com)

B.I.G. standing for Business, Innovation, and Growth is the “biggest” event in Central Florida that attracts entrepreneurs and business leaders for a day of learning, sharing, and discovering new opportunities and relationships with others from within the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Keynote Gary Vaynerchuk delivered an awesome speech to a sold out crowd at the Full Sail Live stage.

Gary shared perspective on the necessity of engaging with your social network, reminding everyone that the rules are changing and interacting with your contacts is as important ever.  ”Wake up to 2012 and the ROI of giving a crap about your customers!” Gary said.

To begin his keynote, Gary had asked the audience by a show of hands how many people had actually heard of Gary Vaynerchuk?  Obviously, knowing the audience is much different from his normal speaking engagements – approximately 90% of the people raised their hands unaware of Gary and his style.   In talking with attendees after Gary’s speech, it was evident that his message resonated with the audience.  Many of them said it was one of the best they had heard and felt that they could immediately implement some of his strategies into their business to help them engage with their clients.

Other highlights of the B.I.G Summit were a mock “Shark Tank” with Kevin Harrington where 3 companies got to go head to head in a demo face off competing for bragging rights of being the most shark tank qualified.

Grooveshark Co-Founder Josh Greenberg sharing his insight on competition and the hard work put into making Grooveshark what it is today.

As well as the B.I.G. “Judges Choice” Award that was taken home this year by one of my favorite companies, GroundFlights, Inc. out of Orlando.  To qualify, GroundFlights had to participate in a video submission contest that went before a panel of judges to decide who was this years top company.  Below is the video that took the honors:

It has been a lot of fun being a part of the B.I.G. Summit the last 2 years.  I’m not sure what Orlando Inc. has in store for 2012, but you will definitely not want to miss it!  The event continues to sell out, and it’s easy to see why.

For a recap and notes of this year’s event.  Michelle Royal, Founder of  HDYI (How Do You Innovate) has provided us with a sketch representation of the days activities that you can download here:  (big_2011visualizations)

Talk soon…

The site is designed to drive social networking and your share price is effected by the conversations and activity that you create, as well as how many people “buy into” you as an influencer.  The more buyers, the higher the stock price.

Currently, activity is ranked based on activity from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare, Instagram, WordPress,

Flickr, and Google+.

It’s fun to interact with people all over the world and add a gaming element to social activity on the web.  If you sign up, be sure to find me…my ticker is: (e)ARIC.

Google+ is everything Facebook “IS” and “IS NOT.”

There are many opinions about whether Google+ will or will not make it, but I truly believe that both businesses and individuals want the best of their work and personal lives shared on a social platform without risking the two bleeding together.  We all have heard the stories about people who have been Facebook “tagged” in photos that they never intended for their work friends to see.  Or, feeling pressured to accept a Facebook “friend request” to not annoy the other person, etc.   Google+ circles allow you the comfort of filtering the content to whom you want and don’t want seeing it, and in a way that isn’t rude or riddled with guilt.

It is still early, and admittedly I am only 1 week into my G+ era.  However, at the rate that the Android units are moving off the shelves and the convenience of Gmail and other applications, we may see a major change in the way that we communicate socially.

Change is good…