LaunchSquad Goes Runnin’
For the fourth year in a row, LaunchSquad participated in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, a 3.5-mile run around Crissy Field and Fort Point just below the Golden Gate Bridge. Just as our company has experienced some significant growth over the past few years, so has our running squad; we’ve gone from a mere six in our inaugural race in 2004 to a company-high 16 participants this year. Despite some hesitation and pre-race jitters (along with some chilly and windy weather), everyone did a stellar job and finished as well if not better than the goals they had set for themselves. Overachievers? Maybe, but hey, we don’t settle for less.
Whether your inspiration was Steve Prefontaine: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”; The Little Engine That Could: “I think I can, I think I can”; or, my personal favorite, Bill Rodgers: “The only good race pace is suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die” (no one said 3.5 miles was easy!); it was a great evening and we all had a lot of fun. Or maybe it was the delicious food at Bayside afterwards. Regardless, once we recover from being sore, I think everyone will get going with training for next year’s race. Lace ‘em up!
Become an “Attendi”
There is a revitalization taking place in Silicon Alley and one of our New York clients is right in the middle of it: Attendi, Inc. is launching its beta today at DEMOfall 2007 in San Diego after many months of preparation. Attendi is a new type of search engine that let’s you find and interact with the Web’s most valuable resource: other people. The company is hoping to improve search through the power of conversation. Rather than searching and indexing web content like other search engines, Attendi captures the insights of its users and makes them accessible to others in the community. Essentially, it searches people, not web pages.
The company, founded by entrepreneur Drew Rayman, is a smart combination of search, social networking and live chat. With Attendi, you can use chat functionality to have real-time conversations with those who share similar interests, hobbies, passions and expertise. Attendi then archives and delivers these conversations as relevant search results to benefit other users.
Attendi is hoping to build a strong community of users they call “Attendis.” Click here to sign up for the beta and become one of the first Attendis!
Newly-hired TechCrunch (and former Business 2.0) editor Erick Schonfeld has the first word on what Attendi is all about.
GreenAmy Gets Going
Our own Amy Neal has been putting up some great content on her blog, Green Amy, over the past couple of months and we wanted to spread the word. Amy has been spending a lot of energy on green-related issues since joining LaunchSquad last year, including founding a Green Committee to help us better embrace and adopt eco-friendly practices.
It’s amazing how much can be achieved if people make just a small effort to change and think a bit differently about their everyday habits. People like Amy who are passionate about the environment are a key ingredient to helping us make the necessary changes in our lives to limit waste and become more sensitive to the evolving planet.
Check out and bookmark Amy’s blog to keep on top of the latest trends and issues around green technologies, innovation and ideas.
Welcome to Ryan Leverenz
We’d like to welcome Ryan Leverenz to the LaunchSquad team. Ryan joins us as a vice president in our San Francisco office after transplanting from the New York headquarters of Ruder Finn, the world’s 2nd largest independent PR firm.
Ryan was in Ruder Finn’s Branding practice and led the development and execution of global communications strategies with a focus on thought leadership and executive visibility for McKinsey & Company, BP Alternative Energy, Pfizer, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and HP. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a diverse portfolio of clients including Nike, E*TRADE, Gardenburger, Bechtel Enterprises, Trammell Crow Company and Integra Telecom.
We’re very excited to have Ryan on board!