After a busy holiday season filled with Vigetreats and fun it was already time for another TTT. It proved to be yet another successful quarter as Andy shared the financials and we all talked about what makes Viget a great place, but more importantly, how to make it even better. After all the business talk was out of the way each office took the rest of the afternoon to do some seriously awesome things.
We've only had snow at one of our offices this year so the Boulder team took advantage of it and went snowshoeing at Eldora Mountain Resort.
They bundled up for the 30 degree weather and 20-40mph winds, and trekked the 2 mile trail called Lakes Loop.
Continue reading "Snowshoes, Laser Tag, and Bicycles"
Most new projects are inherently exciting; but, you can't always (nor should you) rely on the freshness of work to crystallize enthusiasm and optimism amongst your team. And that's important. Equal to getting a contract signed and the right boxes checked is knowing that your team is looking forward to the next several months working with this new client. Somewhere between setting up Basecamp and planning the kick-off meeting, take a moment to think of clever, fun ways to make the start of your project unique and inspiring.
Continue reading "Pep Rallies for Projects"
2011 was a banner year for Lenovo. This international tech company was crowned the #3 global PC maker, rolled out a snazzy new brand campaign (have you seen its For Those Who Do ads?), and partnered with Viget to launch the new Lenovo Blogs and Social pages.
The new Lenovo Social homepage
Our goal for this redesign was to centralize Lenovo's existing blogs and social media in an engaging, navigable, and branded way, using one easily maintainable CMS. This would solve a few of the old sites' big problems:
Continue reading "Lenovo Blogs and Social: A New Connection for Those Who “Do”"
We love working with entrepreneurs to make innovative ideas a reality. Earlier this summer we met the folks at RoundPegg, a Boulder-based TechStars alum, and were immediately excited by their vision: to optimize the hiring process and human interactions within the workplace through a combination of science and technology.
Although there's already a number of technology companies (Gild, BranchOut, Top Prospect, Jobvite, Jibe, LinkedIn) focused on addressing human resources challenges, RoundPegg provides a unique and powerful tool set that we were happy to help expand and enhance. (Check out these quick video introductions to two of RoundPegg's tools: pre-hire assessments and company culture surveys.)
Last week RoundPegg launched the update to its product that we helped design and develop. Here's a closer look at the process.
Continue reading "Product Design and Development: Reshaping RoundPegg"
At Viget, we consider ourselves craftsmen (or, craftswomen as the case may be). We spend all year crafting digital stuff: web products, mobile apps, online campaigns. All cool work that we love -- but, other than an occasional awesome t-shirt -- it's all 1s and 0s. Sometimes it's nice to hold things.
Years ago, we decided it would be fun to come together once each year as a team and get crafty in the more literal sense by making something with our bare hands to share with family and friends around the holidays. With VigorBalm, a holiday tradition was born. Each winter since, we start by brainstorming ideas for the Viget holiday project. This year, ideas included magnets, snow globes, and superballs; but, we settled on a holiday favorite everyone shares: hot cocoa (with marshmallows of course).
Continue reading "It’s Cold. Warm Up With Vigetreats."
We recently posted the descriptions of our 2012 Summer Internships. Each internship description explains the tangible requirements for earning a spot, but I thought I'd follow up with some less-obvious thoughts on who should apply. Here are some things that are likely true of our ideal intern candidates.
EVIDENCE THAT YOU'RE A COMPETENT ADULT:
- You put Ikea furniture together like a champ. Not because we make interns build our furniture for us (well, maybe just a desk or two), but because you're the kind of person who is willing to sit down on the floor with a screwdriver and a booklet of useless instructions, and bust out some elbow grease.
- You -- not your parents -- are doing your internship search. Parents are great and we'd admire you if you seek their wisdom before making big life decisions. But at Viget we are all fully-functioning, autonomous people who like dreaming our own dreams and making our own plans.
- Flat tire? W-2 Form? Broken iPhone? No problem. You've been around the block and know a few things. What you haven't seen before, you can figure out.
PIECES OF WISDOM YOU'VE DISREGARDED:
Continue reading "You Know You’re a Good Viget Intern Candidate If…"
The very first Startup Weekend DC event was hosted at Viget HQ in 2007, where 75 people pitched 13 ideas, only to agree on 1 startup idea to build over the weekend. Things have certainly changed since, and this past weekend, over 60 ideas were presented by 100+ attendees before agreeing on 16 ideas to pursue.
Some things don't change though--Viget sponsored the event because we love meeting and supporting entrepreneurs. Saad Ahmed and I had the opportunity to represent Viget and not only observe, but also participate and launch two separate startups over the intense, fast paced weekend. How is it possible to launch a startup in 54 hours? Read on!
Continue reading "Launching a Startup in 54 Hours"
I'm constantly afraid of losing my business documents, photos, and videos. This kind of data cannot be replaced. However, though necessary, securing data has always felt to me like a scary, delicate, and complicated process. Here, I'll document the rather painful (but worthwhile!) efforts I took to build a back-up system that is both maintenance-free and highly secure.
It all began when ...
A few weeks ago Shockwave Flash Player suddenly started crashing on Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. I reinstalled applications and repaired disk permissions, but nothing seemed to help. Some fellow Vigets recommended my next step should be a clean install of the OS. "Install the OS," I thought. "Doesn't that put everything, everything, at risk?" Before taking that plunge, I first decided to re-examine how I back up my data.
At the turn of the century, I backed up my data using CDs and DVDs. Before that was floppy disks and then hard disks. In the last couple years, I've relied upon external drives -- including at one point using a LaCie SAFE Hard Drive, which uses a biometric sensor, hardware encryption, and a lock to secure data. Unfortunately, using physical hardware for storage carries the my-house-burned-and-the-ashes-were-looted or the burglar-took-my-diamonds-and-drives risks. According to AgileBits, often the biggest threat to our data is not theft but damage or loss. Another downside to using physical hardware as a back-up system is the difficulty of automating the process.
I wanted an automated system to back up and secure my data that was effortless to maintain.
Continue reading "4 Steps to Securely Back Up Your Data and Have Peace of Mind"
By Viget Labs
in General
Nov. 03, 2011 | Comments
By Josh Korr, Web Project Manager,
in General
Nov. 03, 2011 | comments
If you look for a project management job -- or almost any job, for that matter -- chances are you'll see some version of "being organized" and "attention to detail" in the requirements.
Take Viget's job posting for web project manager/interactive producer (which you should totally apply for, of course):
Our Web Project Managers:
Get made fun of by their friends because they're "too" organized (as if THAT'S possible). ...
Were born with an awareness of and appreciation for details.
As this posting shows, we often think of being organized and being detail-oriented as two aspects of a single skillset. But I've come to realize that not only are they two different things, they often are in direct opposition.
Continue reading "Organization and Attention to Detail Are Not the Same Thing"
With 3 offices and just shy of 50 people, it’s rare that we can get everyone at Viget in one room, but we made it happen at our last quarterly recap/progress meeting and TTT. We gathered at the Science Museum in Richmond, VA for a day of socializing, exploring, IMAXing, and egg dropping.
49 Vigets, count ‘em.
Continue reading "TTT: Viget Lands Safely at the Science Museum"
