BigBlueHat

My vision for the future of the web (which I’ve been quite on for too long now) matches up with Google’s in many ways. That said, I’d be saddened if the only way to a better future went through the doors of a single company.

What’s needed is an ever increasing use and creation of open standards so we can all move up the innovation ladder or at least make that forward momentum generally available.

Perhaps the Cloud computing “movement” presents this opportunity in some ways. Tim Bray’s thought that PHP’s ubiquity may help this hope may point to a broader way forward–especially when it plays well with other languages via extensions and remote data stores like CouchDB and other web services.

BigBlueHat’s role in this will hopefully continue to increase. We’re doing things “here and there” at the moment as we continue to bootstrap our way to a successful CMS market share. In the future, though, we hope to give more, participate in more, and promote more of what we believe the web should be.

Sure we’re small, rural, etc, but here’s a shot at helping put our little company and/or product on the map. If you’ve used BlueInk, and believe it’s worthy of the Best App Award, we’d love to have you cast your vote.

If you’ve not yet tried BlueInk, we’d at least like to have you check it out at the BlueInk Demo Site.

Thanks in advance for whichever you have time to do.

php|works 2008 just began this morning. The keynote on open source product management is off to a great start.

If you’d like to follow the fun, check out the BigBlueHat Twitter feed or search for the #works hashtag.

Every month the GSATC puts on a thing called Tech After 5. If you’re in the technology field (or service it as a lawyer, doctor, etc), it’s one of the best opportunities to do some free networking in the Upstate South Carolina area. And, as you can see in the photos below, they offer free food and intelligent conversation:

This morning FastTracSC sent out their periodic Connections newsletter that included a nice right up of BigBlueHat:

Benjamin Young admittedly hates computers, but in 2002 he launched BigBlueHat, a web design and information management company.  Why?  Because he wants to provide people with solutions for the same problems that annoy him about computers.  This idea and BigBlueHat’s customer-centered mission to “make the web a better place” helped the firm to enjoy enough growth over the years that in 2006 Young decided to expand is own “freelance gig” by bringing on web developer Brad Garrett.  Together, they provide web design and development services, as well as content management and project management systems, all of which can be customized to fit their different customers’ needs.

Hoping to grow his company even more, Young enrolled in a FastTrac GrowthVenture class in Greenville facilitated by Kim Williams in the fall of 2007, an experience he would gladly repeat.  Looking back, Young said that his only regret is that he did not know about the program when he started the company.  He explained, “I gained insight into business management essentials I’d overlooked, shared experiences with other small business owners, and learned from leading local entrepreneurs. In many ways, it changed the course my business took.”  Find out more about the course BigBlueHat has taken and where it is going at www.bigbluehat.com.

I really did enjoy FastTrac, and would do it again. If you’re in South Carolina and are looking to start or grow your business, I recommend you check out the FastTrac programs. They’re worth every penny.