At Startup Weekend Denver IoT & Smart Cities and Ahmedabad, Budding Entrepreneurs Craft Their Future

There’s no weekend quite like a Startup Weekend, where inspired people from the creative, development, and business fields gather to take an idea from concept to creation in a few short, action-packed days.

Heading into the Memorial Day weekend, sponsored stickers will be at two different continents for Startup Weekends. One will be happening in our front yard here at Galvanize Golden Triangle in Denver, while the other one is farther afield at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, India. Both events have custom shaped die cut stickers on site, with Denver rocking circles and Ahmedabad sporting squares.

We are going to start with the sticker above that will be on the Indian subcontinent before finishing up in our home state of Colorado.

Startup Weekend Ahmedabad

We’ve sponsored a few Startup Weekends in India, and we are pleased to be heading to Startup Weekend Ahmedabad hosted by the Gujarat University Startup And Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) at Gujarat University in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Through GUSEC, GU has pioneered the country’s first support system for non-tech innovations, as GU is primarily a university focussed on non-tech disciplines such as science, arts, commerce, law, and medicine. GUSEC has also pioneered ‘Research to Revenue’, the first of its kind initiative for a research university, with the aim of converting 5% of research into commercialized products, services or technology. (From the GUSC website)

The entrepreneurial spirit is a big part of this region, and it is home to one of the world’s first seaports, and features civilization back to the time of the Ancient Greeks. But as we fast forward to the modern day, we see that aspiring & experienced student entrepreneurs, designers of all types, and non-technical talent (i.e. business, sales, finance, legal, etc.) will all congregate to come up with the next big idea.

They have a slick square custom shaped sticker with the city of Ahmedabad in the foreground on an orange, brown and deep purple color treatment that has a shining sun illuminating the iconic Patang Hotel revolving tower restaurant. Ahmedabad is the sixth-most-populous city in India with a metro-area population of over 7.8 million. Ahmedabad has emerged as an important economic and industrial hub in India, and now Startup Weekend participants will drive that future forward.

Of course, a Startup Weekend can’t happen without all of the people behind the scenes, from mentors and coaches to judges and organizers.

Startup Weekend Denver IoT & Smart Cities

The organizing team in Denver decided to mix it up for this Startup Weekend, focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities as the theme of their weekend. Since this is a Internet of Things + Smart City edition, teams will be focusing on ideas that solve problems in the IoT realm. We’re more connected than ever, with the integration of internet ready devices as part of our every day life. And as far as Smart Cities go, people are always flocking to cities. As such, urban development groups have to be visionaries to blend technology to secure and manage a city’s assets for the betterment of everyone, whether those people are residents, tourists or people doing business.

They went with a really fun custom shape on their die cut, with the event branding at the top in green, and then a purple, mountain-framed cityscape that’s buzzing with tech activity, from drones and satellites flying overhead of Denver’s skyline. Of course the Startup Weekend lab beaker is front and center, demonstrating the experimental nature of the event.

Big shoutout to all of our organizers, and best of luck to teams as they form and start building these creative solutions. Thanks to Galvanize Golden Triangle campus for serving as the venue host. Galvanize campuses are home to an eclectic mix of entrepreneurs, skilled programmers, expert data scientists, and people motivated to make an impact.

This video tells more of the Startup Weekend story. Give it a quick watch.

Startup Weekend – Trailer from Eighteen Eighty on Vimeo.

Brewer Highlight: Solarc Brewing

Solarc Brewing is on point with colorful beer label designs and they have some of the best beer names all being digitally printed as matte labels.

We found a new obsession in our custom label printing world that we live in at StickerGiant. It is Custom Beer Labels! The new and different designs we get to see running through the shop for breweries around the country blows us away. Solarc has printed several custom matte labels with us and every time we see them they pop off the presses going through the factory. With beer names like “Shower Beer” and “Donkey Piss” there has to be fun art to back it up and Solarc Brewing is doing just that.

Saul and Archie are the founders of Solarc Brewing. They first connected through the LA Arts Community and bonded over a glass of mead. Like a lot of great companies in California, Solarc Brewing was started out of a garage. Not just any garage, but a barn-like garage behind Saul’s house. The two of them have worked hard at their craft experimenting with all sorts of magic potions and concoctions that brew up some tasty craft beers. Their love of art shows as they treat Solarc Brewing as a work of art, from the beer being brewed to the label designs and branding.

It’s easy to see what makes this craft brewer stand apart, and we are always excited to see what custom label design for their beer is next.

How to Choose the best Custom Sticker Size?

Ordering custom stickers and labels is a fun process, especially as a new business. At StickerGiant, we focus on making it as easy as possible to get that order placed online without ever having to pick up the phone or talk to one of our Customer Service Team.

We strive to make the ordering process relatively straight forward, select the type, shape, size and upload artwork. However, one part of ordering that can always leave one scratching their head is the size selection. How big is a 2×2 inch circle?

Whether a craft brewer is getting the first set of logo stickers printed to give out in the tap room or a baker is dressing up their outgoing order of fresh cookies with a roll of custom labels. It’s fun to see your brand be stuck to something for the first time. Think about the end use of what you are getting. Is it that new trendy sticker going on the back of car windows that will be seen all around town? Is it going to be placed on a laptop with other stickers? Is it a specific size needed for packaging?

Sticker size does matter and sometimes a quick visual is all it takes to decide. Check out this video we put together to help give a you few references to help decide:

Wapuu Setting Sail for WordCamp Jacksonville 2017

Our dear friend Wapuu will be rigging his ship and shoving off for WordCamp Jacksonville this week. The design team behind this sticker sheet really packed in some great icons on this edition. They’ve got Wapuu in a United States Navy “dixie cup” hat, a sweet WordPress logo compass, two shining sun peels with WordPress logos, and a nicely branded event logo that ties together the entire nautical theme perfectly. We love printing WordCamp stickers because of the creativity involved and the local flavor that each events brings to our printers.

If you’re not using WordPress, well then you’re in the minority of web users. In a recent study from ManageWP, a WordPress site management service, they report that “74.6 million sites depend on WordPress, WordPress-related keywords score 37 million searches per month, 22% of new U.S. registered domains run on WordPress and there are six new WordPress.com posts every second.” Those are some serious numbers, and it shows why WordCamps are so important. They bring people together to talk about WordPress and how to evolve the platform.

As you’ll see on their site, they have a diverse tech crowd that comes together.

WordCamps allow anyone who is interested in WordPress to come network and learn from members of the community. Everyone from brand-new users to experienced developers are encouraged to attend. WordCamp Jacksonville will welcome attendees such as: Bloggers, Business owners, Website hobbyists, Plugin developers, Marketers, Social media experts, Designers, SEO experts, Content strategists

Big thanks to venue sponsor Keiser University on Jacksonville’s Southside. Keiser University is a private non-profit university. Keiser provides educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels in traditional and online delivery formats. Attendees will have plenty to take in, including a KidsCamp where the younger will be introduced to the world of WordPress and help them learn or improve upon their development, design, and use skills! After the day is complete, they leave with their very own WordPress.com site up and running. That’s the kind of community we’re looking to foster with these sponsorships, one that gives back and looks forward at the same time.

There will be a fully stocked Happiness Bar, a WordCamp staple all around the world. This is a super laid back place to ask any WordPress questions you may have. But even if you’re more advanced, there’s room in the Happiness Bar for you, too. It can be a great place to have code reviewed and to give back to the community. Naturally after a long day of coding, the After Party will be where everyone lets loose. Thanks to Blue Bamboo for hosting.

We wish everyone a great WordCamp, and we hope there’s inspiration from the speakers. Thanks to all of the organizers for all of their hard work leading up to this weekend.

Global Ignite Week: Sparks will fly and name tags will unite at tonight’s Ignite Boulder 32

It’s time for one of our favorite community sponsorships, Ignite Boulder, back for the 32nd edition live at the Boulder Theater. And it’s also Global Ignite Week, so we’ll enjoy watching the sparks fly worldwide. We’ve printed our share of their name tags over the years. The organizing team always put a series of fun phrases on these custom square stickers.

Whenever we have our team manning the name tag table at this event, we see the social interaction around these stickers. There’s always a conversation around these phrases, and the name tags serve as a natural icebreaker when you’re in a room full of strangers watching someone else put on a short presentation. Since they typically print up about ten of these, there are plenty of options for attendees to express some personal style with the name tag they pick. Again, great for conversation starters and mingling before the show in the Boulder Theater (what a beautiful venue) and during setbreak out on the Pearl Street Mall in Downtown Boulder.

Ignite Talks are presenters of 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. The result is a fast and fun presentation which lasts just 5 minutes. If you can find an Ignite near your, add it to your dance card, circle it on your wall calendar, set that reminder in your calendar app–whatever you need to do to remember. We got a sneak preview of the speakers, and these sparks (or, Ignite Talk) look so fun. The topics cover a range of health and wellness, long distance swimming, alternative energy, intentional giving and other ideas that will make you think.

It’s nearing the end of yet another Boulder Startup Week (one of our favorite local events!), so the geek flame will be on full burn.

You can follow the action live on Twitter, and check the Ignite Boulder website for the videos once they’ve posted–they are at the bottom of the page. We love to go back and watch videos from previous editions, as they certainly have their educational and inspirational qualities.

ChatUp Conference hosted by SnapEngage here in Beautiful Boulder

Our friends over at SnapEngage are hosting their annual ChatUp, which is a Live Chat Best Practices Conference. Customer engagement evangelists will be gathering in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, for two days of actionable, strategic insights that will help build better customer experiences. We printed up a custom circle die cut sticker for their shindig. It’s a beauty, with a graphic treatment of Boulder’s iconic Flatirons jutting into a cyan sky, and a circle-wrap text for the event branding. They even manage to get their logo and their location on the bottom as a foundation. Simple, yet effective. Also, very pretty, but that’s Boulder for you.

Just about any business could benefit from deep dive into converting leads and creating better support channels for customers. Even if you’re a brick-and-mortar or services business, you need that digital storefront presence, whether it’s to serve customers contact point like a phone number or email. But increasingly, and we’ve all seen this in our own web searching and page browsing, there are chatbots everywhere. That’s the game that SnapEnage is playing, and it’s leading to great wins for their company and their customers. Other great session topics include an immersive, hands-on workshop where SnapEngage’s Director of UX/UI will teach design best practices and walk attendees through how to create a seamless brand experience on their very own design project and how to leverage chat data to showcase your implementation’s success, and continuously improve it to promote growth. It’s going to be an action-packed two days.

All Things Boulder: Get Around Town

With easy access to the Goose Creek Greenway from the Hyatt Place in Boulder, ChatUp attendees can connect to Boulder without a car. You can take the local RTD bus, rent a Boulder B-cycle or try the eGo CarShare for a longer trip to Lyons or Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Microbreweries and rock climbing gyms are within walking distance, and the trails of Chautauqua Park and Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks are a short (but steep!) bike ride away. And don’t forget to cruise the famous Pearl Street Mall, check out the Tuscan Vernacular Revival buildings of the University of Colorado campus (It goes by CU in Boulder).

They say that out here in Colorado, we have minds that match our mountains, and this conference will fit right in. Thought leaders and industry experts will be educating, sharing and advancing the world of online customer service. We look forward to seeing the results all over the internet as these attendees take their learning out into the world and make an impact.