StartUp Weekend Tampa has been a success since the first one was held in Tampa Bay in 2011.

The organizers Susie Steiner, Ryan Sullivan, and Kim Randall have announced a second Startup Weekend in 2012 to be held in accordance with Global Entrepreneurship Week.

On November 16-18 Idea-makers, Developers, Facilitators, and startup enthusiasts alike will come together and create startups in just 54 hours. At the end of those 54 fast-paced hours of designing, developing and testing the teams will pitch their final products to a panel of successful entrepreneurs. At the end of the competition winners are announced, but best of all, the startups live on and our community grows.

Organizer Ryan Sullivan says, “Startup Weekend is a spark plug for the community, every event keeps people motivated, energized and prompts them to challenge the status quo. As organizers we continue to plan events because it's what the Tampa startup community wants!”

Stay tuned for more information about registering! && If you're not ready to participate I can promise you it is a fun-filled volunteer

opportunity!

@SQQZY @Sullyvanskikins @_KimRandall @StartupWeekend @StartupTampa

The name Forceworks did not come about accidentally. The cloud is here, and if your business is still resisting the inevitable switch, they’ll bring you there. “Kicking and screaming,” if necessary, joke co-founders Steve Mordue and Chris Bianco. 

Forceworks founders Steve Mordue (Left) and Chris Bianco

There are many obvious benefits to the cloud. It saves time, money, space. It's mobile, and represents a sort of going green in the tech world. Best of all the cloud is customizable, something that Steve & Chris do best. With the cloud you're spending money hoping that some new software will increase your ROI.

So if switching to the cloud is such an obvious decision, why hasn’t everyone done it already?

The Problem Steve and Chris face is not technical. There are no issues with bugs or anything of that nature that is usually associated with new software or technology. The problem is with the existing non-cloud users. 

For some, there is this misinformed, irrational fear of the cloud. This is not the white, puffy money-saver the rest of us know it to be. For them, the cloud is this dark gray, scary thing to hide from and hope it passes over. They fear their information is going to be shared or somehow get lost.

Where do companies get this misinformation? “The problem,” according to Steve, “is so many of them say ‘yup I love it, go run it by the IT guy.’” And Forceworks dreads hearing those words. When an IT manager’s primary job is to maintain the company’s servers, and the company decides to switch over to the cloud, the IT manager is pretty much out of a job.

So of course the old school IT guys are going to relay the ‘threat’ of switching to cloud. Sometimes the IT manager simply doesn’t know enough about the technology that makes him obsolete. Other times, they are “flat out misleading people about what they know”  

The third barrier is the fact that many companies have spent a large part of their budget on infrastructure and cannot wrap their heads around the thought of spending more money to change it. In time these barriers will fall. The switch to cloud is inevitable and there are sources for that everywhere. As Steve put it, “Cloud has moved from a technical sale to a financial sale. You can save a bunch of money by going to the cloud.” Once companies realize the money and time saved using cloud, such infrastructure will also be obsolete. 

Today Forceworks' clientele is growing fast and they are finding more and more ways to integrate specific company solutions into the cloud. They've even gotten the attention of Microsoft themselves. Forceworks utilized Dynamics CRM as a “behind the scenes” tool to provide integration between Outlook and a client’s proprietary line of business application, where CRM is never even seen. This is something Microsoft themselves did not even know was possible. 

Because Forceworks have been such cloud activists they have been named 1 of only roughly 300 international cloud accelerator partners. Accredited by Microsoft as an official Microsoft 365 'Cloud Accelerator.' They are also on the verge of Silver CRM online accreditation. 
You can find Forceworks right in the middle of South Tampa. Why the Bay area? Because that’s where the clients are; “Where we’re at now, our business model doesn’t target users, it targets business. Tampa’s business community is no different than any other.” As more and more local business make the switch to the Cloud, Forceworks is here making it happen.

Interested in hearing more about Forceworks? Check out their website or follow Steve & Chris on LinkedIn.

Justin Davis is the go to guy for User Interface/User Experience design and re-design. He is a true design fundamentalist and quite a character. We love the energy he brings to the WaVE space and all the backing his gives us. One year ago Justin moved his business Madera Labs from Nashville, TN to Tampa, FL. Here is his story.

Justin Davis Founder &CEO of Madera Labs

“A year ago, my wife and I took a plunge we'd been wanting to do for years: we moved from Nashville, our home for a over a decade, to Tampa. We'd talked about it for years – a desire to be near the coast and in a more temperate climate had always been nagging at us, and Tampa seemed to fit the bill for the kind of place we wanted to settle down permanently. Among that excitement was a healthy dose of anxiety. We'd never lived out of Tennessee, where we grew up, and had never been so far away from family and friends. Not insignificant was another point of fear: how would my business, grown over time in the Nashville technology scene, fair with the move? What could I expect out of Tampa's tech scene? Would they embrace a newcomer, or would I be relegated to months or years of chipping away at a dense social shell of existing relationships and native trust? And perhaps most importantly, would a southern boy like me be able to find a good biscuit in Tampa Bay?

A year later, I can happily say that any fears or anxiety I had were, although understandable, completely unfounded.

Scene Change

I had good reason to be nervous. Nashville's technology scene is very tight-knit, and I knew the vast majority of folks in town working in tech. My friends were all involved in the tech scene, and the community there helped shape my entire career. Tampa had big shoes to fill. When I hit Tampa late last June, I went to work trying to ferret out the pockets of the community that resembled what I knew in Nashville. That research turned up groups like Tampa Bay WaVE, the Barcamp group and others – the mainstays of the community that formed the pillars of the social structure around technology in Tampa. Immediately reaching out to these groups, I felt a comfort that was familiar – the tech scene in Tampa was just as welcoming and warm as the group in Nashvi

lle. I was going to be alright.

Job Transfer: Moving a Business 710 Miles

Bolstered by the warmth of the Tampa tech scene, I had increased confidence in my ability to get my business restarted in Tampa. I'd mostly worked with local clients in Nashville, and knew that building a brand and local clientele in Tampa would take time – I assumed 6 months to get back to my pre-move levels. Amazingly, I got there in half the time. The tech scene in Tampa is built solidly around sincere relationships, and the people working here respect and help those who are working hard to do great things. Now, a year later, my volume of work is more that double what it was in Nashville. I count a large portion of that toward the friendly and cooperative nature of the technology scene here – the people in Tampa want to see each other succeed, and work to help each other get there.

In the Rearview and Out the Windshield

Looking back, I'm amazed at how easy the move was. Besides having no issues with the move itself (No flat tires! No broken things!), the transition into Tampa's technology scene was amazingly easy, and I've met folks here that will be life-long friends. The people here are friendly, welcoming and sincere – a decidedly Midwestern-feeling atmosphere that resonates well with my Tennessee upbringing. Tampa has a great group of talent that will only get better over the upcoming years. Sure, we have work to do, but the seeds of growth and success are here. While I don't have the privilege of having a long look at Tampa's past, what I've experienced in the past year has excited and inspired me. As I look back at my time in Nashville, it's with very fond memories as the place that helped me cut my teeth and set me on my path, and while I'll always be indebted to the scene there, Tampa's my home now and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'm thrilled to be a part of this scene, gracious for the open arms that the scene welcomed me with and honored to be able to play a part in helping build the future of it.

Thanks Tampa – you made a southern boy from Tennessee feel right at home, even *if* your biscuits suck.”

We are so happy to have you in Tampa Bay Justin Davis. You brighten our days but more importantly you teach us the essence of user experience and help our ventures flourish. For that we are truly grateful. Thank you for choosing Tampa Bay, and we hope you stay with us for many years to come.

Check out Madera Labs
Follow Justin on Twitter
Check out his Blog

Our debut t-shirts are coming to life thanks to Brian Burridge and the guys at Gauged2. The t-shirts will be given to, our oh so kind, Kickstarter donors and will display our sponsors and high level donors' logos on the back.

These new t-shirts will only be given to donors, so if you want to look fresh goto Kickstarter.com and donate.

There's no reason not to.