I made it back from Outdoor Retailer in one piece (barely, as you can see from the photo). Stuart, Bobby, Jeanie and Tom were holding down the fort while I was out like a kid in a candy store among the latest gear offerings.

Photos are prohibited at the show. This is mainly because product is nine months from hitting stores, and the policy deters would-be copycats from sending photos to Asia to create instant knockoffs. Of course, I couldn’t resist a few snaps that I figured were innocuous.

Just a few tents outside.

The scale of the show is a bit hard to grasp, actually. Salt Lake City grows by 14,000 people for a few days and the Salt Palace convention center is jam packed with more stuff than you can absorb in 3 days of walking the floor. I would know, since I tried.

Plaster sculpted like water.

As expected, product presentation ranged from straightforward and bland to inventive and exciting. Some of the booths that stood out to me were the textural panels from Columbia (pictured above), ice sculptures at Teva, huge black and white photography at Brunton, wind tunnel at Yakima and stretched fabric dividing panels at North Face. Of course this was only the tip of the iceberg for notable displays.

Other companies engaged with the audience in memorable, relational ways, rising above the clutter and waste of typical schwag. Gerber Blades had the clever photo-op with the bear climbing a tree (photo at the very top). Camelbak offered a bicycle-powered rickshaw service to surrounding areas. Royal Robbins had an espresso bar running non-stop. Vivobarefoot offered sessions of video analysis with an expert in running biomechanics. Osprey, Patagonia & Kleen Kanteen partnered to serve beer in reusable stainless steel pints (Yes, the beer starts flowing at 4:30p).

Slacking isn’t so easy.

Gibbon Slacklines had a competition area for people doing freestyle moves. (think balance beam tricks on a flat, springy rope). When I was there, a 10 year old kid with a rat tail was showing everyone up. He looked to be sponsored. They also had a more mellow demonstration area where anyone could hop on and give it their best. Let’s just say that my best (pic above) involved a lot of falling off.

Bookis, Ben and Barefoot Ted.

Anyone familiar with the book Born To Run will recognize the name Barefoot Ted. Reading the book is highly recommended, and so is meeting Ted. Now I’ve done both.

Grass typography made me smile.

Thanks to the generous folks at Garmont for the opportunity to attend the show. The outdoor industry is one that we know quite well here at Studiofluid, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to work more closely with some of the people we met.

See you at the winter show in 2012!

Will we be seeing geometric packaging hitting the shelves in the near future?

If it’s up to the imagination of students Dzmitry Samal and Petar Pavlov maybe we will. These Buckminster Fuller-esque packaging structures mark a distinct departure for Doritos and Coca-Cola.

Clearly these multi-faceted structures may pose challenges to implement. And of course the increased costs and environmental impact would need to be factored in. Do you think we’ll be seeing more of this come to market in the food and beverage packaging? Maybe in another industry?

What are your thoughts?

When we were looking for the right furniture to outfit the studio, finding the right solution took quite a while…

And then I discovered Infinite Storage Solutions, based in San Clemente, CA. I knew I had finally found the right company, and within 20 minutes I was in the car, driving down to see the product in their showroom.

ISS is based on a modular system of sturdy extruded aluminum rails, which—as their name suggests—can be customized for an infinite number of useful configurations. We’re thrilled with the L-shaped desk and standing height work station, for the function as well as the attention to detail and minimal lines of the ISS system.

I also love the product is made right here in the USA, and that they’re a family owned and run business. In fact, during my visit, John and Mona they invited me to join them for pizza in the break room with their staff and kids. It’s always nice to meet people who are creating their own opportunities through innovation—and thriving.

ISS actually custom designs your furniture in Google SketchUp so you can evaluate in 3D before purchasing. You can even drop their SketchUp files into your floor plan and see how it will fit into your space.

Their customer service is top-notch too. (Thanks, Kristy!) What else could you ask for? If you’re in the market for a workspace, you would be wise to give ISS Designs a closer look.

And if you’re headed to the Dwell on Design Expo in L.A. this month, make sure you stop by the ISS exhibitor booth, and tell them Studiofluid sent ya.

Yes, it’s no surprise that your website needs to reflect your brand. And yes, it should look great. And while we’re at it, your site might as well be intuitive and elegant for your visitors to get around. But is that enough?

Not exactly. Your site also needs to be visible to search engines if your customer is going to find you in the first place. (Making your site visible to search engines is called “Search Engine Optimization” or “SEO.”)

At some point, when you’ve got all the fundamentals in place, partnering with a dedicated SEO company may be the right decision. But if you’re a small to mid-sized business, building your site properly and adding quality content will likely be money much better spent.

So how is your site currently scoring? If you have a existing site, now you can get an objective analysis by Website Grader for free!

Website Grader is a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.

On May 5, 2009, Studiofluid recieved a WebsiteGrader score 91 with an Alexa rank of 755,131 which is in the top 2.7 % of all websites.

How did your site score?

If you’re looking to revamp your low-scoring website, or build a new site right from the ground up, Studiofluid can help. We build efficient and intuitive websites that are easy for your visitors to use, and that allow you the best possible visibility to search engines like Yahoo! and Google.

And yeah, your site will look great too.

Our clients are great folks. I’m continually amazed and blessed by high caliber people that we get to partner with on a daily basis.

Currently we’re working on:

Identity and Retail Packaging for a healthy snack food company. Can’t say a whole lot about that one now, but we’re stoked about everything is coming together.

Branding and Website for the Pasadena Wine Festival which will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden this fall. Our site will handle ticket sales and event sponsorship. All ticket sales from the event benefit the Pasadena Symphony.

Branding and Website for a remodeling company. We’re helping the owner connect with his clearly defined target audience in Southern California. His website includes a content management system (CMS) and will clearly communicate their commitment to quality, community focus, and will encourage visitors to get in touch for a free estimate.

And a few more are in the pipeline, but it’s a bit too early to say…

Keep scrolling, there are a lot of solid ideas and unique business models made possible through our increasingly connected world. What sorts of business ideas do you have in mind for a side business? When do you think you’ll take the steps to make your dream happen?

If you find yourself on the fence about your next business move, you might want to give this a read. Business Coach and Venture Capitalist Paul Graham shares his insights on why to start a startup in a bad economy. Some of these really jumped out at me:

• If you’re the right sort of person, you’ll win even in a bad economy. And if you’re not, a good economy won’t save you.
• If you’re worried about threats to the survival of your company, don’t look for them in the news. Look in the mirror.
• Startups often make things cheaper, so in that respect they’re better positioned to prosper in a recession than big companies.
• Another advantage of bad times is that there’s less competition… If everyone else is cowering in a corner, you may have a whole car to yourself.

Also worth checking out is Paul’s latest company, Y Combinator, which specializes in funding early stage startups.

Those are some of my favorite words to live by, and for business guidance, the that gray-haired wisdom is surprisingly accessible…

If you’ve got a great idea for a business, but and you’re not quite sure what the next step would be, make sure you check out the resources available to you at SCORE.org (Service Corps of Retired Executives). In partnership with with the SBA (Small Business Administration), SCORE is a nationwide network of volunteers who have made their mark in the business world and desire to give back to the community by helping emerging entrepreneurs.

If you’re located in Southern California, you’ll want to check out SCORE Los Angeles with headquarters in Glendale and other branches across the city. There you can sign up for free individual counseling sessions with a retired entrepreneur, who can help with writing a business plan, walk you through funding options, or answer questions specific to your business.

SCORE also offers helpful workshops on a variety of topics, at a bargain price of $25-35 per session. I continue to attend the workshops because I usually walk away with something useful, and it is a great way for me to stay tuned to the pulse of the entrepreneurs that Studiofluid regularly helps.

And a bonus for the ladies out there, make sure to check out Ladies who Launch. I’ve got a few friends who enthusiastically recommend that one as well.

* Quote first heard from twin filmmakers Noah and Logan Miller.

At Startup Weekend Los Angeles, my team developed “Yummyware” in less than 48 hours from concept to working prototype…

Our inspiration came from the real-world frustrations of one of our team members who works for Hotcakes Bakes, a bakery here in Los Angeles. Yummyware is a simple, internal software solution for Bakeries that streamlines custom orders, while keeping things organized from production through delivery.

ABOVE: Yummyware branding and customized login screen.

ABOVE: Daily view shows projects to be completed and employee messages.

ABOVE: All orders available at a glance by week.

ABOVE: Order form tailored by each bakery, and helps capture detailed information with custom orders.


We developed Yummyware for Hotcakes Bakes as the prototype customer, with the ability to scale the product and sell it as a monthly subscription service to Bakeries and other confectioneries in need of simple customized management help. (Just get in touch if you would like to license the product).

I worked with a team of 6 entrepreneurs to push out a working version during our weekend. I led the software architecture, user interface, visual design, product naming and logo design. My teammates built the database, implemented the HTML/CSS, proposed a business and marketing plan, led the pitch presentation and made valuable contributions to the UI and product as a whole. Many thanks again to teammates Talya, Tracey, Madeline, Craig and Joel. You guys rock!

If a simple, customized solution sounds like something that could benefit your small business, get it touch. We’d love to hear from you and help you become profitable.

The answer is Startup Weekend, of course!

And a whole lot of fun.

On the weekend of February 27th-March 1st, I gathered with over 50 other entrepreneurs with backgrounds including user interface, graphic design, programming, pr, and business development for the second Startup Weekend Los Angeles. Of the initial 20+ pitches presented on Friday night, we broke off into teams of 5-9 people based on what seemed interesting. Over the course of the weekend, seven teams designed and built working sites, each with varying degrees of completion.

The creativity and results were impressive, to say the least.

1. Blocksnap: Upload and experience views on the neighborhood level.
2. CheapChews: Receive coupons and notifications for local restaurants.
3. Fill in the Geek: Connecting comic buyers with comic sellers.
4. Sponsor Hub: A place for sponsors and non-profits find each other.
5. Yummyware: Simple bakery management software.
6. Share my Spot: You park here while I am not.
7. Craigee: A decision making tool for Craigslist.

SWLA was rewarding a rewarding experience unto itself, even if the projects never saw the light of day. But, in fact, they’re out there live on the web and it will be interesting to see if any gain long-term traction. You can read more about my team’s project: Yummyware, the simple bakery management software.

A huge thanks to host Jerome from Blankspaces, and the event sponsors who provided an amazing spread of food and tech support.