TechBirmingham Blog

Archive for March, 2015

#TechTuesday Recap: Tools for Managing a Distributed Team

The modern day office is being redefined daily. Slowly but surely we’re saying goodbye to white walls and cubicles and saying hello to the concept of a distributed team. These days, all you need is a functioning computer with a solid internet connection to make working for your dream job from your dream location a reality.

At this month’s Tech Tuesday, Fleetio Founder + CEO Tony Summerville took some time to tell us about just how he makes the modern day office work for his team. The secret to his company’s success? Taking advantage of all the tech tools at their disposal.

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From communication tools like Slack and Hipchat to HR essentials like Zenefits and Zenpayroll, the crew at Fleetio relies on dozens of apps and sites to keep their distributed team well-managed and keep their company growing.

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Remote culture is where the workplace is headed, but some companies are hesistant to embrace it. Here’s why Tony says you should:

1. Remote culture provides a larger talent pool

2. It makes businesses more scaleable

3. Contributes to better productivity

4. And it makes happier employees!

The up and coming workforce was born in the internet age, and location doesn’t matter to them any longer. What matters is a well-run business who knows what they are doing, where they are going and how they’re going to get there.

Check out more of Tony’s talk here. And don’t forget to follow him online @summerville.

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Q&A with Greg Wingo, our new Member Services Manager

Between a full calendar of events to a growing list of members, March has kicked off as quite an exciting month for the TechBirmingham community (and it’s not even officially spring yet!). This month also brings a great new addition to the TechBirmingham team — Greg Wingo. Greg joins us as our Member Services Manager, meaning he’s our go-to guy when it comes to member acquisition, retention and services as well as  organizational marketing + communications. He’s no stranger to the tech community either — he joins us following a two-year stint as the Director of Business Development at Instagift.

Read on to get to know a little more about Greg and what he has to offer our community.

GregWingoHeadshotHometown: Born and raised in Birmingham. Minus my college years in Tuscaloosa and a stint in Montgomery, I’ve lived here my entire life.

What do you love about living + working in the Magic City?  I could write a novel on this subject, but a couple of the things I love most are the restaurant scene and the outdoor/park areas. I love hitting up the new, locally-owned restaurants in town on any given weekend. As an outdoor enthusiast, you will often find me on some trail in one of the many parks in our region. These two things alone make Birmingham an absolutely great place to live.

What opportunities excite you the most about this job with TechBirmingham? I’m excited to continue the growth of this great organization. There are so many businesses out there that would greatly benefit from being a part of this organization and I’m thrilled to be able to get many of them on board.

What is your perspective of today’s tech scene in Bham? What opportunities do you see in the future? There’s no doubt the tech scene is growing but we certainly have some opportunities for improvement. Finding, cultivating and retaining tech talent might be the most important opportunity in the near future. We certainly have a great city that can easily attract talent if we do a good job of promoting it.

Any random fun facts we need to know? My longest running distance to date is 100 miles on the Pinhoti trail in east Alabama.

When he’s not spending hours running on a trail, Greg spends his free time hanging out in the Crestwood community with his wife, Brooks, and their son, Shepard. Connect with him online:  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

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TechBirmingham Announces 2015-2016 Board of Directors

We’re excited to welcome our new 2015-2016 Board of Directors. As our organization enters its 12th year, and the second year of a strategic relaunch, our membership now includes over 115 companies spanning all areas of the tech business community.

“It is an honor and a pleasure to introduce the 2015 TechBirmingham board members,” TechBirmingham President Jennifer Skjellum said. “I look forward to working with each of them as our organization continues working to achieve our mission of promoting and strengthening Birmingham’s technology ecosystem.”

To see the full list of TechBirmingham’s Board of Directorsjump here.

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