Mar
7
2011

Mindgruve Rocks It at 1st Annual Hackathon SD!

1st Annual Hackathon SD

With Red Bulls in hand and an awesome concept in mind, the Mindgruve Development Team joined fellow developers and designers at the 1st Annual Hackathon SD, brought to you by the folks at OpenCandy! Their mission: create an award-winning mobile application in only 23 hours.

Countless energy drinks, candy bars and three short naps later, we developed an app – The Golden Sanctuary – sure to be useful for people on the go, travelers and anyone else in search of the cleanest throne in the city – as well as some funny stuff to read and do once you get there. Check out our wireframes, comps and highlights from the event!

February 18, 7:05PM:
Team Mindgruve puts their thinking caps on and prepares for a long night ahead.

Mindgruve at Hackathon SD

More awesomeness ahead »

Jun
21
2010

Interactive Day San Diego – A Review

IDSD

The 6th Annual Interactive Day San Diego has wrapped and we couldn’t have asked for a better day of fun and learning with industry thought leaders regarding mobile, web design, online video, SEO, social media, email marketing and more!

Together with SanDiego.com and Chad Robley, sponsoring IDSD 2010 was an honor for Mindgruve and we’re already looking forward to next year! If you didn’t get a chance to check out the event, here are our highlights:

Opening  Session: 2020 Vision: The Most Important Advertising Issues for This Decade with Jack Myers, Founder of M.E.D.I.Advisory Group
Jack Myers kicked things off by discussing the changes happening in the market today, forcing advertisers and marketers to be more innovative than ever. Read the full recap…

Email Plus with Joel Book, Exact Target
Pointing out that email marketing is nothing new and still a very lucrative business, Joel Book explained some key insights, including the fact that 75% of social media users say email is the best way for companies to communicate with consumers. Read the full recap…

SignOnSanDiego.com Social Media Demonstration and Q&A with Mike Hodges, SignOnSanDiego.com, and Indra Gardiner, Bailey Gardiner
Mike Hodges led the group in a social media demonstration, discussing the importance of creativity in order to have more consumer impact. Indra Gardiner also shared her thoughts on how social media guidelines are key to leveraging client and company interactions. Read the full recap…

Advanced SEO with Rand Fishkin, SEOMOZ.org
Rand Fishkin discussed the balance of SEO vs PPC budget and the four areas of SEO acceleration, laying out the formula to increasing individual rankings: low competition + high search volume + high value to visitor. Read the full recap…

Mobile Marketing with Amielle Lake, Tagga
Amielle Lake explained the marketing shift taking place in the industry, moving from traditional to digital to mobile marketing. Noting that the mobile target is millennials, digital moms and techie men, she emphasized that efforts are most effective when it is campaign driven to offer immediate and branded payoff to consumer. Read the full recap…

ValueClick Media Demonstration and Q&A with Tony Winders, ValueClick Media, and Tamara Bousquet, MEA Digital
Together, Winders and Bousquet provided session attendees with insight into the importance of ad exchanges, demand side platforms (DSPs) and ad verification in a media plan. Read the full recap…

Marketing Convergence – Are You Ready? with Warren Raisch, Digitaria
Warren Raisch led the discussion by providing key insights regarding marketing in the industry, noting that mobile is becoming the ultimate Channel Aggregation point and that 92% of social users trust a recommendation from people they know over the marketing channels. Read the full recap…

Luncheon Keynote: The Identity Web with Paul Ollinger, Facebook
Facebook’s Western Region VP of Sales discussed how the internet has changed social marketing to make it enormously effective for marketers, pointing out that relationships and authenticity will allow businesses to truly learn, grow and create a social web. Read the full recap…

“POV” Point of Video with Tod Sacerdoti, BrightRoll
Providing insights into the growing online video space, Tod Sacerdoti noted that online video advertising is the future and is the best place to involve yourself. Also offering tips for moving into online video advertising, Sacerdoti says it is important to test, measure and optimize, as well as remove under-performing content. Read the full recap…

Mindset Marketing with Denny Reinert, Placecast, and Andreas Roell, Geary Group
Using Placecast as an example, Reinert led the session with a special focus on reaching consumers while in the right mindset. For location-based marketing, an opt-in mobile service is the right way to engage with consumers. This and a combination of other factors create relevance and increase purchases. Read the full recap…

Website Redesign for Lead Generation with Rick Burnes, HubSpot
Burnes discussed that the purpose of a website redesign is to be found by more prospects and convert those prospects to leads and customers. All website redesigns should have specific goals in mind, while being aware that some design and taste sacrifices will need to made to generate traffic. Read the full recap…

Digital Download: What You Need to Know About Ad Networks with John Yearout, Undertone Networks
After reviewing the timeline of ad networks over the last 15 years, Yearout pointed out that as DSPs become more prevalent, ad networks need to deliver unique inventory, targeting, products, insights and research to stay relevant. Read the full recap…

Sorenson Media Demonstration and Q&A with Eric Quanstrom, Sorenson Media, and Montana Triplett, Tremor Media
Both industry experts made a point of saying that online video is still the wild wild west for marketing and advertising. A customized user experience should be based on your objectives. Read the full recap…

Google Analytics with Joshua Knox, Google Analytics
Google’s goal, as explained by Knox, is to speed up the web to improve conversion flow. Knox also led the group in better understanding the impact AdWords has in creating valuable traffic when used correctly. Read the full recap…

State of the Industry Roundtable
At the close of IDSD, Panelists Heather Blank, Responsys; Torrey Lincoln, LinkedIn; Brian Lynch, Yahoo!; Paul Ollinger, Facebook offered their thoughts on the State of the Industry as well as some companies to keep an eye on in the coming months.

If you’d like to learn more from or contact the presenters, a list of slide decks and twitter handles can be found at the San Diego Advertising Club Facebook page. We hope to see you next year at IDSD 2011!

Jun
3
2010

Mindgruve Sponsors, Awards Student Portfolio Scholarship

SAN DIEGO,CA – June 3, 2010 – Helping to support local design students as they strive towards greatness, Mindgruve sponsored and awarded local San Diego State University student, Raymond Chou, with the Best of Interactive scholarship at the 14th Annual AIGA SD Student Portfolio Exhibition.

InteractiveMindgruve Art Director and AIGA Judge/Presenter, Barbara Luna, commented, “The portfolios were amazing this year, which made our decision in choosing a winner extremely difficult. We’re lucky to have such great talent in our area and we hope to continue supporting this event in the future.”

In addition to awarding the Best of Interactive scholarship, one of Mindgruve’s newest designers, Neil Kupras, took home the overall award for Best Portfolio.