For the 250,000 restaurant employees McDonald’s and its independent franchisees anticipated hiring for the summer (4,200 in Arizona), McDonald’s implemented a modern approach to recruiting — Snapchat. “Snaplications,” a term coined by McDonald’s, is a first-to-Ωmarket hiring tool in the U.S. that allows job seekers to be served an ad and opportunity to begin the application … [More]
Tech-Enabled Collaboration
Bolste has joined Current, powered by GE’s partner ecosystem, aiming to provide collaboration and communication technology to customers and partners worldwide. Bolste’s all-in-one platform provides all the familiar collaboration tools a team needs for optimal alignment, increased productivity and cohesive, instant communication with those that matter most. The platform … [More]
Tech? Or Healthcare?
Oscar operates in the healthcare realm. But it identifies as a tech company. “We use data, technology and design to make healthcare easier for employers,” explains Paul Gazeley, VP of customer care for the company he describes as a healthcare insurer and tech startup. “We believe if we help inform members about all their options and help them use the healthcare system whenever … [More]
Data Held Hostage – a Growing Problem
Ransomware is a form of malware that targets a user’s critical data and systems for extortion. Typically, ransomware encrypts data with a key known only to the attacker until a ransom (usually in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin) is paid. After the ransom is paid, the attacker will sometimes provide a decryption key. The FBI reports that approximately 4,000 ransomware … [More]
Top vs. Bottom Performers: What Role Does Technology Play?
Our IT firm was curious about the role technology strategies play in separating exceptionally successful firms from those that are stagnant in growth. We reviewed the business practices for dozens of local small and mid-sized businesses ranging from 20 to 500 employees, and we took an in-depth look at everything from mitigating risk and developing IT standards to budgeting, … [More]
Tech for Healthcare
Advances in technology and healthcare often overlap. Diet by App Order Healthy has created an app with which people ordering take-out or delivery can quickly and easily compare how healthy their food choices are. Recently launched for the Phoenix area, the app gives the user access to more than 10,000 restaurants, marking each menu item with a traffic-light rating system — … [More]
How to Make a Good First Impression with a Website
A brand has one chance to make a first impression. In this fast-paced digital world, there are many opportunities for a potential customers or stakeholders to learn about a company and have that first impression before any actual conversation even happens. That means a company’s digital presence has to be rock solid, and it all starts with a website. No matter what purpose … [More]
Technology Innovation for the Legal Market
The cost and risk of paper records are a severe business burden. Law firms and corporate legal departments, as a result, are migrating to a fully electronic matter file to improve efficiency and security for their clients; alleviate compliance and audit processes for the firm; and deliver increased mobility, collaboration and productivity for attorneys. DocSolid, a market … [More]
Fundraising Platform
RallyUp.com is an innovative new type of fundraising platform for nonprofits. From online charitable fundraising for Fortune 500 companies to school fun-runs, Arizona-based RallyUp is helping organizations simplify all aspects of fundraising campaigns. The company focuses on next-generation philanthropy that involves donors more directly in the causes they love. Founded in … [More]
Stress Relief where Tech and Healthcare Intersect
Buzzies is a new wearable technology that can reduce a person’s stress in as few as 30 seconds. Created by neuropsychologist Amy Serin, Ph.D., and launched last December by her Phoenix-based company The Touchpoint Solution, these non-invasive devices use patent-pending neuroscience technology to not only relieve stress and anxiety but improve focus and performance, reduce … [More]
Homes Are Getting Wired Up
Due to the type of progressive technologies out there, there is no limit to a “smart” home. Smart technology can now be added anywhere without ripping open a wall or ceiling. The technology that enables this has to do with not only how the user communicates with the it, but, more importantly, how the pieces of technology communicate with one another. Years ago, this type of … [More]
Personal Tech Training
GroovyTek, an education-based company providing hour-long, in-home, personal technology training sessions, recently announced the launch of its services to the Valley of the Sun. The company, which is headquartered and has an established customer base in Denver, was created to serve clients and to help navigate the roads of technology independently. GroovyTek is committed to … [More]
Simple Storage Innovates
Last year’s launch by Kat Nouri of her Stasher Bag was innovation that cut right through the commonly accepted green choice “plastic or paper.” Plastic containers, from storage bags to food containers, are ubiquitous in our lives, but plastic is petroleum-based. Nouri was worried about the effects of petroleum-based plastics on her family plus considered the cumulative impact … [More]
A Pathway to Filling Arizona’s Technology Jobs
In March 2015, President Barack Obama announced the TechHire initiative as a way to build a pipeline of tech talent for bringing new jobs to local economies, facilitating business growth and giving residents a pathway to the middle class. The key behind the effort is, the talent comes from the training and placement of undereducated youths ages 18 to 29 into the technology … [More]
Driven by Computer
My test ride last month in a self-driving car was boringly uneventful — which is exactly what the goal was. Waymo’s cars first hit the streets last April after logging one billion miles in a simulator where common and uncommon scenarios were imagined and tested, aiming to program the cars to drive like a responsible adult and not careen like a ride at Disneyland. One billion … [More]
Diamonds — Made in America
Disruption in the diamond industry? You betcha! Spence Diamonds brings to retail an innovative offering that pairs a fun, friendly, transparent and educational experience with a breakthrough product: Spence Artisan Created Diamonds™. “After decades of development, scientists have replicated the diamond creation process of applying temperature and pressure to carbon that created … [More]
Vacation Rental Platform for Sports Fans
Using technology to tie together vacation rentals and major sporting events, Mike Doyle expanded what was initially conceived around the idea of weekend apartment rentals for visiting college football fans and leads Rent Like A Champion as the company expands to the Avondale area for the 2017 NASCAR season. In fact, he says, “Our business is entirely technology-based. We … [More]
Custom Tailoring Online
Custom tailoring has gone beyond the province of brick-and-mortar to the global world of e-commerce. London-based Santamaria Shirt Makers adds an innovative advance that enables consumers to convincingly explore the virtual representation. The technology enables the online consumer to customize his design through the world’s only photorealistic, fully 3-D shirt customizer. … [More]
