On Thursday, June 6th IRCE officially came to a close for exhibitors and the main exhibit hall. Even though speakers and presentations lasted through Friday, Beacon had a full day at McCormick Place before shutting down the booth and heading home. After a great breakfast in downtown Chicago and packing up our suitcases we took our last shuttle trip to the convention center to talk Beacon’s SMART Web Solutions. The morning went by incredibly fast and we had wonderful opportunities to speak to some of our clients and partners who attended the event before we went our separate ways.

The Beacon team had a chance to catch up with our partners at 4Tell, Aspdotnetstorefront and Nextopia and even has a meeting with our client’s Total Wine. As the day wore on we had a chance to give away some great Google prizes and a Jambox to attendees who came by during the week and spoke with us. As the day winded down and the closing hours approached the Beacon Team began to break up as we all had our separate flights to catch back home and snap back to reality.

This year’s IRCE was a great success and we showed up with a brand new booth, a brand new look and with experience from last year’s event to draw on. We were able to hear from some of the best thought leaders in the business, talk to some our wonderful clients and partners and get to know brand new people who are interested in growing alongside of us. Thank you once again for everyone we met, spoke to and saw at this year’s conference and have a successful 2013!

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Day 2 at IRCE was extremely busy and full of breakout sessions from notable guests like Al Gore and Beacon clients/partners Bronto & Delta Apparel. The exhibit hall opened at 9:00 a.m. and after a quick breakfast Beacon team members manned the booth and started meeting attendees and giving away prizes. Our team member Annette, was helping out at our partners booth, AspDotNetStorefront, to talk about how Beacon and Aspdotnetstorefront can help businesses succeed through e-commerce.

As the day wore on, we gave away our first set of Google giveaways with some Google backpacks and laptop sleeves. Our last team member arrived in the morning as Brad Henry showed up to talk digital strategy with IRCE attendees. Around lunch time all the exhibitors begin to hit the wall and the food court starts beckoning from afar. But at Beacon, we say “When in Rome…Do As The Romans Do.” So we ordered some wonderful Lou Malnati’s pizza for some excellent local deep dish taste of Chicago. It was huge and wonderful and kept the crew moving all afternoon. Coincidentally, later on that afternoon an attendee from Lou Malnati’s picked up another great Google prize.

Beacon had wonderful opportunities to hang out with some of our wonderful vendors at IRCE. Nextopia members were able to stop by to say hello, along with our wonderful clients Delta Apparel, Superior Play, Burton & Burton and Annette was holding down the Aspdotnetstorefront booth most the day. Our Sales Director, Rick Boccard, had the wonderful opportunity to sit in on a breakout session by Delta Apparel and Bronto that helped give insights into holiday email marketing for eCommerce.

As the day winded down, Beacon was able to award our grand prize of the day, a brand new JAMBOX to our lucky winner, Tabi. After the social hours at the end of the day the Beacon team headed back to the hotel and down to dinner at a wonderful seafood restaurant just a short walk away that helped cap off a wonderful day at IRCE. Thursday is the last day of IRCE for us before we head back home to Greensboro.

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IRCE is a huge event. When I say huge, I mean HUGE. Walking into the conference you have to do a double take to make sure this is where you should be. Massive RV’s, cars, three-story booths and awesome lights are a great welcome to Chicago and McCormick Place. But wait, I am getting ahead of myself…we haven’t arrived yet.

Beacon started off from Greensboro, went through Charlotte and then onto Chicago on Tuesday morning. After a smooth ride and great shuttle service to the hotel, the Beacon team (Rick, Emily & Jordan) picked up the booth and supplies and took the complimentary shuttle to McCormick Place (America’s largest convention center…think airport size). After setting up everything, Beacon was able to unveil the new look of our brand, at booth 545, and approach through SMART Web Solutions with brand new materials and a backdrop to set the booth off.

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The exhibit hall opened at 4:00 p.m. and Beacon started off meeting the huge 9,500-attendee crowd. Shortly after the event kicked off we were welcomed by the rest of our team, Annette and Mark! Beacon is giving away some great prizes over the three-day conference and exhibit and started the contest to see who will take home some Google bags, lava lamps and a Jawbone JAWBOX. We even ran into one of our partners, Nextopia, who are right next to the our booth. The event shut down at 7:00 but the party continued as Beacon took part in a conference kickoff event with great food and entertainment.

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Later on that evening, Beacon took to downtown, a short walk from the hotel, to go watch the Chicago Blackhawks play downtown and enjoy some good food and catch up after a very long day of travel and work. Stay tuned for a recap of day 2 and 3 at the conference and see some of the winners of the contest and meet some of our great partners who are at the event!

Beacon Technologies continues its hectic 2013 conference schedule at the 9th annual Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, the world’s largest e-commerce event. This year’s event will be held at Chicago’s McCormick Place West from June 4-7, 2013. This huge event will analyze the social, mobile, global, personal, interactive and managerial changes that e-commerce players are bringing to the new retail economy.

This years conference expects 9,500 attendees that comprise online retailing, from up-and-coming start-ups to long-established retail chains. Beacon will meet with all the other attendees and exhibitors at McCormick Place West for four days to learn, share, grow and exchange information with one another, what ensues is a memorable networking experience.

Beacon has a large team at this years conference and is giving away some great prizes for those who come by the booth and sign up! Not only can you win great Google giveaways this year but we are also giving away three JAMBOX devices which are wonderful speakers that can play through any bluetooth-enabled device. Want to win? Stop by and signup or tweet or post the #beaconIRCE hashtag to Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn to win!

You can follow the happenings of the conference by following Beacon Technologies and Internet Retailer on Twitter. Check back frequently on both Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook to see photos, giveaways and updates from the event. You can tweet with #IRCE or tweet at either one of us with @beacontec and @IR_Conferences. Connect with both accounts below.

Tweets about “#irce”

Tweets by @beacontec

On Saturday, April 13, 2013, students and corporate teams from all across the triad will take over Downtown Greensboro to compete in the Biscuitville Bowl 7 Campus Scramble. Our Beacon team will attempt to take home a Golden Rolling Pin, by sprinting through downtown and scrambling through four off-the-wall biscuit-themed obstacles. The course is set for Center City Park as competitors will run/jump/slide through Downtown Greensboro’s Cultural District. Obstacles are placed throughout the race route and runners will take on breakfast ingredients including:

• Sweet Tea Tumble: Scale a 12 foot tall ramp with a lemon in your mouth and tumble down 14 feet into a pool of Southern Sweet Tea!
• Grit-Iron Tires: High knee through 8 sets of tires filled with wet grits. Lace up your shoes tightly to get through this Southern-style quick sand!
• Buttermilk Slip n’ Slide: A running leap into a 27 foot long river of buttermilk and slide to the final leg of the race.
• Jelly Belly: Army crawl on your elbows under flags through a low 20 foot long plane of strawberry jelly. Then race around the last stretch to the finish line!
• Finale Bonus Obstacle – Flour Shower: Get dusted in flour as you sprint through the course! Prepare to hold your breath as you’re breaded.

Beacon is confident with its gritty 4-person team that it can take home the Golden Rolling Pin and bread & cook our competition, including our client, Ryan Scott Displays. This year’s team includes CEO, Mark Dirks; Keana Lynch, Web Developer; Rick Boccard, Director of Sales; and Gus Kroustalis, Digital Marketing Analyst.

All proceeds from the 7 Campus Scramble and leftover biscuits will be donated to the Greensboro Urban Ministry.

Competitors can compete relay style in a team of four or compete individually. It is not too late to join in on some fun! For more information on participating or volunteering, please click here. View last year’s photos online now.

*UPDATE*

View this years photos on Facebook

The Sales Team at Beacon, along with more than 100 volunteers, helped make Downtown Greensboro a little greener this Arbor Day.  On March 22, 2013, 45 trees were planted to honor the 45^th anniversary of Greensboro Beautiful.  A variety of trees were planted including: Chinese Pistache, Crape Myrtle, Holly and Littleleaf Linded.  Not only are we improving the tree canopy for downtown Greensboro, but the trees also help improve the environment. Each tree was tagged to show the positive financial impact it has on the environment over the next 15 years.    In addition, the event helped Greensboro, NC maintain its designation as a Tree City USA   for the 22^nd consecutive year.

Greensboro Mayor, Robbie Perkins, delivered the Arbor Day Proclamation during the post tree planting celebration held at Hamburger Square.  A big Thank You goes out to Action Greensboro for including Beacon Technologies in this project. “Beacon is committed to being an active part of the Greensboro community.  We saw this as a great chance to get outdoors and help encourage environmental awareness” said Rick Boccard, Director of Sales at Beacon.

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To View More Photos of the Event Click Here

NCTA Outlook For IT

Even though it seems as if 2013 is barely underway, Beacon is already several events into its event schedule. Beacon got things kicked off at NCTA’s 2013 Outlook for IT Annual Meeting & Tech Expo in Charlotte, NC. Beacon was lucky to represent itself with a booth at this years event and be a Gold Sponsor. Once setup at the event, we ran into Marc Montoro, Sr. Director of Programs & Communications for NCTA and gave us a warm welcome.

twitpic.com/c02bxj thanks @beacontec, we are very excited to kickoff our website redesign. Check out their booth at #OutlookForIT.

— NC Technology Assn (@NCTA) February 1, 2013

After meeting many of the other exhibitors, Beacon participated in a luncheon and saw several presentations from Michael Smith, VP of Research for Gartner, Michael Manos, CTO of AOL Services and Tom Becker, Vice President, Recruiting at Experis.

We would like to thank NCTA for the amazing time at Outlook for IT this year! From the big crowds, to the amazing speakers and information, this is an event we are surely looking forward to participate in again next year.

Coming Up Next: IRWD

Coming up on Monday, February 11-13 is the Internet Retailer Web Design & Usability Conference in sunny Orlando, Fl. The stage is set at the Omni Orlando Resort for over 50 exhibitors, 53 expert speakers and 34 conference sessions over the three day event. IRWD will draw a diverse crowd of top e-commerce executives, web designers and developers, and marketers from web-only merchants to e-commerce operations of the top chains. This conference is geared to people who want to roll up their sleeves and engage with pros and peers to learn how to enhance the design and functionality of their web sites to better serve their best customers and shopping prospects.

You can follow the happenings of the conference by following Beacon Technologies and Internet Retailer on Twitter. Check back frequently on both Twitter and Facebook to see photos, giveaways and updates from the event. You can tweet with #IRWD2013 or tweet at either one of us with @beacontec and @IR_Conferences. Connect with both accounts below.

Tweets by @IR_Conferences

Tweets by @beacontec

On Friday, February 1^st, a team of Beacon Employees, including myself, will head down to Charlotte for the North Carolina Technology Association Annual Meeting and Tech Expo.  Beacon has a longstanding history with NCTA, an association whose purpose is to promote our state’s fast-growing technology industry.  They put on numerous events throughout the year, including everything from monthly NCTA 101 sessions, to a Golf tournament and leadership conference in July, as well as the annual NCTA 21 awards.

Friday’s event is entitled “Outlook for IT: 2013 & Beyond” and is being held at the Hilton Charlotte Center City Hotel.  I’m personally thrilled to be in attendance at this conference, because it kicks off the start of Beacon’s event schedule, which will take us to Charlotte, Atlanta, and Boston, just to name a few. You can find out more about what we’re in for this Friday, here:

http://outlook2013.nctaevents.com/outlook2013/agenda/

As an IT enthusiast, and a lifelong North Carolina resident, I’m excited to meet with other residents from across North Carolina that are involved in our IT sector, and discover how they are utilizing technology to drive their businesses forward. From everything I’ve read on the speakers, as well as the other companies that will be in attendance, this event will not be short on very talented IT professionals. I look forward to the opportunity to be in Charlotte this Friday; what events are you planning on attending this year?

As the days grow shorter and the air gets colder – it can only mean one thing…it’s time for the North Carolina Technology Association’s 21 Awards Gala.  The 21 Awards are an annual event that always takes place this time of year.  It’s a ton of fun as a crew of ‘Beaconites’ head east on I-40 for the perennial trip to the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham.

This year didn’t disappoint as we had a solid crew representing Beacon and cheering on a couple of clients and partners that were nominated and won awards.  Congratulations to our partner, Windsor Circle on their nomination for Emerging Company of the Year and our client, Apex Analytix for winning the Best Customer Service Company of the Year!

This event also signals the end of Beacon’s event schedule.  We have one or two NCTA ET&T events on the calendar before calling it another successful year.  Keep an eye out for us next year as we plan to expand our event schedule by adding 2 or 3 additional national events.  What trade-shows, user conferences, industry events do you plan on attending in 2013?

Beacon continues its conference tour with a stop in Milwaukee for the HighEdWeb conference.  We are real excited to be exhibiting for our first time at the sold out show.  With 6 great speaker tracks and awesome night time entertainment, it’s no surprise that there are no seats left at this year’s event.

I’ll be joined by Beacon’s Director of Web Development, Justin Klingman.  Justin manages many of our higher education partnerships and is a Cascade Server guru.  As you may know, Beacon is a long time design and development partner of Hannon Hill.  We support over 75 Cascade Server clients many of whom are in the higher education space.  We are fresh off of the Cascade Server User Conference, so we look forward to sharing our takeaways with any of the Cascade Server users in attendance.  You Cascade users will be well taken care of, because our awesome partner Hannon Hill will be exhibiting as well.

In addition to our design and development expertise, Beacon also offers Digital Marketing services.  Our team of Digital Marketing experts develop and execute customized digital marketing strategies for our clients.  Our strategies are comprehensive and incorporate the tactics that provide our client’s with the greatest return on their investment.  These tactics may include: organic optimization, pay per click, email marketing, re-marketing and social.  We always pair these tactics with a strong Google Analytics implementation and ongoing conversion optimization efforts.

While at the show, be sure to drop by our booth to receive a copy of Beacon’s latest whitepaper, “The 5 Things You Must Consider For a Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategy In Higher Education.” Our Director of Digital Strategy, Brad Henry steps through some of the shared challenges our higher education clients (Wharton School of Business, University of Hartford, Randolph Macon College, Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship and others) and how digital marketing has addressed them.