Work hard … play harder :)

Since Startup Riot last month I’ve seen the need to really get out there and make the brand easily recognizable. I actually feel like a business owner that folks take seriously. Not that they didn’t before but… somehow in my head things are more official now.

One of the difficulties I’ve found in marketing textbook rental to college students, is that textbooks just aren’t sexy. In fact they almost always conjure up the anxiety accompanies realizing you’ve got a final in two days and haven’t even thought about studying. So how do you grab their attention? How do you make something so inherently lame, cool? I wish I knew. In all honesty, I don’t think its possible in the case of textbooks and course materials. BUT its very possible to make sure folks know we love having a good time and are looking to make life easier. Knapsac’s kind of like that kid that plays just as hard as he/she works (I learned just how amazing this setup can be at Emory).

So first up Knapsac’s sponsoring our first event Spring Break Rehab this Thursday at Primal in Atlanta. Yayyy! It’s a post spring break “last rite” before the end of the semester and finals creep up. Not to mention, it’s on St. Patricks Day… ohh I’m soo excited. So if you’re in town and want to join in on the fun stop by and party with Knapsac!
Until next week…
CO Out

Riot at The Tabernacle

The past few weeks have sort of been a blur. The new semester here and the Knapsac teams been in full force fulfilling rental orders. Not that I’m complaining though. The feedback from happy customers, as well as folks who seemed a little peeved at times is great! It’s helping me get a better idea of how well we’re doing, what types of  methods are working and what… quite frankly sucks. And it never hurts to put a little bit of cash in the bank.

Soooo on to the fun stuff … If you’ve been following my tweets (@knapsac) you most likely saw some pretty cryptic messages about getting ready for something or being really excited. Well now I can spill the beans. For the past month or so I’ve been going crazy preparing for the hugely awesome Startup Riot here in Atlanta. After applying on a whim back in January, Knapsac was selected as 1 of the 50 companies that would be giving a 3 min pitch to an audience of well over 400; these folks were entrepreneurs, investors, press, our keynote speakers, and random folks who were just wanted to be a part of the event.

Wednesday, Feb 16  was the big day. I knew my slides like the back of my hand and felt pretty prepared. But as soon as I arrived, began setting up my table, and started checking out the competition the game changed a bit for me. Every other company had a very polished display of demos, marketing material, product samples, bla bla bla… and it looked like I’d decided to go for a more utilitarian decor. AND I was alone … one of my team members who was suppose to man our table wasn’t available until later in the day It was so obvious this was my first big time event. But there was nothing I could do at that point sooo … I figured WHO CARES. I was going to own it like I usually do and make this fun a fun, productive day. Presenting towards the first hour of pitches was definitely ulcer-inducing; my heart was racing, palms got sweaty, and I noticed everyone else back stage had a gimmick. There were fairy wings, bowler hats, rockstars… well damn, how was I suppose to compete with that. I wanted to switch things up, but decided going with what I’d practiced for weeks was the best way to keep myself from completely mortifying flub up on stage. After all I was presenting more to bring awareness about Knapsac and network more than to win prizes (although I was definitely open to that too).

Aside from speeding through my presentation (almost flawlessly might I add … ) and feeling like my lungs were about to collapse, it worked out. We got several very supportive tweets before my fellow presenters and I were released from the holding area back stage, also known as the ICE BOX. And even better I was actually bumrushed by some folks as we all left the auditorium (I’m a Gemini so you can only imagine how excited I was about being the center of attention). Another major success was the constant flow of people to the Knapsac table. Folks were very nice, asked a ton of questions, I’d say about 20 visitors mentioned “gosh I wish this was around x years ago when I was in college…”. But my favorite part of all was the camaraderie  that only a group of entrepreneurs can share. Overall the feedback was awesome; everyone wanted to help you build a strong product or service; it was all about sharing the wealth of information that’s available in the room. Simple. Productive. Leisurely… is really how networking events should be.

I’m pumped to start making moves again and putting the biz on the map. Be on the watch for Knapsac in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Until next week…
CO Out