Author Archive: Kris Wetzel
Interested in hearing more about the future of email marketing?
Join Clint Smith for a lively conversation in Portland, OR
This summer, the Portland office is happy to welcome our co-founder and CEO, Clint Smith, as he spends the month of July with us. He travels out here quite a bit, but this extended stay is already shaping up to be a good time. Especially considering the lovely weather and how many breweries we want to introduce him to. (Hello, Hopworks.)
But despite Clint’s reputation, he doesn’t party all the time. On July 12th, Clint will be leading the lunch discussion on the future of email marketing for the Oregon AMA. Speaking to the role of technology in an expanding marketplace, he’ll focus on the most innovative ways companies are using email alongside social channels and what marketers can expect in the future. Clint will also share success stories, in both the business and consumer sectors, from current clients working with Emma.
Prior to starting Emma, Clint was an editor with TicketMaster/CitySearch and the vice president of product for Smallbusiness.com. Currently, he guides the Emma brand, ensuring we stay on top our game through smart technology, exceptional design offerings and unparalleled customer service. All of this is just a fancy way of saying he knows his stuff, and he’s a nice guy to boot.
Join us for what will surely be an entertaining and informative discussion. You can register here, and please appreciate the irony that the event is being held at Bridgeport Brewery. Maybe Clint’s back on the party train after all.
Raising a glass to the open source community in Portland
We co-hosted a happy hour with Mozilla last week. And hey, if you haven't heard, we're hiring.
Enjoying drinks at The Cleaners in Portland's Ace Hotel.
Psst, we’re hiring, and we want every cool, geeky person in Portland to know about it. We want to meet you. There’s so much talent in this city that it makes our collective heart flutter, and we’ve got some opportunities that are pretty exciting. Does talk of Python and Postgres rev up your engine? How about blending form and function to create a great UX experience?
And here’s another thing that’s pretty exciting. Not only do we have oodles of opportunity for the right talent, but we have one of the best company cultures around. Inc. Magazine just named Emma as one of the top 50 small business workplaces. Now, that’s a huge honor in itself, but here’s the insider scoop on that accolade. It is a great place to work. Really and truly.
And our Portland office has its own unique culture. I adore the cohesive, interesting people I work with every day. How we can work together all day and still want to grab a beer after hours. I also love that we’re situated six blocks east of the river on Burnside. With three walls of floor-to-ceiling glass, I can see the Willamette River, the cars on the bridges, the ever-changing, epic Portland sky.
Recently, I teamed up with my partner-in-crime in the Portland office, Kevin McConnell (aka our director of engineering), to talk about the things that make Emma such a rewarding and fun place. And if this sounds like the right fit for you, check out our Portland job openings and apply.
Let’s dive in, Kevin. What’s to love about working at Emma?
I mostly enjoy being around a steady supply of chocolate-covered raisins in the snack cupboard. But apart from that, it’s awesome to be around smart, energetic people who are interested in finding creative ways to solve problems.
You do love chocolate-covered raisins. They are Kevin kryptonite.
Yes, I am powerless to resist them. Other good things about Emma … We are lucky to have the work environment that we do: a swanky office, nice equipment, free Wednesday lunches and transit passes.
I love that we work so hard but do it joyfully. And we have a helluva good time getting it done.
Yes, the fact that we have a successful product is a great thing. We have many happy customers with whom we have great relationships. As a nerd who likes to build things, it’s a great position to be in because you have an existing base to build on, and people who can give you feedback to steer you in interesting directions.
What’s the most exciting thing about the present job opportunities at Emma?
There’s a lot of development going on that suits different people. There’s front-end work for new features as well as interesting scaling and performance problems. There’s a lot of interest in smarter ways to streamline and automate our work, which is cool.
We are constantly looking for ways to get better at what we do. Whether that’s adopting a new process or trying new tools, everyone on the team has an equal voice.
Outside of chocolate-covered raisins, what are some things unique to the Portland office that you really appreciate?
Maybe this is a weird answer, but I like the relationship with the larger Nashville office. We are like a smaller, sleeker and perhaps more handsome version (shh, don’t tell them that) of that office, and it’s fun to be able to collaborate remotely with people one minute and then gather folks around a whiteboard the next minute. It’s great to watch projects and ideas bounce across the country.
It’s true. So much inspiration circulates between locations and teams. I would even argue that our dedicated beer fridge helps spark conversations and collaboration. Great ideas sprout up when we unwind together at the end of the day. Moving on, what’s your vote for the best Emma-sponsored Wednesday lunch ever?
It’s probably Savor Soup House. Tomato soup and vegan grilled cheese. Although the day you brought in the panini press and the myriad of fixings was pretty awesome.
What’s your stance on inner-office pranking?
I’m generally for it, except for that one time I came into work to find my desk covered in St Patty’s stuff. It was cool, but it took forever to hoover up the shamrock confetti.
"Finnish" work and celebrate.
I like the Finnish flags around the office. As in *finish.* Like we finished a project and it’s time to fly the flag.
Last question, Kevin. We’ve done some fun Emma socials in the past (bowling, movie night, marathon dinners at Pok Pok). What’s your pick for the next one?
How about fruit picking?
We could go to one of the beautiful farms on Sauvie Island to pick through the summer bounty and then have a “farm to table” potluck.
For the longest time after moving here, I thought it was Suave Island. I pictured a whole island sipping martinis and talking philosophy.
And there you have it. If you are particularly suave or have a predilection for chocolate-covered raisins, you know where to find us. We’ve got the need for great developer and UX talent, so inquire, okay? We’d love to meet you. And we’ll share the raisins.
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Read more from Kevin and our developers on Emma Tech, and more about Portland from Kris here.
Helping the city of Portland turn it up to 11
At Emma, we work hard, play hard and passionately support causes that change our communities for the better. Company-wide, we give 5% of our annual revenue to fund things we believe in, like Kiva, Donor’s Choose, our annual Emma 25 and various causes that our staffers support.
Sometimes, though, we can make more impact with a time investment than a financial one. Out here in Portland, that means stepping outside of the proverbial work week and lending time and energy to projects that focus on creating the community we live in.
A compelling movement is brewing in Portland right now called PDX11 that hits all the right notes for us — so, naturally, we got involved. Fueled by Mayor Adam’s office and the Portland Development Commission (PDC), PDX11 aims to put Portland on the map as the go-to place for software talent and investment opportunities. To accomplish this, a community of software industry professionals, local government leaders and interested citizens emerged to make this a reality.
Emma has been supporting PDX11 since the inaugural meeting in December 2010, and we’re currently in the final planning stages for the PDX11 Unconference and Hackathon slated for April 1-2. It’s a two-day opportunity to bring everyone together to share the progress we’ve made, craft strategy for the future and celebrate the diverse and vibrant contributions of everyone involved.
In conjunction with the Unconference, we’re also hosting a Hackathon for assembled developers to work on some key software that supports PDX11, like Calagator, ePDX.org, CivicApps inspired projects like PDXAPI, and open source Trimet data processing applications. Another group of developers will pair up and hack code like Ruby, Python, PHP and Javascript.
All and all, it’s going to be a great weekend. If you’re in Portland, consider this an invitation to join the revolution. After all, who doesn’t want to turn it up to 11?
Emma hosts Lunch 2.0 in Portland
If you follow either one of our blogs, you know we have a penchant for all things geeky. This Wednesday, we opened up our office to host Lunch 2.0, a monthly meeting and networking event for the tech community. A phenomenon born in Silicon Valley in 2006, Portland imported the concept in 2007, and it was an immediate hit.
The concept is simple. A host company — that would be us for the sake of this story — offers a meeting space and brings in lunch for the attendees. Like-minded people network and mingle over noshes, hashing through shared issues and solutions: how to prioritize features, finding the right hire, nurturing a happy and productive work environment, dealing with growth and so on. It’s a fun and productive event, with free lunch to boot.
We always enjoy having people in our space, so we were very excited to host Lunch 2.0. Currently, Emma occupies the 5th floor of the beautiful bside6 building on E Burnside and recently decided to expand our operation to the 6th floor. To celebrate the good news, we decided to have lunch on the unfinished sixth floor and take advantage of the collective brainpower in the room. We lined a wall with butcher’s paper and asked attendees what they thought we should do with the space. The suggestions we received were impressive. Acoustic ceiling tiles? Yes, please. Practice mad science? We’re all for it. Goomba hackerspace? Bring on that open sourcery. Indoor track/roller rink? Now we’re talking!
An admirable list of ideas.
Speaking of the 6th floor, you may be wondering what our plans for it might entail. Emma’s growing, in case you haven’t heard. In Portland, the plan is to grow quite a bit. We’re currently in the position to hire multiple software developers, so if you’ve got super-fly skills and talk of things like Python and PostgreSQL makes you happy, check out our job page here.
Thanks to everyone (nearly 100 all said and done) who came out for Lunch 2.0 this week. We enjoyed having you in our space and look forward to ongoing sponsorships within the tech community. Also, a big shout out goes to Lovejoy Food for creating a Mediterranean feast that everyone enjoyed. We’re still enjoying those vegan-friendly orange cardamom cookies. This morning, we discovered, paired with coffee, they really do make a breakfast of champions
If you’re in Portland, be sure to drop by Small Society, a rocking iOS development shop, on April 6th for the next installment of Lunch 2.0. Not in a Lunch 2.0 town? Consider initiating the movement where you live. It’s a great way to get involved and support the geekery in your community. Plus, it’s a legitimate reason for a mid-day party. Need we say more?
A Portland non-profit lobbies for the arts
- CAN helps keep creativity flowing in Portland.
How one savvy non-profit uses Emma to make the arts sustainable.
In Portland, creativity runs deep. It flows in the rivers and crosses all the bridges. One of our clients, the Creative Advocacy Network (CAN), works tirelessly to keep those creative opportunities flowing for the entire city. They’re currently chipping away at a gutsy initiative to establish a sustainable public fund to ensure a thriving arts ecology for all Portland residents.
An Emma client since 2009, they were also a recipient of a free lifetime account courtesy of Emma 25 in 2010. Recently, we sat down with CAN’s assistant director, Emily Brod, to chat about how Emma helps drive their marketing strategy and where she finds inspiration in the Portland community.
To kick things off, will you tell us about some cool initiatives at CAN and how you’re using email marketing to support them?
CAN is leading the charge for a new dedicated stream of public funding for the arts. Our mission is simple — increase our region’s investment every year to bring arts and cultural experiences to life. We are here because we know that the arts inspire and educate our kids, revitalize our neighborhoods and fuel our economy. We also know that without public funding, many of our residents would no longer have access to the innumerable benefits of arts and culture.
CAN relies heavily on email as our main vehicle for communicating our goals, recruiting supporters and donors and celebrating our successes. When the City of Portland and the Regional Arts & Culture Council renewed their support for CAN in July 2010 with an investment of $100,000, they challenged us to build the movement. And build it, we did. We raised $50,000 in private donations. We also recruited 1,000 new supporters in just four months, signed on over 200 messengers to spread the word and exceeded our goal for memberships with new arts organizations.
What Emma feature do you love the most and why does it rock your world?
I really love the response module. Being able to see how and when people open our emails and what they click on is so helpful for us. With that data, we’re able to better focus our email campaigns to reach and engage the greatest number of people possible in the most effective way. Our smarter campaigns are really working. Over the past few months, we’ve seen an upward trend in both opens and clicks, which means more people are getting involved in all the great work we do.
Okay, now that we’ve talked shop for a bit, let’s switch gears. We’re both lucky enough to live and work in Portland. Describe your perfect Portland day.
I could happily spend the whole day at the Saturday Farmer’s Market. I love trying all the delicious samples, people-watching, listening to the music, finding fantastic food to cook for dinner, picking out a big bouquet of flowers, running into friends and strolling around on a warm, summer day with my family.
And, to get my art fix on, I use the brand new Public Art PDX iPhone app to take a walking tour of all of Portland’s amazing public art.
Portland’s got one of the most vibrant food scenes in the country and among the hotly debated titles in town is which place is serving the best burger. Whose got your vote?
I love the burgers at Little Big Burger. I love everything about them – the size, the juiciness, the flavor. Topped with chevre and paired with a side order of their awesome truffle fries, I’ve got one word for you: Mmmm.
What are three Portland non-profits that inspire you?
I’m on the board of directors for the Newspace Center for Photography, a fantastic non-profit that serves as a multidimensional photography resource center and community hub. Newspace has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years, adding more programming, while growing their audience size and physical footprint. They’ve also stayed true to their mission of providing a space and a community for photo enthusiasts regards of skill level or income.
Another great non-profit is Girls, Inc. Their mission is to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold. After volunteering with them at a local elementary school, I think I was inspired just as much as the girls!
And Friends of Trees is always one of my favorites. This winter, they planted their 400,000th tree in Portland and have almost single-handedly changed the landscape of the city. Seriously. When my family planted a tree in front of our home this January, we learned that a PSU professor attributed Portland’s expanding tree canopy (one of few in the country) to the “Friends of Trees effect.” I love that I can raise my daughter in a city where a non-profit organization has such a huge impact on the environment, our health and the beauty of our community!
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A paper CAN Van ... also inspiring.
In Portland and want to get more involved in CAN’s efforts to champion the arts for every man, woman and child?
Head over to their site and check out all the ways you can help, and don’t forget to sign up for their emails while you’re there.
Free free to join CAN at the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s annual State of the Arts report at Portland City Hall on March 9 at 9:30 am to show your support.
Also, drop by Disjecta gallery (one of our favorite clients as well) and check out the legendary CAN Van immortalized in the Portland Paper Project. It promises to be the most amazing paper replica of Portland that you’ve ever seen.
Meet Lisa Creamer, our newest Portland favorite
Lisa, our new biz dev specialist in Portland, loves the Decemberists and potatoes.
Back in November, we published a blog post letting the world know we were looking for the right someone to lead our business development efforts in Portland. In a magical ask and they shall come moment, we met Lisa Creamer and liked her so much, we immediately wanted to put a ring on it. Recently, we sat down with our newest Portland member to chat about her new role and her plan for friendly Emma domination in the city of roses.
You’re been with Emma for six weeks now. What excites you the most about your new role?
I think it’s the opportunity that excites me the most. Portland is a hot bed of creativity. People feel a sense of freedom to bring forth new ideas, knowing that the town will embrace them and engage in their growth. Emma just seems like a logical fit. We fit the Portland personality. Sure, we’re quirky and fun-loving, but we also provide the perfect venue to help people grow and flourish. Emma has the unique ability to help people communicate their ideas with simplicity and style without breaking the bank.
We’re intrigued. Can you tell us a little bit about your grand plans for bringing the Emma brand to the Portland community?
In a perfect world, I would have local indie darlings, The Decemberists, compose a love ballad to Portland from Emma. While we wait to hear back from Colin Meloy on that, I’m really looking forward to getting the Emma brand in front of the Portland community, to let everyone know we are right on E Burnside in the heart of the central Eastside neighborhood. We moved to Portland three years ago because we wanted to join and support this vibrant community.
One of the things I love about Emma is the giving back initiatives. It just fits organically into the lifestyle out here. At Emma, we do what we do very well. Outside of being an email marketing service, we pride ourselves on building relationships with our customers, making their experience as personable as possible while delivering an awesome product. You pair that up with giving back campaigns, like planting 5 trees for each new customer who joins, and it seems very Portland to me.
Okay, now that we’ve got the business stuff out of the way, let’s have some fun. What’s your take on IFC’s break-out hit Portlandia?
I think most of it is pretty spot on. Let’s be honest. People are a little weird here. It’s part of what we all love about Portland. And I gotta say that the “Put a bird on it” skit really has us pegged. We do love birds. On everything.
Portland’s food cart scene is leading a conversation on a national level. What’s your favorite cart in town?
My favorite cart is Potato Champion. There’s nothing more satisfying than a heaping cone of perfectly cooked fries after a bicycle pub crawl. My six-year-old son, Enzo, prefers PFE, a cart downtown that serves sushi and Chinese food. Whatever you’re craving, there’s a food cart dishing it out.
What are three Portland companies you would love to introduce to Emma?
One company that is near and dear to my heart is Looptworks. Looptworks is dedicated to upcycling, repurposing abandoned materials into clothing and gear. It really addresses the issue of using what’s already available and sparks an invitation for people to think about what they buy, where it came from and what natural resources it required to produce it. Plus, their product line is super cute.
Another brand that I love is New Deal Distillery. Add a little Hot Monkey Vodka to a Caipirinha, and I’m a happy camper. Portland’s riding a distillery boom right now. Thanks to the DIY culture, it’s always been a great place for beer, coffee and tea, and it’s nice to see a notable number of quality handcrafted, locally distilled spirits join the scene. It’s also worth noting that our office is just blocks from what’s known as Distillery Row.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Powell’s Books. Outside of being the world’s largest new and used bookstore, Powell’s is a Portland institution. I’d love to get Emma on their radar and find a way to unite two companies that bring quality service to the community.
Geek love in Portland
Today, we’d like to send out a proverbial Valentine’s Day card to the tech community in Portland. Geeks just rock our world. We loved you even before technology made you powerful and Wired made you fashionable. This love is the real deal.
And you know who else loves geeks? The City of Portland. Portland is like a Judd Apatow film realized. Here, the nerds, geeks and freaks rule the land, and it’s a big part of why this town is so awesome. Portland likes them so much that the Mayor’s office has launched an initiative to promote and expand the tech community. As a company in town (and as a company that is hiring), we support that.
This weekend, one of Emma’s own, the esteemed Selena Deckelmann, is headed down to San Francisco to attend the She’s Geeky unconference to network with a bunch of women possessing mad skills. Founded in 2007, She’s Geeky gives geeky women from across the land a place to support, educate and share experiences with each other. One of Selena’s goals is to meet women programmers with an interest in moving to Portland. She might even be holding a handmade sign that says, “Work in Portland. It rules!”
Working in Portland does rule. The tech community is rich with talent and activity, and there’s plenty of room to join the movement. Even better, there’s lots of opportunity. Here at Emma, we’re looking for talented developers to join our team, and our friends at Puppet Labs, Urban Airship and About Us are also hiring.
Oh, and if you’re planning on attending She’s Geeky and want to connect with Selena, drop her a line here. She’d love to tell you the 40,000 reasons why Portland is the cool kid you should get to know.
You can read more about our job openings here.
Painting (and singing) in the rain
Selena, Michelle, Kris and Jenny from Emma's Portland office were on hand to brighten the day.
On Saturday, January 15th, a few folks from Emma’s Portland office teamed up with the extraordinary Hands On Greater Portland to participate in the MLK Day of Service. We’ve long been fans of the Hands On Network, which connects volunteers all across the country with opportunities to create and sustain positive change through local service. For our project, we headed over to the Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare facility to put a fresh coat of paint on their ground floor.
Cascadia supports people in the Portland community struggling with mental illnesses, addiction and homelessness. Through services ranging from mental health counseling, crisis intervention and addictions treatment to transitional, residential, and permanent housing, they empower individuals to find recovery, hope and opportunity.
Our day began in typical Portland fashion with soft pattering rain — the perfect kind of weather to hunker down with an awesome group of volunteers and brighten up the facility. We painted and rolled while listening to a hilarious soft rock station, occasionally pausing for spontaneous sing-a-longs to classics like “Eternal Flame” and “Right Here Waiting for You.”
When we finally peeled off the tape and cleared the dropcloths, it was a brand new room, bright and cheerful, reflecting the vision of Cascadia’s mission of hope. We rounded up the day at Alameda Brewhouse. Over pints of beer, we toasted Hands On, Cascadia and all the people who work to improve the quality of life in this incredible town we are proud to call home. Hats off to you all.
Emma throws a party in Portland
Open Sourcery Queen Selena Deckelmann helps navigate the medal contest with a drink and a smile.
We officially launched our West Coast office with a bunch of friends and customers.
It seemed like high time to celebrate our second-largest Emma office, so we threw a party last week in this bike-riding, beer-loving, tree-hugging city of Portland that we’re lucky enough to call home.
Granted, we’ve been in Portland since 2007, but we like to build something and then celebrate it, not the other way around. This was our big chance to throw open the doors and celebrate all the businesses and organizations that help make this an Emma town, and the party was a hit.
Our friends turned out in droves, and some of them like Ruby Jewel even brought us cool presents like bags of handmade salted chocolate ice cream sandwiches. Yes, it’s true. We have the best clients ever.
Over gorgeous hors d’oeuvres from Simpatica, local Oregon wines and a keg of IPA from local brewmasters Hopworks, we lit up the night. We had such a good turnout that the keg was tapped by 9:00 PM. Party foul, we know, but a spur-of-the-moment beer run ensued to keep the hop-heads happy. The party kept rocking until midnight.
To spotlight all the things we love about Portland, we created a special set of our Emma medals, which are trinkets we like to hand out now and then. While our usual medals tout things like general awesomeness, we crafted medals for the party using Portland themes that touch on the city’s vibrant cycling culture, the love of well-crafted beer, the rainy weather and the thriving open source community.
Behind the screen, Emma's Matt Thackston gives Cristine Norine a tour of the party.
We even opened up the floor for party participants to create nominees for their own favorite Portland-themed medal, and we’re awarding the winner $500 to donate to the local non-profit of their choice.
Another party highlight was Cristin Norine’s presence. She’s a neighbor in our building (the BSIDE6 project), and she’s living in a glass room gallery space in November to explore themes about how we communicate with each other in this Internet age. Guests were able to chat with her on Skype.
In short, last Thursday felt like the ultimate coming out party. We felt like the debutante at the ball, and we only have one thing to say: Thank you, Portland. We’re so glad to be part of this amazing town.
Photo credits: Aaron Hockley
Give Trees a Chance.
Here at Emma, we’re big fans of trees. From the noblest Redwood to the teeniest Dwarf Willow, we love them all, and we suspect that you, dear reader, do too. With that in mind, we recently forged an exciting partnership with Plant-It 2020 to give our Emma community an easy way to participate in non-harvest reforestation efforts across the globe. The idea is simple – for every new account we open, we’ll plant five trees with the help of Plant-It 2020. Already in the first month of the initiative, we’ve donated the money to plant nearly 1,000 trees in the lovely state of Oregon. And with nearly 300 fabulous organizations joining us each month, we hope to donate more than 15,000 trees this year.
Founded by John Denver in 1992, Plant-It 2020 plants an indigenous tree for every dollar they receive. Their savvy approach to reforestation ensures that the trees they plant will live a long and happy life. They’ll be nurtured in their natural environment with ample light and water, and they will never be harvested. Perhaps they are also lulled to sleep at night by “Rocky Mountain High.” Okay, we can’t guarantee the lullaby, but it’s a nice thought. If you’re curious to learn more about Plant-It 2020, visit their website and subscribe to their email newsletter (powered by Emma, of course).
As we grow as a company, we look forward to forging more partnerships with cool companies dedicated to positive change. We invite you to be directly involved in making our world a more sustainable place. So, go forth and plant some trees, do-gooders! We salute you.
[tags]plant-it 2020, reforestation, trees, myemma.com, environment[/tags]
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