Chicago Tech Report

Visiting Our Northern Tech FriendsAn Evening with Spreenkler

I was invited to come speak to an active and growing group, Spreenkler, in Milwaukee. Threadless' Harper Reed also visited the group a few months back. Their mission:

"Spreenkler is comprised of Milwaukee’s creative, marketing and technical professionals and entrepreneurs. We gather each month to share experiences, best-practices and new ideas to utilize the collective knowledge of the group to move those ideas forward."

Founded by Steve Glynn (pictured above), Spreenkler is just another example of a thriving organization in the Midwest that aims to grow the talent of entrepreneurs, start-ups and other creatives.

I was flattered that they wanted yours truly to come chat about my career, which includes the evolution of Chicago Tech Report.

Chicago 2016 Blogger Meeting: Monday August 11

Hi Everyone,

I received word of the following event that I'm sure some of you would like to attend. The folks at the Conversation Group and their sister organization, Social Media Club are hosting an event on Monday evening to talk about the Chicago 2016 Olympics.

The event is on Facebook - you can RSVP there. August 11, 7 pm.

I'm hoping to learn more at this event. With so many Chicagoans 'in the know' with things, I'm surprised so few of us knew of this get together happening.  I also hope that whomever puts this night on realizes how many writers, bloggers and tech types are in this city - and give a darn about Chicago and the possibility of us clinching it (but can someone please fix the CTA?)

CTR Goes on a Road Trip to 2Checkout

I flew out to Columbus, Ohio and met the folks at 2Checkout. 2Checkout invited a handful of us marketing types that were experts in the world of affiliate marketing to help shape their upcoming program.  In addition to the tips, tricks and how-tos we provided 2Checkout, I learned a good deal about shopping cards and resellers.

2Checkout enables anyone to sign up and use their proprietary technology to sell their goods. Let's say you make a DVD with cooking tips and would like to sell the DVDs online. You can sign up for 2Checkout, they handle all the payment processing, tracking AND fraud. You ship out the product. Done. There is a per transaction fee for the transaction, but 2Checkout takes on the full risk. If the transaction on the other end is fradulent, 2Checkout handles it - you don't. If anyone listens to TWiT and knows about Leo Laporte's issues with eBay/Paypal and his $2,000 scam situation,  you can appreciate the fraud support from 2Checkout.

I found this interesting because a) they enable more international payment options than Paypal and b) their fraud prevention services are air tight. Entrepreneur Magazine named 2Checkout as part of their Hot 100 Fastest Growing companies in the U.S. as well.

To Vic and the rest of 2Checkout team, thank you for having us out.