It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything on our blog of substance. It’s primarily become our news room for announcing new project launches, and we’re not even posting a number of those. Honestly, it’s a capacity issue. Our team is BUSY and blogging is not their top priority. I thought I would post a quick entry to hit the highlights of what’s been happening at Rockfish: Growth We just added our thirtieth employee at Rockfish. We’re still looking to add at least 3 more great web developers. Click here to apply. We offer a great work environment, 401K plan (something new we added in 08), great benefits, free lunches twice per week, and a free iPhone at your six month anniversary.
We have two great interns ready to start this summer and are looking for at least one more. Our web developer internships pay $500 per week, free housing if you’re outside the area, and a potential $1,500 bonus at the end of the internship. Click her for more information. Office Space We’ve been looking for space now for a while. Our original intent was to purchase an old building with lots of character that we could renovate. No luck. We started looking for a place to rent and ended up planning on moving into the Bentonville Plaza. By the time we got through two months of lease negotiations our company had already grown another 20%. With a 90 day build-out period, we were likely going to outgrow the space we planned to move into before we even got there. We nixed that idea. We leased another building about a block and a half away from our current space and will move our business development and operations team into that location and leave our web development team in our current building. Not my first preference, but it should buy us another 12 to 18 months.
We are now planning on partnering in a new building. We have an amazing group of companies in Northwest Arkansas that are coming together to construct an awesome new building on a great piece of property. Still a lot of due diligence to go through and nothing is for certain, but I’m excited about the potential. Of course, I’ll announce the details on this blog if it all comes together. Team It’s hard to believe that in two quick years we’ve added 30 people that speak five languages (English, Spanish, Russian, Romanian, and French). I can’t tell you how jazzed I am about our team and the friendships that have developed. Great work and great teammates make all the difference in enjoying your job. I often have people at Rockfish tell me how their job doesn't feel like an actual "job" because they love what they do. That's one of the best compliments a business owner can get.
Interactive Producers – Two people on our team have assumed the Interactive Producer position. We had so many projects going on that it was time to add some solid project management skills. Both of our Interactive Producers have Masters Degrees in Information Systems and both we’re programmers in a previous career. That means they have a solid knowledge in IT while also having excellent client and project management skills. Right now they are focused on getting some internal process and systems setup for us and we should have that complete within the next few weeks. This is going to make us more efficient and position us for continued growth. Misc The Bentonville Square is undergoing a major renovation project which has closed down a number of parking spaces around our building. The city of Bentonville is going to radically change over the next five to ten years. It’s worth the inconvenience!
Two-thirds of our team will be attending South by Southwest in a couple of weeks. When we booked the trip in October it was our entire team. If you’re attending also and want to connect, give us a call or send us an email.
We have a cool announcement coming very soon concerning a new business venture that partners Rockfish with another awesome company in NWA. We’re going to radically change an industry that is in desperate need of innovation.
If you're looking for a great place to get out of town and enjoy nature, then check out the Buffalo Outdoor Center. If you're looking for more information on the Buffalo Outdoor Center (BOC), then check out their new website at www.buffaloriver.com. The new site has a number of interactive features, including an interactive cabin selector and an interactive river map of the Buffalo River. Additional site features include a blog, e-postcards, and a customer survey tool that BOC will use to solicit feedback after your visit. I've personally stayed at the BOC and recommend it highly! No one knows the Buffalo River better than Mike and Rhonda, and their cabins are awesome! Check out "Cabin X" as an example.
Before Christmas we announced the launch of helpaguybuy.com. Click here to read that posting.
This week we launched the Valentine's Day version of Helpaguybuy.com and also added Helpachickpick.com for the ladies needing some Valentine's Day gift ideas.
Read the official press release regarding these two sites here.