This is a great site…very useful…

The big V day is Sunday and some of us may have forgotten to make dinner reservations!  Well, never fear, because there is a solution…check out www.opentable.com and you can have a table waiting for you and your significant other for Saturday night…and for free!

Believe it or not, reports indicate that a full 30% of folks that plan on dining out, are going to make reservations at the last minute.   This is where www.opentable.com comes in.

OpenTable provides access to restaurants and their openings for dinner and thereby saves you a TON of time in finding the perfect spot for you and your significant other.  Check it out.  I like being able to search by location, type of food, price, date, time and party size.  So for example, I searched for a steak dinner in Baltimore at 7pm for 2 people and found 4 restaurants with openings and another 7 with openings that are close to my 7pm time.  Oh, and I did this in about 10 seconds.

Another aspect I like about open table is their ability to help you find a good restaurant and see ratings and reviews of this restaurant.  I frequently run in to the issue of “we want to go out, but don’t know where to go”.  OpenTable solves this issue.  Now you can search for a type of cuisine (e.g., American, French, Fusion and 16 others) and an approximate cost and then read some reviews…pick a place to go and you are all set.  Very cool.  I really like the ability to find new restaurants to explore.

OpenTable has more than 11,000 restaurant customers and, since its inception in 1998, has seated more than 120 million diners around the world.

Check it out to get you out of a bind for V Day and you use this site all year…I know I am.

Baltimore, MD, January 4, 2010 – G.1440 today announced the completion of an agreement to be acquired by Constellation Software, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary Constellation HomeBuilder Systems. The talent and technology of G.1440 will remain in Baltimore, where the company will continue to operate under the same name and management team. With a portfolio of over 20,000 customers in over 30 countries, Constellation will help solidify G.1440’s position in the market and help it grow as Baltimore’s technology leader.

Founded in 1998, G.1440 provides a range of technology services, including web design, online marketing, custom application development, and IT staffing. The Baltimore company’s depth and range of services made it attractive to CSI.

“By bringing expert teams in web design, marketing, development, and tech staffing together, G.1440 offers a hybrid solution unlike any we’ve seen,” says Dexter Salna, President of Constellation HomeBuilder Systems. “With a 12 year history of growth fueled by repeat business from an impressive client list that includes many of Maryland’s premier companies, G.1440 was a natural fit for the Constellation family.”

“With Constellation we’re in an even better position to empower our clients through technology,” said Larry Fiorino, G.1440’s President and Founder. “We’re excited that CSI has recognized what our clients have experienced – the immense value that our design, development, marketing, and staffing teams bring when they work together. This acquisition is great news for Baltimore!”

Financial details of the acquisition are not being made public.

About Constellation Software, Inc.

Constellation Software Inc. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “CSU”. Constellation is an international provider of market leading software and services to a number of industries across both the public and private sectors. The Company acquires, manages and builds vertical market software businesses that provide mission-critical software solutions to address the specific needs of its customers in those industries. Constellation Software, Inc. is in no way affiliated with Constellation Energy – a Baltimore based energy company.

About G.1440, LLC.

G.1440 is a 12 year old Baltimore based technology firm that provides End-to-End IT solutions that Get IT to Work for leading companies nationwide. With services including custom web application development, web design, online marketing and tech staffing, G.1440 stands out by offering hybrid IT solutions – the right mix of technology, the people, and price – working with clients however clients need us to. G.1440 was founded by Larry Fiorino in 1998 and was previously a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Media Inquiries
Tim Kassouf
marketing@g1440.com
(410) 843-3823

Yanni & I, the Marketing Interns, have posted our second episode of Intern1440, our behind-the-scenes video series.

Check it out below or on the G.1440 Facebook page, leave some comments, and let us know if there’s something or someone you’d like us to dig into here at G.1440!

On Friday we launched a brand new redesign of g1440.com, and as cliche as it must sound… we’re pretty excited!

Here’s what John Hill, our Vice President of IT Solutions had to say:

Good People of G.1440, you gotta check out our new website! At the end of a Friday workday and workweek, take a moment and check it out. You’ll be very impressed with your company and your team of web designers, developers and marketing experts. The new site is a GEM.

Kudos to Matt Deville for leading the effort (and producing most of the design and graphics all by his little ‘ole self) and special thanks to Tim, Buddie, Nat, and Adam for all their hard word. It’s a real beauty, folks…

Stay tuned… spring is springing and so is G.1440.

Have a great weekend. We’ve got a lot to celebrate!”

For a short while, we’ve been featuring guest bloggers on the Tech Blender.  Some local people plugged into technology in one way or another who were willing to share their insights and thoughts with the rest of us.

The response has been great, and we couldn’t be more pleased with contributions from programmers like Tim Kulp, and eBusiness pro’s like Steve Kruskamp and Laleh Malek.

Since the beginning we’ve said that “The G.1440 Tech Blender is your source for sage advice, brilliant insights and delight — delivered by the Baltimore/Washington region’s leading professionals”… and we mean it!  We’re proud to be a source where leaders come to share thoughts and trade comments.

In fact, we’d like to see more of it! So – what do you know?  What insights can you share?  Let us know and maybe you’ll be featured on the Tech Blender next!

The following is from another G.1440 Guest Blogger: Laleh Malek, eBusiness Professor and Director of Professional Experience at Towson University…

As a teacher of e-Business, I talk about Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media applications frequently, but I have been deliberate in my adoption of these tools.

I’ve been a part of Linked in, and consider myself a satisfied customer, but found myself hesitant to jump headfirst into the Facebook phenomenon that’s grown 175 million strong – as noted on April 9 in the NY Times.

As an e-business professor, I actively witness the effect of social media on my students. When I walk into my classes, all the computers are on and a large percentage of the class is viewing their Facebook account. This generation perceives Facebook as a way to post and view photos, make connection to friends and stay in the know as to what is going on, which fits in perfectly with the mission of the company: “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” Not only do my students love posting messages but also the instant messaging capabilities. So recently I decided to join Facebook and learn of the power it has over so many active users firsthand.

It is truly a great tool to connect. I have been able to connect with my friends in the US and abroad. With not enough time in the day, it has provided me with the opportunity to quickly update my friends on what is happening in my life. And most recently, it allowed me to connect a hardworking student to one of my employer friends.

However, with the positive comes the negative. Each Facebook user also opens the door for employers to access information posted on the page – a subject that I’m keenly familiar with as the liaison between the business community and business college. When posting information, you are providing full visibility to others. Recently, I mentioned to my class the idea of business etiquette in social media. One student responded, “it is my page, I should be able to post anything that I want.” However, with the expansion of technology, when do we draw the line and realize the impact of it on our lives? Is it time for us to realize that as we brand ourselves on social media that we need to follow social media etiquette. Etiquette could simply be what if you mom wanted to be your Facebook friend? Would you still have the same content out there? Ironically, in a recent posting by one of my Facebook friends, he asked the same question. Should he let his mom view his account?

Laleh Malek is the Director of Professional Experience and teaches Principles of eBusiness at Towson University, College of Business and Economics. The facebook page for the College is CBE Towson.

So yesterday every site online was promoting some fake product for April Fool’s Day, Google style.

We resisted the urge.  But naturally, we played along!

Someone from our marketing department – who will, of course, remain nameless – got to the office about an hour early, and armed with about 400 post-it’s he set his sights on the CEO’s office.  The method was a pretty classic routine – label EVERYTHING in a co-worker’s office with post-it notes.  And by everything, we mean everything.  This includes “scratch in desk”, “piece of dirt”, etc.

The result? A pretty funny look on CEO Larry Fiorino’s face when he walked in to a sea of yellow yesterday morning.  The best part of this prank? He’ll be finding those post-its for the next few days… The prank that keeps on giving!

Photo from Larry’s Blackberry:

A couple weeks back, I was given the chance to share my thoughts on the new Recovery.gov website in an article that was published in the Baltimore Sun.

Here is the complete text of my commentary, which was edited (thankfully…) for inclusion in the paper:

“President Barack Obama’s newly launched Recovery.gov is aesthetically similar to the new WhiteHouse.gov. The design is sparse and straightforward, with emphasis put on communicating information clearly and effectively. The site employs very clear, uncomplicated information graphics to communicate where the stimulus package money is being spent. Additionally, a draggable timeline allows users to experience the history of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The tone of Recovery.gov is more conservative than Obama’s campaign site. This is reflected both in the typography and the color palette. For example, Recovery.gov uses serif fonts extensively, whereas the campaign relied heavily on Gotham, a modern sans-serif font produced by Hoefler & Frere Jones. Additionally, the color palette has shifted to a more subtle pairing of royal blue with greys, golds, and variations on the blues that dominated his campaign site.

Recovery.org has been launched as a work in progress. It promises to change and evolve as milestones are met. Where it may lack in vibrancy, it shines in its use of interactive elements. On the homepage, users can view an address from Obama. Using YouTube to deliver the video allows the message to exist outside of the site and increases the chances that the video will go viral.

Users are encouraged to share their “recovery stories” and the site promises to publish collected stories in the future, which hints at the site’s goal of building a community.

Also of interest is that the site appears to use Drupal as its content management system. Drupal is an open source PHP-based CMS that is supported by a large user base. Choosing Drupal as the platform of choice for this site shows that Obama’s team is committed to delivering change and doing so without being beholden to any proprietary systems.

All in all, it is an exceptional start to what will be a very important website.”

Since the article was published there have been some changes to the site, including the use of a new logo. My expectation is that the site will continue to grow and change over time. The selection of a flexible and modular CMS (Drupal) will help the team behind the site continue to add to it and change it as needed. Interested in using the same CMS on your site that our new President is using to run his site? Drop us a line!

Hopefully you’ve heard by now that G.1440 was just named one of Baltimore’s Best Places to Work.  We’re proud of this distinction – even if we already knew that G.1440 rocks!

Anyhow, I have a stunning revelation about Baltimore Magazine’s print edition of the article.  This is groundbreaking stuff that won’t be reported anywhere else… so hold on to your desk!

There’s a photo accompanying our article in the print version – take a look below:

That’s Bonnie Wilhelm, our distinguished CFO.  Bonnie’s the consummate professional, so at first, I was surprised that the photographer was able to talk her into the ‘feet on the desk’ pose – until I looked closer and realized that’s not her desk!

That’s right folks – Bonnie’s not relaxing in her office, she’s taking a call in Larry Fiorino’s office (our CEO). Wow.  Larry was probably filming his weekly segment on Fox 45, but maybe he’ll reconsider his “open door policy” now that he knows what goes on in there when he’s out!

I’m hoping that by now you’ve picked up on the sarcasm that I’m laying all over this exposé.  Bottom line is that I’m disappointed they didn’t go with the pictures they took of me…  I signed a release and everything!

Number 5 to be exact, and the only IT Development and Staffing firm mentioned.  Sweet!

Don’t get me wrong – ever since my first interview it was obvious that something was up at G.1440, but it’s nice to be acknowledged!  Now, thanks to Baltimore Magazine, everyone knows what we’ve known all along… G.1440 rocks!

The article highlighted our unique office and relaxing culture, two of the best things about G.1440.  But if you really want to get down to it, it’s the people that make G.1440 special.  It’s a CEO who laughs with you and can’t wait to say, “Great job!”  It’s an HR department that you walk by just to say, “Hi!”  And when it really comes down to it, it’s a team of people completely dedicated to winning.  Man, that fires me up!

Today’s a great example.  Almost every school district in MD is closed for snow/ice today, but a good chunk of G.1440’s team braved the weather to come in, and the rest planned ahead to work remotely and aren’t missing a beat.  And for those of us that did put our lives in the hands of a Toyota and an iron will, there were donuts and hot coffee waiting for us – just because one of our employees decided it would be nice.  How awesome is that?!

That’s what cements the deal for me: G.1440.  Officially one of the best!