Archive Page 2

There’s an App for That! Allied Business Network brings its discounts to the iPhone

Published March 9, 2010 News Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , ,

Businesses and consumers alike have become accustomed to searching for discounts through coupon websites, message boards, and social networks for some time now, but one business discount provider is expanding down another alley.  Pittsburgh-based Allied Business Network (ABN) has created an iPhone application that provides discounts on the go.

ABN, a business group of small businesses and entrepreneurs through the United States, has developed an iPhone application that simplifies and makes their original business model more mobile.  Since 1997, ABN has been providing money-saving discounts to their membership base.  This new application will bring the benefits of ABN membership to a broader audience.

“This [application] has the ability to save you money from some of the largest national vendors in the country” Spenser Fishel, the iPhone Application’s lead developer, said.  ABN has relationships with many national vendors, including Hertz Rental Cars, Office Depot, and CDW.  “This is going to make it so members can use this ABN discounts from anywhere” Fishel said.

Diana Geleskie, ABN’s Director of Marketing, added, “Working with the iPhone is just one more outlet our members can take advantage of.  We always want to be on the forefront.”  Included in the application, called ABN Mobile, are ordering instructions for each of ABN’s discount programs and the ability to become an ABN member.

Allied Business Network was founded in 1997 and specializes in providing small businesses corporate discounts.  ABN offers a large variety of discounts and promotions, from office supplies, to travel plans, to entertainment.

Pirates to Debut All-inclusive Suite at Home Opener; Issue call for technology proposals from Tech Council members

Published March 9, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

For the 2010 season, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball is going high-end. In the few short months since the holidays, the Pirates have been working around the clock to turn four existing suites on the private suite level of PNC Park into Club Cambria – an expansive, all-inclusive luxury suite specifically targeted at businesses and high-net worth individuals. Located on the third base side, Club Cambria offers patrons a perfect view of the picturesque Pittsburgh skyline and the optimal environment for entertaining clients, family and friends while watching Pirates baseball.

Outfitted extensively with Cambria natural quartz countertops, bar tops, tabletops, wall cladding and tile, Club Cambria will not disappoint the luxury-seeking fan. Amenities include a private, full service bar, nine flat screen televisions, suite attendant, coat closet and private restrooms.

“Club Cambria will offer an upscale, private environment to watch a baseball game inside PNC Park,” Lou DePaoli, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, said. “The Club will be ready for the home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, April 5.

“Club Cambria season ticket sales have gone very well,” he continued. “We have sold more than half of the 55 seats available in less than a month and expect to be completely sold out by Opening Day.”

As part of the luxury experience at PNC Park, the Pirates want to provide the latest and greatest in entertainment technology to Club Cambria patrons. To accomplish this, the Pirates turned to the Pittsburgh Technology Council to help connect them with innovative companies that can improve the Club Cambria experience through technology.

Melissa Ungar, CAE, Director, Business Growth Services at the Pittsburgh Technology Council, underscored the importance of engaging local technology companies in this project with the Pirates. “We appreciate the Pirates offering this opportunity to our members,” she said. “We hope that there will be many exciting new technologies that will be incorporated into Club Cambria and PNC Park as a whole.”

Last season, local Internet technology firm Songwhale debuted its Wi-Fi network at PNC Park to deliver exclusive digital content to fans inside the park on their smartphones. DePaoli would love to see more of this type of engaging technology integrated into the fan experience and currently is asking for proposals from Tech Council members to meet this need.

“We are very excited to be working with our fellow members of the Pittsburgh Technology Council on enhancing the level of fan engagement via the use of technology,”  said DePaoli. “Our initial focus was on technology for the new Club Cambria, but as we started discussing concepts with Technology Council members we realized there are many possibilities not only for Club Cambria but for many other areas in and around PNC Park.”

Have a technology idea that would improve the fan experience at PNC Park? Let us know! Contact Melissa Ungar at (412) 918-4292.

Club Cambria tickets are being sold on a season ticket basis only and include  a seat in the Club for  Pirates’ home games, gourmet chef’s tables, unlimited non-alcoholic beverages,  private restrooms,  concierge service and access to seats for other PNC Park events like concerts. Per seat investment ranges from $125 – $150 per game. For more information on Club Cambria, visit  www.pirates.com/clubcambria.

Alan S. Koch Earns IT Certification

Published March 8, 2010 PTC Member Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , ,

A recognized expert in Information Technology service management, Alan S. Koch, President of ASK Process, Inc. was awarded the ITIL®V3 Operational Support and Analysis Certificate on 8 February 2010 by the Examination Institute for Information Science acting on behalf of the Office of Government Commerce, London, UK.

This certification recognizes Koch’s knowledge and expertise in the management and support of information technology services. Koch says all organizations are dependant upon IT to enable them to provide their products and services. When these IT services fall short of the need, these organizations’ ability to achieve their missions is compromised.

This new certification recognizes ASK Process’s capability to guide their clients, and is one more step in strengthening the company’s ability to meet their clients’ needs. For more than a decade, ASK Process, Inc. (www.ASKProcess.com) has consulted with hundreds of IT departments and trained thousands of IT professionals worldwide to ensure dependable, smooth, cost-effective IT services and systems.

Wombat’s PhishGuru Anti-Phishing Training Solution Now Accessible to a Significantly Broader Range of Organizations

Published March 8, 2010 PTC Member , Something Cool Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Today Wombat Security Technologies announced that it has automated the delivery of its PhishGuru anti-phishing training solution, making it accessible to an even broader range of organizations. PhishGuru enables organizations to train their workforce and assess their readiness by sending them fake, internal spear phishing emails. When an employee falls for the simulated phishing attack, PhishGuru provides on-the-spot training in the form of a cartoon that teaches the employee how to avoid falling for similar attacks in the future.
PhishGuru was originally invented at Carnegie Mellon University as part of the largest national research project on combating phishing. In-depth evaluation of the service, including a study recently published in Scientific American, has shown that PhishGuru can reduce the chance of an employee falling for subsequent phishing attacks by more than 50 percent.
“By implementing PhishGuru as a hosted solution running in the cloud, we are able to make PhishGuru affordable for organizations both large and small,” said Dr. Norman Sadeh, co-founder and CEO of Wombat Security Technologies. “With cyber criminals launching targeted spear phishing attacks on an ever wider range of organizations, it was critical for Wombat to make sure that it can offer its solutions to organizations of any size. With our self-service solution, an organization can quickly customize the content of its training emails to the types of attacks their employees are likely to face.”
“Research shows that employees are not motivated to pay attention to traditional cyber security training. By taking advantage of the teachable moment that occurs when someone believes they fell for an attack, our PhishGuru solution is able to capture peoples’ attention. PhishGuru teaches them practical tips they are likely to remember and apply when confronted to actual phishing attacks,” added Dr. Jason Hong, co-founder and CTO of Wombat Security Technologies.
With its PhishGuru service and suite of anti-phishing training games, Wombat Security Technologies offers the most comprehensive and effective package of anti-phishing training solutions available in the market today. PhishGuru can be used as a standalone training solution for employees or can be supplemented with Wombat’s fun and engaging training games. Read Wombat’s white paper on PhishGuru to learn more: An Empirical Evaluation of PhishGuru Embedded Training.

Look for a feature article on Wombat Security Technologies in the CIO of the Year issue of TEQ magazine.

Member Spotlight: Meet the PTC Membership

Published March 6, 2010 General , PTC Member , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Pittsburgh Technology Council has more than 1,300 member companies, all based in SWPA. We’ve got some of the most innovative tech ventures here in our backyard. We thought it would be most excellent to put a small spotlight on a handful of our members each and every week, so you can see the great diversity and talent that we have out there.  We encourage you to learn more about these technology companies:

Kennametal Inc. - Kennametal Inc. aspires to be the premier tooling solutions supplier in the world with operational excellence throughout the value chain and best-in-class manufacturing and technology. http://www.kennametal.com

MECCO – MECCO offers the latest innovations in direct part marking for traceability, verification, and part identification in manufacturing, assembly, and other harsh environments. MECCO features a full range of marking technology, including MeccoMark fiber lasers, as well as CO2, diode-pumped, and flash lamp lasers as well as a complete line of dot-peen indent markers with portable, benchtop, integrated, and custom systems available. http://www.mecco.com

 New Perspective Productions – New Perspective is a full-service provider of corporate video, broadcast TV and radio spots and interactive multimedia solutions, including CD and DVD authoring and specialized Internet applications. http://www.new-perspective.com

Pennatronics Corporation – Pennatronics Corporation provides electronic manufacturing services on a contract basis to original equipment manufacturers. We have a state-of-the-art facility in western Pennsylvania capable of assembling leading-edge component and design technology used in the printed circuit industry. http://www.pennatronics.com

ReGear Life Sciences, Inc. – ReGear Life Sciences develops and markets innovative products that provide deep-tissue therapeutic heating to promote pain relief, reduce joint stiffness, and facilitate the body’s natural healing process. http://www.regearlife.com

SCA Technologies, LLC – SCA Technologies is the leading provider of Intelligent Cost Management solutions. Our methodologies focus clients’ enterprise processes on anticipating changes and taking timely action. Our solutions predict the impact of changes in demand and operations on revenue, cost and profits that drive decision making to improve results in anticipation of changes. http://www.sca-tech.com

Sustainable Pittsburgh – Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses. http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org

Thar Technologies – Thar Technologies, Inc., is a global leader in supercritical fluid technology whose single-point-of-access platform delivers supercritical fluid process and equipment technologies to the food, chemical, electronics and pharmaceutical industries. http://www.thartech.com

True Commerce, Inc. – TrueCommerce is a Pittsburgh-based EDI solutions provider founded in 1995. From the beginning, the company vision has been to provide small to mid-tier companies with a comprehensive, end-to-end EDI solution that is easy to implement and fully integrates with their accounting software. http://www.truecommerce.com

Vox Energy – Vox Energy Solutions provides professional design, installation and maintenance for alternative energy systems.  We leverage our expertise and services to enable customers to save money, meet their energy goals and environmental objectives. http://www.voxenergysolutions.com

TechVibe Radio on KQV1410 AM Turns Up the Volume in March

Published March 5, 2010 News , PTC Member Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , ,

The Pittsburgh Technology Council’s TechVibe Radio is blazing into March with a new sponsor and even more intriguing interviews with tech entrepreneurs!

We are so excited to add C-leveled to our list of supporters that also includes The Hartford. C-leveled is a new “Executives as a Service” company that helps businesses of all kinds augment their teams with experienced CXOs. Be sure to check them out at www.c-leveled.com.

TechVibe will hit the airwaves on KQV 1410 AM Saturdays March 6 and 20 at 1 p.m. and Sundays March 7 and 21 at 8 a.m. The March 6/7 show will feature Circuits LLC, C-leveled and SIMA Products. The March 20/21 show will include Sierra w/o Wires and PAETEC.

Stream TechVibe Radio at www.kqv.com and download past episodes at www.pghtech.org or iTunes.

A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are still available. Learn more by contacting Jonathan Kersting at (412) 918-4295 or jkersting@pghtech.org.

The Week that Was in Pittsburgh’s Tech Scene

Published March 5, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , ,

I thought that I would spare you from having to watch a video update of “The Week that Was” and have opted for a hand-written update. Damned Youtube! So here’s what happened this past week:

The Pittsburgh Technology Council and CivicScience launched the PTC Insider as a first-of-its kind on-line community to share your views about business, technology, academia, government and economic development in the region. Through weekly polls, games, and interactive forums, PTC Insider will help you influence the decision-makers that drive our local economy.

David A. Gurwin, a shareholder in the Corporate Finance & Technology Section of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s Pittsburgh office and chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and its Entertainment and Media Law Group, recently authored a chapter in the book “Cross-Media Communications: An Introduction to the Art of Creating Integrated Media Experiences,” published by ETC Press.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) recently announced the development of personal health record (PHR) technology that may soon give patients the ability to add critical health information to the electronic health records maintained by hospitals and physicians. UPMC completed the proof-of-concept project in collaboration with Google Health, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and technology partner dbMotion.

Be sure to tune in to TechVibe Radio this Saturday at 1 p.m. or Sunday at 8 a.m. on KQV AM1410. Be adventurous and tune in both days as we’re profiling SIMA, C-Leveled and Circuits!

Infinity Technology Services Celebrates Founding after 10 years in business

Published March 5, 2010 PTC Member Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , ,

Infinity Technology Services, Inc. recently celebrated its founding in Pittsburgh on 3/3/2000.  The executive management team at Infinity wishes to humbly thank its clients, employees, business partners, friends and supporters for helping the company reach this monumental achievement. 

Infinity Technology Services, Inc. is an information technology service provider that helps clients leverage technology to help solve business problems. Infinity is a full service IT provider of services for large and small businesses that includes managed services, consulting, contracting, and placement.  Infinity is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, a Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist, and a Microsoft Certified Software Advisor. As such, Infinity possesses the expertise to help deploy Microsoft and Microsoft-compatible technologies with certification specialties for Advance Infrastructure, Networking Infrastructure and Security Solutions. Infinity is a Pennsylvania corporation and a Pennsylvania Certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE).

Communications Consulting Inc. Moves to New Location to Accommodate Growth

Published March 4, 2010 PTC Member Leave a Comment
Tags: , ,

Telecommunications solutions provider, Communications Consulting, Inc. (CCI), recently announced a move to new, larger facilities to accommodate a decade’s worth of growth. The new Warrendale-based facility provides the company with more space for stocking inventory, a pre-testing lab area, administrative offices and a large conference room for customer demonstrations and training. Later in 2010, CCI plans to hold end-user and technical training classes for any Alcatel-Lucent customers that are in need of additional hands-on instruction.

For more than a decade, CCI has been providing Pittsburgh area businesses with industry leading cost effective telecommunication solutions that include voice, data, wireless, video and cabling infrastructure to fit the specific business needs of their organizations. This past year, the company added camera security and door access control to its mix of products.

More information on CCI and its solution offerings can be found here.

Tucker Arensberg Appoints Long-Term Care Law Group Chair

Published March 4, 2010 PTC Member , Personnel News Leave a Comment
Tags: , , ,

The law firm of Tucker Arensberg is pleased to announce that Shareholder Albert S. Lee has been appointed Chair of the Long Term Care Law Group at the firm.  The Long Term Care Law Group is composed of attorneys who devote a portion of their practice to assisting Long Term Care Facilities with their unique legal needs.  Specific legal services that the group offers to Long Term Care Facilities include:

  • Health Law
  • HIPAA and Privacy Law
  • Employment and Labor Law
  • Real Estate Law
  • Business Succession Planning and Corporate Law (including Mergers and Acquisitions)
  • Litigation
  • Banking and Finance
  • Intellectual Property

In addition, Albert and other members of the Long Term Care Law Group frequently provide training for Administrators, CEOs, HR Directors, Controllers and other members of the Long Term Care team on a variety of legal topics.

Albert has exclusively represented management clients in the areas of labor, employment and workers’ compensation law since 1992.  Albert has defended employers in a wide range of cases including those involving sex, age, handicap and race discrimination, employment-at-will, wrongful discharge, the FMLA, and breach of contract.   In addition to the foregoing litigation-oriented work, Albert serves management clients in traditional areas of labor and employment law including the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and the provision of general advice on matters of hiring, conditions of employment, and employment termination.  As a complement to his legal practice, Albert devotes his time to teaching, speaking, and training.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Contact Techburgher

Do you have some sizzling local tech news that you'd like to see on the old Techburgher? Let us know by dropping an e-mail at info@pghtech.org. Don't be shy!
A blog of the Pittsburgh Technology Council

Subscribe to Techburgher

 Subscribe by Email

 Subscribe in a reader

Connect

Add to Technorati Favorites

Pages

 

March 2010
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Pittsburgh Technology Council Twitter Feed

We’re From the Pittsburgh Technology Council

Pittsburgh Technology Council Member
Pittsburgh Technology Council