SMC Seattle April 09: Andru Edwards talks social media
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Business, Technology, Videos
I hit up yesterday’s Social Media Club meetup (co-hosted by SEOMoz), and talked with a bunch of interesting people who had a lot of questions for me. Of course, my friend Kenji Onozawa happened to be on hand, and busted out his Creative Vado so that he could shoot a quick interview. We talk about the Seattle tech scene, Gear Live, and Seattle Mind Camp in this video.
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Alijah’s 5th birthday: Looking back
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Alijah, Personal
Today, my son Alijah turns 5 years old, such an amazing milestone in life for any child. This is actually why I’m missing about 70% of CES 2009, since the event pretty much always falls on his birthday. I wanted to be sure I was home for this one. It’s special in so many ways. First, this is the first birthday where he really “gets it” and has a high level of excitement. In fact, this morning when he woke up, he immediately came to tell me that it was his birthday, he is now five, and that he wants to eat at Red Robin. Can’t really argue with that logic. I know, right?
Besides all that though, thinking back to Alijah’s birth, it’s such a reminder of the true miracle that he is here with us, and that he is okay. For those that don’t know, Alijah was born almost 3 months early, and spent 11 weeks in intensive care, the first 9 of which were spent on a respirator that did his breathing for him. He weighed in at less than 2 pounds when he was born, and the entire situation just looked dire. Like every parent out there, I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Monica was having painful cramps, so we went to the emergency room at what I think was around 3 AM. The pain was getting worse by the minute, and by the time I had parked (after dropping her off at the front door with a nurse) and got to the floor that she was on, I could hear her screaming from the hallway. Easy way to find her room, if nothing else.
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What decision had the biggest impact on the profitability of your business?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Blogging, Business
Continuing our series of posts on starting up a small business, the next order of business is profitability. Before we jump in, if you have missed any other posts from the series, check them out:
- Getting the confidence to start your own business
- Taking “bet the farm” risks in business
- What was the first defining moment of your business?
Now, back to the topic of profitability. I have to say that, if I could just pick one, then the one thing I did in business that had the biggest impact on profitability was recognizing what we were worth. In the beginning of our ad-supported online business, I was just happy with anything that any advertiser was willing to give us, and happily gave them ad real estate for bargain prices. It took me a little bit, but there was a day where the lightbulb went off, and everything clicked. I was way underselling our ad inventory, and pretty much, we were being taken advantage of.
The Gear Live Gives Back Education Charity Drive
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Blogging
Alright, let’s take a break for just a moment away from the standard news fare. We know that you guys love the gadgets, gizmos, and consumer electronics just as much as we do. These expensive and cool toys are often a marvel when you break them down to the technology that drives them. That’s what makes what we do fun, and why we love the interaction we have with our readers. However, we want to focus a bit of attention on the young ones in our country who would be happy to have a calculator for use in class, and the teachers who work for districts that can’t afford things like projectors for use in their schools.
Gear Live has joined the 2007 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge, and we have chosen ten great causes that are centered around getting some basic technology into classrooms located in our local area, as well as some of the hardest areas still suffering the affects of Hurricane Katrina. We’ve chosen ten causes that we thought touched on what we believed in, and you can take a look at them and choose which one(s) you want to help. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for the children of our nation. Just know that the money you donate will go directly to that specific teacher request - not into some big pot of money that is then doled out by the organization. As donations come in, there meter over on the right will fill up.
Some of the most expensive purchases for schools are consumer electronics. We believe that all children need to get acquainted with the tools of the future as they learn so they when they are ready to hit the workforce, they can succeed alongside their peers. Please, help us in assisting teachers, children, and schools in low-income areas get the tools they need to help their children excel.
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The Loss of a Hero: Goodbye Dad
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Personal
Today the world truly lost one of it’s greatest assets when my father, George Budabin, succumbed to lung cancer and passed away. There is so much for me to say about this man, and there is no way that it can all be said.
George Budabin and his wife Kathy McQuown (known to me affectionately as Dad and Mom) adopted me when I was 16 years old. Having lived a life that, up to that point, felt very short on love and trust thanks to 12 years in the New York City foster care system, I had no idea what love in a stable and permanent home even meant. The issues that I had with just learning to trust that my parents loved me like they said they did were deep. Not that I didn’t believe them, but rather, I frankly didn’t understand it. It was a foreign concept to me.
Click to continue reading The Loss of a Hero: Goodbye Dad
Three Things: A Father’s Words To A Son
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Alijah, Personal
So, while I was preparing to post a smattering of images from my trip to Puerto Rico, which is just an amazingly beautiful place, even at this time of year, I got a call that meant leaving immediately despite only being here for 3 out of 9 scheduled days. My father, George Budabin, was diagnosed with lung cancer some months ago. I will go into more of those details in my next post more than likely, but suffice to day, things aren’t looking good. I am sitting here in the airport getting ready to board a red-eye flight into NYC’s JFK airport so that I can be by his side as soon as humanly possible. I just got off the phone with his, and as he lay in his hospital bed, too weak to even hold the phone to his ear on his own, he had just three things to say to me before he was too tired to continue. Mark my words, I will never forget them:
1) I am proud of the man you have become, and the man I know you will be.
2) Thank you for loving me, and for allowing me to love you.
3) Thank you for Alijah.
Of course, I had more than a few things to say back to him - but it is impossible to fit what would take you hours to say into a 20-second increment of time. There is just no way I can tell this man - my father - what he means to me, and how infinitely grateful I am for all the ways that he has fought, sacrificed, loved, and guided me to make me who I am today. I just can’t.
Update: My father, George Budabin, passed away on Tuesday, December 19, 2006.
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