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EC Labs is Building a Mobile App
It’s official. Our EC Labs team is building a mobile app, and we’re really excited about it. Our first mobile app project is currently called “Bookbook.” A company called Twelve South already picked this name for their unique MacBook and iPad cases, so it’s not that unique of a name after-all and will probably be changed. Who knew? On top of that, Facebook’s legal policy won’t allow me to register this app for the Facebook API because Bookbook sounds a little too close to Facebook:
You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Wall and 32665), or any confusingly similar marks, without our written permission.
We’re so not interested in fighting that battle with Facebook. Moving on.
What does Bookbook do, you ask? Bookbook is the brainchild of our marketing analyst and social media puppet master, Nicole Tripodi. Being an avid reader, Nicole dreamed up a Foursquare-style app allowing her to keep tabs on what her sister is currently reading, and vice-versa. An app like this enables that interaction via the concept of “virtual book clubs,” making the act of reading a very social activity for readers across the world. Think about it: for generations, readers have enjoyed reading books, discussing books, arguing about themes and ideas, criticizing books, recommending great books, and even fraternizing over a common love of reading. But it hasn’t always been easy to convince your friends to read the books you want to read (The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith? Anyone?), or to find tailored recommendations for books you’d really enjoy.
As the first step of project planning, we felt it was extremely important to follow agile methodology precepts by defining a product vision statement. A clear and strong vision statement will help us focus on delivering the best product, minimizing scope creep and analysis paralysis. Here’s the vision statement we came up with:
Develop a mobile app for avid readers who want to share their perspectives on books, gather perspectives of others on books they are reading, and find new books to read through shared experiences. Bookbook is a social media app for tablets that connects readers. Unlike other mobile check-in applications, our product focuses solely on checking into books with a delightful user experience that is above the competition.
We’re excited about kicking off the first sprint in this month. Stay tuned for updates on the project!
EC Welcomes Senior IT Recruiter
This week, Evans & Chambers welcomed our Senior IT Recruiter, Deanna Hess, to our team. Deanna has an extensive background in technical recruiting and human resources. In her 15 years of experience in the human resources function, she has focused efforts in technical recruiting along with a well-rounded generalist role in each of her positions. In her role as Senior Recruiter with Evans & Chambers Technology, she sources and pursues candidates to add to the EC team. Deanna enjoys the thrill of the hunt for new talent!
In her free time, Deanna enjoys executing a good home improvement project that leaves a hard day’s work on her hands or relaxing by watching a good romantic comedy. Of course, she likes to point out that no movie is complete without some ice cream (not popcorn!) and her daughter at her side!
If you’re interested in learning about the opportunities at Evans & Chambers, or just want to join me in welcoming Deanna, she can be reached via email at recruiting@evanschambers.com.
Evans & Chambers is an 8(a) STAR!
Evans & Chambers has been awarded an 8(a) STARS II contract. The 8(a) STARS II Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) is designed to promote small businesses in the federal government by identifying small businesses that exhibit technical proficiency with competitive pricing. The 8(a) STARS II GWAC provides agencies with pre-competed, easy-to-use contracts, access to proven technology providers, a shortened procurement lead time, and 8(a) socioeconomic credit. For a small business like Evans & Chambers, the contract award opens doors for more opportunities within the federal government, and provides an opportunity to lead teams of subcontractors on federal projects, sparking company growth.
Our Fabulous Team Just Got Better…
EC excitedly welcomes our newest employee, Elissa, to our team! Elissa is joining us as the Director of Federal programs, and will be involved in developing our Federal client base. She comes to us from Booz Allen Hamilton where she has had extensive experience managing counter-terrorism and national intelligence projects, along with providing senior program advisement to clients in the Intelligence Community. We’ve worked with Elissa in the past, so we’re delighted to have her join us now on a regular basis. Welcome, Elissa!
Information Sharing Needs Good Marketing
Corporate marketing professionals face challenges that parallel those of information sharing promoters in the US national defense community. A great product won’t sell without a strong marketing strategy. In the same way, information sharing initiatives can’t succeed unless the participants (customers) buy-in.
Deeplocal, an award-winning marketing firm servicing Fortune 500 companies, knows a little bit about sharing information with potential customers. As described on their web site, Deeplocal “builds interactive experiences that bridge the physical and digital worlds, generating emotional connections with consumers, earned media, and increased revenue.” The better a brand is able to connect with media and consumers on both the digital and physical planes, the more revenue the brand can expect to generate.
Information sharing benefits are well understood by many: reduction in redundant efforts such as monitoring and data analysis, faster innovation, improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of intelligence agents and analysts. The benefits are clear and the technology is here, yet we’re not seeing the results that we’d expect. Perhaps it’s failing because there’s no buy-in. Information sharing promoters can learn a lot from marketing firms like Deeplocal.
Advance Your Career with Evans & Chambers!
Have you ever thought about how a security clearance can help you advance your career? Do you already have a clearance, and want upgrade your clearance level? Evans & Chambers Technoloy can help with that – we are seeking professionals in support of government contracts that may allow you to receive or upgrade your security clearance. A security clearance or upgrade can help you:
✓ Increase your earning potential
✓ Increase your chances for career advancement
✓ Place you in an exciting role that might not otherwise be available due to its sensitive nature
We have several open positions available, including Java Web Developer, Software Developer, Ruby on Rails Developer, Database Administrator, Database Developer, and Systems Analyst. We’re adding new positions often, so be sure and check out our openings.
And have we mentioned before that we think it’s only a matter of time before we’re recognized as the best place to work in IT? We recognize the amount of hard work and dedication it takes for professionals to hone their crafts and keep up with challenging technologies, so we’re committed to our employees. We offer an excellent benefits package in a small company environment, direct access to senior leadership, exciting team building events, and numberous opportunities to develop your career.
For more information on how to receive or upgrade your government security clearance through your role at Evans & Chambers, please contact our recruiter, Debra Roberts.
EC teams with Metters under DHS Mentor-Protege Program
Recently, Evans & Chambers announced its new mentor-protege relationship with Metters, Inc. under the Department of Homeland Security’s Mentor-Protege program. Metters is an experienced Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business providing a range of technical solutions to federal customers, including enterprise IT solutions. “This year, Metters celebrates its 30th anniversary. We can think of no better way to mark the occasion than by joining forces with a promising newcomer that shares our passion for technological transformation of the very most critical government missions,” said Santo LaTores, Metters COO.
Through the partnership, the Metters/EC team will develop innovative solutions and concepts to support the DHS mission – and our first task is developing a solution for using social network analysis to cultivate communities that are more resilient to disaster. Part of DHS’ success strategy is in strengthening our nation’s preparedness and emergency response capabilities, and social networking may be the next tool in disaster response. The Metters/E&C solution considers the ways in which social media might help civic leaders understand the first response community and their geographic relationships, identify underserved populations, plan for distribution of public services, enhance collaboration in resource planning, and guide economic recovery after a disaster.
We’ve Wowed Another Customer!
At Evans & Chambers, we measure our success by listening to customer feedback, so we were absolutely delighted last week when our Federal client presented our co-founder Jamil Evans with an award for his contributions in fostering improved integration and collaboration practices! Our client credits Jamil, as the lead developer and software architect on the project, with creating the foundation that would allow the agency to build upon its web service interfaces, standardize new development activities, reduce operations and maintenance costs, and increase the ease and accuracy of external applications that interface with enterprise data. In addition, Jamil authored a Web Services Standards document and Programmer’s Reference document, which allowed our customer to begin implementing and sharing best practices among agency teams.We’re so excited to share Jamil’s accomplishment! If you see Jamil on Twitter or LinkedIn, be sure and congratulate him on the job well done.
Become an EC Recruiter!
Now, you can finally relive those long-lost pipe dreams of becoming a corporate recruiter! Ok, maybe that was never your dream, but read on; Evans & Chambers has an exciting new referral program that could net you a $5,000 bonus, and we invite everyone to be a part of it.
Put simply: refer your qualified friends, co-workers, and family to us for an opportunity for employment, and receive $5,000 EACH after the referred hire has been an employee with us for 120 days. You don’t even have to be an employee of Evans & Chambers to take advantage of this offer, just follow these steps:
- Explore your network for IT professionals with at least a TS/SCI security clearance level.
- Tell your contacts about the scheme, and invite them to check out our job opportunities page for open opportunities and to explore our site.
- Hone your sales skills and remind your contacts of our small company environment, exciting team building events, great benefits, and direct access to company leadership.
- Email your friends’ resume to recruiting@evanschambers.com. Keep in mind: we sometimes fill spaces faster than we can update our site. So, we invite you to submit relevant resumes, even if there is no exact position listed on our careers page.
- If we find a fit, we’ll contact you and your referral to talk about the next steps.
- While you’re waiting, consider subscribing to our newsletter, which will keep you up to date on our hottest jobs as they become available. Invite your referrals to do this as well, as the newsletter contains important industry news.
It’s just that easy to become an EC recruiter….welcome to the team!
The fine print: Referral rewards are paid out after the referral hire has been an employee with Evans & Chambers for 120 days. Other restrictions may apply. Rewards are subject to change and may be eliminated without notice. Email recruiting@evanschambers.com for details.
Can I Offer You a Job? And a Cupcake?
Recently, Evans & Chambers attended the ClearedJobs Job Fair and got to meet many new job candidates. We were so pleased at the way the event turned out!
A few weeks ago, we began planning for the fair, which included discussion of handouts. Most companies give away pens, or stress balls in addition to brochures and pamphlets containing information about the company. In a flash of pure genius, our recruiter, Debra, suggested we try a different approach – by giving away cupcakes! Everyone was delighted by the idea as we all imagined crowds of people swarming our booth for a taste of our delicious cupcakes and, of course, the possibility of leftovers!
We did quite a bit of research in selecting our giveaway cupcakes, exploring the local cupcakeries and their unique flavors and presentations. We wanted pretty cupcakes that had great taste reviews, with a recognizable name. We finally settled on Georgetown Cupcake, a very popular local establishment that also happens to have it’s own TV show on TLC – “DC Cupcakes.”
The day of the job fair arrived and we showed up with cupcakes in tow. We quickly created a buzz among other vendors, who came to our booth to meet us and get an eyeful of the sweet treats. Our cupcake display was quickly deemed the best among company giveaways.
When the doors opened and candidates started pouring in, we were suddenly very busy greeting, shaking hands, making connections, and offering cupcakes. We were surprised to find that many candidates declined a cupcake, while others came back for seconds. Some people even asked if they were real, thinking that they were for display. Everyone that tried a cupcake agreed that it was delicious! We’re pretty sure the cupcakes attracted at least a few people to our table that perhaps wouldn’t have approached us otherwise.
In the end, we felt that the cupcakes were a huge hit, and much to our delight we even had a few leftovers to enjoy. We got to meet some bright and interesting folks, and we even came away with quite a few resumes to match our available jobs. As we sift through the stack, we wonder: how do we top cupcakes for our next fair’s giveaway?
