Avalinx is an Ohio based company that recently has been specializing in the production of casino games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Their games are characterized by flawless design, great graphics, and perfect integration into the iPhone multi-touch system. You can see my reviews of all of their games here. I recently had a chance to speak with Brad Dunnington, the CEO and Co-founder of Avalinx, where we discussed programming, his buisness, the state of the economy, and the future of computers.
Hello, I am Robert Barga with blogcritics.org and I would like to ask you a few questions about your company. Thanks in advance for your time.
What is your name and position within Avalinx?
Brad Dunnington, CEO and Co-Founder
Tell us a little about yourself.
During my career, I have been fortunate to have had experiences within a variety of industries including manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail, investment banking and technology. I spent my early career with GE and Limited Brands. During the last ten years I have been involved with launching, growing and advising privately held businesses.
Tell us a little about Avalinx.
My partners and I co-founded Avalinx in 2004. Our objective was to create a software development company funded primarily by the cash flow from our consulting practice.
Where are you based?
Dublin, Ohio
What exactly does being the CEO of Avalinx entail?
In my role, I am primarily concerned with the strategic direction of the business as well as managing our key external stakeholder relationships.
What sort of programming does Avalinx do?
Our team has years of experience building robust, business-critical software in areas such as hosted web applications, mobile computing, business intelligence and enterprise productivity serving the retail, manufacturing and gaming industries. While our team is skilled in a variety of technologies, prior to our work with the iPhone, we spent most of our time working in Microsoft oriented environments.
Your company has made several high-caliber iPhone games, what can you tell us about them?
We publish the PRO Series of casino games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. We are committed to build this series into the most comprehensive series of casino games available for the iPhone platform. The series currently consists of:
-21 PRO Blackjack
-Baccarat PRO
-Let’em Ride PRO
-3 Card PRO Poker
-4 Card PRO Poker
In addition to the PRO Series, we have two other series of iPhone apps currently in development.
When you make a game, what are you looking to include in it?
The key design objectives for every PRO Series game are to provide:
A) A near real life casino gaming experience
B) A sophisticated training simulator
Among other things, our users have come to expect our PRO Series games to include features such as:
-Lifelike high resolution graphics
-Comprehensive ‘Ask the dealer’ support
-Detailed ‘Mastering the Game’ content, including:
---History of the game
---Rules & Terminology
---Game Variations
---Basic & Advance Strategy
-Expansive user controlled Preferences
-Exceptionally smooth and fast game play
What gave you the idea to start making games for the iPhone?
When we first consider developing for the iPhone, we held two strong convictions:
A) The App Store would be a VERY competitive environment
B) Our success would depend on providing exceptionally compelling products targeting large audiences.
Our definition of ‘compelling’ included considerations such as:
A) High Quality Standards – every app had to feel like it was created by Apple
B) Superior Domain Knowledge – every app had to feel like it was produced by a domain expert.
C) Premium Value – every app had to make the user feel like they were receiving more for the money than a typical app.
Our background equipped us to develop applications in the productivity, utilities and gaming categories. However, in reflecting on the iPhone platform and the anticipated user demographics, we predicted that gaming would be the category that represented the greatest potential demand for products.
What about the idea of casino games, where did that come from?
Our selection of casino games as the first series to develop was shaped by two factors:
1) Large Target Market – nearly everyone is familiar with casino games. However, there are two distinct categories of users. Skilled users who need a powerful tool to refine their skills. Novice users who need a means to orient themselves to casino games without the intimation that they might feel within a casino. We felt we could build a product to serve both types of users.
2) Domain Knowledge – Having supported the gaming industry in the past, we were confident that we move quickly to deliver a superior product providing our users with a ‘near real’ casino experience.
Several Ohio magazines and newspapers have been talking about various ways to fix the state's economy. They occasionally mention giving tax breaks and other incentives to companies that will be making movies or programming games/software in the state. What do you think about this idea?
I support efforts on the part of the state government to create a business atmosphere that encourages innovation.
Do you think that these companies can help Ohio?
Ohio has a history of innovation during the early stages of many important industries (i.e.: automotive, petro-chemical, lighting, aerospace, plastics, etc.) Tremendous employment growth and wealth creation resulted from Ohio’s participation in these industries. It is reasonable to expect that Ohio based innovators and entrepreneurs can play a significant role in job growth and wealth creation in the new industries of the 21 century.
What is the biggest difficulty facing programmers and technology companies today?
Small technology companies have to select their targeted markets very carefully. Given the accelerating speed of innovation and the increase pressure of global competition, the margin for error is rapidly shrinking. When it comes to investing our most precious non-renewable resource - our time - we need to be right more frequently than we are wrong.
How do you plan on combating this problem?
[We plan on combating it using four main methods:]
1) Closely study emerging technology trends.
2) Continually update, refine and enhance our technology skills.
3) Make fact based decision centered on return on our time invested.
4) If our decisions prove to be wrong, make quick course corrections.
Where do you see the future of programming going?
We are all faced with data overload. I believe that an area of great opportunity is in leveraging data across multiple platforms, in order to speed the transformation of data into useable knowledge, moving toward the Semantic Web.
How about the future of technology, where do you see it going?
[I see the future of technology going in two directions:]
1) Mobile computing
2) User Interface Enhancements - Touch and Voice
What advice would you give to anybody who is interested in programming, either for the iPhone or for another device?
Obtain a solid foundation in mathematics and engineering. These core skills are portable. Differences in computing platforms, development environment or programming languages are irrelevant to an engineer with a solid foundation. As the pace of technological innovation continues to accelerate, speed and adaptability will be especially critical to your success.
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
All great thought provoking questions. Thanks!
Read more ...
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
An Interview with Jerry, Co-owner of Port O' Pong.
This is an interview between myself and the co-owner/inventor of the beer pong inflatable table Port O' Pong. Port O' Pong is an inflatable beerpong table that allows you to play your favorite drinking game any and everywhere. It even allows you to play it in the swimming pool; we know that swimming and drinking are a great combo. Feel free to check out my review of the actual Port O' Pong.
Hello, I am Robert Barga with blogcritics and I would like to ask you a few questions about your company and the viral marketing. Thanks in advance for your time.
What is your name and position within Port O’ Pong? What exactly does your position entail? Tell us a little about yourself.
“I am the co-owner/inventor of Port O' Pong. My role is web development, product sourcing, graphic design, business relations, media relations, accounting, and, of course, sales. As you can see, a small company needs to have people who wear many hats.
I am a graduate of ECSU ’02. I come from a very diverse background, I was a captain of the track team in college (new England state shot put champ), and a Communications major. I once worked as a bouncer at a bar. I am a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) and I am a eagle scout. Very mixed background, I know. “
Tell us a little about Port O’ Pong. Tell us a little about your products, your company, and where you guys are based.
“We make the Port O' Pong tables – the worlds first inflatable beer pong table – and we now have 4 colors (blue, green, pink and white) of them. We promote our tables as a fun item to use when on vacation or anytime you don’t want to use a big bulky table. 100% portable!! It’s the only table that you can play in the pool, or at a tailgate. We also just launched Port O' Pong X, the official energy drink for beer pong. It tastes better then leading brands and has a hot look. We introduced this product this year and sell disposable jager bomb cups with the X as well.
The Port O' Pong Team is made up of me, my partner and the other inventor of portopong, my long time friend Sal Laudano. He heads up shipping, customer service, sales and travels to events with me, and we are both based out of CT. We have recently added a west coast branch; Ron Aparicio came on board after seeing the success of Port O' Pong and has become a life long friend to us. He handles sales, west coast shipping, and is now doing events for us as well, he is out of CA.”
How did you come up with the idea of Port O’ Pong?
“Sal and I go on a family vacation every year to Florida and we bring something cool each year to enjoy poolside. One year it was the boat blender, another year it was floating coolers (when they were new), and everyone asked us if we invented that. Then, 2 years ago, we were at a bar talking about what we were bringing, and I said I would love to play beer pong in the pool. Sal said we would get kicked out if we tossed a table in the pool. We both then said 'what if it was a floaty'. So, we started looking and when we googled it resulted in “0” results found; we got to work. I looked up how to make beach balls, and who did that, and then we went to prototypes and the product took a life of its own. The name took us about 4 hours during one night of tossing ideas around; it almost was the PONG FLOAT… yeah. Then, we went down a list of ways to market the product and started a grass roots campaign. It launched in mid 2007.”
Why should we use Port O’ Pong over any other persons pong tables? What advantages are there to your product?
“Hard-top tables are great, if you are doing tournaments and don’t need to move the table too often. A Port O' Pong inflatable table is even better because you can take it on a plane with you, roll it up, and take it to a buddies house. Plus, its simply more affordable. “
I heard that you were attempting to get your pink table teamed up with a breast cancer group; how is that going?
“Yeah, each of us has had loved ones in our family affected by cancer of some sort. We always wanted to make a PINK table because the ladies are one of our bigger demographics. Then, we said that we should do something to give back to them. We have worked with many charities, other then breast cancer, in the past, and want to do so again. We are still looking for an accepting charity, but the one we wanted to work with wanted more money to share their name and logo then we would have been able to donate. Thus, we are still working on the details.”
You guys are running a competition involving viral marketing, tell me a little about this.
“The photo contest is great; we are offering a $100 worth of Port O' Pong gear for the best action beer pong photo. It doesn’t even have to be on a Port O' Pong table. You upload the photo, give it a caption, and then use cool tools so that you can share it on facebook and myspace to gain votes. The person with the most votes wins!
As of today, we have only a few entries and one of the entries has 50+ votes. People are going to the page daily, and we are getting people to email us saying they had a great story and wish they took a picture to enter. Please enter!”
How did you come up with the idea of viral marketing Port O’ Pong?
“We had to... When we first started, no one knew what beer pong really was about. Then, to throw a layer of an inflatable floating beer pong table, confused even the local papers. We hit it hard on myspace and facebook, then we went into craigslisting and other social places online. We started making friends with people who had other cools sites, talking to bloggers is huge. People love to read other peoples opinions, good or bad. One time, we got picked up by gizmodo and had like 3000 visitors in one day, with a ton of sales to boot. All from one person posting a photo they saw on myspace and everyone making fun of the people in the picture.”
College students are drinking in record numbers and many are getting injured, or even killed, due to their excessive drinking. What do you think that we should do about this? How can we combat it?
“We can certainly do something to combat it, and we at Port O' Pong encourage people to be safe and have fun. The best weapon to combat the problem is through education and not making to much [needless] noise about the issue. Talk about it clearly, but don’t turn it into a one-sided conversation. As the college crowd matures, they still hold onto their party ways. The problem is that the drinks slowly evolve into stronger and stronger drinks, from Nadies to Bud to wine. I believe that it starts at home, there they are taught to behave while drinking. We encourage people to know their limits and learn from bad mistakes; don’t repeat a bad idea.”
Various states are considering lowering their drinking age to 18 as an attempt to combat the drinking issues colleges are facing. Large universities, including Ohio State, are joining in on this call. What do you think about this proposal?
“I think that it’s a smart idea; take away the cool factor of waiting until 21 and part of the problems will go away. Combine this with how expensive it is to go to the bar and they may calm down a bit. It will allow the drinking community to mature over a longer period of time.”
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
“Go to our website and buy a Port O' Pong already! Haha, no seriously, we talk to tons of people and we want to thank everyone for the support. Starting our company its been a long, tough road. It makes it worth it when we watch peoples faces when they realize that a Port O' Pong can float! “Its for the pool? – you guys are going to make millions!” We laugh, say thanks, and then say 'not unless you buy a table!'”
“Cheers!
Jerry”
Read more ...
Hello, I am Robert Barga with blogcritics and I would like to ask you a few questions about your company and the viral marketing. Thanks in advance for your time.
What is your name and position within Port O’ Pong? What exactly does your position entail? Tell us a little about yourself.
“I am the co-owner/inventor of Port O' Pong. My role is web development, product sourcing, graphic design, business relations, media relations, accounting, and, of course, sales. As you can see, a small company needs to have people who wear many hats.
I am a graduate of ECSU ’02. I come from a very diverse background, I was a captain of the track team in college (new England state shot put champ), and a Communications major. I once worked as a bouncer at a bar. I am a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) and I am a eagle scout. Very mixed background, I know. “
Tell us a little about Port O’ Pong. Tell us a little about your products, your company, and where you guys are based.
“We make the Port O' Pong tables – the worlds first inflatable beer pong table – and we now have 4 colors (blue, green, pink and white) of them. We promote our tables as a fun item to use when on vacation or anytime you don’t want to use a big bulky table. 100% portable!! It’s the only table that you can play in the pool, or at a tailgate. We also just launched Port O' Pong X, the official energy drink for beer pong. It tastes better then leading brands and has a hot look. We introduced this product this year and sell disposable jager bomb cups with the X as well.
The Port O' Pong Team is made up of me, my partner and the other inventor of portopong, my long time friend Sal Laudano. He heads up shipping, customer service, sales and travels to events with me, and we are both based out of CT. We have recently added a west coast branch; Ron Aparicio came on board after seeing the success of Port O' Pong and has become a life long friend to us. He handles sales, west coast shipping, and is now doing events for us as well, he is out of CA.”
How did you come up with the idea of Port O’ Pong?
“Sal and I go on a family vacation every year to Florida and we bring something cool each year to enjoy poolside. One year it was the boat blender, another year it was floating coolers (when they were new), and everyone asked us if we invented that. Then, 2 years ago, we were at a bar talking about what we were bringing, and I said I would love to play beer pong in the pool. Sal said we would get kicked out if we tossed a table in the pool. We both then said 'what if it was a floaty'. So, we started looking and when we googled it resulted in “0” results found; we got to work. I looked up how to make beach balls, and who did that, and then we went to prototypes and the product took a life of its own. The name took us about 4 hours during one night of tossing ideas around; it almost was the PONG FLOAT… yeah. Then, we went down a list of ways to market the product and started a grass roots campaign. It launched in mid 2007.”
Why should we use Port O’ Pong over any other persons pong tables? What advantages are there to your product?
“Hard-top tables are great, if you are doing tournaments and don’t need to move the table too often. A Port O' Pong inflatable table is even better because you can take it on a plane with you, roll it up, and take it to a buddies house. Plus, its simply more affordable. “
I heard that you were attempting to get your pink table teamed up with a breast cancer group; how is that going?
“Yeah, each of us has had loved ones in our family affected by cancer of some sort. We always wanted to make a PINK table because the ladies are one of our bigger demographics. Then, we said that we should do something to give back to them. We have worked with many charities, other then breast cancer, in the past, and want to do so again. We are still looking for an accepting charity, but the one we wanted to work with wanted more money to share their name and logo then we would have been able to donate. Thus, we are still working on the details.”
You guys are running a competition involving viral marketing, tell me a little about this.
“The photo contest is great; we are offering a $100 worth of Port O' Pong gear for the best action beer pong photo. It doesn’t even have to be on a Port O' Pong table. You upload the photo, give it a caption, and then use cool tools so that you can share it on facebook and myspace to gain votes. The person with the most votes wins!
As of today, we have only a few entries and one of the entries has 50+ votes. People are going to the page daily, and we are getting people to email us saying they had a great story and wish they took a picture to enter. Please enter!”
How did you come up with the idea of viral marketing Port O’ Pong?
“We had to... When we first started, no one knew what beer pong really was about. Then, to throw a layer of an inflatable floating beer pong table, confused even the local papers. We hit it hard on myspace and facebook, then we went into craigslisting and other social places online. We started making friends with people who had other cools sites, talking to bloggers is huge. People love to read other peoples opinions, good or bad. One time, we got picked up by gizmodo and had like 3000 visitors in one day, with a ton of sales to boot. All from one person posting a photo they saw on myspace and everyone making fun of the people in the picture.”
College students are drinking in record numbers and many are getting injured, or even killed, due to their excessive drinking. What do you think that we should do about this? How can we combat it?
“We can certainly do something to combat it, and we at Port O' Pong encourage people to be safe and have fun. The best weapon to combat the problem is through education and not making to much [needless] noise about the issue. Talk about it clearly, but don’t turn it into a one-sided conversation. As the college crowd matures, they still hold onto their party ways. The problem is that the drinks slowly evolve into stronger and stronger drinks, from Nadies to Bud to wine. I believe that it starts at home, there they are taught to behave while drinking. We encourage people to know their limits and learn from bad mistakes; don’t repeat a bad idea.”
Various states are considering lowering their drinking age to 18 as an attempt to combat the drinking issues colleges are facing. Large universities, including Ohio State, are joining in on this call. What do you think about this proposal?
“I think that it’s a smart idea; take away the cool factor of waiting until 21 and part of the problems will go away. Combine this with how expensive it is to go to the bar and they may calm down a bit. It will allow the drinking community to mature over a longer period of time.”
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
“Go to our website and buy a Port O' Pong already! Haha, no seriously, we talk to tons of people and we want to thank everyone for the support. Starting our company its been a long, tough road. It makes it worth it when we watch peoples faces when they realize that a Port O' Pong can float! “Its for the pool? – you guys are going to make millions!” We laugh, say thanks, and then say 'not unless you buy a table!'”
“Cheers!
Jerry”
Read more ...
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