What is the HuB?

There might still be starving artists in this world, but you won't find any at the HuB!

Part three in a series of articles explaining the who, what and how of the HuB

read part 1

read part 2

Over the last few years America has been smacked in the face with a housing bubble collapse, an unparalleled financial crisis, a prolonged recession and the stagnation of American entrepreneurialism. Despite what will be looked back on as one of the worst economic times in American history, there are a few companies working together to redefine the way business gets done in Sarasota. 

The people at the HuB are reinventing what it means to be an entrepreneur. It used to be that in order to succeed in life you had to go to school and try to get a job where you could wear a suit and tie to work every day. Everyone wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, an architect or chase some other highly specialized career path that would ensure that they'd be able to provide for their family and live a comfortable life. 

You might say that the HuB is driving the "anti-tie" bus and bucking that trend completely by creating their own industries, their own jobs and measuring success not only by financial accomplishments but by the quality of life and the level of happiness achieved while doing it. That doesn't mean we don't make money at the HuB, just that we do it a little different than most. 

The advent of the Internet, the ridiculous explosion in technology and the proliferation of information has created a new breed of content creators and aspiring world dominators. A group of new entrepreneurs looking to make their own path in this world. Not worried about playing by any rules other than their own, not interested in what the establishment has to say about how they do it and definitely not worried about upsetting the status quo! 

Some times making waves is not the best way to build a brand image, but making waves is what the HuB is all about. If you have been reading this series of articles about the HuB then you already know that the HuB is more about the who than the what and you also understand the strong sense of community amongst the different business in the HuB. Hopefully, after reading this article you will have a chance to understand that the HuB is about creative business growth and redefining the American entrepreneur.

Creatives from all over the world are finding ways to use their creativity to succeed in business. The right brainers are finally getting their chance to show the world that creative aptitude can go head to head with book smarts any day of the week. The 21st century will be marked by the coming of age for art (commercial or otherwise) as a profitable business model and the companies at the HuB are laying the framework to do just that. 

The businesses at the HuB are successful in spite of the economy and are positioning themselves to explode when things do finally turn around. All that being said, here are a few more companies that are helping the HuB reinvent business as we know it!

82째 West

Craig Worsham is not your typical marketing consultant. You can walk by his office and catch him standing for most of the workday but dont let his mild demeanor fool you. Craig is a big player when it comes to retail marketing. His ideal client is a small to medium sized retail operations who are looking to increase their sales by driving online sales. He keeps a strong balance for his clients though understanding the demographics of each client and developing a blend of online and real time marketing strategies for each one. He wouldn't tell you this, but if you asked me I'd tell you he looks a little like Mark Cuban. With any luck he will be just as successful.

idAlliance

Steve Mansfield is another example of an amazing creative mind in his own right. His canvas is a computer and his brush is Java! He has experience with Apple as a mac developer and is the author of what is now Monster.com having written all of the code prior to TMP Worldwide acquiring the company. His focus is now on identity management and deploying secure applications. When I was talking to Steve I could not believe my ears when he rattled off the list of people he has worked with through the years. I'd list them all here but big brother is probably reading this and I already caused enough of a stir with the last article. Steve works on every thing from web based to mobile applications, the channels they communicate on, the firewalls that protect them and the log in credentials that let people use them. It's all quite fascinating if you can understand it all. If you do any mobile banking or secure data transfer on a mobile platform you will inevitably run in to something Steve has worked on. 

archivedi

Stefan Wild (pronounced Shte-fan) started out fixing computers and helping friends out with IT problems when he was 16. Since then he has figured out quite an elegant solution to help companies manage their media databases. His experience is broad and includes with a number of large advertising agencies who were having a hard time with worldwide management and distribution of their media libraries. The solutions for these larger agencies would typically involve a custom database architecture and proprietary software which put it out of reach for smaller companies and organizations. Stefan's solution takes an open source solution and modifies it for a custom installation which then allows smaller organizations to have access to the same type of media asset management platform without the large initial outlay. Think of archivedi as a visual dropbox style software that lets you catalog video, pictures and other media files in any number of ways so they are all searchable and easily managed and shared. 

Lucud Global

Lucid Global might just be the coolest thing I have seen to date. Ever! Jeff Hazelton and his team at Lucid Global have taken immersive technology to a whole new level with 3d renderings of cars, hearts and even art. The trademarked name for one of their technologies "Holopresenter" sounds like something out of Star Treck and is hard to understand until you see it with your own eyes. He litterally pulled out a stock iPad, handed me a pair of special glasses and next thing you know I am taking a tour of a heart attack in progress or looking inside a clogged artery and watching him inflate a stent to increase blood flow. When he was done showing me I wanted more and I thought to myself, Self: Why isn't every doctor in the world using this thing to interact with patients and help them understand what is really going on in side of them? And then I asked Jeff and he said "we are working on it". I asked him what he liked most about being at the HuB and he said that more than anything he liked that they actually got things done instead of just talking about them like most people do. Lucid Global is also a huge asset to the community as they employ  number of Ringling graduates and are one of the top recruiters. If you don't know anything about these guys yet you better learn quick and if you are a doctor, well shame on you for not taking a look at their website right now! 

So that wraps up article number three about what the HuB truly is and spotlighting the companies working there. Would you believe me if I told you that his is just the beginning. There are still more companies doing more amazing things that I have not yet covered. Subscribe to our blog to day to make sure you don't miss anything else happening at the HuB or anything else having to do with CR8ive business growth in Sarasota or Bradenton.