The Nerdery
With offices in Minneapolis in Chicago, The Nerdery is the professional home of more than 180 interactive professionals and was founded in 2003 by three programming pioneers. The Nerdery ranked #1 on the Best Places to Work list published by Mpls-St. Paul Business Journal and #6 on Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Top Workplace list. Creators of The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge, The Nerdery in 2010 was given The Quality of Life Award and The Jefferson Award – honors The Nerdery humbly shares with all who’ve supported The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge. During the first three years of our nonprofit nerdathon, volunteers from The Nerdery and interactive community at large have donated a million dollars worth of web development services to 39 nonprofit organizations.
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Visi
VISI is proud to offer one year of free web hosting to all non-profit organizations participating in The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge. Founded in 1994 and recently acquired by Fortune 500® telecom leader Telephone and Data Systems Inc., VISI Incorporated (VISI) is one of the upper Midwest's fastest growing data center services and managed hosting providers. The company provides a full range of Web and application hosting services, first-rate Internet services and support, and personal, expert advice. To learn more about VISI, follow us on Twitter or Facebook, call us at 612-395-9000, or visit www.visi.com.
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Benchmark Learning
Benchmark Learning takes pride in our support of non-profit organizations at events like the Overnight Website Challenge. All developers will receive a 50% discount on all developer courses, and all nonprofits will receive one free design or web course to help them maintain their new websites. Benchmark Learning provides innovative education on IT, ITIL, Developer, Business Analysis, Project Management and Professional Business Skills. Our world-class educators teach the skills needed to maximize technology investments for organizations, and help to define and build individual careers for our students. For more than 35 years, we've been continually improving our offerings, employees, facility and learning options. We use our skill assessment process to develop prescriptive learning to fit each student. This process delivers a custom learning plan to students, as well as the choice to learn from home, office or our classrooms. This commitment to excellence has earned us prestigious honors and world-class recognition as a premier training provider and now an education services company. Visit www.benchmarklearning.com for more information.
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TST Media
We create feature-rich solutions to the online challenges faced by organizations and their members. We're best known as the team responsible for NGIN.
NGIN (pronounced "Engine") is more than just a website- it is a robust suite of easy-to-use, timesaving tools that empower organizations and their members to connect online like never before. We are proud to offer this platform, along with constant innovation and unmatched support to organizations around the world.
TST Media is proud to offer free ongoing web hosting, support and consultation to the non-profit organization our team is paired with for this year's The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge. To learn more about TST Media, visit us at www.tstmedia.com.
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CobornsDelivers.com combines the retailing expertise of one of Minnesota's oldest and most respected grocery retailers, Coborns, Inc. with the entrepreneurial spirit of an Internet-based grocery company that supports the idea that grocery shopping can be a heckuva lot more convenient — and waaay more fun, by shopping online. Now Twin Citians can get their grocery shopping done anywhere, anytime.
From its huge, state-of-the-art SuperStore in New Hope, Minnesota, CobornsDelivers delivers farm-fresh produce, restaurant-quality meats, fresh dairy and a full line of name brand grocery and household products — plus a hand-picked selection of wine, beer and spirits — direct to homes and businesses throughout the Twin Cities, all with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. CobornsDelivers does not have a traditional retail store. Instead, we distribute groceries from our 190,000 sq. ft. warehouse. This facility is divided into seven different temperature zones to maintain optimum freshness of all our products.
CobornsDelivers' delivery area covers a 3,500 square mile region within a 35-mile radius of our New Hope SuperStore, delivering to the greater Twin Cities metro region. We have 60 bright yellow delivery trucks, which make two trips daily from our SuperStore, servicing approximately 1000 customers each day.
Arthouse provides custom apparel and merchandise manufacturing, along with all the logistic services needed to get products to the masses or to the meeting. Their sourcing capabilities connect clients with the best brands, or provide them with the manufacturing required to create their own unique product. Their fulfillment and retail readiness support provides packaging and distribution services for retail, events, road tours, online commerce, and promotions.
Peace Coffee has again generously donated enough 100% fair trade, certified organic & shade grown coffee to fuel our all-nighter. Since 1996, Peace Coffee has been buying its beans direct from farmers and providing pre-harvest financing. This has allowed Peace Coffee to develop equitable and sustainable relationships that positively affect the farmers, their families, their community and the end coffee consumer. They roast in small batches in the heart of south Minneapolis and deliver by bike & biodiesel van throughout the metro area. For more info visit peacecoffee.com or 1.888.324.7872.
ThinkGeek started as an idea. A simple idea to create and sell stuff that would appeal to the thousands of people out there who were on the front line and in the trenches as the Internet was forged. ThinkGeek started as a way to serve a market that was passionate about technology, from programmers, engineers, students, lovers of open source, to the masses that helped create the behind-the-scenes Internet culture.
Three out of the four founding ThinkGeek members started an ISP in the Northern Virginia area way way back in 1995. We couldn't afford Solaris, learned about a free UNIX-like OS, and spent almost an entire day downloading it onto over 50 floppies for installation on an old 486 laptop with no cd-rom (thanks Slackware!). After a few years with the ISP gig, the ThinkGeek idea popped into our heads, and, operating out of a spare room at the ISP office we setup shop and launched the site on Friday the 13th, 1999...
A month or so later we were Slashdotted. Promptly thereafter, ThinkGeek was acquired by the good folks at Andover.Net who through an acquisition and a bunch of name changes, is now known as Geeknet. So we're part of a cool gaggle of sites including slashdot.org, sourceforge.net, linux.com, and freshmeat.net. Pretty nice company to be amongst, eh? We're pretty proud of it!
All the founding members are still in town, and we've continued to grow our product line, expand our staff (including several canines) and enhance the way we interface with customers. Who would have thought...
Ergotron is glad to be a part of the The Nerdery’s Overnight Website Challenge. Helping people feel great while they using their skills to help others? Sounds good to us. We manufacture wall and desk mount arms, desk stands, carts, vertical lifts and sit-stand workstations for your computer monitors, notebooks, and large flat panel displays and TVs. And with the introduction of patented CF lift-and-pivot motion technology, Ergotron’s products require less user effort to achieve more motion, taking the stress out of today’s computing and entertainment environments. Protecting your investment and protecting you.
Ergotron was founded in 1982 by VESA FDMI standard author and visionary Harry Sweere. Since then we’ve been setting the bar high in ergonomic comfort and adjustability, offering human-centered design adapted to the physical needs of any individual. This creates an environment that promotes wellness while improving productivity and efficiency—both professionally and at home. Healthy computing starts with you. Learn more about it at http://computingcomfort.org and http://juststand.org.
True story: A breakthrough for me was figuring out that if you are using markers to draw a cheetah, put the black down last. I wasted a lot of yellow markers before I figured that one out.
I’ve always loved drawing and using non-digital means of creating illustration. After graduating from the U of M in Design, it took me about 5 years to figure out that I wasn’t drawing enough in my day job. I did something about that in 2003 when I started making flyers for bands. The rest is all hand-drawn.
Gyropolis had its beginning about twenty years ago when my brother George, age 9, and I, Constantine, age 12, helped our parents sell Gyros at an International Festival in Mankato.
In 1993, Deli Supreme was purchased by our parents, and we brought authentic Gyros to Bloomington. Our family's first store was a success in part because of our attention to the details. If you were a customer, we might have pointed to the pictures on the wall of mountains in Greece, where we hand-picked wild oregano for your salad. The Deli was a hit, and we needed to open another store in Bloomington to keep up with the demand.
Then in August of 2005, my brother and I bought the former Bosa Donuts building. We renovated the building to provide the most unique Gyros experience around. The freshest ingredients and best cucumber sauce on the planet are on full display as you watch your Gyros being created. Gyropolis literally means the city of Gyros.
If you love Gyros, you better make it a Gyropolis.
Celarity is proud to continue its history of contributing to local non-profit organizations. We are very excited to be apart of The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge this year!
Celarity's specialty is connecting marketing, creative & interactive professionals to job opportunities with Minneapolis and St. Paul's top employers. We match professional talent to contract assignments, freelance work, full time employment and payroll services. Finding the Right Talent for our clients and the Right Fit> for our talent is what sets Celarity apart.
Northern Brewer has been all about home fermentation since 1993, when the doors of our St. Paul store first opened on Grand Avenue. Countless gallons of hand-crafted beer, wine, mead, cider, sake, and soda have been brewed, shared and enjoyed by our customer base of casual and die-hard homebrewers in the decades that followed.
Our Grand Ave. store is still there and going gangbusters, but you can also find us in our new brick-and-mortar store in Milwaukee, and online at www.northernbrewer.com, shipping all over from our huge state-of-the-art warehouse (computerized order picking! pneumatic conveyors! cyborg technology from the year 2525!). Really, you can find us anywhere there’s homebrewing and beer.
We’ve inducted thousands into the world of homebrewing through our own proprietary, user-friendly starter kits, extensive library of exclusive beer recipe kits, and our line of how-to DVDs (our “Homebrewing 101” DVD is free with every starter kit!). For more info, including tutorials, videos, and lots and lots of good beer just waiting for you to brew it, please visit our website.
CleverKate helps creative people make a living doing what they love. Kate O’Reilly is CleverKate: a writer, publicist, and producer that specializes in serving the arts community and small creative businesses. Kate is committed to a business model that makes her work at least 30% charitable. Kate picks projects based on what makes her brain sparkle (like The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge). She is currently working on a magazine, two restaurants, a book launch, a feature film, album releases, an international art show, a column of her own, and a number of charitable projects.
Donating sandwiches to the needy and nerdy is Jimmy Johns. You know the sandwiches, but do you know their story? In their words: For many, 1983 was a confusing, hungry place. People cried out for more, and not just more fondue. It would be a 19-year-old with two first names that would answer America's cry for lunch – Jimmy John Liautaud. Jimmy knew that if he kept it simple he could create the world's greatest gourmet sandwich. With a handful of cookbooks checked out from his local library, Jimmy perfected his award-winning bread. After creating four sandwiches, Jimmy tested them on friends and family, receiving praise he needed to press on. With no hesitation he opened the very first Jimmy John's. Jimmy John Liautaud did what any young entrepreneur would do – he took to the streets with armfuls of free sandwiches. The irreverent attitude, low price, great food and delivery with a smile remain the same, but what was once the bratty little brother of the sandwich industry is now the super cool older brother that everyone else wants to be. We currently have over 1000 stores open.
Chowgirls serves up sassy catered fare for all types of events. We use local, organic, and seasonal ingredients whenever possible to create naturally good appetizers, meals, and desserts. From American comfort food to vegetarian and spicy ethnic selections, Chowgirls' diverse menu offers a fresh approach to catering in the Twin Cities. Praise for Chowgirls: 2010 Best Caterer (under 200 guests), Minnesota Bride; 2010 Reader's Choice, Minnesota; 2009 Favorite Green Caterer, Minnesota Women's Press; 2008 Business of the Year, Sheridan Neighborhood Organization; 2007 Best Caterer, Minnesota Monthly.
Super premium ice cream handmade from Midwest cream. Famous for the "Izzy" - an extra, small scoop of one of 32 flavors to complete your cone. We Tweet and update our Facebook page within three minutes of adding a new flavor to our cabinet so you always know the latest. However, we can also email you when your flavors come in!
Kowalski's has donated gift cards to be redeemed for fresh produce for volunteers and nonprofits during The Challenge. As a local, family-owned business, Kowalski's Markets have been active in the communities they serve. Jim and Mary Anne Kowalski have both received the highest honors in the industry; Jim as Minnesota Grocer of the Year and Mary Anne as the National Grocers Association Woman of the Year. But the real accomplishments have come through building lasting relationships with customers and employees. Kowalski Companies is a civic business. All stakeholders are obligated to organize, educate, and set policy according to democratic principles and standards – to renew and sustain democracy and to create a world that is abundant and just.
Get involved in starting the movement for "Healthy Fast Food" as envisioned by owner, Alain Lenne, a 20 year veteran of service in the fine dining food industry. At La Belle Crepe enjoy a taste of France through healthy fresh and delicious menu items. Our simple yet diverse menu offers something for everyone from savory to sweet with breakfast crepes served all day. Indulge yourself with European sodas, B and W coffee, or Izzy's ice cream. We're delighted to cater your next group event or prepare a solo take-out order. Welcome to La Belle Crepe. Bon Appetit!
We are so thrilled and honoured to have been asked by The Nerdery to support this year's Overnight Website Challenge! This year's volunteer developers will receive a copy of our flagship product, 1Password.
From its humble beginnings in 2006 as the password manager and web form filler of choice for Mac users, 1Password is now also available for Windows PCs and Android and iOS mobile devices. Not limited to passwords, 1Password securely stores any type of important data, from FTP server information, to software licenses, to passport details—you can even attach license keys and images. Its 128-bit AES encryption ensures that your information is kept safe from prying eyes, and its browser integration means that you can log into your web sites with the click of a button.
Welcome, Challenge participants, to our family! We can't wait to meet you.
In-kind contributers of baked goods for Saturday's breakfast, Q.Cumbers is a buffet-style restaurant offering quality food in a family setting. Our comfortable, casual atmosphere, coupled with a unique balance of convenience and service, is what keeps our customers coming back for more. If you haven't dined with us yet, come on in - we're confident you will enjoy your stay. From fresh fruits & vegetables to homemade soups to hot entrees, we have something for everyone!
HalloweenCostumes.com is a Minnesota-based online retailer that sells costumes across the globe. As a family owned and operated business for more than 12 years, HalloweenCostumes.com is always happy when they have a chance to give back. As a fun way for volunteers to take some breaks here and there throughout the night, HalloweenCostumes.com is providing some fun Star Wars costumes that volunteers and non-profits alike will be able to snap some early-morning photos with. HalloweenCostumes.com is excited to be working with The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge for a great cause.
For great costumes and accessories that will liven up any event throughout the year, visit the HalloweenCostumes.com website.
As the Loyalty Marketing Practice of The Ogilvy Group, The Lacek Group specializes in building and managing loyalty programs that allow our clients to preserve, protect and grow the value of their best customers. We demonstrate our expertise by devising customized and data-driven concepts, results-driven creative, innovative marketing strategy and smart interactive solutions, while proving our can-do attitude in every measure. The Lacek Group is a Prize Sponsor; the raffled iPad2 is on them.