Alex M – Community Manager “I honestly LOVE working virtual. I have an empowering sense of autonomy that results in passionate daily work. I know that I control my own destiny with my production – whether that be while working at home, on the road, in a coffee shop, or even at a park. I definitely miss some of the human interaction that went on in the old office, but I think with some devotion to Skype, we can make up for that missed culture. Our culture is our group of talented people, and I don’t think we are losing that just because we’re no longer crammed in the same physical space.

I think that I’m more focused and more productive working remotely. With applications like BaseCamp, Freshbooks, Highrise, Google Docs, Box and Skype, it’s so easy to manage projects and financials from the cloud.”

Heather H – Account Manager, Derek Media “My thoughts on working virtual have been mixed. I love having the flexibility of working when and wherever I please, but the motivation to sit down and do work can be hard at times. Living in a house with 3 other girls is not always the best work environment but I have found ways to be productive. Having a virtual office has been a challenge but with the help of Skype so far it has been a success.”

Natasha J – Project Manager, Derek Media “I think there are both positives and negatives to working from home. Overall, I would rather be working collaboratively in an office. The benefits are obvious, work from your pajamas at any time, no commute, and none of the costs for the company that are associated with an office.

However I believe the benefits of working together in a collaborative space is much more beneficial to a company like Derek Media, where creativity is the basis of everything we do. It’s hard constantly coming up with fresh, innovative ideas when you are alone, working in your house, on a daily basis. I see this as a temporary situation for Derek Media, we will have an office again once everyone is in the same place and it makes sense for us.”

Derek Johnson – CEO “I think the biggest thing I miss working all in one place is the spontaneous brainstorm session. It’s too early to tell if the cost savings of going virtual outweigh the ideas that have come from these spontaneous brainstorm sessions. Only time will tell.”

Overall, it is going well for Tatango and Derek Media. Granted, it has only been a few months into the transition and we’re still in the “honeymoon” phase of working virtual. The biggest pro of being virtual companies is that our employees have the ability to work from whatever city works for them. Some employees have moved to Seattle while some are in Bellingham. If one of us goes on vacation? We can still work from around the world!

And I’m sure we would all be even more productive if we had this as our office:

                  

If you have visited our About Us page recently, you will see that it has been revamped and looks awesome! When you look at companies About Us pages, what are you looking for? You want to see the face of the company – their employees, get the story about the company and see testimonials to confirm you are bringing your business to the best company.

When we were re-designing our About Us page, we wanted to include all those and more. We might be an internet company, but we are real people and strive to connect with our users! By seeing our pictures and bio, it makes it easier to connect with us and make your feel more confident in using Tatango for group SMS. Heck, you can even contact Derek directly on his cell. We also have included outr Twitter handles and Facebook account links. We are not an internet company ran by robots.

For comparison, would you feel more confident in this company based on their About Us page or would you rather see something like this? (I’ll take the later)

What are some of your favorite About Us pages you have come across?

                  

Congratulations to Tatango’s first payee, Pastor Chris of the Rescue Youth Church in Beaumont, Texas who just received his $20 check from our new, simple and easy-to-use Referral Program!

“I will tell you this. Other referral programs got on my nerves because if the person didn’t immediately click to buy something, and clicked to get other info or something, then decided to buy, I wouldn’t get the credit for it. So as long as we get the credit for the people we send your way, I love it. Easy money for me.” – Chris

To learn more, check out your Referral Page after logging in to your Tatango account: http://tatango.com/referrals.

                  

Just a quick update on yesterday’s outage that took place.

The AC went down at our data center which required an emergency shut down to prevent the servers from over heating.

That being said, the site is now back up and running properly. If you run into any bugs or issues with the service, please contact us at support@tatango.com.

Thanks for all of your patience yesterday!

                  

Today marks a big day in the history of Tatango. After months of hard work and great feedback from our users, we’ve been able to create what we like to refer to as Tatango 2.0, the new and improved version of Tatango.

At Tatango we are constantly trying to make our product better for our users. As you will notice today, we have made some big changes in an effort to do just that. As you explore the site, you will see the following changes:

• New streamlined design
• Improved functionality
• Improved billing system (receipts, changing plans etc.)
• Faster website load times
• Improved messaging speeds
• Free 30 day trial

The creation and implementation of Tatango 2.0 was a massive step in the right direction for our company and will play a vital role in our advancement as the leader in group text messaging.

Again, we can’t thank you enough for all of your feedback, we are very excited about the new product that has resulted.

So enjoy, Tatango just got a whole lot better.

                  

Note to self: don’t text while driving. Not only is it illegal here in Washington state, but new research from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute indicates that drivers who text are 23 times more likely to get in a collision.

The New York Times is part of a larger investigation into the risks of using the cell phone while driving a car; something that companies like Bluetooth SIG and Microsoft are working hard on to resolve. Enhanced navigation systems, along with voice-to-text technologies are among the development.

Be safe you guys! Don’t get a TWD.

Read more in the TechFlash article here.

                  

Though the name of the site may come off somewhat condescending (he’s very modest), the content of the blog is great. Below, I’ve embedded a video blog from a couple of months back on how we came up with the name Tatango. Enjoy, and feel free to check out some additional posts by Derek here.

                  

Check out the highlights below: