Knoxville, TN: America's Best Business Address

I'm excited to be living and working in Knoxville, TN, a city poised to become America's Best Business Address. This initiative is being led by the Knoxville Chamber, of which our company, Slamdot, is a member. I think the concept is great, and I know it's possible. I also think it can happen somewhat quickly, given the natural beauty of the area, it's centralized location at the crossroads of major Interstates connecting a majority of the U.S. population within a day's drive, and the excellent resources, from Oak Ridge to the University of Tennessee, along with the presence of many large companies such as Pilot, Bandit Lites, Regal Entertainment, Bush Brothers, Sea Ray Boats, TVA, HGTV and so on.

The focus is on broad issues like infrastructure, transportation and more, along with tools to help businesses diagnose, analyze and find resources for inefficiencies or possible fallacies in multiple areas, from accounting and marketing, to technology and HR. If these are all improved drastically, along with education in the area, then we can easily become a top location for businesses and families to relocate and grow. There are signs and existing proof that we're already in progress towards that goal, and have been for a few years now.

Get engaged and involved by joining the Knoxville Chamber Facebook Fan Page as a fan, and following Knoxville Chamber's Twitter updates.

Good luck Knoxville!

Great Tips for Cutting HVAC Costs and Saving Energy from Rocky Top Air

One of our good customers, Rocky Top Air, is a Knoxville heating and air company that provides a lot of great money-saving tips and advice for cutting your winter heating costs and helping save energy. If you own a home and want to maintain your HVAC system, keeping it working year-round and getting the maximum value from it, then I would highly recommend their Rocky Top Club program. This is a no-brainer for all the benefits you receive at such a low price. The quality of your indoor air, and the necessity of heating and cooling from season to season, definitely requires that you get regular check-ups and take the necessary steps on your own to get the most out of your system. Or determine if you simply need to replace old equipment!

The Rocky Top Air blog is a great resource, from learning about programmable thermostats to the reasons why a humidifier might be good for your home.

I would definitely use their website to learn all you can, and call them when you have a need for anything related to your home or business' indoor air!

New Slamdot Website Launched!

To kick 2010 off right, we recently launched the new Slamdot website, with focus on our company, our website design packages and our painless web hosting. We look forward to using the new website to make it easier than ever to stay connected with us and provide our customers with more resources and expertise.

We appreciate the support of our friends, family and clients over the last 4 years, and look forward to a great 2010!

Turn Signals Are Not An Options Package

The lack of turn signal use by other drivers has always bugged me, but 3 identical incidents at the same intersection coming out of my neighborhood in the last 3 days prompted me to write something about it.

First of all, turn signals are not optional on a vehicle these days. You cannot request the model without them, because that model never came off the manufacturer's assembly line. Why do you think a standard dirt bike isn't "street legal"? Because it doesn't come with turn signals, among other things. So, anyone who thinks they're optional equipment, they're not.

Secondly, why aren't they optional? Because with so many cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, XUVs, hybrids, motorcycles, mopeds, tricycles, semis, and other vehicles on the roads today, we all need to be aware of what the next person over plans on doing. Turn signals were not installed on vehicles for our pleasure or enhanced driving experience, they were installed to safely alert other drivers of your intention so they can make wise decisions while on the road.

It's common sense - the hundreds and thousands of drivers around you need to know what your next move is so they can plan their next move accordingly, otherwise we get stupid, avoidable accidents occurring left and right.

So, I implore those of you who fail to use turn signals, and use them properly, to start doing so. Consider it the next time someone pulls out in front of you and cuts you off, or randomly turns off a highway when you're not expecting it and you have to slam on your brakes, or, what happened to me lately: you're waiting to make a turn, and an oncoming car plans on turning down the same street but never signals so you have to wait that much longer when you could have been halfway up the street.

Boy do I welcome comments on this one if you've got 'em.

Slamdot Founder Wins Young Entrepreneur of Year Award

Sean Christman, founder, owner and CEO of Slamdot, Inc., won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Knoxville Chamber Pinnacle Business Awards.

Sean started Slamdot back in 2005, when he got back in touch with me to join him in the venture. In 2007 we made the move to Knoxville where Slamdot would call home. We've experienced tremendous growth in the last two years thanks to Sean's leadership and look forward to hitting many more milestones throughout the coming years. In addition to web hosting, we also provide out-of-box website packages for small to mid-sized businesses who want a full-featured, yet cost-effective web presence using the latest standards.

Share the Road

Ok, I've been wanting to rant (briefly) about this for some time. A recent incident finally ignited the spark to do so. It has to do with bicyclists and the concept of "sharing the road." Let me explain.

Bicyclists, that is, true "hardcore" bicyclists who are decked out head to toe and have a bike with the same look, would like those who drive cars to "Share the Road" with them. That's fine, since it's obviously legal to ride a bike directly on the street as you would a car. However, the bicycle enthusiast who commutes regularly in this fashion needs to follow the same laws and rules as someone driving a car, and therein lies the issue: many of them have no concern for traffic laws.

So, the bicycle rider wants us car drivers to obey all traffic laws while treating them as fellow [equal] users of the roadways. Yet, I always see people riding bikes on the street who get to a red light, then proceed to run it! So, us cars have to sit and wait, although "the coast may be clear," while someone riding a bike is above the law and can keep right on pedaling through the intersection. To reiterate with a scenario: we've cautiously passed a bicycle, only to approach a red light shortly after where the bicycle comes pedaling up alongside, and even ahead, of us to the traffic light. And then they continue going if there are no other cars (or bikes) coming. After a short wait we get the green light, and have to pass them yet again.

Any thoughts on this? It doesn't make sense for us to treat bicyclists as equals on the roads while we obey all traffic laws, and for them to do as they please, when they please, without regard for the laws that affect us - BOTH of us.

I welcome your comments on both sides! That's my rant, and I'm sticking to it! Of course, until someone can argue against it and put my mind at ease ; )

Slamdot article in local Knoxville paper

Our company, Slamdot, was recently published in a local Knoxville community newspaper called Shopper News Now. It's our first local press coverage, and we're thrilled to have had the publisher on the newspaper write this article up about us! Please check out the article in PDF format online.