Soulo Communications

MN High Tech Association Spring 2012 Conference

Leif-F — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:45:20 +0000

Guest Post by Brent

The MHTA Spring Conference is done, and it was more fun than… well, not a barrel of monkeys. Come on, what does that even mean? Who comes up with these sayings? Poor monkeys. All that needs to be said is we here at Soulo Communications had a good time at booth 507 and, as the design sponsors, we enjoyed creating the catalog, banners, signs, etc.

If you mysteriously happened to find yourself walking around the Minneapolis Convention Center that day, you probably saw our work.

Our creative director Rick rolled out the design for the catalog featuring the various sponsors, speakers and the like. So if you paged through it, you were looking at his work. If you weren’t paging though it, you missed out.

If you walked through the doorway into Hall A, and who doesn’t like walking through a good doorway, you probably saw the banner that we designed for the Spring Conference.

And after walking through that very useful doorway, the various signs and tablecloths with the MHTA logo were all designed in our office as well.

So if you like what you see here or saw there, we can do that for you, too.

Awesome Technical Writing

Leif-F — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:22:58 +0000

Technical writing is usually seen as dull. Boring. Many days, maybe even most, it is. Necessary and useful, sure, and often legally required. But the work itself is viewed as boring, and I don’t dispute that at all. The notion is widely accepted enough that it was the premise of a TV show, after all (possibly the only time in human history that the technical writer was made the centerpiece of anything supposed to be entertaining).

But sometimes you come across a piece of technical writing that’s simply awesome. And the awesomeness of this tutorial, a step-by-step instruction on the Art of Sabrage, is indubitably awesome. Truth be told, I didn’t know sabrage was a thing until just now. And I will never, ever attempt it. But there are the instructions, right there, ready if anyone ever wants to.

Also, this seems semi-dangerous, and we don’t endorse it, other than as an entertaining piece of technical instruction.

The Lot Did Flow

Leif-F — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:03:54 +0000

Soulo’s blood drive was a smash. As a company, we donated 5 pints; friends, colleagues, and clients joined with us to deliver about a dozen in total. (UPDATE: We had 14 participants, 12 of whom were able to donate, so 12 pints total.) As I keep saying, both because it really feels good and has the benefit of being true, this saves lives. For those of us who aren’t doctors or nurses or EMTs or first responders, this is as simple as social responsibility gets, and Soulo is proud to be part of it. According to the red cross, each pint can save up to three lives, so we might have made a difference to 36 people and countless more family members and friends.

Yeah. That feels good.

As usual, we tracked our time (here are last time’s results). The final standing among our grand prix entrants:
1. Doug — 4:10 (he even walked out under his own power, without collapsing!)
2. Leif — 4:46
3. Rick — 4:47
4. Tom — 4:57
5. Heidi — 5:32
6. Brent — 5:40

Let it Bleed

Leif-F — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:36:24 +0000

We have a few more slots open today for our blood drive, primarily around lunch hour – how convenient, right? Sign up information is here.

Tonight when someone asks you how your day was, you can say “I saved lives today.”

Typesetting Nerds Represent!

Leif-F — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:43:31 +0000

Tom and I were having a Skype meeting with Rick yesterday, and I noticed that his t-shirt read BLEED. I figured it was one of those “Give Blood, Play Hockey/Football/Rugby/Whatever”-style t-shirts. No big deal, though definitely something to remember to make fun of later.

Then he moved a bit and I saw that the shirt read GUTTER beneath BLEED.

And below that, RAG.

“Rick,” I asked, “Are you wearing a novelty typesetting shirt?” He stood. And… yup.

What percentage of people get this? It’s probably even smaller than the Dennis Miller ratio!

(Criminally, UrbanDictionary doesn’t credit The Simpsons for this joke, though perhaps it can be assumed that most of its readership will know who the quoted Lisa is.)

You Do Have Time to Bleed

Leif-F — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:34:44 +0000

Just a heads up to everyone: we have 75 (UPDATE: Down to 5!) open spots to fill for our upcoming blood drive. If you’ve already registered, thanks! If you’re interested in donating (which, we’ll just remind you, saves lives), sign-up information is here.

It’s quick, it’s easy, and… It. Saves. Lives.

Feels good, man.

On Site at the MHTA Show

Leif-F — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:30:09 +0000

We’re at the MHTA show, booth 507. Come see us!

Blood Drive Tune-Up

Leif-F — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:00:20 +0000

As we at Soulo prepare for our next blood drive, we thought we should put up a few tips for the customers, colleagues, and friends who are joining us in the bleed. You can also always check out the Memorial Blood Center site for guidelines for blood donation.

Some general suggestions, courtesy of the MBC:

Get a full night’s sleep before the big day
Eat a full meal within six hours before your appointment
Avoid strenuous physical activity for a few hours after donating
Drink lots of water: 12-16 ounces or more just prior to donating and plenty of fluids for the remainder of the day – replace lost fluids with other fluids

So in other words, sleep well, eat healthy, do all the things your doctor always tells you. Which means most of our employees are singularly unsuited for this effort, but still, we manage, so you can too!

See us at the Spring Conference

Leif-F — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:27:03 +0000

Soulo Communications is proud to be the design sponsor for the Minnesota High Tech Association’s Spring Conference Wednesday, April 25th at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We’ll be at booth 507; stop by and see us!

Soulo Blood Drive Grand Prix II: The Administrative Paperwork!

Leif-F — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:00:24 +0000

As we mentioned before, we’ve coordinated with the Memorial Blood Center to bring the bloodmobile to 2112 Broadway on May 9 to drain a bunch of our coworkers, customers, and colleagues and see who can pump out a pint of precious blood the fastest. Oh, also to save lives and whatnot, but the race is the thing, right?

At this time we’re asking all of our participants to go to the Memorial Blood Center website and schedule your appointment for the blood drive. All you need to know is Soulo’s sponsor code, which is 3941. From there, just follow the instructions on the MBC site. It’s extremely easy and quick – it takes about 30 seconds. Please register soon to ensure you get to bleed at your desired time.

On the day of the blood drive you can go to the MBC’s donors page and complete a health history questionnaire. Completing this online will save you quite a bit of time in the donation process.

If you want more information, you can download this PDF (Soulo Blood Drive 5-9-2012), which covers the details of the drive. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks again to everyone who’s participating. Your donation can save up to three lives.