Meet BlueCart

Ah, BlueCart. BlueCart + Pelonkey. A friendship lovechild of the magical fairyland that is SXSW via Nicole & Andrew’s chance meeting. Two chatty folks who, well, chatted until they were the best of startup friends. They realized there are a lot of ways we could cross-market, and so this blog feature was born. Ok, some other stuff happened in there, too, because both companies are mega-busy, but you get the idea.

BlueCart & Pelonkey swapped Q’s, and below are one half of the A’s. A cool group of people with a cool mission. I’ll let them tell you what they do.What is BlueCart?

BlueCart is a communication platform for the hospitality industry. Our app streamlines the ordering process between restaurants and their suppliers so that a restaurant can place orders to all their different vendors (produce, meat, alcohol, seafood, linens, etc.) in just one click. Suppliers then get those orders automatically organized on the other side, and everyone sees the whole thing go down in real time. It’s a huge leap forward from managing orders via text messages, emails, and phone calls, and best of all, it’s free.

How long have you been around?

BlueCart first launched in July 2014.

How big is your team?

We’re 27 stunning colleagues strong.

Who can benefit from signing up with you?

Really anyone who handles orders in the hospitality industry and has access to a computer or smartphone can use BlueCart. That’s the beautiful thing about the app, it’s incredibly simple and easy to get the hang of. Anyone from huge restaurant groups in NYC to a small farmer in Kansas can use BlueCart to simplify their ordering. We believe that everyone in this industry, no matter how big or small, should have access to technology that makes their lives easier by making their business run more smoothly. [Us, too!]

What makes you unique?

Hmm. There are many things that make us unique. One of the ways we’re unique is our approach to customer service. Literally everyone is a customer service rep at BlueCart. We make quarterly calls to all our clients to gain feedback and see if we can help with any problems. We’re still young and agile enough that we can make changes to the app based on the feedback we get. Everyone makes those calls, too, from our CEO to our interns. [Hearing from an actual person makes a big difference. Especially when that person is the CEO? Talk about quality assurance.]

If we were to walk in to the BlueCart HQ/office what are the first three things we would notice?

Hmm, that’s a great question. If you would have asked me a month ago, I would have said the ping pong table. But that’s a little cliché for a startup, and honestly we had to get rid of ours anyway because we are growing so quickly. So, to answer your question, one of the first things you would see is the coatrack where a fake wolf’s head sits on top of a hoodie that hasn’t left since Christian wore it for Halloween. After the big bad wolf, you would most likely see a portrait of Chester (a photo of a squirrel dressed up in a turtleneck), which for no reason at all is on our award shelf – and next to that, either because of or in spite of Chester, depending on your perspective, is our award for coolest DC company. [Definitely because of. Can we get a copy?]

Where are you located?

We started in D.C., and now have permanent offices in San Francisco and NYC, with staff in Austin.

What events do you have coming up?

We’re actually hosting an event on menu engineering and how to get the most profits out of your menu in early June. We have the master of menu design, Gregg Rapp, coming to share his tips on crafting a menu. He’s worked with some high-level, diverse clients like IHOP and the Kennedy Center. So, if you know anyone in the bay area that might be interested, let them know. It’s on June 6^th and you can get tickets here. [It’s not too late!]

How can BlueCart help the events industry?

BlueCart can help in two ways. First, with logistics. BlueCart allows hotels hosting an event to order all their supplies including linens, silverware, and food all in one place. It’s kind of a one stop shop, but for ordering. Second, we can recommend some fantastic entertainment folks, like Pelonkey…

Food suppliers, food buyers, go check ’em out! With an easy-to-use interface and FREE access, why wouldn’t you want to take a gander?

We heart you, BlueCart.

 

Neeks in Cancun con la Marriott!

I bet I know where you wish you were right now…

Cancun. Am I right? Knew it.

Pelonkey CEO, DJ Neekola was there recently as part of the Marriott’s Fearless conference… because Pelonkey’s supporters are always awesome sauce clients who host conferences on tropical islands. (Thanks to Entertainment Exchange for hooking up Neekola with the Marriott!) And cue the jealousy. Well, you can pretend you were also there by listening to the playlist of all the jams Neekola played throughout the duration of the convention. And then look at the sunshine outside and pretend it’s not going to drop to 40 degrees tonight.

Alright, alright, DC. Just throw on your bikini and this playlist & dance around your apartment. No one will ever know.

To JAM:

SLEDGE – Croatia Squad, Me & My Toothbrush and Peter Gabriel
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Groove Conductor’s Remix) – Daft Punk
Bright Lights (Extended Clean) – VICE Ft. Estelle
Can’t Feel My Face (Joe Maz and Adam Foster Remix) – The Weekend
We Found Love (Toy Armada Diamond Remix) – Rihanna
September (Taylor Wise Remix) – Earth Wind and Fire
Geronimo (Sunstars Remix) – Sheppard
Barbara Streisand – Duck Sauce
Thunderstruck (Shameless Bootleg) – ACDC
Uptown Funk (Neekola Disco Remix) Bruno Mars
Don’t Stop the Party – Pitbull
Bamboleo (Neekola Remix) Gypsy Kings
Malosax – Afro Mix – Stan Courtois
Fun – Mixshow Intro – Pitbull
Should’ve Been Us (Noodles Remix) – Tori Kelly
Sweet Dreams Vs. Just Dance, Lady Gaga Vs. Eurythmics
Call on Me – Eric Prydz (Neekola Remix)
I Love It – Icona Pop (Neekola Remix)
Sexyback – Scooter Remix – Justin Timberlake
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop tip you Get Enough – Gigamesh Vs. Neekola
Dance – Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez, Party Starter Neekola Remix
What’s My Name Moombahton Remix – Rihanna
Latch Vs. What Do you Mean – Sam Smith Vs. Justin Bieber
Levels Die Young – Avicii Vs. Ke$ha
Let Me Clear My Throat – Party Favor Remix – DJ Kool
Temperature Vs. Americano – Sean Paul Vs. Yolanda Be Cool
Five Hours – Chris Brown

To CHILLAX:

Adore – Jasmine Thompson
Dreams – Gigamesh Remix – Fleetwood Mac
Promise – Kaskade
Bondye – Never Too Much
Cream – Flyosphy – Claptone Remix
Aint Nobody Loves Me Better – Felix Jaehn Remix
One Thing (Nora en Pure Remix) – Me and My Toothbrush
Clocks – Coldplay Vs. Rythims Del Mundo, Cuba Salsa Remix
Hello (Paul Damixie Remix) Clean AXB Cut – Adele
Say My Name (Kids Want Techno Remix) Odezsa
Colors – Leo Perez
Oxas – Gamper Dadoni De Hofnar
Summer Sippin – Boehm & DVNNI
Sugar – Robin Schulz
Cold As Ice – Louie Fresco Remix
Shades of Grey (Nora En Pure Remix) – Oliver Heldens and Shaun Frank
Night – Janet Jackson
Groove is in the Heart – Gigamesh Remix – Deee Lite
Hotline Bling – Kue Remix – Clean AXB Cut – Sam Smith / Drake
Show Me Love – EDX Remix – Sam Feldt

#Celebrate2015

Yes, we are hashtag whores. Yes, we hashed all over #Vegas. Yes, you can filter through the Tech.Co #Celebrate2015 tag and find our (dare I say witty?) commentary. And yes, you should go and do that #rightmeow.

#Celebrate2015 was Tech.Co’s global conference for tech startups, which took place this past Sunday-Tuesday in Vegassss, baby! It was three packed days of networking, panels, meetings, (yes, some #parties), one-on-ones, mentors, new faces, and new friends. It also included a startup showcase, of which Pelonkey was a part last year. We didn’t win, but because the conference was gads of fun, this year Nicole and Danielle returned to network, strengthen connections, and of course, visit Vegas. (Though, with two red eyes in as many days, it’s not quite the same as it would have been with time to recharge to 100%.)

After the launch party and our first month post-site launch, our focus on managing the company shifts every day as we explore new aspects of outreach, marketing, partnerships, and more, and the conference was great in aiding our efforts to tackle these frontiers. The people we met were awesomesauce, and the business cards we got are spilling out of our purses in anticipation of follow-up emails.

We flew in to Vegas late Sunday night, so we missed the first day’s activities, but here’s what our schedule looked like:

See? Busy. Monday and Tuesday were no joke. Neither are my 24 pages of notes that are begging to be organized and prioritized, but I digress.

Frank Gruber, Co-Founder and CEO of Tech.Co

Nicole and Danielle split up in order to meet with more people and cover more ground. Monday’s highlights were a mix of some panels and great individual sit-downs. Tuesday was comprised of valuable lectures and some heavy duty speakers (Microsoft, Google, American Airlines, Yahoo News, and more were in attendance).

Danielle heard from Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappo’s, a panel discussing partnerships, Susan Cooney and Stacy Parson, who led a workshop on Next Level Results from startup teams and how they can grow their business through leadership (one of my favs, and a class every young professional should take to teach them about owning their leadership potential), and Clarisa Lindenmeyer from Tech Wildcatters, among others. Nicole met with Gerome Sapp, NFL player turned tech master, Jermaine Dupri, record producer and founder of So So Def, and heard a lecture about investor meetings.

They both listened to talks by Danielle Morrill from Mattermark, who discussed the business of collecting and organizing the world’s data, and Lauren Fritsch from TCC Consulting, who blew their minds with her Customer Experience talk (right up Pelonkey’s alley!).

We took a little time to walk around Downtown, but did not make it to the strip (though Nicole did try unsuccessfully to get Danielle to go out with her). Instead we opted for Tech.Co parties and networking (a worthy choice).

After a Pelonkey brainstorm (read: brain dump), final speakers, and startup awards ceremony (shoutout to Blendoor!), the conference wrapped up with a closing rooftop party and a visit from Kuzco, the Tech.Co alpaca, which, naturally, was our favorite part.

And then it was back to the airport for red eye #2! And straight to meetings after that. #Tech stops for no one.

#Celebrate2015, you were fantastic! Let’s do this again sometime. Say, 2016 perhaps?