To add “power” to presentations, many companies are reaching for software such as PowerPoint or Keynote. However, much of the information communicated in these presentations, being new to the audience, has a low rate of retention, resulting in decreased effectiveness.

To help communicate main points and expand on topics covered in the presentation, many companies lean on paper-based print outs. This is a simple and effective tactic. However, with the latest focus on greener business practices in the corporate environment and statistics pointing to the average U.S. office worker already throwing away 1,500 printed pages per year, presentation printouts may not be the most mindful solution.

Another tactic employed by some companies is to design a section on their website to display either elements of the presentation content or the actual presentation slides. This is often accomplished by adding a sub page to the presenting company’s website – www.companyxyz.com/howtogogreener. While this is a smart communication strategy, unless the audience is given incentives for visiting the website page(s), chances are a small percentage of the audience will take the initiative to pay a post-presentation visit.

Some pioneering companies are leveraging the power of customized flash drives to help make an immediate impact with their audience, resulting in higher response rates. In comparison to traditional tactics, the use of flash drives to enhance the effectiveness of a business presentation offers a greener approach and requires little action if any from the audience outside the course of their normal daily routine. In fact, by providing audience members with a flash drive preloaded with a presentation and/or other materials (add links to company website, photos, any digital content deemed applicable), they now have a functional, mobile data storage device that adds value to their workday.

As brand is king in the American marketplace, it’s a wise investment to take the concept of preloaded flash drives one step further and have the company brand imprinted or etched on the outside of the usb drive. If your audience is smaller and more intimate/specific, offering personalized (recipient name on one side…company logo/info on the opposite side) drives is a tangible example of professionalism and respect.

CFgear.com and Indiedrive, Inc. today announced they have entered into a definitive strategic alliance. The alliance is the result of extensive communication regarding the explosive demand for music distributed via usb flash drives.

Under the alliance, CFgear.com will fulfill the manufacturing and branding of the usb flash drive. Indiedrive will leverage an extensive and expanding network of independent musicians. Both companies will participate in marketing, promotion and logistics surrounding the final product.

“The partnership is a powerful opportunity to empower independent musicians with a voice in a new but rapidly growing marketplace,” said CFgear.com CEO, Jonathan C. Burns.

Steve Thaemart, Indiedrive President and Artist Representative said, “Through this partnership we are able to offer independent musicians and their fans an innovative product and service… it’s really a win-win situation for everyone involved. Besides, if we’re going down, at least we can take someone with us.”

About CFgear.com

CFgear.com based in Brookings, S.D., is a provider of premium branded flash drive hardware products. Founded in 2006, the company blends sophisticated preload software with premium flash drive hardware to produce brilliant, precise marketing tools for a growingly diverse list of industries. For more information, please visit CFgear’s website at www.cfgear.com.

About Indiedrive, Inc.

Created by independent musicians as an exciting new way to sell their music, Indiedrive.com is the world’s first dedicated USB album marketplace. For more information, visit www.indiedrive.com.

The agreement comes at a significant time for CFgear.com with record postings in sales and a continuing trend upward in the custom flash drive marketplace. The leading E-tailer of custom flash drive solutions, CFgear.com has realized success through a combination of streamlined operations, strategic technology alliances and refreshing, dependable service.

“The South Dakota Technology Business Center (SDTBC) resonates with our needs. We’re excited to have the potential to collaborate with other technology-based businesses. From day one, the leadership at SDTBC has shown tremendous initiative and excitement about our business. The infrastructure, network and overall environment SDTBC affords us will be critical in helping us continue the path towards healthy, strategic growth”, says Tim Burns, President of CFgear.com.

“The Technology Business Center is excited to have CFGear.com as a client company,” says Rich Naser, Executive Director. “The company is already experiencing significant growth and will bring an exciting dynamic both technologically and culturally to the SDTBC. We look forward to assisting the CFGear.com team in achieving new levels of success.”

The Strategic Partnership and Marketing arm of CFgear.com will maintain operations in Brookings, SD.

CFgear.com

Since 2006, CFgear.com has helped clients across the industries of education, banking, government, music, and business by blending sophisticated preload software with premium flash drive hardware to produce progressive marketing tools that achieve communication objectives.

South Dakota Technology Business Center

The South Dakota Technology Business Center is the first step in an on-going effort to diversify and grow the regional economy by assisting in the creation and expansion of technology-based businesses in the Sioux Falls area. Multiple public and private organizations partnered to fund construction of the Technology Business Center, reflecting the broad-based support for this exciting economic development initiative.

Cari Wagner, Solutions Director for CFgear.com and university branded flash drive specialist, says, “In the Postsecondary education environment, there’s an increasing demand for custom technology products and solutions. We’ve been grateful to have had the opportunity to prove our commitment to excellence with both product and service to respected colleges coast to coast.”

One of the main benefits colleges and schools will find at CFgear.com is the team of award-winning marketing professionals on board. “The fact that we have copywriters, creative directors, designers, web programmers, print production experts, all as part of the college flash drive team sets our company apart from everyone else. We deliver truly unique and powerful custom flash drive solutions,” said Jonathan C. Burns, Education  Team leader at CFgear.com.

In 2006, CFgear.com created a division solely dedicated to serving the diverse needs of the Education arena. That division later narrowed its focus to the college flash drives marketplace where many university leaders are seeking more functional ways to communicate to both incoming and current students and faculty.

The key components as noted at collegeflashdrives.com, are CFgear’s commitment to quality components both inside and out. From the imprinting of the school logo per exact Pantone® code matches to stringent quality stress tests on internal memory chip technology, CFgear delivers unequaled custom flash drive products.

President of CFgear.com, Timothy Burns, says collegeflashdrives.com was launched as a way to fill the void in a marketplace too often filled with less than quality products. “Institutions can’t afford to bear the costs of poor performing custom flash drive products. There is a difference in quality. Generally, the lowest bid means unstable flash technology but many schools are not aware there is a quality component that needs to be considered in Postsecondary education custom flash drive project bids. CFgear and collegeflashdrives.com are here to educate school officials and help them make a wise investment.”  

To date, CFgear has helped engineer everything from the simple branded college flash drive product to sophisticated preload interface solutions. From Ivy League to Community College, collegeflashdrives.com is geared to help solve the diverse needs of institutions in search of quality custom flash drive products.

Whether you call them flash drives, jump drives, thumb drives, USB drives or compact flash memory, one thing is certain – educational institutions of all sizes are increasingly finding unique and innovative ways to leverage the capabilities of these handy little devices.

Flash Drive History

Before we “jump” into the increasing list of benefits flash drives offer, here is a “cliff’s notes” version of their history. The name derives from the use of flash memory - solid state memory chips - rather than the spinning magnetic disk of a hard drive. These compact memory “drives” plug directly into the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port of your computer and are typically built to store between 64 megabytes and 2 gigabytes of data. These convenient compact flash drives act as reusable, portable hard drives which are about the size of a pack of gum.

USB Flash Drive Functionality at Universities and Colleges

USB flash drive technology has soared at Universities and Colleges in recent years and their uses are countless. Custom logo flash drives can feature the school colors and be stamped with the mascot or logo - for a multitude of uses. As a result, customized flash drives have become the popular “buy” in University and College campus bookstores not only by students, but faculty alike.

Pre-loaded with video, slide shows, music or other promotional content, flash drives are rapidly becoming an effective tool to enhance University or College recruitment campaigns and many other aspects of the educational process. USB flash drives can be programmed to auto-run customized messages or load a specific website when inserted into a computer. Users can store additional information on the flash drive alongside the preloaded information - and coupled with a custom University logo on your flash memory stick - makes USB flash drive marketing one of the rare occurrences when the target of your promotion can continue to use the marketing “tool” everyday.

Examples of USB Flash Drive Applications for Schools:

Recruitment and Admissions: A custom logo flash drive can be pre-loaded with anything from a video tour of the campus to a presentation of a specific department to enrollment materials. University or College custom USB drives make the perfect gift to students attending a recruitment event and can be sent as incentives to high demand students.

Promotion of School Departments, Student Organizations and Event Schedules: Pre-loaded, custom flash drives offer more impact as a promotional tool than flyers, brochures and handbooks

Donor and Alumni Gifts: Custom logo USB flash drives are a fun and useful gift – and the perfect way to show your donors how important they are to you. The USB drive can be preloaded with a video Thank You from the President, a school event calendar or donation and tax benefit materials

Faculty and Student Handbooks: University faculty and student handbooks or other manuals can be preloaded onto a flash drive with hyperlinks to important websites

Bye Bye Blue Book: With the prevalence of laptops, campuses are increasingly incorporating flash drive technology into the examination and homework process. For example, a USB drive can be customized with the department, teacher or course information and preloaded with exams. The flash drives are handed in upon completion

Lectures and Presentations: No need to lug around the briefcase… a USB flash drive can easily hold your lectures for the entire year. Multiple flash drives can be used to organize by class or topic

Graduation Day: Who better to send out into the world with your brand than the bright-eyed graduates? These flash drives can be preloaded with information to help keep the graduate involved in your University, such as event schedules, donation information and links to your alumni website

Community Outreach: There’s always a need to exemplify the many ways in which students and faculty are working to create a bridge between the campus and the community. Flash drives preloaded with a video or a slide show can be sold at local businesses to help promote the image of the school.

The bottom line is as a stand alone technology device, USB flash drives offer several benefits to the University or College environment. However, with the addition of your school brand and pre-loaded messaging, custom flash drives serve as a valuable and functional marketing tool that will command the attention needed to strengthen the enrollment numbers and the educational process.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can cost effectively integrate the benefits of usb flash drive technology into your college or school, please contact CFGear.com.  You can visit our main custom usb flash drive website, fill out our online contact form for a quote, or call to speak with one of our friendly customer service representatives at 1.800.371.1984. 

The popularity of flash drives have grown significantly over the past several years as storage capacities have increased and USB-enabled computers have become ubiquitous. The popularity and capabilities of flash drives has led to the advent of flash drive marketing. The use of USB flash drives as effective marketing tools is continuing to evolve for forward thinking marketing professionals.

Custom Flash Drive Marketing Delivers Branded Product To Customers

Thumb drives can be stamped with a company’s logo and as a result, custom logo USB drives have become trade show and convention favorites. Companies are giving branded custom logo flash drives to key customers and prospects providing them with an instant reminder of your company every time they use the flash drive to transfer files or back up a document.

Providing your customers (and potential customers) with a branded custom logo USB flash delivers a great way to market by keeping your brand in front of customers while giving them something of real value they will use over and over.

Flash Drive Marketing Delivers Branded Product With Targeted Messages

Using flash drives as branded giveaways and corporate gifts are just the tip of the marketing iceberg. Savvy marketers are increasingly using the storage capabilities of these compact devices to deliver their message. Flash drives can now be pre-loaded with data, music, video or other content. The devices can also be setup to auto-run a marketing message or load a specific website when inserted into a computer. Customers are able to continue to use the flash drive, storing their data alongside the pre-loaded content. A custom logo USB flash drive that also holds a pre-loaded message or presentation offers companies the benefit of delivering a branded product AND targeted message at the same time.

The concept of delivering your marketing messages via thumb drive was started several years ago when automobile manufacturers provided flash drives pre-loaded with presentations touting the features of their latest models. The idea has caught on – and not just for big companies. Looking for creative and cutting edge ways to stand out from the competition, large, medium, and small sized firms, companies and organizations across a wide range of industries are now looking to flash drive marketing to communicate their messages.

Ways That Business Organizations Can Utilize Flash Drive Marketing

Companies and organizations can provide handbooks, manuals, and required work materials to incoming employees via thumb drive featuring your company’s colors and logo. By providing your employees with the information they need at their fingertips, even when out of the office, they will be able to help your clients and prospects make smarter decisions.

With a customized flash drive, you’ll give an appearance that you truly care about your employees, and that you care about displaying a consistent, professional look. Customers like to engage in business activities with companies that care.

Design and creative agencies can provide multi-media portfolios with links to additional web-based content. Companies can cut their printing costs in half and spend money in other areas. There is no need for multiple brochures – you can put them right on the flash drives. You can even put your jingle in the background and make it a complete interactive experience.

This is perfect for direct mail or as a trade show give-away. Many companies will distribute pens, business cards, brochures, or magnets. In 9 out of 10 cases, these items are either thrown away or misplaced. The companies that are the most successful at trade shows are the ones that look for creative and cutting edge ways to communicate their messages and promote their products and services effectively.

As the popularity and capabilities of USB flash drives continue to grow, marketing professionals will continue to find unique and innovative ways to utilize flash drive marketing. The marketing possibilities may only be limited by the imagination.

“Large quantity custom logo USB flash orders are coming in from companies large and small,” says a representative of CFGear. “Every flash drive we offer can be customized with a company logo, and businesses are excited to have something unique to offer for promotion.” 

USB Drives, also referred to as compact flash memory, flash drives, USB disks, USB key fobs, thumb drives or jump drives, come in many styles - USB pen drives, key drives and even knife USB flash drives.

CFGear flash drives also come in a variety of storage sizes - 64mb, 128mb, 256mb, 512mb, 1GB and 2GB – so customers can choose which USB flash drive best suits their personal style and needs.

USB Logo - Custom USB Drives

Logo USB & custom USB drives are one of the many special offerings at CFGear. They offer corporate and company logos, store logos, college logos, or any other type of logo you want printed on your USB flash drive - custom made for your review and approval.

Custom Logo USB Flash Drives Give Businesses An Edge Over Their Competition

Custom flash logo USB drives not only make great company gifts and are a unique marketing tool, but they will place your company one step ahead of the competition. Clients will remember you and your company with logo USB drives.

Business Benefits of Custom Logo USB Flash Drives:

• These reusable flash drives are a perfect way to keep your brand in front of your customers
• USB drives can be pre-loaded with your presentation, advertisements or other content (including flash based, power point or video presentations)
• A promotional product that your customers and clients will actually use every day

For more information on Custom Logo USB Drives or to request a quote:

Visit: http://www.cfgear.com/custom.html

Call: 800.371.1984

About CFGear

CFGear.com is a company specializing in the highest quality flash drives money can buy. CFGear has an experienced, dedicated team committed to serving the needs of customers seeking high quality and affordable Compact Flash related Gear – hence CFGear. CFgear.com offers the latest flash USB drives, pen drives, key drives and flash MP3 players at the lowest prices possible. CFGear also offers the specialty service of custom USB drives as your one stop shop for compact flash gear customized with your artwork or corporate logo.

CFgear.com & Belle Fourche High School have collaborated to produce a proprietary preload solution on one hundred 1 GB flash drive products. The flash drives, destined for use in the Art History and Computer classes, house what would normally be curriculum offered on printed matter. Also helping reduce material waste are user-friendly links to the Belle Fourche website that allow students quick access to Student Policies, School Contacts and even the newly created K12 email system.

With the initial shipment of 100 drives slated to arrive at Belle Fourche High School in the next few weeks, the school is hoping to take a test drive of the unique, “green” solution.

David Schanzenbach, Technical Administrator for the Belle Fourche School District, admits the “green” aspect of CFgear’s solution was the product of another concern. “Each student has space on the school’s server. With an exponential amount of digital information being stored on our server, the need for offline storage was critical. CFgear.com was able to deliver on a sophisticated solution – one that we quickly recognized would help mitigate server issues in addition to reducing material waste in the school.”

The blend of flash drive hardware and preload software is a solution that inspired many recent attendees of a Technology and Innovation Conference in Rapid City, SD. It was at that event that Bill Odea, Superintendent of Belle Fourche Schools first saw the solution CFgear created for Belle Fourche High. “I was immediately excited about the infinite places we can take this. The theme has for many years been about embracing technology in the classroom. With many high school students already bringing flash drives into the school, this is a perfect way to use technology to enhance the educational process and cut down on printing expense/paper waste.”

CFgear.com CEO/Solutions Director, Jonathan C. Burns, views the project as the beginning of a potentially more significant opportunity for both parties. “This was truly the vision of Belle Fourche. We listened to their needs and built a solution around them. We’re already looking forward to engineering the next generation of drives, to possibly include more sophisticated preload widgets, smart enabled drives, etc.”

This initial project alone reinforces South Dakota’s latest ranking as a TOP 10 State for implementing technology into the K12 classroom.

CFgear.com

Since 2006, CFgear.com has provided a premium assortment of flash drive hardware products online. With a most recent focus on building custom solutions, CFgear blends sophisticated preload software with premium flash drive hardware to produce brilliant, precise marketing tools for the business and education sectors.

Contact them at consumeraffairs@cfgear.com
http://www.cfgear.com

In a private press conference, Meester said one of the main benefits is the “plug and perform” nature of its design. “The Enroll-a-Tron 3042 locates, enrolls, retains and outputs successful students every time,” according to inventor Frank Meester.

“The technology is simple to use but was a little less than impossible to design,” says Frank. No patents have been filed or pursued for the Enroll-a-Tron 3042 as “that would allow the public to take a look inside the mind behind Enroll-A-Tron.” that would allow the public to take a look inside the mind behind Enroll-A-Tron.

The invention claims to solve the many challenges faced by university enrollment directors. The combination of slimming enrollment campaign budgets and students increased use of technology in obtaining information on prospective universities makes the Enroll-a-Tron’s timing optimum.

Enter your data & the device virtually enrolls at the touch of a button. The end result is nearly a 100% rate of accuracy in locating, enrolling and outputting successful students, paving the way for Alumni donations.

With reserve, Meester admitted a few pitfalls to the invention. Currently, there is only one of its kind in the world with no certainty as to production of additional models.

The current 3042 model was supported through grant monies. Meester neglected to offer specifics on the nature of the grant but did allude to his current supporter, CFgear.com - a flash drive solutions provider with similar focus in the university sector and who is rumored to have invested in refinements and mass production of the Enroll-a-Tron. “They really helped me out…with financing…with marketing things,” says Frank Meester.

CFgear.com spokesperson, DJ Steckelberg says, “At first glance it may appear that we’re supporting what could potentially be our largest competitor, but we look at this as an investment in perhaps the next generation solution for the university enrollment management market. Right now, we are comfortable in knowing that our solutions may not make the job of university enrollment management ridiculously easy (as Frank claims), but they do make you look ridiculously good at your job!”

For more information on the Enroll-a-Tron 3042:

• Visit: www.enroll-a-tron.com
• Call: 605.696.7877 ext 3

About Frank Meester

Frank Meester has dedicated his life to building the Enroll-a-Tron 3042. His many abilities pertain to university student acquisition, psycho and demographic analysis and the study and art of ultimate fighting.

About CFgear.com

CFGear.com offers intelligently customized preload solutions for university related flash drive projects.

CFgear.com, headquartered in the Enterprise Institute building in Brookings, South Dakota, has solidified a licensing agreement with Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indy 500 - the world’s largest single day sporting event - to add their custom logo & preloaded USB flash drives.

The licensing contract awards CFgear.com the right to use all Indianapolis Motor Speedway brands in conjunction with CFgear’s flash drive products. The initial shipment of 500, 512 MB customized flash drives was recently delivered in an effort to meet the start of what is in essence a month-long Indy event.

The Indianapolis 500 is an elite racing event

“The Indianapolis 500 is an elite racing event” says Dan Skiver, Sales Coordinator of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, “The 500 attracts many fans that enjoy technology and technological components.”

Alan McKelvey, Retail Manager of Indianapolis Motor Speedway believes the timing is right for the alliance. “Last year was our first experience in carrying flash drive products in our store. CFgear.com has helped us build a proprietary custom flash drive product that we are excited to offer in our Executive Gift department of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway retail and etail stores.”

CFgear.com CEO/Solutions Director, Jonathan C. Burns, views the licensing agreement as the beginning of a potentially more significant opportunity for both parties. “We collaborated tightly with Indianapolis Motor Speedway executives to arrive at the solution of custom flash drives in place for Indy 2007. We’re already looking forward to next year, presenting preload widgets, smart enabled drives, sophisticated preload software solutions built into the custom flash drive to enhance and extend the Indianapolis Motor Speedway brand as well as help offer more possibilities to stay in tune with Indy fans throughout the year.”

More about CFgear.com

Since 2006, CFgear.com has provided a premium assortment of usb flash drive hardware products online. With a most recent focus on building custom flash drive solutions, CFgear blends sophisticated preload software with premium flash drive hardware to produce brilliant, precise marketing tools for the business and education sectors.

For more information on CFGear’s Custom Flash Solutions:

• Business Custom USB Flash Drive Solutions
• Education Custom USB Flash Solutions
• Custom USB Solutions

Contact CFGear.com:

Jonathan Burns
1.800.371.1984

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 & is the international leader in motor sports entertainment. Home since 1911 to the Indianapolis 500, the world’s largest single day sporting event, the Speedway also hosts the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR Nextel Cup race & the United States Grand Prix Formula One race, two of the largest single day sporting events in the world. The Speedway property includes the Hall of Fame Museum, the Brickyard Crossing 18-hole championship golf course and the Brickyard Crossing Inn.