Chicago Entrepreneurs Plan to Bring Big City Work Experience to Local College Students
EAST LANSING, MI–January 18, 2011– Loudpixel, a social media analysis and research firm that was started in Chicago in 2009, will be moving its headquarters to East Lansing this month.
Founders Jeff Siarto, Ryan Abbott and Allie Osmar, all Michigan State graduates, started Loudpixel in November 2009 to fill a growing need to help organizations research and monitor relevant online conversation trends in social media. Over the past year, companies have been using Loudpixel’s research to develop new products, improve their advertising and manage their public reputations.
“We’re going beyond the traditional focus group,” says Osmar, head of research and insights, “Rather than pulling people into a room and asking them what we want to hear, we’re going out and looking at thousands of public conversations that are already happening online, and we’re boiling down the trends to find out what people actually care about.”
Loudpixel is already on the lookout for college students to bring onto the team.
“I can’t think of a better part time job for a motivated student,” says Osmar, “We’ll be able to give students real life experience working with some of the nation’s most recognized brands. I want students to know that they don’t have to move to Chicago or New York to work with big brands. They can walk right across the street from campus and gain experience that’s on par with the big cities.”
Loudpixel will be moving into East Lansing’s Technology Innovation Center, a space that was created in October 2008 to foster the development of the technology-based economy in the mid-Michigan region and bolster the region’s professional workforce.
“We see a lot of opportunity in mid-Michigan,” says partner and head of user experience, Jeff Siarto, “With the Technology Innovation Center, the university, the political community and the growing interest a tech-based economy, we know that we’re in a great place to grow our company. And on the community side, I’m amazed by how many organizations have been created in the past few years to support social and professional networking.”
The team cites organizations such as Grand River Connection, Ignite Lansing and The Technology Innovation Center as key in the decision to move the company.
“We were all attracted to Chicago after college because we saw the constant activity of events and the opportunity to grow our careers,” says founding partner and lead engineer, Ryan Abbott, “Now, we’re seeing that same opportunity in Lansing, along with rent that costs 50% less and a community that is proving to be more supportive than we ever could have imagined.”
About Loudpixel
Loudpixel delivers online conversation monitoring, measurement and insights research. The team partners with organizations and communication agencies to produce unbiased reporting through its custom analysis dashboard tool, Levee. Visit http://loudpixel.com to learn more.
Contact:
Allie Osmar Siarto
allie@loudpixel.com
517-285-9776
