Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

10/22/15

When I read about the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Highway Beautification Act, which was intended to limit billboards and other forms of outdoor advertising along federal highways, it reminded me of the iconic Mail Pouch Tobacco barns. According to Mail Pouch barn enthusiast Eddie Robberts, farmers were willing to let Mail Pouch Tobacco paint their

10/06/15

Our Little Free Library has been in front of the Force 5 offices for about two months now.  Our library is one of over 20,000 registered Little Free Libraries in over 70 countries.  The response in the neighborhood has been very positive, and there is always a new selection of books that have been left by the neighbors.  (Note: we always seem to run

09/14/15

The Creative Group released results from a survey they conducted with advertising and marketing executives.  The national study was based on 400 telephone interviews — 200 with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees and 200 with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees. Advertising and marketing executives were asked, “When interviewing

08/06/15

Over the weekend, Deb DeFreeuw and David Morgan installed a Little Free Library in front of the Force 5 Offices.  For those of you that don’t know about the Little Free Library, it is a nonprofit organization that supports the worldwide movement to offer free books housed in small containers to members of the local community. The idea was popularized in Hudson,

08/28/13

This time of year kids all across the country are heading back to school. One of the changes that many students are encountering is the shift away from printed textbooks to digital media. For example, the New Prairie school distract in New Carlisle, Indiana is giving all students iPads to replace textbooks. Other schools are giving their students laptop computers

07/09/13

“Games lubricate the body and the mind” – Benjamin Franklin A couple of weeks ago I updated the Weather Channel app on my Android phone and was presented with the opportunity to sign up for a program called mPoints. Using this system I can earn “badges” and “points” that can be redeemed for gift cards or merchandise. This got me

07/02/13

I love to travel and I love the Internet. The Internet has opened up the world and made it easier to travel. Finding the best price for a flight, where you can simultaneously search 1,521 different sites at once and spit out the perfect way to wing your way to adventure, well that rocks. Being able track down the perfect

01/22/13

Force 5 is proud to announce to we have added three more hospitals to the ICE Michiana app! This expands the coverage of the smartphone application beyond St. Joseph County and now includes ER facilities in Elkhart, Fulton, and Starke Counties. The ICE Michiana app has had almost 8,300 downloads since its debut in August of 2012. We encourage all

08/07/12

Over the past years, we’ve had the good fortune to work for and with great companies. Some have been clients, some vendors. In each case, these folks have been terrific. Each of them has had a common goal–to bring success to themselves, their community, and to us. On occasion, we find the company or vendor that doesn’t have this goal-its

04/11/12

So, almost a month before my birthday, Starbucks is wishing me “happy sips on my birthday.”  The email came 3 weeks before my birthday and of course it made me smile.  Free Starbucks would make anyone smile.  The postcard came in the mail 2 weeks before my birthday. There are two companies that have made an impression on me when

01/20/12

Anyone who has done development, design, or IT knows that over the course of working on a project, you collect various “nuggets” of knowledge that you ever learn or find. Here I’m going to share some of what I’ve discovered that may be able to help you in your own projects. I have cited the original source of the information

11/07/11

Setup Picture – I am sitting at the Apple Genius Bar, ya I know they call it a “Bar” but not a drink in sight, working through my iPhone issues with the savvy, half shaven, twenty something, blue t-shirt wearing apple genius who is just about finished with my antenna issue.  When to my surprise the next customer introduces himself