Video production company’s executive leadership also expanded to enable twin focus on day-to-day execution and advanced services opportunities

HARLAN, Iowa / BELLINGHAM, Wa. – Jan. 16, 2012 – In a move typical of Heartland Technologies CEO and Founder Arlin Sorensen, the industry veteran is once again betting on the future of the IT channel. What’s perhaps unusual this go-around is that he and his brother Brad are doing it with their own cash. The pair is making a sizeable financial commitment to Varvid, a digital media services company, as part of a strategic alliance aimed at expanding business-changing educational content via an online video platform.

“Our interest in Varvid enables us to offer a wide array of digital media services to HTG Peer Group members either through real-time, interactive sessions or on-demand programming that’s not only available when they want to receive it, but how they want to receive it,” said Arlin. “I’m a big believer that digital communication is going to be the separator between those that do well in the marketplace and those that don’t.”

Industry research firm IDC, which recently reported that the online video platform market is estimated to grow from $306 million in 2010 to over $1 billion by 2015, validates Arlin’s view of the situation. And with the convergence of social media and TV services still in its infancy, further integration is expected to create ongoing opportunities.

The investment from the Sorensen brothers allows Varvid to hasten its growth in size and services by utilizing assets and personnel from both Heartland Technology Consulting (HTC) and Heartland Technology Solutions (HTS).  Most notably, the company plans to broaden its support of event services including turnkey solutions related to staging, lighting, sound and multi-camera coverage for both live and on-demand viewership.

Varvid will also continue to build its existing video production services, while increasing its business offerings to provide all-inclusive social media strategies and digital media marketing solutions.  These services will include online video production via remote editing, video hosting, live webcasting, online marketing campaigns, email newsletters, website integration, content generation for social media sites and professional on-site video production.

“Everyone thought the Internet was great in 1999, and it was, but they really didn’t have any idea where it could and would go at that time,” said Aaron Booker, Varvid CEO and co-founder.

“We’re at a stage now with digital media services that parallels those early days of the Internet and it’s thrilling to be at the forefront of that next technology wave.”

Varvid began as a production company helping businesses leverage their online presence through video testimonials, case studies and “live” event coverage. The company also pioneered “Video-as-a-Service” by allowing organizations of all sizes access to the power of online digital media through a number of custom hybrid solutions, integrating both a professional and do-it-yourself approach. In addition to these services, Varvid offers a range of social media solutions aimed at helping businesses expand their online presence through emerging digital platforms and social media outlets.

Focused on the Future

To ensure the company addresses the needs of its customers today and into the future, Varvid has realigned its leadership team. Aaron Booker, formerly president and co-founder, will now lead the company as its chief executive officer with responsibility for developing strategic relationships and driving corporate innovation. Mike Simmons, former Varvid creative director and co-founder, replaces Booker as president, and will oversee the company’s day-to-day business operations. Both Arlin and Brad Sorensen will also join Varvid’s board of directors.

About Varvid

Varvid is an Internet Delivered Video production, distribution and management company that builds IT brands by creating superior timely, powerful, and affordable online video solutions for clients. 
Products & services include case studies, business testimonials, video-enabled email, live webcasting, event coverage, and the newly released “VENUE” video packages – an affordable subscription-based service that features everything clients need to get started in

producing quality online videos for their business. The company also provides all-inclusive social media strategies and digital media marketing solutions as well as viewership metrics for popular social networks including YouTube, Facebook, other platforms and client websites.

Varvid has produced hundreds of recorded and live streaming videos for clients at locations around the world, as well as dozens of testimonial video montages for technology firms, events and trade shows.  For more information, visit: www.Varvid.com and www.Varvid.TV

About HTG Peer Groups

Established in 2000 by Arlin Sorensen as a business and personal development community, today HTG Peer Groups is an international organization of leading IT solution providers. HTG has more than 250 member companies throughout North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia/New Zealand. Each peer group consists of 10-12 IT company executives who work together and share resources and information to formulate and meet business goals such as strategic planning, process improvement and tools, and life-work excellence. HTG offers CEO Forums, vendor peer groups and other educational events, quarterly meetings, and an annual summit that attracts hundreds of attendees, vendor exhibitors and strategic partners. Visit www.htgpeergroups.com or call 712-744-3619 for more information.

About Heartland Technologies Solutions (HTS)

For 25 years, the HTS team has served the IT needs of businesses throughout the Midwest and now has a diverse set of specializations, including Infrastructure Service & Support, Unified Communications, Document Management, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, Precision Agriculture and K-12 Education. HTS is highly regarded in the vendor community and has strong partnerships with Microsoft, HP and SonicWALL. HTS has seven locations across the Midwest in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

For more information, please visit www.heartlandtechnologies.com.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Lynette Bohanan, CommCentric Solutions

lbohanan@commcentric.com / 813-727-0196

If you are serious about your business and have the desire to set in motion a few of the principals and knowledge Jeremy shares, it can make a difference in the level of success you and your organization will achieve.

The Varvid team gathers for some holiday festivities – this year we’ve been blessed with many great partnerships and additions to the staff. We’re happy to have had a chance this Christmas to thank some of the key people who have made it all possible. A special thanks to Varvid’s interns, Dingus & Mingus…we’re not quite sure who’s who, but that hasn’t seemed to dampen their holiday spirit.

4.  Whether or not folks on the other side are going to like the answer, tell the truth. This is not to say I’ve cried wolf my entire life, just reiterating what we all know can be a tough conversation, especially if it’s not a positive answer, response or dialogue.  Remember that productivity comes from both sides of the isle. Be it clients, customers, family members, co-workers or law enforcement, be honest. Like my father once said, “Son, the truth is not only the right thing to share, it’s the easiest to remember.”  Took me years to realize how right on the money that statement is.

3.  When it comes to a conversation, listen twice as much as you talk. We all know (or are) people who struggle with this. There’s the no eye contact gazer… the one-upper … the interrupter… the sentence finisher… the argument maker… and the list goes on and on.  When it comes to listening, I’ll be honest… it’s difficult for me. I am a talker and love to share stories, thoughts or insight with anybody who wants to engage with me.  But in an effort to listen, I have found the connections I am making in this industry are more real and more meaningful than those I have made in the past. Not because I’m hearing you, but because I’m listening to you.

2. It’s OK to ask for help.  I still have a hard time with this part of my business life because I don’t want to come across as a poser or fraud. My biggest fear is that somebody is going to call me out. In this industry especially, if you pretend you do know and you don’t, you will be eaten alive.  When that happens, there goes your credibility and any business you may have hoped you’d earn. Recently I have put my ego on the back burner and started to ask people to slow down or explain it again.  Do some folks get a little bent out of shape?  Sure they do, but more often than not they understand and want to help me.  It’s in our nature to help, so don’t be afraid to ask for it. Like our school teachers always said, the only dumb question is the question not asked.

1. To fully appreciate all in life, creating priorities is a must. While work is not life, it plays an integral role in who we are, allows us to be creative, productive and utilize our education and experience to better those we come in contact with. I speak for the majority of us when I say what we do is not brain surgery. Lives are not in the balance every time we go to work. As a people pleaser, learning to check out at 5:00 (most days) and not bringing home my work has proven to be a difficult task. But doing so has done wonders for my marriage and my relationship with my son.  These are the most important thing in my life and to remember my work helps me provide a roof and food for those people, it does not replace them.

Again, these are only 4 lessons of the dozens I have learned since I started with this organization nearly a year ago.  The education continues with each new person I have the privilege of meeting.

D&H Distributing & SMB Nation Enter A Strategic Agreement -  The Go-to SMB Distributor Partners with this Growing Membership to Offer Resources, Tools and Programs, So the Two Companies May Work Together for a Stronger, More Successful SMB VAR Community -

HARRISBURG, PA, October 22, 2010 – The Major North American distributor of computer and consumer electronics products, D&H Distributing, has entered into an agreement with SMB Nation, the community of solution providers founded by channel advocate and SMB expert Harry Brelsford. Through this relationship, D&H will develop special distribution services for that organization’s resellers. Together, D&H and SMB Nation hope to build a stronger organization with even more targeted advantages for small business solution providers.

D&H plans to work with its vendor partners to create exclusive programs for SMB Nation “Tribe” members who purchase from D&H. This will include special pricing to make powerful, branded technologies more affordable for the SMB reseller; programs that target areas of emerging sales potential in SMB environments; and other benefits.

As part of the new relationship, D&H will be one of the sponsors of the upcoming SMB Nation Conference in Las Vegas, October 22 – 24. Jeff Davis, D&H’s senior vice president of sales, will help kick-off the proceedings with opening remarks to introduce the conference’s keynote speech. Reciprocally, Brelsford will present a seminar, “Server, Storage, Healthcare – Driving SMB Upgrades in 2011,” at D&H’s Mid-Atlantic Fall Technology Show on November 2 in Hershey, PA.

The SMB Nation community has grown into a sizable and varied representation of the small business reseller marketplace, and its members are prime candidates to take advantage of D&H’s SMB-oriented expertise. The two organizations together make an ideal match to serve this marketplace, since both are focused on the unique needs of SMB VARs, and SMB Nation’s group of members closely resemble the profile of D&H’s existing customer base. They therefore sought to create a more formal relationship.

The distributor’s long-term understanding of this segment informs all of D&H’s programs and services, which is why they so realistically meet market needs. D&H is excited about the opportunity to extend this support to SMB Nation’s followers, many of whom offer specialty services and solutions in areas that the distributor would like to develop further, including VoIP, vertical niche markets and managed services.

“We’re thrilled about the new agreement with SMB Nation, since the goals of our two companies are very much in synch,” said D&H Co-President Dan Schwab. “Harry has to be commended. He has cultivated a population of resellers whose role in the channel is becoming more vital every year. D&H has always valued the position of the SMB VAR. We look forward to collectively helping these SMB resellers succeed.”

“SMB Nation has grown to be a force in the channel, and we’re happy to bring D&H more into the fold,” said Brelsford. “They know how to assemble effective programs that drive business and create opportunity in the SMB space, so we have high hopes for a productive partnership. More importantly, they have integrated into our world from a sincere grassroots level with numerous outreach examples. For instance, there are D&H employees who actively participate in the SMB Nation tribe!”

About D&H Distributing

With an impressive 93-year history serving as a trusted advisor to the reseller channel, D&H has been able to consistently reinvent itself based upon changing market conditions. The company prides itself on creating business partnerships with an astute focus on ease-of-doing-business, relationships, value, performance and service.

D&H was named Cisco’s Global Distribution Partner of the Year, won the Microsoft Licensing Operational Excellence Award seven years running and was named Microsoft’s OEM Distributor of the Year. The company ships out of five separate locations in North America, including its US headquarters in Harrisburg and its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. Additional US warehouses are located in Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; and Fresno, CA. Call D&H toll-free at (800) 340-1001 or visit www.dandh.com.

“Our small and mid-market business (SMB) leadership group, and specifically Birger Steen, has played an instrumental role in bridging the gap between the SMBs and technology through their leadership in the past year.  Microsoft remains committed to investing in small and mid-market businesses and our partners who serve them.   The list of products and offerings that we launched last year specifically for the SMBs is a great testament to the priority and focus we have with this customer segment.  I am even more excited with the opportunities that cloud computing can bring to SMBs now and in the near future.  We appreciate all that Birger has done and wish him well.” 

Steen spent eight years at Microsoft.  He moved to Redmond after leading Microsoft’s sales and marketing operations in Norway and Russia. A search for Steen’s replacement has begun. 

We are sorry that the Microsoft Partner community lost an advocate in this leader.  On the other hand, we are glad for Paralllels; they’re gaining his expertise and leadership.  Congratulations on your new role as President.  We are glad to see his career advancing and hope to see him  at future industry events. 

Click here to open the podcast in iTunes.

Also, Varvid will be attending MSPU’s Boot Camp from August 9th to the 12th. Tune in to Varvid.tv to see coverage of this event.

Aaron Booker of Varvid is excited to tell you about the new video hosting site Varvid.tv. Varvid.tv will be a video channel dedicated to hosting content that is solely IT related. A lot of the content will be provided by the Varvid crew as they visit major IT events, but the site will also offer the “From the Cloud” community submitted video service, which would feature videos submitted by any partners in the community.

The philosophy behind Varvid.tv’s “From The Cloud” community submitted video service is that many of the new generation hand-held devices can easily shoot in HD, meaning that the ability to capture high quality footage has become widely available. However, most people don’t have access to post-production services that allow a video to look professional, and this is where Varvid.tv comes in. Any MSP, VAR or other Microsoft vendor partner can send rough cut footage to Varvid.tv, where a member of the Varvid crew will then edit the footage and post it on Varvid.tv when it’s completed—and it’s all done for free!

By dedicating itself solely to the IT industry, Varvid.tv is aiming to become the hub of social media video communication in the IT world.  Providing a cost-free opportunity to get a professionally produced marketing or promotional video online, Varvid.tv will be the ultimate social media video tool for anyone involved in the IT community.

Here is the official press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…

Varvid launches new Internet video hotspot dedicated to serving the IT community

Varvid.tv site will provide uploading, editing, and hosting services for IT industry.

BELLINGHAM, WA – 7/9/2010 – Varvid, Inc. is announcing their new website launch, Varvid.tv. Varvid.tv provides Value Added Resellers (VARs), Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and their vendor partners with the opportunity to create professional-style online videos using their own footage, making Varvid.tv the first website of its kind in the IT community.

Aaron Booker, founder of Varvid, Inc., a long-time member of the IT community and a former VAR himself, believes that Varvid.tv has the potential to both revolutionize the way VARs, MSPs, and vendor partners create content on the web and become a social media epicenter for everything IT. Varvid.tv was first conceived when Booker observed the lack of a dedicated channel focused on providing high-quality video coverage of the IT community. “In an industry whose bread-and-butter is Internet technology, why shouldn’t they be at the forefront of internet-delivered video?” as Aaron puts it. “We are very excited to be able to offer this service to our friends and partners in the community.”

These days, shooting HD video on an iPhone 4, Flip HD camera, or other HD-capable video device is very easy. What isn’t easy is making the footage worth watching. That’s where Varvid.tv comes in. With our new “From the Cloud” service, users get to decide the content of their video because they shoot it themselves. After they’ve uploaded their footage to Varvid.tv through an easy-to-use widget, production staff immediately set to work editing their video to make it ready for viewing. Once the video is finished, it is uploaded to Varvid.tv, ready for streaming in Flash, HTML5, and soon, Microsoft Silverlight. Videos hosted on Varvid.tv are optimized for every viewing experience; one foot – the mobile experience, three feet – the desktop experience, and ten feet – the television experience.

Along with the launch of Varvid.tv, which can be navigated to from mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Mobile Devices, Varvid, Inc. has also developed an iPhone application, which is currently awaiting approval in the Apple store. With a little luck, this app will be downloadable in time for this year’s Worldwide Partner Conference  in Washington DC (WPC 2010), from which Varvid will be updating Varvid.tv with regular HD interviews and newsflashes. Since 2003, Microsoft’s WPC has provided a unique 5-day event for thousands of partners from over 100 countries to plan their business strategies for the upcoming year.

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Varvid, Inc. is an internet-delivered video marketing company focused on providing case studies, business testimonials, live webcasting, and event coverage. Major customers of Varvid, Inc. include HTG Peer Groups, AgniTEK, Quosal, and the ConnectWise Partner Summit. Varvid, Inc. is based in Bellingham, Washington. More information about Varvid, Inc. can be found at http://www.varvid.com.

For additional information contact: Aaron Booker – 360 255 7222 – aaron@varvid.com

Aaron Booker at his desk in the Varvid office.

Internet delivered video marketing company Varvid has been recognized by the Bellingham Herald in an article from July 4th 2010 as a contributing force in the booming tech industry of Whatcom County. By providing internet delivered video and marketing services for IT companies across the nation, Aaron Booker of Varvid plays a role in supporting Whatcom’s local economy and feels it’s a great business model for other local companies to follow.