TechDay: The good, the bad, and the ugly

NY TechDay may have been on April 21st for most, but it was months in the making for us. We had our hands full, from ordering promotional gifts to developing a signup web page to fretting about the wifi. We wanted to impact TechDay more than we did last year. We succeeded with over 220 new newsletter subscribers, 100 new followers across our social networks, dozens of Twitter mentions, and approximately 400 pieces of Nulab-branded merchandise floating around. TechDay was one of our best marketing tactics thus far; see how we pulled it off.

The Nulab Ninjas are in action on TechDay! Photo: Kasumi Abe

We went to the venue the day before the event to set up. Our booth was located in the B2B section at the tail-end of TechDay, right next to the demo stage. After folding 300 t-shirts, our arms were weak, but our spirits were strong. We were ready to take on TechDay!

Folding what seemed to be an endless supply of t-shirts.

The most noticeable object at our booth was a towering 8-foot backdrop banner that creatively illustrated our company and services. If our backdrop didn’t catch your attention, our bright tablecloth in our signature lime green would. We had two monitors for product demos and a looping video about Cacoo. Our mini brochures provided a snapshot of Nulab, including our services, social accounts, office locations, and career opportunities. Stickers in various fun colors and unique Cacoo discount cards lined the front of our table. The finishing touch: two swimming pools of Umaibo, which we affectionately described as “a big Japanese Cheeto.”

Our booth was equipped with tons of Nulab Swag!

Us Nulabers were outfitted in our Simon Oxley-designed t-shirts. Eco-friendly totes brandishing our “Fun. Creative. Collaboration.” motto draped our arms, and iPad minis were in our hands. Nulab CMO Shinsuke Tabata enthusiastically donned a bright green “Nulab is hiring!” sign to advertise our job openings. Last but not least, we all put on a big, welcoming smile.

Everyone had an iPad in hand for newsletter signups.

Our Mission

Our mission for Tech Day was brand exposure, newsletter signups, Twitter mentions, social media follows, and giving away as much Nulab Swag as possible. We developed a special web page for quick and easy signup to our newsletter. An email address and one tap of “Gimme tote” were all patrons needed to do to receive a fabulous Nulab tote. Increasing our online presence was also a priority. We invited users to tweet us @nulabinc and use our hashtag #NuSwag to get their hands on our designer tee. Following/Liking us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram brought you a Umaibo. We got the word out about Nulab and the excellent products we’re crafting at the largest startup event in the US—folding all those t-shirts was worth it.

Our 60-second Pitch

We focused on promoting Nulab as the genius company behind Cacoo, Backlog, and Typetalk. Everyone had their unique spin on pitching Nulab, but it came down to us being an agile software company that developed three unique tools for team collaboration. Concise, simple, and straight to the point. Giving a rundown of our products was a little more involved. We wanted to give visitors a clear understanding of how they could use our services but also wanted to keep our spiel brief. We narrowed it down to the following short phrases:

• Cacoo: a tool for sketching and mockups, including wireframing, flowcharts, diagramming, etc.
• Backlog: project management software with version control and timelines
• Typetalk: an instant messaging system for the entire team

We introduced Nulab to hundreds of techies!

Our Foot Traffic

Hundreds of people came to our booth, and we enjoyed interacting with each of them! Most of our TechDay techies fit into one of the following categories:

Business Folks

These were individuals interested in learning about new technologies for their growing companies. From CEOs to product managers to lead developers, they searched for solutions to their business needs. Many visitors shared with us how their teams used multiple, unrelated platforms to communicate and that keeping track of projects was difficult. We explained that migrating their team to our services would provide a seamless communication experience.

Our booth brings all the patrons to the yard, and they’re like, it’s better than yours.

Students

We had many students drop by our booth; they were drawn to our fun, lively style—as opposed to some of the other booths that were a little more austere. Many students inquired about internships. The STEM program boom has put internships at tech companies in high demand. Although we are still building our core NY team, we are considering hiring interns for the future.

We also had a group of high school students from the Bronx school we demoed at last year. The BASE pupils were eager to share how 10th graders at their school use Cacoo often for diagramming and group assignments.

Cacoo Users

We were thrilled to meet Cacoo users and hear things like: “I know Cacoo! I use it all the time!” They shared with us how Cacoo was an excellent asset for projects from wireframing to mind mapping. We invited them to participate in our new round of user interviews. If you’re interested in sharing your Cacoo experience, please get in touch with us. Participants will have the chance to win FREE prizes! 

Job Seekers

TechDay gathers the best-growing startups from NYC and beyond—making it the perfect place to look for a job. Most job seekers approached us with UX design, analytical, or developer backgrounds. We were eager to hear about their professional experience and collected a stack of resumes to review. Visit our careers page for a complete list of openings.

Nulab took on TechDay and won!

The conclusion of TechDay was bittersweet; we were sad that the fun had to end but happy to get some rest after 8 hours of non-stop meeting and greeting booth visitors. We had a blast at TechDay, and not even the spotty wifi could damper our spirits. We’re ready to take it on again next year!