YouSendIt

Heading to Microsoft Tech Ed...

Microsoft Tech Ed, IT Professionals week kicks off this Tuesday in Orlando, Florida with an expected 10,000 attendees and we'll be there at booth 1449.

(Stop by to pick up your very own YouSendIt balsa wood airplane! If there was an award for best tchotchkes, we'd have it in the bag.)

In addition to great swag, we've got great news... keep an eye out for our latest product release to be announced at the event.

So... any other "can't miss" events this year?  Is your company attending a convention or conference?  We'd love to hear about it!

Cheers,
Robyn

Marketing Communications

 

You Did It- YSI is a WebWare 100 Winner!

Thank you for making YSI a WebWare 100 Winner… again! We’ve got some loyal fans!

Hey, we’re the first to admit we’ve come a LONG way since our conception 4 years ago. If you’ve ever hopped on the Way Back Machine... Well, you know.

But, here we are in 2008… plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook, Adobe Photoshop, Apple's Aperture... We've even added a desktop application, an enterprise product (A fast favorite of IT administrators everywhere!) and yes, of course, we continue to offer our free "Lite" account.

Your feedback, your needs, your workflow- it’s all we think about! It’s WHY we’re here- winning awards and growing up.

So. Thanks!  We REALLY appreciate our users- your feedback, your ideas, and of course, your votes!  Keep it coming and, as always, we’ll keep delivering.

Many Thanks,
Robyn
Marketing Communications

Woo-Hoo! YouSendIt: A Webware 100 Finalist!

We are so excited to announce that the editors of CNET’s Webware.com have again selected YSI as a finalist in the 2008 Webware 100 Awards!

300 very cool finalists were selected from more than 4,600 qualifying Web 2.0 services nominated by Webware readers and company representatives- and we’re proud to be one of them.

But.

We’re not done yet…

You now decide which services are the Webware 100 winners by voting on Webware.com- and the voting began today…

So. Let your voice be heard! To vote for YouSendIt click here: http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/vote_utility.html?compid=103542

Once you’ve finished voting for YouSendIt in the “Data and Security” category, check out some of the other finalists.  You might discover your second new favorite web 2.0 service!

Personally I'm a big fan of the "Productivity" category. There are some fantastic time-savers and organizational tools like Wasabe and Remember the Milk. (I just discovered these thanks to Webware 100!)

The "social" section has the expected standards (Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.)...But! A newbie for some: Yelp!  A phenomenal place for real-people reviews and recommendations on everything from doctors to restaurants... (And- It happens to be a  frequently-used-bookmarked-spot in my little world of internet advice!)

Next step: Spread the word and help make YouSendIt a Webware winner 2 years in a row!

Cheers,
Robyn
Marketing Communications

Post MacWorld: Just A Few of our Favorite Things…

From Ground Zero....

Yes. The MacBook Air.
3 little pounds of Brilliant.

It’s too bad those marketing gurus at Apple already used Giselle in the “I’m a Mac home movie” commercial.  She’d be a perfect Air.

Sleek, beautiful, smart- all things Apple...
(And. It can be yours for the price of a used Civic.)

Now. Done with the Air and moving on- because there was much to rave about at this year’s event. 

The Axiotron Modbook™ is a slate-style tablet Mac that allows users to draw and write directly on the screen. One part MacBook, one part Wacom tablet- this fully-loaded power pad became the “Must Have” obsession for our in-house designer.

Greg, our Mac loyal QA Engineer, was a big fan of the iTV demo and called the Microsoft Office 2008 product line, “Good News!”

Our Web Application Product Manager, Alexis, met with some folks from a company called McDera. They do a variety of things including custom evaluations to tell businesses what they can do to improve website accessibility for everyone – as they said, “Who wants to prevent anyone from being able to use a website?” We’re excited to learn more about how to ensure that people who may have a vision or hearing impairment can utilize our site.

The ibank 3 demo was a big hit with Aaron, our soon-to-be-engaged IT Superstar. Financial tracking and management with the ibank software- "2 was great but 3 will be even better!". (She’ll appreciate it, Aaron!)

I had a few favorites of my own…

A sassy solution for professional women who want to stay as well accessorized, as we are organized- FINALLY- laptop bags that are beautiful and functional from Urban Junket.  They’re not cheap.  But they are amazing.  I even saw comedian and MacWorld-regular, Sinbad, pick one up for his wife. (Lucky girl!)

On a more impassioned note, Solio™ was hands-down one of the BEST offerings we saw. Their Universal "Hybrid" Charger can be powered up from either the wall socket or the sun (Yes- Solar Powered cell phone charger!) storing this energy within Solio's internal rechargeable battery.  It has multiple adaptor tips for all of your handheld devices and can hold its charge for 1year!

Besides having a great product, they’re a great company.  I ripped this right off their website:

“Because of our intent to create a new business model where the environment and the consumer are respected, we have analyzed and affected design decisions based upon what we know to be positive actions towards a more sustainable future. “

Basically, they are both “green” and giving. (And I'm an ardent fan!)

Check out their poignant YouTube video.  Solio is empowering those who cannot pay, without expectation or concern for ROI.  -A great example of building business and hope.

They've  Nicely done, guys! ...And, thanks.

AND! Thanks to all of you who stopped by our booth.  We enjoyed the feedback and getting to meet some of our users face-to-face.  Stay tuned to find out where we’re heading next.

…And download our free plug-ins already!
YouSendIt Express and our Photoshop plug-in were both warmly welcomed solutions this year. (Thank you for being excited with us!)

Go get ‘em! http://www.yousendit.com/cms/applications

-Robyn, Marketing Communications

We’re headed to MacWorld…. And we’re excited!

Let’s be honest. MacWorld is just cool. 

New toys, progressive tools, elegant products, savvy services…. New Toys!

Last year, YouSendIt made our first tradeshow appearance at an event of this scale.  One year later and, we’re proud to say, we’ve come quite far- adding a whole host of services and products like Corporate Suite- our multi-user solution, and Express- the YouSendIt desktop application. It’s our mission to continue to grow our product portfolio- making trusted, convenient file delivery available to everyone.

Most recently we’ve added to our Mac suite of products- how time appropriate, huh? 

This latest Mac plug-in for Photoshop uses the Express technology, allowing users benefit from the same features of Express- including resumable upload and multiple file sending. Also available is the YouSendIt Apple® ApertureTM plug-in, allowing photographers to send photos to clients, partners and service bureaus directly from within the application.

And, as with all of our plug-in and applications, these products are available for free download at http://www.yousendit.com/cms/applications

So, stop by booth 4617 in the west hall. We’ve got YouSendIt pens and some cool rubber-band-powered airplanes.  Be one of the first to mention that you read our blog and you just might score a YouSendIt hat!

And remember… After you’ve taken all your pictures, recorded your podcasts, and edited your show-site videos, just YouSend them back home to jealous friends and colleagues who were not quite as lucky as you to attend one of this year’s coolest shows!

YouSendIt Celebrating the Holidays

We’ve had this Christmas tree in our office for the last few weeks….

It’s just a little one- nothing grandiose- standing a bit taller than our cubicles- covered in white lights and small gift tags… the Christmas wishes of kids from around the San Francisco Bay Area.

A very cool charity organization called the Family Giving Tree, http://www.familygivingtree.org/ , works with more than 250 social service agencies to make the holidays a bit more joyful for kids in difficult situations.  They produce gift tags printed with a child’s wish, and distribute them to more than 900 participating schools, banks, and businesses- like ours- where donors can select a tag and return it- taped to the unwrapped gift. 

The tags on our little tree disappeared one by one, and were slowly replaced with Cabbage Patch Kids, Toy Trucks, Games, and WWF figures….

Last Friday I had the privilege of driving the YouSendIt contributions over to the GIANT Family Giving Tree warehouse which was bustling with efficient volunteers, ready to get those gifts into the tiny hands of their intended recipients. Everyone involved felt like Santa himself! 

There were SO MANY toys in that building, and a line of cars patiently waiting to contribute to the growing collection….

And as I drove away, I couldn’t help but think- that the quantity I was seeing, was really representative of a deficit.  Because, for every toy I saw unloaded and piled up- there was a need… somewhere.

I felt so proud to be a part of this YouSendIt team who, in the midst of building a business and turning out products, takes the time to pull small gift tags from a little tree and make the holiday’s brighter for kids we’ll never meet.

We encourage those who can, to do the same.  Check out the Family Giving Tree…. Or find a local community organization… a gift, an hour, or even a couple clicks for an online donation. 

The best-kept Christmas secret is that giving back is really the best gift you’ll get.

Happy Holidays from your YouSendIt team.

Just a little Holiday Hello from YouSendIt!

The holiday season has arrived!

Here at our YouSendIt headquarters in Campbell, California we celebrated with a fantastic Thanksgiving potluck and enjoyed some home cooked foods from around the world. It was a great time to stop and appreciate each other and acknowledge just how thankful we are for each member of our YouSendIt team.

And, though it may seem a bit cliché, we are genuinely thankful for every one of our subscribers. We work hard to make file sending a convenient, resource saving experience for you- and it seems to be working. Thank you for choosing us for your digital deliveries.

Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at YouSendIt. We hope you enjoy a long relaxing weekend with lots of food and laughter!

…And remember when you need to send those pictures and holiday home videos, just YouSendIt!

Many Exciting Changes Ahead

We really appreciate all of the positive feedback we have been receiving about our services and want to thank you, our users, for your continued support. We’ve more than doubled our number of users in the past year and launched several new plug-ins and an improved uploader that resumes uploading from the point at which the file transfer was interrupted.

We’ve received some great feedback since we introduced our worldwide multiple data centers this summer with users reporting increased upload speeds. At the same time, we experienced a brief interruption of service earlier this month due to a double fault outage of a DNS server and monitor.

To address these challenges while maintaining our strong commitment to customer service, we are implementing several upgrades to ensure seamless and reliable file delivery that is the foundation of our service.

Steps we are taking include the elimination of single points of failure between datacenters and implementing redundant internal monitoring for all internal and external systems. In addition, we are adding continuous 24/7 external monitoring.

We’ve also launched some additions to enhance business-to-business communications, including Corporate Suite, which enables businesses to use one corporate account for multiple employees to send and receive files, and YouSendIt Express, a Photoshop plugin where users can send files directly within the software.

We’re confident that these upgrades and redundancies will eliminate any downtime and allow us to focus on new features and services to enhance customer experience with expanded offerings.

Thank you for being a valued YouSendIt customer,

Ranjith Kumaran
Founder and CTO

YouSendIt 3.0….

For several months the YouSendIt team has been working diligently to enhance our site and services.  We’ve listened to your feedback, incorporated your suggestions, and are excited to finally reveal YouSendIt 3.0.

In addition to a new look and feel, the launch of our re-designed site offers new features and services including file-expiration control (select file expiration by time or number of downloads) and long-term storage options for paid users.

Corporate Suite is live! This enhanced multi-user service can scale with the needs of small businesses or enterprise organizations. With Corporate Suite, IT and network teams can easily manage all users, provide multiple branded Dropboxes for incoming files and have unlimited bandwidth for convenient file transfers without the cost and overhead associated with maintaining FTP servers and large attachment filled email infrastructures.  (We’re looking out for the IT folks!)  Check out Corporate Suite today!  http://www.yousendit.com/cms/corporateaccounts

We look forward to your comments and suggestions. If you’d like to see a feature, share your story or let us know how YouSendIt could improve, give us a shout.  http://www.yousendit.com/cms/contactus

Thanks for being a valued YouSendIt user!

Shutterbug Magazine Radio Interview Update

This past Friday our founder, Ranjith Kumaran, was interviewed by Shutterbug Magazine Radio. If you missed it you can still listen to a recording here…
http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk-radio.cfm/shows/Shutterbug-Magazine-Radio.html

Ranjith discussed how the YouSendIt services are a valuable tool for all photographers.  He touched-on the Mac applications and plug-ins that allow users to send files right from within their creative work-flow, and how YouSendIt allows users to send all file types. 

With the many different services and subscriptions we offer, there is a YouSendIt plan for everyone ...And once you've signed up, you can download all those plug-ins, free!

To download any of our plug-ins, including Photoshop, Outlook, and Aperture, or to get Express- the YouSendIt desktop application, visit:
http://www.yousendit.com/cms/plugins

We've also made it convenient to compare account types.  To learn which YouSendIt plan fits your needs visit:
http://www.yousendit.com/cms/compareaccounts