Deck Chairs On The Titanic

It’s April 15th. Tax day tea party fanatics are holding a national protest against government spending. Of course government spending keeps us blind people going. Without SSDI and government subsidized technology and training, most of us would be a lot worse off than we are today. What may look like waste to conservatives looks like a lifeline to us.
Today is also the 97th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The largest, most luxurious ship ever built sunk on its maiden voyage after hitting two icebergs late on the night of April 14th. It sank two and a half hours later, early in the morning on April 15th and more than 1500 people were lost.
What do these two things have in common other than April 15th?
While conservatives protest too much spending, blind people everywhere are protesting too little. As large as President Obama’s budget is, it doesn’t have much in it for us. The agencies that serve the blind population are being squeezed, and forced to operate with less funds and more demand. That means fewer blind people achieving independence.
One of the reasons that fewer and fewer blind people are being served is that government agencies insist on investing in the Titanic. They buy the biggest, most bloated products, build on obsolete technology, and they continue to pay for such technology long after the initial purchase. But these products are not in tune with today’s environment. They aren’t nimble enough to avoid the icebergs, and it takes weeks or even months for users to become familiar enough with such huge and ponderous technology to even attempt to navigate the waters safely.
So we thought, why not sink the Titanic and put what money we have in state-of-the-art technology that is cheaper, easier to learn and allows government to do more for less? While state agencies and NGO vision support organizations are hanging on to their tickets aboard the Titanic amid shrinking budgets, we are offering seats on the lifeboats.
Any user who currently owns a screen reader and finds himself in the unfortunate predicament of not having the latest Software Maintenance Agreement for the product can purchase System Access Mobile for $299 ($200 off the regular price) until April 30. System Access Mobile is state-of-the-art accessibility which can be used on a home computer or from any computer simply by plugging a thumb drive in to an available USB port. It runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms, and gives users full access to all the social networking, pod casting, twittering fun of modern Internet use while delivering full accessibility to the most widely used business applications including Microsoft Office. It can be trained in a tiny fraction of the time it takes a new user to become familiar with a traditional (titanic-like) screen reader. And, while those old style behemoths continue to gobble dollars with Software Maintenance Agreements, System Access Mobile has done away with these costs for maintenance. Buy the software once and we keep it up-to-date forever at no cost to the user.
We figure realistically that a Voc-rehab can serve four newly blind individuals with System Access Mobile for every one served with a traditional screen reader. How’s that for stretching those tax dollars?
And of course, that’s not all. We offer our Voc-rehab trainers and blind field support technicians the power to train remotely with Remote incident Manager (RIM). We open up scarce technical jobs for blind IT professionals by promoting Remote Access Manager to businesses with large intranets. These products deliver accessibility at a cost that is comparable to any mainstream corporate intranet application.
Look around. While the competition is selling luxury staterooms on the Titanic for thousands, we are providing fast, safe accessibility at very affordable prices. We invite any agency to put our products against the competition in a cost-benefit analysis. And isn’t that what the agencies should be doing? Why, I bet that would even please the grumpy old misers at the Tax Day Tea Party. How could you be against doing more for less?

Job Posting: Marketing Assistant

Serotek Corporation is seeking an outgoing, organized individual to assist the Senior Marketing Executive in identifying qualified prospects for the company's enterprise accessibility solutions (Remote Access Manager (RAM), Remote Incident Manager (RIM) and site licenses for System Access, the company's premier accessibility software). The Marketing Assistant will contact organizations which have already been pre-qualified as prospects for one or more of these products; and, following a prepared script, identify the right people in the target organization, setting up an appointment for the Senior Marketing Executive to present and demonstrate the company's products.  

The successful candidate will have superior phone skills, be comfortable seeking out the proper contacts within an organization, and able to present the prepared materials in a fashion that results in a scheduled meeting with Serotek's Senior Marketing Executive. Use of Microsoft Word, Outlook including the calendar, and Excel are a must. If the applicant is blind, proficient use of adaptive technology to complete tasks is also a must.

The position is offered at a base salary plus commission structure on any scheduled meetings that result in a successful sale. The Marketing Assistant has an opportunity to earn several times the base salary by assuring that the Senior Marketing Executive's time is used productively.  

Please submit all resumes for consideration to employment@serotek.com. Qualified applicants will be contacted by phone or email for a follow up interview.

Serotek Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Join Serotek at ACB and NFB National Conventions

This year we are excited to be a part of the American Council of the Blind's national convention being held right here in our home city of Minneapolis, Mn. Visit us at booth 9 to check out Serotek's latest products including Braille support for System Access, System Access To Go, System Access Mobile, Remote Incident Manager and Remote Access Manager. Meet Mike Calvo, Matt Campbell, and the rest of the Serotek team. At the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 30 to July 7, 2007. The exhibit hall will be open Saturday through Thursday; so make sure you come on by!

Our CEO Mike Calvo has accepted a speaking invitation for the 2007 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science. Mike will speak about Remote Access Manager ( RAM ) for network administration, training and technical support within the enterprise, and Remote Incident Manager (RIM), for field technical support. Read the press release for additional information. The National Federation of the Blind's convention will be held in Atlanta , Georgia at the Marriott Marquis Hotel from June 30 to July 6 and Mr. Calvo will address blind and visually impaired computer technicians on July 2, 2007 . Those wanting to meet with Mike can contact the Serotek suite at the Marriott or by contacting Serotek's main office at (612) 341-3030.

Whichever convention you visit, we are sure that Serotek is going to demonstrate that you, too, can have Accessibility Anywhere.