Scate Technologies is a great example of a Southeast Michigan company that has been nimble on its feet in tough economic times. We discuss how the company has moved from on-site training, to e-Learning, to social media learning infrastructure provider. Future conversations will focus on revenue growth associated with their social media initiatives.
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In this interview with Scate Technology's Steve Sadler and Jeff Holth, we learn how Scate moved from a company that did on-site training to e-learning to software development. Scate currently has successful businesses in screencasting, website development, and social media.
After 9/11, the move from onsite trainng to e-learning was natural. There was an economic recession, and the recent terrorist attacks had put an additional, natural brake on travel. One day, an e-Learning customer asked Steve Sadler, CEO of Scate, how his company produced e-Learning materials so quickly. Steve showed him an internal tool, and the customer asked him how much it was. Steve said it was not for sale. The customer retorted it should be.
A light went off, and Steve moved to turn his tool into a product, Ignite, that allowed customers to create their own e-Learning materials. Shortly after, Jeff Holth, currently CTO, joined Scate.
Jeff then picks up the narrative by noting how Scate has continued to expand its offerings, recently moving into social media. Jeff envisions social media as community development around a set of shared ideas and interests.
In future episodes, Steve and Jeff will discuss how they are using social media, particularly a new product, ScreenTweet, to promote their business.