[2627] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
UG: Phoenix OS/2 Society meeting: Indelible Blue -- 16 Mar
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Esther Schindler)
Wed Mar 12 12:58:40 1997
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 12 Mar 1997 17:47:45 GMT
From: esther@primenet.com (Esther Schindler)
Reply-To: esther@primenet.com (Esther Schindler)
Reply-to: esther@primenet.com (Esther Schindler)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This month's Phoenix OS/2 Society meeting will be on a different date at a
different location: Sunday, March 16, 7 PM, at the Holiday Inn in Old Town
Scottsdale (on Indian School, just east of Scottsdale Road). Our guests are
Buck Bohac and Katy Ansardi, the founders of Indelible Blue, Inc.
Shades of blue
When you think of OS/2 application sales, one company comes to mind. Indelible
Blue, Inc. began as a kitchen-top business, selling OS/2 applications via
mail-order. Only a few years later, Indelible Blue is a multimillion dollar
company with forty employees.
Since the next Phoenix OS/2 Society general meeting immediately follows the
OS/2 Marketplace conference, it seemed appropriate to ask the Indelible Blue
founders, Buck Bohac and Katy Ansardi, to speak to us about the state of the
OS/2 marketplace. Alas, Einstein, the company mascot, won't be able to attend.
About Indelible Blue
Even if you order software from Indelible Blue, you might not be aware of the
company's history.
Like many start-up businesses, Indelible Blue is a company created out of
necessity. Although it was originally formed in 1987 by Buck Bohac and
Katherine Ansardi, the company was formally established as a software reseller
specializing in OS/2 applications in January of 1993.
Buck became interested in OS/2 while pursuing a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research required
extensive use of all types of computers ranging from IBM XT's to CRAY
supercomputers. DOS and Windows were inadequate for his memory, connectivity,
and multitasking requirements. When IBM introduced OS/2 version 2.0, Buck
considered it the solution for his desktop computers.
Although OS/2 worked well with his existing applications, it was extremely
difficult to locate programs written specifically for OS/2, to take full
advantage of its powerful capabilities. Buck noticed many similar complaints
from other OS/2 users on CompuServe, Prodigy, and the Internet, and formulated
an idea for starting a business that specialized in OS/2 products.
In business, timing is everything. Indelible Blue's inception occurred shortly
prior to the release of OS/2 v2.1. Word about the new company quickly spread
through IBM and the OS/2 community via online services. The entire first two
printing runs of the catalogue were sent out to fill requests before any print
advertisement appeared. A mail order company specializing in OS/2 applications
was exactly what dedicated OS/2 users had been waiting for!
In addition to providing a regular catalogue featuring hundreds of OS/2
applications, hardware systems, and peripherals, Indelible Blue publishes a
newsletter that includes product announcements and information about how
companies are putting OS/2 to use. The company's Web site
(www.indelible-blue.com/ib) has an online version of its catalogue with secure
ordering. The company handles product fulfillment for over two hundred OS/2
software developers and continually investigates and evaluates new OS/2
applications in an effort to provide its customers with the latest in OS/2
technology. Indelible Blue also preinstalls software applications on its own
line of desktop and laptop computers upon customer request.
Indelible Blue has achieved annual growth in excess of 200%. In 1995 and 1996,
Indelible Blue was ranked 5th and 2nd respectively in the "Triangle Fast 50,"
an annual awards program coordinated by KPMG Peat Marwick, the Council for
Entrepreneurial Development and Triangle Business Journal that recognizes the
fastest growing companies in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, North
Carolina area. Also, in 1995 and 1996, Indelible Blue was ranked fourth and
second respectively in the "North Carolina Tech Fast 50" awards program
sponsored by the Association of Technology Business Councils and the Council
for Entrepreneurial Development in recognition of the fastest growing
technology businesses in North Carolina. In 1996, Indelible Blue was ranked
29th in the annual survey compiled by Tech News Inc. of the nation's 500
fastest growing privately held technology companies.
Different meeting site!
Last year, John W Thompson -- then the general manager in charge of OS/2 at
IBM's Personal Software Products division -- spoke to the user group. During
his presentation, he invited himself back, saying he'd return in a year "so
you all can tell me how I've done." John W Thompson was promoted a few months
ago (he's now in charge of IBM marketing for the United States) and his
replacement is Mike Lawrie. Unfortunately, due to the nature of scheduling
problems during a "changing of the guard," Mike Lawrie couldn't make the
meeting. In the meantime, we had arranged to use the hotel room at the
Scottsdale Holiday Inn where we the OS/2 Marketplace conference will have just
wrapped up. After all, we have the hotel for the whole day. Plus, we'll have
several OS/2 software vendors still in town, after the conference, giving us a
unique opportunity to talk with a lot of people concurrently.
As a result, note that the March general meeting will be at a different
location and a different date. Buck and Katy will be speaking at 7 PM on
Sunday night, March 16th, at the Holiday Inn in Old Town Scottsdale. The
Holiday Inn is on Indian School Road, just east of Scottsdale Road; it backs
up to the park next to the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. (You've probably
walked by it a hundred times.)
Everyone is welcome to attend. Also, simply because this occurs at the end of
the OS/2 Marketplace Conference, we will probably have a few "stray" OS/2
software vendors in the audience. If you want to meet any of them, this would
be a great time to show up.
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