PLUGHITZ Live Presents (Audio)

There is nothing more aggravating than not having enough storage space in your home. On the flip side, it is very frustrating to have so much wasted space for those who are lucky enough to have that problem. A new and innovative idea has hit the market. Jeremy Haas and his investor have come up with a plan to utilize space not ordinarily available for rent. This app is called Stash It, which helps with one of America's pastimes: shopping! As Jeremy says, "Americans have a huge shopping addiction and don't want to part with their stuff."

Similar to Air B&B, this allows people with space that is presently not being used to turn it around and make it available to rent out. For example, an almost empty garage can be used for car storage for an active military person. A college student may need space for the summer for items only needed during the semesters. Or in Jeremy's case, his father was excited to use his backyard for additional storage sheds to rent out.

Jeremy is looking for homeowners to join up in his business. There is a set fee for posting but those renting out their space can set their own rental fee. In the event that the rent is not paid by the tenant, the owner of said space will still be paid and the eviction responsibility will be dealt with later by Stash It.

This app is making available space to rent for those who need some space. For more information go to the website.

If you can imagine being at a social gathering that has a basket set out at a food table, you know why it's there. Yet there are always people who ignore it. This is extremely frustrating and embarrassing for the host of the event as it may end up costing them a good amount of money. Another scenario is trying to get people to respond to invitations for an event. Both of these problems can be solved by Festi. This is a time reservation platform created by Rita-Ting Hopper from Virginia that is a combination of OpenTable and private reservations.

Reaching people to answer an invitation to an event can be frustrating and very time-consuming. We all have been on a group text chain that leads nowhere. This app is for busy people who are anti-group messaging. This app avoids having to sift through the texts to see who is responding and if they are giving you an accept or a decline. No one wants to hear "I'll pay you when I get there." That is never a good thing. With Festi you get much faster replies that will eliminate all the frustration of waiting to hear back.

If you are hosting a free event, the whole process is free of charge. If the event is charging $10.00 you pay $10.50 and the host gets $9.00. There is a 5% fee for the guest and the host is charged 10%. Payments are currently processed through Stripe. They are a big platform that is trusted by many companies, whether they are a startup or already established.

This app is fairly new and in the early stages of use. The platform has attracted 700 users without the use of any marketing. The company is currently looking for investors to begin marketing the product. For more information go to the website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

No matter how amicable the breakup, family matters involving custody are always difficult. And let's be honest, most are not anywhere close to amicable. All too often there are stressors, tempers and unfortunately even aggression that get in the way. Jonathan Verk, CEO of coParenter, stopped by to tell us about this great new app that is aimed at solving these all too frequent situations.

coParenter is a management and mediation platform for separated and divorced parents. It helps to facilitate a stable and positive environment for the best possible outcomes. They accomplish this by providing specific tools that are aimed to help parents minimize conflict and stay out of court. This allows them to focus on the needs of their children and in turn, helps parents develop new skills to be better parents together, leading to happier children. And happier children make the world a better place.

The app also helps both sides financially. They are able to make better decisions outside of courtrooms, hence saving thousands of dollars. It enables parents to create their own court-ready custody plans that better handle the day to day parenting time as well as the ever so important holiday schedules. And just because it is app-based doesn't mean that there isn't professional assistance. Disagreements are resolved with a qualified, on-demand coParenting professional whenever necessary.

coParent is also there for the long haul. This easy to use system can also be used down the road to make alterations to an existing custody agreement. They also provide articles, videos, and stories to help you along the way, all from leading coParenting professionals, judges, therapists, mediators, and attorneys. Parents will always have new tips, tricks, skills, and habits right at their fingertips to help them be the best coParent- and parent- they can be!

To learn more, visit their website.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.

One of the hardest things for a startup business to do is raise money. Ken Barton has created a platform for startup businesses to connect with the best investors through the internet called MinnoTank. Every week MinnoTank features a single startup who is looking for investments. This is done with a one-on-one interview with Ken and a member of the startup.

This weekly show promotes small startups and is viewed on the internet by thousands of investors and investor groups. Those investors can then subscribe for free and decide which businesses to invest in. For the companies, this increases visibility while decreasing the cost of raising the necessary capital. It is imperative to spend less when trying to raise more. Being an exit founder, Ken has had experiences in trying to raise capital. He tells of the time it cost him 10% in his attempt. He was in Europe and was paying 50,000 euros to raise 500,000 euros.

All this has to be done within certain parameters. The applicants have to have already raised $100,000 to qualify. There is a very good reason for this. First, the terms of the deal have to be set to determine their value. If a company has already secured investment, they know what the value of their business is. Second, it has to be real, meaning that this is a project that is a priority for them rather than a hobby.

In the startup world, less than10% of investment money goes to companies owned by three groups: LGBT, female and persons of color. Because of this under-representation, Ken has been bringing them to the forefront to get them the needed exposure. So far, the companies he has helped have raised over $2 million dollars, all within MinnoTank's first year.

If you are an investor who wants to invest or a startup that needs investors, you can go to their website for more information.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Stress in the workplace can be a big deterrent to any company's progress for their employees. That is where Romy Antoine comes in. He is a personal trainer and nutritionist that has developed a platform to make and keep employees happy, healthy and productive. His company is called One Stop Wellness.

Today 60% of the current workforce is considered to be millennials and that number will only rise with time. Millennials need to feel like their job fits into their lifestyle so that they can be the most productive. One Stop Wellness fits this need by offering employers a platform for their employees to maintain wellness in all aspects of life. While most people consider wellness to be physical, it also incorporates mental, emotional and social aspects. One Stop Wellness covers all of these areas.

As a complement to this service, he has written and will publish his first book entitled "Engaging Millenials in the Workplace". This book is based on his experience as a millennial culture expert. He brings this knowledge to companies to help incorporate that culture into their own. Unlike the Baby Boomers before them, millennials thrive on public recognition and a feeling that their employer should care about them. Companies that can successfully integrate those ideas into the workplace will be able to harness the talent and potential of these employees.

The platform is currently available to employers and the book will be out soon. For more information visit their website.

One of the most eye-opening things in our society today is the staggering number of homeless people of all ages around the country. Kevin Price is more than doing his part to help them. He has created a virtual platform for hearing stories from and about these individuals. Those stories are recorded and made into a profile. You can follow their story and their progress through the platform.

Each individual is given a smart card that is similar to a pre-paid debit card which is only accepted at certain retailers. After viewing a profile, a person can donate to a particular individual via text message directly to their card. This process is smart for them because it allows them to monitor their purchases and manage their money without having to worry about the dangers of carrying cash on the street or in a shelter.

This platform is very new, having just launched during South By Southwest. All the profiles are personally filmed by Kevin and his cameraman. They go into local soup kitchens and find a potential profile subjects. It is his goal to accomplish this one at a time, with the individual story being very important to him.

His future plans are, as the mission grows, is to go to university campuses to get college students involved in content curation in their cities. This will bring more homeless people into the program and more awareness of the platform in those local areas. More awareness means more people donating which means a better life for more homeless people.

His inspiration for this cause was his becoming acquainted with Ricky Dee, who happened to be the only homeless man in his small town in NewMexico. This friendship launched a passion in Kevin that was continued after his move to Austin, Texas, where he was absolutely overwhelmed by the number of homeless people living there. He continues his devotion to reducing that number.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

On average there are 11,000 people daily becoming seniors. Not all of them are lucky enough to have someone living with them. That is where SensorsCall comes in. It is designed to monitor the habits of the person to keep track of daily activity.

This product is a small box that simply plugs into any outlet. It follows the activity habits of the person and can detect any unusual behavior. In the event of a potential problem, it sends an alert to a designated caregiver or responsible person that there may be a situation of concern. It takes about a week for it to calibrate and learn the daily habits of the senior.

One of the many ways this is beneficial is for medication regulation. You can record a gentle reminder in a friendly voice for when it's time rather than have a blaring alarm go off and startle them. Another feature, which is designed for asthmatics, monitors the current humidity level and will alert you when there is a condition that might affect their breathing. Finally, another great capability is for daily or weekly reminders for errands such as doctor appointments or hair appointments.

Since the number 1 health hazard for seniors is loneliness and lack of socialization, this is a very smart addition to the household. These devices, when grouped, can measure their activity and therefore show if they are getting enough socialization.

The cost of these is approximately $120-$130 each. The service runs about $20 per month. The number of units will vary with the size of the home they are in. A large home, which is 3 or more bedrooms, will require at least 5 units. A smaller home will require at least 3 units. The release date is approximately 90-120 days. For more information go to sensorscall.com.

In a competitive retail market, it can be difficult for consumers to be certain if they are getting the best deal possible on their purchases. And although there have been some pretty good apps that have been released to assist in this area, Yroo.com's take on this technology really goes the extra mile. CTO & Co-Founder, Nick Zhu, stopped by during our pre Collision coverage to give us the rundown.

Yroo is a big data platform designed to assist consumers with price comparisons to make sure they get the best deals while online shopping. Nick was a data mining consultant for years when he and his partner realized that they could take this type of technology in a totally different direction. One that will help shoppers instead of just big business. So they began working on taking all of the power of big data, machine learning, and predictive power to the other side. To start, they collected massive retail data, i.e. product, price, availability, and distribution and then converted it to a platform that is easy for consumers to utilize. It's basically a vertical search engine, so customers can search for and find the products they want and the site will automatically cluster all of the sellers together so that prices can easily be compared.

Historical pricing data is also included so buyers can see if the sale price they see today is actually the lowest in the past 30 or 60 days. All of this is also available on their mobile app that also includes a bar scanner while shopping inside stores. They currently monitor more than 150 million products, so the selection offered is impressive. They have 95% of the top 100 retailers in the US including all of the popular marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

Here at collision, they are introducing browser extensions that the buyer can download to further expand the service. So for example, if you are shopping on Amazon for a particular item, all of the competing information will be brought right into your browser automatically. This puts all of the power and information right at your fingertips. Supported browsers include Chrome and Safari with Firefox and Edge to follow.

Check out Nick's interview and then give it a try for yourself by visiting their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.

We started our Collision 2018 coverage with Jose Rosas from PaySmarter. This payment platform is starting out in Chile and is designed specifically for Latin American communities. Although most of us in the United States have become quite familiar with this type of payment platform, it is not something that is common in Latin America. Almost everything they purchase is done so by using cash. This can, of course, be dangerous, especially in large amounts. So being able to pay for products and services using their cell phones is something that offers convenience as well as security.

Jose was very passionate about this project because he knows first hand how important it will be to millions of consumers in Latin America. Bank debit and credit cards are not readily available to the majority of the citizens, especially those who are not in the largest cities. Therefore, they tend to feel left out. The ability to securely pay, using a mobile device will not only help with this but also create a necessary expansion in eCommerce in that part of the world.

They are currently in the process of getting retailers and service providers on board. They feel that Chile is a great test market and by partnering with mass transportation companies, they are well on their way. Based upon the total population in the large cities alone, they expect to have about one million people using the app within a year. Their efforts are connecting safety for both people and companies. It also leads the way for peer-to-peer transactions that will make their population feel more included without the costs involved using bank cards. They also have several complementary products on the horizon that involve big data and predicting buying behaviors. They expect, over time, to get much larger and involve enhancements like automatic purchases and even A/R by utilizing the infrastructure that they are currently creating.

To get more information on the current pathway of the company, please visit their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.

The Executive Director of the Foundation for Community Driven Innovation, Terri Willingham, stopped by our booth to help us wrap up our coverage of the Synapse Innovation Summit. The FCDI team organized the STEM Pavilion here at the Summit today. They worked with USF and UT for what they thought were going to be about 20 exhibits, which quickly and unexpectedly turned into 30 booths. But they found a way to accommodate everybody, as they always do because showcasing these wonderful inventions and achievements in education and technology is what is truly important.

The FCDI invited Dr. Byron Clayton of the ARM Institute as their guest at the Innovation Summit. He not only participated in a workshop but also came to meet the AMRoC and EMS teams. It was a great way to further their connection with him and the Institute. We at PLuGHiTz Live were also fortunate to get a chance to meet Dr. Clayton and have him as a guest on the show. It was truly inspirational to discuss the Institute's initiative to enhance and expand STEM and manufacturing in our country and how supporting the small to midsize manufacturers that do the bulk of the work and also invest back into their communities.

It's no secret that we have a great relationship with the Willingham's and have Terri on our show whenever we get the chance. One of the things that we love about our relationship with them is that we literally have a front row seat to witness all of the great things that they are doing for local students and the community as a whole. Their efforts are now turning into a full-blown educational arena with an emphasis on skills-based learning. We get to hear about their visions and watch how it all evolves, every step of the way, as well as offer our assistance from time to time. We are there for the triumphs as well as the challenges and we are proud to be a part of their extended team.

Check out Terri's interview to learn more and discover how they have, through the years, developed a tight team of great and enthusiastic people. You can also keep up with everything that AMRoC has going on by following them on Twitter, click here for direct access to their page.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.