Sonar Blog

Sonar Spotlight: Tomáš Vrabec

Hello there, lovely people of Sonar!

This week, our Sonar Spotlight takes us to the faraway lands of the Czech Republic.  Meet Tomáš Vrabec, a software tester for Xacti who, on the side, writes for photography magazines and also enjoys taking photos himself!

Nice to meet you, Tomáš! I love that you’re passionate about photography.  What sort of work do you do with photography magazines?

I write about photography issues and photography equipment, including reviews and previews.  Most of my articles are for the online magazine DIGIarena.cz, one of Czech Republic’s largest photography magazines.  I also write for AVmania.cz, a webzine focused on video and audio topics, as well as zive.cz, an online magazine on computer and technology.  

Sounds like you have a lot of photography expertise!

Yes, I do have quite a bit of photography experience.  Last week, I gave a talk for about 30 people on “how to not choose a camera.” I spoke about the main mistakes that people make when they are looking for a new camera and discussed some photography techniques.  I also enjoy photography as a hobby and keep an online photo gallery.  I’m also thinking about starting my own photography blog soon!

That’s pretty cool. Why do you use Sonar?

I’ve been a Superuser in the Czech foursquare community and really I liked how Sonar shows me connections from all of my social networks.  I also enjoy Sonar’s simple user interface and being able to check into places quickly, two things I expect from a social networking app. I’ve shown Sonar to a few friends, and they’ve all started using the app and recommending it to other friends!

Awesome! Do you have any stories you’d like to share about using Sonar?

I ran into a classmate of mine from primary school - twice! And we were at the opposite side of the country from where we had gone to school.

Reunions! Love that. One last question - the Olympics are coming up, which sport are you looking forward to watching the most?

Definitely football.  Or shall I say, soccer?

Thanks, Tomáš, for interviewing with us! 

Sonar Spotlight: Corey Hubbard

For our Sonar Spotlights, we love learning more about who our users are, and you guys never cease to impress us.  This week, we interviewed Corey Hubbard, a Chicago resident whose current project is launching a startup incubator in his neighborhood.

Nice to meet you, Corey! The startup incubator you’re working on sounds really neat.  How did this idea develop?
I’ve always been interested in business and technology.  I also wanted to create jobs for my community here in Chicago.  In the Fall, the idea hit me – let’s do a startup incubator.  I’ve talked to venture capitalists and investment groups from throughout the country and am currently working on getting together the finances to buy a building and renovate it.  

What’s your vision for how you’d like this incubator to turn out?
I’d like it to be located on the West side of Chicago, probably in Wicker Park.  The building will be divided into three sections.  On the street level, there will be a restaurant.  The middle layer will be the incubator.  The top third will be apartment homes.  Hopefully all this will be reality by this time next year! It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur in Chicago.  It’s so new here, it’s like the wild, wild West.  Everyone has the chance to go out and start his own company.

Best of luck! You’re a pretty active Sonar user – how did you find out about us?
I learned about Sonar in a Mashable video. After I tried it, I sent out a couple of invites.  There are many Sonar users who are entrepreneurs or also working on startups, so I’ve been able to meet them through Sonar and share with them what I’m working on, see what they’re working on, and get together at a later date.

It sounds like Sonar has helped you do some on-the-ground research for your incubator.
Yes, that’s one of the ways I use Sonar.  When I see entrepreneurs on Sonar, I try to meet up with them for coffee, pick their brains, and see if their startups are looking for space.  I’ve also used the status function to let people around me know that I’m working on launching a startup incubator and make myself easier for people with similar interests to approach.  

Who are some of these people that you’ve met?
I was at a Catapult (another incubator in Chicago) event when I met Andrew Davis –

We love Andrew! He’s one of our users and was featured in a Sonar Spotlight as well.
Andrew is a great guy, really cool.  His hometown in Indiana is only forty minutes south of where I’m from in Michigan, so talking to him was like talking to one of my friends from home.  We talked about what we were working on at the time.

It’s a small world after all.  Well thanks for chatting with us, Corey! Good luck with everything! After your incubator opens, what’s the first thing you’ll do to celebrate?
I will definitely have a grand opening party and thank everyone who helped out.  And then I’ll probably go skiing.