Upfront
Downtown app V Ì Õi`ÊvÀ Ê«>}iÊ ®
The delivery option is also a huge boon for small companies. She said Alegio tried doing deliveries from its Berkeley store and gave up because it took time and resources the company simply didn’t have. As the Downtown startup is a small team, Bückendorf and another team member are currently doing the deliveries themselves. He said their delivery time is an average of 30 minutes. “In general, retail is kind of at an inflection point right now,” said Brad Fuerst, retail director for Keen Garage, which also operates stores in Portland, Prague and Tokyo. “What Downtown really enables us to do is to integrate our mobile (and) our online to our brick and mortar, which is going to be more so the case as more people, especially in Palo Alto, will be shop-
ping on their mobile phones. The ability for Downtown to satisfy same-day delivery is a pretty large competitor advantage for us.” Downtown is also sales-based, so the companies who list their products on the app do not have to pay any fee to do so. Downtown has partnered with some of the stores — not all of them — and from those partnerships, collects a small commission fee, already included in the credit-card fee. “This is excellent too because small-business people struggle financially and most other venues charge a monthly fee,” Everson said. “It’s all based on sales. That’s why promotions such as Groupon have an appeal too, because there’s not an outlay of capital, which none of us have. It’s all going into product, people and stores. So this is something that could do very well for smallbusiness people.” N Online Editor Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.
Robots V Ì Õi`ÊvÀ Ê«>}iÊ£Ó®
on runners, can climb up overpasses to find flaws and damage by transmitting video images. “It uses electrostatic adhesion,” SRI’s Alexander Huff said. “It’s the same principle as rubbing a balloon on your head and sticking it to a wall.” This year’s event was the first to be held off the Stanford campus. The university’s Volkswagen Automation Innovation Lab hosted the previous four block parties. But the change of venue marks a step forward for robotics, Glenn Luinenburg, corporate partner at WilmerHale, said. “It represents a real fundamental shift away from the research labs. Robots are moving out of the lab into commercialization,” he said. The law firm represents many early-stage startups and emerging-stage companies in high tech. Though many of the firm’s clients
Did you know
our students make movies to show what they know? Trinity School 2nd Graders are storytellers. Watch how they research, write, design, build and collaborate:
Trinity School has openings in select grades for Fall 2014.
You’re Invited: Trinity School Open House Wednesday, April 23 8:20 – 10:30 a.m. Visit Jr. Kindergarten through 2nd Grade Classrooms 2650 Sand Hill Road rsvp@trinity-mp.org
do work in artificial intelligence, no specific area of robotics is emerging at this point, he said. “We’re at the very early stage in the growth of robotics and artificial intelligence in the valley. There’s tremendous opportunity for growth,” he said. The block party is one of the
premier events of the fifth annual National Robotics Week, which runs from April 5 to 13. The week-long commemoration celebrates American robotics innovation and educates the public about the field as well as careers in robotics, science, technology, engineering and math. N
CityView A round-up
of Palo Alto government action this week
City Council (April 7) Library: The council voted to change the name of Main Library to Rinconada Library. Yes: Berman, Burt, Holman, Kniss, Scharff, Schmid, Shepherd No: Klein, Price Finance: The council accepted the Long Term Financial Forecast for the years 2015-24. Yes: Unanimous
Planning and Transportation Commission (April 9) Sidewalks: The commission recommended that the council not adopt the proposed sidewalk ordinance and that it include discussion of wider sidewalks on El Camino Real in the city’s Our Palo Alto initiative. Yes: Alcheck, King, Tanaka No: Keller
Multimedia Advertising Sales Representative Embarcadero Media is a locally-owned and independent multimedia company based in Palo Alto. We have published in Palo Alto for the last 35 years, with award winning publications such as the Palo Alto Weekly, Mountain View Voice and Menlo Park Almanac on the Peninsula, and the Pleasanton Weekly in the East Bay. In each of these communities our papers are the dominate, best-read and most respected among its various competitors. We also operate extremely popular interactive community news and information websites in all of our cities, plus unique onlineonly operations in Danville and San Ramon. We’re looking for talented and articulate Outside Sales Representatives for our Retail Sales Team. Experience in online, social and print media sales is a plus, but not a requirement. Familiarity with the advertising industry and selling solutions to small and medium size businesses is a big plus. Four year college degree is preferred. As a Multimedia Account Executive, you will contact and work with local businesses to expand their brand identity and support their future success using marketing and advertising opportunities available through our 4 marketing platforms: print campaigns, website and mobile advertising, and email marketing. The ideal candidate is an organized and assertive selfstarter who loves working as a team to achieve sales goals, possesses strong verbal, written, persuasive and listening interpersonal skills, can provide exceptional customer service and is not afraid of hard work to succeed. If you have the passion to achieve great success in your career and can contribute significantly to our leadership position in the market, please email your resume and a cover letter describing why you believe you are the right candidate for this fantastic opportunity. (NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE) Submit your resume and cover letter to: Tom Zahiralis, Vice President Sales and Marketing tzahiralis@embarcaderopublishing.com
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