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Tag: florist

Oregon and Portland-area florists, floral arrangements, and flowers

Rick Turoczy on April 1, 2009

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Okay, okay. So I may have made a mistake when I chose this domain name. It was like 2 AM. And I admit, in hindsight, my reasoning may have been a bit flawed.

Silicon Forest + The Rose City == Silicon Florist

Really? What was I thinking?

Well, over the past year and a half I’ve learned a thing or two. First, covering Silicon Forest side projects and tech startups is a great gig—but it’s not exactly paying the bills. Second, people clearly want to hear about florists. Especially florists in Oregon.

So, I’ve decided that it would be wise to expand my coverage a bit. I mean, florists can be startups, too. Right? That’s right.

So from now on Silicon Florist will not only be providing you with the best information about Portland-area and Silicon Forest startups, it will also be your premiere spot for finding the latest cutting edge information on florists in Oregon and southern Washington. And florist ads.

I mean, I think the florists in the area could use a little more tech. And the tech types? They could clearly use some more flowers and floral arrangements.

So here’s my inaugural post on some of my favorite Oregon and Portland-area florists.

City Flowers of Portland

I’ve used City Flowers for about as long as I can remember. Helpful people, creative flower choices, and brilliant arrangements.

“Catering to the style-conscious clientele of downtown Portland, business-to-business flowers is the focus of our work. City Flower’s success in this area reflects its attitude toward customer service: It must be the best for it to be outstanding in our field. Every order we design and deliver is viewed as a commitment to the customer. We will deliver the freshest flowers possible designed with artistic flair while also providing the highest level of customer service possible. Your satisfaction is our primary goal.”

Inbloom of Corvallis

“We are a real Flower Shop, FULL of Flowers, located in Corvallis, Oregon – not just a phone number of an office somewhere, or just a URL on the web. Calling us directly, via our toll free number 24 hours a day (1-800-405-5666), saves you expensive relay fees and assures you will get full value for your money. We are Florists first, marketers second. Most importantly, we live and do business in the city we serve (Corvallis), and care about our reputation and your continued business. Our goal is to provide you with exemplary service and outstanding products and turn you into another one of our satisfied returning customers. as well as providing your recipient with quality of flowers and design that will make them also want to use us as their personal florist.”

Enchanted Florist of Ashland

“Our Mission: Offer one of a kind floral arrangements by using fun, rare and unique flowers as well as other mediums such as fruit, twigs, leaves, vegetables, pods and anything else to create the perfect arrangement. And even more important, show courtesy and respect to all people in and outside of our floral shop.”

Beaverton Florists

“Ralph Beck’s dream of opening a flower shop started in 1943 over on Lombard Avenue next to his greenhouse that he used to grow his product. After 18 years Ralph and Vi opened in ½ of our current location on 2nd and Watson Ave. in central Beaverton. In 1962 they sold the business to Paul and Delores Jakobson. During the 60’s and 70’s Paul and Delores grew the business and remodeled the building. In 1980 they decided to retire and sold the business to Richard and Florence Hill who continued to expand and grow the business adding space by taking over the entire building and increasing sales. Keith & Sheri have continued to grow and keep Beaverton Florists in the Top 100 florists in the nation ranked by FTD.”

Tommy Luke Flowers and Gifts of Portland

“Flowers Tommy Luke proudly serves the Portland/Vancouver area. We are locally owned and operated. We are committed to offering only the finest floral arrangements and gifts, backed by service that is friendly and prompt. Because all of our customers are important, our professional staff is dedicated to making your experience a pleasant one. That is why we always go the extra mile to make your floral gift perfect. Let Flowers Tommy Luke be your first choice for flowers.”

Oregon blog about florists

Of course, my list wouldn’t be complete without a blog from Prineville, OR, featuring the Posie Girls. Blogging and flowers? Clearly hitting close to home for me.

More Oregon florists, floral arrangements, and flowers

This is just the first of many posts covering the world of flowers in the Silicon Forest. If you you’re not seeing what you’re looking for, the following links may help.

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Or maybe you have some local Oregon florists you’d like to suggest? Feel free to comment.

(Hat tip to Avante Gardens for the idea and to GRMFWKLSNAXP for showing me the errors of my altruistic ways)

Silicon Florist: Job postings

Rick Turoczy on March 25, 2008

I wanted to highlight some of the interesting (read “the only”) jobs that have been posted to the Silicon Florist gig board, this week.

  • Marshall Kirkpatrick is looking for freelance Web design talent
    “I’m looking to have a couple of people I can refer to consulting clients who need web design help. These requests come my way every once in a while and I don’t know anyone who’s available and awesome. Let’s save the world from ugly web apps!”
  • MyStrands is looking for a Community Manager – Evangelist
    “This position will play a key role in creating a community around upcoming services. You will evangelize, create, execute, and evaluate community building and online marketing campaigns in line with MyStrands’ overall strategy. You will develop marketing campaigns, community programs and proactively drive communications, with a strong focus in Portland, Oregon and the Northwest.”

Remember, if you’re interested in test driving the Silicon Florist gig board, now would be a great time to stick your toe in the proverbial water. Until the end of March, you can post up to three jobs the first 20 jobs posted will be absolutely free of charge. (Turns out the Jobamatic discount code total isn’t “per user” as I had assumed.) First come, first served. Simply use the discount code “earlybird” at checkout.

Editorial: I could use your advice

Rick Turoczy on March 14, 2008

First of all, I wanted to thank you. For your readership and your support. And, for your continuing to pursue your side projects, your part-time projects, and your full-on entrepreneurial pursuits.

And especially for being brave enough to read a post called “I could use your advice.”

This one is a tough one for me. And I’ll apologize in advance for my rambling explanation. But here we go…

It’s no secret that I started Silicon Florist on a whim. Because I saw a gap in the news coverage. Because I saw incredibly exciting things happening in Portland that didn’t seem to garner coverage—either by local pubs or by the juggernauts of the tech industry.

In short, I’ve been humbled by the response to the blog. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your continuing to read it.

I started Silicon Florist because I thought it was a good idea. But I like to think I have a lot of good ideas. It was a side project. A passion project.

But as Silicon Florist continues to grow, it begins to slide into the “part-time gig” column. And I’m happy to see it do that, because I can confidently say that my passion for Silicon Florist and the potential it holds only continues to grow.

After talking with literally hundreds of people (with whom I would have never had contact without this blog), I can see a number of other “gaps” that could be filled. That could improve our startup community here in the Silicon Forest. That could help other folks—kids, business people, venture capitalists—get more involved in the tech industry, here. That could move help Portland and its surrounding areas take a rightful place on the technology map, again.

And that’s something I desperately want to do.

But. (There’s always a “but,” isn’t there?)

There are only so many hours in the day. And I would very much like to dedicate some of those hours before midnight to Silicon Florist pursuits. And to the greater good.

But in order to do that, I have to reduce the number of consulting hours to which I commit. And we all know what that means, don’t we?

Oh.

Well, it means, I need to find another way to replace that cash that’s currently underwriting all of the Silicon Florist efforts. So that I can spend more than side-project time on Silicon Florist. And, quite honestly, to keep this burgeoning dream alive that maybe—just maybe—Silicon Florist has the potential to be a full-time gig.

So, finally, we come to my question:

What should I do?

I have some baggage about even considering this whole thing. But, someone far wiser than I told me, “The first time you covered a topic because you felt you had to cover it, rather than because you wanted to cover it, Silicon Florist stopped being your blog.” And that message has been echoed by others.

So, I feel I have logical justification. But, it’s that selfsame logical defense that also tells me that this blog belongs to you, too. So, I need some more feedback. I need to ask those of you in the silent majority who haven’t had the chance to say your piece.

I’ve been thinking about this a great deal. And I see a number of potential options for getting Silicon Florist out of my basement and on its way to paying some of its own bills. But I’m also open to your feedback.

Here are some ideas I had:

  • Do nothing different from today. Keep the coverage at the same—or lower—level. Keep on keeping on, and look for other passion projects to which I can dedicate my time.
  • Introduce the OPB-esque idea of “Sustaining sponsors,” be that individuals or corporations, who provide funding to underwrite Silicon Florist projects.
  • Pursue good old fashioned Web advertising. Rest assured, I’m not talking about anything gaudy, whack-a-mole-ish, or mortgage-financing-ish. I have to look at the site, too. And ideally, it should be advertising that actually helps Silicon Forest startups and other readers. Shocking concept, I realize.
  • Come up with a more creative solution for solving the problem with which I find myself faced.
  • Or, your idea may be the right thing to do. So feel free to share your ideas in the “Other” area or via comments.

Suffice it to say, that my most important concern is that, you, as a reader do not feel put upon or alienated as a result of my pursuing this direction. Because if this blog fails to keep you interested or if you’re going to be offended, I’d rather suck it up and do nothing.

Wow. That was a lead-up if I’ve ever composed one. If you’re still awake… without further ado, is my appeal for your feedback. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. (Poll not showing? Please access the Silicon Florist poll here.)

And, as always, please feel free to use the comments to expound upon your answers.

Thank you. Sincerely. I really appreciate your advice.

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