KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, MAY 11.2011 / NEWS
3A
CAMPUS
Tech-savvy grads help businesses
BY CHRIS HONG chong@kansan.com
Howrd Ting/KANSAN
Hurrdat.com is a networking website managed by Austin Brown, a senior from Shawnee. Hurrdat Social Media was founded in August of 2010 by Brown's business partner Blake Lawrence, a graduate of the University of Nebraska. The site is dedicated to providing small to medium-sized businesses a new and exciting way to connect with their target markets.
In 2010, Blake Lawrence, a University of Nebraska student from Overland Park, began an internship with a company in Lincoln. Neb He was in charge of managing the company's social media presence. However, the company did not have a social media strategy. So, Lawrence built one.
Lawrence created a model for that company which, according to him, "helped generate over $500,000 in new leads." After he completed the internship, Lawrence hit the ground running.
HELP FROM A FRIEND
"I realized I could take the same model and start a company with it," said Blake, who founded Hurrdat Social Media in August of 2010.
Four months later, Lawrence enlisted the help of his high school friend and KU student Austin Brown. Brown, a senior from Overland Park, said he been involved in finding new clients and managing relationships with them. He also said his concentration on entrepreneurship in the School of Business provided him with the necessary foundation to be involved in a young company.
WHAT IS HURRDAT?
"Right now as a start up, there really isn't a specific role," he said. "We do everything."
Hurrdat, or "heard dat," provides social media solutions to businesses. According to Brown, many businesses want to build their online presence, but aren't quite sure where to start. That's where Hurrdat comes in.
"We kind of step in and help businesses who don't have the resources or the know-how to do their social media for them on their behalf," he said.
Brown says their services include creating content, interacting with viewers and providing analytics that measure growth and audience feedback. The five-person company currently has 25 clients, with some located in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Hurrdat recently started a new company, Hurrdat Athletes. Lawrence, a former football player at Nebraska, built relationships with his
teammates that are helping his business grow. The new company helps athletes connect with companies that want them to represent their brand online. Prince Amukamara, a former Nebraska safety who was drafted this year by the New York Giants, is its most high-profile client.
Lawrence said one of his advantages in the business was being young. Although a common problem for new companies is credibility, his generation is often seen as competent when dealing with the Internet.
"Since social media is so new, we are useful and seen as credible,"
Lawrence said.
INCREASE YOUR PRESENCE
Brown offered a tip he's learned in the business for people looking to build their audience on social media networks: Add value to conversations.
"Whether that's being funny or providing good information, provide value for anyone who is following you so they have a reason to follow you and get something out of the relationship," he said.
Edited by Sarah Gregory
Engineering alumni to receive honor
CAMPUS
The School of Engineering will honor three alumni during its annual Distinguished Engineering Service Award in a ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Kansas Ballroom of the Kansas Union.
The ceremony is invitationonly but will include a sort of "State of the Union" address on the school from its dean, Stuart Bell, as well as honoring the influential recipients engineering graduates Frank Gordon, Allyn Risley and Scott Smith.
"It is an honor to recognize these three great Jayhawk engineers for their outstanding career achievements,"Bell wrote in a media release."They
have all shown wonderful support to the KU School of Engineering over the years"
Gordon is a mechanical engineer who received his doctorate in 1971. He spent 38 years in the civilian ranks of the Navy, where he worked in the applied science department at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command on projects including work on cold fusion, according to the release. Allyn Risley earned a bachelor's in petroleum engineering in 1972 and has worked for ConocoPhillips since. Smith earned a master's in civil engineering in 1981 and works for the Kansas City firm HNTB. He also serves on the School of Engineering's advisory board.
— Alex Garrison
CAMPUS
Lawsuit from Wren death is dismissed
A lawsuit against Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 1308 West Campus Road, was settled in April and officially dismissed on Friday.
Court records show District Judge Michael Malone dismissed the case filed last year by Jay Wren against several fraternity members as well as the local and national chapters of the fraternity where Jay's 19-year-old son, freshman Jason Wren, died from alcohol poisoning on March 8, 2009.
Wren and SAE attorneys settled last month but have not given any information on the terms of the settlement. The dismissal came from a request by the attorneys but, again, no comment or further details were given.
After his son's death, Wren called for the fraternity to "go dry" and for tougher alcohol regulations on campus.
Alex Garrison
NATIONAL
High gas prices lead to more drilling
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
High gas prices have reigned a familiar debate about drilling off California's coast, with everyone playing their usual part and the outcome pretty much predictable.
Republicans urge energy independence. Democrats warn of coastal devastation. And while the House on Wednesday will approve an offshore drilling bill that includes part of California, the effort almost certainly will sputter out on the Senate side of Capitol Hill.
With California gasoline prices averaging over $4.20 a gallon, Republicans can mobilize public resentment and distinguish themselves from Democras.The title of one of the bills being approved Wednesday clarifies the partisan point: it's called the Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act.
Democrats, in turn, are sending
CAMPUS
Air handling unit sets off fire alarms
Oil experts say, however, that there is ample excess production capacity to pump more oil, weak demand and low utilization rates at U.S. refineries. These factors point to a plentiful supply of oil.
The KU Endowment building on West Campus was evacuated around 9 last night after smoke from an air handling unit set off fire alarm, Sgt. John Dietz of KU Public Safety Office said.
cent of Californians surveyed by the Public Policy Institute of California opposed additional drilling. Thirty-six percent favored more drilling.
Dietz said broken bearings on the motor of the air handling unit used to circulate air throughout the building caused the smoke.
Around 10 emergency vehicles responded to the alarm. No one was hurt and no damage was caused by the smoke, Dietz said.
messages of their own to their environmentalist base. Rep. Lois Capps, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, Calif., charged that Republicans are "removing all of the protections" for the coast, while Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer declared Republicans "would Jeopardize California's ... coastal economy."
Statewide, it's the Democrats who may find the more sympathetic audience. Last July 59 per-
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