Zeal Headquarters. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rogue Tech Tour: October 2016

This is a firsthand account of the recent Rogue Tech Tour, related by SOU Student Kayla Parker.

The first Rogue Tech Tour took place on October 28th, 2016. I attended with several other students from SOU, though students from other schools in the Rogue Valley were also invited and attended. The event was put on by by Julie Gillis with a lot of help from Zeal’s CXO, Trevor Yarrish.

The tour began in Ashland at PLEXIS

Plexis HQ.
Plexis HQ. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

with the opportunity to meet some of the companies here in Ashland such as FlowJo, LLC.

FlowJo, LLC Headquarters in Ashland.
FlowJo, LLC Headquarters in Ashland. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

The main part of the tour had us walking around in downtown Medford; a few of the companies we visited were ProCare,

ProCare HQ.
ProCare HQ. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

CBT Nuggets,

CBT Nuggets Office

CBT Nuggets Office. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lithia,

Lithia HQ.

Lithia HQ. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

and of course, Zeal.

Zeal sign on Woolworth Building.
Zeal Sign on Woolworth Building. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

The end of the event had us meeting companies who had set up tables at our final destination, such as Harry and David, and Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. Many of these companies were either focused on software development or looking for new developers without that being the sole purpose of those respective companies.

Harry and David HQ.
Harry and David HQ. Copyright © 2016, FPP, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overall, the event proved to be a relatively beneficial experience for companies and students. While there are always areas for improvement when things run for the first year, I think many students were able to meet potential future employers, and employers were able to get feedback on their companies. Hopefully we will see the event run again!

Author: Kayla
Editor: Karen
Written: 11/18/16
Published: 11/18/16
Copyright © 2016, Kayla Parker. All rights reserved.