PR’UF Debuts at Jacksonville Code Camp
Recap: 2010 Jacksonville .NET Code Camp
After months of grueling early mornings and all-nighters, we unveiled PR’UF to the masses at the 2010 Code Camp, held here in Jacksonville on August 28th. The event boasted an impressive roster of keynote speakers: Henry Lee, Andrew Connell, Adam Jorgensen, Brian Knight, Bayer White – all local technologists highly regarded within the Microsoft community. From developers to administers, the event had a strong, multi-discipline showing. We had every right to be nervous. And we were. We held our breaths, waited for impact…
It clicked. They got it.
Event attendees understood PR’UF and its usefulness for simplifying the lives of everyone involved in the hiring process. From hiring manager to vendor to candidate, PR’UF turns today’s convoluted process on its head. Developers saw the value in a wholly web-based application, in expert assessments, and in a streamlined process.
And then there was our display. In a sea of developer-ugly, our highly visual banners stole attention from even the most prominently placed, well-known vendors. We invited attendees to test drive the PR’UF application, giving them a chance to win a new Apple iPad for their participation.
We used a hiring scenario to illustrate our points and PR’UF’s capabilities. Our audience played the role of the hiring manager. We had two candidates – both were “applying” for a Senior .NET Developer gig. The two candidates had identical résumés – only one applicant’s résumé contained highlighted keywords. Each candidate was asked the same question, “What does object-oriented programming mean to you?” We filmed each candidate’s response and rolled the tapes.
The videos made it painfully clear who was the best candidate. The overwhelming majority of our “experts” (the audience) made the correct selection. With attendees experiencing both the “keyword” (traditional) search and the “expert endorsed” (PR’UF) system, they quickly understood the concept and process as well as the differences in results from the two systems.
Chalking Code Camp up as an enormous success, our team is now on a full-motion ride to get through the next steps. We’re in closed beta now, with our testers running through the system and providing feedback on their experiences. Big props to all the beta testers who are such critical pioneers in this new system. When this thing takes off, know they had a huge hand in the successful development.
With our sights set on word-of-mouth buzz and first-hand experiences, we’re taking PR’UF on the road. Look for us at Northeast and Central Florida events. Additionally, we’re setting up a first ever Expert Panel Discussion before year’s end. It’s invite-only and attendees will be selected from those currently in the PR’UF system. We’ll probably throw in ring-side seats for a few lucky outsiders. We’ll be talking best practices for interviewing, résumé presentation, etc. More to come on this so keep up with our Facebook and Twitter feeds to make sure you don’t miss out.