It’s that time of year!

We’re here on the blog this morning to officially announce that applications for The Brandery’s 2016 accelerator program will open on Monday, February 1st.

This might be a time when you are trying to figure out if The Brandery’s program is right for you, and what sets us apart from other accelerators. Check out this nifty infographic that we created to give you an overview of The Brandery program and our 2015 highlights!

Over the next few months, we’ll be posting a lot of content here to help you get a sense of what life at The Brandery is like. We’ll highlight our office space, Branderyhaus startup housing, our cool partners, what we look for in outstanding applications and so much more. And don’t forget to connect with us! We’re on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you have questions about the program or the application process, you can find contact information for our staff and founders on our website or you can email [email protected].

We’ve been hearing a lot of great things about Brandery graduate Roadtrippers lately. Their rockin’ social media presence, new partnerships with visitors bureaus around the country, and recently closing a round has us very excited, and we had to get the scoop from co-founder Tatiana.

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Tell us about yourself! Who are you and what company are you with?

My name is Tatiana Parent, and I am co-founder of Roadtrippers.com.

What is Roadtrippers?

Roadtrippers is a road trip planner that’s on the web and mobile. Our goal is to help you plan the best road trip ever, whether it’s just a weekend away or an epic cross-country trek.

Anything new and exciting happening at Roadtrippers?

We’ve seen crazy growth recently. Currently, we’re the fastest growing travel planning app in the US. Last month we had about 750k unique visitors, with every visitor staying over 7 minutes on average, which is almost unheard of in online travel.
We recently secured $2.5 million investment from Drive Capital. We also began a partnership with Travel Oregon, and our new mobile app is launching this week. So, lots of good stuff going on.

What’s it like to work there?

Our office rocks. :) We’re located in an old, abandoned brewery, right here in OTR. We’re in the process of renovating more space as our team is quickly expanding. We’ve got an old-school keggerator, full of local beer from breweries in town like Rhinegeist, Madtree, and 50West.

Your social media presence is rad. What types of content do you focus on for your online strategy?

We use tons of photos of the craziest and most beautiful places, like insane treehouse hotels, gorgeous Florida springs, and offbeat attractions, like spooky abandoned asylums.

Why is social media so important to leverage as a startup?

Social media is a great way to build and engage a community. It also helps make you accessible, which is pretty important when you’re first starting out as a company.

Do you have any advice for other entrepreneurs that want to create more content online and increase their company’s following?

Don’t be part of the noise. Say something different. Don’t create throw-away content. Be genuine and be authentic. Don’t underestimate consumers. People can see through bullshit. Be real.

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To learn even more about Tatiana, her co-founder, James, and their journey building a successful startup, sign up for Startup Grind at The Brandery on September 19. We had a packed house for our last Startup Grind with FlightCar, so make sure to grab your tickets early!

REPP Offering Free Profiles for Brandery Community!

Have you ever wondered if your online date really was being truthful or if that person coming over to your house from Craigslist is a convicted felon? Well a Brandery graduate can help ease your worries, and for a limited time, it’s completely free!

REPP was founded in June 2012 and is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the first and only company to allow users to create verified online profiles that are easily embedded and shareable, using a patent pending process.

Using your full name, date of birth and address, REPP develops personalized quizzes only you would know, searches national records to retrieve your criminal record, allows you to confirm and add your social media sites to your profile, and soon, will verify your profile photo. Once your profile is set, share it with others and ask to see their REPP.

REPP recently launched a beta version of their platform and is offering free
profiles to the Brandery community!

For more information, please visit www.myrepp.com or email [email protected]

We are pleased to announce that we have been selected as General Assembly’s exclusive Viewing Partner in Cincinnati. As part of the program, we will be offering the community a certain number of online videos every month! We will congregate in The Brandery to watch the screenings of the classes, discuss the materials, and brainstorm ways in which we can all use the information in our day-to-day lives.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with General Assembly, General Assembly is a network of campuses that empower individuals through education in technology, business, and design. We are very excited to offer you their educational content and hope that the videos introduce you to things you wish you knew and help you hone things you need to brush up on.

Some of the topics we plan to cover include:

1. How to Teach Yourself to Code

2. Introduction to Web Design

3. Getting Started with Facebook Advertising

“Facebook has nearly one billion users. With an audience that large, there is an amazing opportunity to scale your business using the Facebook platform. This class is designed for everyone from startups to big brands that want to achieve better results from their Facebook marketing efforts.”

4. Monetizing Your App

“So you’ve got an idea for an app? Awesome! But how are you going to turn this puppy into a real business? There are options galore: charging for it, selling virtual goods, or everyone’s guilty pleasure, running ads

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