While we at Backslash are honored to be nominated for Fort Madison’s Small Business of the Year, we would like to give a special congratulations to the other nominees and especially the winners announced this morning.

Small Business Person of the Year Nominees
Aaron Feagain, Air Evac Lifeteam
Bill Faeth, Faeth’s Cigar Store
Dr. Kristin Maus, Drs. Smith, Smith, & Maus Optometry
Bonnie Howard, The Bookmark
Diane Spiekermeier, The Flower Cottage
Chuck Vandenberg, KFC/Taco Bell
Tim and Lauri Wondra, Wondra Family Chiropractic

Small Business of the Year Nominees
Angel Scents
Backslash Technologies (w00t!)
Fort Madison Ready Mix
Fort Madison Football, Inc.
Pendemonium
Kempker’s True Value
SunnyBrook Assisted Living
Under the Sun

And the winners are…
Small Business Person of the Year: Bonnie Howard, The Bookmark
Small Business of the Year: Pendemonium

Once again, congratulations to each and every nominee. We are humbled to be included in such a great group of businesses and people. Thank you to our customers, fellow Fort Madison small businesses, and the Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Recently I submitted an article to the website known as Lockergnome, a network of blogs about a variety of topics (mostly tech-related). And today, it’s being featured on the main page of the site!

I’ve been a fan of Lockergnome for a long time, and even knew Chris Pirillo when we both went to the University of Northern Iowa. We weren’t best friends or anything, but he did hang out at the computer lab a lot (go figure) and I was a lab supervisor (also, go figure). We talked here and there, mainly about computers, and I enjoyed the conversations even though I found him a bit hyper.  =)  A few years later, I was surprised to see him online. I even attended a few Gnomedexes in Iowa and Lake Tahoe. Chris has done a ton of stuff since UNI and is now known internationally as a geek’s geek.

So, it’s a pretty neat thing that my story is now on his blog network. Check it out and let me know what you think (either on Lockergnome or right here). Also, please help me out by spreading the word… Put this as your Facebook status or send out a tweet that says:

Check out the Lockergnome post ‘Dropbox for the Divorced’ by my buddy Kevin Harter at http://bit.ly/csOYBF.  He’s on Twitter: @TechDaddyK.

Thanks, everyone! Hopefully I’ll be able to do more with the Lockergnome blog network in the future as well. I’ll keep you posted.

You know how you get that great idea for a website, rush out and grab the domain right away, and then promptly forget all about it? Huh, must just be me.

Well, I have a bunch of domains that I had every intention of using but never got around to building the sites. Rather than let them wither on the vine, I thought I would put them out there for sale so that someone with a bit more time (or ambition?) can put them to good use.

I’m not necessarily looking to get rich on any of these. It would be nice to get my money out of them, but I’m willing to entertain any reasonable offer.

Take a look and let me know if you see anything interesting. Maybe one will spark an idea for you, too, and jump start a business idea.

You can email me at domains@icanhazwebhost.com or kevinharter@me.com with questions or offers.

Yesterday, I attended my first code camp. I heard about the Iowa Code Camp a few months ago from a tweet by Chris Sutton, one of the organizers (@chrissutton on Twitter).

First off, I really don’t consider myself a “coder.” Most of the time, I can look through a Javascript or PHP script and manipulate it to my liking, but I’ve only dabbled with creating my own code. I’m more of a web developer if anything. So, I was a little hesitant to go to camp. Less than an hour and a half drive and the awesome price of free convinced me that it was worth my Saturday.

For anyone that hasn’t been to a code camp, there are no tents or firewood involved. Basically, it’s a conference with a keynote and tons of breakout sessions. I chose the following topics:

All of the presenters did a great job and I couldn’t believe how much I learned. My favorite, of course, was the WordPress session as I was able to understand it best. It filled in a lot of gaps for me and sparked my interest in developing new themes, which is pretty much what the code camp is designed to do, I’m guessing.

In many of the conferences I’ve attended, the discussions between sessions are often as helpful as the presentations themselves. The same was true with Iowa Code Camp. For example, I was able to talk with Kenny and Andy for a while before and after their session and found each more than ready to answer any question I could come up with. I’m very grateful for their time and willingness to share their expertise. Thanks, guys!

I also met a couple of people that shared some of the same challenges as I’ve faced. Through those types of discussions, problems are not always solved, but new perspectives often lead to solutions or workarounds.

I had a great time and learned a ton, and the crew that put the event on did a nice job. I’m already looking forward to the next code camp and am excited about WordCamp Iowa that Kenny is organizing for early August.

Maybe it was the wind (I’m tall), maybe it was the weight (I’m fat), or maybe it was the terrible racing skills (I’m the one that ran out of gas in a four-cylinder Wild Thing… twice!). Whatever it was, it was good enough for fifth place in the championship race!

Team Backslash tore up the track, until I got *stuck* on the final lap of the first heat. That’s right, another driver (sorry, didn’t catch her name) and I got stuck against a guard rail. Still, I was scored in third place which earned us a solid eight points. The uneventful sixth heat, my second, ended with Team Backslash in a solid third place.

Unfortunately sixteen points weren’t enough to make it into the final race. But wait! I’ve already given you the ending… Yep, I was the third-place money raiser!

The final race didn’t start well for Team Backslash. I drew Cart #7, the same tortoise that only managed a third place finish in my second heat. And it gets worse — good ol’ Number 7 (like the Grizzly Adams reference?) was parked in the outside of row three. That’s sixth place out of six carts for those racing-challenged.

Still, I gave it my all and ended up fighting off a certain Fort Madison hardware store owner, who shall remain nameless. Let’s just call him “Crash Kempker” for the sake of the story. So anyway, Crash and I stayed at the back of the back for pretty much the entire race. And I can thank Crash for my next chiropractor bill. I think the NO BUMPING sign fell off of the back of my cart on one of the first slams to the bumper. Ouch! We had a great race going for the back of the pack.

Seriously, thanks to EVERYONE that donated (there are too many to mention by name here… our bandwidth is billed by the word). Team Backslash raised over $300 for the Fort Madison United Way and overall, over $3000 was raised tonight. Great job to all the racers, even Crash, and congratulations to Kevin Adams from Lee County Bank on his 2010 Season Championship!

By the way, I think the only real doctor bill I’ll have is to wipe the smile off my face. Thanks, it was a blast!

The Fort Madison United Way Celebrity Go-Cart Race is tonight! Held at Hillside Go-Carts, coincidentally placed on the side of Burlington Hill in Fort Madison, the event will feature a couple of dozen local business and community leaders… and me.

Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the light snacks and refreshments as you cheer on your favorite driver (hopefully Kevin from Backslash!). I’ll be trying to race my way into the finals, and eventually the Championship, but I do have another chance in case gravity and physics win. The top four fundraising drivers automatically will advance into the finals. You can still donate here or on-site at the event, too, in case you wish to take pity on me after watching my undoubtedly dismal performance. So make sure to bring a few bucks with you!

Tell your friends, bring a neighbor, and cheer for Team Backslash!