East Meets West

IdeaStar Web Developer Greg Kopp and his Chinese counterpart NaiQui

What brings these two guys from opposite sides of the planet together? IdeaStar client Technical Consumer Products Inc.

The energy efficient lighting company based in Aurora, OH has most of its manufacturing done in China. While IdeaStar does a good amount of the company's computer programming, Nai Qi and his team back in Shanghai cover the Chinese angle. One area of collaboration has been the PaxPort business communications software.

IdeaStar Web developers Greg Kopp and Lee Chen (absent from the picture) spent some time with Nai Qi when he recently visited TCP to go over various projects. This is Nai Qi's second visit, and he is still amazed by the U.S. highway system and how much open space we have. Our Chinese food, on the other hand, is a bit questionable.

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Gyro, Souvlaki and Hummus - Oh My!

LeBron James, how could you let him down?

IdeaStar President Jim Fisher thought he had it made. He bet Project Manager Lia Spithas - our resident Greek - that Team USA would trounce Greece in the recent World Basketball Championships in Japan. The loser would provide lunch for the office. "I could just taste the spanakopita," Jim said.

But it was not to be. Greece beat the United States 101-95. Lia was ecstatic. Jim was sad because he thought about the pizza he would have to buy.

But then he decided to turn his loss into a win-win situation. He asked Lia to order lunch for IdeaStar from her favorite Greek Restaurant, Niko's on Detroit, in Lakewood, OH. Can we say gyro, souvlaki and hummus?

At the lunch last week, Lia provided the Greek music but refused to dance. And although he is still disappointed the U.S. team lost, Jim is happy he had his spanakopita. And the rest of the company is fat and happy with its Greek eats.


Jim and Lia still friends....


Scott and John dig in.


Phil loves it.

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Red, Yellow, Black, Blue...

By Andi Hoppes, IdeaStar marketing assistant

One of the newest members of the IdeaStar family, Mike Balogh, knows how to work AND how to play. When he isn't developing Web applications, there's a good chance you'll find him playing some sort of game. Mike enjoys all games - "from board games to video games to card games to strategy games to hide-and-go-seek games!"

Many people around the office have been dazzled by his skills...with a Rubik's Cube! He has been called upon by fellow employees just to show them how he can speed through the puzzle. His quickest speedcubing time was 1 minute and 30 seconds, timed by our own Maung Htun.


Mike and his whirling fingers

Mike says it only took him a month to perfect his cube-solving ability. His advice for solving it is "Top, middle, bottom." He added that it was simple and all the instructions needed were in the notes that came with the cube. With that advice, we should all be able to solve the puzzle in no time ;-). The world record for solving it is 10.48 seconds. Wow!

Other than gaming, Mike enjoys bike riding, drawing, and reading comic books, his favorite of which is X-Men. He likes to watch Arrested Development, and even though it is cancelled, he is getting Season Three on DVD to watch soon. "It was the smartest and funniest show on television," Mike says. "The whole show is a constant play on words and everyone in the family is just smart enough to get by and trick one another." Mike also watches Lost, which is an office favorite, so he'll fit right in!


Keeping an eye on the prize

Mike got his degree in computer science from Kent State University in 2003. When he graduated he looked into getting a job with IdeaStar, but we weren't hiring! So he went to work for a marketing technologies company. After leaving in March, he decided to apply again. Lucky for us. Mike finally gets to work (and play) at IdeaStar!

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

When You're Hot, You're Hot!

And IdeaStar Inc. is hot! We just learned our client, MemberHealth's Web site, www.communitycarerx.com, has been selected as a finalist for the A.M. Best 2006 E-Fusion Awards program in the category of Customer Management.

The site, designed and developed by IdeaStar, features Community Care Rx, a Medicare-approved prescription drug plan offered through MemberHealth. "Being a finalist for this award is awesome!" Project manager Jane Hudeck said. Her development team includes developers Doug Hayes and Steve Harrison, content loader Scott Largent, and Systems Administrator Chuck Whitaker.

(L to R) Scott, Chuck, Jane and Doug. Steve missed the picture session.

Remember that rush to sign-up for Medicare Part D? The Web site, one of about a dozen approved by the U.S. Government, played a major part in MemberHealth's sales. Site visitors could sign-up for the program, locate a participating pharmacy, view various plan details relative to their home state, look up drug prices in their area, review policies and procedures, and more. That's a lot for one little Web site.


We think the site has a strong chance of winning the final 2006 E-Fusion Award, which recognizes business-focused applications of technology in use today by insurers. But first, we'll give a presentation at A.M. Best's Insurance and Technology Conference, E-Fusion 2006, October 23-24 in Boston. We can't wait to hear the final results!

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.