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Netdrafter Sponsors Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition

Lead Architect — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:00:50 +0000

Netdrafter is proud to announce it’s support and sponsorship of the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Business Plan Competition. The contest, headed by the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington/Baltimore, is open to any college student enrolled in a degree-granting institution in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, or the District of Columbia.

From Sau Yang, MABPC Co-Chair:
We’d like to take a moment to thank our generous sponsors who have made this competition possible. We are excited to announce that we currently have $10,000 in cash and a variety of in-kind donations, including patent submission, sales training, website development, digital media training, small business consulting, marketing collateral development, and legal services. In this challenging economy, we are particularly grateful to these sponsors for supporting the Mid-Atlantic entrepreneurial community with such generosity.

After a preliminary round, top scoring students and teams will submit business plans to be judged by prominent entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The winners will be announced at the public finale event at Georgetown University on Saturday May 2, 2009. Winners will be awarded cash prizes and valuable in-kind donations of time and expertise by leading business consultants in a variety of fields.

As a young entrepreneur and Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia’s business plan contest winner, Rachel Pastirik, Netdrafter’s President is pleased to be a part of the event. “We need more events like this to encourage students to pursue technology careers and innovate in the field” says Pastirik.

Netdrafter Delivers Again: Event Registration Programming – Loudoun Small Business Development Center

Lead Architect — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:45:26 +0000

For the second year in a row, Netdrafter created, programmed, and hosted the registration functionality for the Loudoun Small Business Development Center’s annual Celebrate Loudoun SBDC! expo and educational event. The event web site collects registrant data and payment for general admission, seminar attendance, sponsors, exhibitors, donors and advertisers. The site includes an administrative area where LSBDC staff can view individual registrations and session signups.

This year’s focus is on “Building Business Together” in a challenging economic climate. The all-day event takes place at George Washington University, on March 10, 2009.

This is a pro-bono project for Netdrafter and just another example of our dedication to the Loudoun community.

Netdrafter and NxLeveL: Helping Entrepreneurs Reach the Next Level of Success

Lead Architect — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:33:15 +0000

Netdrafter presented “Mapping Out Your Business Web Site” this week for Virginia entrepreneurs enrolled in NxLeveL, a national entrepreneurial training program. NxLeveL offers practical, hands-on business development courses designed to help entrepreneurs advance their skills in starting, growing and managing their business. We were on hand to present web site development information and answer online marketing questions. This course is offered by the Fairfax Community Business Partnership in Springfield, VA.

A Sucessful Event: Netdrafter Delivers for the Loudoun Small Business Development Center

Lead Architect — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:40:39 +0000

Netdrafter was a featured speaker and platinum sponsor for the Loudoun Small Business Development Center’s first annual Celebrate Loudoun SBDC! expo and educational event.

We delivered our “Truths and Myths of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)” presentation and created the web site for the event. The 19 page informational and registration web site included advanced programming for: seminar and workshop selection, printable session tickets, dynamic sponsor and donor display, web-based sponsor/exhibitor/contributor registration, downloadable registration details for administrative use, and online advertisement.

The event was very well attended and Netdrafter was happy to be a part of its success!

Speaker and VIP at 7th Annual Women Entrepreneurs’ Expo

Lead Architect — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:58:38 +0000

The seventh annual Women Entrepreneurs’ Expo “Living the Dream!” is this Friday, October 26, 2007 in Springfield, VA. Netdrafter will be presenting our popular “Truths and Myths of Search Engine Optimization” presentation. Netdrafter President Rachel Pastirik will serve as a VIP Luncheon table host. VIPs include local politicians, 2007 Expo sponsors, members of the Board of the Community Business Partnership, workshop facilitators and other subject matter experts.

The event is sold out, with over 400 entrepreneurs, vendors and VIPs who have registered for an exciting day of learning, networking, sales, and inspiration. This conference provides a proven venue for women entrepreneurs to get re-energized, gain new skills and meet new customers. Netdrafter is more than happy to help educate local women entrepreneurs about the ever-changing web development industry.

Pastirik Participates in Radford University Experts Panel

Lead Architect — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:18:46 +0000

During the second week of October 2007, Rachel Pastirik, Netdrafter’s president will travel to Radford University to participate in the Office of Career Services’ Employer Speaker Series. Pastirik is one of nine alumni professionals gearing up to answer the career questions of over 400 students.

“I hope to share with students that proper interview preparation and an outstanding portfolio are the keys to obtaining a position in the Media and Information Technology fields” says Pastirik.

Pastirik also plans to meet with individual classes and student organizations to share her expertise and offer career planning advice.

Loudoun IT Leaders Team Up for the Loudoun SBDC

Lead Architect — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:01:29 +0000

Netdrafter is teaming with ARGroup, a local computer networking services firm to bring “Web Marketing: Blogs & SEO” to the clients of the Loudoun Small Business Development Center. ARGroup will speak on Blogging, while Netdrafter will tackle Search Engine Optimization. This is the second time the companies will team up to support Loudoun business. Both companies had previously given separate seminars, but since blogging greatly impacts SEO, scheduling a joint seminar made a lot of sense.

The free seminar will take place on Wednesday, July 11, 2007, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m, at the Red Fox Inn, in Middleburg, VA 20118. Please RSVP to 703-430-7222 or sbdc@loudounsbdc.org.

Netdrafter Jumps in to Help The Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia

Lead Architect — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:00:01 +0000

Netdrafter jumped in to help The Women’s Business Center of NOVA when their featured speaker for the “Create Your Business Website” class canceled with less than a day to spare. “We talk about the fundamentals of web site development often” said Netdrafter President Rachel Pastirik “so it wasn’t too hard to quickly prepare a presentation.” The 6 hour, 2 day course addressed the vital role a web site plays in a marketing plan and the essentials that should be included in a business web site. Netdrafter made sure that audience participants gained valuable knowledge to assist them in choosing the right web designer and hosting provider for their unique needs.

Netdrafter Participates in Walk, Raises Money for Arthritis Foundation

Lead Architect — Sat, 05 May 2007 19:17:12 +0000

Netdrafter joined forces with local businesses this weekend to support the Arthritis Foundation at the annual Loudoun Arthritis Walk. We were part of Team ON THE GO 4 U, who is a Netdrafter web redesign and programming customer. The team raised money for the foundation and participated in a 5K walk around Ashburn.

The Arthritis Foundation hosts hundreds of Arthritis Walk events nationwide to raise funds to prevent, control and cure arthritis: the nation’s #1 cause of disability.

Team ON THE GO 4 U at the Event

Netdrafter President, Rachel Pastirik, Before the Walk

Chamber Members “Walk the Talk” for the 4th Annual Arthritis Walk
By Bev Barker, Insights Marketing News

On Saturday, May 5, ON THE GO 4 U’s team of chamber members and friends participated in the 4th Annual Arthritis Walk at Belmont Country Club in Ashburn. Gathering together in the parking lot on a cool, partly sunny day was a unique collaboration of members from different chamber committees: Potomac Leadership LeadShare (PLL), Women In Business Alliance (WIBA) and from the Home Based Business Council (HBBC) – with some overlapping affiliations.

About those pink shirts: Books worked with Gary Rose (Rose Promotions, LLC) to get shirts imprinted and in hand on time for the Arthritis Walk. That surprisingly “pink azalea” color stood out in the crowd of walkers and helped Books’ team keep together.

Local Company Provides ‘Gas as a Gift’ this Season

Lead Architect — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 20:40:38 +0000

‘Tis the season to be giving and Rachel Pastirik, President of Netdrafter, LLC is playing Santa Claus this winter in a celebration to honor Netdrafter’s 100th project. Why? Because she cares about her community and she wants to give back. “My mother taught me that there is a right way to do things. Be thankful for what you have and help others. I want to help and to motivate others to do the same.”

Netdrafter located in Ashburn, Virginia has been in business since 1998 providing web design, web development, search engine optimization (SEO), e-commerce and a whole host of web related services. “This is a great industry. I love my job. We’re growing and expanding and I’m happy about that and I look forward to further expansion in 2007.”

Well help is on the way for our community! Netdrafter will provide ten – $10 gas gift cards – five of which will go to the Loudoun Department of Family Services. “This is a really great idea as we always need money to transport the people we are trying to help.” The other five will go to the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter (LAWS) whose director wrote, “This is a wonderful idea – gas cards in amounts of 10-15 dollars would be a huge help to the women we serve.” Both organizations provide care for struggling people that reach out for help during a crisis situation. No matter how much we want to believe that people should be able to solve their own problems – the reality is that they can’t always do it without help.

“Gas as a gift” is not an ideal gift like a toy – it’s a practical gift like food. Life happens. People fall. Communities help. Be a part of yours and give gas cards this season.

Charities request cards in the amount of $10-15 each.

Contact information for the Loudoun Department of Family Services is:
Hope Stonerook at 703-771-5588, www.dss.virginia.gov
Please mail your gift cards to – 102 Heritage Way, N.E. Suite 103
Leesburg, VA 20176.

Contact information for Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter is:
Sue Curtis at 703-771-3398, ext 11, www.lcsj.org
Please mail gift cards to Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice/LAWS, 105 East Market St. Leesburg, VA 20176.

Rachel Pastirik – bringing our community together through entrepreneurialism, community activism, and good old fashioned holiday spirit!

Did you donate?
If you did, please feel free to leave your company name and contact information in the comments area of this post. Thank you so much for your generosity this season!