It’s about that time to start gathering applications! We are now accepting applications for 2 positions at Dwolla. It’s time to add to our to team!

Position #1 – Software Engineer – Click here to apply

Job Description

• Large scale development items.
• API infrastructure & development.

Needed Skills

• Firm grasp of object orientated programming
• Experience in website development
• Knowledge and experience with .NET preferable
• Familiar with the entire software life cycle.
• Firm grasp of SQL (knowledge of relations, indexes, stored procedures, etc)

Technical skills that are an added bonus

• Development in ASP.NET using C#
• Windows service experience
• WCF experience
• API development

Personal skills must include

• Must be self-guided, able to work with little supervision based on completion expectations.
• Need to be able to handle multiple projects at the same time
• Should be able to communicate well. From fellow developers to end users.
• Should be able to embrace constructive criticisms.

Education

College graduate or real world equivalent. We will also accept positions from those currently in college.

Location Requirements

Must be US Resident. Located in Des Moines, IA or Grand Forks, ND is a plus.

Position #2 - Customer Service Employee #1 - Click here to apply

Job description

Customer service is every companies backbone. We are looking for someone to help shape the customer experience. This position will be directly responsible for implementing customer service processes and building them out to support additional users.

Daily activities would include

• Direct phone communication.
• Live support.
• E-Mail support.
• Social media support.
• Shaping our brands customer service channel.
• Long term management of customer support processes.

Needed skills

• Must be a good typist.
• Have a background in customer service. Retail or otherwise.
• Must have desire to manage a team or experience doing so.
• Must value personal interaction.

Skills which are an added bonus

• Existing training / experience in customer support roles.
• Existing experience managing customer service teams.
• Not being convinced the best solution to any problem is get people off the phone as fast as possible.

Education

• Your desire to take care of clients must match our values. Your educational background is unimportant for this position.

Location requirements

Must be in Des Moines, IA or able to commute .

Other bonuses.

• Must be a generally pleasant person to be around.
• Must not spend more time making fun of people than working.
• Must know how to use the words please and thank you.
• Innate desire to solve problems rather than cause them.

First and foremost. Thank you to everyone who applied and tweeted about this position. We had a huge response from this from a great deal of very qualified people.

With that said please join us in welcoming Ben Murga to the team. Ben is wearing the “I Dwolla In DSM” T in the picture on the left.

Ben will be heading up our social media interactions. Primarily focusing on Twitter, Facebook, supporting Silicon Prairie tech, and networking events. I originally met Ben at CIB and have had a great time getting to know him over the past month.

It’s worth saying that if you apply for a job here I will creep you on Facebook pretty extensively. It didn’t hurt at all that Ben’s profile pic included him rocking a Dwolla T!

Welcome to the team Ben!!!

What is Tank Goodness

Warm cookies wait for no one, and that is the first thing you need to know. Tank Goodness Des Moines is a small company driven by the simple idea of getting you cookies…fast! They cater to work, events, or home. Forget getting pizza delivered. Get cookies instead!

Why are they awesome?

I met Dereck (the owner) at a breakfast meeting about a month ago, and it was instantly clear this guy truly has a passion for the concept behind his business. It’s simple which makes it wonderful. Deliver great cookies, deliver them warm, charge an honest price, and make people smile. I love that. Check out Dereck’s happy customers!

read

How can I find them?

Web: www.tankgoodness.com/desmoines/
Facebook:  Here
Twitter : http://twitter.com/TankGoodnessDSM

Here’s an added bonus!

Also, if you prepay for your order using Dwolla, these guys will bring you free cookies. Does it really get much better than that?!

I am giving our clients four dozen cookies free just for setting up a prepaid cookie jar account via Dwolla.

About Palisade Systems, Inc.^® & ComplianceSafe^TM

Palisade Systems’ PacketSure™ technology provides comprehensive Data Loss Prevention (DLP). That means PacketSure protects sensitive data leaving your network without disrupting business processes.

ComplianceSafe analyzes outbound emails for content violations and confidential data such as personal information, credit card numbers, account numbers, or Social Security numbers). ComplianceSafe will keep a record of the violation, block the email from being sent out or warn the user that they just leaked confidential information about a client, customer or a fellow employee. The best part is it does this without even being noticed so you’ll never experience a change in your experience with Dwolla.

Our unique problem

Dwolla sends a considerable number of e-mails to users. All of these e-mails sent from Dwolla.com originate from a single e-mail address and are all notifications. Everything from money sent to money received.

By default we don’t include any information in these templates that contains critical personal data or personal financial information. We have systems put in place for modifying the templates and structured process for who has access to changing, and approving templates.

The scenario was worded something like this:

We know the possibility for something like this is very low … but … what if one of these templates somehow included a tag to pull personal information and place it in the e-Mail?

Ignoring all processes in place for this to not happen this what if still needs to be addressed.

This is precisely what Palisade Systems is doing for us. Their new ComplianceSafe product allows us to scan each and every e-mail that goes out of our system to ensure that everything is the way it should be. One of their specialties is filtering personal financial information, which is a perfect fit for us.

What this means for you

It means we are going one step further to include third parties to monitor our processes. Not only do we have rules in place to keep your personal information safe but we bring in those third parties whenever necessary.

After going through the trivialities of this what if question I can’t help but feel like DLP is a pretty necessary thing in today’s world. With that said, we are happy that we found a local Des Moines company that helped us with our very unique need.

What is 8035?

In their words:

80/35 is a multi-day festival, celebrating music and the people who support musicians, venues, DJs, and, of course, fans.

Multiple national bands will play on the main stage. Regional and local supporting acts will rock the side stages for continuous sonic stimulation.  You’ll find activities including interactive art, merchandise vendors, kid’s spots, resting places, food and beverage sales, and, dare we say, a few surprises.

In my words:

It’s an awesome music event downtown Des Moines. The sculpture park turns into a rock concert with amazing local talent. It’s a don’t miss weekend event in Des Moines and something I can’t wait to do again next year.

What is awesome about 8035?

1. It’s local.
2. It always has killer local talent.
3. It always has killer national talent.
4. THE MUSIC!

Rather than explain the music. I thought videos of the performers would be more fitting:

Christopher the Conquered

Cashes River

Spoon

How you can help 8035

Pepsi has a pretty cool thing called the Refresh Project. We are all fortunate that 8035 was accepted into the project and is in the running for a $50,000 prize. The 8035 music festival raises awareness of Des Moines and Iowa in general. Beside the point that it’s an amazing weekend and the event is amazing, it’s a GREAT thing in the Midwest.

So help out 8035 and help everyone make the next event bigger and better. Click here to vote! Vote daily!

Locating 8035 online

Web : http://80-35.com/
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/8035musicfestival
Twitter : http://twitter.com/8035
Pepsi Refresh Project URL : http://www.refresheverything.com/8035

Looking to cut your teeth in the social media world? We may have just the thing for you. We have a paid internship available to fill.

Job duties will include:

• Supporting the Des Moines Startup Community via Twitter.
• Supporting Silicon Prairie tech via Twitter.
• Supporting Dwolla users and clients via Twitter.
• Managing Twitter DM’s and ensuring they make it to the correct support representative.
• Building Dwolla’s brand and support via Social Media.

Job requirements and skills needed:

• Experience using Twitter.
• Some experience with Dwolla. If you don’t have a Dwolla account sign up first
• We’d also like you to be in Iowa. If you are located in Des Moines that’s a plus. You can work whenever / wherever you’d like.
• Must have access to Twitter and Facebook.
• Must be a respectful communicator.

We expect this would take up 30 minutes to 1 hour of time 5 days a week.

If you are interested please click here and enter your information!

It’s been an extremely productive week for Dwolla.

Internally, we’ve been doing performance testing, mobile, API, web, and security development.  It can be frustrating to describe things so quickly when we’ve been putting massive amounts of time into them. Hopefully when we finish them, you can enjoy them!  Check out some of our work:

We have been named part of one of the 25 Hottest Things in Des Moines!!!

We are honored to be mentioned. Considering I have facial hair and chest hair (#14) obviously, I’m very Des Moines. I also felt in very good company becuase I just bought the Christopher the Conquered album (#24), I drink good beer (#23), I use Four Square frequently (#17), I just went to my first roller derby (#19), we are avid twitter users (#8), I’m an obnoxious 80/35 supporter (#13), and you can get Dwolla T-Shirts at Raygun (#7)…

In a growing market sector, they offer extremely slick solutions based on a 14 year history of security knowledge. They make something exceptionally complicated appear very easy to the end user, and they made it cheap. Their CEO ( Christian Renaud) is a walking mentor to darn near everyone in Des Moines starting a tech company and has been a driving force behind the “tech scene” that does exist here. He has a way of simply reminding people… GO BUILD IT!

Bitmethod

When you’ve got guys on staff with a background in virtual reality or being flown out to teach guys at NASA how to program, do you really need an introduction?  The guys behind Bitmethod are Daniel Shipton, Neil Roberts, Igor Dobrosavljevic, and Josh Dreyer.

If your in Des Moines, you may have just read about these guys in The Des Moines Business Record. Their unique technology allows you to take pictures of things and  have it matched against their database to tell you what you just took a picture of. Their platform is very new and has gotten great traction locally.

Fresk

Fresk built their own back end framework for interacting with objects.Watching it work is like poetry and my favorite part is that they do all of this from an apartment. WATCH THIS!!!

Smarty Pig

Smarty Pig helped start this whole deal in my mind. Knowingly or unknowingly, we all need a success story to build from. Showing all of us that it is possible to gain national attention from Iowa is what we’d all love to show. Everytime Smarty Pig gets another mention in a major media outlet there is a handful of people thinking “Hell Yes” everytime.

You can check in all over the world with foursquare, GoWalla, and even facebook now. Uppward allows you to check in on your airplane. It allows you to track miles to earn rewards and harneses outside API’s to recognize who else is on the flight with you. We love it. Uppward is driven by the bright minds of Nathan Wright, Ben Sinclair, Nate Becker, and James Elliason.

Catchwind

Text messaging experts with a custom built API anyone? Imagine being able to tie your company into a platform that automatically dispatched text messages to your clients much like an e-mail list. The possibilities are vast and their API is extremely expandable.

Scoreyard

A new web based software company in Des Moines is ScoreYard.  It aims to assist the organization of sports teams/leagues.  If you’ve ever been a part of a youth athletic program, your likely aware of the amount of work that goes into organizing, informing, and collecting dues for your league. Scoreyard aims to help with all of that in a simple to understand and cost effective solution.

The new T-Shirts are available for a limited time for $5 through some fine Des Moines small businesses. A big thanks design genius Van Holmgren for the design work. Thanks to the nomade in the sculpture park for the inspiration.

If you prefer to shop in person:

Just stop in and ask for a Dwolla T-Shirt! Keep in mind the cost is $5 at any of these locations.

Raygun : The Greatest store in the Universe.

400 East Locust Street
Des Moines, IA 50309 – Get the map
Phone – (515) 288-1323 – Twitter – Facebook – Web

Village Bean

305 5th Avenue,
Des Moines, IA 50309 – The new location!
Phone – 515-309-0133 – Twitter – Facebook – Web

Mars Cafe

2318 University Avenue,
Des Moines, IA‎ 50309 – Get the map
Phone ‎- (515) 369-6277 – Twitter – Facebook – Web

If you prefer to shop online:

Click Here to go to their online store

You can even checkout with Dwolla! Check out their cool implementation of the API.

Disclaimer : Dwolla T-Shirts may not be listed for sale at Eight Seven Central until this afternoon.

Please send us some pictures! We’d love to see them in the wild like this or this. We’d challenge anyone to one up this guy with the new style!!! Or you can even take after our friend Brad Bach who chose to dress things in a gas station.

Thank you to these wonderful Des Moines business for your help putting this together! Thank you to users and friends for having so much fun with these!

What is the feedback fund

Leave feedback and you are entered to win $100. That simple.

In light of surpassing the 2,000 follower mark on Twitter we promised a contest. The last round of feedback we got from you folks was amazing. It has prompted a number of updates and many more already in the pipeline. So to sweeten the pot we are putting $100 up for grabs. Leave us feedback anywhere or share this blog entry and you are entered to win. Winners are picked randomly. We will be receiving the help of Charise Flynn @ CResults to administer the $100.

How do you participate?

Leave us feedback or share this blog any of the following places :

• On this blog by posting a comment.
• On Twitter
• On Facebook
• Via e-mail

Here are some examples:

• I’d like to pay my DSM parking tickets with Dwolla http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like my landlord to accept Dwolla   http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to invoice my clients through Dwolla via e-mail and would like to know how http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to know what vendors I can use Dwolla with   http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to know who I can hire to integrate Dwolla into my website   http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to see Dwolla integrated with Twilio for over the phone billing http://bit.ly/a2AZPL  - Add to Twitter
• I’d like a better way for Dwolla users to find my business http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to attend a discussion with nathantwright about how to use Dwolla http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• Add a Dwolla for dummies page http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I don’t understand Dwolla but would like to win $100 http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to order Iowa State Fair tickets with Dwolla http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like a wordpress plugin for collecting tips on my blog http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter
• I’d like to pay for my Des Moines Register subscription with Dwolla  http://bit.ly/a2AZPL - Add to Twitter

Suggestions for comments on this blog that will enter you as well. Here are some suggestions:

• Why you have not signed up for a Dwolla account.
• Why Dwolla is more scary than meat eating dinosaurs for you.
• Do you think its too much to send the newsletter once a week?
• Your frustrations over acquiring a new Dwolla T-shirt.
• Do you think live support is easy enough to find?

Or share this blog on Twitter and be entered – Here are a few suggested tweets:

• Tell Dwolla what you hate and you might win $100 – Add to Twitter
• The Dwolla feedback fund. Enter to win $100 for your thoughts – Add to Twitter
• Come up with something new Please include this link so we know who to enter through twitter – http://bit.ly/a2AZPL

Use your imagination. Any way you can see our platform being integrated or used to make your  life better we want to know. Please share with us. If you own a business or work for a company you can see us collaborating on something. Please let us know.

Here is feedback we are working on left and right

• Getting Dwolla open in all 50 US States.
• Mobile access.

Other information & rules

You may enter to win until August 9th, 2010.
To collect winnings you must have a Dwolla account. Sign up here if you do not have a Dwolla account.

We’d like to add another item to the recent list of features being added.

You can now select any funding source you have validated on our HUB pages.

This will allow you to send single or multiple payments directly from your bank account on any HUB page. You’ll be able to select your funding source on Step 4. Here is an example from the Des Moines Social Club HUB page.

How will this new feature benefit your clients?

• When someone pays on a HUB page they do not need to have a Dwolla balance anymore.
• You can select your Dwolla balance, or your bank account as the funding source for any payment. Single or Recurring.

A big thanks to our users at West Wind Church and Test of Time Design for pushing this one forward!