Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

California Wildfires

iRent2u.com would like to take this moment to tell everyone in California our hearts are with you through these terrible wildfires.

This appears to be some of the worst fires our state has seen in a long time, too long to remember. The amazing thing about these horrible situations is the ability for people to band together and help each other. While it is hard to see now, as everyone is too busy evacuating and worrying about their homes, all across the state heroes are emerging to help their fellow man.

The true heroes of your community are the people that go out of their way to lend a hand in your time of need. We may be millions of people living separate lives, but during hardships we come together in an instant bond of friendship, united in a single goal - helping each other.

It is a bit of this power, this spirit of giving and help, that we hope to capture with our new business set to launch next month. By creating a powerful People Helping People lending network, we give a way for people to help each other everyday, to get items they need and save money for what is more important.

Of course it is hard to think about our website when fires are looming down on your property. For those in the path of those horrible blazes we wish for the best, and know that your wonderful community of friends and neighbors will be there to get you through.

A special thanks as well is due to our heroic firefighters, who time and time again go to the most dangerous places, battling on the front lines to keep us safe. To all of you we are truly grateful.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

New Screenshots!

A lot is happening at iRent2u.com right now, and to all of you who aren’t presently alpha testers we would like to give you a little peak behind the curtain.

We will migrate these shots over to the “How” page, but we wanted to get them out as quick as possible. We have made a lot of changes, and in all things are working to make the site as easy to use as possible.

Here is a shot of the home page. Not too much new here, but it’s always nice to start the day at home.

Home Page

Next we have a sneak peak at Search Results page. Again, the changes may not be immediately obvious, but they are important. We have adjusted the results by user feedback, added more icons for ease-of-use, and improved the way search results and categorized.

Search Results Page

Next we have a peak at our message center. Of course our users want the opportunity to chat to each other about the different transactions they are executing.

Message Center

Another sneak peak is of our Lending Wizard. Many of our users said that they want the process of listing an item to be as easy as possible. We listened, and created a great listing wizard to walk users through the process of putting their items online.

Lending Wizard

Our final new screen shot for the day is of the view you have of your own item once it is listed on the site. From here you can easily see the details of the item, when it is available, and either make it available or take it offline.

Item Management Screen

Hope you like the new screen shots. If you are interested in being one of our alpha testers, let me know. We are pretty stingy about who we give these invites out to, but if you make a good case I might be able to sneak it by the team. =^)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Alpha Testing to Start This Week!

For everyone keeping track, we have reached a great milestone.Our website is now ready for alpha testing!

What is alpha testing you may ask? Well I could tell you but then I’d have to…

Oh well, I’ll just tell you.

According to Wikipedia (my favorite resource for knowledge), alpha testing is:

“simulated or actual operational testing by potential users/customers or an independent test team at the developers’ site.”

Huh? simulated operational testing? You want it in regular English?

Basically what it means is that we have gotten so far with the site it is time for OTHER people to test it. This is right on schedule, as we had predicted letting the world in on our little secret in the beginning of September. That means now!

Unfortunately we cannot make it totally public yet (believe me, we would love to). We want to have some of our good friends test it out themselves first. That way if there are any obvious mistakes we can get rid of them before you, our most precious asset, gets a chance to run amok on the site.

So this week we send out some invitations to some very specific people we have chosen for specific reasons (ooh, sounds intriguing).

Besides that, a lot is going on. Much more than I can talk about here. Keep watching, you are going to see some really neat things pop up over the next couple of months!

Is this the first you have heard of iRent2u.com? Go check out our quick survey for a detailed understanding of our revolutionary new concept! http://www.surveymonkey.com

Look for something fun this Wednesday (tomorrow night). We are going to have a little contest for our readers!

Popularity: 10% [?]

iRent2u.com & Saving the World, or Bart Simpson?

On August 13th I posted some information about the new podcast I am doing, GreenTech.fM. It is a bi-weekly interview between myself and a Topanga green architect who not only shares a love for new technologies but also has some incredible innovations of his own. We have received a great response to the show since its launch. We hoped people would like the show, but little did we know that we were going to get hugged by people we had never met!

If you haven’t taken our survey yet, please go here now. Click Here to take it now!

Huggs for iRent2u

One of the ways in which we have gotten a great response is from a relatively new site called Hugg.com. Hugg is a website for people who are interested in green news. Green being a catchall phrase for things environmental in nature, likes issues related to global warming or pollution.

The way the Hugg site works is that people read the short articles, and then vote for the ones they support or agree with. When I posted a snippit of our press release onto the site to see if anyone cared, the response was incredible!

Of all the posts on the website, ours has the 7th highest votes. There have been a total of 29 different people who have “Hugged” our article, plus people have left great comments. Here is a picture of the site and our Huggs.

So we are very excited about all the attention we have gotten for that. What seems a bit strange to me is that the whole time we have been fighting neck and neck with Bart Simpson. What do I mean?

Bart Simpson and His Prius?

If you take another look at the Hugg page, you will find that right above us is another post about Matt Groening driving a Prius. The article is very creatively title “Bart Simpson Drives a Prius”, and if you read the source you will see it details Matt Groening’s entire life, from the perspective of which car he owned. (yawn)

Here is a screen shot of that darned Bart Simpson article:

I know I am biased, but to me a new podcast that is focused on praising and publishing all the incredible new technologies that scientists and entrepreneurs are creating is more interesting than the fact that a famous cartoonist now drives a Prius. But I guess I can only leave that up to the readers at Hugg to decide.

Either way we are happy with our Huggs. This makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and so we wanted to say thank you.

Oh yeah, and if you wanted to help us beat out Bart Simpson, we wouldn’t mind.

Please go to this link here. http://www.hugg.com/node/529 Create an account, and click the little plus symbol underneath the Counter that shows how many Huggs we have recieved.

Thanks for your support!

Popularity: 9% [?]

Welcome to iRent2u.com!

With our impending press release for my new podcast, GreenTech.fM, I am sure we are going to see some fresh visitors to this site. For all of you let me appease your curiosity by explaining what iRent2u is.

What is iRent2u.com?

iRent2u.com is “The Online Rental Marketplace”. A place that allows everyone to get more from what they already have. It is recycling on steroids. It is a concept long overdue.

In the most simple terms possible, iRent2u.com is a new website, set to launch this fall, which will allow everyone to rent and borrow their private belongings from their neighbors. Imagine if eBay did a site for rentals, this would be it.

This is revolutionary because everyone has valuable things they own that just sit around most of the time. If we can find a way to help people get more out of what they already own, the world will be a better place. People will save money by not buying things they don’t need. Others will make money by lending out things they already have.

More money + Less trash = Happy People & Happy World.

Read more about what we are doing here…

Why Are We Doing it? We want to make the world a better place. We want to use the internet for what it was created for, to change the world. We want to do our part to stop pollution & waste. And oh yeah, we also want to get back all that money we spent on our expensive educations. =^)

So Much Potential

There really is incredible potential in making the world more efficient. If we can help out just a little bit, we can make a dramatic difference in many peoples lives. We offer some people a new way to make money, while offering others a way to reduce storage space. We help people get more from less, and others get things they could never before afford.

And the best part about it, is that we are having a blast doing it!

Tell us what you think in our quick survey here!

So enjoy the site!

Check out some screen shots on this page. http://irent2u.com/blog/how/

Get up close and personal with us, and see who has helped us out on this page. http://irent2u.com/blog/about/

Find out where & when we are launching on either of these pages

• where http://irent2u.com/blog/where/
• when http://irent2u.com/blog/when/

Read all my rantings about rentals and our company by just scrolling down the page.

Or shoot us an email and tell us what you think here http://irent2u.com/blog/contact/

Either way, we would like to welcome you to our site, invite you to sign up for our newsletter to be informed when we launch in your area (over in the blue box on the right), and have an all around great time.

Sincerely,

Tim McCormack
Co-Founder iRent2u.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

New “green” podcast series covers revolutionary companies changing the world using sustainable and clean technologies.

GreenTech.fM, a podcast series with entrepreneur & co-founder of iRent2u.com, Tim McCormack, and renowned green architect Robert Mechielsen, is now available online. So far 3 shows have been published (shows zero, one and two), with new shows to be announced every second Tuesday.

The series focuses on current and future environmentally friendly technologies that have the potential to correct and prevent issues created by pollution, overpopulation and energy dependency.

When asked why he was doing a podcast on green technologies, at the same time he was starting an ecommerce site for rentals, Tim McCormack said “We all have to pay attention to what is happening in the world. At iRent2u.com we believe strongly in creating systems that support positive environmental stewardship. Our business model at iRent2u is focused on helping people be more efficient, save money, and reduce waste; but we are far from the only company doing this. I wanted to help everyone become aware of all the incredible things entrepreneurs are doing to make the world a better, safer, & cleaner place.”

Robert Mechielsen, a “green” architect from Holland who now lives in Topanga, CA. had this to say. “This is so exciting. Every day we find new companies and technologies that are breaking all the rules. From the zero emission Tesla motor car, to the enormous growth in wind energy, and the incredible breakthroughs in construction that create homes with 80% to 90% less energy use, it is truly a revolution. As I have dedicated the last 25 years of my life towards building homes that are both beautiful and have low emissions, this is a topic that is very important to me. I love looking at all the new technologies, and can’t wait to start interviewing all the wonderful people who are making these breakthroughs.”

What is a podcast?

A podcast is like a radio show, except instead of turning on your radio, you go to a website and download it (for free). Many people then put these shows onto their iPods (hence the name “pod”cast) and listen to them when convenient. One nice feature of podcasts is that you can subscribe, using programs like iTunes (free from apple.com). Once you subscribe they download automatically to your computer, making it easy to stay current.

“On this show we focus 100% on the heroic efforts of inventors, engineers and investors to create technologies that will counter Global Warming,” Tim also mentioned. ” Many green publications spend all their time trying to scare people. Of course informing people of the dangers is important, but this is not our focus. We start the show with the assumption that people know something needs to be done, and then go from there. We see such incredible potential, and are truly excited to share that with the world. It is a very different message.”

To this Robert added “the Green movement is no longer just for hippies and extremists. Finally green has gone mainstream. Millions of entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors all over the world now realize there is big money to be made in efficiency, cleanliness, and in sustainable economic systems. It is a very exciting time!”

The Shows:

The first 11 shows are conversational style between Tim and Robert, with Robert the expert on current green technologies and Tim asking the questions that anyone new to the field would ask. From show #11 on, there will be interviews with leading scientists, entrepreneurs, & investors regarding the current trends and advances.

The first show, show zero, gives an introduction of the hosts and the show. The following ten shows cover such topics as:

0001 – What are Green Technologies?
0002 – 20 Emerging Green Technologies (the Rapid 20 Show)
0003 – Sustainability, Issues and Progress
0004 – Solar Power, How Does it Work?
0005 – SCIP Construction, A Revolution in Building Technology
0006 – Toxicity in Everyday Living
0007 – Using Nature to Reduce Energy Consumption
0008 – Bio Mimicry, What is it & Why?
0009 – Ecotourism, How Sexy is Green?
0010 – Land Restoration & Preservation Techniques

Don’t get left behind. Find out what is happening in the Green revolution.

GreenTech.fM is committed to quality and studies every topic before publication. The site lists links to show notes and the topics discussed for verification and further research. GreenTech.fM is dedicated to bringing green technologies to the forefront of future development.

Listen for free at www.GreenTech.fM today!

Popularity: 27% [?]

What if everyone could get more value from what they already have?

This is the question we asked ourselves last October when we began putting this company together.

How many things do you own that you don’t really need? In our survey many people told us they own multiple items that for most of the time just sit around collecting dust. Maybe its a stationary bike that you bought during a healthy kick, but now hardly use because you go jogging instead (or not).

Maybe its a tent, or a bookcase, a punching bag, some specialty tools for a one-time job, a pet carrier, a set of golf clubs, old books you have already read, your parents old furniture that is sitting in your garage… anything!

Haven’t taken the survey yet? Go here now…

The fact is, we all own things that are valuable, but are providing zero value to us. What can you do?

The first option is to just sell them. Of course you will be lucky to get half of what they cost, and then you will not have them anymore. Most people don’t want to sell their golf clubs because they only use them three times a year.

We propose a simple alternative. List your items on our site, let your neighbors borrow them, and sit back and collect the money. Everyone wins!

Your neighbors get to borrow something instead of buying it - saving money - they win.

You get to lend your items that are sitting around - making money - you win.

Together we make the world more efficient - people are buying less and thus they are throwing away less trash - all of society wins!

Together we have more. That is what we believe at iRent2u.com, and this September we will prove it to you.

Popularity: 11% [?]

What Do You Want to Rent?

One of the neat things about creating an open platform where people can rent out anything they want, is watching what people have to rent out. Of course we are a bit early to start telling you what people are renting, since we haven’t even launched yet, but we can tell you about some of the more interesting requests and comments we have seen.

Below is a listing of some of the items recommended to us by people who took the survey. Not everyone was completely serious when making suggestions, and we were a bit concerned by how many Americans today enjoy entertaining the idea of renting women, but for the most part we got a great response.

Some Interesting Suggested Items to Rent:

• Being able to “borrow” the use of expensive computer software, like Adobe CS3, would be great. I don’t do enough graphic design to want to buy this software, but I would love to be able to rent some time to use it.
• Table saw, circular saw, hot glue gun, weed wacker, hedge trimmer, electric blower, steam cleaner, tile saw
• I have found a real need to rent baby items (car seat, stroller, pack and play) when friends come in town or if I go out of town.
• What about borrow “help”? Like to fix a door, special garden work or similar?
• We might do a rental of art for corporations
• One of the biggest things on this list is the books…University book stores rip off students. This is a good way for owners of books to get the value they paid for it.
• Are you going to do things like cup of sugar? What about favors, I water your plants you water mine?

Do you have any ideas of your own? If so, take the survey and let us know. We are always interested to hear your comments. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=0S3pPYxkR6S0eGbiQVlZ7A_3d_3d

Unique Rental Company Items:

Besides what we have seen on our survey, there are other interesting things being rented these days.

One new option is renting handbags & jewelry. A popular site for doing this is www.BagBorrowOrSteal.com This is something that I personally would never even look at, but my wife was quite taken with the idea. Unfortunately we had serious problems with the service when we tried it out, but the concept is great. Rent expensive handbags instead of purchasing them, and then you can trade in for new ones and always have a fun new bag! Be careful with the mail though, send it incorrectly and you will pay for the whole bag, which is what happened to us on our first one.

Another thing I NEVER would have thought of is renting pets! Believe it or not, www.FlexPetz.com already exists, and is helping people enjoy pets who don’t have the time to care for one all by themselves. Now how this works I cannot say, since we are talking about living animals. This does seem strange, but then again there must be situations where this works really well. Perhaps this is good for elderly folks who just are not able to care for a pet all by themselves. As a pet lover myself I am glad to know that this service exists to help out those who have had to go without in the past.

Something a bit in the future is a service called Riot & Return http://www.riotandreturn.co.uk/. This is children’s clothing from the label Keep & Share. Apparently people will pay by subscription, and then return the clothes after they have been used. This seems brilliant to me, as children’s clothing costs a lot for such a short use cycle.

Rent Everything!

We love to see new companies making rentals a more acceptable alternative. Renting increases the use of an item, decreases waste, and is an all around better options for many different things. Hopefully we can provide an abundance of new items for rent on our website once we launch. Our goal is to have at least a little of everything, with hopefully a lot of most.

Once we all start renting more, we are all going to get more from what we already have. That works perfect for us, because we strongly believe that “Together We Have More”.

iRent2u.com, the Online Rental Marketplace - What do you want to rent?

Popularity: 12% [?]

Do you live in the Inland Empire? Do you think websites are fun and exciting like we do? Do you like talking about the cool sites you have been to, in person instead of just on Stumbleupon and Digg?

If so, then please come to Starbucks on Orange street in Redlands on Wednesday the 15th of August. We would love to meet you, especially if you know how to do web design or web programming!

Hope to see you there!

Click here to check out
The iRent2u.com’s Inland Empire Web Technology Meetup Group!

Popularity: 6% [?]

I am happy to say that our survey has blasted through the 500 barrier, well on its way to hitting that exciting and elusive 1,000 responses mark!

This weekend, after Pepperdine university so kindly sent out the survey to a bunch of our old graduating classes, the survey blasted by 500 all the way up to hitting 544 responses. Once again the responses have been great. Here are a few fun statistics that we have taken out of it.

But for anyone who hasn’t taken it yet, here is the link. Don’t peak at what other people said, take the survey yourself first! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=0S3pPYxkR6S0eGbiQVlZ7A_3d_3d

Now On to the results. I don’t want to give away the whole survey here, but I will give you five of some of the more interesting statistics we pulled from it.

• 86.2% would be willing to lend their personal items to their neighbors
• 82.3% would be willing to rent items from their neighbors
• 85.1% feel comfortable paying to borrow items they need
• 52.1% would be willing to lend items even if they were only rented once or twice a year
• For most items questioned, between 5 and 6 times as many people were willing to borrow items than lend them, which provides an excellent value proposition to lenders
• 94.8% of our respondents would be willing to either lend or borrow items. Out of 500 people surveyed, only 26 said they would not be willing to do one of the two options

So as you can tell, we have been getting very positive responses. This of course bodes very well for our business model, and we look forward to getting everyone on the site and giving them a chance to prove their bold statements. =^)

Speaking of the site, it is coming along very well. We have made tremendous project, in part thanks to some great effort on our web development team, A Small Orange. We are very very excited to give you a chance to run amok on the site, but first we want to work out some of the little bugs.

We will be posting new screen shots soon though, so make sure to keep checking back. It is looking great, working well, and getting us all pumped to launch as soon as possible. I can’t wait to show you have far it has come.

Look for new shots to be up within the week. For now, thanks for visiting, thanks for taking the survey, and thanks to all our die hard fans who voted for us on the Eventful box below. We appreciate it.

Popularity: 9% [?]