It's been a year of serious growth for DriversEd.com, and not just in terms of the states we were most recently approved in (four of them!). As Stephanie mentioned in the last post, we moved to a roomier office (I have a cubicle now! Sweeeet) and we also got a Scion to add to our fleet of yummy driver training vehicles.

In addition to all that, we were recently approved by the DMV. This is a big deal because it's the first step in creating more regulation for the online driver education industry. A key to preventing teen accidents, after all, is to ensure that certified driving schools are providing students with a quality education, the DMV has begun reviewing the curricula of various institutions across the board.

And DriversEd.com passed the review! *sighs with relief* That's good news for us AND for you.

New Digs

We've moved!

We finally came to the conclusion that we had outgrown our old offices, so we packed up everything a made a trip down the street. Of course, moving day just happened to be the rainiest day of the year, but a few large umbrellas managed to hold us and the moving crew over. Our new offices are placed centrally in a lovely, streamlined, high-tech office building with fancy restrooms and a modern kitchen. Finally, I can feed my constant handwashing obsession without having to travel 4 flights up. We all thought we would miss the historic building with mirrored elevators that was our home for so many years, but our new cubes seem to have fixed all of that.

Now, my favorite part of the workday happens when I walk into the building. I'm instantly overwhelmed with the smell of the 10 foot holiday tree in the lobby. It's very fragrant....in a good way!

Posted by Stephanie Pullen - Content Elf

Awareness - Part Deux

After contemplating, meeting, and deconstucting complicated Venn diagrams, we have finally come up with the vehicle (rolls eyes - excuse the pun) to spread awareness about the perils of drinking and driving. We encourage everybody to take a look at our "I Am Not a Statistic" microsite. If you go there, you can express you thoughts about drinking and driving, test your knowledge about the subject, and perhaps even learn something new about prevention.


We plan to also offer some decent downloads like buddy icons, screen savers, and the like just as soon as we finish making them as awesome as possible. And believe this - they will be truly awesome.

Thanks,
Stephanie - Excessively Aware

The Wheels on the Cooper Go 'Round & 'Round...

It's been crazy-busy over the past few months, and here's why.

We've received state approval for the following courses:

Oklahoma
Minnesota
Texas
Virginia

Back in our home state of California, we've launched driver training in Contra Costa County! The blue and orange Mini Coopers have been unveiled and are ready to roll. Check out the design:

I think it's flippin' sweet, but that's just my (um, biased) opinion.

-Faithfully inscribed by Angela, the Soul of Marketing

"I'm Not a Statistic!"

Report from Summer Jam

Summer Jam was a huge success. We got there at about 8 AM, but the Shoreline Arena was already bursting with life. I was half asleep when I got there, but within
minutes, I was wide awake thanks to the music bumping before the concert even started.

Our booth was right in the front of the gates, the same place the 106.1 KMEL booth was last year. The concert was scheduled to start at 12:00, but the line was increasing by the minute, as early as 9:30. There were booths from all over the Bay, representing everything from Trojan to record labels. Everyone was representing their city; girls dressed up as ghetto fabulous as it gets. Before the concert even started, you could tell it was going to be crackin'. The DriversEd.com staff, were sweating and burning in the hot sun, passing out bright orange bracelets with the slogan "I AM NOT A STATISTIC." The staff worked out a plan to stand in front of the gates and pass them out as soon as people were walking in. Occasionally, we would take turns running the booth as a break from the overwhelming crowd. Not surprisingly, our bracelets soon became a popular symbol, especially for the younger majority of the crowd. Through out the day, people could be seen wearing up to five on their hands, and still asking for more to take to their friends. Most of The KMEL staff, including the well known Chuy Gomez, were also sporting the wristbands and some even helped pass them out. In the middle of the day, I grabbed a bag of wristbands and decided to take a peak at the show that could be heard from everywhere in the arena. Before I even made it half way up to the stage, the bag that was full of bracelets just minutes ago was already empty, I had to make another trip back to the booth and grab two more bags.

Ying Yang Twins, 112, Kanye West, Keisha Kole, John Legend, the Bay Area's own Goalpele, and many more artists drove the audience crazy. By the end of the day, almost everybody could be seen wearing the orange wristbands. People were stopping by the booth to express their feeling about the wristbands. Most of them felt that it was a great idea, unsafe driving is a serious problem we face. Sending out the message of supporting safe driving causes people to pay attention to their driving and remember to drive cautiously.

I still see people on the streets wearing our wristbands and I take it as a positive sign.

Written by Dasha

Am I a statistic?

We recently participated in a Bay Area hip-hop festival: KMEL’s Summer Jam (more on this to come later). When I say participated, I don’t mean that we were up on stage with John Legend and Kanye West (please). We set up an info booth and let people know what we are all about. But here’s the thing, we also gave away our new slogan bracelets that lets people express how they feel about drunk driving. The bracelets read, “I Am Not A Statistic.” Think about that for a minute.

I think the roots of this bracelet can be found in what we have been talking about in the office lately. Basically, we are all kind of fed up with either the 1) faux-hipster or 2) childish language used when addressing teens. From what I can see, this happens more often in places where people are trying to sell teens unoriginal products: crappy teen magazine ads, unsuccessful online clothing stores, and other houses of shill.

When I was a teen, I wasn’t dumb, but I wouldn’t call myself the brightest bulb in the bunch either. But I did know one thing; I had x-ray vision when it came to ads. Middle-aged ad men using what they thought was the freshest urban slang trying to sell me the latest pimple cream or microwavable pizza? I couldn’t connect. But I am in no way a spokesperson for everyone. However, I still think most people are tired of that weird sort of approach.

Is it just me? I think teens are smarter than that. They certainly need guidance and major decisions – especially when it comes to purchases. But teens are pretty savvy about a lot of things. Now, think about that for a minute.

Enough of my rant.

Something to think about – that is all.


Posted by Stephanie P. - "Middle-aged ad men scare me."

Melodramatic Reflections on Street Racing

Working with teens at DriversEd.com gives me a lot of chances to look back on when I was 15. One of the biggest events that occurred around the time I got my license was the pilgrimage that surrounded The Fast and the Furious.

It broke the news of the street racing scene to the rest of the world. You heard mufflers everywhere. Lowered cars scraped painfully over speedbumps. Type R decals splattered everything from common Civic or Prelude models to 350Z’s. Plainclothes cops sat in modded white Mustangs, trying to entice itching racers on the streets.

Then there was the backlash. All our underground racing spots were unearthed and bagged by PO’s before we even knew our time was over. Today, even passively witnessing a street race makes you liable.

Despite the virtual disappearance of underground races, the culture and spirit of modding lives on. It manifests itself in newer, more socially-acceptable mediums, like Pimp My Ride. While stocking your car with cool extras like PS2’s and subwoofers, West Coast Customs discreetly avoids any under-the-hood modifications.

There’s also the customizable Scion movement. The Scion is the ultimate blank-slate vehicle. Almost everything about it can be adjusted, upgraded or added-to at a cost far lower than you’d pay if you were trying to mod your tore-up Civic at home. Having the dealership pimp your ride is a lot more efficient than buying your parts bit by bit off EBay.

Still, speed to me has always beat pretty features. I miss the days of lowered hatchbacks laced with intake. In terms of souping up our cars, though, parents and authority figures alike prefer that we focus more on aesthetics than performance.

Why can’t they feel the same way about school?

-Faithfully inscribed by Angela, the Soul of Marketing

"I'm Not a Statistic!"

There have been a few more dramatic developments since we last spoke. What’s was the most interesting thing to happen today? Try this: someone pulled the fire alarm at our office building this morning. Most of us the DriversEd.com staff made a speedy exit down to the lower level. There, we watched the fire department zip in while drinking coffee (that would be us drinking the coffee – not the firefighters). They discovered absolutely nothing that would harm the building and left looking somewhat dejected. I have to say, firefighters rock.

Now how could we top excitement like that? Well, we have unveiled a new course demo with an enchanting animated hostess – Kelly. Everyone in the office had a bit of input in her creation, so it is a bit like she’s everyone’s child. I think she’s precious, but perhaps that’s just my maternal instinct kicking in. You can judge for yourself. Check her out on the homepage here. What do you think?

Written by Stephanie Pullen - Content Developer/Coffee Drinker

It has been pretty exciting around here lately. We are getting ready to officially announce the launch of FahrSchuleOnline.de, a website that lets new German drivers prepare for their driving exam. On this site, users can try out practice tests aimed at preparing students to pass the exam the first time. Tests are composed of actual questions found in the official written examination developed by TÜV (the German equivalent of Department of Motor Vehicles) . Basically, it offers some functions that are similar to the ever popular DriversEd.com (only this time, everything is in German). I could make a lame joke about writing content without a speed limit, but I will spare you.

Tobias (or as we like to call him around here - "German Dude") is working feverishly on some cool content as I type away at this blog. I always knew that someday I would be working for a hip, international corporation. And some people say that globalization is a bad thing...

Written by Stephanie Pullen: Content Development Diva