Bet you didn’t know that Ron Burgundy is sending you emails about AZIMA’s programs and other events. Well, not the real Ron Burgundy, but close enough. Adam Arkfeld, president and founder of Tempe-based ParaCore is the talented web developer behind AZIMA’s email campaigns. He also doesn’t take himself too seriously, as evidenced in his “About Us” section on his firm’s website, where he and his “eclectic nerd herd” team have photos of their alter egos displayed. But while Adam chose Ron Burgundy for his alter ego, he takes his work very seriously.
“I primarily oversee operations and really enjoy building a business that revolves around systems, consistent experiences and great work,” Adam said. “My entire day is essentially problem solving and learning new things which are my two favorite things to do.”
Founded in 2009, ParaCore works with medium-sized businesses that are looking to use the web to automate processes and convert visitors. Automating processes allows clients to save time and create consistent experiences, while converting those visitors generates the actual revenue. “In addition to ground up development, we primarily do custom web work that helps different systems talk to one another like CRMs, the website, databases, email clients, social media networks and more,” he said. “We also love web based apps and hybrid native apps like PhoneGap!”
An Arizona native, Adam’s passion for technology started at an early age. “The first website I ever worked on was a site called Preserve Your Flowers for my aunt. She owned a floral freeze drying business and I used to sit in the Barnes & Noble coffee shop between classes at ASU updating her site’s HTML. This was in the early 2000’s so the sites were way different back then!” he said.
And while technology has improved, Adam said there’s still a lot of confusion regarding the best way to build and maintain a website. “The biggest misconception we’ve run across lately is that every website should be built on WordPress,” he said. “ParaCore does a fair amount of WordPress development; however, there’s a point when a site stretches beyond WordPress’s natural capabilities and a more custom solution should start being considered. If it’s a large site, oftentimes WordPress simply isn’t organized well for more advanced features like intranets or file sharing portals with API integrations.”
He also said there is a common misconception that creating an email campaign is easy. “Emails are one of the most painstakingly tedious projects a development company can work on,” he said. “It can take the same amount of time to create a visually attractive email that looks great and is responsive than it takes to test a small web project. It’s absolutely insane how challenging they are to look great and consistent across devices.”
AZIMA is very grateful for Adam’s volunteerism and his enthusiasm for our organization. When asked why he joined AZIMA, Adam cited the programs along with the fact that AZIMA provides relevant industry information. “The networking and people I’ve met are really amazing which makes my time spent at the events very valuable. I also appreciate the varied speakers, topics and presentations because I feel like I leave each event with some tangible value.”