Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Smigrod.
Dan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am the Atlanta-based Founder of a Community of 10,000+ 3D-VR-360º-Street View photographers around the globe (and the organizer of the Atlanta Mixed Reality Meetup).
After winding down my 20+ year, 25-person TV/entertainment promotion agency –working with clients such as AMC, CMT, Nickelodeon, Blue Man Group and Disney on Broadway, I joined Atlanta Tech Village to be among other high-energy, tech entrepreneurs and return to my childhood passion for photography.
In July 2014, I founded We Get Around Atlanta to shoot Matterport Spaces 3D Tours –Google Street View on Steroids – to help real estate agents win more and bigger premium listings more often. In August 2014, I founded what is now known as the We Get Around Network Forum to give/get help with this new visual storytelling solution and shortly thereafter, started the We Get Around Referral Network to help other geeky photographers like me succeed faster.
In this 9 October 2014 video ( https://youtu.be/CnySKn1F_Gk ), I outline my vision at Atlanta Startup Village at Atlanta Tech Village in front of hundreds of Atlanta’s technorati. In this video (https://youtu.be/7ioByybOn9s), Atlantans experience Virtual Reality (VR) for the first time. And, in this video, I tell me story ( https://youtu.be/ziAQ_-GUqcY)
I enjoy Argentine Tango dancing with my wife; fashion and glamour photography and travel. I have been to 39 countries; most recently to Japan as the Guest of Google for their international two-day Google Street View Summit in Tokyo (10-11 May 2017). I blog about my travels: https://www.we-get-around.com/wegetaround-atlanta-our-blog/2017/5/13/ana-first-class-the-art-of-perfection-on-steroids
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It took five years to be an over-night success. Technology pivots. Marketing pivots. Rocky road (and not the ice cream). For example, today, I can shoot a 360º photo sphere, 360º video and live stream 360º video from a $130 camera. And, there are more than 60 other camera/platforms in this space today.
Four years ago, the 360º photos were doable with $3,200 in camera gear and training and 360º video and live-stream was not even on the horizon of being affordable or practical. That said, I knew I wanted to be early: not late.
Though osmosis of being among 1,000+ tech entrepreneurs from 350 companies at Atlanta Tech Village – I learned that I did everything wrong, BUT, I still managed to succeed (with a lot of help). I had no knowledge of residential and commercial real estate space when I started. Today, I am an authority and subject matter expert on 3D-VR-360º in our tiny corner of the Universe.
Sometimes not knowing what you don’t know can be an advantage. If I knew everything before I began this journey, I might not have taken the first step.
Words that describe me? An, optimistic. tenacious, persistent, live-in-the-future-today entrepreneur with a 100 percent go-make-it-happen wife.
I asked We Get Around Network Forum Members to describe me. Here is their list of adjectives:
Expert
Knowledgeable
Dedicated
Diligent
Professional
Open
Kind
Humorous
Energetic
Proactive
Creative
Thought Leader
Articulate
Effective Communicator
Public Speaker
Leader
Innovative
Goes the extra mile
Interested
Interesting
Inclusive
Life of the Party
Jet-setter
Knowledge Hungry
Social
Strategic
Intentional
Calculating
Knowledgeable
Opportunistic
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the We Get Around Atlanta story. Tell us more about the business.
By leveraging my experience running We Get Around Atlanta – and my 20+ years in TV/entertainment marketing – the We Get Around Network helps 10,000+ 3D-VR-360º-Street View Photographers succeed faster.
While the online Forum Community is free – and generating 1+ million page views annually – we provide 40+ Membership benefits to hundreds of Pros that pay the We Get Around Network $49 monthly.
And, because we have aggregated a very specialized Community, 3rd party service providers and Camera/Platform companies pay the We Get Around Network a premium to be deeply integrated with the Community.
I am most proud of leveraging my experience to help 3D-VR-360º-Street View Photographers succeed faster.
I love what I do. And, our Members are so appreciative that I get “love letters” weekly. For example …
“Dan, as one of the first members of the We Get Around Network (WGAN) Forum, I find it incredibility useful and really enjoy reading all of the areas which fellow Matterport Service Providers are deploying this incredible technology. All of use on the WGAN Forum are the very early pioneers in the exploding fields of Virtual Tours, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality and the go to place to keep up to date is the WGAN Forum.”
“Dan I’d like to thank you for having the vision to setup this site as you would have thought that this would have been the very first thing Matterport would have done when they began to sell their camera …
In the very early day of first using my camera like most of us there was not real information on its use and limitations it was trial and error and WGAN Forum is where I and many other have turned to seek advice and knowledge in this ever-changing field. Thanks again Dan.” Gary Synder
“Thank you for everything you are doing! I still feel that my membership in this community is one of the greatest financial and professional investments I have made in YEARS!!!” Chris Fraser
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
What’s the role of luck in my business? I have always believed in the saying, “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
The first day that I joined Atlanta Tech Village, 3.5 years ago, I met my now friend and colleague, Mike Wilt, the Founder of Ninja Post.
The We Get Around Network would not have been possible without the Ninja Post forum in-the-cloud-hosting platform – and tricked-out by Mike to add monetization to our Forum.
Today, Mike and I share an office at the Village and sit side-by-side conceiving and implementing stuff in hours, days and weeks that take large companies weeks, months and years to launch.
That’s super-lucky. While I didn’t know that I would meet Mike – and countless others at the Village that have helped me – I knew I had to be at Atlanta Tech Village. So, that’s about creating good luck.
Pricing:
- $49 monthly | We Get Around Network Standard Membership
- $99 monthly | We Get Around Network Premium Membership
- $199 monthly | We Get Around Network Silver Membership
- $299 monthly | We Get Around Network Gold Membership
- $399 monthly | We Get Around Network Premium Membership
Contact Info:
- Address: We Get Around Network
Atlanta Tech Village, Suite 204
3423 Piedmont Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30305 - Website: http://www.WeGetAroundNetwork.com
- Phone: 404-303-7311
- Email: DanSmigrod@WeGetAroundNetwork.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanSmigrod
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansmigrod/
Image Credit:
Fashion and glamour images by We Get Around Atlanta Photographer Dan Smigrod
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
