Car Wash News

The Auto Spa, a full-service car wash and detailing center operated by WLR Automotive Group Inc., has opened a new location in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Headquartered in Frederick, Maryland, since 1987, WLR Automotive Group currently operates five car-wash facilities in Maryland that together serve more than 225,000 customers each year.

Visit http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/626052/Full-service-car-wash--detailing-center-opens.html?nav=5001 to view the full article online.

The Glenrock Planning Commission approved Matt Miller’s proposal for a conditional use permit to build a car wash on the property located at 303 West Birch St., where the empty barber and pottery shops are currently located, at Tuesday night’s meeting. Miller now must present his proposal to town council at their first meeting of the year for the final say on the project.

Visit http://www.douglas-budget.com/glenrock/article_cc34b9a2-96b2-11e4-a0b7-0f0db0b2890f.html to view the full article online.

On the corner of 46th street and the West Side Highway, you will find a regular good old car wash. It’s been here since 1947 making it a corner staple.
At a quick glance, yes, it looks pretty average – the dirty cars go in and clean cars come out.
However, on the inside, it’s a completely different world. A donut shop! Yes, inside a car wash.

Visit http://pix11.com/2014/12/23/delicious-donuts-shop-hides-inside-manhattan-car-wash/ to view the full article online.

When we think of the great innovations that come our way, we might instinctively think of them as the product of a sudden brainstorm from an individual—a light bulb moment, if you will. But in reality, good ideas can come from anywhere and leading companies are finding that innovation is often produced over time with a lot of collective sweat equity by many people.

Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/katevitasek/2015/01/13/innovation-and-collaboration-its-not-an-either-or-proposition/ to view the full article online.

People often use the words "invention" and "innovation" interchangeably. This is not only incorrect, but misses a few key subtleties in meaning that can change a conversation. Invention is about creating something new, while innovation introduces the concept of "use" of an idea or method. While this difference is subtle, and these words are listed in every thesaurus that I checked as synonyms of each other, they are definitely not 100% interchangeable. An invention is usually a "thing", while an innovation is usually an invention that causes change in behavior or interactions.

Visit http://www.wired.com/2015/01/innovation-vs-invention/ to view the full article online.

While creating a new course for UC Santa Barbara’s Entrepreneurial Program entitled, "The Past, Present and Future of Entrepreneurship," I was recently blessed to come across Steven Johnson’s PBS series and accompanying book, How We Got To Now. Mr. Johnson doesn’t just tell us How We Got To Now, he also points to How We’ll Get To Tomorrow.

Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngreathouse/2015/01/11/predict-the-future-with-these-laws-of-innovation/ to view the full article online.

In 2011, Gartner research predicted that more than 70 percent of businesses would have at least one "gamified" application by 2014. If you're unsure what that means, just take a look around. Do you have a rewards card on your keychain that earns you points? Are you the top contributor in a LinkedIn group? Is there an app on your phone to help you stay fit? If you answered yes to any of these, then you've experienced gamification—the application of game elements to non-game contexts.

Visit http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/biztools/gamification-and-small-business-marketing.html to view the full article online.

Gamification is in many ways the next step in the evolution as it is the application of basic game theory and mechanics in contexts outside of games. The approach is finding increasing acceptance as a method of problem solving, and is currently being used in a variety of applications to improve user engagement and other important data gathering metrics. It attempts to encourage and harness the natural desire people have to compete, achieve, and win, through providing them structured rewards that are both tangible and status-based in nature in return for participating in the system.

Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2014/03/05/how-to-solve-your-biggest-marketing-problems-with-gamification/ to view the full article online.

Have you ever watched teenagers play "Call of Duty" for hours on end and wondered what kind of magic keeps these users so deeply engaged? More importantly, have you ever wondered how you might be able to use this magic to engage your customers? It's not magic. It's gamification. Companies have been employing this technique for years--decades, even--but over the past few years, digital marketers have started to realize that gamification can take their campaigns to new levels.

Visit http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/News/News-Feature/Applying-the-Secrets-of-Gamification-to-Your-Digital-Marketing-Strategy-97170.htm to view the full article online.