The name and logo competition for the Botanic garden in Plovdiv, organized by Agricultural University – Plovdiv and Speedflow Bulgaria, has officially ended. We would like to kindly thank all participants in the competition for their hard work, efforts and the time spent to help create the unique visual identity of the park.

The official deadline for the submission of the creative projects was December 10. We are truly impressed by the big number of applications received and by each participant’s thoughtful approach to the whole brief. 78 designers took part in the competition, 5 of which were teams of two, making the total number of submitted projects – 110!

The ten-member jury, chaired by Professor Hristina Yancheva Ph.D., undertook the difficult task to choose the best name and logo design among all proposals in the competition. The meeting was held on December 11 at the Rector’s Building of the Agricultural University. The jury comprised of Nata Ellis, Commercial Director of Speedflow Bulgaria, Vlad Ellis, CEO of Speedflow Bulgaria, habilitated lecturers on Botany, graphic design experts, students and volunteers from the Steering Committee for the Restoration of the Botanic garden.

The discussion was held behind closed doors and lasted for more than an hour.

Speedflow Bulgaria is thrilled to announce that we are now officially part of the restoration project of the Great Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis. Our team donated to the first initiative of the Friends of the Basilica Foundation called “Adopt a bird”.

The Great Basilica of Plovdiv is the biggest early-Christian temple discovered in the territory of Bulgaria until this moment. It is a unique cultural and historical monument not only for the city of Plovdiv but also for Bulgaria and the world, that is part of the UNESCO Tentative List of significant cultural and natural sites in Bulgaria. Its restoration began in 2015. Since then, Plovdiv Municipality, different organizations, companies, citizens and donors have been actively working together to preserve and restore the historical phenomenon and its impressive Roman mosaics.

The idea of the Foundation and the “Adopt a Bird” campaign is to turn the Bishop’s Basilica into an attractive historical museum and cultural center – a meeting point for people of all ages, from Bulgaria and abroad, that offers plenty of activities and varied cultural program. The complex will open doors at the end of 2019 when Plovdiv will be the European Capital of Culture.

We from Speedflow Bulgaria are extremely happy and proud to be able to be part of such an important and valuable cause. The restoration of the Great Basilica is an amazing project, beneficial to the generations to come, to our cultural heritage and history. We are glad that our team has the opportunity to contribute to the revival of this site and the popularization of Plovdiv around the world.

Enhancing urban spaces has always been a top priority for Speedflow Bulgaria as a socially responsible company. The restoration of the Great Basilica is not the only project we support. Since 2017, our team has been actively involved in the Restoration of the former Botanical Garden in Plovdiv, and now, together with Agrarian University-Plovdiv, we organize a name and logo competition to establish the visual identity of the future recreational area.

See how you can join here

We at Speedflow Bulgaria love challenging projects, especially when there are noble or social causes behind them. The last web development project we did for the nongovernmental organization Teach for Bulgaria was definitely one of them.

 

About the organization

Teach for Bulgaria is part of the global network Teach for All and was established in 2010 with the support of America for Bulgaria Foundation. Ever since Teach for Bulgaria has been actively involved and passionately fighting to provide equal access to quality education for children in Bulgaria that belong to disadvantaged groups. For that purpose, young professionals from different spheres of expertise undergo a special selection process and extensive trainings which prepare them to become teachers in schools that need the most support. The program lasts for two years and is currently implemented in 11 regions – Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Lovech, Vratsa, and more. More than 260 people have successfully completed the program and are continuing to play an important role in transforming and improving the quality of education in Bulgaria. It is not a surprise that Teach for Bulgaria just got two first places in the national Employer of the Year Award in the categories “Best Training Program” and “Best Career Development Program”.

 

About the project

The constantly growing Teach for Bulgaria community and its positive contributions to the whole educational system have led them to reconsider and change their digital image. The new one needed to reflect and highlight the mission, values, and vision of the organization. Our team was happy to create a website that provides the optimal user experience. The improved architecture and the new more efficient navigation structure gives user quick and easy access to the needed information. We also processed and optimized a large amount of text to further boost the intuitive web design.

If you want your web project to be completed on time, do not hesitate to contact us at info@speedflow.bg. We will be happy to help you at every stage of development – from planning to support.

We are so happy to announce that together with Agricultural University–Plovdiv Speedflow Bulgaria is organizing a Name and Logo Competition for the University Botanic garden in Plovdiv.

Since 2017, our team has been actively involved in the Botanic garden renovation project. We are so excited that this special place will finally get its visual identity.

 

Terms and Conditions of Competition Entry

 

1. About the Botanic garden

The Botanic garden in Plovdiv was founded in 1950 on an area of 250 decares. It is the third botanical garden in Bulgaria and the first one built outside Sofia. Through the years, its size has been reduced several times and now it spreads over 113,504 decares. Unfortunately, all research, development and maintenance activities ceased completely after 1990. Currently, the park is in a terrible condition. The whole area keeps on deteriorating although it is home to rare plants and trees.

There have been several attempts to revive the Botanic garden over the years, but no substantial results were achieved. Until 2017! Then, thanks to the joint efforts of Agricultural University-Plovdiv, Plovdiv Municipality, District “Trakia” and benevolent citizens the Steering Committee for the Restoration of the Botanic garden was established. Its proactive board organized more than 15 cleaning events, green initiatives for children and adults, and a big drawing competition on the topic “My Botanic garden”.

The determination and enthusiasm of Plovdiv residents to bring back to life the former Botanic garden is growing even stronger. The joint efforts of all participants have brought many positive results:

• Over 1500 sq.m. was cleaned
• Hundreds of trash bags were thrown away
• A garden with over 1000 crocuses was planted
• 30 birdhouses were built
• Illegal constructions were demolished
• A request for tenders to build a new fence has been initiated

So, here we are, a year later! Our team believes that the time has come for the Botanic garden to get a beautiful name and an impressive logo.

 

2. General guidelines

By organizing the Name and Logo competition we would like to attract more followers to this noble cause – supporters, environmentalists, friends, specialists, sponsors, contributors, plant lovers, etc. with whom to join forces and complete the project for the restoration of the Botanic garden. We do hope that in time it will become a well-known park and a favorite recreation area not only for Plovdiv citizens but also for foreigners.

 

3. Name and logo specifications

Both the name and the logo must convey the right messages and provoke associations and emotions related to botanic gardens and the preservation of the flora in Bulgaria and the world. They must be positive, attractive, and express one’s love for nature in general.
The design of the logo should be original work and must not resemble or copy another existing logo. It must not contain distinctive elements or initials of the author. It should illustrate and express the concepts of the Botanic garden and provide the necessary recognition.
The name should not be taken/under special patents and be available for use. It is advisable to create a unique font or use one that is not copyrighted (e.g. open source)
Each designer can decide for themselves if they would incorporate the name in the logo or not.

 

4. Eligibility

The Name & Logo competition is open to both Bulgarian and foreign artists. Designers can apply individually or as a creative team. There are no age restrictions. Each participant has the right to submit up to three different creative concepts.

 

5. Deadlines

Start of the competition: 01.10.2018
Submission deadline: 10.12.2018
Winner announcement: middle of December 2018

 

6. Submission requirements

1. Color, monochrome, positive and negative versions in JPG format (1500×1500)
2. Two language versions of the design – in Latin and Cyrillic
3. One page description of your ideas
4. Brand book (PDF)
5. Branding mockups
6. Your resume
7. Contact details: name, phone number, and email

Please, submit your entries to garden@speedflow.bg no later than December 10.

 

7. Judging

Firstly, there will be a public voting. It will determine the 10 best works that will go to the final stage of the competition. The winning design will be selected by an independent jury consisting of the competition organizers.

 

8. Prize

The author of the best name and logo will get a prize of 1000 leva.

 

9. Copyrights

The winner agrees to present the winning design along with all work files to the Botanic Garden, transferring all copyrights to the Agricultural University–Plovdiv.

If you are full of creative ideas, genuinely love nature and are feeling inspired by the Bulgarian flora, we are looking forward to receiving your concepts at garden@speedflow.bg no later than December 10.

Speedflow Bulgaria team and Agricultural University–Plovdiv wish lots of success to all participants!

Speedflow Bulgaria team took part in the national campaign “Let’s clean Bulgaria together” by organizing the two-day green initiative “Plant a Flower – Save the Botanical Garden of Plovdiv” together with Plovdiv Municipality, district “Trakia” and Agricultural University Plovdiv.

 

About the event

The event took place on 15-16 September at the former Botanical Garden of Plovdiv and gathered together more than 50 volunteers from Bulgaria and abroad. Together we managed to clean a big area, removed lots of trash and planted nearly 1,000 crocuses. We are looking forward to seeing this beautiful garden blossom in the spring.

On behalf of the Steering Committee for the Restoration of the Botanic garden, we would like to thank all volunteers who spent a few hours of their precious time and joined our green initiative. We also would like to say special “Thank you” to Kostadin Dimitrov, the Mayor of district “Trakia”, who constantly supports our initiatives, organizes the waste collection and transport. This time he came on site and joined our team, setting a good example for the whole community.

 

Our role

Since 2017 Speedflow Bulgaria Green Squad has been actively involved in the organization of cleaning events at the Botanic garden. Thanks to the joint efforts of institutions and citizens, we managed to achieve lots of positive results. Up until this present moment, together we have cleaned an area of over 1500 square meters; have thrown away hundreds of trash bags; demolished several illegal buildings in the park, and now Agricultural University Plovdiv, which manages the territory, will choose a tender who is going to build a new fence around the Botanical Garden. This is the most important step in order to protect the park from further pollution, development of illegal activities and nuisance. It will also speed the processes related to its general preservation and restoration plan.

Also, visit the YouTube channel related to the initiative here and learn more.

 

Take part in the next event!

We are very happy that we can contribute to this good cause, to help Plovdiv bring back to life it Botanic garden and preserve the Bulgarian flora heritage.
If you want to help us revive the Botanical Garden, come and join our next event “Plant a Flower – Save the Botanical Garden of Plovdiv Vol.2“, which will take place on October 14, Sunday at 10 am.
See you there!

 

 

Here are some shots from the productive weekend in the Botanical Garden:

Are you ready to meet the requirements of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

The article we have prepared today gives the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the GDPR. Maybe you own a company, maybe you are just an end-user. Whatever the case, don’t stop reading, because the answers you are looking for might be given below.

 

What is GDPR?

GDPR is the new General Data Protection Regulation. It was adopted on April 27, 2016, by the European Union to control the processing, storage, and usage of individual personal data by other individuals, companies, and organizations.

 

When does GDPR come into force?

The new Regulation comes into force on May 25, 2018. Anyone who processes personal data is required to comply with the applicable laws. If not, the penalties may reach up to 20 million euro or 4% of the annual company turnover for the previous year (the bigger amount of both should be paid).

 

How much is the minimum fine in Bulgaria regarding GDPR?

It is not yet 100% sure, but the Bulgarian legislation foresees a minimum fine of 10,000 BGN if you do not cover the new GDPR regulations. This is disputed in a public discussion.

Whom does the new General Data Protection Regulation apply to?

The new General Data Protection Regulation applies to any company/organization that is registered in the European Union and processes personal data. Or monitors individuals, regardless of where exactly the data is being processed and whether or not this is the main business activity of the company or of any of its branches.

 

Does GDPR apply to non-EU companies?

Yes! Every company that offers products and services to EU citizens and processes their personal data, irrespective of its location, is obliged to follow the rules and regulations laid down in the new General Data Protection Regulation.

 

What does personal data mean?

According to the Regulation personal data means any type of information about an individual, which is identified or could be identified, for example:

• first name;
• family name;
• ID number;
• national identification numbers;
• location;
• telephone number
• personal address; 
• IP address; 
• and more; 

More information can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/what-personal-data_en

What is meant by personal data processing under GDPR?

The definition of personal data processing is quite broad. It includes many activities such as collecting, storing, changing, sharing, exchanging, etc.

 

What are my rights as an individual under GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation gives the following rights to subjects, whose personal data is being processed:

• The right to be informed in a completely transparent manner about the ways in which companies and organizations are processing personal data.
• The right of access to their personal data at any given moment
• The right to rectify, update, change personal data when it is incomplete or incorrect
• The right to erase their personal data, widely known as “the right to be forgotten”
• The right to restrict the processing of personal data
• The right to data portability, which means that every individual is entitled to use their own personal data in a way they deem suitable as well as to share it with other data processors and controllers.
• The right to object to the ways in which their personal data is being processed and used. This is also valid in the case where personal data is being used for marketing and advertising purposes, research, etc.
• Right not to become the subject of automated decision making and profiling stemming from the processing of personal data. This way subjects are protected against bearing the consequences and responsibilities of an automated decision made without the involvement of another human being.

 

What are my legal obligations as a company/organization/personal data processor under GDPR?

The new General Data Protection Regulation introduces new rules and obligation for everybody who processes and stores personal data. Here are some of them:

• GAP analysis – an analysis that aims to determine does a specific company/organization (which is a personal data administrator/processor) meets the GDPR requirements. The analysis can be done internally – in the company or externally – with the assistance of a consultant or a consulting company;
• Processing and reporting – All personal data must be processed according to the principles laid down in GDPR and this must be proved at all times.
• Protection – Individual personal data must be protected against violation at every stage of its processing and use.
• Data Protection Officer (DPO) – Each company/organization/personal data processor must appoint a Data Protection Officer if:
  – its main business activities are related to the processing of personal data on a large scale or to the regular and large-scale monitoring of individuals. This includes tracking and profiling of individuals on the Internet (even for advertising purposes). Including banks and financial institutions, telecommunication operators, GPS service providers, video surveillance (CCTV services), behavioral ads;
  – if the administrator has more than 250 recruited employees.
  – if the administrator processes personal data of more than 10 000 individuals
  – if the administrator processes special or so-called “Sensitive” personal data on a large scale – such as all hospitals, health establishments, pension, and insurance companies
  – when it comes to public authorities except courts in performing their judicial functions. The official data protection officer (DPO) should have had the relevant training and the organization itself will tell how much he/she meets the new regulations. It is advisable to have a good knowledge in the field in which he/she works. As well as good practices for the protection of personal data.
  -This obligation can be “outsourced” and an external DPO appointed;
• Impact assessment – An impact assessment on the protection of personal data and consumers has to be done once every two years;
• Risk assessment – an assessment is made to show the potential risk of loss of personal data or breakthrough/hacking in the protection of the organization and the potential damage;
• Notification – Data processors are required to notify Data Protection Authorities if any breach to the processing of personal data has been identified.
• Assessment – An assessment of the impact on personal data protection is mandatory.
• Consultation – If the assessment shows that the risk is high and the data processor does not take the necessary precautions to reduce it, the data processor is obliged to have a consultation with the Data Protection Authority before processing any personal data.
• Security – Personal data security must be ensured at all times and, if necessary, the appropriate technical and organizational measures should be implemented. For this purpose, each company must have updated internal rules and policies compatible with GDPR;
• Documentation – Each company must keep strict documentation (or register) and document the listed obligations above. This task is a responsibility of the Data Protection Officer (DPO). Also, logs about what’s happening on a particular website need to be kept.
• And more.

 

What information must I provide to the subjects whose personal data is being processed?

No matter what business activity you do, be it online or offline, you must inform the subject whose personal data is being processed about the following:

• Who are you and does your company/organization do
• Contact details of your company, as well as the contact details of your Data Protection Officer (if you have appointed one)
• Why you collect and process personal data and what exactly it will be used for
• What categories of personal data you collect
• On what legal grounds you process personal data
• For how long their personal data will be stored
• Are you going to share their data with third parties
• Will their data be transmitted outside the EU
• Explicitly state their rights with regard to personal data processing (right of access, information, etc. mentioned above in our article)
• And more

This information can be included in your “Privacy policy”. Another idea is to create a separate “Cookie Policy” page and describe all of this along with types of cookies and tracking technologies you are using for collecting personal data.

 

How will GDPR affect your online business?

The new General Data Protection Regulation was enacted for the purpose of protecting the rights of the sides participating in the exchange of personal data online. In other words, under GDPR the interactions and relationships between any business and its customers are facilitated and the flow of information between the parties is secured.

Thus, personal data protection is guaranteed, data abuse and Spam (unsolicited or undesired electronic messages) are reduced considerably.

 

What changes should I make if I have a website that collects personal data?

After doing a GAP analysis to determine the extent to which you meet the new requirements (mentioned above in the article), they should also be included on your website. Every website user/visitor must explicitly agree to have their personal data processed.

You must also:

• Renew your “Privacy Policy“, including a “Cookie Policy“, and describe everything that we mentioned above.
• Update your “Terms of Service“. * We advise you to consult a lawyer regarding this topic!
• Enable users to disable cookies, tools and other technology which collect their personal data
• Ensure that users are able to have their personal data deleted from the database of your eCommerce website or another type of website. As already mentioned, provide them “the Right to be forgotten”.

 

Who will monitor the compliance with GDPR?

The full list of Data Protection Authorities per country can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/article-29/structure/data-protection-authorities/index_en.htm

Where can I get more detailed information?

You can find more information about the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en

You can download the entire regulation here:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2016.119.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2016%3A119%3ATOC

Speedflow Bulgaria advise you to consult with a lawyer about creating your new company texts, rules, and policies. As for the technical implementation on your website, we are at your services.

Do not hesitate to contact our team if you have any questions. We guarantee that our customers’ personal data is fully protected and processed in compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The organizers of Digital4Plovdiv contacted our team with a request to do a presentation on the topic “Chatbot. The perfect digital solution for your restaurant” at the Digital Marketing Strategy 2018 for Hotels and Restaurants event. The one-day conference will be held on March 29 at the Sankt Peterburg Park Hotel, Plovdiv. Visitors will be able to receive lots of useful and up-to-date information on how to better manage and grow their hotel, restaurant, or café business online. The program is filled with interesting and diverse lectures on Chatbots, web design, digital marketing, video marketing, 360-degree photos and more – all focused on the HoReCa sector.

We are delighted to accept the invitation to be speakers at the conference, as the development of Chatbot Assistants for different businesses is part of our portfolio and the services we offer to our customers. Speedflow Bulgaria even has its own Chatbot brand for restaurants and fast food chains. That is why we would like to invite everybody interested in this topic to join our lecture on March 29, 2018 at the Sankt Petersburg Park Hotel, Neva Hall – Discussion Club from 13:40 to 14:20.

What are Chatbots exactly? How can they help you automate your workflow more efficiently and reduce business costs? We will talk about all of that and more. Sign up now to book your ticket with 15% discount using our promo code – Speedflow15D4P.

Additional information about the event can be found on the Digital4Plovdiv website. You can also contact us directly at info@speedflow.bg.

Last month Facebook announced that they are making three major updates in the way the whole social media network works. The changes will completely revamp the algorithm which is responsible for the order in which posts appear in individual News Feeds.

As it’s already clear from our blog article “Facebook News Feed – changes and their impact on business” the platform is constantly being updated and changed. Here’s what Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg shares on his wall:

“We’re making a major change to how we build Facebook. I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to help you have more meaningful social interactions.“

So about the last three updates and they are:

 

1. More posts from friends and family

Facebook and users

With the new Facebook version, people will see more photos and posts from their friends and family. The same goes to publications that encourage better communication between users in the form of comments, conversations, likes, shares. As a result, there will be fewer public posts from companies, brands, media, celebrities.

Posts that encourage engagement in communication will see a boost in the News Feed. These are for example live videos, group posts, business and media pages that share local events and news important to readers. Have you noticed that the changes are already taking effect and that your News Feeds is dominated by such posts? If not, try. You will definitely see the difference.

 

Facebook and business

Since space in the News Feed is limited, the new update will undoubtedly have an effect on public and corporate pages. A decline in their traffic is expected. Of course, the magnitude of the changes will vary from page to page depending on the content they publish and how people react to it. Pages that generally cause less interest, have no comments, shares, etc. will notice the biggest decline in reach on Facebook. On the other hand, pages that create prerequisites for dialogue and interaction between friends will not see a significant change.

!Nota Bene: Of course, your content will not disappear completely from the Facebook News Feed section. Facebook now offers to See First, an option where users can set their preferences and thus not miss posts from their favorite pages. The change is not supposed to eliminate public posts, but simply to display more publications from friends and family. The update does not apply to paid Facebook promo!

 

2. More posts from trusted sources

Shortly after Facebook prioritized posts from friends and family, from the management announced their next step towards bringing communities closer together – optimizing the quality of public posts. This change is aimed to reduce the amount of misleading and fake news. News that users rank as credible and from trusted sources will appear higher in Facebook News Feed. Thus the Facebook team wants to make sure public posts are of good quality and are useful to the global community.

However, it will take awhile for these changes to take place. A considerable number of surveys needs to be conducted. The process has been initiated in the United States and by the end of the year, it is expected that credibility will become one of the signals for post ranking in Facebook News Feed.

3. More regional and local news

There will be more local and regional news in the News Feed according to the latest Facebook update from 29^th of January. Your location, the pages you like and the posts from local publishers will determine what you will see first in your Individual News Feed. It is easy to predict that this will have a positive impact on public pages that share local news and are targeted specifically to local communities.

But how does it work?

Is this domain local?

Facebook says: “To determine if a domain is local to you, we look at where its readers on Facebook come from. If you live in the same area as the majority of those people, it is considered local to you.”

 

Is this domain a news source?

And: “We use a variety of signals to identify news sources on Facebook. These could include hard news, sports updates, a neighborhood blog, or other local sources.”

 

However, the change will initially start in the US and will gradually spread to other parts of the world.

 

Don’t forget to follow our blog and be one of the first to find out what other Facebook updates are coming! For now, only time will show.

Speedflow Team is happy to share with you all the exciting news about a project we recently developed for one of our clients. The HealthyKid Sofia app is getting a lot of media attention, being featured not only in popular online magazines and newspapers but also on TV. bTV news made a report about it explaining the benefits of this new technology. We invite you to watch the video below for additional information.

 

Moreover, our team is extremely proud and happy to be a part of such an amazing social project that is by no means created for commercial purposes. It is solely and completely dedicated to providing valuable information to families, whose children need immediate medical help. We are happy that the hard work we have put into realizing our clients’ dreams is getting such a positive feedback. Many people have already started using the app and are finding it extremely helpful and ground-breaking.  That is what happens when you combine a great idea with a cutting-edge technology for a perfect finish.

Feel free to contact our team at info@speedflow.bg if you are looking for a reliable partner to complete any of your software projects. We will be as excited about your ideas as you are!

Yesterday Plovdiv was the meeting point for hundreds of IT professionals, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, the reason being Digital4Plovdiv 2017. This year the conference was dedicated specifically to online marketing and e-commerce. It took place on 30 November at the St. Petersburg Hotel, Plovdiv. Ivan Totev, the mayor of Plovdiv, gave a welcoming speech and started the discussions.

Our team was pleased to be a part of the conference and learn in more detail about the hottest topics and the latest practices in digital marketing and online shop optimization. More than 30 specialists presented the most effective tips and tricks for the successful development of e-commerce businesses and increase in sales.

The conference program was held in three different halls. There were lectures, presentations, workshops and case studies. Everyone found something new and interesting to learn and apply to their work or business, including our team. Among the most discussed topics were Behavioral economics, SEO audit, SaaS, ERP systems, Internet security, video marketing, remarketing and many more.

All lecturers were prominent experts in their field with extensive work experience. It was a real pleasure for us to be part of over 300 participants at the event. More information about Digital4Plovdiv 2017 can be found on the website.