Glimmer Technology

Annual Benefit Report 2023

Introduction

Glimmer Technology develops applications and content with purpose.  We are proud to be a Certified Benefit Corporation For Good.

Our company was founded in 2017 by experienced game developers.  Since launch, we have successfully partnered with city, state, federal, non-profit, and private businesses to create a variety of projects.  Each project we take on tries to educate while entertaining the viewers.   We are fortunate to have several interactive projects alive and well on app stores and console devices.

People

In 2023, Glimmer created over 750 hours of local contract work for our projects.  This work often goes to underemployed individuals or those learning new skills to get higher wages later.  We think providing an environment that encourages people to learn and acquire new skills is a great thing.  A special shout to our Intern Lauren from Lane Community College.  She helped us with some engineering, QA, and video production tasks this fall.  And a shout out to LCC for working with us to set up the internship.

We support aspiring game & content creators by being available 10 hours a month (in-person) to answer questions and coordinate new projects at the regular Bitforest(501c3)  coffee meetup held every Weds at Theo's Coffee House in Eugene.  Many of the questions are about software, processes, and how does one get started.   These coffee meetups have launched several endeavors including Glimmer at a similar event in 2017.

Glimmer is a company that recognizes the shift in the way people prefer to work.  When people work in their own space they tend to be more productive.  We hold our developer meetings over online services like Slack, Discord, and Zoom.  We don't see a need to have a daily in-office presence at this time. We do make a point to get together every so often in person.

We continue to build strong partnerships with trusted clients and new entities including OSHA, Occupy Medical, OSU Extension Services, Friends of Paul Bunyan Foundation, and Lane Arts Council to mention a few.  We are committed to having open board meetings regularly.  We have several current and former employees as board members. 

Planet

We continue to donate unused items to local reuse non-profits. As a point of helping the planet, We regularly visit next-step recycling to purchase common cords, cables, and monitors.  This gives a second life to items that in some cases would have been headed to the dump.  We Also eliminated our company storage unit.  This means more funds to be used on our projects. Where possible we always opt for digital vs physical copies of statements, contracts, etc. 

This year also saw our team members donate to several very worthy causes including, The Maui Relief Fund, The Friends of Paul Bunyan Foundation, and Lane Arts Council. 

Profit

Glimmer continued to expand our slate of offerings.  We focussed on monetization in 2023.  This included setting up Adsense in our apps and on websites.  We are currently evaluating ethical monetization strategies in our apps.  An example of this would be offering upgraded environments or player characters for our products. We have found that people upon hearing how we are a Certified Benefit Corporation For Good, and what it stands for, are more likely to engage with our offerings.

Glimmer continued to support several VR education projects.  These projects were built on the system we created to make accessibility easier on a variety of platforms including the Quest2.  

Looking Forward

Glimmer plans to explore how we can offer our applications to the Fortnite community.  Fortnite is a gaming platform built on the Unreal Engine.  Epic(the company behind Unreal) has made it very attractive for developers of all sizes to utilize their tool chain.  Glimmer will continue to provide staff time to the community each week, to be present and field questions. We still plan to explore ways to connect with other Benefit Corporations for Good companies.