May 2010
4 posts
Land of Talk rocked out while not talking too...
My shoddy picture taking doesn’t do ‘em justice, but they were awesome. A few minor technical glitches, but they kept their composure and I actually thought that added a nice homegrown touch to it. If you don’t know them, get to know them.
Also, I thought this was the epitome of hipster:
Men’s medium shirt sold out before the show begins.
Carless goodness.
It’s been almost a year since I sold my car. I thought it might be a bit of a struggle, and that I’d miss the ol’ lady at least somewhat.
I was wrong on both accounts. We moved in October to a place closer to a Metro station, but even before, I was taking the bus to the Metro, and I had no problems at all. In fact I really love it — I get to watch all the suckers stuck...
Can I get SEO-richness with that please?
Just got an RFP that included the generic needs, wants, wishlists, checklists, requirements, have-tos, and all that jazz. The thing that stuck out to me was section for Visibility.
The ———— will be easily found on Google searches. Utilize search engine optimization tools.
I have been going about this web design process all wrong I just realized. This is so simple, why...
Why Ektron, why?
I keep being blown away by the number of companies using this backasswards ‘CMS.’ This should not be labeled as a content management system. A more appropriate label would be control management system.
Ektron is un-robust, un-simple, and un-restriction free; everything a CMS is supposed to relieve.
Yet, time after time, I come across clients who use this bungled piece of tomfoolery...
April 2010
8 posts
4 tags
Why does it seem like design doesn't matter?
I’ve had enough. Outside of the design community (and sadly even within it), design just doesn’t matter (enough) to the masses. Unfortunately, there are a ton of sites with great content and lots of traffic, but design does and will always take a back seat to ROI.
I’ll admit, I’m a stickler for great web design. Okay, I’m a total snob, big whoop. When browsing a...
3 tags
Client angry. Client want site yesterday.
Unfortunately in the web world, we’ve all come to expect immediacy in every sense of the word. So, I can understand why some clients don’t understand that a good website takes time. Maybe it’s just me, but for the most part I really like dealing with clients. From start to finish, I think it’s a (for the most part) fun process.
I typically find there is a substantial...
2 tags
Eh, looks too salesy for 'em.
Yegads man. It’s not what I envision for the clients site, just a potential layout.
This was my fault though. We met about redoing a client brand and their website (although in ass-backwards way, but neither here nor there), and was decided I should find some sites that we liked the layout of. I should have said no, but I though, sure, no problem.
Wrong.
The issue was not whether I...
3 tags
Twitter informs bus how to spam better.
Promoted Tweets—that’s what they are being called.
It was only a matter of time before something like this had to happen–Twitter had to monetize their efforts.
I am intrigued by this, but I’m also very wary.
I am intrigued because, unless Twitter has just been pulling the wool over our faces, they do generally care about user experience and making it very difficult for spammers to...
2 tags
The new web designer.
To anyone who claims to be a web designer and only knows how to use the clone tool in Photoshop, but not how to use a <fieldset> in HTML: get with the program.
It’s 2010, and we as web designers, need to know (at least) basic HTML, CSS, PHP or ASP, JavaScript, and a bit about databases. We can’t just do everything in Photoshop, hand it off to a developer and expect to get...
1 tag
Palooza'd.
The lineup for Lollapalooza ‘10 was just announced — looks alright, but Green Day and Lady Gaga, for realz?
Definitely less than avg. compared to previous years.
1 tag
Let's not pretend anymore...
…that I don’t have crazy iPad-fever. I secretly want one. And I also outwardly want one.
So I guess that’s the only way to describe it. I’m pretty sure I can get one through work, but I did say that I wanted to check it out before pushing for one. I haven’t done a whole bunch of research, I must admit, but I can only imagine this would fit perfectly into what...
Have we forgetten the power of asking?
I read articles every day about how to create the best content, email, or social media strategy for your organization. There are usually a lot of great points made in these articles too. Many are written by people much smarter or clever than I am, and they obviously know what they are doing / suggesting. But often I find one large tactic missing.
The power of asking.
Perhaps it’s from...
March 2010
12 posts
3 tags
When is too much too much?
I recently had to turn down some potentially great freelance work because I felt I already had too much on my plate. I’m sure I could have squeezed it in though, I’m not sure I wanted to. I say this for two reasons:
I didn’t want to drop any of the current work I was working on. Whether the next opportunity is better or not, I can’t do that to current client. I try to be...
4 tags
Social media outsourcing–WTF?
Reading an article I just came across on twitter about social media outsourcing got me rethinking about this subject—at my previous company, I struggled with this mindset.
I discussed this a few times with my boss, but the end result always came down to us wanting to run SMCs (social media campaigns) for our clients. That in itself is not a problem. Managing and suggesting is fine by me, in...
3 tags
Chick-rock rocks.
I have to admit, I love me some girl-led bands–and I’m not afraid to say it.
Not some lame-o like Celine Deon or Wilson Philips, or even Enya, I’m talking indie and punk rock. **Note** there’s nothing wrong with the aforementioned bands, just not my cup-o-tea. Also, I had a buddy in high school who would specifically avoid bands with female leads–that’s just absurd.
I...
3 tags
Bugger it–the lack of respect for email.
Outside of the email marketing world, and probably a good amount of the social media marketing world (roughly ~57%), the process of a solid email is greatly disrespected.
For those marketers who do use email marketing (not those that I mentioned above, there is a huge, distinct difference), a great deal of under appreciation happens day in and day out. Tight deadlines, lure of ROI,...
Getting into work mode.
During the normal week, I have no problem working 12+ hours on a computer, and often into the next day. In fact, I quite enjoy it, almost too much so. I don’t even see it as work, so in that respect I find myself quite lucky.
However, I do also love the weekend and I love my down time. I find it tough sometimes, more often than I’d like to admit, to get out of lounge mode and get...
3 tags
DIYWBC 1.0
I’m not bike enthusiast, but even I know this is cool. It might struggle a bit in the rain however.
Designed by Swedish designer Erik Björk, this is the true meaning of an open source project.
3 tags
What's a DIY-company to do?
Let’s face it, for better or for worse, some sort of new and cool social app, tool, or network is being dropped on the web each day. Sometimes even a few times a day. (Have you heard of GeoCities, it’s gonna be huge).
As an agency, you might have someone dedicated to checking these out and seeing if they are viable for you to use, or to help resell / educate clients on. Or, I may be...
No more #SxSW excuses.
After sitting through 5+ years of seeing people shit themselves over how amazing South by Southwest is, a buddy of mine and I have decided to force our own hands.
We’re going in 2011, book it world.
That being said, what are two dudes to do to prepare for this? Is it foolish / illogical to start looking into places to stay now? Well too bad, because we are.
Obviously the content of what...
2 tags
I miss Death from Above.
I really do, don’t you?
And whenever I introduce someone else to Death from Above 1979 (except my wife), and then tell them that they broke some 3+ odd years ago, they do too. I only wish someone had introduced them to me before I got into them in mid-2007.
If you haven’t heard them, check out their lesser known EP, Heads Up!.
They were unlike any other band I’d ever heard....
3 tags
Mixxed groovs.
Dj Shadow & Cut Chemist were played a show in Tokyo for their Product Placement in 2004 that was, as they say, off the charts.
Dig it out on last.fm, and find out the awesome music they sampled on wikipedia.
My favorite tune off this goodness is Part I, sampling It’s The Real Thing (radio spot) by The New Seekers. Do yourself a favor, get some beers, get some friends, throw a party,...
3 tags
Assumptions are just bad practice.
Piggy-backing on a post that @chrisbrogan made yesterday, I’ve long held the opinion that why would you want to email someone who doesn’t specifically want that email.
Agreeing with Chris, I guess lots of companies do have the ‘legal’ right to email to me after I’ve submitted a form, or taken a webinar with them. But, that doesn’t mean that I WANT anything...
2 tags
Why does the term webmaster still exist?
This ancient relic needs to die.
I was at a client meeting recently and this ugly duckling kept rearing it’s head. ‘We don’t really have a webmaster,’ or ‘I’d love to do this, but the since the last webmaster left…’ There is no webmaster position anymore. Nor should there be. Having all content and updates run through one person is an antiquated...