Blog: February 2005

New Blog Launched: Find-A-Sweetheart

February 28, 2005

Congratulations to Kathryn Lord, who has added a new blog to her many online activities at Find-A-Sweetheart.com. Kathryn is starting with a Blogger blog, though we’ve set it up so that it is published on her site, and has the same look and feel as the rest of her pages.  We’re especially excited about this blog because it’s one of the first times we’ve convinced a long-time client to start a blog (we think everyone can benefit from having one!) . Here’s what Kathryn says about her new blog:

I?m too late to be included in the gang of bloggers who got chosen Time magazine?s Person of the Year for 2004, but my website designer Susannah Gardner convinced to jump in anyway.  Along with being a super-talented web designer, Susannah also is a technical author.  Susannah authored ?Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies? which is due out in March.  Here?s her blog devoted to buzz marketing: http://buzzmarketingwithblogs.com

We launched my blog last week.  You can take a look at it at http://www.find-a-sweetheart.com/blog/ . As you?ll see, blogging seems made for me.  I?ve had so much to write about that my enewsletter has always been too long, and even then, I?ve had to leave too much out.  The blog gives me a place for all the Internet dating trivia that comes my way.  It will also help me trim my newsletter to a more manageable length ? l?ll simply include links to my blog entries in the newsletter, along with two standard articles.

As well as providing a destination for my writing, Susannah tells me that blogging should result in more traffic to my website.  Each entry gets treated by the search engines as a separate page, and numbers of pages count in the ratings.  So if you?d like to take a look on how I am using blogging to further enhance and market my niche, take a look.  And I?d be glad to answer questions.

Posted by Susannah Gardner at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

Site Launch: Wonderful Blanca’s Creations

February 22, 2005

imageI’m extremely excited by our latest site launch: an online store for Blanca Lee, an artist in Southern California.

Blanca’s store has been in the works for a long time.  She came to us with only a very basic idea of the Web, and a desire to have her art reaching a wider audience.

Susie put together a design that’s elegant and simple, and more importantly, that really works well with the actual objects (candles, pendants, bracelets, paintings and so on) that Blanca sells.  We built the site with ExpressionEngine, and worked with Blanca on the product photography and integration with Pay Pal.

Here are a few of my favorite items (they might be sold by the time you read this, though!):

  • Blanca’s Creations - Emiliano Zapata Glass Pendant

  • Blanca’s Creations - Diego Rivera’s The Nude Candle

  • Blanca’s Creations - Frida Rose Trinket box

    Posted by Travis Smith at 11:42 AM | Comments (1)

    On the Short List: Chicago Artists Resource

    February 17, 2005

    Hop Studios was very excited today to hear that we have been short-listed to build the Chicago Artists Resource Web site for the Chicago Dept. of Cultural Affairs.

    The project would be a co-operative effort between the brilliant (yes, I’m flattering them) folks at Bryght, and us.  Bryght is a developer of software solutions on top of the Drupal content management system.

    One thing that’s been very interesting is that the 30-40 competing companies all joined a Yahoo Group set up for the RFP process, and were able to read questions and answers each asked about the project.  It made for a very transparent and efficient information exchange that let all the respondents see the scope of all issues that we would be facing.

    I think that bodes well for the project itself—I would anticipate a lot of participation and input from the community the project is meant to service.

    We’re heading to Chicago next week for an in-person meeting.  Wish us luck!

    Posted by Travis Smith at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

    Vancouver Abuzz with Blogging

    February 7, 2005

    Vancouver is emerging as one of the premiere places in North America for bloggers and blogging technology.  Sure, New York has a zillion people blogging (given that there’s a zillion people squared there), and San Francisco is always a center for new technology.  But Vancouver seems to the right mix of technology experts, social activism and rainy weather keeping everyone indoors at their keyboards.

    Just some of the Vancouver blogging connections:
    * Bryght (Drupal developers and VAR)
    * Flickr
    * InsideBlogging professional blogging company
    * several members of the Professional Bloggers Association
    * Qumana blog posting software
    * Sxip identity broker clearinghouse thingy (don’t make me admit I don’t understand Sxip, OK?)
    * Susie, bien sur

    I’d also like to annex Portland as Vancouver South, due to similarities in its weather, beer, and the presence of PMachine, the makers of ExpressionEngine

    Do you have any other examples of a blogging / Vancouver nexus?

    Disclosure: We’re working on projects with, or have proposals for projects with, several of those I’ve listed.  That is, unless the sun comes out.

    Posted by Travis Smith at 8:01 PM | Comments (5)

    Susie Speaks at Northern Voice Blog Conference

    February 7, 2005

    I should have mentioned it much earlier, but Susie is going to be a speaker in the Canadian Northern Voice conference (tagline: The moose is loose) here in downtown Vancouver on Saturday, Feb. 19.  I like conferences that I can walk to.

    It’s a conference about “community-based weblogging and personal publishing,” and it has quite a broad focus on the various social technologies in use today.  Susie will be speaking at 3:45 p.m. about “Panel: Personal Blogging - Types and Styles of Blogs and Blogging”

    I believe Susie’s going to be talking about her own book blog, in addition to being a general kick-ass expert on business and marketing blogging.

    Why is this being organized in Vancouver? It’s related to something I’ll detail in my next posting.

    Posted by Travis Smith at 7:57 PM | Comments (0)

    Daily Pilot Takes Flight

    February 4, 2005

    dailypilot_logo.gif
    Five sites!  Five sites launched in a day!

    Actually, it took us a little longer than a day—more like several months of designs and prototypes and coding—oh, the coding.  But this Tuesday, five newspapers owned by Tribune Company via The Los Angeles Times launched with a clean new look, a total rehaul of their underpinings, and a new mandate to deliver to their community online.  They came out as a really nice package, if we do say so ourselves.

    Some things that we’re extremely proud of: The modular design that scales nicely to all sorts of screen widths and scans so nicely for a quick read.  The use of CSS to make site-wide modifications easy, and to keep the pages loading quickly.  The front page of one paper is only 19K—50K if you include all the graphics and style sheets.  That’s truly impressive, especially for a major media site like these.

    Though they’re tasty, the sites aren’t done baking yet.  Some colorful yellow promos have yet to emerge, and a few extra features will be appearing, along with more photos, as the newspapers get used to their new tools.

    Congratulations to our newest sites!

    Posted by Travis Smith at 12:58 AM | Comments (3)

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