Blog: August 2008

Truthdig: Finalists for 2008 ONA awards

August 19, 2008

imageOur client Truthdig has gone and done it again. They’ve made it to the final round of nominations in the 9th Annual Online Journalism Awards:

CHICAGO, August 4, 2008 - Finalists for the 9th annual Online Journalism Awards, which honor excellence in digital journalism, were announced today by the Online News Association (ONA). A team of journalists, representing a diverse cross-section of the industry, judged the contest during a two-day event in Chicago, August 1-2.

The winners will be announced at the 2008 ONA Conference Awards Banquet on Sept. 13 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.

Truthdig is a finalist in two categories: General Excellence, Medium Site and Topical Reporting, Small Sites.

Congratulations to Truthdig. We’re rooting for you!

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 2:50 PM | Comments (0)

Two SXSW Panels from Hop Studios: Help Us Get Picked

August 12, 2008

This year Hop Studios is in fine form because we managed to get two panel proposals in for the SXSW Interactive Festival in 2009. We think both would make interesting sessions for attendees, but we need help getting the panels on the final schedule. SXSW (one of the biggest Web conferences each year) lets attendees vote on all the panel submissions they receive in order to determine what gets covered during the festival. So, if you like our ideas, we’d love for you to visit the SXSW Interactive Panel Picker and vote for our sessions.. Here’s what we proposed:

Newspaper Websites Don’t Have to Be Awful
Dig into the toolbox used by web designers who specialize in newspapers, magazines, and news blogs. See how they handle online publishing needs: dynamic and archived content, community building, advertising, editorial flow, deadlines, and breaking news. A nitty-gritty breakdown of the many technical tools available for today’s news publishers.

and

Micromafia: Building a Local Small Business Support Network
No small business is an island. When your business is only a couple of people, you desperately need advice and support, but most networking groups are too big. Explore an easy-to-implement, innovative way to collaborate with local entrepreneurs in a focused, how-we-built-it presentation based on chapters in Vancouver and Seattle.

If you wouldn’t mind—and if you think these would make good panels—please vote for them.  Go click on the panel picker, login (quick and free), and vote.  You can even vote if you’re not attending SXSW.

Thanks!

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 1:14 PM | Comments (0)

Hop Studios Is on the Move

August 7, 2008

...to a new location that is. At the beginning of July, Susie and Travis were given notice that the current location of Hop Studios had been sold and they had two months to find a new home. A few short but frenzied weeks later a new place was found in the lovely neighbourhood of Shaughnessy in Vancouver.

moving boxes

Tomorrow is the official Hop Studios moving day, and as you can see by the photos, we are all packed and ready to go. Please keep in mind we will be unavailable for most of the day, except for the most urgent requests. Hop Studios will be back to normal at our new location as of Monday, August 11th. See you then!

The new address:
1050 Laurier Avenue
Vancouver BC V6H 1Y3
(Our contact numbers will remain the same.)

moving boxes

Posted by Rachael Ashe at 10:44 AM | Comments (1)

You Are Not Your Audience

August 6, 2008

Among other gems, I found this bit of wisdom:

I’m good at marketing because I know I have no idea how to market things. That’s the secret—don’t be persuaded by your own assumptions and preconceived ideas of what should work, based on what influences or fails to influence you.

And it’s true, oh so true. You are not your audience, and you can’t judge what they want and like, or how they use a Web site, by your own preferences and behaviors. Or, at least, not solely on that. Of course Brendan is talking about marketing, but this same idea extends into all kinds of areas we work in.  I think I can say, without pointing any fingers, that many a client has consulted only their own opinions when making decisions about how their site should look, what should be on the home page, and what people will do when they get there.

It can be difficult (especially since the client is always right) to suggest that someone’s anecdotal experience with something doesn’t extrapolate to a general rule; we all believe at heart that we represent normal, and that most people are normal—so what we think is the right way to do something is what most people think.

This is why focus groups, user input, and second opinions are really key.

Posted by Susannah Gardner at 4:19 PM | Comments (0)