Madaktari – Communication Arts Webpick of the Day
By robert | February 8, 2010
Great to see Madaktari featured today as the webpick of the day on the Communication Arts website. It’s such a great program and cause with some amazing people driving it forward. Thanks and congrats go out to the whole team at Madaktari (special shout outs to Kathleen Ellis who guided the effort and Brennan Wesley who provided such amazing photo/video material), Jenny Badman for developing the story…and Craig, Brian and Simpson at Blue Ion for design, programming and set up. Support Madaktari as they continue working to expand training programs for doctors and nurses in Africa.
Topics: Work | No Comments »
2010 Addy Winners
By mike | February 7, 2010
Blue Ion congratulates the following clients who are 2010 Addy Winners:
GOLD
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Pratt-Thomas Walker |
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Sideshow Press |
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W Residences Atlanta |
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Kristin Newman Designs |
SILVER
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Madaktari Africa |
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Newbury |
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Matt Decell |
BRONZE
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EQA Landmark Communities |
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MyBikeLaw |
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Charleston, Naturally |
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The Charleston Angler |
Topics: Work | No Comments »
People Powered.
By nicola | February 5, 2010
Earlier this week we launched a temporary site for Faneuil.
With a team of more than 3,000, Faneuil works with businesses offering toll collections services, contact center solutions and back office operations (to name a few), to help them grow and succeed and meet their business needs… in doing so, they bring exceptional customer service to their customers and their customer’s customers and have earned a reputation as one of the strongest service delivery organizations in the country.
Stay tuned for a full site coming soon…
Topics: Work | No Comments »
The New Ride
By rich | February 5, 2010
Craig showed up today in a new (temporary) ride.
I’ve decided what it reminded me of when I pulled in this morning.
Topics: Misc. | 1 Comment »
Cake, Anyone?
By nicola | February 3, 2010
Monday marked the launch of VeryVera – a gourmet bakery based in Augusta, Georgia. Since 1993, Vera has been sharing the recipes her grandmother once baked to perfection; now, Vera’s bakery has become famous for that same Southern style, flavor and flair… and have been featured in InStyle, New York Times, and Vera’s Strawberry layer cake made Oprah’s 2009 list of favorite things. They also sell to Saks, Neiman Marcus and Costco.
Take a peek around the store and discover their tasty treats. Big thanks to BD, RY, JC and the folks over at Wierhouse.
Topics: Work | 3 Comments »
Google Social Search Primer Video
By Chris Simpson | February 1, 2010
Here’s a fun video on how Google’s social search works. It’s recently been released from labs into beta format.
Example screen shot of my Google profile in the wild on a search for “Chris Simpson.”
So what does this mean for your business? Be sure you’re optimizing your social networks. Start (or keep) blogging, grow a Twitter following, get connected to others through Gmail and/or Gtalk, create a Google profile and ABSOLUTELY make sure you have a local business center account. We’ve already seen tweets show up as incoming links to our sites and be sure Google will (if they’re not already) be using those as a ranking factor.
Topics: Misc. | No Comments »
Nest Realty Group One Year Anniversary
By Chris Simpson | January 29, 2010
It’s been one year (we launched the site Jan 30, 2009) since the launch of Nest Realty Group – both the company and the Website. They’ve been going from strength to strength – snapping up an Inman Innovators award, landing uber-Charlottesville-real-estate-blogger Jim Duncan (among many other top producing agents), and roiling the Charlottesville real estate industry with a fresh approach.
Cheers to one year and many more.
Topics: Misc. | 1 Comment »
Charleston Area CVB Launch
By Chris Simpson | January 29, 2010
For the better part of 2009, we’ve been working on a pretty massive rework of the Charleston Area CVB site.
So massive in fact that it’s coming in phases.
This first phase included several key components that lay the foundation for future enhancements, which will discuss in later posts.
Here’s a quick recap of our overarching goals going into phase I:
1. Business Listings Database & Display Revamp
- Modernize code architecture (original database was written early 2000s)
- Revamp listings formatting and design to improve usability and better showcase listing sponsors and call to actions
- Enhance listings functionality with mapping and search refinements
2. Navigation & Structure
- Revamp navigation / architecture, addressing usability feedback from surveys and card sorting
- Redevelop top third of site to use html navigation
- Ensure SEO efforts were maintained and even improved
3. Create Revenue Opportunities
- Create long term unique advertising opportunities and make it easy for CVB to manage said opportunities
We’ll dive into more details in later posts, but here are some screens and a sweet video at the end from Adam Boozer, who worked tirelessly on the three amazing videos featured on the home page and visitor portal section.
Topics: Misc. | No Comments »
My Beef With Apple
By craig | January 29, 2010
This week’s launch of the Apple iPad came with much hype and eager anticipation. However, shortly after Steve Jobs revealed his latest creation some thrashing reviews started making their way across the internet. To see a summary of the criticism, check out this article on Gizmodo.
One of the glaring flaws is the lack of Adobe Flash support in the iPad Safari browser. As a Flash developer, this omission is a huge slap in the face. I own a iPod Touch and an iPhone. I dearly love both devices despite the fact that neither of them support Flash. I have no problem with this because the iPod Touch and the iPhone are not designed for delivering any sort of “web experience”. Fine. No big deal. Personally I don’t want Flash on these devices.
The iPad is a different story. Steve Jobs touts that the iPad will deliver the “ultimate browsing experience.” Yet without Flash they are neglecting some of the best web experiences in the world. Just check out the FWA for a list of fine examples. The ironic twist is that Apple’s iPad promo materials show sites that display Flash content. The AppleInsider reports on the misleading ad campaign.
The debate is getting quite heated between Adobe and Apple. Lee Brimelow, Adobe Flash Evangelist, made a witty post on his Flash blog. It shows how sites REALLY look when viewing them in iPad’s Safari browser. There is a lot of speculation as to why Apple refuses to include Flash and I won’t delve into that here. But one of the major complaints is that Flash is a CPU hog on the Mac. There is some truth to this complaint – Flash does consume more resources on the Mac than it does on the PC. Why? Because Apple won’t allow Adobe to tap into their api in order to provide for hardware acceleration. Microsoft does.
Topics: Misc. | 2 Comments »
WalMart Clown
By robert | January 29, 2010
Can a single 30-second TV ad change the perception of the world’s biggest big box store chain? No….although one 60-second ad did change things for a fledgling personal computer maker. But the new spot from WalMart that debuted during the NFL playoffs last weekend is having some effect. It became a viral video sensation this week…capturing the #2 spot on the viral video chart. Not because it’s a novel concept…but just because it’s just funny (some debate about that). I laughed when I saw it, and I think clowns are scary (along with mannequins and ventriloquist dummies….when you’re not watching them they are coming after you).
So, what does this all mean for the brand that many associate with bad labor policy, urban/suburban sprawl, the death of American manufacturing and ascent of China’s economic engine? Maybe nothing if it’s not backed up by meaningful steps, but a simple change in tone and personality has clearly had some effect.
Topics: Marketing | No Comments »
