Mad Dancer Media

Mad Dancer Media Our Blog http://www.maddancer.com http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=369Birth by Caesarean http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=369 Over the years, we"ve used a lot of analogies to describe the process of building a web site. We"ve equated it to building a house, painting a picture, or buying a car. We"ve often felt like the cobbler whose children remain shoeless. However, no analogy has been as accurate and descriptive in reference to the build of the web site you"re now viewing as when we compared it to giving birth. <ul> <li>The gestation period was about 9 months, give or take a year.</li> <li>We painted the nursery by upgrading our web server architecture.</li> <li>While in development, we had cravings for certain foods (usually Thai or sushi).</li> <li>Emotions ran high as we argued over baby names. 'Blah Blah Blog' was about the only thing we agreed upon in the beginning.</li> <li>We went into false labor a few times, thinking we were ready to launch the site only to find another detail or bug we needed to iron out.</li> <li>And oh yes, when the time finally did come, labor was long, and the birth was painful.</li> </ul> You"d think that after building web sites for over a decade that building our own would come as second nature. But when you"re always putting the needs of your clients ahead of your own, it makes the road a rocky one. Finally, the day came where we knew we had to break down and drop everything and deliver this baby by Caesarean. We"d been 'pushing' for months, but the new MDM web site appeared to be breech thanks to business being so brisk. We knew we had to deliver, and fast. With a host of MDM 'surgeons' standing by, the site was brought in on a gurney and we all got down to business. And although we estimated only a day to gather the content and polish it all off, it ended up taking 4 or 5 times that. Nevertheless, the end result is finally here - alive and kicking, with an Apgar score of 10. Michael, Kari, Matt, Laurie, Dan, Dmitry and Alex are all proud parents. Of course, the analogy only extends so far. Please, don"t bother calling a Mohel. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:06:41 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=438Kari's New Arrival http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=438 Before we have a bunch of women burning down the Mad Dancer offices because of <A HREF='http://maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=369'>Michael’s analogy of the creation of our new web site</A> being the same as giving birth, let me just say that even though we don’t have the physical effects of having a baby, in many ways childbirth was a good analogy of what we went through getting this site launched. As I read over Michael’s comments I realized that I too have been in the pregnancy stage, and am about to give birth. More accurately stated, I am closing on my new home tomorrow. From finding a location, choosing a lot, choosing a floor plan and selections and upgrades, to multiple check-ups and meetings to see if we were all still on track for the big date, I am ready for this phase to be over with so I can start getting to know the new arrival. I signed the papers in September and move in June. Total incubation time? 9 months. I guess the grand things in life take time, patience, preparation and anticipation. A baby brings laughter and warmth to a home. In some instances, the birth of a child will bring adversarial members of a family together. I don’t mean to say a house is as important as a life. A house is just a bunch of wood and brick, but once it is filled with the laughter of friends, the tears of loss, sharing of a heart; over time, it becomes a home. As a mother that has given every thought to the detail of her baby, so have I with my new creation. I am excited, and have been counting the days. I have only hours left to wait until I will be united with my new home. I can’t wait to see my friend’s faces as they “get to hold” (or be a part of) my new bundle of joy. I will enjoy watching my friends leave their imprint on the house and over time, making it a home. Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:06:12 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=439Yo, Peeps http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=439 When Kari and I decided to put a blog in the new MDM site, the original plan was to use it as a way to let folks know what we had been working on lately. Sometimes we"ll go a month or two focusing on things that aren"t exciting enough to tell the world about. Then we"ll work on something that"s noteworthy (like someone"s new site that we"re proud to show the world). Then after that peak of excitement, it"s back to the grind again. Our previous site wasn"t the friendliest beast to maintain, so a lot of these one-off projects, even though they may have been noteworthy, ended up launching without so much as a peep on the MDM site. Hopefully with our new web presence, we"ll be able to talk a little more about what"s in our pipeline. If it were up to me, I"d write pages and pages about how excited I am by our new webhosting infrastructure. New hardware, fully redundant systems, KVM-over-IP capabilities, fresh installs of RHEL and W2K3, and a rack of computer systems all purring like kittens that are self-monitoring and self-healing. I could go on and on if you let me. Technology is what gets my blood pumping. My business partner on the other hand, starts to drift into lala land at the first mention of CPU and RAM. When I was building these machines prior to their install at the Network Operations Center, I was commenting on how well they were all performing. Her response probably went something like, 'Why did we get black ones? And does that big fan inside have to be so noisy?' So with that in mind, I"ll try not to similarly bore you with in-depth discussions of things like 'the benefits of using rsync over SSH' or 'shootout at the DB corral: mySQL vs. MSSQL'. Instead, I"ll list a few things we"ve been working on that everyone here, including me, is excited about. <UL> <LI>EMI/dcTalk: With the evolution of web 2.0, a lot of artists are using their primary dot-coms as simple links to outside sources. It"s not much more than a splash page, but we"re proud to have designed it anyway. The new dcTalk.com will launch in a couple of weeks with an MDM front-end.</LI> <LI>EMI/Robbie Seay Band: Similar to the dcTalk splash site, Robbie Seay Band"s new page will launch mid-month with MDM artwork on its face.</LI> <LI>Lifeway VBS 2008: We"re sworn to secrecy on the themes, but we can tell you they"re going to be a lot of fun for kids next summer. For the first time, LifeWay Kids is promoting their 2 new summer VBS curriculums via an online marketing piece that we"re wrapping up for them this week.</LI> <LI>Tennessee Commerce Bank: Mad Dancer has been working with TCB to create a custom online loan payment system that interfaces directly with their online banking systems. We wrote the software that you"ll use to pay your mortgage online. We"re testing things now, and will roll out the feature soon as part of their online banking features.</LI> <LI>Williamson Medical Center: WMC has a new marketing campaign which features over 20 physicians commenting on the quality of care patience receive at WMC. We"re in the process of re-vamping the hospital"s web site and adding some new features.</LI> <LI>McClure Muntsinger Public Relations: Pamela McClure and Jana Muntsinger are two of the publishing industry"s most well respected publicists. We"ve been friends with MMPR since about 2000 when we designed their first web site. Now, we"re working together on an all new site. It"s going live this week.</LI> <LI>WinShape Camps: S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, founded WinShape camps over 20 years ago with the hopes of creating a camping experience that went a little deeper than most summer camps. MDM was privileged to work with the phenomenal talents of Gary Dorsey and friends at <A HREF='http://www.pixelpeach.com' target='_blank'>Pixel Peach Studio</A> on the e-commerce application for WinShape.</LI> </UL> Gosh, that just scrapes the surface. This week we"ve also worked on things like ongoing site maintenance for clients like Word Distribution, Dawson McAllister Association, country star Taylor Swift and a huge concert festival in Atlanta called Celebrate Freedom. We"ve worked on new site construction for recording artist, author and radio host Michael Card. We built a new dedicated hosting system for Passion Conferences / 268 Generation. One other thing that we"re making progress on is a huge site for a new corporation that has sworn us to secrecy. I"d be violating nondisclosure agreements if I mentioned it here, but I can say this about this super-secret project. The client came to us with his idea, and for the first time in 12 years of doing this I found myself obsessing over this simple but incredible idea because it was just such a phenomenal concept. I can"t wait for this baby to launch so that I can personally purchase the service it offers. So, be on the lookout for more news on this 'Prime Time' project that"s set to open to the public around Labor Day. That"s not PR bull, either. This idea blows my mind and I can"t wait to tell you about it. Amidst all the geeky fun I have working on the things I mentioned above, I suppose I"m also supposed to catch a few hours sleep each night. So, I"ll break away from the computer to indulge myself with <A HREF='http://www.hbo.com/conchords/' target='_blank'>Flight of the Conchords</A> for the fourth time in three days (another recent obsession of mine) before calling it a night. Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:07:54 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=441Throwing Us A Bone http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=441 WOW! That’s about all I can say after a conversation we just had with someone who just got hired by a company we have worked with for the past ten years. WOW! Okay, I know we are in business and need to keep food on our tables. But when you have a client treat you as if they were doing you a favor and you should feel privileged for being able to do work for them; there are no words... At least none I can repeat in a corporate blog. Our correspondence went something like this... June 4: Client: 'Dear Mad Hatter or Platter? Will you please quote us a Web Site that we need completed by June 12th (you’re 1 of 5 companies we’re having bid on this). Details are attached if you can open them. I pasted them below just in case you can’t open the document. This would be splash page that links to other places and things in our site. Please include one quote with design of the intro and one without design. We might decide to do it ourselves if your price is too high.' Me: 'Dear [blank]. We will require more information about your project before we can give you an accurate estimate. Are you referring to a Flash intro, or a static splash page? Do you have a site map or a listing of what you are wanting on your web site? We need to know how you would like it to function. 'We will need some basic information, like how many sections or menus you have and if you will need any add-on items such as e-commerce, streaming audio or video before we can provide you with an accurate bid. 'Thank you, 'Mad Dancer Media, Inc.' June 6: Me: 'Dear [blank], We just wanted to check in with you to see if you received the e-mail we sent in response to your web needs? We have not received a response and wanted to follow up on your inquiry.' Client: 'No, I don’t see it in my in box.' Me: 'Perhaps it ended up in your junk mail folder?' Client: 'Wow, how did it get in there? Yeah, I got it. I’ll get back with you once I"ve had a chance to look over it. Can you tell me what other projects you’ve worked on? Have you ever worked on any web sites for music companies before? I need to make sure you know what you"re doing. We just signed a new artist and are expecting them to be a huge hit.' Me: (Is this person kidding???) 'Yes, we have done extensive work in the Music industry. In fact, we have done a large amount of work for your company in the past. Much of our products are on the shelves in stores, with our logo placed alongside your company"s logo. You can check out our site to view our portfolio. 'Also, when you respond, would you please tell me what your title in the company is, so we can have your info correct in our system?' June 7: Client: 'Good to hear you know music stuff. Here’s what we are needing: A home page and 15 different sections, a dozen 8 minute long videos, 93 audio clips, a blog, Mac and Windows downloadable Screen Savers, Wall Papers and IM Icons, a discussion area, games, a shopping cart that takes Visa or Master Card and need a CMS so we can update the site ourselves. 'That"s about it. Oh, I am the Manager of New Media and Web Services. I graduated from college last year and now have this awesome job. I love it here. 'Let me know when I can see a bid. Would we still be able to have this launched by the 12th?' Me: 'We will need more details in reference to the type of online media you are wanting to place on your site. How many screen savers, wall papers, buddy icons, etc. We will also need more information about the games section. How many games do you want, and what sort of games would they be (ie. real-time simlulations, arcade-style 2d or 3d, etc.) Will we be doing all of the design and programming? How intensive is it? As of now you are looking at something that is going to be more than $30k. 'We would certainly need more than 5 days to complete a project like this. You are looking at launch at least a month from now at a minimum.' Client: 'Oh, they only gave me $2,800 to do this project. What do we have to do to get in that price range? If we get rid of one of the buddy icons and screen savers to can we get to this price? Are you able to work with us on that? Also, could we still launch on the 12th if we took out the buddy icons and screen savers?' Me: 'Thanks, but I don"t think there"s anything we would be able to do for that price range. Our entry-level base price is $4,500 for a basic custom design and the price goes up from there. 'We rarely work on projects with budgets of less than $6k these days, but we still enjoy doing music projects when the opportunity arises. Unfortunately, we will have to pass on this one. We wish you the best.' Client: 'Okay, let me see if I can sweeten the deal and throw you a bigger bone? If you can"t do the whole web site with everything we wanted for $2,800, do you think you could do the site plus an Enhanced CD for $5,800?' Me: Anybody got a gun? Next week: 'The Price of Doing Business With Huge Corporations.' Subtitled: 'Why [ex-client] Makes You Wait 120 Days Before Their AP Department First Looks at the Invoice You Submitted for Their Drop-Dead-Rush-Job.' Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:07:47 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=442On Being An Enthusiast http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=442 In the Coen Brothers film, 'The Man Who Wasn"t There', Birdy (Scarlett Johansson) tells Ed (Billy Bob Thornton) that he"s an 'enthusiast.' Never before had I seen this simple line drawn. When I was a kid, I"d stand in front of my stereo wearing headphones the size of pop-tart boxes, eyes clenched shut, and pretend I was onstage entertaining a sold-out arena with <A HREF='http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//B000059WUL/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/104-5931873-2835902' target='_blank'>an apocalyptic rock opera based in outer space</A>, or <A HREF='http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Deluxe-Packaging-Digitally-Remastered/dp/B000006TRV/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5931873-2835902?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1184829702&sr=1-1' target='_blank'>an apocalyptic rock opera based in Great Britain</A>. Back then, I wanted to be the guy onstage making the art. Today when I appreciate those same works (as I recently did at high volume on a brief solo road trip), I do so without having to be the one that"s onstage mentally. I don"t even have to be on the crew or run the mixing board. Birdy makes the profound point that it"s perfectly OK to simply appreciate something without necessarily needing to have had a hand in its creation. I find that I apply this concept in several areas of life now, and on multiple levels. The most superficial level would be something that I just casually consider cool or interesting - something I might drop ten bucks on a paperback book of to do some light reading. Things like <A HREF='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_material' target='_blank'>radioactivity</A>, <A HREF='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_x' target='_blank'>generational sociology</A> and <A HREF='http://www.laserspectacular.com' target='_blank'>laser choreography</A> fascinate me, but they don"t capture me. The things about which I"m an enthusiast take me a little deeper than the superficial. I"m an enthusiast about things like <A HREF='http://machines.hyperreal.org/images.html' target='_blank'>analog synthesizers</A>, <A HREF='http://www.ipdb.org' target='_blank'>pinball</A> and <A HREF='http://malawicichlids.com' target='_blank'>aquaria</A>. Do I play music? Am I an amazing pinball player? Do I breed Lake Malawi Cichlids? No, but it"s perfectly OK for me to stand outside, appreciate and respect those that do. Just like Birdy pointed out. Beyond casual interest or enthusiasm comes passion. Being passionate about something, at least by my assessment, means much much more. Passion is a deeply held interest (or perhaps a value) about which your feelings are non-negotiable. Passion can do a lot of crazy things to a person"s judgement. It can cause people to do things that get them into deep trouble, it can throw a person into bipolar fits of depression or ecstaticness, or it can motivate and drive a person to greatness. For example, in 1999 I was a pinball enthusiast, but I became passionate when many of my friends lost their livelihoods on <A HREF='http://www.tilt-movie.com/' target='_blank'>'Black Monday.'</A> I was in a funk for 2 months or more while watching buddies of mine scramble to pull together resumes and find new employment. Sometimes it takes a triggering event to move you from being an enthusiast about something, to being passionate about something. This happened to me again just this week. A triggering event (an email message from a client) moved me from casual interest all the way to the other end of the spectrum. Today, I was gently chided by a friend and mentor for being passionate in a business situation where passion was clearly an inappropriate response. A client asked a question regarding something they were concerned about. I wrote a response to this client"s benign 5 sentence inquiry with 5 lengthy paragraphs. 3 of my long-winded paragraphs went into detail regarding everything I thought they were doing wrong. In the last 2 paragraphs, I whined with something akin to 'if you had listened to me 6 months ago, you wouldn"t be having this problem now.' Thankfully, because of the confrontational nature of my correspondence, I passed it along to my business partner as well as my aforementioned business mentor for feedback before sending it on to the client. After I had slept on it, I was thankful I hadn"t actually responded yet. My alternate response (which had to be artfully crafted with assistance from my friend) was not only far more professional, but became completely nonconfrontational. Honey, vinegar, yeah - I get it... In my defense, I could say that if I didn"t care, I wouldn"t have vomited such a lengthy and detailed initial response. I genuinely did care about the issue that the customer brought to my attention, but my passion about the subject caused me to very nearly respond inappropriately. Of course, I paint it in that light. My wife has another way of describing my actions when I do that, but I can"t repeat it here. The thing is, I"ve done this 2 or 3 times in the past couple of weeks with totally different clients. Lord help me, I care too much! I suppose the only reason I was prompted to mention this whole sequence of events is because I need a certain level of accountability. If I happen to respond to an email message from you in a way that makes me sound like a real jerk, it"s only because I care about your project so much. At least that"s my version of the story, and I"m sticking to it. Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:07:43 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=443A Shift in Perspective http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=443 For all who feel the requirement to contract a professional photographer or pay royalties to photo libraries in search of imagery for media advertising tools, here’s a cost-saving tip: Just do it yourself! It’s time to think beyond someone else’s creativity and make your own vision come alive. Corporate advertising has ridden this trend for the past few years. Companies are now scoring their advertisements with original music material, No more paying someone else royalties while that company maintains ownership of the song and the master. “Jingles” are becoming “singles” and we are being exposed to more and more no-name Indie Artists. What a great way to get discovered. So, why not do the same with photography? I really don’t know why we have continued to limit our concepts and ideas with someone else’s vision. For the convenience, I suppose…Until the day it wasn’t so convenient. It all started with a café -A simple café. After hours of searching photo libraries such as Corbis, iStock, Getty and about 10 other sites for an image of a simple shot of a coffee house or café, I was left with nothing. What I wanted was an environment filled with wood, table and chairs, a warm vibe and ZERO people. Instead, all I found were many of the same cheesy images of a man and a woman with their perpetual smiles/laughter having coffee together, sitting in a stale, monochrome café. We had come up with our concept and were in the beginning stages of design for a new web site for Michael Card. Michael is an author, recording artist, radio host and scholar. Three decades full of accolades: Gold Records and Dove Awards for writing and recording music that has - and continues to be - inspiring and challenging. We needed to make a shift in how visitors navigated Michael’s web site. We didn’t want Michael to be consolidated and compartmentalized. This meant that we needed to consolidate and compartmentalize the site’s content, but not Michael. Over the years, consumers seemed to compartmentalize Michael and his works. They knew him as either a musician, a radio host, scholar or as an author. Our desire was to help people break away from those limited preconceived perceptions of him and re-introduce the public to a multi-layered, multi-talented individual. We needed imagery, or more appropriately stated; we needed an image we could use to create an environment that would make it easy for the user to see the different aspects of the real Michael Card. After two days of searching and finding nothing that reflected the imagery we envisioned for our project, I finally thought to myself, let’s just shoot it ourselves! So I made a call to Merridee’s Bread Basket; a quaint little luncheonette right up the street from our office, to see if they would let us use their establishment for our little shoot. The manager gave us his blessing and even said he would let us do it free of charge. My next call was to see if Michael was available the next day to participate. Amazingly, he was. We all had a blast! Two digital cameras, two cups of coffee, pastry, couch, guitar, tables and some books. We were set. The shoot itself took only twenty minutes, due to the ability to instantly preview images. Here’s the great thing about media advertising: You don’t have to fool with print-quality images. Images are generally getting altered in Photoshop and converted to 72 dpi anyway, so you don’t have to hire a professional photographer. All you need is the shot you want. That said, it took us two days searching for images that didn’t exist, but we shot what we wanted in twenty minutes. Michael and his staff are ecstatic, and we can’t wait for this site to go live. So, the next time you find yourself slaving away through photo libraries, just remember, the answer may not lie in looking for the most professional photographer. If you’re looking for that one-of-a-kind shot, look no farther than the mirror. Just do it yourself! Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:07:23 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=444The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=444 I feel like the dad on that Staples commercial they ran a few years ago. It was a back to school ad promoting the sale of school supplies. The father was waltzing up and down the aisles of the store singing 'It"s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year'... In AUGUST. He was of course referring to school being back in session. This year, I echo his sentiment. Not because I"m anxious to see my kids off to new schools, but because it means something new for me - a solid routine. I"m a creature of habit. This summer thanks to my wife"s overseas missions trip, visiting grandparents and a long list of other distractions, I"ve devolved into the sleep habits of a teenager. I glance out the window of my home office, and when I see the sun rising, I force myself to catch a little sleep before heading into the office. 20 years ago that wasn"t such a big deal, but now I definitely feel it the next day! So, as school prompts my kids to an 'early to bed, early to rise' lifestyle, I"m going to do my best to follow their lead. Even though I"m technically working during all those odd hours, I still feel somewhat worthless if I"m not at my desk at the office by at least 9:30. I suppose that stems from too many years in a traditional 9-to-5. The thing is, I tend to get wrapped up in things that I find interesting or enjoyable. It"s like trying to put down a good book. I"m not disciplined enough to stop working on something I"m having fun with, and here lately I"ve been having a ball with some really fun projects that MDM is working on. The super secret <A HREF=http://maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=439'>'big site'</A> I mentioned a few blogs ago is coming along nicely. We built them a new machine running a new flavor of Windows Server which was pretty cool. That stuff is right up my alley. Matthew, one of our code gurus, has been working on the back-end of the new database application that is going to drive a big part of the new Michael Card web site. <A HREF='http://maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=443'>Kari talked about the visuals for that project</A> last time, and they look fantastic. The data entry alone on Michael"s new site is going to take a week or two, since it"s going to encompass every album, video, book, radio show and online devotional he"s ever done. Encompassing his body of work that spans more than 20 years is a pretty big task, but we"re having a ball with it. Country music starlet <A HREF='http://www.taylorswift.com' target='_blank'>Taylor Swift</A> has the #1 album in the country, the #2 song on Country radio, and a new online campaign to push her video to the top of the GAC charts is underway. We"re privileged to have worked with Taylor and 'Mom and Dad Swift' ever since they made the move to Music City, and watching the fruits of her labor has been really rewarding for us all. We"re also in the process of clearing a few other things off the schedule as usual... Smaller tasks that keep the wheels turning for the sites we oversee and the clients we serve. I won"t bore you with the details, but the 'per-incident' needs of our clients keep things interesting around the office. Every day there"s something different. Oh, and there"s one other site I wanted to tell you about! Kari, Laurie and Matt have been tag-teaming on different aspects of it and it"s really turning out cool. It"s for auto racing prodigy Logan Ruffin. Check out <A HREF='http://www.ruffinmotorsports.com' target='_blank'>Ruffin Motorsports</A> when you get a chance. It"s going to go live later this week. Tue, 07 Aug 2007 08:08:26 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=450The Song and Dance of Design http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=450 Being the resident classified 'designer' on site, I thought it might be interesting to give you all a little insight into the reasoning behind some of the design decisions that I make. As you can read in my bio, most of my life has been spent in the musical realm in one way or another. Creativity was always what I loved about music and it is ultimately what lured me away from it and into media design as a full time career. In music there are always multiple aspects to consider when performing a piece. For example there is the tempo and the dynamics of the song. Some parts may be louder and faster, while other parts are more toned down. All of these changes come together to ultimately evoke a specific emotion or experience for the listener. The same basic principles apply when dealing with media design. I firmly believe that there is no situation in which functionality should overshadow design, and vice versa. Just as a musical piece is written to convey a specific feeling, a website should be designed in the same way, providing your visitors a chance to not only obtain the information that they are seeking, but to also leave your site with an appreciation for your brand and identity. Here are a few examples to illustrate what I am talking about. The first hurdle to jump over in website design is deciding the best way to display the actual information relative to that site. I am using television network sites here because they have a unique goal in representing several different brands for their individual shows, while still wanting to advertise the main network brand, such as NBC or CBS. I"ll start with a site that I love, the <A HREF='http://www.usanetwork.com' target='_blank'>USA Network</A>. Not only is the site easy to navigate and pleasing to the eye, but it also does an excellent job by giving identity to the individual shows without detracting from the congruity of the site as a whole. The content is very well organized and there is no question about where the focal point is. Now for the other end of the spectrum, take a look at <A HREF='http://abc.go.com' target='_blank'>ABC</A>. I feel like I am looking at a page in the back of a local magazine, you know, where they list all of the help wanted and single"s ads. There is no real method to the madness, at least not that I can see at first glance, which is what you want for a well designed site. If a viewer chooses to view your website, the initial impression and appearance can be critical. In fact, statistics have shown that the average website viewer stays for just 30 seconds. By having a well designed and professional looking website, you are increasing your chances that your visitor will stay and look around. While I see the ABC logo in several places on the front page, the design doesn"t necessarily lend itself to a feeling of consistency. At a casual glance, it just looks like a lot of unorganized text with some pictures thrown in here and there. On the issue of text, I also believe it is important to consider typography in your content design. Take the website for the <A HREF='http://www.oxygen.com' target='_blank'>Oxygen Network</A>. While this site is cleaner and easier to look at than the ABC site, I am still bothered by the list of text links down the right hand side of the content area. Absolutely nothing stands out in this large area, which makes me inclined to move on to another area where my attention might be grabbed. Some of the text appears to be slightly larger than other lines, but it is not enough for me to understand a clear reasoning behind it. Overall, remember that ultimately every part of your website is an advertisement for something. Whether it is pushing an upcoming concert or merely providing your contact information, the way that it is presented leaves the visitor with a distinct feeling. There is not much about my job that I love more than successfully launching a site that I am proud of and that I believe the client is proud of. Just as a composer loves to hear 'Encore!', so should you look forward to seeing that rising hit number in your visitor statistics. Wed, 05 Sep 2007 02:09:43 EST http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=455Introducing KAPELLE http://www.maddancer.com/view.php?com_id=455 It"s 3:30am, and I"m doing the same thing I"ve been doing all week at this time of day. I am sitting at my desk in the MDM offices petting Iggie, our office cat, rubbing my eyes and hoping I"ll catch my second wind for the third time tonight. You may have noticed that there haven"t been any new MDM blogs for quite some time. This isn"t because we"ve lacked passion, and it"s certainly not because we had nothing so say. It"s due to the fact that we"ve been absolutely buried in planning and dreaming about what"s ahead for us as a company in the next few weeks. I"ll backtrack a little to bring everyone up to speed... Somewhere around last October, as the economy started really hitting a lull, Mad Dancer"s development schedule encountered something we hadn"t seen in quite some time - an empty spot! In short doses, we find these breaks a treat and usually end up spending the spare time at the office walking up the street to Ben and Jerry"s, or heading home at 2 in the afternoon to catch a nap. But if these low points go on for too long, it becomes a concern for obvious reasons. Well, last Fall, this slowdown lasted for the entire last quarter of the year. In hindsight, we now see that there was a good reason for it. Without that downtime, we"d have never had time to take a look at one of the cold hard facts of today"s web world, and the current state of our nation"s economy. The world is changing, and the model under which Mad Dancer had done business for over a decade was showing signs of age. It became abundantly clear that it was time to adjust our business strategy while we still had a company to tweak. From this realization grew the new project that currently has me here at the office, spending late nights here with our programming genius, Dan. We call it, Kapelle. Kapelle brings together not only our most commonly requested administrative tools and site features, but also pushes Mad Dancer Media"s services into some new areas that our clients have been asking about for a long time. In a nutshell, Kapelle is a suite of software tools all rolled together to 'talk to one another.' Kapelle contains seeply robust content management tools, e-commerce, customer relationship management, grassroots teams and community development software all tracked click-by-click by real time web analytics systems. It also includes a few other goodies like mobile phone marketing and content publishing tools, social networking account management tools and widgets, fan clubs and even some new services like physical product merch fulfillment. Roll it all together, and you"ll start to get a picture of what Kapelle, and Mad Dancer"s new business model is all about. But the change isn"t just about a new software service we"re offering up to everyone. We"re not doing anything completely Earth-shattering by pulling together a bunch of useful tools under one umbrella. Our 'Swiss Army Knife' for the web consists partially of systems that you might already be familiar with. What"s revolutionary about Kapelle is what we"re doing with it from a pricing standpoint. A common remark from past window-shoppers has been that the up-front costs for a MDM site created too tall of a hurdle to leap past. Under our new pricing model, Kapelle sites have much lower entry fees. This puts Mad Dancer quality (and all the great Kapelle gadgets) within reach for small businesses, independent recording artists, rural churches and others who might not be able to handle a large up-front site development fee. Be looking for more details about Kapelle on our web site very soon. In the meantime, give us a call and we"ll tell you more about it. But if it"s before noon, ask for Kari, because I"ll probably still be at home asleep. :) Tue, 13 May 2008 06:05:20 EST