It was a fantastic quarter for the company and I’m especially thankful for the word of mouth advertising network. In the past three months we’ve been working on:

• Auspice Corporation - defining the user experience and designing a browser-based application for both mobile and desktop delivery that will be used across the cable industry.
• Harvard University - delivering a top-level assessment of a large-scale query tool.
• Harvard University - defining the user experience and delivering a comprehensive top-level information architecture and content mapping strategy for the entire finance division.
• CSO (CSOonline.com) - designing the user experience and developing a standards-compliant set of front-end templates for the new CSOonline.com
• Vantel Pearls - delivering enhancements to the back-end order entry process and delivering a booking report for demonstrators.
• Apex Properties - continued the design and development of a new corporate Web strategy

The new quarter looks to continue with great success as we respond to RFPs for major learning institutions and corporate marketing divisions. We’d love to hear from you and look forward to helping you solve any user experience problems.

I believe that with the array of technology available to creative firms comes the ability to not only be more flexible, but the ability to grow a firm with lower associated and administrative costs. Keeping costs down can translate to client savings if they’re willing to work with you on a virtual level.

It’s important to do everything in your power to meet face-to-face, but there are times where both sides have scheduling or travel restrictions. In those cases, we use alternative methods to share.

Video Comprehensives

I’ve decided to embrace this new presentation vehicle for our clients that are over 200 miles from our location or unable to meet with us in a timely fashion: V-Comps.

Using V-Comps, we can put together a quick introduction and then lead the discussion as we walk through the different reasons behind our design choices.

We do this for three specific reasons:

• The client is not within a commutable distance.
• We can post a copy to the client portal with secure access to give to additional client staff at a later date so that they can review it (or see it again) at their leisure.
• It is more difficult to properly emote in an e-mail.

The Protected PDF

Why not just send jpgs and a little text? Because you need to be protective of the information you send to anyone these days. It’s one thing to have someone try and repeat what you’ve said during a presentation, but it’s another to misquote and misdirect the conversation. Take the initiative and write up a PDF that’s protected so that your words and pictures are sent together to a client for them to review and forward. This will take a lot of the guesswork out of your intentions.

Talk to your client about the preferred alternative method for communication. Make sure they’re comfortable with how you intend to move forward.

In most cases, your client will be quite accepting of replacing costs with an alternative.

It’s been known as so many things:

• Summer Fever
• Vacation Mode
• Senioritis

The feeling of getting away for the weekend and taking a breath during the summer months can be downright thrilling. Unfortunately, this won’t be one of those weekends for us, but we are definitely feeling it. We’re feeling warm winds and we’re talking about past vacations while we wait for large files to download and upload and work around code base issues and … you know… all that lovely Friday stuff that seems to happen.

Fight through the pain

If you start to think that you need to stop, then stop. I usually tell people to stand up and walk around for a few minutes. Get something to drink, feed the office fish. Do whatever you can to shake off the chains for a moment. For me, this means getting a Dunkin’ Donuts Ice Tea with two Splenda.

Likes and Dislikes

I’m lucky. I like my job. No… wait… I love it. What I don’t like are code problems that seem to appear and disappear without explanation, missing links that I could have sworn I entered into the main navigation and a color correction on a file that doesn’t seem to take even though I’ve done it four thousand times in my life the same way.

I am lucky. I love my job.

Happy Friday.

Happy Father’s Day to those of you to whom the sentiment applies, and a great, big thanks to Jon, Rachael and Michael for giving me the chance to be a dad and learn from them as they grow.

Congratulations to Phil, Gail, Joe, MJ and the rest of the Technical Selling Enterprises LLC team in a successful launch of their new brand: SalesEngineering.com! Feel free to read the press release online.