I’m still working on my voice for the SD blog, but we definitely need some non-work related posts to spice things up. Here goes . . .
Today I attended a golf event for our client IPC (www.ipc.com). It was a charity event raising over 700K for the USO (www.uso.org). We went with Greg Burke from Motorola and a client. The event is really something special — if you are ever invited just say yes and clear your calendar for the day — subsidized pro shop, free gifts on each hole, great raffles and a great cause.
Without a doubt the highlight of the day was my partner Jon’s golf swing. Here is a quick video taste:
Our Microsoft relationship continues to progress. This month, we renewed our Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status, which keeps us at the top of the Microsoft ecosystem. Take a look at our Microsoft Pinpoint partner profile.
There’s been a lot of yelling in the SD office over a seemingly simple question: What comes first, the design or the content?
In our experience, the best results happen when content comes first. The design of a site should be in service of clear content delivery, not the other way around. Content is specific, nuanced, and informational, and our designs should be as specific as the content itself.
When we design around placeholder content, we create something that’s disconnected from the true business or organizational objective it is meant to serve. Retrofitting a design to content that is provided in later project phases can result in costly edits to both design and content, which compromises the quality of the final product. Instead of paying the designer to use their expertise, clients pay for them to guess.
Check out what Design Informer and Made by Many have to say about substituting lorem ipsum for real, actionable content in the design phase.
I always look forward to the summer. The weather stays warm, I get to spend more time outdoors, and peaches are in season (peaches are delicious!). It’s also a good time to take inventory, which I’ll share here—assuming someone might be interested.
All things considered, Something Digital approaches a new season in good shape. We added some quality people to the staff, picked up some great new accounts, and found ways to work through the rough patches. We expected chaos this year, so my partners and I committed to finding order. We added a new ERP system to better run the operation—definitely one of the smartest things we’ve done. We also spoke with lots of other professionals and business owners to gain insight and build on their good ideas.
In the office, things are never too quiet. By mid-morning every day, our suite buzzes with conversations about projects, sales initiatives, upcoming events, and fine dining. When we have spare time, we’re focusing on new skills and certifications.
Strangely, after 11 years in business we sort of admitted to ourselves that many of our clients, partners, and even our staff struggled to describe Something Digital. So we recalibrated the brand and improved our messaging to tell a better, more concise story. Let us know what you think!
I’m grateful for what we have here. Three people run this business. We have a great, complementary dynamic, and we play to each other’s strengths. We have a bright, capable, and extremely dedicated team—engineers, programmers, designers, writers, managers, and business people. They all have top skills, and they all strive to improve. We have systems to track our performance, so we now know key metrics on every project. But, most importantly, we have great clients, who trust us with key aspects of their business. They are candid collaborators, who inspire us to get better.
As always we focus on what has made us successful–quality service and accountability on projects and strong, consultative sales for new prospects.
I have no complaints right now. I’m working late on a Friday to lend moral support to the team launching our new website, which I think looks great. I’m thinking about a warm, sunny weekend and wondering if the fruit stand will have that first batch of peaches that I can share with my wife and daughters.
After a lot of hard work, our new website (and blog) is finally here. We’ve gone through quite a transformation, and we hope you take some time to look around the updated site. Check back regularly for news, announcements, and updated examples of our work.
Our Microsoft relationship continues to progress. This month, we renewed our Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status, which keeps us at the top of the Microsoft ecosystem. Take a look at our 
