http://maxonmedia.net/index.php The Maxon Media web blog where we discuss our work, trends and technology that make sense in the real world for our clients and community en admin@maxonmedia.net Copyright 2010 2010-02-05T15:34:01-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/addy-2010-peoples-choice-nominees-in-the-interactive-division/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/addy-2010-peoples-choice-nominees-in-the-interactive-division/#When:15:34:01Z Everyone likes a good pat on the back every once in a while. So if you are so inclined, we would love to have you vote for one (or all) of our sites in the 2010 ADDY Baton Rouge People’s Choice Awards competition. Six of our sites have been entered into the contest, and we couldn’t more thrilled with the opportunity to showcase some of the outstanding work done for our clients over the past year through this event. Here is the link to cast your vote.   Our nominated sites are… Volunteer Louisiana One of the most worthwhile projects we have ever developed, Volunteer Lousiana was designed through the office of the Lieutenant Governor to encourage people to get involved and make a difference in their community. One of our lead developers, Tiffany Taunton, designed the logo for the project along with the website interface, which ties into the Network for Good Search Database. The site is completely content managed by the client, so they have the ultimate in flexibility to make any updates to any of the sections that they want, including video.       Encore Lousiana Another one of our sites through the Lieutenant Governor’s office, Encore Louisiana was designed to reach the baby boomer generation (and beyond) as a means to celebrate and promote the amazing thrings that Louisiana has to offer someone in their retirements years. The centerpiece of the project was the Top 50 for 50+ online voting system, which allowed anyone over the age of 50 to login and cast their vote for the best of Louisiana in categories such as “Best Festival”, “Best Place to Learn Something New” and “Best Restaurant”. The winners were tallied and are now available to browse via an interactive map on the site.         BF Anderson As part of an overall branding campaign that also included a logo and brochure design, the BF Anderson website was designed to give the managers the ultimate in content flexibility designed around a clean and functional web interface. By tying an autmoatic RSS news feed into the home page and providing great blogging tools, the BF Anderson staff is able to keep their site relevant at all times. Another key feature of the site is the Resources area which enables full audio, video and other media uploads to happen through an online interface. Functionality and form in a great combination.         Christ the King Presbyterian Church This project was a join effort between the Maxon Media team and Lance Orton, director of media with Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Houston. The homepage was created to allow immediate access to the most current events going on at the church, along with one-click access to a Featured Sermon. Lance does a great job utilizing the tools to manage the content of the website, and we are thrilled to partner with Christ the King on many of their multimedia projects, including other print and logo development initiatives.       The Keeping Room Maxon Media Art Director Katie Swetman was the lead designed on this project which clearly shows her passion and commitment to the clients we serve. Working with Jeff English from Creative English for the copy, this site is a great example of taking the intermediate step between a starter website, and a full-blown e-commerce site. Great photography, clever content and good design came together to show off the amazing products and services that the Keeping Room provides the Baton Rouge community. Katie was also the creative force behind the Keeping Room brand development.         Airside Equipment Building off a great brand identity created by Object 9, the Airside Equipment website is a great example of taking an industrial based company, and giving it a strong design presence. Some of the key features of the website include the Flash-based masthead area, developed by Maxon Media developer Lynsey Gwin, and the online catalog, which gives the ultimate in user experience. Many of the case studies and online blog newsletter area give this site a great dynamic feel, and is a real showcase piece for our company. Many thanks to Micah Ellis with Ellis Computer Consulting for setting us with David McIntyre and his staff.           So go tell all of your friends to vote for any (or all) of these sites. The voting ends on February 14th, so get your votes in today. Or if you would like to have your website be entered into this competition next year, give us a call and let’s setup a time to talk about your online presence as part of your overall brand and marketing efforts. It would be our priviledge to do so. Our Work 2010-02-05T15:34:01-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-team-featured-at-lano-conference-speaking-on-social-media/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-team-featured-at-lano-conference-speaking-on-social-media/#When:17:18:00Z As a result of our work with Volunteer Louisiana, the Maxon Media web development team will be speaking at the 2009 LANO conference in Baton Rouge on the topic of social media and volunteerism. Our team will be giving a 45 minute (or so) presentation on how to effectively use social media to help encourage volunteerism and participation in these vital organizations. Come see us this afternoon if you are in the area. As with all things worth doing, Social Media is worth doing well, so it is critical that the right framework be put in place for any organization to achieve tangible results in this area. One of the key things we will be showing is a short (5-minute) video highlighting the fact that we live in an “exponential” world. Things are not only changing, they are changing at an unbelieveable pace. Here is the video if you would like to watch it…     Some of the key areas we will be highlighting include an overview of key social media platforms (blogs, social networks, video/photo sharing sites), details about specific social networks (facebook, youtube, twitter, etc), best practices as relates to discovering what social networks your targeted audiences are on, and simply getting started in the ever growing world of social media. This is a complex topic but at the end of the day, the things that remain true about good business marketing practices, are true about discovering success in the world of social networking. The trick is to use these tools, not as an end in and of themseleves, but as a means to an end. Never confusing caring with doing. Encouraging people to get out from behind their laptop, put dowen their mobile phone and actually do the hard work of volunteering, no matter the cause. These technologies have made getting the word out infinitely easier, but its targeting people with relevant, engaging information that is key. If you would like to download a copy of our presentation, click here to view it in PDF form. Or if you would like to setup a time to meet with the Maxon Media staff to talk about how social media can help boost your business communication, let’s get together to talk about that too. Again, getting out from behind the laptop and actually sharing a cup of coffee and ideas. Pretty novel concept.   Technology 2009-10-21T17:18:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-teams-up-with-lsu-to-produce-alex-box-auctions/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-teams-up-with-lsu-to-produce-alex-box-auctions/#When:18:54:00Z A few months ago, we got a call from LSU Asst. Athletic Director Herb Vincent with an idea. LSU’s baseball team had just won the 2009 College World Series National Championship and the LSU Athletic Administration knew the time was right to give something back to the faithful LSU fan base that has supported the baseball teams over the years. The new Alex Box Stadium had been completed for the 2009 baseball season, which left the old Alex Box Stadium sitting empty and waiting to be torn down for future development. That was where we came in. The idea was to take as many of the items as we could from the old stadium and build a web-based system to help facilitate the sale and distribution of the key stadium artifacts to the fan base. So this morning, we launched www.AlexBoxAuctions.net. 2008 Gold Chairback Season Ticket Holders are able to login and purchase their exact seats from the stadium, and opt to have them upgrade to a collector’s package. We also have several framed pieces that contain actual dirt from the infield of the old stadium.  We are very excited about this project, and as LSU fans we are thrilled to be a part or preserving LSU history in this way. Here is the press release that was sent out by LSU this morning…   For immediate release:  October 20, 2009 OLD ALEX BOX STADIUM MEMORABILIA TO BE AVAILABLE FOR FANS BATON ROUGE – LSU baseball fans can own a piece of history by purchasing or bidding for memorabilia from the old Alex Box Stadium at http://www.AlexBoxAuctions.net, LSU announced Tuesday. Tiger fans will be able to buy various pieces of memorabilia from the former home of the Tigers, such as infield dirt encapsulated with framed prints and photographs, framed pieces of the net that hung behind home plate, seats, signs and other valuable artifacts. The memorabilia is being made available by LSU online at http://www.AlexBoxAuctions.net.  Proceeds will be split between the LSU athletic department and the academic side of the University.  The sale and auction is being facilitated by the Tiger Athletic Foundation which recently was approved to handle demolition of the stadium.  The TAF partnered with Maxon Media to manage the sale and distribution of the memorabilia. Gold Seat holders in the old stadium will have an opportunity to purchase their own seat for $500 each and can choose to have it upgraded into a collector’s piece ideal for home or office display.  Gold Seat holders will have until November 20 to purchase their own seat(s) at which time any remaining Gold Seats will be made available to the general public via the online auction. Bleacher seats from the grandstand of the stadium are available as wall-mounted displays for $199 each.  Dirt from the Alex Box Stadium infield is available in an attractive frame with a numbered print depicting the last game in the stadium for $299.  A framed photo of an LSU-Tulane game from the final season along with encapsulated dirt is available for $199 and a desktop collectible wood box containing infield dirt can be purchased for $85. A limited number of framed segments of the backstop net from the stadium suitable for wall-hanging are available for $149 each. Through the online auction system of the website, fans can initially bid on exclusive items such as the “Baseball At The Box” sign that adorned the front of the press box in the grandstand, the wall distance numbers from the outfield wall, upgraded Gold Seats from the Tiger Terrace and various signs from the stadium. Over the next few months, additional items from Alex Box Stadium will be available for auction each week. All memorabilia will come with a certificate of authenticity.     Our Work 2009-10-20T18:54:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/new-project-launch-encore-louisiana/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/new-project-launch-encore-louisiana/#When:17:47:00Z Have you ever wanted to vote for the top destinations in Louisiana? Well, Maxon Media has teamed up with the Encore Louisiana Commission through the St. Lieutenant Governor’s office to produce EncoreLouisiana.com, an online resource for boomers and beyond. An initiative that combines parts economic development and tourism, the Encore Louisiana website’s primary goal is to educate the over 50 demographic on the wonderful beneifts Louisiana has to offer, on a variety of levels. The technologival challenge for this project was to create a secure online voting system for a demographic that is not as tech-savvy as their younger counterparts. But, as the intial results come pouing in from people of all ages, it seems to be working quite well. There is something really gratifying about seeing a 92-year-old man successfully vote in an online survey on the state that he has spent his entire life. One of the highlights of the project was the launch party which took place at the WWII museum in New Orleans. Here are some pictures of the event. What an amazing place. It was great to have Lt Gov. Mitch Landrieu there to help kickoff the project and to personally give him a tour of the site. I highly encourage you to check it out, and take a minute to vote in the online survey. Phase II will be coming out in December with the results of the survey. Special thanks to Heather Reggio-Finke and Helen Foster who made this not only made this project very manageable, but a lot of fun too. Here is the press release from the Encore Commission. And here is the website:www.encorelouisiana.com   Our Work 2009-09-30T17:47:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/new-project-volunteer-louisiana/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/new-project-volunteer-louisiana/#When:14:37:00Z After several months of diligent work, we have successfully launched the new Volunteer Louisiana website in partnership with the Louisiana Serve Commission. At the end of 2007, we were contacted by Janet Pace, the interim exectuive director of the Louisiana Serve Commission, through the office of the Lieutenant Governor, to work on the redesign and development of the new volunteerlouisiana.gov website. Janet had first discovered Maxon Media through our involvement with Volunteer New Orleans (www.volunteerneworleans.com), which is a site that we developed in partnership with Cox Communications.    In working with the team from Louisiana Serve Commission, we were able to engage in the design and development of one of the most important projects we have ever been involved with, and is one that we are extremely proud of, not only becuase it is a wonderful showcase for our comprehensive design abilities, but that it is actually a project that will benefit our state on an individual community level. It’s not everyday that you get the chance to be a part of something that can effect real change for our state, and this was one of those opportunities. We are extremely thankful to Janet and her staff for their energy and commitment that they showed throughout the process, and for the design freedom that they allowed us to have as we developed the site. I am also thankful to the hard work of our staff, specifically Tiffany Taunton, for the excellent work done for this project.   One of the ways that Maxon Media can really excel for organizations such as this is in our comprehensive approach to corporate branding and multimedia implementation. In this particualr instance, we were able to develop the new organization logo, and then build the new web interface design from there. Capturing the unique local culture and the heart of the people of the Louisiana was first and foremost in the design intentionality behind the mark. Creating something distinctivly Louisiana, yet conveyed a spirit of service was the driving force.   The site features some very useful sections including a comprehensive search feature, in partnerhip with Network for Good, to allow users to search for active volunteer opportunities by parish throughout the state. An entire area dedicated to “Voluntourism” is available on the site, which will encourage visitors to Louisiana, and specifically New Orleans, to engage in service projects while they are visiting the state. Other features such as a mutlimedia News Room, a volunteer blog that will give actual volunteers the opportunity to share their experiences, and an e-newsletter which will allow users to sign-up for frequent e-news updates are also available on the site.   The site is built on a comprehensive Content Management System that is completely customized to allow Louisiana Serve Commission staff to instantly update the site content, specifically in the event of natural distasters or special volunteer opportunities become available. We are already in discussions to further implement a social networking strategy for the site to allow the maximum number of people to be aware of the latest news and information related to volunteer service in Louisiana.   Click here to check out the site, and we welcome your feedback since you are, in fact, the intended audience. Our Work 2009-04-21T14:37:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-is-on-facebook-we-need-friends/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-is-on-facebook-we-need-friends/#When:17:06:00Z What has become increasingly clear, the emergence of social networking as means of business promotion is the wave of the future. The Maxon Media staff attended WordCampNola this weekend (Apr 10-11) to find out more about the emerging technologies for the integration of Word Press both as a blogging system, and as a sitewide CMS. Due to nature of this software, there are virtually unlimited possibilities to the power of this system due to the fact that it is what is called “open-source”, which means as web developers all over the world use the system, they can customize individual plug-ins that expand the capabilities of the software as a whole. Having the ability to sort through all of the availble plug-ins, keep up with the software upgrades and implement compelling designs (that are not like everyone else who uses WordPress) is where we can really help. But Word Press as a whole who is a very flexible and easy-tu-use system for those interested in wading into the world of “content-managed” websites.   Anyway, back to Facebook. One of the benefits (and implications) of this type of conference is helping website developers and owners understand the complex world of social networking, which ultimately serve as communication tools and self-promotional tools. Typically, social-networking tools like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc have been more for personal use. But a rising trend is for companies and organizations to establish social-networking personas online to help communicate to their clients and supporters.   So, we have followed suit. If you would like to become a “fan” of Maxon Media on Facebook, we would love to hear from you. And if your not on Facebook, it’s worth a try. Specifically if you would like to hook up with your old friends from high school. Click here to check out our Facebook page.   Technology 2009-04-11T17:06:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/need-help-prepping-images-for-the-web-heres-your-solution/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/need-help-prepping-images-for-the-web-heres-your-solution/#When:13:24:00Z Content Management Systems are becoming more and more popular and easy to use for websites. But one of the missing links in the whole process has been our ability to give our clients an easy way to resize their own images. Well, we have recently discovered a very easy to use tool called Shrink-O-Matic, developed by a company called Toki-Woki. This is a easy-to-use, drag and drop style application that allows anyone with a mouse to take an image that they want to put on the web, and easily resize (and compress) the image to a more manageable size and type. The vast majority of our web clients do not have software on their computer like Photoshop (unless it is something that came with a digital camera) that is capable of doing this small but very important step. This is a program developed on the Adobe AIR platform, which means it will require you to install the AIR plugin before you are able to install the actual software, but do not let that stop you. AIR is a great development tool that allows web developers to make web-style software that runs like software on your computer (and not on the web per se). But the actual system will look and feel like a web application, so it will be very friendly to use. Programming styles like Ajax and Flash are very commonly used in these applications so they are very slick. Anytime we install a Content Management System (CMS) on a site for a client we have done the vast majority of the hard work by styling the template that they will use for the individual page layouts. We have made decisions like font size, color, menu layout, etc, but one thing we can’t necessarily do for them is enable them to easily add images to the individual pages - which (by the way) is a very important sep that most clients overlook or keep away from simply becuase they are not interested in the time and effort it takes to understand how to make them work. The tendency is to upload a large image (perhaps off a digital camera) that might be 8-10 MB in size. And then resize it down to the roughly 300 pixel size that fits on the page. The reality is that even though they have sized the image down, they have not changed the data size of the image, and even though the image may appear small on the page, it is actually loading as the 8 MB image (which on some connections may take a very long time). A great website will work very efficiently, and having properly sized/compressed images is critical for that to be the case. They also add quite a lot to the overall layout of the page, and for that reason alone it is worth the effort. RELATED LINKS: Here is more information on ADOBE AIR and on Shrink-O-Matic. http://www.adobe.com/products/air/ http://toki-woki.net/p/Shrink-O-Matic/ Technology 2009-03-24T13:24:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-wins-statewide-web-design-contest-for-the-ltc/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/maxon-media-wins-statewide-web-design-contest-for-the-ltc/#When:16:12:00Z We are very pleased to announce that Maxon Media has won a statewide web design contest for the redesign of the Louisiana Technology Council website. Last week, I had the privilege of meeting with Mark Lewis, the president of the LTC and we had a great conversation about all of the amazing work that this organization is doing. I am very excited to be a part of this organization, and look forward to working with their development team to implement the new design on the site in the coming weeks. We will certainly include the link to the design in this blog as soon as the site is up and running. Special thanks to my good friend Patricia Burns with Cavalier Telephone who let us know about the contest and the LTC. Be sure to check out their website and talk with them about the services they provide. Thank you to all of you who has expressed your congratulations to us. Here is the press release that was sent out late last week…   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Michelle Hansen (LTC)                         Michael Lipe (Maxon Media)                (504) 304-2910                                     (225) 753-7670 mhansen@ltc-la.org                             michael@maxonmedia.net         LTC announces Baton Rouge Company as technology winner - Maxon Media wins LTC website design contest - New Orleans – March 13, 2009 – The Louisiana Technology Council (LTC), a member organization dedicated to advancing economic and social development through technology throughout the State, is pleased to announce that Maxon Media of Baton Rouge has been chosen the contest winner for designing its new website.  The contest was implemented as a part of various changes to the LTC’s infrastructure; and to provide improved content for its users, greater visibility, easier access and integration for existing and new members, better event management and to help with marketing and promoting Louisiana’s technology initiatives. Maxon Media receives two years of free membership in the LTC, $10,000 in promotional services, a $1,000 cash prize and a complementary ad in the annual LTC Membership Directory and Resource Guide. “A group of LTC members help choose Maxon Media out of a number of excellent submissions.” said Louisiana Technology Council President Mark Lewis. “Our goal is to improve the quality of our programs and initiatives that we provide to our region and the State and we are excited to be working with Maxon Media to make that happen,” states Lewis. “This is another step in helping to create greater for Louisiana and to help make Louisiana – Tech Capital of the SouthÒ.” “The creative team at Maxon Media is thrilled to partner with the Louisiana Technology Council in the development of their new websit,” said Maxon Media Creative DIrector Michael Lipe.  “As a Louisiana-based design agency, we are very excited about the efforts the LTC has made in advancing Louisiana as a leader in technological achievement, and our hope is that this new website will assist in reinforcing those efforts.”   About the Louisiana Technology Council (LTC) The vision of the Louisiana Technology Council is to be recognized as the most sought after and widely-respected technology association in the communities it serves.  It will attract, facilitate, and disseminate technology knowledge and skills in order to enhance the business growth and career development of its membership. For more information about the LTC, please visit: www.ltc-la.org. About Maxon Media Founded in 2004 by Ron McDaniel and Michael W. Lipe, Maxon Media is a full-service, strategically-driven, interactive graphic design agency, specializing in corporate branding, print collateral design and website development. Based in Baton Rouge, Maxon Media specializes in working with clients to both develop their corporate brand and then effectively implement their brand through every phase of the media spectrum. Through our collaborative efforts, we strengthen the bond between the practical technology that exists and the people who put it to use in their everyday lives. Each website we create, each corporate identity we design, and each concept we develop acts as a point of connectivity between our clients and their goals. Please visit our website to find out more about Maxon Media and our design services - www.maxonmedia.net.   Our Work 2009-03-16T16:12:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/live-tv-on-your-iphone-its-true/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/live-tv-on-your-iphone-its-true/#When:13:58:00Z This year’s March Madness college basketball tournament will be broadcast live on your iPhone.That’s right LIVE on your iPhone. A company called MobiTV will be releasing a new App that will allow users (once they have purchased the app and pay a small per-game fee) to view the selected tournament games live on the iPhone or iTouch. Many other mobile phone companies have promoted their live streaming audio over their phone devices, but this is the first I have heard of live video over a mobile device. Once this door is kicked open, there will be an entire new word of broadcast opportunity that consumers will demand. The ongoing consolidation of voice, data, video (and now live broadcast) into one handheld unit is the clear future of mobile media and media saavy companies will respond accordingly. While the optimist in me is very excited about this type of development, the skeptic in me is wary of performance issues, such as audio/video compression, signal loss, etc. So if your team makes it to the Final Four, I wouldn’t have a watching party where everyone is gathered around your phone. But, if this is any indication of the direction this is headed, any technical issues will be quickly resolved if the public is willing to pay for the content and advertisers get on board. Here is an article that details the plan…   Live sports are coming to the iPhone.MobiTV, which offers prime-time TV programming for cellphones, has cut a deal with CBS Sports to show 63 NCAA basketball games in an iPhone/iTouch app for $4.99. The games begin next week, but the App goes on sale Thursday.The app grants access to all of the CBS Sports NCAA games, and goes one step further than television, says MobiTV senior vice-president Ray DeRenzo.On TV, you can only see one game at a time, but on the iPhone or iTouch, you can choose to watch any of 4 games that are happening at any given time until the elimination process begins. So, for instance, if you tune in and see that games in New York, Florida, Illinois and California are available to watch, you just click to see the game of your choice.To watch the sports live, you need to have access to WiFi, like the recently introduced Joost app for watching live TV shows on the iPhone and iTouch.This isn’t the first live sports app for the iPhone.  Turner Broadcasting showed footage from the National Basketball Association’s All-Star game in February for 99 cents.On Sprint and AT&T, MobiTV offers TV shows from the four networks, NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.  The company says it would love to bring that programming to the iPhone, but tech hurdles prevent that currently.MobiTV needs to be able to sell subscriptions, where the iTunes App Store is built to make direct sales. MobiTV got around that with the NCAA games by selling a “ticket” to buy all the games. The NCAA tourney gets under way on 3/19.Meanwhile, beyond the live games, Thought Equity Motion just unveiled a free iPhone/iTouch app to see 2009 NCAA previews and past videos.   Article Link http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/03/live-sports-are.html?sr=hotnews   Other Related Links http://www.mobitv.com   Technology 2009-03-13T13:58:00-06:00 http://maxonmedia.net/site/the-most-recent-release-of-safaris-web-browser-is-changing-the-game/ http://maxonmedia.net/site/the-most-recent-release-of-safaris-web-browser-is-changing-the-game/#When:15:52:00Z The dominance of the IE web browser is slowly fading as Mozilla Firefox and Apple’s Safari browser are getting a stronger and stronger foothold in the market. The latter, Safari version 4, is out in Beta form and has raised the bar with some very compelling new features Those of us who are iPhone users are very familiar with the Safari web browser and with the popularity of the iPod and iTunes software, some of the features found within those technologies arenow making their way to the web. Most notably, Apple has applied a version of their cover flow system to the web browsing world in the latest release of the Safari 4 web browser. Their system called “Top Sites” uses thre same cover flow style to browse both popular sites and your own browsing history. It even displays your most recent and most frequented sites in a single view so that you can browse all of them a single glance. Pretty cool.     But interface upgrades alone are not the only difference with this latest release, as Safari 4 claims to have the fastest browsing experience on the web, and a leading edge commitment to compatability of the latest web development technologies to get the most of the web’s potential. It has heightened security measures available to protect the user and an open-source module called “WebKit” which will allow independent web developers to continually develop new technologies based on the platform. As good as all of these upgrades are, the most difficult thing for web developers (and website owners for that matter) is to continually keep up to date with the cross-browser compatability standards that insure that each website operates with ideal visual and performance integrity. There are many popular sites who are not accessible via the Safari browser, and that mindset will have to change as its popularity increases. As these new technologies emerge it is crticial that the web development world continually be aware of the changes to not only utilize all available technologies, but also to insure that each client’s site is accessible to eveyone on the web. Intenet Explorer is still the top dog, but as you can see in this most recent chart of web browser usage statistics, Firefox and Safari are starting to make a push, and innovations such as these new realeases are making a strong case for the viability of these emerging competitors. Technology 2009-02-26T15:52:00-06:00