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Evo Launches WordPress-based Website for IntelliCyt

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Nov 27, 2010; Category: Content Management System, Design/Development, Marketing, WordPress; Tags: CMS, Communication, Marketing, WordPress as CMS; No Comments

Visit intellicyt.com»

IntelliCyt Corp. is an interesting biotech company in Albuquerque. They make high-throughput flow cytometry equipment and software, with a unique patented process. We were fortunate to do their first website (and their logo) in 2007 while they were still a very small startup. They are still considered a startup (and are attracting funding from venture capitalists), but they’ve grown quite a bit. We’ve watched them go through stages of product development and definition, and it’s been interesting.

Recently, they realized they needed a better online platform for marketing than their static website (in 2007, we didn’t know anything about WordPress, and their budget would not have supported the custom Content Management Systems we were building at that time). While they were hesitant about the whole blog thing, as many companies are at first, they decided WordPress would provide a better means of providing current information to their customers and prospects, and a platform for some two-way communication. WordPress gives IntelliCyt more control over their online communications, enabling them to update their site quickly and easily.

The site is built on Evo4 CMS WordPress theme, developed by Evo for business websites with integrated blogs. The design is meant to impart a clean, high-tech, uncluttered feel, in keeping with the biotech industry.

WordPress was recently voted the best Content Management System in the 2010 Open Source Awards. Little by little, people are recognizing WordPress as a powerful and easy-to-use content management system suitable for business websites.

Website Launch: FBT Architects in Albuquerque

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Oct 22, 2010; Category: Content Management System, Design/Development; Tags: CMS, Design/Development, jQuery; No Comments

Visit fbtarch.com»

We launched FBT Architects’ website this week. It marks an increasingly rare (for Evo) instance of building websites with a custom-developed Content Management System, as we’ve moved primarily to WordPress as a CMS platform.

In this case, however, a custom CMS was necessary to allow FBT the ability to manage the portfolio thumbnail grid images the way they wanted to, arranging them easily and intuitively in the CMS admin area. Adding complexity to the arrangement is the website’s need to highlight thumbnails in the grid when a category of projects is selected, while also changing the list of projects below the thumbnail grid. Further complexity was added by the need to list projects for which there is no thumbnail or project description. A modified jQuery Slideviewer was used to animate the images on the individual project pages.

This is another website designed by Kilmer & Kilmer, Brand Builders, for which Evo provides development and programming services in what has become an ongoing relationship. Though I sometimes give them a slight ribbing for being print designers, they’re actually great to work with because they listen and adjust when I identify an accessibility or other web-related issue. Not all print designers will do that, and their clients suffer as a result. It’s a credit to Kilmer that they put client needs high on the priority list when designing a website, and it’s one of the reasons I like working with them.

Yet Another Website Launch: Desert Sports, Terlingua, Texas

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 26, 2010; Category: Content Management System, Design/Development, WordPress; Tags: CMS, Design/Development, WordPress; No Comments

Visit desertsportstx.com»

Moving right along, we just launched Desert Sports’ website this weekend. They have been long-time clients, actually pre-dating Evo by about 3 years (maybe 4), and I believe this the fourth version of their website we’ve done for them. Desert Sports is a multi-sport outfitter in the Big Bend area of Texas, offering rentals, shuttles, and guided trips in boating, mountain biking and hiking. I’ve been on several trips with them, and you cannot go on a wilderness trip with a better bunch of folks.

As you might have guessed if you’ve been paying attention to what we’re up to lately, this is a WordPress-based website. In addition to their blog (a new experience for them), they update a daily report on weekdays that shows current temperatures, river levels, and other information you might want to know about before you pull out of your driveway and head toward Terlingua. They also plan to keep current updates on partially filled trips that have room for additional happy campers, like you!

The site has a lot of useful information on floating the Rio Grande, hiking trails, and mountain biking trails, as well as information on local services. Go take a look at their website, and consider getting away for a week in Big Bend with Desert Sports as your guides. It’s a guaranteed change of pace.

National Assistance Dog Week Website Launched

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jun 29, 2010; Category: Content Management System, WordPress; Tags: Blogsites, CMS, Website Launch, WordPress; No Comments

Visit assistancedogweek.org»

We recently (earlier today) launched another site with a WordPress-based content management system, this one for National Assistance Dog Week. The annual event was created through the efforts of Marcie Davis (workinglikedogs.com) to recognize devoted, hardworking assistance dogs helping individuals mitigate their disability related limitations.

While the site was launched a bit late (the event takes place approximately 6 weeks from launch), the site was built in just 8 days, from design to launch. Of course, like all sites, it’s a work in progress, and content will continue to be added. With WordPress of course, that’s no problem.

Behind the scenes, we’re still working on creating and testing custom post types in anticipation of event listings that will take place nationally. No doubt we’ll learn some interesting things in the process; we’ll report on our experience with that as we complete the work.

Blogging for Non-profit and Educational Organizations

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Dec 6, 2009; Category: Blogging, Business, Communication, Marketing; Tags: Blogging, CMS, Education, Non-profit; 2 Comments

The other day I was aked, “Is blogging useful for non-profit or educational organizations?” My mom would be pleased to know I stifled my first thought about bears and what they do in the woods, and instead responded with something a bit more professional. Something along the lines of, “Uh, yeah, sure.” Brilliant. Thankfully, I have a blog and I’m not afraid to use it to say what I should have said:

Blogging for business is about reaching and connecting with prospective customers or clients. For non-profits, it’s about reaching and connecting with prospective donors or supporters. For educational organizations, it’s a bit of both. Bottom line, it’s about connecting with people who care about what you do and bringing them into your community, where they can participate and become part of “the solution.”

Non-profit organizations must assemble their communities

But more specifically, how does a blog help a non-profit organization? A blog can help raise the profile of a giving campaign, by posting about the beneficiaries of the organization. Also, if the organization has a blog-based website (e.g., WordPress as a CMS), it’s a fairly simple matter to create a landing page for a particular campaign—to which people come from an email or direct mail solicitation—that’s focused on moving people through the giving process.

Apart from a giving campaign, however, most non-profit organizations are issues based. They came into existence in response to a need their founders saw as going unfilled or inadequately addressed: homelessness, mental health issues, poverty, domestic violence, environmental issues, etc. People (at least some people) care about these issues, and some of them care enough to become part of a community they see as offering at least partial solutions, and in making donations to support the organization offering and implementing those solutions.

Because the motive is not “profit”, which has negative connotations for some folks, blogging has the potential to be far more effective in helping to build communities surrounding non-profits involved with compelling issues than for most businesses.

Communities are the key to solving educational issues

Educational organizations are generally non-profit as well (but not always). If we’re talking about public schools, they face many challenges which directly impact the quality of life in the communities they serve. Most of these challenges, such as high dropout rates, teen pregnancies, violence, etc., are really community issues that are acutely manifested in the schools and require community and parental involvement to address effectively.

It baffles me, frankly, why public school administrators and teachers have not jumped into blogging and other forms of social media in a big way as a means of creating the kinds of connections and community that could help resolve some of the issues. I believe it mostly has to do with inertia and not looking hard enough for solutions to problems with which we have attained a certain comfort level, but that’s another post.

I believe blogging and other community-building opportunities have great potential to start moving public education back on a more productive and effective path.

Do you know of any non-profit/educational blogs?

If you have any examples of educational organizations or non-profits that are using blogs and social media effectively, please share them here.