R|com Creative Blog

One of the areas where we spend the most effort is website security. It is an expense that goes beyond staffing and equipment. It is never ending. It is to some extent, not winnable. It is likely in fact, that if you have a website, you will suffer through an outage. It will crash.

Overall, our record for keeping websites up and running is excellent. We average 99.958% up-time during the past eight years. That’s high. But it isn’t perfect, so why does this happen?

Website security is so challenging because there are a tremendous number of variables that can affect a site’s performance. The Internet itself, access to the Internet, the health of the hardware in use, the switch, the routers, the cables, the power supply (direct and indirect), the performance of the applications, the impact of users visiting the site, hackers trying to kill the site, etc. We work diligently to ensure we keep all of the above in balance, and it is that balance that provides the greatest degree of comfort and security.

Most clients want their websites to work, and they don’t care how that happens. If something does happen to their site, it is never their fault. We try to encourage that level of responsibility, but internally, we are always studying ways to improve. We’re in the midst of an upgrade, in fact. A new switch system, upgraded cables (we replace them over time, not when they fail), updated OS installations, and continued testing of the network are just a few of the activities under way at the moment. And all of it designed to ensure that the most important thing happen to your website when hosted with us. Nothing.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs addresses the crowd

This week marks the last MacWorld Expo that will be attended by Apple. Steve Jobs did not deliver the keynote address. For many people, this signals the end of an era, and for them, I guess it is. I would propose, however, that it is merely the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the ongoing arena of personal computer use.

Apple has evolved. It attracts more people to its stores on a daily basis than dozens of MacWorld Expos. As professionals that rely on the tools that we use to help our clients, isn’t this an opportunity for the MacWorld Expo to evolve as well?

Paul Kent, the GM at IDG who runs the MacWorld Expo is a pretty smart person. Although we haven’t spent any time together during the past two years, I’ve known Paul for more than a decade and he has always been about education, evolution and guitars. In my book, that’s a winning combination! Prior to running the overall show for IDG, he was responsible, via his own company, for the conference and seminars. I would guess that Paul might have a clue about what comes next, and something likely will, even if it is completely remade – new name, new place, etc.

There is a place in the world for a Mac-specific trade show. In fact, there are probably several of them, but in today’s world, the niche value is what’s important to those of us who use the tools. For example, we use Mac technology for our video post production work. So, a show that is specific to the Mac relative to video would be of interest. And even more so because of the Mac itself.

The Mac represents more than a tool, which is why some people don’t care for it. It represents style. Class. Elegance. And, Apple has been smart – they’ve moved away from direct PC comparisons, such as processor performance, to keep the mystique of the Mac in the forefront. And, I think it works.

I was an exhibitor at the very first Macworld, in 1984. It was not at Moscone, as it has been for more than a decade, but at a smaller venue near city hall – and it was underground. Literally. The booths were mostly pipe and drape, with some carpet thrown in. Most were ten by ten or ten by twenty. And the innovations that were being shown were all about things like “desktop publishing.” So, the people who were attending were interested in low-cost productivity tools that related to printing, design, newsletters, etc. Today, my mother-in-law is snapping photos with her digital camera, ingesting them into iPhoto, making books, slideshows, etc. It’s just part of how she communicates with her children and grandchildren.

The last MacWorld I attended was two years ago. In between, I didn’t miss one. As an Apple vendor and developer, we often had software before the public did. We often had the hardware prior to public release, or knew about it. And, in many cases, our input, along with many other Apple vendors, developers, and designers was important to the product that was being created.

So, why go to the show? There was no way I’d stay away, particularly after Steve Jobs came back to the company. In 1996, Apple was on the verge of dying. Wired put out an issue (I still have it) of an Apple logo (the old multi-colored one) with a thorns around it and the title, “Pray!” The media had written Apple off. Many of my peers as well.

Steve Jobs knew the potential that existed within the company. He was extremely shrewd about it – and that’s something many people forget. And he recognized the evolution of our social environment from an analog world to a digital one. And so, every year, he would propel Apple forward, using MacWorld and special events to generate mystique, hype, and energy around a product line that had been given up for dead. Equally important, he made certain that the products offered worked. They had to work. And, after a bit, they were not only competitive again, they began to chew away and absorb big chuncks of the markets they were sold into.

Each MacWorld Expo was a chance to see Jobs speak, and many of us thought each speech would be the last one. After all, when he returned, he coined the “iCEO” term, meaning he was at that time the interim CEO. He wasn’t planning on staying. In those days, he used to end his presentations with, “oh, and one last thing…” and it would be the show’s bombshell. The big deal. I’ll never forget the 2000 Macworld, when he said, “oh, and one last thing… I like what I’m doing, so I’m going to stay.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And all of this for the CEO of a computer company. By the way, his salary was $1 per year. That wasn’t his total compensation, but it was his salary.

Imagine taking that type of enthusiasm and energy and applying it to the auto industry. Does any automotive CEO have that panache? Perhaps Dieter Zetsche of Mercedes Benz, but only to the industry – his TV ads never really helped the company move forward, at least in the USA. And it’s a lesson we can all learn from. In these times, we all need to focus on what is possible. What can be done? What will people react to?

We use Macs because they help us get our work done faster, more efficiently, and with better collaboration. We also use PCs for various things, but not for our personal workstations. Hey, I use an iPhone instead of a Mac for a lot of things these days. But, I do enjoy the mystique of the Mac. I hope that sticks around for a bit.

Time has a way of slipping by...

Have you noticed that as you get older, each hour, day, week, month, and year go by faster than the previous ones? Time is a luxury. And, as we move through life, it’s important to try and find ways to slow the clock. And, while some will say it’s about staying alive, I would say (or write, in this case), that it’s about living – and enjoying what you do.

This is the time of year in which many of us give thought to the events of the past year, and our plans for the coming twelve months. As I think back on the past year, a number of interesting time-related issues come to mind. The thing that each one has in common with the others is the effect more time would have on the outcome or progress of the project.

What would happen if there was more time? We know a company that has long desired to see video become a key component of their consumer marketing. Not withstanding the quality of content, we’ve done some experiments related to driving viewership using YouTube. And, the tactics used prove you can build viewership – watching other videos, inviting people to watch, encouraging people to subscribe, proper tags, and most importantly, a continuing selection of fresh content. Still, the viewership isn’t nearly what anyone would want.

YouTube has a program that enables sharing revenue with producers. When checking out the producer program, the one thing that is immediately apparent is that all of the elements listed above are in play. And, in several cases, the most popular YouTube channels are managed by young people. One channel is a teenage brother and sister who put out a five minute weekly comedic video. They have nearly a million viewers every month. Why? Well, one key reason is time.

I can think of about ten different projects that would be totally cool to produce and market through an online media community like YouTube. But, each one requires an investment of time that, as a working adult with staff, clients, vendors, and projects to be responsible for, I have no remaining time.

I know of another organization that spends extensive time discussing all of the great plans they have to make the programs they manage better. In fact, they spend so much time that when all is said and done, they don’t have any time left to do the work. And so, their reputation among their members and those around them is of an organization who doesn’t get anything done. It isn’t what their intention is, but it is what the end-result appears to be.

And as for ourselves, we’ve run out of time numerous times this past year. We have a pretty terrific stock media libary, but no time to post the images or footage. We’ve had various projects that we thought would be terrific to implement, but paying clients always take priority, so no time to get it done. And, for me personally, I spent several months in the middle of the year dealing with some health issues, and so, suddenly, I found myself always struggling for enough time during the past few months.

So, as we look forward to 2009, one of the key issues we’re focusing on is time. With the current state of the economy, we want to ensure we provide the best quality support and service for our clients. We also wish to ensure we’re helping those companies who need to quickly improve their product mix, services, and outreach to their customers. That means we need to be smart about how we use time. And, we certainly want to slow the pace enough so we can enjoy the journey. Join us!

The new LAFD Museum website uses the Rcom CMS solution.

The Los Angeles Fire Department Museum and Memorial has launched a new website, created using the R|com Web Manager Pro solution that we provide. This was a big step forward for the LAFDHS, which previously had relied on a combined Moveable Type and static-page solution.

We developed the site so that minimal engineering effort would be required when working with news and updates for the museum. Many of the volunteers are not computer-savvy, so giving them a solution that permits easy access and word-processor simple content creation was key. In addition, the organization hosts a number of events, has photo galleries, and is eager to promote history related to the fire service. The Rcom CMS solution gives them the ability to quickly and easily implement any event details or other content they might like to publish.

Every time an organization takes advantage of a solution like this, it makes me smile, as the ability to clearly take charge of Internet-based communication is so important in today’s hectic social environment. And, since the introduction of the system last month, the museum’s website has had more traffic than it had in the previous ten months. A good step forward.

Our team provided design, engineering, installation and now supports the site with hosting and content publishing. We enjoy supporting the organization and hope you get a chance to check them out: www.lafdmuseum.org

One of our challenges involves the creation of budgets for custom web application budgets. The reason is that web development is, basically, unpredictable. There are typically three elements to web application budget development: database expense, application expense, and UI (user interface) expense.

The most straight-forward of the three is database expense. The rules, roles, and execution of database code is fairly predictable. The interaction between application code and the user experience is a completely different animal, and not for reasons you might assume. Our biggest challenge in this area is keeping our client on track with the original specification.

Often, as we develop and deliver custom application code, our client(s) will think of new things to add, change, or eliminate. Now, keep in mind that our work Agreements include a design, feature, and engineering freeze clause, including dates related to the overall project. At the same time, our job is to satisfy each client with the best possible solution. In many cases, these individuals aren’t experienced with application development, so their eyes are their biggest connection to the code they thought they were going to see. Often, what is delivered inspires them, and as such, they want changes – and they want those changes included in the original spec budget.

For our team, the key is often to spend some extra time in the pre-production phase of the project. On occasion, we’ll even add a separate “pre-production” design phase to a budget, so we can work more closely with the client to ensure there are fewer changes as the project moves forward. Even so, there are times when clients want to make changes, regardless of how the preparation process was developed. And, while it is often an opportunity to add revenue to a project, the end-result is delayed, and that has a cost to both parties.