Communiqué

iMarc has a unique approach to managing projects and internal resources. For iMarc, a project is typically a new website and internal resources are the people, our employees, who design and program websites.

As more people are involved in a project, more time is required for internal communication. A solo project with one person doing everything requires zero internal communication. In fact, in iMarc's early days, there was only one person assigned to each project. One person doing the design, programming, and project management is ideal for keeping communications costs down, but obviously limits the quality of work.

As iMarc grew, we hired more specialized talent. Eventually we had one project manager, two designers, and four programmers. This worked well, but again, we encountered a limiting factor. We could only work on about six projects at once. When the sales team got on a roll, we found ourselves turning down good projects. Each programmer could juggle one or two large-scale projects. Designers could spread their time across two or three projects. But asking a single project manager to lead ten projects would, again, limit the quality of work.

Our solution was to hire another project manager. A second project manager allowed us to take on more projects, hire more programmers and designers, and avoid bottlenecks.

However, the way that multiple project managers are implemented at iMarc is slightly different from other service-oriented companies.

A traditional implementation of multiple project managers would create two levels of production. One, where projects are assigned to project managers; the second where project managers assemble a project team from the company-wide pool of designers and programmers.

Benefits of this traditional approach include:

• The project manager can be selected and brought in to the sales and planning phase early on.
• Teams are optimized for each project.
• Teams are constantly changing, breathing new energy into each project.
• Easier to grow the company — just add more people to the production pool or the project manager level.

The approach iMarc chose creates one level of production. A production team consists of one project manager, one designer, and two or three programmers. Technically the project manager is more of a team manager. Teams are like mini-companies within iMarc. Team members work together on every project assigned to their team.

There are plenty of drawbacks to the iMarc approach. It's difficult to bring the project manager in on the sales and planning phase of a project. This is because we often don't know which team a project is headed to when the sales cycle begins. Assigning a project to a team depends more on which team has resources available when the 6–12 week sales and planning cycle ends.

The iMarc approach also puts more responsibility on the designers and programmers. Since we don't have the luxury of optimizing teams for specific projects, it's up to each designer and programmer to fit the role requirements of the project — not the other way around.

From the business side, growing the company requires adding or rearranging whole new teams, not just throwing more people into the pool. On one hand this is more difficult. On the other hand, it encourages the steady, well-planned growth that has benefited iMarc.

There are, of course, a few benefits to the iMarc approach:

• Less communication and coordination. Project managers don't coordinate with one another, asking, "When will Craig be done with Project X? I could really use him on Project Y next month."
• Teams members become familiar with one another's style, again cutting down on communication requirements. They work more fluidly and efficiently.

It's these two benefits that we feel far outweigh the alternative. To quote Fredrick Brooks in Mythical Man Month:

The purpose of organization is to reduce the amount of communication and coordination necessary.

The tree-like structure of organization reflects the diminishing need for detailed communication[...] The principle that no man can serve two masters dictates that authority structure be tree-like.

We've divided our production resources into autonomous teams and made the project manager's role more of a team manager. By doing this, we minimize communication and coordination — especially among project managers. This also eliminates the possibility that any designer or programmer is serving two masters project managers.

Minimizing communication requirements is not an excuse for minimizing communication. Removing extraneous dialog centered on coordinating people allows everyone to focus on important communication. Like building better websites.

Clearly my first post on the iMarc blog needed to be something important. I spent a long time looking over cool new links and articles I found, debating if they were worthy of my first blog. Today, though, I stumbled across a pressing question that must be answered: Do you prefer your toilet paper to roll over the top or from underneath? Read More

A nerdmare is not a nightmare.

A nerdmare is not a nerdy nightmare either.

A nerdmare is much worse than both.

A benefit for the nerdmare is that one is most likely not terrified.

A benefit for the nightmare is that there is a chance of getting some sleep.

Nerdmares leave you tired and cranky.

Nerdmares come in two distinct variations:

• You forget to sleep because you're completely engrossed in programming/gaming/*nix/books/you name it.
• You try to sleep, but your brain won't let you as it's insatiably fueled by and wrapped around an especially nerdy topic.

Unfortunately, last night I experienced the most ironically disturbing type B nerdmare, centered around REST.

Somebody get me a coffee.

Have you ever had a nerdmare?

Recently the bizdev team met with a local group of entrepreneurs to discuss a project. Eric Curtis, Bill Nolan and Kim Nolan have developed a methodology that they call The Octopus Solution, that they use to help business owners to manage 8 key aspects of their businesses.

Eric also owns a company called MetroRock, which operates two successful indoor climbing gyms here north of Boston. During our meeting, Eric described how he successfully utilized Facebook to virally market the Newburyport location to a hard-to-reach young audience. We were so jazzed up about it that we asked him to write it up so we could post it to our own blog, which is a first.

So with no further ado, an excellent case study by Eric Curtis:

The MetroRock Indoor Rock Climbing Gym Case Study

MetroRock is an indoor rock climbing facility that originated in Everett, Massachusetts. It set a precedent for the size, scope and amenities that corresponded to the growth of indoor rock climbing. Pat and Bruce, the owners of MetroRock Boston, decided to expand to another location after two incredibly successful years in operation. In the process of looking for a second location they found another entrepreneur, Eric, who was in the process of opening his own indoor rock climbing gym in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Pat, Bruce and Eric realized they could position themselves better in the New England market if they joined forces and worked together in a partnership. The partnership immediately led to accelerated growth and in October of 2006 MetroRock opened their second location in Newburyport, MA.

MetroRock North was doing well in the first several months mainly due to birthday parties and Learn to Climb classes but after the first few months business began to slow down and membership was not growing at the planned rate. Customer’s return frequency needed to be increased, along with memberships and overall sales.

Eric knew he needed to change some of his marketing but was hesitant to spend money on conducting a Newburyport demographics analysis. When looking at the two gyms, the biggest difference was climber demographics. Everett attracted climbers from ages 25-35 while Newburyport attracted 15-25 year olds. The demographic difference was mainly attributed to the different ways the gyms executed marketing and operations.

Also during this time, Eric was in the process of implementing his co-designed consulting package called The Octopus Solution. The simple step-by-step method was created for launching, growing, structuring and controlling any small business; Eric used this new solution to implement the marketing of MetroRock North. The Octopus Solution showed Eric his real target market very quickly and put a plan into action.

Eric approached the high school employees of MetroRock. He was seeking marketing ideas geared toward students to grow that segment of the business. One of the students mentioned a new website that was becoming the primary method of communication in high schools… Facebook.

Facebook was an awaking, an epiphany, and ah-ha moment at MetroRock North. It was a tool to break through all the noise in today’s very busy and chaotic lifestyle. Facebook was originally just created for students and did not allow any other type of user. Facebook went public to allow any user to open a personal profile or create a group. Almost every high school and college student within a 40 mile radius of MetroRock North had an account.

Originally MetroRock used a MySpace account to create awareness but the interface was inferior to Facebook. Facebook allowed users to integrate email, photos, build friends, join/create groups or events, and play games. MetroRock was one of the first businesses to open a group and start to link students to business. The new B2S!

Now, a capable high school student operates the MetroRock Facebook account. Eric wanted to make the business appeal to students via Facebook. He began announcing the formation of High School Climbing Teams and promoting Friday Night Rocks as student night.

Friday Night Rocks was designed to cater to the high school/college crowd with special events and classes which got the momentum going. Facebook became the communication tool MetroRock was missing. After the implementation of Facebook the Friday Night Rocks attendance went from approximately 15 students to more than 70 and those numbers continue to grow. Friday nights became so popular MetroRock was able to promote additional events such as mini-competitions, theme nights, glow-in-the-dark climbing, and live music performances. Revenue increased across all levels of the company because the new climbers coming in for Friday Night Rocks lead to day passes, memberships, programming, and the formation of climbing teams at twelve local high schools. The Facebook group initially attracted Newburyport High School students, but now the Facebook account has grown from around 30 to over 500 in just several short months!

Facebook was and still is an amazing tool for marketing and sales. Now, more social networking websites are popping up so it is imperative for our business to stay in tune with our customers. Relating to customers includes understanding their preferred method of communication and what avenues of advertising/marketing they respond to. I am always looking for new and improved ways to reach out to new climbers as well as stay in touch with our current climbers.

Inevitably in business, one must attend a networking event. Tradeshow dinners, regional trade organization events, corporate holiday parties, company outings, they all tell us that the "booze and schmooze" tradition is still very strong. And as much as we may dread the awkward conversation, the time away from family and home, the uncomfortable suits or heels — for business development and making deals - it works again and again.

Last evening, Nils and I attended the Boston Business Journal Gala networking event to celebrate their annual Book of Lists. We had the usual reservations, so to help motivate each other we crafted a bet. The terms were: Whoever hands out the most business cards receives dinner from the loser for them and significant other, whoever collects the most business cards gets wine for the dinner from the loser. I also conceded a 2 card handicap to Nils since he convinced me that being an attractive woman gave me an advantage starting conversation. But after two hours in a ballroom filled with 1500 people from Boston's top businesses, I’ll soon be buying wine and making dinner.

The event was fun and the bet helped us to initiate good conversation about business with other attendees. There was honesty in it because everyone is there to market their business; and it’s genuinely interesting to learn about people – what they do and where they are from. We both met several smart, fun people, who may really benefit from iMarc services and vice versa. And thanks to the exchange of those 2 x 3.5 cards, business that otherwise would not, may happen.

Recently, a number of excellent articles have been published that deal with declining state of music production.

Rolling Stone's, Death of High Fidelity is a great place to start. Much of today's music is now played on tiny computer speakers, though iPods, or as MP3s. Because of this, songs are now produced and mastered specifically for this low-quality medium. Like when a good sports team plays down to it's competition, high quality music studios are playing down to 128 kbps MP3s.

The main change in music production is increasing the overall volume. Sound levels are cranked up so even the soft parts become loud. The benefit is that the Fallout Boy MP3 you just bought actually grabs your attention from your crappy Altec Lansing computer speakers. The downside? Contrast disappears and dynamic range is compressed. Since contrast and dynamics don't sell records, attention grabbing wins this war.

The trend towards cranking up the soft parts is referred to as The Loudness War. It's evident in most modern songs as well as remasters and reissues of older works.

Here's a comparison (taken from the Rolling Stone article) of U2's song With or Without You. On the left is the original audio. On the right, the remastered version shows much less contrast as the quiet parts have been turned up.

Here's an even more drastic example with an ABBA remaster.

More on the Loudness War:

...wimpy, loud, sound.

Photo by Steve Nix

A firebreak is a method of containing wildfires. In fire prone areas, forest management services create a firebreak by clearing trees, brush and vegetation. This leaves a path of bare soil. Without trees or brush there is no energy to feed the fire and it burns out.

Like wildfires, web projects are susceptible to burning out of control. Projects that gain more momentum than the team can handle are seldom successful.

Momentum builds during the planning and early production stages. The energy of a new client or new project is usually positive. Likewise, momentum is usually good. However, left unchecked momentum and energy can overwhelm.

Building a firebreak into your project can be accomplished a number of ways. The challenge is doing it so that the client isn't put off. It's hard to reign in momentum without killing it completely.

That's where the firebreak comes in. Some projects have built-in firebreaks – a small budget, a strict deadline, or limited team resources. On those projects, it's easy to say, "We can't add any more features and still meet your objectives".

On larger, less deadline driven projects, it's important to build your own firebreak.

Break a large project into two smaller projects. Convince the client that they'll have a more successful website if you split their budget in half – build half the site and launch it. Then use the other half of their budget to build and launch the next half.

As the work-week comes to a close, iMarc conversation changes. We stop using words and communicate only in photoshopped images of Fred.

1. Dave: I want to be like Fred and have a beard. I found this felt beard for only $35 EUR. Fantastic!
   
2. Nick: You mean Fredtastic
   
3. Christian:
   
4. Jeff:
   
5. Nick:
   

This was the scene when I got into my car this morning. Warning, this is unpleasant for everyone.

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