Communiqué

Following last week's grading of Democratic presidential candidates' websites, here's a report card on the Republican candidates' websites.

Again, I'll cut right to the chase...

The Winners

Ron Paul & Rudy Giuliani had the highest ranking websites, followed by Fred Thumpson, Mike Huckabee, and Duncan Hunter.

In the report card for Democratic candidates, the winner was Joe Biden with 4 points. Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani tied to lead Republicans with 8 points. Ron Paul is the only candidate in either party who implements valid HTML on his homepage.

And now for the details...

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Not many internet companies have been in business since November, 1997. iMarc has not only been in business for ten years, but we've grown steadily throughout.

We're old. We're wise. We're stable.

Like those embarrassing photos from your awkward teenage years, we're happy to share embarrassing old versions of our website. Yes, in 1997 and 1998 we were really into neon green.

Check out our portfolio or choose us for you next project

iMarc just remodeled our bathrooms. New toilets, new sinks, wainscoting, lights – we went all out. One feature we added was a coat hanger on the door to hang your coat, bag, or purse while you do your thing. In our purple bathroom the coat hanger seems to stick out about 10 inches.

Fine photography courtesy of Christian Keyes

After bumping my head on this shiny coat hanger for the third time, I decided to poll other office workers. The results were astounding!

In general, web programmers/developers bump their heads, while designers and marketing folks don't. In the results below, highlighted names are developers.

What could explain this? Why do developers bump their heads?

I was just testing a new iMarc application called Dragonfly. One goal for Dragonfly is to let clients easily enter issues they find with their websites. Before launching a new site iMarc and the client test it and track issues, bugs, and enhancement requests.

I put myself in the client's shoes... The site is ready for testing. Nick just sent me an email, telling me to create a Dragonfly account, log in, and enter bugs.

Like most tools we develop, empty lists in Dragonfly default to "No [things] available. Add one now". For example, if you haven't entered any issues, you'd see a message "No issues available – enter one now"

As a new user on a new application, this would confuse me. "Should there be issues? Is it a problem that there aren't any? What if I don't enter one now?"

I entered an issue about this issue:
The first time you log in, there should be more links and descriptive text

At a recent developer meeting we talked about sprinkling administrative forms with subtle coaching text.

Another initiative for 2008 is to concentrate on the first screen that a brand new user sees.

"Just because you’ve invited someone over to your house/app, doesn’t mean your hosting duties are over. You still need to welcome your guests, show them around, offer some introductions, and make sure they get into the flow."
from http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/666

iMarc is very proud to announce that two of our clients' sites have won awards in the prestigious Interactive Media Awards!

The Massachusetts Society of CPAs has won 2007 Best In Class for Financial Services. We're excited because the team at the Society and the iMarc creative and development teams put a lot of time and energy into making their new site not only look great but provide fantastic member service to MSCPA's members and integrating it with a very complex back end business/member management system. It's great to have it recognized!

Newburyport Pedicab has was awarded 2007 Outstanding Achievement for Charity. Newburyport is our home town, and Pedicab is a great cause: they work with the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer research.

The new site was designed and programmed by iMarc developers Jeff Turcotte and Patrick McPhail, working after hours, as a public service to the City of Newburyport and Newburyport Pedicab.

Previous IMA winners among iMarc's clients include Springstone Patient Financing, ReloJournal, Maine Maritime Musem, Seacoast Science Center, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and the New England Veterinary Oncology Group.

 

iMarc is a skilled team of designers, programmers, and business experts. We’ve been building custom web sites since 1997. The iMarc team believes that form follows function, that value is measured in efficiency and return on investment, and that great content is key to a great web site. Contact us for a consultation without cost or obligation.

From our internal chat list this morning...

1. Craig: I dont know #$*%& about baseball, but those rockies suck.
2. Patrick: It's true and it's real.
3. Fred: The first half of your statement really explains the second half.
4. Ruks: Yes, I agree that the first part explains the second. If it's true, then it's real, too.
5. Will: To my untrained eye it appeared the younger members of their pitching staff folded under pressure. Once they got that older guy in there things went more smoothly.
6. Fred: They're just a little rusty and nervous. They've been golfing for the last 8 days, what do you expect? (Besides, everyone knows that Beckett is lights out, this was all part of the mind games. "Look at me, a lonely reliever that can't hit the strike zone.") You'll see.
7. Jeff: ...more smoothly into the pit of despair!!!!
8. Patrick: They folded just like those chairs that you can fold. Folding chairs.

While most people hate spam, I actually don't mind it. My junk filter catches most of it, and the stuff that sneaks through lately has been hilarious.

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Last year we created a 50-second info reel about iMarc for the MITX Awards show.

Coming in November... iMarc's next video will rock your world.

Until then, kick back and enjoy the '06 version:

I just graded every major Democratic presidential candidates' website. Later in the week, I'll cover the Republicans.

It's all well-and-good if a candidate agrees with you on important issues like Iraq, the economy, or building a gigantic wall around Texas, but can he or she build a half-decent website? Let's see. Unlike most of these politrickians, I'll cut right to the chase...

The Winner

Joe Biden's website ranked highest. Followed by Hillary, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson.

And now for the details...

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