Working with VI

At the beginning of 2009 I was approached my the creative agency We Are VI to work on the development of the Latitude Group site alongside their team of designers and developers. They had been requested specifically by the client to use the WordPress platform and at the time had no in house specialist who was able to provide the results required with the time and budgets constraints.
As the project manager was a former student of mine who likely remembered me bouncing around a lecture room raving about this open-source platform I was championing, so thankfully for both parties, it stuck.

The job was a learning fantastic experience for both of us, as realised the awesome potential of working with VI into the future, they realised the true versatility of WordPress in the right hands and we both learnt everything that comes from developing to spec for one of the countries leading SEO specialists.

The project was a huge success with happy client, happy agency and happy me which is always the optimum outcome, and therefore the progression to working again together was a natural one.

Since then I have worked on a number of sites for VI such as:

Blakeofficial.com

PortmanHalthcare.co.uk

FEIyearofyouth.org

SecretCinema.org/windowsphone/

This culminated in VI deciding to move their own site over to WordPress in order to facilitate the biggest problem for those of us busy working for clients in the industry, maintaining our own sites.

Thankfully this has indeed been the case allowing VI stay involved in the blogosphere by providing an accessible platform for regular content creation. Also providing a platform to experiment with a vast array of social marketing techniques, the development of many unique features to the VI site written just for them, including a custom plugin based on Mashable’s ‘drag-to-share’ functionality that will be released in 2010.

Go and see what is going on at www.wearevi.com

Trampaboards

As many of you will know I have a passion for kiting, both on water and on the land, and so when Trampaboards approached me in 2007 to ask if I could supply a 3D banner it was always going to a relationship that i would be wise to nurture.

This was indeed a choice I have become most thankful of, as in early 2009 Trampaboards decided it was time to both update their website and expand their product range to incorporate the manufacture of all of their own components.

It was clear that more than just a website would be required here, and as the current system running on os-commerce was already in place and being excellently run by Andy@snowdoniaIT.com it gave me the opportunity to focus on build the brand online and providing the consultancy required to allow Trampa to offer the same level of customer service online that they had become well-known for via more traditional means such as over the phone, by mail and at events.

The mission has been long, both fruitful and frustrating at times, but always a pleasure as I have cemented a firm business and personal friendship with both Ted@Trampaboards.com and Andy@snowdoniaIT.com form which we have all learned a lot about differing perspectives, stand-points and priorities where we have all had to remind ourselves at times who we are making this site for, …the customer. [some heated discussion as to whether the customer is Ted or his customers has been had late into the night over a number of curries on a number of occasions.]

At the time of writing this the commerce site is now live and ready for the Christmas wish list of many a kiter and mountain boarder, and the list for 2010 is growing by the minute with increased social marketing, team pages, and careful assessment and constant improvement of the customer process involved in using the system.

Something tells me there are to be many more heated curries into 2010 as the three of us continue to develop what has clearly become more than just your average project, and much more of a labour of love.

www.trampaboards.com

Less Mosquito v2

THE BRIEF

It was time to update the less mosquito commerce system. The old system had become dated and preventing evolution through social interaction and more importantly I found myself unable to satisfy some of the demands of the client due to software restrictions, a position I do not like to find myself.

It was time for action.

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Claudio Rietti DOP

THE BRIEF

The client wanted to update his dated flash portfolio site with something capable of streaming high quality video, on a very tight budget, yet fully manageable by the client.

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Latitude Group

THE BRIEF

Approached by an agency needing a WordPress specialist I was asked to develop this site for one of the leading SEO specialists Latitude Group which functioned and conformed to strict rules regarding content structure and presentation.

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