Website Launches
I just launched a website for the yoga teacher that had a real part in making me a mentally and physically stronger person. I was so flattered when Coeli asked me to work on her website, I just jumped at the chance. So, here it is... http://www.coelimarsh.com!
I made it using Wordpress (what my blog runs on). I could have made it from Drupal, but I've found that if you're not doing any heavy theme work and the site isn't complex, Wordpress is really the way to go.
The opposite was true for mcgtraining.com, which already had an existing design. I found myself struggling to theme in Wordpress, whereas I find it much easier to do so in Drupal. My instinct said to try Wordpress, though, because it's such a small site, but hey, I learned from my mistakes and now it's all done.
Two happy websites!
Another Boston Nor’easter!
We're getting socked with another Nor'easter. I love Boston, I really, really do -- as long as it's not winter. Is that fair to Boston? I'm not really sure, but that's what it is. I'm annoyed that I can't go to work today. I have lots to do. Fortunately, I can do a lot of it online, and as much as I'm a fan of the idea of telecommuting, I think face to face meetings are so critical. But I can't really do those meetings in my pajamas. Pluses and minuses, eh? Pluses and minuses.
Barbara Moratek of the Ivete Foundation – beware
Last week I received an email from Barbara Moratek of the Ivete Foundation with a very simple and seemingly genuine email. The subject line was "Information for prospective donors" and the content said:
"Would you have additional information for prospective donors or volunteers other than what is on your website? Thank you in advance.
Warm regards,
Barb
Barbara Moratek
Vice President, Director of Grant Programs
Ivete Foundation
Phone-
Fax- 800.397.7205
Web- www.ivetefoundation.org"
Now, the lack of a phone number should have been an indicator. My work email is hardly out there, either, and certainly not in a development capacity. But I passed it onto our development staff to see if they could help her. Fortunately, several other random people in our org got the same email. So, development smartly did some research and it turns out it was a scam. I was surprised and frankly, bothered, by the fact that someone would specifically target nonprofits. Gross.
OK *now* I’m part of the process
I do vote in every major election. But I have to say, I was really on the fence about bothering with this one. After 2004, I was crushed, like so many others, at Bush's second (first?) victory. Edwards excited me, though. But his poll numbers were low and the media was virtually ignoring him. Hilary was "inevitable". I felt like I had no voice. Unless I lived in Iowa or New Hampshire, my vote for the next Democratic candidate wouldn't matter on Super Tuesday.
But then Iowa happened. And Hilary came in third. Everyone's saying how Barack has given them hope. He's the candidate for hope, for change. After last Tuesday, I believe it. He didn't just beat the "inevitable" candidate. He beat the media. Voters proved them wrong. MAN, I love it when that happens.
So, I hadn't registered to vote since I've been back in Mass. I did tonight. And what was nice was there was a steady stream of 20- and 30-something's doing the same thing. Massachusetts will probably nominate whatever Democratic candidate there is in the general election, but it's nice to know I've at least got a vote that matters among us Dems!
To figure out where you stand, check out:
Free Rice
I'm so happy that I'm seeing this on not just my nonprofit blog feeds, but also on my general web feeds. The word is spreading, hooray! So, I'll help too:
See Free Rice tests your vocabulary, feeds others at one of my newest favorite blogs.
Good help and software is hard to find and assess
My head has been spinning this past week. I've been on a mission to help my org sort out a technology problem. Can we get a one-stop-shop hosted, yet fully customizable (i.e. template mods and form field additions) transaction platform that includes event registration, donations (one-time and recurring, preferably) and a store? Oh, yeah, and it should be affordable and not lock us into a contract. We're a nonprofit, so we can demand these things... right?
Well, the good news is that there are options, but it's been so difficult to find. GiftTool seems to do what we want, but I'm nervous that there hasn't been much use and we can't play with it ourselves before signing on the dotted line (only remote demo from a sales dude). There's Click and Pledge, Shopify (doesn't really do events), NEON, MemberClicks and some others. But how are we supposed to know who to trust? What's good? What have others used? It's an incredibly labor-intensive process.
Well, I've got a few thoughts on the matter and am hoping to help implement something that will solve this problem, so I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you've got any thoughts on these tools, they're welcome!
Oh, and one more thing. After sending out feelers about this problem to some tech listservs, I also sent out a feeler for a freelance developer. Surprisingly, no one responded to this call either. I'm wondering if my delivery's off, I haven't hit the right group of people, or there's just a lack of flash developer freelancers out there. The hunt continues!
Major web survey findings complete
A List Apart conducted an extensive survey of web professionals. I was disappointed to see the gender disparities, let alone the ethnic ones, but I guess it's not too much of a surprise. It's nice to know that my new job title has added another woman to the small amount of female "web directors".
Roar
Get the A List Apart survey... be warned, it's huge. I only skimmed it.
Google Analytics is like magic
I swear, sometimes I feel like a cavewoman seeing fire for the first time, or a peasant in the Middle Ages watching a "miracle". Google Analytics announced some major enhancements to their (hello, FREE) tool that will make my job so much easier. Lots of people, of course, are blogging about this, but these are one of my favorite folks:
http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2007/10/new_google_analytics_announced.htm
Look, ma, someone blogged my question
Idealware is an awesome group, so of course, I turned to them in my hour of need. They provided me with good advice, though honestly, I'm still searching for people to talk to. The companies that use the product just seem so teeny tiny. Hmmm.
http://www.idealware.org/blog/2007/10/ask-idealware-finding-current-users-of.html
Logical or touchy-feely?
Which one are you? I totally thought I was logical. Apparently I'm touchy-feely. Even after staring at it and willing myself to see her counter-clockwise. I think I'm becoming less analytical and more "in touch with my feelings" the older I get. I used to be an ESTJ. I'm absolutely an ESFJ now. Evolving is fun. Though I'm a little disturbed at being lumped in the same category with Desi Arnaz, Sally Struthers and Barney Fife. (Take the test yourself.)
Oh and by the way, I found it in my pretty new firefox happy "better gmail" with embedded google reader. Now I can get all my crack in one place. They also have skins, most of which are heinous, but the clean one is nice.