The New CS5

My husband is the geek who is normally glued to the screen every time new software or hardware comes out. But this time, I’m the one who’s excited! Thanks to Terry White, a trainer for Adobe and excellent blogger, we got a sneak peek of the top five new features in all of the new Adobe Creative Suite 5 programs. But since my background has been in writing and desktop publishing, Indesign earned most of my “Ohhhs and Ahhhs.”

Back in the day, I spent days with my eyes glued to a tiny screen laying out my college yearbook in PageMaker and since then, I’ve grown to love Adobe’s Pagemaker reincarnation, InDesign. If only we could use InDesign instead of Microsoft Word for everything! (Of course, I used Quark too… but I never grew to love it.)

If you’d like to see the new features (and efficiencies) with the new CS5, check out Terry White’s Top Features in CS5 Videos.

How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell

For those of us involved in design, web development, writing, videos and anything that’s not straight-up accounting, we’ve all had this experience. A client hires you for your expertise and then… well, you know.

Check this scenario out, and we’ll maybe we’ll all learn how to work together better!

Interesting… An RFP for the National Endowment for the Arts recently required spec work, so the leading graphic designer’s association responded in a well-written letter.

The irony is quite strong here… that an arts organization would be requiring free work (and damaging an industry they are supposed to protect)!

I wanted to share my view on spec work being required in RFPs.

I’ve been involved in several website, design and marketing projects from the hiring side and now from the vendor side. A company can manage their RFP process however they’d like; I don’t think this is so much an issue of ethics but of business efficiency.

Companies think that they are saving money by asking for spec work, but what they don’t realize is that nothing is free. The more work they require upfront, the more they’ll pay in the long run. And why waste the precious money in your budget for pretty designs that will most likely be scrapped once the project is underway? If a company spends $2000 getting your business, then add that to the tab (or subtract that from the quality of the website you’ll be getting).

We prefer to work with clients who chose us because of our reputation; RFPs can yield good results, but they’ll always be more expensive than a shorter and more efficient evaluation process.

I also find it interesting that the hiring process for different types of vendors is so drastically different.

For example, if an association or corporation were to hire a new accounting firm, they wouldn’t expect that firm to do their audit and taxes to see if they would do a good job. Rather, they would go off recommendations and client testimonials. Would they expect their accountants to provided a fixed estimate for their services or would they provide detailed examples of their thought process and/or final product?

What can those of us who are involved in non-accounting services do to better justify our experience and talent to perform the job after hired, rather than having to prove our worth upfront?

Or will something else emerge?

Just a thought to consider.

In addition to winning in the Overall Best Open Source CMS category, WordPress was named first runner-up in the Best Open Source PHP CMS category.

For those of you who are not involved with website development, this may not hit home. However, for those of us who help build websites, this award gives credibility to this incredible resource VS the expensive, home-grown CMS systems (usually inferior) that a lot of companies hawk to unsuspecting companies. Why people will pay more for less just because a slick salesman tells them its better, well, that’s another blog post.

This got me thinking… what exactly is PR? Do we all have a different idea of what it means to influence our publics?

On the way home from the conference, my friend and I got on a Southwest Airlines plane to go home. As we walked on the plane, we noticed a King of Hearts graphic that looked like it had been ripped out of a magazine taped on the wall near where the attendants stand. My friend and I both noticed it.

A few minutes after the plane took off, my friend leaned over to me and said, “That what the king was about!”

“What?” I responded.

She gestured to the passenger in front of us, who was reading a USA Today. A huge graphic on the newspaper showed Southwest as the king of the airlines.

We looked at each other and said, “Wow, that’s cool.”

No one made the these Southwest airlines employees proudly display their status as king. They ripped it out of the newspaper and taped it there because they were proud of their company. And we were glad to be on a plane with happy employees. I gained a new respect (and loyalty) for Southwest Airlines that day. No ad, press release or media relations effort would have made Southwest’s employees react this way. It was the best PR… however, this opportunity to feel and show company pride came as a result of Southwest having a hardworking PR staff, I’m sure. Southwest wouldn’t have gotten that kind of press had their staff not worked well with the media.

The best PR comes from doing good and then having someone who can share it with the world.

So I guess this is why we’re particular when we choose clients to work with; we need to first find a company who’s doing something good before we can help them share it with the world.

P.S. By the way, it’s interesting to note the reason I was on Southwest is because I’ve always had good experiences, and I felt dissed by American after they deleted all my hard-earned frequent flier miles after only 18 months without a flight.

In fact, many company leaders never even look at their own websites. Their awareness is seems to be more focused on what their staff puts in front of them or what their customers tell them. What they’re missing with these feedback loops is the hundreds (and maybe thousands) of people visiting their website. A company’s website is the most accessible way that a customer, potential customer, news reporter or random person can find that company.

As a result, having an outdated website is like making a sales presentation in your underwear.

It makes you look bad. Just like if you were standing in a meeting in your underwear, most people would laugh, look away, or tell you to take a hike. However, few would hire your company, even if you told them that you were too busy selling products to put on pants that day.

The same is true with websites. Your website is what gives you credibility… most people won’t see that new wizbang brochure or catalog, but they’ll likely go to your website to find your phone number, location, and browse to see what your company is about. It’s the world’s biggest tradeshow… and you already have a booth, whether you like it or not.

• Have fun!
• Let people be people; stop expecting them to have no weaknesses
• Talk to people when I have a concern rather than hitting them upside the head or ignoring it
• Not play favorites
• Get rid of dead wood
• Not make fun of customers or co-workers
• Encourage group breaks and communication
• Work as hard as I expect them to work
• Not make people come to work sick
• Delegate, plan and execute (don’t change at last minute)
• Be respectful of others
• Be patient and be better than I currently am with rushing
• Laugh
• Work respectable hours
• Blog

What is on your “Do Differently List?”

We can’t win, so we might as well laugh! For your reading entertainment, here’s the recent “circular” conversation that my husband had with Quickbooks customer service regarding an upgrade for the 2009 version.

Very professional isn’t it?

Has anyone had a good customer service experience on instant message? I don’t think I have. It’s hard to get someone who doesn’t speak your language to understand what you’re looking for on IM!

PS By the way, if you can find out what the upgrade price is for Quickbooks 2010 for Mac, let us know