The best answer is found by considering your own needs, knowledge of the process and available resources.  Still, because I hear this question so frequently, here’s my two cents in the hopes it helps you in your own researching phase.  Of course, I’m also always happy to guide you to a decision in person, as well!

How to choose an Agency

You’ve most likely realized that working with an agency brings the benefit of having a team of experts, each adept at their particular area and experienced at working with others to produce results no one could achieve on their own.  At this point, the choice should become less about price, and more about fit.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you begin the research phase:

Has the organization does this before?

Yes, your needs are unique, but the organization you work with should be able to provide comparable examples to the work you need under discussion. At a minimum, look for signs that the organization has skills that will be easily transferrable to your project!

Can the organization provide comprehensive strategic thinking?

Most agencies can throw together a website these days.  However, the recommendations provided must consider your long-term organizational goals.  If you’re not discussing the ways this strategy will provide a return on your investment, you’re likely missing the boat.  Also, make sure your team is bringing ideas, recommendations, and long term support as your needs or problems change.  A great article we’ve posted on in the past about digital vs. integrated marketing teams was written a few years ago by our own Topher Overstreet.

Are the recommendations provided scalable?  Do they integrate with your full plan?

Your team is responsible for ensuring your project meets your immediate needs, but should also be an advisor to keep you abreast of the latest trends and ideas to further enhance your business.  Additionally your agency should steer you in the right direction because a tool meets your needs, not because it’s something they like doing.  (A great read about custom Content Management Systems by Doug Karr can be found  here.)

Do you have an excellent rapport with the team you’ll be working with?

Expect to have a few bumps in the road.  Your agency team should be your advocate, and will occasionally need to ask difficult, challenging questions.  Ensure you’re comfortable that the team you’re working with will do so, and that when they do, you’ll be comfortable answering them honestly.   Do you feel like you’re interviewing these guys?  Run.  Like.  Hell.

Does the team have great references?

Most agencies have case studies of the work they’re proud of on their site.  If you’re happy with the look and feel on their portfolio, ask for references and ask about their satisfaction with the work throughout the process, and after the project was completed.   The number one question:  was it effective?   The number two question: was the process fun?

Making a choice about the organization to work does require research and a great deal of trust.  Above all, make sure you’re comfortable that the team you work with brings the right mix of skills to make your project both effective AND enjoyable.  I’d love to know – what research did you do when you chose a team to work with?   What other steps or questions would you recommend?

Mutt Strut, a dog walk around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is the signature fundraising event for the Humane Society of Indianapolis (IndyHumane), bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the non-profit organization every year.

The 2011 IndyMuttStrut.org website

Several years ago, the event had only one section dedicated to it on IndyHumane’s website. For an event of this magnitude, this had to change. IndyHumane needed to raise more money at the event to support its services, and it needed to do that by sharing more info in better ways with its followers.

In 2009, IndyHumane chose xiik to design and develop Mutt Strut’s first dedicated website. In addition to giving Mutt Strut an enhanced brand experience for supporters, the site integrated the event registration system IndyHumane had successfully used in prior years. That year’s event broke previous fundraising and attendance records, attracting thousands of people and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In 2010, IndyHumane worked with xiik to redesign the site again, giving it a smoother interface, the ability to feature videos on the homepage, and a comprehensive FAQ section. The event broke its previous records again, in spite of a torrential day-long downpour.

This year, in addition to hiring xiik to develop the back-end of its newly redesigned website, IndyHumane again used xiik to redesign IndyMuttStrut.org, integrating design elements from the event’s new branding, photos from past events, and RSS feeds with updates on fundraising goals. The event raised more money than last year.

The success of the past several Mutt Struts have been due in part to IndyHumane’s ability to share the most pertinent information about such a big event in a simple yet effective way. How many times have you planned to go to a special event – a concert, fundraiser, fair, etc. – only to be frustrated by the lack of information online? A dedicated, easy-to- use website helps any event.

Whether you’re a for-profit business or a non-profit organization, you need a good web presence to promote your major efforts – it’s the easiest, fastest way to get the most important information out to the most valuable people.

Have you used a particularly great special-event website lately? Seen one in need of a touchup? Or do you know of a great event that doesn’t even have a web presence and is missing out on its potential? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

FMC looked to xiik to design and develop their new site, which recently helped them attract and register participants for their campaign-building town hall events — critical social opportunities to spread their message. The events promoted on the site also helped them garner national media attention.

In a featured article on the Huffington Post this week, FMC project director Daniel Heimpel writes about the education needs of children in foster care. He also describes their successful series of town hall events produced in May.

Driving attendance to FMC’s events was easier thanks to their website, where their content management system enabled them to incorporate a simple registration form alongside engaging program information — a vital interactive moment to compel people who are casually interested into confirmed event attendees. Additionally, the site’s ubiquitous social media integration allowed for attendees and community partners to share event content across their online networks, expanding FMC’s reach beyond their own resources.

The ease of use of FMC’s site is a tremendous benefit to them. And if you’re part of the typical non-profit — short on time, capital, and human resources — such a site could be immensely beneficial to your organization, too.

Unsatisfied with your current site’s capabilities to draw attention to your cause and loop people into your mission? Let us know in the comments section or contact us so we can help you reach your goals.

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) was finally revealed to the public through an event named “Beauty of the Web.” Only available for BETA download to Windows 7 and Vista users (Sorry MAC and Linux fans!), IE9 introduces new features for customers as well as developers who want to take full advantage of their computing power while staying up-to-date with the most modern web standards.

To explore and discuss Microsoft’s new browser, I turned to our very own Steve Hering, Art Director and table tennis champion of the office, to hear his thoughts. My first impressions on IE9 were soon changed as we got away from the finer details of the browser and focused on the big picture of this [beta] release:

One of the quotes from Beauty of the Web claims “IE9 will change the web forever.” Do you agree?

No. One browser will not be able to affect the web forever. As the “browser wars” continue pushing the envelope, we will only see features and the languages behind those features being pushed as well.

Do you foresee the release of IE9 changing your day-to-day designing and developing?

I really don’t see this changing my day-to-day — at least not yet. When it comes down to it, the adoption rate of IE9 will determine those changes, just as different browser functionalities do now.

Will the introduction of these new technologies being utilized together (IE9, HTML5, CSS3, etc) kill off Flash?

People make the assumption that Flash won’t evolve, but the reality is that it will. I don’t know when that will be, but I don’t think Flash will ever be gone. I think there will always be a place for it. The experience that Flash can give you is one that we cannot quite replicate yet. Currently, there are some web browsing experiences we cannot implement effectively across all browsers, but that is definitely changing. Until we have a broad support for CSS3 and HTML5, however, Flash will continue to be used to get the same result across every browser.

What is your opinion on Microsoft’s decision to roll out IE9 in this fashion?

Here’s the part that annoys me. It will take years to adopt IE9 and right now, in order to run IE9 you have to install Windows 7 or Vista! That is Microsoft right there! They are playing catch up with the rest of the browsers. Finally! IE9 isn’t doing anything drastic compared to the efforts of Chrome or Firefox. I don’t see them doing anything groundbreaking here.

Steve raises some very important points to consider when judging the impact and relevance of new technologies introduced to us. Big picture questions should always be considered. It is very easy to get caught up in flashy features, animated intros and fancy notifications, but our focus should not simply be how to integrate these new technologies into the existing design landscape, but rather how to push all of these pieces forward in a synergistic way — one that ultimately results in a web experience unlike anything we’ve seen before. Microsoft’s move towards these newer technologies is important, given how big a player they are in the market. Let’s just hope, now that they’re catching up, that they can innovate at a pace alongside the rest of the market. They’ll never embrace a fully open-source philosophy, but we’d all benefit if all market players took in the big picture.

The questions about Flash’s future are particularly important to xiik — we have discussed and detailed our stance about it in a previous blog post. If you notice the comments below that article, it is obvious this is a heated topic of debate — as it rightfully should be. So, we discussed our thoughts in even more detail in a follow up blog, which could then be summed up as: “Flash is becoming more popular, but as an element, rather than the entire site.”

Do you think that’s true? We’re always open to shifting our stance on technologies if the facts on the ground have changed. What’s your take on the big picture? What immediate and long-term impacts will Microsoft’s IE9 have on Flash and the industry as a whole?

Our support didn’t end there. On the day of the Mutt Strut xiik launched the Web site for the 2011 Indianapolis Poster Pooch Contest, a contest that will determine which Indianapolis-area dog will be the face of next year’s Mutt Strut.  Dogs are voted on by their human companions, who can log onto the site to vote for their favorites. The winning dog will be decided by having the most votes when the site closes at midnight on Friday, July 9.

Indianapolis-area residents can submit photos of their adorable pooch that can be voted on by the public. To register your pooch, you must make a minimum $5 donation and each vote is a $1 donation. Be prepared to enlist your friends and family to vote for your dog – the current leader has more than 300 votes. Have no fear, though, because voting is still open for several more weeks so there is plenty of time to get a rousing campaign for your pooch going. You can even use the site to solicit support from your friends and family by sending emails encouraging them to vote for your pooch.

And if you don’t have a pooch, surely you know someone who does, or you enjoy looking at photos of cute pooches. Log on today and find your favorite – you’ll be helping provide a second chance to the animals at the Humane Society of Indianapolis who dream of one day being a poster pooch (or kitty!).

Whether you want to show off your pooch, or see others’ favorite pets, we hope you join us in supporting this great cause.

So, how does a company like xiik relate to an athlete like Shaun White?

Like him, there are some mad skillz here at xiik. Maybe not quite his snowboarding skills, but we’re pretty savvy when it comes to marketing. We have years of marketing experience, boat loads of creativity and the ability to execute those ideas through web, video and print. Every day we challenge ourselves and our clients to pull out the “big guns” and craft up a product that will be mind-blowing. If Shaun White needed an interactive website, video, marketing materials or anything else to sustain his brand, he could come to us and let us “put down tricks” in the form of interactive marketing.

If our team took a vacation to go take snowboarding lessons from Shuan White himself, I’m pretty sure none of us would be doubting what the pro instructed us to do. We would let the professional do his job because he has mastered his craft! Sure we can give our suggestions where we see fit, but at the end of the day we respect his gold medals. The same can be said for our company. We love getting input from our clients and should always be a part of the creative process, but our expertise helps us guide our clients down path safely and effectively. We might not be competing in Vancouver this winter, but for everyone here at xiik, a client’s success is our gold medal.

Read more about White’s accomplishments here. Read more about xiik’s here.

When a client or prospective client contacts xiik to develop a Web site, brochure or marketing campaign, one of our first questions is always going to be, “What do you want to accomplish?” We ask this because every company has different goals. It also helps us to learn more about a client. Often, but not always, a client may not have an end goal in mind, but just think they need “marketing.” However, marketing without a purpose is like trying to shoot a target in the dark. If you’re not sure what your goal should be, here are a few things to consider:

• The Status Quo: Think about your company from an outsider’s perspective. If staying objective is too hard to do, literally ask people (not employees!) what they know about you or your company. Do they know who you are and what you do? What you stand for? Is their perception of you positive or negative?

• The Goal: What do you want people to know about your company?

This is just the beginning of the strategy process. Although strategies may take some time and planning to develop, a solid strategy acts as a roadmap for achieving your goal(s). Just like a good coach won’t send his team into a game without an end goal (winning) and a series of plays to achieve the win, a good marketing firm won’t run a client through a gauntlet of marketing options without knowing the intended result. Anyone can shoot an arrow in the dark, but turning on a light always helps with hitting your target.

My guess is you’re probably asking “What the heck is SIGGRAPH?” Fair enough. You have to be on a whole new level of nerd/hardcore computer graphics fanaticism to recognize it. I won’t lie, I am! Just check out the picture below of my conference badge and how much stuff is on that thing.

SIGGRAPH is the largest international professional organization “to promote the generation and dissemination of information on computer graphics and interactive techniques.” In other words, it hosts a conference every year in North America (usually in a major city) where thousands and thousands of students, educators, researchers and  professionals get together for a computer animation festival, huge exhibition, art gallery, emerging technologies, classes, behind the scenes amazingness and so much more. Let’s not forget about the parties. Oh, you heard right. Nerds can throw down!

Anywho, they just recently started hosting a conference in Asia halfway through each year, starting in December of 2008 (the original conferences are held in early August). It was a huge transition and a big step forward for the field of computer graphics and Asia, but also came with a lot of struggles such as language barriers. To our surprise, it wasn’t bad at all! There were great reviews and as a student volunteer, I was able to help most  every case that came across my path. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard though. Either way, the blending of cultures into one huge mesh of the most talented artists in the world is one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had. You literally pass people who helped create the films you watch everyday, the technology you use, the games you play and the amazing visuals that accompany every single aspect of our lives.

That’s most undoubtedly a true statement. In Japan, I was able to talk to owners of animations studios, producers and artists from Pixar, big guns at Lucas Film Animation and even the winner of best in show in the computer animation festival. That alone is worth the trip! Since I could practically write a book on my experiences at SIGGRAPH, I’ll leave you with some pictures of my trip. Some are from the conference and others are around the town of Yokohama. Enjoy!

As the holiday season rolls around, lately we’ve been noticing some significant changes to websites that aim to spruce up marketing (no pun intended?) and maybe catch the attention of a few more customers. This comes as no surprise, though. Just as countless stores of all types redecorate their display windows for the holidays, the same concept applies for most websites, too. And it makes perfect sense! Why not, right? In this digital age, it becomes easier and easier for us to make purchases online within the comfort of our home. “Look ma, no waiting in lines!”

Most of the time, shopping online is your safest route because you can find discounted items simply because of the e-commerce system: These products don’t need to be shipped to individual retailers, but instead can be sold straight from the manufacturer; hence, cheaper costs for them and less of a hole burned in your wallet. I just love saving money while in my jammies.

Enough small talk, though: let’s get to some solid examples, shall we? Whether a company has completely revamped their site with a whole new theme or is just adding small flourishes here and there that add some holiday cheer, the act of change and keeping your branding fresh is a great way to engage new audiences or break expectations with repeat customers. All of this serves to keep viewers on your site for just a little longer. One site in particular stood out to me and actually inspired this post: WordPress. Yeah, not much of an obvious change at first, but if you stay on the page for an extra few seconds, you will see snow start to fall past your screen. To me, this is simple yet brilliant — an example of bringing a real world element with an emotional resonance into the digital sphere. And of course, after I looked into it, you can even make your blog snow if you have a WordPress account just by clicking a couple buttons.

Some other sites worth noting are Just Pop In, Target, Overstock.com, and even Ebay. As you can see, they didn’t require much at all to change the look and feel of these sites from their everyday standard to winter wonderlands. Consider branding yourself for the holiday season: add a new banner to your page header, throw some ribbon around that logo, or even add your own holiday gift browsing widget like Walmart created! Some efforts may be more trackable than others, but there’s no doubt that if done right, it’ll make everyone feel pretty good.

Have you stumbled across any good sites that are trying to jingle some bells or let it snow? Did they warm your heart like cocoa or leave you saying Bah humbug? Leave the link(s) in our comments section. We’d love to see them!