http://www.gelowdose.com

o2 Group is proud to be associated with CTA and DEMOgala. As a technology-focused company we were able to have a booth at DEMO and be the production sponsor. The event went seamlessly, and our event crew did a great job putting together a memorable APEX awards dinner and day full of DEMOnstrations and info sessions.

As a new addition this year, o2 Group offered live streaming for each segmented “breakout” session. With so many great topics to choose from, we didin’t want people to miss out on valuable information. Even though the event is over, you can still see each of the DEMO sessions. 

Below we’ve included a photo of the initial stages of the event setup. To see “after” photos of how the venue transformed, visit our Facebook page!

Apple’s iPad accounts for 68% of market (in sales) according to International Data Corp. A quote from Tim Cook, Apple CEO says it all:  ”iPad has 68% market share, but makes up 91% of tablet Web traffic. I don’t know what these other tablets are doing!” Other players include Google Nexus and Kindle Fire. Even Hyundai has a tablet now! Apple is rumored to be building a 7.85-inch iPad to add to its collection of 9.7″ iPads. Google’s Nexus has a 7″ tablet as does the Kindle Fire. So it seems that screens are getting both bigger (TV’s/Monitors) and smaller (phones/tablets) at the same time. 

So how do you keep up with all the sizing? It certainly dosen’t make sense to develop many different site versions. User experience (UX) is the underlying goal. While a mobile site is often a good choice (especially when designed to show ‘on the go’ information), it is not a catch all. Since there are no set sizes for tablets or mobile devices, it can be difficult to design for a tablet or mobile device only. Responsive design allows your website to adapt regardless of whether the user is viewing on their iPhone, Kindle Fire, laptop or desktop, etc. It bridges the gap between desktop and mobile, and ensures a positive user experience across the board. Some good examples of responsive websites include us, the Boston Globe and Smashing Magazine. Take a look across your devices and consider whether a responsive design is right for your website!

Cheers! -Dana

In the meantime, you can learn more about responsive design from this case study about the Boston Globe, or by downloading A Book Apart. You should also check out our site, www.o2group.com on some different devices, as we recently went responsive!

In the world of constant communication, internet, and a general population of tech-savvy people and easy-to-create websites and blogs, the line that divides a blog from a website is blurring. On a daily basis I visit many blogs and websites but rarely stop to think wether the site I am on is considered a blog or a website. I’d first like to look at this topic formally. In order to get a more complete idea of a blog and a website, in the traditional sense, I pulled the definition of each from three separate dictionaries to further understand the definitions:

Website:

• Dictionary.com: A connected group of pages on the World Wide Web regarded as a single entity, usually maintained by one person or organization and developed to a single topic or several closely related topics.
• Merriam-Webster: a group of World Wide Web pages usually containing hyperlinks to each other and made available online by an individual, company, educational institution, government, or organization.
• New Oxford American Dictionary: a location connected to the Internet that maintains one or more pages on the World Wide Web.

Blog:

• Dictionary.com: A journal written online and accessible to users of the internet.
• Merriam-Webster: a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer; also : the contents of such a site.
• New Oxford American Dictionary: a Web site on which an individual or group of users produces an ongoing narrative.

After reading the definitions, I got a few things:

• A blog is widely considered an interactive journal
• A blog is often maintained by one or more people, with regular updates
• A website operates under an official capacity
• A website has multiple pages
• A website covers closely related content (say, a brand)

All this being said, I feel that there are very few clear distinguishers between blogs and websites. Typically, I see blogs that are extensions of websites (i.e. the site’s less formal, more personable, and more varietal version of itself).

In many ways, I can understand why people would choose to switch over to a more manageable program such as wordpress, squarespace, or tumblr to fulfill their web needs. When it comes to hard-coded websites and proprietary content management systems, it can be difficult when only one person is capable of managing it. Even more so, continually changing content is important for SEO and site traffic.

You may look at a site like Victors & Spoils and know that it’s a website. However, you will notice that it’s single, scrolling page is typical to that of a blog. So you could call it a blog because of its format, but the content says otherwise… the core content is rarely updated, and purely about the company and the work they’ve done. And then, of course, you have a more traditional and recognizable blog such as a cooking blog like JoytheBaker.com. This has the common characteristics of a blog – personal journaling, comments, hyperlinks and an ongoing narrative.

When you boil it down, does it really matter? Being forced to classify may not be necessary. The content is what matters. Many websites are focused around a sole purpose of educating consumers and sharing relevant information. Even more, as mentioned above, an active website is more likely to draw and stronger SEO rating and generate more traffic. So do you have a blog or a website? And, do you care?

I’d be curious to know your thoughts on this.

-Dana

Visit www.abmp.com to check out the new design and let us know what you think!

o2 Group partnered with ASID and the new History Colorado center for the awards ceremony. The History Colorado center is an architectural beauty and was the perfect venue for this design-forward event. o2 Group organized the entire event; from planning and production, to designing the invitations and slideshow, to post-production video and photo documentation. The event was a huge success and recognized the talented designers in Colorado.

We’re looking forward to next year’s event!

Hometown Connections is a utility services subsidiary of the American Public Power Association. They are a resource to APPA members large and small, providing discounted pricing on technology, services and other solutions from industry-leading companies. Their old website was dated, hard to navigate and difficult for staff to update. The new website has a clean look, has been completely reorganized to make it intuitive for their site visitors and can be easily updated through a highly customized implementation of WordPress.

“We are super excited about the site. It’s the combination of high tech and hometown we wanted, with all the features we wanted and more. Your patience, creativity, and advice have been much appreciated throughout this process.” – Susan Ryba, Hometown Connections

Here’s a preview of one of the internal pages – System Improvement. Visit www.hometownconnections.com to see the entire site!

goldenhistory.org

hometownconnections.com