An Information Architecture, Web Design and Games Blog
I am very pleased to announce that we launched the LoveSussex.com website today!
The website features beautiful imagery and content about things to do in Sussex, which is only an hour away from London. Be it culture, seaside, hertiage or countryside, the website offers something for everyone!
This website was designed by yours truly, and is built using NVG‘s modular CMS Pro.
Click here to visit the LoveSussex.com website
Happy days 🙂
In my second post on the subject of Brands monitoring and making best use of social networks I will focus on your target audiences, and in particular communities or niche markets that are already active in social media. As a company, brand or destination you might feel that you’re only just starting to dabble in social media, whereas your audience has already a much better understanding and might to take you seriously, but fret not! There is more to social media than just Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr!
To begin with, let’s have a quick look at the following table:
This chart is really just meant as a guide, but it is one many of my clients have used over the past years. It focuses on the difference between the sharing / syndication strength of the network in relation to the importance (in terms of time and resources) to your brand / destination. The key point here is that there isn’t only Facebook, LinkedIn or twitter – there are a lot more networks out there your audiences might be interacting with.
This graph may look daunting at first, as you might assume you will have a lot of resource to throw at this, but just stand back and think about this…
A few months ago I gave a talk in London about the use of social media for travel and tourism industries, which I think was very well received (considering I received no complaints but follow-up questions I take that as successful), and one of the key questions that was asked a couple of times was – should brands monitor what is being said about them? Why should they? Is it worth the effort? What do you focus on? How would this be monitored? And more importantly, is there an ROI to be taken from this? So, I thought I’d begin a little set of articles about this.
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Before we answer this, let’s take back a step and talk about what we are actually talking about. Monitoring your brand is essentially the continuous discovery of conversations related to your brand with the purpose of engaging and supporting not only your brand, but also your (in many cases potential) customers. Typically, this is done in real-time to allow immediate response to particular topics or situations, e.g. when launching a product, quelling rumours or – just as often – providing support or advice.
We have just launched the Show me Wales iPhone / iPad app!
Show Me Wales is a comprehensive tourist guide to Wales including full details of hundreds of attractions, activities, places to eat, towns & villages and places to stay. With plenty of ideas about great places to visit whatever your interests, this app will be an invaluable guide to Wales. The data is fully cached on the phone so you don’t need a signal to use it.
The app allows you to plan a trip to Wales or to find nearby entries when in Wales. The search functionality allows you to:
Each entry describes the attraction with pictures, opening times and full contact details, and if you’re looking for accommodation it even allows you to book!
If that is not enough, you can also add places to your favourites, email places of interest to your friends, and a quick link shows directions from your current location by car or on foot.
Screenshot:
Our kitten (well, cat really, he just behaves like one) is going nuts tonight because he wasn’t allowed out. So, after almost eating my bluetooth he decided it would be great to go nuts with the mousey. Enjoy! 🙂
I am very pleased to announce that we have launched the mobile version of the Visit Colchester website yesterday!
The mobile version of the site contains a wealth of information on events, attractions and accommodation in and around Colchester and displays a nice take on mapping for venues.
The website was designed and built by Severine Vidal and and is based on NVG‘s mobile modular CMS Pro. It features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site.
The site also has some lovely imagery, so it is definelty worth having a look!
Click here to visit m.visitcolchester.com
Good times 
It is with great pleasure that I can tell you that the new website of Meet Oxfordshire is now live!
This website was designed by my colleague Jack Saunders, and is based on NVG‘s new modular CMS Pro and features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site. What makes the site stand out though is the great integration work with Chaser – Chaser’s details and enquiry form has been linked in with our system’s DMS search and venue browse to get the best of both worlds!
Click here to visit the Meet Oxfordshire website!
Happy days! 😀
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Steve Jobs passed away last night. In my mind he was one of the most inspiring, creative and technology-shaping people in this world. Under his reign, Apple became one of the most (if not THE most) influential companies in the world, and he shaped the way we listen to music, the way we interact with mobile devices (from iPod over to iPhone and iPad), and the way we make use of technology in our every day lives.
Everything Apple worked on was a masterpiece, pretty much everything he / Apple produced outsold everything else in the market. And I remember seeing the iPad 2 keynote and I remember his calm, proud and yet humble nature when speaking publicly, when writing emails or talking to people. His famous Stanford Commencement Speech from 2005 is a testament to that.
One of the quotes of I will always remember him by:
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
– Steve jobs, Business Week 1998
My sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends and everyone at Apple.
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.
