2015 got off to a great start with a sunny networking session at Anodyne Coffee in Walker’s Point. As ever, there were familiar faces to reconnect with, and new ones to get introduced to. Disciplines represented this month were intellectual property law, design, writing, editing, voice-acting, software and web development, storytelling, stock media, IT-support, photography, sustainable jewelry-making, and hand-drawn animation!
Our short mid-session presentation was by Mark Bradford. Mark started his web development/IT support firm –Bradford Web – 13 years ago. When he started though, his business was called “Our Web Department. That way, when clients were talking about the work he did, they could say “Our Web Department” did it! 🙂 In recent years, Mark decided to drop the cheeky humor and re-brand as Bradford Web. As he describes it, his mission is to “help small and medium-size businesses build their computer systems/networks, and to develop their web-presence.” Mark is very gregarious and down-to-earth – “I like to speak English, not “IT talk”, he says. He really enjoys the entrepreneurial spirit of the clients he serves and loves helping them bring their dream website into reality – “I want people to smile when I do things for them.”
A big part of that is helping them to understand what’s possible. He often has to bring out the “two out of three” rule on projects. This great idea, where most projects are concerned, is that people have to keep in mind 3 aspects of their project – speed of completion, cost of project, and quality of project (Speed, Cost, Quality) – and remember that normally, you can really only get two of those three things.
For instance, if you want it done fast and of high quality, it’s not going to be cheap.
If you want it fast and cheap, it might not be that good.
If you want it good, but cheap, it probably won’t get done too quickly.
A great idea for all creatives and those that hire them to keep in mind!
Regarding current trends in web design, Mark said “right now it’s all about BIG pics and video, but companies really need to keep things simple because that evil “back” button is always right there.” Paul Henning chimed in, too, advising companies to keep the maintenance of their websites in mind – “once you have a website, how much time will you spend marketing it? This is not “Field of Dreams” – just because you build it does NOT mean people will necessarily come.” Jeff Ganger contributed, “Find where your market is, and get a presence there.”
Besides his web work, Mark also wants to work on his writing, and to try and get the dating site he made off the ground.
Also, check out this hand-drawn animated music video that attendee Mike Dimilo made!
