For me blogging is about an ideal. I’ve always pictured my ultimate routine incorporating in some way, the consistent creation of valuable and thought provoking content through the maintenance of a blog. I’ve always considered myself a capable writer, and would like to think I’m at least creative enough to create engaging content. The truth is however, that I see the world, and move through it for that matter, in a systematic way. Everything must have its function, and the more utility I can involve in my daily life, the more productive and blindly efficient I feel. I’ve told you that story, so I can tell you this one.

Right now.

I bought the newest release of MacHeist Nano Bundle for $19.95. The bundled included a number of items I’ve always at least thought I wanted or needed, few more so however, than MacJournal. See MacJournal is a journalling software (duh right?) but beyond that its a truly a blogging and content creation platform. In just a the few short minutes (roughly 38 at this very moment) that I’ve had this software installed I have linked up to my blog at iVaughn.com/blog and I have downloaded each and every previous entry. I have organized my tags, ordered my categories, and ever straightened some misspellings that my outdated browser based blogging tool ignored. To make a long story short I have been using Mac Journal for going on 45 minutes and I must say, I’m a fan. I look forward to incorporating a tool that is so dead simple and intuitive while still heavy on the feature set that can help me achieve my goals.

Oh, and one last thing. If you can read this post from iVaughn.com/blog than you can fully assume that the software’s “share with blog” function works just fine.

…until next time, Vaughn.

New Year, New Philosophy, New Ambitions

So I’ve been reading a whole lot recently on the topic of New Years Resolutions. Self-help tips on how take what you always say you’r going to do and make this the year that you actually do it. I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about how perfectly I fit into that stereotype. How consistently I spent sleepless nights pondering what I need to do to improve my life and how I plan to go about doing so. How continually dissatisfied I am with myself from a number of different angles and how comedically I vowe each and every year to do something about it. Well my reader (I use the singular tense because I literally know theres only one of you, sup Dave?) this year, in the beginning, is like any other year. Filled with promise, resolution, goals, and a determination to reach those goals. The true question is, where will I be at this time next year? Blogging about how happy I am that I got my life in shape, or simply reaffirming this all to steady pattern?

So where will I begin? Well, no place better to start than right here. My Website, My Blog, and the internet in general. In 2009 I plan to finally make something out of the iVaughn.com Freelance Web Development FIrm. This means a better separation between Vaughn Johnson the person and iVaughn.com the business. This will mean Business Cards, Proposal Templates, Email Newsletters, and much added dedication toward obtaining a taste of the Freelance Lifestyle. I plan to blog and tweet more, but I also plan to change the ways in which I do both. Gone are the days of (after this one of course) where I blog about person feelings, ambitions, and/or stories. From this point forward this blog will be about the Internet as an Industry, and the Web as a Platform. I can assure you that in the near future this blog will not resemble its old self. And mind you if it remains the same, you can know I am not following up the resolutions described above.

The next step is taken at a more personal level. At the end of 2010 the guitar should no longer be a foreign instrument, but instead a hobby that shall travel with me everywhere. I’ve spent the past three years determined to learn how to play, but this year I have three past years of disappointment to motivate me. And lastly, I resolve to achieve a level of fitness I can be proud of. Drop the pounds, tone the muscles, and finally not be ashamed of how I look.

All of these things and more are my goals, my new ambitions, my new philosophy, for my new year.

So Im headed on my very first business trip as a young corporate professional tomorrow. I fly out of Chicago Midway at 10:30am CST and eventually arrive at Washington Dulles Airport at about 3:45pm EST.

I will be travelling with a members of my imediate management team as we attend ServiceWorld 2009. The annual conference where we meet with ServiceBench.com, a 3rd party Whirlpool Contractor that handles a good portion of the Whirlpool Appliance Service system requirments. I will be in attendance to discuss the ServiceMatters.com redesign project. We are looking to leverage existing ServiceBench technologies to piece togeather and authentication process for the site.

Stay posted, if anything cool happens I may feel inclined to blog again later this week (two in one week would be weird I know).

Later…

Crucial to any redesign, is the initial pitch. Sometimes that pitch can determine if you even end up getting the project, and other times that pitch can forever cement the future expectations, be that a good thing or a bad thing. The fact of the matter is, they always say first impressions are the most important, well the same if true with Web Design. Designs and developers alike, are put on the spot when they pitch their initial idea and how they perform can make or break the entire rest of the project. For those interested in ways to guarantee success with your next redesign pitch, I’ve put together a few pointers that I’ve picked up on so far in my career.

Start From Scratch

The last thing you ever want to do is assume too much prior knowledge on the side of your audience. When beginning the presentation, take time to discuss the site as if you were speaking to a completely new user. This gives the audience a chance to either learn something they may have been previously unaware of or the chance to compare their thoughts and feelings about the site to those of their newly appointed web designer. In the end you may find that starting with a solid backstory can improve overall understanding among all parties involved.

Strengths And Weaknesses

It is very important to understand that while you may be there to redesign a site currently in dire disrepair, if presented as a put down, it will likely be received as a put down. And that’s never good for job security. Begin by identifying key strengths. In most cases there are bound to be strong attributes. If the site hadn’t ever experienced success originally than there would likely be no need for a redesign so try to point out as much as you can that the previous site has done correctly. You can then transition into the weaknesses. When starting to discuss weaknesses, take your audience into consideration. Many of the existing site’s features were likely either conceptualized, designed, or developed by the very people to whom you are speaking so use tact in explaining why something is considered a weakness.

The Fix

It is highly probable that in today’s fast paced business environment, many audience members are simply interested in the “How.” As in “I don’t really care what is right or what is wrong, we’ve hired you to fix it, so what is your plan?” That is why the most crucial point for any redesign presentation is the explanation of “The Fix.” That is, a short and sweet discussion of how you plan to improve their site. Many find it useful to pull from the list of weaknesses and to explain why the redesign will not suffer these same issues. Others see it’s yet another part of the interview process and feel compelled to prove themselves through a thurough explanation of why his or her ideas are in the best interest of the company. Whichever approach you take it is important not to force any design or concept on the group. The company has given you an oppurtunity to be brutally honest, and at some point you will owe that company the same favor.

The Demo

One of the final steps in effectively presenting a redesign is to provide and intriguing demo. Now a demo can be tricky to develop, this is the first time you will be showing off your design so for fear of complete push-back you wont be looking to get too heavy into coding the entire site. Start with a few simple pages that give the audience a good idea of how both the site and design will flow together. And remember to take your time when developing the demo, the audience will expect a working version, the last thing you want is a broken link popping up out of nowhere. My final advice when presenting a demo of your redesign is to have fun and be confident about it, after all in most cases nearly everything you’ve presented will have been your own idea. You literally own the product, why not figuratively own the demo [if you catch my drift].

To Sum It Up

To bring it all to a close, my final thoughts are simple. The web is an ever changing, incredible place, and as web designers and developers we are given the unique opportunity to participate in the Web 2.0 revolution. The next time you are given a redesign project, keep these tips in mind when at first presenting it, and you could be on your way to success.

So I know I’ve pretty much been the worst blogger in the history of the world lately, but the fact of the matter is I’ve recently graduated, gotten a job, moved, started work, and have been extremely busy with each of those items respectively. I have however, not forgotten about this blog.

In fact, I have an idea. Its an idea that I think is going to finally give some purpose to this site, an idea that I hope others around the web find interesting, and an idea that I hope can jump start the existence of an overall web personality that I so long for.

The idea will play off another favorite blog of mine, Broke Grad Student. The Broke Grad Student blog considers a task that many of us either have, currently are, or eventually will, experience in our lifetime, the fun and excitement of paying back college debt. The writer of the blog highlights on a fairly regular basis things about his life that pertain to money. Interesting things that occur, or better yet intelligent things that he either reads or comes up with on his own. I’ve chosen to run with the idea and begin a sort of blogging miniseries in which I discuss, highlight, and vent about the newest project in my life. The Whirlpool Corporation service website redesign project.

Over the next coming months the entries with grow more frequent, the content more relevant (hopefully), and the overall iVaughn.com experience will forever change humanity (okay so that might be a stretch but in all honesty I have a feeling this could be good). So keep an eye out for future content as I have already experienced plenty of items to write about, and yet its only just begun!

So I’m sure that last thing any of you have been looking for amidst the recent launch of a number of breakthrough smartphones such as the Palm Pre, and the iPhone 3GS, is a solution for that old Windows Mobile phone you’ve been carrying around for years. But give a second and let me show you one the best Twitter applications I have worked with period, let alone available for Windows Mobile.

Twinkini! Twinkini is the new Twitter solution for Windows Mobile that has single-handedly changed my perception on Windows Mobile not only as an operating system, but as an application platform. Twinkini takes Windows mobile to a place unlike any other app I’ve seen on this platform. It combines many of the newage design aspects that newer products and application platforms have been introducing for years.

To get a better look at how Twinkini could help you breath new life into your aging Windows Mobile smartphone check out the links below:

Twinkini Official Website
Twinkini Themes
Twinkini Screenshots

“TRY TWINKINI TODAY! YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO DEAL WITH UGLY, UNAPEALING, WINDOWS MOBILE TWITTER APPS EVER AGAIN!, TRY TWINKI TODAY”

-In Loving Memory of Billy Mays-

It has been forever I know, since my last post.  And let me assure you, that is not due to a lack of eventful things happening. I have since, graduated college, interviewed for a job, gone on vacation, offered the job while on vacation, accepted the job and relocated to St. Joseph, MI.

I know its a lot to process, imagine having done all of it, phew its barely sinking in yet. Anyway I plan to do a write up with more details very shortly. If your lucky I may even through in a link to a photo album of my new apartment in St. Joe.

Keep and eye out, seriously, an details are coming!

This coming summer, iVaughn.com will begin developing and distributing Email Marketing campaigns on a monthly to semi-monthly basis. As technology is undoubtedly the future of business and one of the few areas poised to pull us from this nasty recession, I figure there’s no better than right now to attempt to monetize the technology that we all know and love. In an attempt to both educate readers as well as expand business opportunities, the iVaughn.com Newsletter will be both about people as well as tech.

MailChimp Introduction Video

The service I will be using was developed by a very clever company called MailChimp. MailChimp.com has developed a web based email marketing tool with a wide range of appropriate pricing options, including a free option for those like myself who are just starting out and manage a relatively small mailing  list. The service includes a wide variety of other outstanding features as well including a great selection of design templates and some of the most intuitive reporting tools in the industry. If you’ve ever worked with another email marketing tool before and have found it counterintuitive and tough to navigate, MailChimp may be just what you’ve been waiting for.
For more information regarding the service itself and/or the iVaughn.com Newsletter feel free to sign up for the newsletter at any time by visiting the iVaughn.com contact page or visit the MailChimp website.

One of the better uses I’ve seen for the strange abundance of money some production companies appear to have. This video is case in point a perfect example of what can result from too many guys, with too much money, and a whole lot of video equipment. Oh, and not to mention and AWESOME sense of humor!

SABER sexy lightsaber underwear fight

As of approximately 1:00pm on Sunday March 15th, 2008 the new iVaughn.com is officially live for the world to see! Check it out!

Note: There are still some development tasks that need to be completed and I am looking to take care of them within the week. Let me know what you think and enjoy!