The MatriX Files » Blog

Will Social Networks Trump Traditional Networks In The Future?

jpineda — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:27:24 +0000

One of the people I’m following on Twitter (who shall remain nameless) recently commented: “Prefer getting updates from my friends via Twitter. Much more efficient and I don’t need to see them.” Hmmm…. I don’t know about you, but even though I love Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, yada, yada, I still really like getting together with [...]

Is Cloud Computing In Your Future?

jpineda — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:30:33 +0000

Cloud computing is hot, hot, hot. Early this year, PC World predicted that cloud computing would shape up as a big trend in 2009. We all know Amazon as a giant Internet retailer, but its newest business is cloud computing; you can now buy processing power and storage from Amazon! Last year, Google launched Google [...]

My Favorite Twitter Visualization Sites

jpineda — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:00:04 +0000

I love Twitter. Yes, it’s information overload and there’s a lot of noise, but I love the commentary and the interesting links. I also appreciate the updates from friends and family. More recently, I am loving the Twitter visualization sites that are popping up everywhere. So, what the heck is a Twitter visualization? If you’re on [...]

The Browser Wars Are Not Over - Web Standards Are More Important Than Ever

jpineda — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:10:59 +0000

In reviewing the usage reports for this blog a couple of weeks ago, I realized something startling: the majority of visitors are NOT using Internet Explorer. Check it out: since January of this year, 46% of all visitors use Firefox, 40% use Internet Explorer, 9% use Safari, and 3% are on Chrome. In the last [...]

Why Won’t My Boss Make That Decision?

jpineda — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:44:07 +0000

I hear it all the time from clients and prospects. “My boss isn’t ready to make a decision and I don’t know why.” “We are delaying our decision-making.” “We are not ready to move forward and don’t have a timeframe.” “We’re just gathering information, we don’t have a timetable.” At first blush, it just doesn’t make [...]

Get Your Vanity URL on Facebook On June 13, 12:01am

jpineda — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:36:40 +0000

Whenever I sign up for something, I try to get jpineda@matrixgroup.net as my username and jmpineda as the account name. I’m jmpineda on Twitter, Yahoo!, Delicious, FoodBuzz, FriendFeed, etc. For example, you can browse my Delicious account by going to http://delicious.com/jmpineda. You can follow me on Twitter by going to http://twitter.com/jmpineda. But on Facebook, currently I’m [...]

Dog on Roof: How Social Networking Has Changed The Speed of News and Information

jpineda — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:56:56 +0000

It wasn’t a call I get every day. Last week, my nanny called to say that two neighbors had knocked on our door to report that there was a dog on our roof. Yes, a dog, not a cat. And since it was pouring rain, she wondered if I could come home and help out [...]

Web Conventions We Can Do Away With - The Fold and Not Linking to Outside Sites

jpineda — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:55:08 +0000

I was in a Web design review meeting the other day and the client remarked that he wanted to make sure “all the important content was above the fold.” My initial reaction was to agree but one of the Matrix Group Front-End developers challenged this notion. The fold, he told me, no longer exists and [...]

Who Do You Believe? National Media, Local Media, Bloggers, or Peer Reviewers?

jpineda — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:20:45 +0000

I just got back from a week in Mexico. Despite the dire warnings from the national media, my family attended a wedding and vacationed in Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya. Were we nuts to travel to Mexico, home of the dreaded H1N1virus? If you read The Washington Post, you’ll think we were insane to [...]

Tweeting While On Vacation

jpineda — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:15:00 +0000

I’m headed out for a short vacation today. Before I left the office, several co-workers asked me if I will be tweeting while I’m out. I had to pause for a second before responding with a “no, yes, maybe.” Hmmm….. Just what are the expectations these days about being on vacation and tweeting [...]

Whale Hunting as a Metaphor for Landing Large Accounts

jpineda — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:29:59 +0000

At a recent Vistage meeting, I had the pleasure of hearing Tom Searcy, author and CEO of Hunt Big Sales, a sales consulting and training company, talk about how small businesses can land big sales that will transform their companies. Tom likens the process to whale hunting, which: requires planning and skills, can’t be [...]

Sometimes We Just Need to Ask Our Customers What They Want

jpineda — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:56:24 +0000

All day long, I sit in meetings where my staff, clients and I try to intuit what customers and members want. We look at usage reports, search logs, customer feedback forms, guestbook entries, and survey results. All of these sources give us insight into what customers do, seek and want. But after conducting a focus [...]

How I Became a Cool Kid and Why It’s All About the Platform

jpineda — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:57:25 +0000

What do the iPhone, Facebook, Twitter and Google have in common? They have great platforms that have contributed greatly to their success! What’s a platform and why does it matter? Wikipedia defines a platform as “a place to launch software. It is an agreement that the platform provider gave to the software developer that logic code [...]

Don’t Like Facebook? Try Another Social Network!

jpineda — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:00:58 +0000

If Google and Twitter seem to be getting all the press, but they’re not your cup of tea, don’t despair! There is a social network out there for nearly every interest group and demographic. Here are some I’ve tried out recently: FoodBuzz is a social network for people who like food. You can create a profile [...]

Election Day Needs a Marketing Plan or How To Get Voters to the Polls

jpineda — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:03:59 +0000

It’s Election Day in Alexandria, VA. Today, we voted for Mayor, City Council and School Board. These are pretty important positions in our City government. Here’s the problem: voter turnout was ridiculously low. When I went to vote at lunchtime, I was the only person in the entire polling station. The volunteer [...]

Happy 10th Anniversary, Matrix Group!

jpineda — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:54:02 +0000

I can’t believe that Matrix Group will be 10 years old tomorrow. A decade. 10 years! When I started Matrix Group in shared office in Georgetown, little did I know that the journey would be difficult, challenging, exhilarating and deeply satisfying. It feels like just yesterday that I was renting furniture to impress a dotcom client [...]

What Is a Taxonomy and Why Does Your Site Need One?

jpineda — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:17:56 +0000

If Matrix Group is creating a new Web site for you or updating an existing one, our project plan is almost sure to include development or review of your taxonomy. Taxonomy? Doesn’t that have to do with biology and how we classify organisms? (you know, kingdom —> phylum —> class?) Sort of. Taxonomy [...]

People Want to Follow; Are You Ready to Lead?

jpineda — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:04:14 +0000

I’ve been thinking about the terminology that we use to describe our relationships on various social networks. I “follow” people on Twitter and people “follow” me back. I have “friends” on Facebook. I am “linked” to people on LinkedIn. The “follow” relationship is the one I find most fascinating. When you “follow” someone, you: Accept them [...]

What We’ve Learned About the New Facebook Pages

jpineda — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:58:35 +0000

The dust is finally settling on the Facebook pages for companies and organizations. The new pages were supposed to go live March 11, but the transition seemed to take a few weeks. Here’s what we’ve learned so far about the new Facebook pages: Status updates (aka What’s on your mind?) are definitely posting to the organization’s [...]

Getting Started with Twitter For Your Organization

jpineda — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:03:02 +0000

Many clients ask me how to get started with social networking. Should they blog, be on Facebook or LinkedIn, or should they start tweeting? For many organizations, I recommend Twitter. The concept is simple: Twitter lets you broadcast short updates (140 characters or less) to the people who “follow” or subscribe to your updates. These [...]

Creating a Content Strategy for your Web Site, Blog, Social Networks

jpineda — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:49:26 +0000

In my last blog post, I referenced the content strategy that the marketing team at Matrix Group has developed to keep our Web site and social networking pages fresh and interesting. Several folks asked for more details on our content strategy, so here you go. Our communication/conversation strategy has several elements: Communication vehicles. We created an inventory [...]

Time Management and Social Networking: How to NOT make social networking a huge time suck

jpineda — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:38:19 +0000

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve met with clients about their social networking (SN) strategy. A common refrain is this: “Social networking takes too much time. I don’t have extra time in the day. And I don’t want my staff wasting huge amounts of time on social networking.” There’s no question that we can [...]

What Clients Want: To Be Understood

jpineda — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:54:35 +0000

One of my Project Managers (we call them PMs at Matrix Group) was struggling with an account. The client was frustrated, the Project Manager was frustrated, so of course, now I’m frustrated. I called the client, had a long de-brief session, worked through some issues, and with a few tweaks, the project was [...]

The Campaign is Over, but President Obama Still Committed to Social Networking

jpineda — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:41:29 +0000

Candidate Obama ran a great campaign and made amazing use of social networking services to get the word out about his campaign, mobilize supporters, create viral messages, and raise money. When the campaign ended, I wondered if President Obama would continue to use social networking tools or if the constraints of the White House or [...]

Why Is Going to the Doctor Such a Miserable Experience?

jpineda — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:05:08 +0000

Why is it that going to the doctor is such a miserable experience? I don’t think it’s just because we’re usually sick when we see the doctor. From the attitude of the admin staff, to the wait, to the rushed visit with the doctor, I’m convinced that going to the doctor is usually a horrible [...]

The Power of the Relationship

jpineda — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:05:04 +0000

I tell my staff (especially Project Managers) to jump at any chance to share a meal with a client, vendor or partner. Why? Because I’m convinced that once you’ve shared a meal with someone, it’s a lot harder for them to demonize you, blow you off, ignore your calls and e-mails, or fire [...]

iStockphoto Uses Twitter for Customer Service

jpineda — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:28:15 +0000

Click on the image to see a larger version of a screen shot of the Twitter search I used to get info about the iStockphoto site being down. I get nearly all of the photos for my blog from iStockphoto, an online photo service. There’s a good selection and pricing is great. A couple of weeks [...]

Getting Started with Facebook - Part 2 - The New Facebook Pages

jpineda — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:04:41 +0000

Starting today, March 11, fans of organizations with Facebook pages will interact with their favorite orgs, companies and brands the way they interact with their buddies. On March 11, all Facebook pages will have status updates, walls, and links, just like personal pages. What does this mean? Well… Fans will interact with organizations the same way they [...]

What is a Tag Cloud? And How Do Tags Connect People?

jpineda — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:46:06 +0000

Have you visited a Web site recently that had a list of topics and some topics were in a larger font or in a different color? That’s called a tag cloud and I love them. But what exactly are they? Wikipedia says that a tag cloud is a visual depiction of the tags (topics) on [...]

Subsidized COBRA Coverage in Stimulus Plan = Additional Burden for Small Businesses

jpineda — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:02:28 +0000

I got a call from my insurance agent today. He wanted to be sure that I knew about the new COBRA provisions in the stimulus package that went into effect a few weeks ago. The stimulus plan provides subsidized COBRA benefits to workers (and their families) who lose health care coverage because of [...]

Spirit Airlines Sucks; American Express Rocks

jpineda — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:26:36 +0000

I am so mad. I booked tickets on Spirit Airlines to attend a wedding in Mexico later this Spring. I booked the tickets on the Spirit Airlines Web site, paid extra to check bags, even paid extra to reserve seats. Here’s the problem: their system shows us (me, my husband, my son) as leaving and [...]

Standby Power: Is that Monitor Really Turned Off?

jpineda — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:08:57 +0000

In my last power bill, Dominion Power reported that “(n)ationally, 6 percent of our residential electricity consumption goes to … ‘phantom loads’ used by devices - such as, VCRs, televisions, stereos, kitchen appliances - that are turned off and not in use. Holy cow! 6 percent?! I don’t know about you, but my power and [...]

I Love the Serendipity of Twitter and StumbleUpon

jpineda — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:19:28 +0000

Many of my friends and family ask me, “what’s your favorite site?” Recently, my answer has been “Twitter and StumbleUpon.” I love these sites, I keep them open all day long in my browser, and I tell everyone about them. I can give you all kinds of reasons why I love Twitter. It’s [...]

Getting Started with a Facebook Page For Your Organization

jpineda — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:40:20 +0000

After last week’s webinar on “Creating a Social Networking Strategy For Your Organization,” clients and attendees asked me how they should get started with social networking. It can be a daunting task when you consider all the platforms, and the additional work needed to keep the pages populated. A simple way to get started [...]

Your Social Networking Strategy Doesn’t Have to Include the Kitchen Sink

jpineda — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:10:08 +0000

By popular demand and client request, I conducted a webinar on Tuesday with esteemed Project Manager Cat Lee from Matrix Group on “Creating a Social Networking Strategy (SN) for Your Organization.” Why do a webinar on a topic that is already getting a lot of coverage? Our reasons: Clients are looking for help, they [...]

Keeping Track of Company Mentions on the Web

jpineda — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:21:43 +0000

When I’m researching a product, I go to the Web. When I’m looking to hire a candidate, I go to the Web. All day long, I’m running searches in Google and other search engines. So it only stands to reason that customers, prospective customers and prospective staff are likely running Google searches [...]

Stalking Chris Sacca (Formerly of Google) via FriendFeed

jpineda — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:36:41 +0000

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a keynote session by Chris Sacca, former Head of Special Initiatives at Google, during the ASAE Technology Conference. Boy was it fun to hear about what it’s like to work at Google, Google’s core values, the perks, and the future of search. I was so inspired by [...]

Oh Where, Oh Where Can My Bookmarks Be? Magnolia Suffers Huge Outage!

jpineda — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:47:08 +0000

Every morning, when I boot up my computer and open a browser, I have 4 tabs open to the Matrix Group intranet, Twitter, Facebook and Magnolia. Magnolia is a popular social bookmarking site that I have come to rely on to store and organize my bookmarks. Imagine my horror when I clicked on the Magnolia home [...]

Conversation and the Zen Tech Warrior

jpineda — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:32:50 +0000

I had the pleasure of speaking at the ASAE Technology Conference, taking place until tomorrow at the DC Convention Center. My topic? Dealing With Big Trends in a Small Staff Organization. Here are the 5 big trends I discussed: Your Browser as the New Operating System. The Web browser is increasingly the platform for mission critical [...]

Now You Can Attend Church Online!

jpineda — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:45:26 +0000

I was trying to schedule a time for my new biz team to come to the office on Sunday to finish a proposal. We were trying to work around church services when Jeniece said, “don’t worry about me, I go online. My favorite church is in Atlanta.” Online? She attends church [...]

What Customer Experiences Are Core To Your Business?

jpineda — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:28:19 +0000

During the last couple of weeks, I made presentations to a couple of clients. The first client thinks we’re good but they’re not raving fans. The second client thinks Matrix Group is fantastic, we are a solid partner and we have contributed greatly to their success. I asked my Client Services Directors: [...]

Obama Inauguration: Warm and Intimate on the Web, Totally Locked Out in the Cold in VA

jpineda — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:56:43 +0000

I’m excited and fascinated by next week’s Inauguration. And I’m relying on the Web to keep me up to date with the festivities. I’m following the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) (@obamainaugural) and loving the YouTube contest, the news about the inaugural activities, and the updates about various balls. I’m following the DC Government on Twitter (@Inauguration_DC) and [...]

What Business Are You In?

jpineda — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:23:31 +0000

At a meeting of my Vistage CEO group, I sat through a captivating presentation by Max Carey, CEO of CRD, a marketing and sales consulting firm. He asked each of us to describe what our companies do, which we did. Then he asked us a question that shook me: What business do your [...]

El Cheapo Ways to Announce Your Web Site Launch

jpineda — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:23:00 +0000

Matrix Group recently launched a new Web site for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Prior to the launch, Chuck and David, our esteemed clients, asked for some suggestions on ways to promote the new launch. Here were some of my suggestions, including some easy and inexpensive tips: Send out a special e-blast to your [...]

A Washing Machine That Tweets When the Wash Is Done?

jpineda — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:41:38 +0000

Engadget posted a story about a guy who hacked his washing machine and got it to tweet (send a message via Twitter) when a load of wash is done. Here’s the Twitter account for PiMPY3WASH, which I’m now following. I guess it’s possible this is a true story. I’m married to a guy who can install [...]

Girl Scouts, Please Make it Easy to Find Information About the Cookies!

jpineda — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:46:10 +0000

It’s that time of year again: Girl Scout cookie time! My niece is a Girl Scout and I of course want to support her by ordering lots of cookies and selling lots of cookies. I wanted to send an e-mail to friends and co-workers with some helpful links, but found the Girl Scouts [...]

A Technical Requirements Page in English

jpineda — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:28:30 +0000

A client recently asked if they could run a Wordpress blog on their dedicated server. Matrix Group normally hosts WordPress sites on a LAMP (Linux, Apache, PHP/Python) box, but this client has a Windows server, so I checked the WP site to find out about hosting on Windows. I found this technical requirements page and [...]

New Year Resolutions From Around the World

jpineda — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:24:52 +0000

Happy New Year to all! We all know it’s customary to make resolutions for the New Year. I checked around and here are some resolutions from around the world. Here’s my favorite: 10 New Year’s resolutions for geeks from Wired, including keeping an open mind about the new Star Trek movie. Jenny Cruise resolves not to do [...]

I’m a Victim of Identity Crime!

jpineda — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:13:01 +0000

A few months ago, a suspicious charge from Carfax.com showed up on my corporate American Express card statement. I called Amex; Amex promptly reversed the charges. The next month, another charge appeared; I called Amex and Amex again reversed the charge but also recommended that I change my card number. I even contacted Carfax but [...]

Another Way to Give This Holiday Season

jpineda — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:12:08 +0000

This holiday season, we are encouraged to “give our time, not gifts.” I applauded the sentiment but then wondered just what it means to give time. Here are some ways I have found: Give List lists ways to support communities and causes this holiday season (and year-round for that matter) that don’t necessarily require writing a [...]

Sign O The Times: I Can Feel the Recession Everywhere

jpineda — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:30:12 +0000

It’s the holiday season but it’s not a joyous time for a lot of people. I can feel the recession everywhere. Every time I get together with friends, someone says, “I have a friend who just got laid off. S/he is terrific, can you help?” A buddy who runs a medium-sized government contracting firm was asked by [...]

Have You Googled Your Name Lately?

jpineda — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:42:54 +0000

One of the goals of the last redesign of the Matrix Group Web site was to make my bio more prominent in search engines. I had previously resisted putting any information about me on the Web site for a variety of reasons, but my new biz team reasoned that since I do a lot [...]

Retailers: When Soliciting Feedback from your Customers, Be Ready for It!

jpineda — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:50:35 +0000

The holidays are all about traditions and last Saturday, my son and I engaged in one of my favorites: we created a gingerbread train. I’ve been making gingerbread houses for years, first by myself, then with my niece and nephew. and now with my son. This year, we updated the tradition to decorate a gingerbread [...]

Why Your CEO Needs to Be Part of Your Next Web Project

jpineda — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:22:07 +0000

Whenever we start a project, especially if the project is related to branding or design, we ask for time with the CEO, Executive Director, President — the top staff person. It’s not always easy to get time with the CEO, and we often don’t get it. However, we have found that our most successful projects [...]

Matrix Group’s Favorite Tech Gifts This Holiday Season

jpineda — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:13:46 +0000

Okay, so it’s December 5. I feel like I have tons of time before I celebrate Christmas with my family, but I know that I need to get on the ball with my holiday shopping. So I asked my staff for their favorite gadget gifts; this is what I got back. Some items are oldies [...]

Surviving in this Hellish Economy

jpineda — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:17:50 +0000

Okay, it’s official. The economy is in a recession, but what are you doing about it? What is your company or organization doing to weather the storm or even thrive in it? I was recently interviewed by Jill Foster for the Network Solution blog on a variety of topics, including using social media for recruiting and [...]

Why Citizen Journalist Sites are Worrying Mainstream Media

jpineda — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:42:35 +0000

Every morning, while drinking my green tea, I peruse The New York Times online. Like millions of people around the world, I have canceled my paper subscription to a local or national newspaper and instead rely on the Web to deliver the news. But here’s a news flash: an increasing of us are getting our [...]

Who Are These People and Why Are They Following Me?

jpineda — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:27:15 +0000

Unlike some of my friends and many staffers at Matrix Group, I’m relatively new to Twitter, the mini-blogging site that lets you broadcast your status, location and thoughts. I’ve been “twittering” for just a few months, but I’m addicted. I “tweet” all day long and read most of the tweets of the people [...]

Can the Web Help Us Track the Spread of Diseases?

jpineda — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:33:56 +0000

As if it weren’t enough that Google catalogs the Web, tracks traffic to our site, and helps us get from point A to point B, a new service from Google claims to be an early warning system for outbreaks of the flu. Google flu trends, a service from Google.org, the search giant’s philanthropic arm, analyzes search [...]

Says Anne: So Long and Thanks for the Case Studies

jpineda — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:45:21 +0000

Earlier this week, Anne Holland, founder of MarketingSherpa.com posted her last blog entry on the Sherpablog. November 10 was her last day as a formal company employee and she used the occasion to recount how MarketingSherpa began. If you don’t know MarketingSherpa, you should. MarketingSherpa is my favorite source for news, information, case studies, how-to guides [...]

Yes, Even Companies are Twittering!

jpineda — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:08:23 +0000

I used to think that twittering was for individuals who wanted to broadcast their whereabouts and activities to friends and family. Most of my tweets have to do with where I am, what I’m reading, yada, yada. But I’ve found a growing number of companies using Twitter to raise awareness, reach new audiences, raise money, [...]

What the Shoe Saleman Has to Say About the Economy

jpineda — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:40:27 +0000

President-elect Obama has a lot on his plate. Perhaps most importantly, he’s got to get the economy moving again. I’m not convinced that getting people to spend money should be the top priority, but let me tell you about Mike, a shoe salesman I met at Nordstrom at Pentagon City last weekend. I was looking for [...]

Matrix Group’s Favorite Election Resources

jpineda — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:24:06 +0000

Every election, I give everyone in my office the corny speech about how I grew up under martial law in a country where people couldn’t vote, how voting is a privilege, how every vote counts, yada, yada. Well, this is the first year where everyone on my staff is interested in the election. I think [...]

Why Perfect References Aren’t Always a Good Thing

jpineda — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:30 +0000

My favorite business guru, Tom Peters, blogged recently that “hiring is the most important aspect of business” and I couldn’t agree more. I know down to my core that if we hire the right people, they will take care of our customers, they will be passionate about our business, and they will always strive [...]

Where Do Broken Web Pages Go? The Internet Library, Of Course

jpineda — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:27:55 +0000

Whitney Houston sings “Where do broken hearts go?” Me, I have often wondered what becomes of broken or lost Web pages — you know, the URLs that used to work but now display a 404 or file not found error. Are these pages deleted from the servers? Or have they just been [...]

We’re Now Designing to 1024 Resolution

jpineda — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:38:34 +0000

Sometime last year, we started designing sites to a 1024 screen resolution. Based on feedback from clients that they wanted more real estate for their content, and usage reports that showed users having a minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution, we decided to change our default practice. Today, we design to 1024 unless circumstances warrant [...]

Start Wearing Purple

jpineda — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:20:08 +0000

It seems purple is the color of the season and I’m not complaining. If you know me, have been to my office, or spent any time on the Matrix Group Web site (or this blog for that matter), you know that purple is an integral part of the Matrix Group experience. I was pleased to see [...]

What’s Your E-Mail Address Worth?

jpineda — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:24:54 +0000

Last weekend at the mall, while purchasing a pair of shoes, the saleswoman gave me a tantalizing offer: give us your e-mail address and we’ll give you 10% off the price of the shoes. I had a lot of time to think about the offer because everyone in front me willingly gave up their e-mail address [...]

I’m in Technology Hell

jpineda — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:14:21 +0000

My laptop is being rebuilt, my cell phone has stopped ringing — but all my equipment is new! I’m in technology hell, and if it weren’t for Maki and my senior network administrator, I would lose my mind. When I ordered a new laptop three months ago, I asked for Vista as my operating system. I [...]

Are You Sick of the 2008 Election Yet? Here are a Few More Sites to Visit!

jpineda — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:03:57 +0000

In 28 days, we Americans get to vote for a new President. On the one hand, I have been glued to the TV during both conventions and the debates, and I’m reading everything I can about the candidates and their platforms. On the other hand, I’m completely sick of the politics, the inflated promises, [...]

The National Parks - America’s Best Idea

jpineda — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:38:46 +0000

Last week, I had the honor of attending a private screening of a new film by Ken Burns: The National Parks - America’s Best Idea. The film will air on PBS next September 2009 and was supported in part by the National Park Foundation, an esteemed Matrix Group client. Even if you’re not a PBS kind [...]

My Love-Hate Relationship with CAPTCHA

jpineda — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:45:40 +0000

By now, most of us are familiar with CAPTCHA graphics, or the graphics with squiggly text that we have to retype correctly in order to submit a form. I understand that CAPTCHA was developed to stop spam, prevent bots from hijacking forms and surveys, and prevent dictionary attacks against sites. But I’ve noticed recently that [...]

Thank Goodness for Citizen Journalists During Hurricane Ike

jpineda — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:12:52 +0000

When my in-laws were told to evacuate their home in Houston last week, they were lucky; they managed to book a flight out to our home in VA before the two Houston airports closed down. We spent Saturday and Sunday watching the news and hoping their friends and home were safe. The most frustrating part [...]

Millions Commemorate 9/11 on the Web

jpineda — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:44:16 +0000

On the anniversary of that fateful day seven years ago, many of us paused, reflected, read the news, watched TV, and yes, many of us turned to the Web to help us remember. Here’s a roundup of the some of the official or particularly good 9/11 sites I’ve seen. The Pentagon Memorial was dedicated today. This is [...]

My Favorite Free (Or Nearly Free) Road Warrior Tools

jpineda — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:28:34 +0000

Here’s my dilemma: I want to be able to resize images, but I am not a designer, I don’t need to do fancy designer-y things and I don’t want to shell out $650 for Photoshop or even $90 for Photoshop Elements. I feel the same way about Adobe Acrobat: I just want to create PDFs, [...]

It’s an HD World

jpineda — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:45:31 +0000

High Definition (HD) is everywhere. The Blu-ray format has won the HD DVD war and I’m seeing a lot more Blu-ray movies at my local video store and retail stores. As I mentioned in a previous post, Apple TV and the PS3 now have HD videos on demand. Earlier this year, Microsoft released Silverlight, their [...]

Who Needs E-Mail When There’s Facebook?

jpineda — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:15:20 +0000

I’m noticing a curious trend lately. Instead of sending me e-mail, friends and family are sending me messages through Facebook. My niece (age 17) and nephew (age 20) ignore my e-mails. But when I send either of them a message via Facebook, I’m likely to get a message back. When Facebook sends an [...]

This is Not Your Father’s Democratic Convention

jpineda — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:32:31 +0000

The first night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver was watched by 22 million people who watched the speeches and commentaries on the major networks and cable outlets. Apparently, more people watched the convention proceedings than in previous years. But the real story is the proliferation of alternate news outlets that are providing real-time [...]

Does Your CEO Need a Blog?

jpineda — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:47:57 +0000

Several times a week, clients and colleagues ask me if they or their boss should be blogging. My answer is usually a resounding Yes!, but I also know that a CEO blog usually involves writing on the part of the CEO and CEOs are rarely excited about adding another regular task to their already full [...]

When Google is More Than a Search Engine

jpineda — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:58:46 +0000

Last week, I needed to convert miles to kilometers. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to find a sushi restaurant in Alexandria. In both cases, I turned to Google. We normally think of Google as a really terrific search engine where you type in a keyword or phrase and get results, but here are my [...]

Happy Anniversary, Matrix Group!

jpineda — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:02:15 +0000

Lots happening at Matrix Group these days. Matrix Group celebrated nine years in business last May 1, 2008, but we didn’t get around to celebrating until a couple of weeks ago. We also launched a redesign of our Web site last Friday. The Web site is not quite where we want it to be yet, [...]

Video on Demand from Apple and Sony Not Quite There Yet

jpineda — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:56:21 +0000

Over the past couple of weeks, my family and I had the opportunity to check out the video on demand services from Apple and Sony. We found the services to be easy to use and competitively priced, but there are still a few kinks to work out in the business models. Apple TV vs. Sony PS3 Let’s [...]

Google Searches Amazon Better Than Amazon

jpineda — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:00:46 +0000

Amazon.com is really lucky that Google.com indexes its content and then adds the fabulous Google search algorithms to searches. In order to find something on Amazon.com, I had to find it on Google.com. My son begged me to purchase software based on the Dr. Seuss ABC Book. We had previously seen the program at the Apple [...]

I Registered for This Fact Sheet? Why I’m Mad At WebTrends

jpineda — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:29:51 +0000

While preparing for a Matrix Group seminar on usage reports, I decided to get the latest news about Google Analytics and WebTrends on Demand. I found all the information about Google Analytics on the Google site with no problems. The WebTrends site advertised a Fact Sheet that promised more technical details about features and implementation, [...]

Who Needs a Clipping Service When There’s Google Alerts?

jpineda — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:46:02 +0000

A while back, I signed up for several Google Alerts. Google Alerts is a free service that alerts you when your choice of keywords or phrases shows up on news pages, the Web, blogs, videos, and Google group searches. Google recommends setting up Google Alerts to: monitor a developing news story keep current on a competitor or industry track [...]

I Love Firefox 3!

jpineda — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:50:05 +0000

Firefox 3 launched June 18 and over 8 million people downloaded the new version. As of July 2, there were 28,340,281 total downloads! I procrastinated at first but after a few weeks, I finally clicked on the download link. And boy, am I glad I did! Let me tell you why: Firefox 2.0.0.16 was bogging down my [...]

Can the Web and Twitter Help Find Jeddah?

jpineda — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:24:41 +0000

Last Thursday, John and Ronia Weisner were at Dulles Airport, on their way to Saudi Arabia for a year-long assignment. Accompanying them was their beloved dog, Jeddah. Somehow, something went terribly wrong, Jeddah’s crate was damaged, and the dog escaped. Now, there is a Web site - http://www.HelpFindJeddah.com - devoted to finding Jeddah, as well as [...]

Barack Obama is Following Me on Twitter

jpineda — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:14:03 +0000

A friend of mine boasted that she is following Barack Obama on Twitter and he is following her back. Curious, I logged on to my Twitter account and started following Barack Obama. Lo and behold, within a few minutes, I got an e-mail from Twitter saying that Barack Obama was following me [...]

Where Did All My Traffic Go?

jpineda — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:11:50 +0000

In recent months, several clients reported declines in their Web site traffic. “Where did all my traffic go?” they asked anxiously. Turns out, the traffic is still there, but it’s dispersed and these clients have to look at usage reports from different sources to learn their true usage patterns and volume. The number one reason for [...]

Full vs. Partial RSS Feeds & E-Mail Updates - That is the Question

jpineda — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:40:38 +0000

There is a raging debate in the office re: full vs. partial RSS feeds and e-mail updates. The question is which option drives more traffic to the Web site? This blog publishes partial RSS feeds and e-mail updates. You get the title and the first 60+ words and a link to the full article. The thinking is [...]

Cryogenics for the Terminally Dead Hard Drive

jpineda — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:42:32 +0000

This topic is certainly not new. In fact, I first read about it many years ago, didn’t really believe it, but I must have filed the info in the old brain drive. Last week, I went to pick up my son from his preschool. As soon as I walked in, the preschool Director came up to [...]

2520 Logos and Counting!

jpineda — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:56:51 +0000

That’s how many logos are listed in the largest directory of Web 2.0 applications and services http://www.go2web20.net/ as of today, June 27, 2008. I want to thank Ani Matson from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) for alerting me to this site. Some of the Web 2.0 applications I like: Bubbles - http://bubbleshq.com/ - your social [...]

The Driving Force Behind Good Leaders

jpineda — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:34:23 +0000

At a recent CEO forum, I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Schutz, former President of Porsche AG and author of the book “The Driving Force: Getting Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People.” Peter calls himself the former king of Porsche because, as he put it, Porsche is a cult, and when you become [...]

Live Support a Boost to Customer Satisfaction

jpineda — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:49:33 +0000

The National Electrical Contractors Association recently launched a new website. Dramatic improvements were made in navigation, authentication, visual design, etc. These improvements meant change; never mind that they’re all positive, it’s still change. Matrix Group anticipated the typical human behavior — resistance to change — and recommended setting up live support to hedge [...]

You Call That a Site Search?

jpineda — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:37:32 +0000

A friend works for Levi Strauss, so I always ask for her opinion when buying jeans. I was looking for skinny jeans; she recommended a pair of 503 jeans. So I went to Levi.com, typed “503” and got nothing. I tried “levis 503” and got nothing. I typed [...]

Are You HyperConnected?

jpineda — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:12:42 +0000

A recent study by Nortel and IDC showed just how wired and connected we have become. The study found that: 16% of global workers are already “hyperconnected,” fully embracing a world of multiple devices and intense use of new communication applications. The hyperconnected worker uses a minimum of seven devices for work and personal access, [...]

No E-Mail Fridays

jpineda — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:15:23 +0000

I got a wondrous e-mail today, from a Senior VP at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). NFIB is a Matrix Group client and I sent him a routine e-mail. Here is what I got back: “Please call me today. In an effort to facilitate better communication, I am not going to [...]

New Blog on the Block - MatriXFiles

jpineda — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:16:49 +0000

Okay, we finally did it! Matrix Group launched a blog, MatriXFiles. After helping dozens of clients develop their blog strategies, I decided it was high time we had one. We established our own blog strategy and brand, created an awesome design, put together the content plan and now we’ve launched! I’d love your [...]