We last redesigned viget.com almost two years ago. As part of that effort, we launched the FourLabs blog, dedicated to sharing “insights and commentary reflecting the four key aspects of our work: strategic consulting, interactive design, application development, and online marketing.” We also noted that it was “ever-evolving” and today, “it” has evolved substantially. Multiplied might be more like it.
We found over the past 22 months that writing for the FourLabs was hard because of you, frankly. Who are you? A designer? Developer? Marketer? We found our readers to be each of these, but not all of them. That made blogging tough. A post about code couldn’t be too techie for fear of scaring off the design readers. A post about UX need to define what UX is if we expected the non-UX folks to keep reading. You get the idea. A good rule for blogs is to know your audience and stay focused. We were trying to be broad ... but no more!
Today, we’ve launched five blogs, one for each of the four labs (strategy, design, development, and marketing) and a newly focused FourLabs blog. FourLabs is all about us - our work, our clients, our team - and is written for those who care to follow what’s happening at Viget (and thank you for caring!).
Our niche blogs are all about you.
- VigetAdvance, our web strategy blog, will focus on web start-ups, new product launches, and how the web continues to transform every business.
- If you’re a designer, keep up with VigetInspire and the thoughts our design team have about stuff like user experience, web standards, and Flash as well as notable site launches and events like SXSW.
- If you’re a developer, we hope you’ll enjoy VigetExtend and our development team talking about open source, Ruby on Rails, test driven development, and events like RailsConf.
- Marketers should check out VigetEngage, where our marketing team will share tips and ideas on search, email, and social media marketing as well as analytics.
If you think you’d kinda like to follow all four of these, no problem—just keep keepin’ up with FourLabs, where we’ll have a week digest of what’s covered in each, or join our email list for a monthly update.
By launching these focused blogs, our growing team here at Viget can more effectively connect with their peer communities. We can share ideas and generally contribute to the vibrant and ever-expanding industry that we’re all in. And since each Lab here at Viget shares knowledge between them, we think our perspective will be a little unique. We hope you do too!
You’ll notice they each have a different look, and none really look much like Viget.com or even reflect our branding. That’s no accident! We’ll write most of the posts (though guest bloggers are welcome) but we want the content and discussion to be about you, not us. FourLabs will continue to cover all things Viget.
Will this plan work? One blog is hard enough to keep up on—will we be able to sustain five of them? The only thing we can promise is that we’ll give it our best shot. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions!
One more thing: kudos to Rob, Doug, and Steph, who led the charge here at Viget to get all this put together while juggling plenty of client work. Internal projects are notorious for slipping, but these guys were dedicated to getting this done in time for SXSW. Nicely done!
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Kettler, whose web site Viget Labs launched in January, has been nominated by the National Association of Home Builders for "Best Corporate Website" in 2008.
I have to admit that when the due date of my 3rd child was determined to be late February of this year, one of my first work-related thoughts was “I wonder if I’ll be able to make it to SXSW?" After last year’s trip to see Squidoo take home the Best Community award, SXSW became a must-attend conference in my book. I’m happy to report that my in-laws will provide plenty of love and support on the home front while I join Rob, Jim, Erik, Jackson, and Samantha from here at Viget to make the trip.
It just so happens that six of us from Viget make a perfect bowling team, so when our friends at nclud mentioned they’d be taking over the bowling event this year, we wanted to help. We’ll be a beer sponsor, which means that if you say hello we’ll buy you a beer. Pretty simple.
Right before bowling, we’ll be cheering loudly at the SXSW awards ceremony again this year. The newest member of the Viget design team, Samantha, is one of the finalists for her personal blog, Bad Ass Ideas. The Blog category recognizes “sites that revolutionize the power of publishing by providing regularly updated content of a personal or professional nature.”
As for the rest of the trip, we’ll be taking in as many of the panels and social events as we possibly can.
We’re all looking forward reconnecting with old friends and making some new ones. See you in Austin!
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Senior Developer Ben Scofield will be taking Portland, OR, by storm in May when he presents "Advanced RESTful Rails" at RailsConf.
"I hope that the audience will become more comfortable using RESTful principles to model solutions to complex problems, and that they’ll be better prepared to deal with some of the shortcomings in Rails’ support for REST," Scofield said.
The conference – which runs from May 29-June 1, 2008 – brings together the largest number of Ruby and Rails developers in the world.
"It’s the best place to go to stay abreast of current developments and meet smart people from all over the place," he said. "Being able to speak there is just a bonus, really."
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Web designer Samantha Warren’s blog, BadAssIdeas, is a finalist in the South by Southwest (SXSW) Web Awards. Finalists in that category are, "Sites that revolutionize the power of publishing by providing regularly updated content of a personal or professional nature."
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Strayer University, one of the nation’s leading providers of adult learning, celebrated Valentine’s Day with a new look and feel for its alumni portal, which gives more than 30,000 alumni the ability to stay connected with their alma mater by accessing an alumni directory, discussion forums, and the latest news and events at the institution.
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Viget Labs is hosting speaker Aaron Brazell of Technosailor and District of Corruption for the Social Media Club-DC February Meeting, which is organized by Livingston Communications, on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at its Falls Church, VA headquarters.
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Designers Samantha Warren and Erik Olson will be among nine inaugural presenters on Feb. 29, 2008 who will speak at DC Design Talks at Viget Labs‘ headquarters in Falls Church. The event, which falls on Leap Year Day, is catered to the larger design community in the capital region.
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Senior Developer Clinton Nixon, Director of Development Patrick Reagan, and CEO Brian Williams spoke about a creative recruiting trend when they were featured in Computerworld’s "Rock Star Coders" article, which was published on Jan. 22, 2008.
The trio discussed the benefits – and drawbacks – of a new wave of equating developers to rock stars in an attempt to reach unique people looking for exceptional companies that are committed to employees’ personal and professional growth.
This content originally appeared as a press release on viget.com, and has since been adapted for our FourLabs blog.
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Kettler, one of the nation’s top real estate development and management companies, today is displaying information and imagery about its apartments, condominiums, planned communities, and commercial and retail spaces with new fervor thanks to Falls Church-based web consulting company Viget Labs.
Kettler, which is headquartered in Tysons Corner, has been working with Viget since August to develop a site that will support its diverse audiences and provide a more interactive, guided experience for all users from renters and first-time home buyers to retirees and investors.
"We’re so pleased to have a new site that showcases all of our areas of business and a layout that allows our audiences to have quick, easy access to all of the content," said Laurel Howell, Kettler’s Internet Marketing Manager who managed the production for Kettler, including populating the site with all content and images. "The CMS is easy-to-use and allows us to successfully maintain the content on our site so that it is current and relevant."
