Matrix Group International

Month: July 2009

  • Does Your Staff Know What Your Company Does?

    Does Your Staff Know What Your Company Does?

    A couple of weeks ago, I called Harris Teeter to order a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake for my soon-to-be 5 year old son. The conversation went something like this:

    Me:  Good morning, I want to order a birthday cake with the Thomas design.
    HT staff:  Sorry, we don’t have Thomas cakes.
    Me:  But you have a Thomas cake on display in your bakery section.
    HT staff:  Sorry, we don’t have Thomas cakes.  I think that display is old.
    Me:  I saw Thomas cakes in your catalog.
    HT staff:  I haven’t seen the catalog lately.
    Me:  Okay, I guess I’ll call Costco.

    Thomas the Tank EngineLucky for Harris Teeter, I am a big fan of the store and was not to be deterred.  I went to the store, found a manager, showed him the Thomas cake on display and asked if I could please order it.  Yep, he was happy to take my order, especially since Thomas cakes are expensive!  I told him that I had called the store a few days earlier and the person said HT didn’t make Thomas cakes.  The manager apologized and said that perhaps the person I spoke with was new or didn’t know about the special order cakes.

    Yikes!  How many sales has HT lost because of this bakery guy?  Could this happen in your company? I know this kind of “revenue leakage” has happened in my organization!
    (more…)

  • How Many Times Do I Need to Pay For This Song?

    How Many Times Do I Need to Pay For This Song?

    Rock BandI love Rock Band for the PS3. A friend lent his set a couple of weeks ago to me and my husband and we’ve been enjoying learning how to “play” drums and guitar, as well as do vocals. Rock Band comes with a collection of songs but you can buy scores of other songs (in different genres) on the Sony store.

    So last night, I paid $1.99 for the Police’s Synchronicity.  I love this song.  I loved the album when it came out.  I even saw the Police in concert for this tour.  So I was happy to shell out $2 to be able to sing one of my favorite Police songs.

    Then it hit me:  I’ve paid for Synchronicity four times: (more…)

  • Measuring the ROI on Social Media Initiatives

    Measuring the ROI on Social Media Initiatives

    Analyzing The DataI met with a group of CEOs this morning and social media came up in conversation. More than several members of the group wondered if a social media strategy is worth the effort. In other words, how do we measure the return on investment (ROI) of our social media initiatives?

    This is a topic that comes up a lot at Matrix Group. Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic formula for calculating ROI on social media activities. Mashable says that you can measure the ROI in two ways:

    • Qualitative – Are you part of the conversation in your industry? Are you able to demonstrate that you or your organization is a thought leader? Is social media able to help you build better relationships  with your target audiences?
    • Quantitative – Look to your usage reports, RSS subscriptions, e-mail opt-ins, e-commerce sales and registrations to see if social media is increasing traffic and transactions. (more…)
  • An Office Buildout Is Just Like a Web Site Redesign

    An Office Buildout Is Just Like a Web Site Redesign

    Matrix LobbyMatrix Group is getting close to moving to its new space at 2711 Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington (Crystal City), VA.  This is the first time that we’re doing a buildout and I’m looking forward to seeing how our physical space can support how we collaborate and do our work.  I’ve also been fascinated to realize that a construction project is like a Web site design project in many ways:

    User Experience

    • Our construction project began with our Architect visiting our existing space, interviewing staff, and learning how people work together and on their own. This is akin to the user experience part of all of our Web projects where we look at analytics, interview staff and users, and create personas to represent key target audiences.
    • The space plan and architectural drawings are akin to navigation and wireframes. In our case, our Architect conducted a test fit to make sure the space would fit our general needs, then created a plan that indicated where we would have offices and where we would have open space.
    • Then came design. When designing a Web site, we create multiple designs over multiple rounds for the home page, sub-pages, content pages, print style sheet, etc.  For the office, we picked carpet, colors, office furniture system, lighting, and chairs.

    Implementation and Budget

  • What’s Your Elevator Speech?

    What’s Your Elevator Speech?

    elevatorI moderated a strategy meeting yesterday and a redesign kick-off meeting this afternoon. During both meetings, I started the discussion with a simple question: what’s your elevator speech? It sounds so trite and overused to ask about one’s elevator speech, so we did something different.

    We asked each person how they would explain their job or company to:

    • Their spouse
    • A high school student
    • A neighbor
    • A member of the press
    • A Fortune 100 CEO

    As expected, we got a wide variety of answers.  Surprisingly, the best responses were from people trying to explain their business to a high school student. How can this be?  I think it’s because when talking to a student, we avoid jargon, we use analogies, and we try to explain the most meaningful aspects of our work. (more…)

  • The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited by Emanuel Rosen

    The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited by Emanuel Rosen

    Fascinating book on word of mouth marketing. A must read for all marketers.

  • Celebrating 10 Years With a Microsite

    Celebrating 10 Years With a Microsite

    Matrix Group 10t hAnniversaryWe did it! We launched a microsite for the Matrix Group 10th anniversary! It took us several months and a whole lot of research, but we did it. Why create a site for the occasion?

    10 years feels like a real milestone to us, especially to me. Like I say in my “Where We’re Going” letter, when I started the company, I wasn’t thinking about balance sheets or Web standards. I just wanted to help companies with their Web sites. And when my Advisory Board Chair asked me about my five-year plan (during year one), I just laughed; I was so focused on surviving the first year, five years felt like a lifetime.  So it felt right to create a microsite that lets all of us at the company see where we’ve been and think about the future. (more…)

  • Your Web Site Is Done, Now Who Owns The Design Files?

    Your Web Site Is Done, Now Who Owns The Design Files?

    locked CDA client whose Web site we recently implemented asked us to make changes to their Web site.  What is normally a routine request turned into a major affair.  The problem?  The design firm that had created their original designs had gone out of business.  The contract specified that the design firm owned the design and the all source files.  So when the company went out of business, gone went the files. Ugh.

    I attended a wedding recently where the couple had hired a much sought after photographer.  I asked him if he gave clients their digital files and he said yes.  He said that he believed in charging clients a fair price and then letting them own all the original images.  Yes, he makes more money if clients order photos or a photo book, but if they don’t, he’s been fairly compensated and he’s happy. (more…)

  • Beer and Cream Cheese SCRUM

    Beer and Cream Cheese SCRUM

    Beer + cream cheese = cheesecakeLast Thursday, the MatrixMaxx team celebrated a successful SCRUM sprint with a beer and cream cheese party.  So what do beer and cream cheese have to do with software development, specifically SCRUM? Read on and find out.

    MatrixMaxx is Matrix Group’s Web-based association management software product.  For about a year, the team had been exploring agile development methodologies.  Maki, our CTO and Chief Architect for MatrixMaxx, was really hot to implement SCRUM.

    There is a lot to SCRUM, but here’s what SCRUM means to a non-techie, manager type like me:

    • SCRUM is all about roles and process.
    • There are 3 main roles in SCRUM: the ScrumMaster (who serves as the project manager); the Product Owner (who represents the stakeholders like me and the clients); the Team (the folks who do the development work).
    • Development cycles are broken up into sprints, which last anywhere from a week to 30 days; each sprint has a defined list of shippable work.  Complex projects are broken up over multiple sprints, but each sprint must include deliverables that the customer can recognize and use.
    • There is a daily SCRUM meeting (lasting no more than 15 minutes), during which each team member answers the following questions:  what have you done since yesterday?, what are you planning to do today?, and what is preventing you from making progress? (so the ScrumMaster can facilitiate a resolution).
    • Tasks, or user stories, are posted on a board and each team member takes tasks off the board each day.

    Sounds great, right?  But for an agency like Matrix Group, SCRUM posed some problems:
    (more…)

  • The National Hospice Foundation Redesign

    The National Hospice Foundation Redesign

    The National Hospice Foundation (NHF) raises critical funds needed to serve more than 3400 hospice and palliative care member providers.  Matrix Group collaborated with NHF on the redesign to help convert visitors into donors, and encourage donors to become members of the foundation’s Legacy Society, a planned giving program.

    Matrix created a new site that includes:

    • A warm, welcoming color palette and a sophisticated appearance reflecting NHF’s organizational culture.
    • Intuitive navigation so that the site is accessible to all who participate in the hospice community.
    • A compelling section, called “See how NHF puts your gifts to use,” featuring testimonials, and personal stories of how donations directly help recipients.
    • A Social Networking section featuring Twitter, Facebook and a form where visitors can sign up for NHF News based on their specific interests.