Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

11/22/10

When I was a kid, I loved watching the The Road Runner Show cartoon on TV after school.  Yes, it was a little violent. Yes, it was a lot predictable. And no, it really wasn’t very funny.  But what I liked about the show was the Coyote’s creativity.  What imagination! I mean really, this dude had some creative chutzpah!  He came

10/26/10

Early this past September I read a post from one of my favorite marketing dudes, Chris Brogan. This message has stayed with me and continues to resonate. The post was written on a Sunday and talked about taking 20 minutes (on Sundays) to connect with friends and family. I remember my first thought being “20 minutes, really? Is that all

10/18/10

With the recent release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 beta you are now able to see the work that has gone into a browser that has not seen much forward development in meeting web standards or rendering speeds compared to its rivals (Opera, Firefox, & Google Chrome). Microsoft has even launched BeautyOfTheWeb.com website showcasing the new features and abilities. One

10/14/10

Earlier this year, the University of Maryland researched social media efforts being made by small businesses. In early 2010, about 25% of small businesses said they were using social media. The most recent survey from Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland points to a stall in the number of small businesses that

10/13/10

You’ve probably seen them. Tucked in the lower corner of a magazine ad, on the back of a business card, on a bus sign or even on the entire side of a building. It’s an increasing trend in advertising that some say is a fad, and some say the next great new way to promote. What are QR Codes? QR

10/11/10

The first movie I can recall seeing in a theatre was the 1971 James Bond 007 film, Diamonds Are Forever.  Yes, at the tender age of six, I became a fan of James Bond movies.   I was too young at the time to appreciate James for his prowess, his daring, his panache.  What I loved about Bond films were the

09/20/10

South Bend, Ind. – Force 5, South Bend, Ind., announces the addition of William “Butch” Whitmire as Vice President of Client Development. Whitmire’s responsibilities include building long-term relationships with, and developing and implementing marketing strategies for prospective clients. Whitmire has over 22 years of sales, management, marketing and leadership experience in planning, communicating and executing marketing initiatives and creative projects.

09/20/10

There has been a lot of activity in the browser market over the past few months. The most recent step forward is Microsoft’s release of Internet Explorer (IE) 9. Microsoft is touting improvements with IEs handling of web standards, graphics, and JavaScript. JavaScript has become the de-facto standard for web designers of dynamic and highly interactive websites. Since so many

09/16/10

What are Response Headers? Response headers is data that gets sent from the server to the browser. The data can include date & time, content type (ex: text/html, text/javascript), and server information (ex: Microsoft-IIS/7.0). Why is it important to hide them? Security. At the most basic level it will not broadcast what operating system the web server is and which

09/13/10

As a Certified Brand Strategist here at Force 5, I am always on the look out for brand done well and brand that needs help. Both are easy to spot. I have found two examples of wonderful brand ambassadors locally and want to share them with you. The first example of a great brand ambassador is one of my favorite

09/09/10

Force 5, South Bend, In., announces the addition of Christian Mattix as web application developer and network administrator. Mattix’s responsibilities include technical design and development of web applications, along with building, optimizing, maintaining and trouble shooting complex and secure databases, among other duties. Mattix graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and a minor

08/23/10

400 million…500 million…..and still growing. Whether you “like” it (pun intended) or not—Facebook is dominant in helping companies build relationships with their clients. Look at the chart in the article below (thanks to AD Age…)—and with the likes of Starbucks having 12.7 million fans, and growing at almost 79,000 a DAY-you can’t help but consider facebook as a dominant player