Island Web Works

I’m probably the biggest advocate for social media in our office and when I’m not coding, I’ll probably be banging on about the benefits of Facebook, Twitter, etc. Getting the benefits of “the social” to corporate ears has been a challenge but one which is yielding results in the form of some exciting ideas. Imagine my surprise and - should I say, pride - when I returned from my annual Wimbledon sabbatical to be told that Charles was just finishing his latest blog post.

We all have access to this Island Web Works blog, which allows us to represent ourselves and the company professionally, giving users an insight into what we can tell people about the exciting projects we are working on. We have an internal policy which promotes openness and inclusion. If someone wants to blog, they are welcome - so long as it is at least vaguely related to our work!

We all tweet using the Island Web Works @iww_iom ID.

For the content that isn’t work-related, we now all have our own blogs and I’m going to take this opportunity to publicise them a little more.

Andreas - The Greatest Show on Earth

Andreas is a biologist at heart and we have some fascinating discussions in the office about nature, evolution and humanity. His blog develops on some of these discussions and adds his own views and questions on the reasons behind life, the universe and everything.

Andreas is also tweeting as @heinakroon.

Charles - WalkingMann

Charles is a keen walker and we regularly chat about his latest adventures on this lovely island. There are hundreds of footpaths criss-crossing the island and Charles seems enthusiastic about treading each one. His blog covers these walks, his experiences and impressions. He also includes some great photographs of landmarks along the routes and a very useful series of route maps.

Nathan - Live to Work

My “main” blog is my view on politics, work/life balance and gadgetry. I attend a few events a year which excite me enough to blog about them and I also try to include my recommendations on gadgets which I have found useful. This blog was started in 2007 in conjunction with a previous project I was involved with and has covered a variety of issues including Police accountability, voting reform, the BCS and public transport - fascinating!

Nathan - Blogging About .NET

This blog is quite a lot quieter but is focussed more on my professional coding side of my work. If I have been working on something sufficiently challenging that I feel others can benefit, it’ll probably end up here. My blog is but one of many on this site, and is indeed a site full of .NET coding geniuses.

I am also tweeting as @programx.

Of course, the posts and comments on these blogs and Twitter streams are personal to the respective authors and are therefore entirely unrelated with this blog.

We have some exciting plans for expanding blogging on the island which we hope to announce in the next few months.

Nathan Social Media Blog, Wimbledon

It’s Wimbledon and my favourite time of the year where my two favourite world of tennis and technology collide. IBM, the technology partners of all the Grand Slams including Wimbledon, always do a fantastic job of managing the vast amounts of statistics generated by the tournaments. This Wimbledon is no exception with integration into Social Media using Facebook and Twitter and the introduction of an iPhone application. Also interesting are the smaller innovations which occur on the outside of the core technology, such as meta-data attached to landmarks which are used to full effect by the new Google Android phone. Imagine the possibilities of local-based meta-data in CRM, giving you an extra level of detail on client and support sites. BBC Digital Planet showcase this feature as well as provide a sneak look inside the tech hub of the Wimbledon broadcast centre.

The power of social media has just bitten Microsoft in the backside with regards their next version of Microsoft Outlook 2010. The fixoutlook.org campaign has created a very simple page that creates a viral campaign over Twitter. What’s their beef? The continued lack of web standards in Microsoft Outlook. Although there are no official web standards defined by the W3C (or anyone else) on presenting emails effectively in email clients using XHTML, there is best practice. Without best practice, end-users may not find their email as well formatted as the designer, which can detract from a marketing message. Unfortunately, any degree of movement towards best practice is hampered by Microsoft’s response. This time, it seems, they are not interested in defining the standard themselves. Maybe they were stung by the standards they created alongside Internet Explorer 4 through 6?

Document Management comes in many forms and MIGTurbo provides its own document functionality alongside additional integration into third-party document management systems, such as LaserFiche. Our clients’ use of document management is wide and varied, ranging from a simple archival or audit trail for compliance requirements to paperless offices where forms are scanned and sorted electronically for later access. Before jumping in to investing in a document management solution, it’s well worth stepping back and considering how you will use such a system to its fullest extent within the resources of your business. We found a great article giving 8 things to ask yourself before jumping in to Document Management. Well worth reading, if it looks of interest both ourselves and our technology partners would be happy to help answer any questions you may have.

That’s it for this week, hope you have a good weekend.

Nathan Friday Feeling CRM, Document Management, DocuMentor, IBM, LaserFiche, MIGTurbo, Office 2010, Wimbledon