Suzanne’s Cuisine Launches New Website

May 30th, 2008

Suzanne’s Cuisine, a premier restaurant in Ojai, CA, announces the launch of it’s newly designed website. Working with HamiltonBerchman Design Group, Inc., Suzanne’s Cuisine met it’s goal of redesigning their website in an effort to modernize their online presence. Their previous website was not taking advantage of underlying code optimization to help with Search Engine Optimization efforts.

About Suzanne’s Cuisine
Suzanne’s Cuisine, located in Ojai, CA, opened it’s doors in 1992. Family owned and operated, Suzanne’s Cuisine is a Southern California, and certainly Ojai, dining destination. The menu reflects many influences—a little Asian, a little Mexican and maybe some interesting spice that was picked up at the local farmer’s market. Suzanne’s Cuisine is open daily (except Tuesdays) for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner beginning at 5:30 p.m. www.suzannescuisine.com

About HamiltonBerchman
HamiltonBerchman Design Group helps organizations increase their relevance by designing and developing custom web-based communications and is dedicated to developing a personal and responsive relationship with every client. HamiltonBerchman was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Ojai, CA with their team of professionals positioned in Portland, Austin, Orlando and Poland. www.hamiltonberchman.com

Is there anybody out there?

May 28th, 2008

I’ve begun reading the The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual and it struck me, “is anybody out there?” I’m looking for you—the person reading these words right now. I’m interested in knowing what you think. I’m looking for interaction, conversation, feedback. I send this email every month but haven’t heard from you lately.

The power of the Internet is that we all have the ability to communicate with one another on a one-to-one basis, or in groups. We have the power of our voices. The Internet is really not about marketing or commerce although it is very convenient to research and buy things. We can have conversations, share ideas, debate the merits of one thing over another. The power is in the communication and that is a 2 way street. The Internet is about expressing ideas, sharing knowledge, and having conversations and relationships with real people. And that is what I am doing with my company blog and my e-newsletter.

What I love to do is help people find the best way to use the Internet to communicate. Not everyone is trying to say the same thing and everyone listening is not necessarily doing it the same way.

So, the format of my e-newsletters has changed to find out what you think.

All my previous e-newsletter issues were sent to you in their entirety. Sometimes they were weighty emails. Now my e-newsletter provides you with a table of contents and then each piece of content takes you over here to my website to read more and allow you to engage in the conversation. Please share your ideas and opinions… I want to hear what you think!

What is the most powerful thing you ‘get’ from the Internet?

• Information?
• Communication?
• Relationships?
• Business?

I want to know, comment below.

Rushing To Deadlines

May 21st, 2008

We all feel it at one point or another. The large deadline looming over our back. Whether for a project at work or an errand at home the race is on to get something done before a deadline. The word deadline sounds ominous and can certainly produce feelings of stress and pressure.

Is there really a reason to rush to a deadline? I would say from experience, no. If there is enough lead-time, preparation, and room for negotiation there should be no sense of deadline. However, sometimes we are not so fortunate—something comes up unexpectedly that needs to be handled quickly, or a new project or task that comes up takes priority over what you are currently working on. No matter what the scenario it may create a sense of ‘stress‘ or ‘pressure.’

Feeling a ‘sense‘ of deadline and the ‘stress‘ that it may produce can cloud your judgment. If you are working on a project and the deadline is 8 a.m. Friday morning you may work late on Thursday to finalize everything. But people that need to sign off on the final version of that project may not be in until after 8 a.m. the next day—after the deadline. You may decide that the deadline is the most important thing—everything ‘looks’ correct and you have to hit the deadline. However, it would be best to renegotiate the 8 a.m. deadline with everyone on Thursday once it becomes apparent that meeting the deadline cannot happen without the proper approvals.

You should negotiate the deadline because the quality of the final work may be in question. The combination of pressure, stress, and time constraints may cause an oversight and something that is not correct could get published.
No matter the deadline situation you may find yourself in remember that it is all a matter of perception and perspective. If you speak negatively—”there is no way we can get this done”—you will convince yourself of whatever you speak. If you speak positively—”we can do this, lets ask for some help and see if we can get some more time”—you may find things to go smoother without the stress and pressure.

When looking at the deadline(s) you have you may want to consider these items:

1. Take stock of what is on your plate.
2. Can some tasks/projects be put on hold until you clear the pressing matter?
3. Is there anything you can delegate to a co-worker, assistant, or sub-contractor?
4. Renegotiate the delivery of your tasks, projects, or priorities with your superiors, or your clients. Everyone understands that things change.
5. Take one task at a time and reassess when new things come up.

Getting things done by a deadline will always be with us. The good news is meeting them done does not always have to feel like a monster hovering over you. Take a deep breath, assess the big-picture, offload and delay what you can, and get-to-work!

How do you handle deadlines?

Do you have any unique ways of handling the ‘stress‘ of the situation?

Now Working with Emergencity

May 16th, 2008

HamiltonBerchman Design Group has begun working as a consultant with Emergencity. The scope of our consulting involves information architecture and user interface design. We are helping Emergencity take vast amounts of information coming from multiple sources and present it in an understandable and digestible manner. We have begun prototyping early screen layouts and look forward to further collaboration as the project builds momentum.

“I am excited to be working with Tyler Suchman of Emergencity on a project whose purpose is to ultimately serve people in a time of need. It is a very noble endeavor. When emergencies are taking place, relevant and current information is crucial to enabling people to respond appropriately. We at HamiltonBerchman are very happy to play a role in this process.” - Bert Mahoney, Principal, HamiltonBerchman Design Group.

“I am extremely pleased to be working with Bert Mahoney and HamiltonBerchman Design Group, Inc. Their ability to synthesize a large amount of data and information, and present it in a compelling, easily digestible manner, is a key component of our platform’s ability to provide actionable intelligence to communities in times of crisis.” - Tyler Suchman, CEO, Emergencity, Inc.

About Emergencity, Inc.

Emergencity, Inc. is a community service provider focused on providing hyperlocal emergency communications. The mission of Emergencity is to provide local communities with a proven and sophisticated web communications infrastructure, to enable next-generation emergency and crisis management through effective aggregation and distribution of critical information, or “actionable intelligence,” from all corners of the community and to benefit the social fabric of a community, including volunteerism, commerce, culture, and philanthropy.

About HamiltonBerchman
HamiltonBerchman Design Group helps organizations increase their relevance by designing and developing custom web-based communications and is dedicated to developing a personal and responsive relationship with every client. HamiltonBerchman was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Ojai, CA with their team of professionals positioned in Portland, Austin, Orlando and Poland. www.hamiltonberchman.com

Be True To Your Clients

May 6th, 2008

I read a blog post yesterday at The Selling Sherpa that I found interesting called One Cup Of Coffee. I actually find many of The Sherpa’s posts interesting, but the story in this one is something we, as customers, have all experienced at one point in our lives.

The story is about a customer service experience commentary on what you, as a provider of a product or service, should be focused on–giving your clients and customers what they want and need. We read that good service is not being delivered, an attempt at manipulating you is. It really is as simple as that. If you are not sure what your clients want or need just ask them. You can always email them individually or conduct an online survey.

What is important here is to know that trying to ‘pull one over’ on your clients by either not listening, not asking, or employing tactics that can be construed as trickery will ultimately get you nowhere. Be true to your clients. They will pay you for it.