One of Northeast Ohio's most respected financial advisory firms, Lineweaver, turned to SyncShow Interactive in search of a more user-friendly software for their website. The new site, launched on January 26, 2012, will make life much easier for the team at Lineweaver, and includes tools such as easy form creation, a resource module, and hassle free video uploading.
Click here to view the Lineweaver Financial Group website.
RBB Systems specializes in small batch custom electronic assemblies and electrical control panels, so it seemed only fitting that their home page display three interesting circuit boards. Launched on Thursday, January 26, 2012, the new website will showcase some of their skills, as well as make interacting with their customers easier through all the forms built into the website.
The site will also assist RBB Systems with:
Custom user interface design
Graphic enhancements
Vdeo production
Search engine optimization
Click here to view the RBB Systems website.
Gallagher is a nationally recognized museum planning and design firm with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Singapore. Before they discovered SyncShow Interactive, Gallagher was using an old flash-based website that was not mobile friendly, and was cumbersome to update.
The new image focused site, created using SyncShow®, SyncShow Interactive's content management system, beautifully displays some of Gallagher's amazing photography. It is easily updated, scalable, and offers streamlined maintenance and upkeep. The project module drives dynamic elements on every page, so if one project is loaded from back end, it will be dynamically displayed on different areas of the site. Gallagher handled the creative side, while SyncShow Interactive managed the site functionality.
SyncShow Interactive staff are experts at tailoring websites to fit the client’s needs - from start to finish, we listen to and provide solutions customized to specific goals and nee
As we wrap up 2011, I was thinking about what an incredible period in history we are experiencing. I am not thinking about the last 50 years of computer advancements or the last 25 years of the world wide web. I’m thinking about the last 8 years of communication advancements.
It’s amazing that almost every form of communication we use today did not exist or has been radically changed in just the past eight years.
The way we receive and deliver information has changed forever. The question is how long will it last? Think about the following timeline.
It's unbelievable that in our lifetime we may see the decline of almost every sector of communication that thrived just 15 years ago: newspapers, print advertising, land-line telephones, the postal service, standard television and even how we watch movies has changed. Some even predict the fall of email.
As we continue to embrace the way the world communicates, Idea Engine has evolved along with it. We have grown to th
With all this rain, it seems like fall vs. Christmas, but don't let the weather fool you! Yes, it's that time again. The holidays! The time when Ryan plays Christmas music off his computer, and the un-expected packages of treats from customers and clients end up on co-workers desks. What's even better is when they generously share them, like Jessica just did with some amazing brownies from our friends at Hovertech. Thank you Hovertech!
We at Idea Engine hope you all have a great holiday season!
Have you ever had a problem that no matter how hard you worked at it, and no matter how much you sweated it out, you just couldn't solve it? Then, you walked away for a moment to clear your mind and poof, all of the answers flowed out like water? Going to New Mexico had the same effect on me. It refreshed my thoughts, and helped me see great business ideas.
Take the time to step away from your job and reflect on how you are doing. While we all know this life lesson, sometimes we forget to do the simple things. For Idea Engine, our story begins with EO.
What is EO?
Both Chris Peer and I, partners of Idea Engine, belong to a great organization called EO (Entrepreneurial Organization). Chris belongs to the Columbus chapter and I belong to the Cleveland chapter. This organization has allowed both Chris and I the ability to think about how we run Idea Engine and how to make it better for it's employees, customers, and the overall experience of the
The Idea Engine team just wanted to reach out to the rest of the world and say goodbye to Steve Jobs. Steve was the Edison of our time. America and the world was lucky to have him. It was apparent that Steve has really changed all of our lives forever in all of the products that he has brought to us over the years. The Apple computer, iPod, iPad and the almighty iPhone. Pixar, Toy Story, Up and more and more and more.
For Idea Engine, Steve has proven to the world that creating something is just not good enough. Integrating wonderful design along with ingenious engineering is truly magical as he would have put it. Steve was a dreamer and he opened his world of innovation and shared his excitement of new product launches through world wide broadcasted keynotes. We all shared in his excitement. He brought us closer to our music with iTunes and iPods and to each other with iPads and iPhones.
Thanks Steve for inspiring all of us to be bett
Come join us for an afternoon cocktail and training session for SyncShow®, your website content management and online strategy software.
During this session, we will be providing training on SyncShow® v6, our latest release and answering any questions you may have about how to use SyncShow®. Come and ask questions, request new features and share your stories on creative SyncShow® uses.
Cocktails and Hors d'oevres will be served.
Classes are limited to 10 so sign up quick. A video will be available after the sessions for those of you that cannot make it.
Register Below
IdeaEngine welcomes Steven our newest Programmer.
Steven is a web designer and front-end developer who graduated from Kent State University's Visual Communication Design program in 2010. Here at IdeaEngine, his focus is front-end and mobile app development. He's a big fan of squeaky-clean code, Zen Coding, and augmenting his vast repository of keyboard shortcuts. In his spare time he likes playing video games, staring at walls, and learning new things.
Steven resides in Rocky River, Ohio with his furniture and other inanimate objects.
Likes: Ping-pong, tic tacs, and onomatopoeias
Dislikes: Being photographed, and disorganization
Before I start telling you about how IdeaEngine builds Facebook Applications, I had better explain what a Facebook Application is. Avid Facebook users feel free to skip this paragraph. A Facebook application could be anything from Mafia Wars, Farmville, YouTube or an application that extends the reach of your business to Facebook users. Idea Engine builds Facebook applications that help extend your business into the Facebook community.
If you have that next great Idea for a Facebook application or you want to break into that market, give us a second look to help you do this.
Cost Savings Facebook Application Development
If you think about a Facebook application one of the biggest features of the System is the ability for you to manage Facebook users and leads. This can be accomplished by using SyncShow as the back-end of your application. With SyncShow you already have everything you need to manage your Facebook users with SyncShow's already built user management sy
The process of web design and web development revolves around your brand. After all, you can't build a cohesive online marketing strategy with a website that doesn't match your corporate identity. So before beginning a website development project, it's important to take a look at your brand and ensure it's where you want it to be.
Branding and corporate identity are extremely important to any company's future. Logos, color palettes, and look-and-feel create a first impression which can either entice or turn off a new customer. A company's corporate identity isn't just a logo. It's also the graphic representation of their vision and personality as a company, which is communicated by triggering a subconscious feeling through visual elements. It's extremely important that your brand triggers the positive feelings you're hoping to communicate!
Corporate identity is a cohesive package of consistent use of logos, colors, and messaging. For example;
IdeaEngine welcomes Erin our newest Account Executive.
Erin enjoys working alongside our clients to define projects and see them through successful completions, while having fun and being creative along the way. She joined the IdeaEngine team in May 2011, coming to us most recently from her role as Online Marketing Manager for Cleveland venture development organization, JumpStart Inc. Erin brings with her a broad range of marketing and sales experience, and truly enjoys the world of online marketing, marketing strategy, and embracing new technologies and ideas to grow businesses.
Erin is a graduate of Miami University, a Crain’s Cleveland Business Twenty in Their Twenties award recipient, a graduate of Cleveland Bridge Builders, and an avid home remodeler.
Erin currently resides in her current home project in Lakewood, Ohio with her husband, Jim.
Likes: Sunshine, great music, and laughter.
Dislikes: Mean people, wasted time, and chaos.
I'm going to keep this article as short and sweet as possible because it's important for you to read. I’m sure you already heard that Sony’s gaming network, PSN, was hacked, and over 70 million people had their credit cards exposed. If it affected you, you probably already called your credit card company, and they made you feel warm and safe.
But I wanted to make you aware that the real problem with this hack is not just stolen credit card numbers. In fact, since the three-digit security codes on the cards were not stolen the risk is much smaller. (Sony has also claimed that they insured all 70 million users for up to a million dollars a piece.) The biggest problem is your name, email address, and password were all stolen as plain text. If you are one of those people that use your same email address and password for just about everything, you absolutely must take the time to change your password everywhere. If you have a PayPal, Ebay account, Amazon, bank account,
We are very excited to announce that we will be sending one of our developers, Ryan Pastorelle, to the 2011 San Francisco Bay Area jQuery Conference. The two-day conference will be held at the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus Conference Center in Mountain View, California.
Don't understand JQuery? Watch this video...
If you have never heard of jQuery before, you have almost assuredly been exposed to the experience. It is a JavaScript library growing in popularity on the web and used by sites such as Facebook, Google, and Netflix to name a few. Along with other emerging technologies like AJAX, jQuery helps turn the web into a truly interactive experience, including some very fun elements; try clicking here if you don't believe us! The jQuery library not only creates a fun and interactive experience for website visitors but also for website developers.
Aside from the fun, jQuery is an extremely powerful tool for our developers here at IdeaEngine. Ryan plans o
It's a commonly know fact internally on why IdeaEngine prides itself on award winning designs. It's also a trade secret that we are going to reveal to you today. IdeaEngine's web site designs are award winning designs because our internal Artist Krista does not accept anything but the best. You do not cross her path or get her upset. If you do upset Krista you may pay the consequences as seen here below. That or we're all just having a little fun at the end of a hard work day. I'll let you decide.
What did you say...
about my...
award winning website design?
If you want your website to be award winning, don't be afraid to call us. :)
If you want to see behind the scenes of a Hollywood special effects company, we took a visit to Precinct 13-Creature Corps, who is the company behind the magic. Believe it or not they are located right here in Ohio. Precinct 13 makes all sorts of outfits for Hollywood movies. In some cases for a full blown Hollywood production they need to create the outfits at a pace of one per actor/actress a day. The outfits actually melt away under hot lights and sweatty skin. Precinct 13 usually only has a 2 week notice to conjure up the outfits and get them on the set. In some cases they will pour a full body cast of the person and start from scratch on creating the outfit.
I'm a member of the Entrepreneurial Organization in the Cleveland Ohio chapter and a few of us went out to view the behind the scenes action. A special thanks to Bill Onion and his team for putting the video together. Hope you enjoy.
Dan Carbone
It may be snowing in Cleveland, but it's officially spring when baseball season begins. At IdeaEngine, we kicked off spring with the addition of some awesome new functionality on ScoreFeeder.com, the web application that allows high school coaches to enter scores and stats and then broadcast them to the media with one click.
ScoreFeeder now handles baseball and softball scores, allowing coaches to record everything from the inning-by-inning score, to details like each player's at-bats, hits, and runs. We designed the web app to allow coaches to enter the detail quickly. (The interface mimics the summary score sheet.) And the tool then compiles all of the data into the box score format preferred by each media recipient and broadcasts it with one click.
As with all of the applications we build, ScoreFeeder is fast and powerful. Watch for even more sports to be added in the near future!
Did you know that PlayhouseSquare, the folks famous for bringing high-quality theater to Cleveland, Ohio, have a real estate division? They do! And it's their mission to offer real estate services and commercial leasing with an eye toward revitalizing Northeast Ohio. IdeaEngine is proud to assist them with this objective through the overhaul of their website, PlayhouseSquare Real Estate Services. Built using SyncShow®, IdeaEngine's content management system, the site offers PlayhouseSquare the ability to control content, change page layout templates, manage hundreds of photos, and optimize for search engines.
IdeaEngine is proud to announce the launch of the new Carp Cosmetic Surgery Center website.
Dr. Carp came to IdeaEngine with the need to grow his business more strategically. He also wanted to utilize the internet to get closer to his customers with a more advanced set of communication tools at his disposal. For Dr. Carp the decision was simple, utilize IdeaEngine's content management system SyncShow to bring in more leads. Dr. Carp recognized the marketing capabilities built into the SyncShow CMS and how it would help his business grow. Don't ask our word for it, give Dr. Carp a call today and ask him what he thinks about SyncShow and IdeaEngine.
At Carp Cosmetic Surgery Center, Dr. Steve Carp uses cutting edge technology combined with advanced surgical techniques to achieve the most positive results for every patient.
It's time to love yourself a little more!
Perhaps the most comfortable, relaxing and maintenance-free adirondack chair available. We think so. IdeaEngine is proud to announce the launch of the new Rocky River Rondack Chair Company ecommerce website. Rondackchairs.com
Powered by the SyncShow® ecommerce shopping cart, Rodackchairs.com offers a relaxing experience for online shoppers. Buy a chair today!
We are excited to announce that Harold Knieriem has joined our team as a Sr. Programmer. Harold brings a wealth of knowledge in software application development and server hardware. For more about Harold visit our Meet The Team page.
North Coast Container Corporation, recently debuted their new branding and corporate ID that we created for them. Our new logo design was featured in ice at thier 2010 holiday party! How COOL is that?
Click on the thumbnails below to view larger images:
Chris and his wife Jane
Dan, Bonnie, Chris and Jane
Dan and his wife Bonnie
NCCC Logo Ice Sculpture
IdeaEngine, was lucky to have met a visionary this past summer, Dave Petno. Dave recognized IdeaEngine as a vital custom web development partner in reaching a dream of his, ScoreFeeder.com. ScoreFeeder.com adds a counterpart to social networking by providing an interactive tool focused on a particular audience and particular interest. Both a tool and a website, ScoreFeeder.com is a custom web development project IdeaEngine is particularly proud of because it demonstrates how IdeaEngine is able to custom web develop something more magnificent than a typical website, even more magnificent and unique than an e-commerce platform. ScoreFeeder.com is really an online web application, one that we are proud to share with you.
Some of the Idea Engine team members pose for a picture with Dave Petno
From Top Left to Top Right: Ryan Pastorelle, Jessica Hlucky, Rita Hokaj, Krista Newill
From Bottom Left to right: Dan Carbone, Dave Petno and Danni Bennett
I am happy to raise the curtains to th
If you have been following the IdeaEngine stories over the past few months, you know that IdeaEngine recently purchased a bunch of iPads for its employees. You may also have pondered the thought, how could I use the iPad for my business? Well, today IdeaEngine demonstrates one good business use for the iPad, wishing you – our gracious customers and friends – a Happy Holiday season!
Unfortunately we just couldn't coordinate getting the entire team together, so the ones that are missing also wish you the very best this holiday season!
The Idea Engine Web Development Team
IdeaEngine team members (clockwise, from top left) Jessica Hlucky, Ryan Pastorelle, Danni Bennett, Chris Peer, Dan Carbone, and Krista Newill bundle up in the freezing cold to take a holiday picture with their iPads by the railroad tracks in Rocky River.
SyncShow™ CMS is an Enterprise Level Web Platform with Web 2.0 features that help grow a company's web presence - and - sell its products and services.
According to Dan Carbone, partner at IdeaEngine Inc., and founder of SyncShow®, the first intelligent and intuitive Content Management System (CMS), "In a world with more than 100 million websites competing for attention, delivery of content to the web is no longer enough."
Introducing the second generation of SyncShow®, IdeaEngine, a marketing technology firm located in Rocky River, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, prefers to call it a second generation Content Marketing and Optimization System, or C2MOS. According to Carbone, not only will SyncShow™ seek out problems on a website and allow the user to make changes on the fly to generate higher search engine rankings, it also enhances the website's ability to develop leads and convert those leads into sales -- including business-to-bu
Business owners and marketers around the world brag about their website being listed on the first page of a keyword or key-phrase results page, and for good reason.
Everyone wants the coveted first page listing in Google or Yahoo; often competing with hundreds-of-thousands or millions of competitors for the top spots. Getting to the first page can be moderately difficult to impossible. A number of variables have to be met including website technologies and content strategies. However, the benefits of being listed on the first page are staggering.
In the screen shot above I searched Google for the term “industrial clutches”. Note, that this key-phase is very broad, meaning it does not include a geographic location or specific keyword that would narrow the search. Just below the search box you can see that there are over 1,430,000 results. The Logan Clutch Corporation is listed as the number one organic listing and they have been for over three years.
What the statis
Watch the expressions on unsuspecting Idea Engine employees when their employer starts handing out iPads on a whim after a team status meeting. Idea Engine realizes that the company is at the brink of a new era with the touch screen revolution. Idea Engine accepts this new era with open arms and demonstrates their embrace of change and walking the walk by empowering all of their employees with iPads.
As a web development firm it is critical that Idea Engine is on the cutting edge of the touch screen revolution. By empowering it's employees, Idea Engine can deploy the ideas of today into what you will use in tomorrows world.
"Enabling the employees with iPads will allow Idea Engine discovery into new benefits arising from the technology. This will position both Idea Engine employees and Idea Engine customers for the world of tomorrow." - Dan Carbone, CTO
Since it's beginning, Idea Engine's leadership has embraced both the iPhone and iPad as game changers
How to test your website on Mobile Platforms and Desktop Browsers
It used to be that Internet Explorer was used by about 98% of web users. That number now hovers around 50% and falling. Why? With the advent of the iPhone/iPad, the resurgence of the Mac platform, and the bursting Android market, browsers such as Safari, Chrome, and Firefox have taken a front seat on the action.
According to the Forrester Research "Interactive Advertising Models 2009" report, “Mobile marketing investments in the U.S. are slated to more than triple in the next five years.” The Morgan Stanley research chart below further demonstrates the staggering growth the mobile industry has in store over the next five years. Bottom line is, mobile is here to stay. We'd all better prepare for it.
If you haven't tested your website across lots of browsers and platforms, mobile included, in the last six months, you may want to consider doing so. Don't blame your web firm for th
IdeaEngine is proud to announce that we sponsored the October MYOB Conference in New York to demonstrate our very own SyncShow™. Check out a few photos from our booth.
Click on the thumbnails below to view larger images.
If you like using the internet and you want to keep the costs of accessing it down, then this article will help you understand the issue of "Net Neutrality" and how your mobile internet just may get costlier.
I've written this article so it's easy to understand, so my examples are hypothetical. But make no mistake that my hypothetical examples can become a reality.
Network Neutrality =
(US) Freedom and equal rights for all to access any content on the internet. It's the law!!!
No Network Neutrality =
Internet Service Providers can control and filter the content on the internet at their will and charge both consumer and website owners whatever they want for you to access the internet.
Why should you care as a business owner?
You need laws like Network Neutrality in place to allow your business to flourish on the web. Without this law, you may find yourself shelling out a lot of money for your website to be seen on the mobile internet. Internet Ser
SyncShow™ is more than just a content management system (CMS). SyncShow™ makes the entire website development process more strategic, efficient, and profitable for our customers. Imagine content management, analytics, SEO, SEM, sales integration, and the ability to easily snap on features such as eCommerce, document repositories, and blog systems – all from one easy to use platform!
www.syncshow.com
Apple Takes Microsoft's Position as Technology Leader
The New York Times and Wall Street announced Apple, Inc. as the worlds most valuable technology company beating out Microsoft. According to Wall Street, Apple is now worth $222.12 billion dollars and Microsoft at $219.18 billion. Whether you are a Microsoft fan or an Apple fan or you really don't care, you have to admit that this is a moment in time. To me the great story is not that one side is winning over the other, but a story about a company (Apple) that fell by the wayside a decade ago and found itself on the verge of going out of business. Yet, Apple climbed back to a victory, which I don't think any of us would have dreamed we would see in this lifetime... and they did it in one of our worst economies.
I'm a technology fanatic. I am fanatical about how technology leverages business. Love him or hate him, in my eyes, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is the man. It's not my “fanboyism” regardi
24 Hours + $42,000.00 Raised + A New Website = Success!
SEE the event pictures
WATCH the event videos
VISIT the new OFY Website
The Options for Families and Youth Website
Build-a-Thon was a Big Hit!
In early 2010, IdeaEngine set out on a mission ... to build a website in 24 hours. Our objective was to give back to our home city of Cleveland, Ohio, and help a local non-profit organization. After some initial consideration, the answer was clear. The organization would be Options for Families and Youth (OFY), a Cleveland, Ohio-based foster care and adoption agency.
Nearly seven years ago, in the spring of 2003, OFY contracted IdeaEngine to design its first website. Ironically, the original OFY site was one of IdeaEngine's first website development projects. In appreciation for OFY's trust in IdeaEngine, we wanted to pay it forward. After some preliminary discussion with OFY, we scheduled the website design build-a-thon for Thursday, May 13, 20
There seems to be an almost even split of lovers versus haters when it comes to the iPad. I have read posts where people are actually getting upset that people would waist their money on the iPad. At the time of this article it seems like 49% of the people interviewed would buy an iPad while 51% would not. Obviously that number will change as time goes by.
Before I get into it I think that I owe you the pleasure of my technology background. This will give you a good understanding of why I have the right to write this observation. First I was a hard core PC user. I built almost all of my computers back in the day. I ordered most of my computer parts from Directron. The reason I got into this was I had a passion for video editing and always needed more and more power. Over the years I became really good at building out computers that could handle the massive data management that came with Non-Linear editors. I always had the coolest computers i
Marketing technology firm IdeaEngine announces winning two awards of distinction:
The NEO Success Awards - Five-year-old IEI submitted and won entries in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The NEO Success Awards annually recognize the top-performing companies in Northeast Ohio. NEO Success Award winners reflect our region’s determination to expand and revitalize its economic status. The NEO Success Award is unique in its combined measurement of business success in sales, growth and profitability. IEI shares this award in 2010 with 80 local businesses.
piaNKO (Printing Industries Association, Inc.) Award -- IEI receives a Silver Award in the 'Print Excellence' category Pocket Folder for the work it submitted on behalf of its client, LHP Software, located in Columbus, Indiana. Cleveland-based Great Lakes Integrated submitted the piece, on behalf of IdeaEngine. Organized by piaNKO, a regional organization serving more than 400 commercial printing companie
Despite a depressed outlook for hiring among local marketing firms, marketing technology firm IdeaEngine today announced the addition of three new hires for the company located in a suburb of Greater Cleveland.
Danni Bennett: Hired as Project Manager, Bennett will implement and enhance client-based project management processes, control traffic and assignments, and interface with clients to ensure project success. Previously, Bennett worked at IdeaStar as director of Project Management and Foundation Software, developers of construction accounting software, Foundation for Windows. A resident of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, Bennett attended Marietta College in Ohio.
Krista Newill: Hired as Senior Media Designer to oversee all client-based design at IEI. A Silver and Bronze Addy winner, Newill previously worked as Art Director at Canton, Ohio-based Innis Maggiore. A resident of Streetsboro, Ohio, Newill is a graduate of Cuyahoga Community College.
Ryan Pastorelle: Hired as Web Dev
IdeaEngine, an integrated Internet, branding and marketing firm, hires senior web consultant, Jessica Hlucky of Broadview Heights. Hlucky brings a new level of expertise to IdeaEngine’s Internet solution offering. She will be responsible for building customer success through enhanced online initiatives. Prior to joining IdeaEngine, Hlucky, a graduate of John Carroll University, was a Senior Consultant and Web Strategist at Rosetta/Brulant Inc.
"We are thrilled to now have Jessica with us," said Christopher Peer, Managing Director of the firm. "Jessica's capabilities and experience complement those of our team, and her business values closely match our mission to provide the strategies, talent and service our customers have come to expect from IdeaEngine."
Hlucky, who is pursuing a master's degree from Cleveland State University, said she was delighted to be a new member of the IdeaEngine team. "They possess equal amounts of innovation, quiet determi
Inspiration abounds on our Wall of Cool. Located on the north wall of our kitchen, it's a small hub to get our creative juices going! That's because we believe in doing cool work and recognizing the cool work of others. That and we believe in eating ... in the kitchen looking at the Wall of Cool. Because, let's be honest, the kitchen is everyone's favorite place, right?
