WebSmart TV

Posted on January 27, 2010 by rbirkey

WebSmart TV - the basics of the web in about a minute.

Are you a regular person who is trying to make sense of all the new terms you hear being tossed around in conversations and in written messages such as: tweets, RSS, web 2.0, friend (used as a noun), blog, and many others? Does it make your brain hurt to think of figuring it all out? Well, Headstand Media has a new tool made to serve you! It’s called WebSmart TV and you can visit it online at http://websmart.tv

What is WebSmart TV?

Headstand Media (the Chicago web design company I founded in 2007) noticed a need in the marketplace for a resource that normal people (like you) could access to educate themselves about the web 2.0 world we now live in. Rather than provide a lot of long-winded, high fog-level technical articles (which you can certainly get elsewhere), we decided to create a video blog (vlog) of short one-minute videos that each explain one aspect of the web 2.0 world, in plain everyday language. Simply put, WebSmart TV offers the basics of the web in about a minute.

Who is WebSmart TV?

The Headstand Media team writes, acts and produces these videos ourselves using our own time, talents and “prosumer” level equipment. Taylor Birkey writes our scripts. Benjamin Nelson is our on-camera talent. Matt Ritsman does all the audio and video recording and production. Kyle Williams helps us get the site optimized for search engines and social media. We all contributed to the design of the site, but it was mostly Benjamin’s idea. We believe that if we can do this, then anyone can do it… including our clients!

So, I encourage you to check out the new site. We have launched it with 5 videos covering:

There is also a video explaining “What is WebSmart TV?” We plan to add a new video every week!

We’ve provided many ways for you to stay connected with WebSmart TV through: Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds and our YouTube channel. If you like what you see, you can easily share the links with your friends and associates, and spread the word about this educational resource.

Lunch with Chris

Posted on October 25, 2007 by rbirkey

Today I had lunch with a friend named Chris, who worked for me a short while at BIRKEY.COM. Chris was a recommendation from another friend, Steve T, and did some web design work for us on a freelance basis when we were going through a busy spell. We met at the second floor food court at the Merchandise Mart, and ate Billy Goat Tavern burgers and fries while we talked… “Coke – no Pepsi!”

It turned out that Chris was offered a job working for Moody Bible Institute not too long after BIRKEY.COM had been one of the finalists in responding to an RFP from Moody, to help them redesign and redevelop their websites. Chris took the job at Moody and became their Department Manager: Web Communications. He is actually now working with the companies that won that project: Change Design, and The C2 Group out of Grandville, MI.

It was good to reconnect with Chris, hear about the process of how his job came about, and to understand that all these things have worked out for the best.

Chris is an avid photographer as well. You can view his work online at iStockphoto.

Thanks Chris!

Another step was completed in the New Identity process. We narrowed down the direction of our potential new logo design, and sent HBN Design our feedback and request for development of round 2. Thanks to all of you who gave us your feedback on the preliminary concepts we showed you. It has all been very helpful.

Friends

Posted on October 17, 2007 by rbirkey

MORNING

This morning, I had a great email exchange with a former employee named Josh Frank, who worked for me at BIRKEY.COM. He took a job at Michigan State University as a Project Manager in the Health Information Technology department. He loves the new job and is doing well! He’s trying to sell his home in Oak Park, buy a home in Lansing and get his family moved as well! Best wishes to you Josh!
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AFTERNOON

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

The first employee of Headstand Media (beside me of course) is (drum roll)… Benjamin D. Nelson! I have known Benjamin a number of years, and he was most recently employed at ShopLocal.com as a User Interface Designer, and Client Services Director. Before that he had worked at Sonlife Ministries, Click Commerce, Scholle Corporation as well as through his own freelance design firm, Someday Soon Design.

Some of you know that Benjamin is a very creative and funny guy, and does improv comedy and music direction at Second City as well. While at ShopLocal, Benjamin and boss Patrick Flanagan produced a wild vlog called Digital Punch TV. My favorite is Episode 5.

I am very happy to have Benjamin on board!

So, now that the news is out… I’m sure this announcement will be on every wire service and news program by the end of the day!

Now I’ve got get him a computer, software, a coffee mug, scissors, post-it notes…
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Also very exciting at the end of today was to have my friend Steve Wilson in the office for a visit. Thanks for coming down today Steve, and for the great discussion!
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EVENING

At home I tried the VPN connection that Justin helped me troubleshoot… and it worked! I guess having the right IP address is really important! I’ll have to remember that!

Oak Park Dining

Posted on October 5, 2007 by rbirkey

I had lunch with a friend named Derek Taylor yesterday. I met Derek in 1998 when I was running for Illinois State Senate as a candidate in the Republican Party. Derek was a recent design graduate from U of I, and he offered to help us with web design on the local Republican party OakParkGOP.org website. He built a really cool “Voters Guide” section that enabled Oak Park Republicans to understand how to vote in the November 1998 general election.

His web design career took him to Morningstar, freelancing and work at a few other places, and eventually he landed at CARS.COM and became a Senior Designer there. More recently, he left CARS to branch out on his own. You can view his current portfolio of work and get more biographical info at the Taylor Design Studios website.

Derek has come up with a great website idea that he has been developing on his own. You can visit the fruits of his labors at OakParkDining.com. This site is full of great information on the restaurants and dining options in and around Oak Park, Illinois. If you live around Oak Park, you should bookmark this site and refer to it often!

First Headstand Webpage Launched!

Posted on October 3, 2007 by rbirkey

Headstand I made some more progress today, getting an initial webpage online for the new company. Nothing fancy, just the name and main contact information. I used a temporary logo, even though it will probably not be the final direction we will take. Still, it’s a start. I hope to have a new company identity and website completed by the end of this month.