But it needed to be done and we finally did it. We consider the new iMedia website to be a showcase of what we can accomplish using the Ektron CMS – from our expandable/contractible Case Study marquee on the homepage, to the incorporation of our own social media, to the xtranormal videos that feature some of our services – with more of these to come!

There are still some aspects of the site that are in the works – primarily, the mobile version. But we’re justly proud of how our site not only features the work we’ve done for our clients, but also offers a view of what can be done using Ektron’s Pagebuilder templates and widgets.

Visit our new site at www.imediainc.com and let us know what you think!

It’s no surprise that the press is full of articles about how 28-year old founder Mark Zuckerberg runs the company, particularly in light of the fact that he owns 57% of the voting stock, which, according to Steven Johnson in Wired Magazine’s “Can Anything Take Down the Facebook Juggernaut,” gives him “a command over the company’s destiny that far outstrips anything Bill Gates ever had.”

One of the concerns investors have about the obstacles to the company’s seemingly unstoppable growth is how few clicks Facebook advertising actually acquire. According to a recent AP-CNBC poll, published in an article by Kayla Tuasche and Jesse Bergman, “As Investors Fawn Over Facebook, Poll Finds User Distrust, Apathy,”  these disturbing statistics emerge:

• More than 57 percent of Facebook users polled never click on ads or other sponsored content
• Twenty-six percent only rarely click on ads
• A mere four percent of users often click on ads

Yet advertising revenue is an enormous part of Facebook’s IPO pitch. The company reported $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011, according to the New York Times’s Tanzina Vega, who reported on General Motor’s defection from the roster of Facebook advertisers, withdrawing about $10 million annually. “…the loss of $10 million in ad dollars does not represent a financial disaster but it is a public-relations headache coming so close to the company’s eagerly anticipated public offering,” stated Vega in “Ahead of I.P.O., G.M. to Quit Advertising on Facebook.”  Because General Motors is the third-largest advertiser in the U.S., Vega claims, analysts feel the decision will cause other marketers to question the viability of their advertising on Facebook.

Another concern potential investors – and, indeed, Facebook users themselves – share is a concern over privacy that Facebook itself seems to dismiss almost callously. Johnson’s Wired article cites the sheer magnitude of Facebook’s growth – “It took the Internet 30 years to reach 750 million users. It took Facebook 8” – and says:

Troublesome corporate behavior is easier to swallow when there are other choices out there, when you have the option to take your business to another store down the street. But when one company owns the whole street, each little transgression is amplified…. Facebook, we’re told, is a threat to core social values, to privacy, to the web itself.

The AP-CNBC poll states that “59 percent of respondents said that they have little to no trust to keep their information private.” This despite the fact that its 901 million monthly active users continue to spend six to seven hours per month on the site.  New applications, such as Open Graph, unilaterally post personal data, including status messages, notes, photos, and videos publicly.

To its credit, Facebook has made some moves to address privacy concerns. According to Johnson, there are dozens of separate options in the privacy settings that can be manipulated to ensure privacy.  Facebook is used to “expanding the boundaries of social sharing and then reacting to users and critics when it goes too far.”

In fact, according to Shaydi Raice in The Wall Street Journal’s “Facebook’s New R&D Machine,” Facebook is actively changing its approach to surprising its users with the results of “all night coding sessions known as ‘hackathons.’”  Using the still controversial Timeline as an example, Raice points out that the new feature was the “culmination of an 18-month process that included dozens of test versions and multiple focus groups.” While there is still anger over Timeline with Facebook’s user base, Raice claims that “the anger is more muted” due to Facebook’s extended introduction of the feature. Considering the past protests by users over features such as the News Feed feature or privacy concerns, this more conservative backlash shows a growing maturity within the company. Raice quotes Chris Fox, Facebook’s vice president of product, as saying, “I think we’ve gotten a lot more humble.”

A lot more humble or not, it still remains to be seen if Facebook can overcome these obstacles along with many others to reassure potential investors on the eve of their IPO. As CNBC says, “Charting a future course may prove more difficult than meets the eye for the company…and navigating under the daily pressures of a public company could prove even more difficult.”

Samantha sitting in the President's chair. Watch out, dad!

After settling down for some Tom & Jerry cartoons in the conference room, we interviewed them. Here’s some of the questions and answers:

iMedia:
So – why is so QUIET in here?

Kids:
Because there aren’t a lot of people here yet.  One guy was running out the door when we came in – going to Jersey City.
No, because people are working.
I’m being  quiet  because my mom said to be – so I wouldn’t embarrass her!

Victoria shows her mom how to code.

iMedia:  
Do you know what we do here?

Kids:   
Code!
Computer science work!
Work!

Shayan can't quite reach the keyboard...

iMedia:    
Who is the most important person here?

Kids:
You?  (Interviewer emphatically shakes head, no.)
My dad because he’s the president!

Arjun at dad's desk.

At this point, the kids were getting tired of the questions, so we switched gears. When asked if they wanted to design the iMedia website, the kids were highly enthusiastic. Using big paper and colored pencils, they drew new versions of the iMedia logo (watch out, iMedia designers!) as well as the new iMedia mascot – a robot with fuzzy feet, both technical but with the personal touch. It’s a nice combination.

Contemplating the new iMedia mascot, iFuzzy.

Finally, the kids posed some questions that Joel Macaluso, company president, was brought in to answer. They did a better job of interviewing than the iMedia interviewer – so here’s their Q&A:.

Kids:        
Why did you feel you should work here?

Joel:  
Because I really enjoy building websites!

Joel answering the kids' questions.

Kids:    
Did you have an idea in your mind what the office should look like?

Joel:  
Well, yes, because I visited the office before we bought iMedia. (Joel then explained
how he, John, and Chuck came to acquire the company nine months ago.)

The kids volunteered some ideas of what they’d like added to the company to make it more kid-friendly. Their list: a vending machine, a cotton candy machine, a popcorn machine, and a kids’ room.

Kids:
How long have you been working here?

Joel:  
Nine months. (Repeated explanation of Tihuma acquisition.)

Kids:
Do you like being the President?

Joel:     
Absolutely! Especially because I get to work with such great people.

Kid:
And on such great projects?

Joel:
(Nods head.)

Kids:
Would you like to expand the office?

Joel:  
Definitely. Would any of you like to work here?

Kids:
I would, dad!
No, I’ll probably work at my dad’s office.

Kids:    
Would you like to put the employees’ names and pictures on the website?

Joel:  
Great idea! But you know, sometimes people don’t like their photos on the site. Maybe we should do cartoons of them instead?

Kids:  
We’ll draw them!

Kids:   
Do you like where the office is located?

Joel:      
Yes and no. No, because it’s an hour away from my home and a long drive. Yes, because
I get  time to think during the ride to and from the office.

Great interviewing skills, guys!

And now it was time to go back to Tom & Jerry. Thank goodness for YouTube!

We have to admit it – we love when our clients praise our work. This accolade followed the recent relaunch of the Sparta Systems website. We took the clean, professional design, created by the client’s talented in-house designer, and implemented it in the Ektron content management system.

Founded in 1994, Sparta Systems maintains an extensive customer base in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, CROs, CPG, electronics manufacturing and other highly regulated industries. The company offers its customers a complete global quality management software solution, including the onsite solutions delivery support required throughout the project lifecycle.

The new website features a stunning rotating marquee on the homepage, as well as an area where site visitors can select their industry and need to find precisely the solution they need.  The site is available in multiple languages, including Japanese, German, and French. It makes extensive use of rich media, such as video and webcasts, as well as page-specific links to pertinent blog posts and collateral. And Sparta Systems’ extensive social media universe is represented on every page.

But perhaps more important than the highly polished look and seamless functionality of the site was the client’s experience with iMedia’s production team, which was described as “painless and smooth.” The client continued, “I never felt at any point that the deadline would be missed or you would run into an issue that you could not overcome.”

Is that how you feel about your web production team? If not, give us a call at 973-539-5255, extension 310, or email info@imediainc.com and we’ll talk about how you can experience the iMedia production touch.

Andrew comes to iMedia consequent to a number of internships, which includes his front end engineer and marketing internship in multiple projects under Andraste Ventures. Having completed his BA degree from Rutgers in Statistics and Psychology, his research in social psychology encompassed how people communicate over social media.

In addition to his theoretical knowledge, Andrew  is well versed in such web tools as Photoshop and Illustrator, CSS, HTML, PHP, MYSQL, and JavaScript.  His production skills make him a great asset to the iMedia development staff.

Particularly interested in social justice and minority issues, Andrew coordinated the Asian American Leadership Cabinet while at Rutgers.  He won the Ying Zheng Excellence in Leadership Award for his efforts to educate and promote minority issues on campus. Earlier in his college career, he founded the Rutgers Go Club, promoting and teaching the ancient game and organizing regional tournaments. At one time, he had also been a disk jockey, hosting a two-hour program in Japanese rock music  and continues to indulge in all things Japanese.

Andrew enjoys rock climbing and swimming, and lives in Freehold, NJ.

One of the interesting insights is what has remained the same through the more than 25 years iMedia has been in business. Our emphasis has always been on our clients and trying to figure out what will work best for them, given their business objectives and any possible resource or financial constraints. What’s different, of course, is the technologies proposed and how quickly that can change through the years. It’s almost amusing to look at what technologies got us excited back in the early part of the millennia – back when we were working with our own homegrown content management system and eCommerce tools. Our transition to leading edge industry partnerships, where we could offer best-of-breed solutions for our clients, made an enormous difference in the quality of our projects.  And it’s clearly a moving target – what worked ten years ago is very different from five, three, even one year ago. And obviously, it will continue to change, as will we.

Another constant, though, is our emphasis on quality. Evidenced by the awards we’ve continually won every year since 2000, we were and are adamant on providing the best possible solutions for our clients. And many of these award-winning sites were truly leading edge projects in their time – the flash-based Ballanchine 100 Tribute Website, for instance, or the year we took the industry category for the Juilliard website. Neither one would raise eyebrows today, perhaps, but they were certainly state-of-the-art when they were released.

Our flexibility to move along with the industry is clearly demonstrated in both the projects we worked on and the services we offer. Back in 2000, when we started posting press releases, Twitter hadn’t been conceived yet and Facebook was not yet a twinkle in Mark Zuckerburg’s eye. Google was launched just before, in 1998, and iMedia paid careful attention to search engine optimization as algorithms changed through the years. The current explosion of smart phones and tablets further changed the online landscape. Today, social media and mobile are an integral part of any organization’s marketing plans, as are SEO and SEM, and iMedia’s services have kept up with these trends.

So while looking back can be instructive, looking forward to what’s coming next is really what’s exciting here at iMedia. And our new website is underway – keep an eye out for it!

Drew University

iMedia has long known the value interns can bring to the work we do. Their enthusiasm and the fact that most are on the cutting edge of what is occurring in the industry adds to our work; the skills we impart by allowing them to work first-hand on some very engaging projects – no, our interns don’t just make photocopies, file, or bring us coffee! – helps add significant expertise and real-world experience to their resumes.

We’ve had interns working with us almost from Day One. Some of the initial work done on the New York City Ballet web site was done by interns from FDU – one of whom is today Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi. We’ve hired many of our interns for full time positions following their successful internships. And we’ve worked with a wide range of institutions –  Fairleigh Dickinson, NJIT, and Stevens Institute, to name just a few.

Laura Frese, the latest iMedia intern, comes to us from Drew University’s internship program.  Drew, which is a mere seven miles away from iMedia, is one of the premiere liberal arts colleges in New Jersey. The College of Liberal Arts at Drew University, which enrolls more than 1,500 students, offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in 29 fields.

Laura impressed us with her wide-ranging interests. She is focusing her studies on stem cell biology with a concentration on aging and age related diseases. Laura is also interested in tissue engineering and exploring the applications of extracellular matrix.  She’s worked as a programming tutor and computer science research intern at Drew, and her programming experience encompasses Java, Python, C, and Prolog.

In her spare time, Laura, a licensed pilot, flies Cessna aircraft and is interested in homebuilt aircraft. She is also certified in advanced open water scuba.

But how we handle Valentine’s Day is changing in the age of the social network. Even the candy hearts have changed – and now include such messages and “text me” and “tweet me.”

While Valentine’s Day is the second largest seller for Hallmark Cards – 144 million cards – the giant greeting card seller is suffering. A Los Angles Times report quotes Kathleen Ripley, industry analyst at IBISWorld Inc., as saying, “The industry’s been really, really suffering from social media and email and the whole ability of their customers to connect with people they typically connect with by sending greeting cards.”

Our old standby, the US postal service, no longer enjoys the rush of Valentine’s Cards it used to have. The USPS suffered a $3.3 billion net loss during October, November, and December of 2011, according to a  statenews.com report, and while holidays do increase postal traffic, no one ever expects it to ever again reach the levels of just a few years ago. The report interviewed college students at Michigan State University to get a read on how the approach to the holiday was changing:

During the Valentine’s Day rush and other holiday seasons, many MSU students don’t send cards or packages through the USPS system, media information sophomore Juliette Fennell said.  “That sucks, because that’s how it all started,” Fennell said. “There wouldn’t be email without mail.”

But in the age of the social network? The following video shows how social media can “save” a relationship:

Note how the guy in the video heads over to an online dating site to find his next relationship. According to a study jointly authored by researchers at the University of Rochester, Northwestern University, Texas A&M University, University of California at Los Angeles and Illinois State University, which PC World reports will be published in the February edition of the Psychological Science in the Public Interest journal, any stigma that was once attached to online dating has mostly disappeared:

By 2005, 37 percent of American single adults had dated someone they connected with online. And by 2009, 22 percent of heterosexual couples and 61 percent of same-sex couples found their partners through the Web.

It’s clear why the guy in the video would enjoy “the convenience — and fun — of being able to peruse a list of potential mates, scanning dozens in a few minutes. But this approach has a number of limitations, researchers warn. People become conditioned to a shopping mentality, where they can just pick the desired features from a list.”  In addition, the researchers point out that the most popular dating sites – such as eHarmony – make claims to scientific matching instruments which can’t be substantiated.

“Maybe it’s because I pinned it to my Pinterest board,” commented Chuck Titone, iMedia’s VP of Business Development and COO.

Once introduced to the concept of Pinterest, suddenly I was reading about it everywhere. From a Facebook friend who claimed to be addicted to it, to a business colleague who was polling her circle to find out who was using it, to this morning, when my LinkedIn “5 things you need to know in the news this week” featured it in three of the five links provided.

So what is Pinterest, anyway? According to Jason Falls of Entrepreneur:

Pinterest allows you to organize images — maybe pretty sunrises or wines you’ve tasted — into boards for specific categories. When you “pin” something new, your followers will see it. They can like, comment or re-pin it to their boards. Like Facebook content, your Pinterest pins can go viral.

The design is part of the appeal.  It fills the screen, organizes images and content by interest, and breaks the mold of reverse chronology that is used by Twitter and Facebook. “It’s almost like window-shopping mode,” Mashable’s Sara Kessler quotes Kohi Vinh, former director for NYTimes.com.  Kessler says:

Pinterest, as far as the designers Mashable spoke with could remember, was the first site to take the idea to mainstream success. It showed how the design could solve certain challenges eloquently and how the traditional reverse chronology layout could be broken without scaring users away. In fact, it was attracting them in invitation-only droves.

The site is a runaway success. TechCrunch’s Josh Constine writes that “Pinterest is having its glorious hockey stick moment” and cites a comScore survey that shows that “Pinterest just hit 11.7 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, crossing the 10 million mark faster than any other standalone site in history.”

The demographics of the site are interesting. This time, the tech savvy users on either coast are not the ones leading the charge. Instead, most of the users are now found in East South Central and West North Central States, such as Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, and Mississippi, and most users are “18-34 year old upper income women from the American heartland.”

Constine further cites comScore by saying: “the average Pinterest user spend 98 minutes per month on the site, compared to 2.5 hours on Tumblr, and 7 hours on Facebook.”

Entrepreneur’s article talks about how small businesses can capitalize on Pinterest to post images of products or services and link users back to their site. Of course, they also quickly follow that advice with the social media maxim that any strategy that is wholly promotional will backfire – so that marketers who are using Pinterest need to be subtle enough to include images and content from other sources, not just their own site.

Yet, even in the throes of this period of wild expansion and seemingly limitless possibility, there has been one notable bump in Pinterest’s path. According to BusinessWeek, Pinterest is under fire from some of its users for “decisions that put their interests ahead of their users and a lack of disclosure about what was going on behind the scenes or under the hood of their services.”  Specifically, “Since popular posts can drive a lot of traffic to websites that sell these products, Pinterest has been adding affiliate links that generate revenue for the site when users click on them.”

While Pinterest’s proponents argue that “this behavior makes a huge amount of sense for Pinterest, since it is providing a free service and needs to generate revenue somehow,” users of the application do feel that their trust has been violated. Pinterest will need to regain that trust and to learn that transparency is a vital part of any social media application.

To do this, clients look to companies like Tradeweb. And to create the online presence that showcases these capabilities, Tradeweb, a company that operates many of the world’s leading fixed income and derivatives markets, creating more efficient ways to trade, looked to iMedia.

Tradeweb’s newly launched website features a uniquely dynamic homepage with a rotating background and real-time market information. Full-length pull-down menus make it easy for site visitors to find precisely what they are looking for and internal pages are organized in user friendly tabular fashion. Interior pages take full advantage of Ektron Pagebuilder technology, utilizing widgets that allow site editors to include exactly the right content on every page, including an array of market-fed features, related links and company news, economic calendars, blog teasers, and more.  And the site was coded using Ektron’s multilingual support, so that additional languages can be added in the future, along with the current sites in English and Japanese.

Visit http://www.tradeweb.com to view the new site.