Category Archives: Recaps

February 20 Minutes & a Beer Recap

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Hey, thanks again to all you who made it out to Tap & Mallet last night. It’s cool that we’re seeing new faces at every event. Prez Joe just emailed me and asked me to do a quick recap, so here goes:

My talk was about creating websites with great user experience. While “user experience” doesn’t sound sexy (many people don’t even know what it means), it’s a critical part of any website development. At its most basic level, it’s about having good organization and solid content. More specifically, I focus on three things:

  1. Great content
  2. Easy Navigation
  3. A Little Mind Reading

What it all boils down to is asking yourself what your user’s main needs might be and going over the top to deliver on that. Whether it’s letting them embed your videos on their Facebook page, linking them to research that supports buying your product or making your navigation foolproof. The mind reading comes in when you anticipate something they haven’t even thought of yet that delivers even better customer service.

We had some great questions about the value of usability studies (I am an advocate) and about how to talk clients out of their bad navigation ideas :) . A good time was had by all. Hope to see you next time.

Andrea Zuegel

Get Your Freak On.

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Be judgmental. We insist. That’s what I told the 6 judges from various disciplines that judged the work for the 2010 Addy Awards. And well RAF members, we had a very successful first day here in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. They combed through all the print work and were very impressed. We are poised for another solid showing. But our, and their, job is not done. Sunday is the second day where broadcast, interactive, and campaigns will be judged. Pictures from the day one and two festivities will come on Sunday.

Remember to purchase your tickets by March 5th. No tickets will be sold at the door. No matter how much we like you. GYFO!

JOE

Freelance Creative Expo Recap

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We held our 6th annual Freelance Creative Expo tonight at the Memorial Art Gallery. Over 30 exhibitors and about 150 attendees participated. I heard a lot of good comments and saw a lot of new faces. Many thanks to Diane Fitzgerald Harris for coordinating. Also, thanks to our great sponsors: Monroe Litho, Brewer & Newell, Digitech, A Touch of Excellence and AdHub for your tremendous support. Whether you were a sponsor, an attendee or an exhibitor, we really appreciate your participation. I’d love to hear what you thought of this year’s event. Please feel free to leave a comment here or send us an email and let us know your feedback.

Student Portfolio Review an A+

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On April 16, 2008 the Ninth Annual 2008 RAF Student Portfolio Review brought out the future stars in the fields of graphic design, advertising, new media, and copywriting. This one-night-only program was open to all senior-year college students with portfolios. The event was a big success, with over 50 students in attendance. But as Bob Kiesow, RAF Education Committee member, explains, “the event would be nonexistent if it weren’t for the 20 volunteer creative directors from the Rochester area who gave up their evening to review portfolios and offer the students feedback and career advice.”

A special RAF thank you to the event hosts: Post Central and The Studios.

Also, be sure to check out the photo album for this event.

RAF SpeeDate: Better Than Red Bull

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On September 20th the RAF hosted a creative SPEEDATE event that connected area college students with communication professionals. It was the first time we’d ever hosted an event like this. Students got a chance to meet one-on-one with professionals, speed-date style, who answered industry questions, offered advice and made them feel like they were part of our creative community. The pros walked away re-energized by the experience. We got such great feedback from both groups that we’re planning another SPEEDATE for late October. The RAF plans to launch a mentorship program in late Fall to keep this great connection between students and professionals ongoing. Stay tuned for details.

Thanks to our sponsors: Eagle Productivity Solutions, RIT, and Dumbwaiter Design.