We are a little ahead of schedule and have moved into our new offices a couple of days early. Who knew that moving an office up one floor could be so much work! But the hard work is now behind us and we are settling in and enjoying our new work environment.

You can now find us at:

1st Floor, 180 Keilor Road
Essendon North Vic 3041

We’re still the same team of talented and friendly designers and developers (a little shameless self promotion) and we still love our work and our coffee. It’s largely our view that has changed

Oh, and the coffee really does taste even better after climbing the stairs Come and visit!

There have been some fantastic individual efforts, from walkers putting in several hours on the track during the night and the heat of the day, to those looking after the tent while I snuck in some shuteye during the early hours, to incredible efforts in raising money, to helping set up and pack up, and generally just being enthusiastic about being involved. The size of the contribution isn’t what counts, it’s the fact that you contribute. We do it as a team and we can’t do it without you!

This was our second year as a team and we continue to learn through the process. There will be some changes next year, and we hope you will all get involved again and continue to grow our team into something even bigger and better!

Some results to date:
Walkers: 53 registered on the site, however, with many registering on either Friday or Saturday at the event the actual result is closer to 65 that hit the track. We had a group of 8 walkers that got stranded when their bus broke down, so in reality we had over 70 walkers on the team. Let’s break the 100 barrier next year!

Donations: currently showing just shy of $4000 on the site, however, I have some cash donations that push that number to about $4100.00. A great effort!

Having said that, donations can still be accepted online for about the next four weeks so if you know anyone that wants to donate there’s still time to get to our goal of $5000!

http://vic.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/TeamPage.aspx?EventID=38783&LangPref=en-CA&TeamID=44390

And of course we can all start working on next year – have some sleep first though!

Cancer can leave us feeling isolated and powerless, fragile and scared. Your participation is living proof that there are many out there willing to help ease the pain and provide the strength, comfort and community required to relegate this disease to the annals of history!

Thank you again,
David and Nadia

Actually, we’re moving up! Yep, we’re moving upstairs in the same building. So don’t worry, we’re not really going anywhere, we’re just moving up in the world. All our contact details remain the same, we’ll just be dropping the ‘A’ from 180A Keilor Road and adding a ’1st Floor’.

So from the 1st of March our new address will be:

1st Floor, 180 Keilor Road
Essendon North Vic 3041

The coffee will taste even better after climbing the stairs

From 6:00pm Friday Feb 17th 2012
To: 6:00pm Saturday Feb 18th 2012

Where: Aberfeldie Athletics Track, Aberfeldie Park, Aberfeldie

Relay For Life is an opportunity to get together with your community to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost and fight back against cancer. Each team has a at least one walker on the track for a 24 hour period, hence the ‘relay’.

This year Essendon Creative will be taking to the track again as a team in the Moonee Valley relay For Life. Last year was our first year as a team after walking for the previous two years with our good friends Pennisi Real Estate. We had a great time, had 90 walkers join us on the track and raised over $7000!

For us it’s personal. Our family, like so many, has been touched by cancer many times. Three years ago it hit us in a profound way. The details don’t matter, the simple fact is we live with the spectre of cancer and it’s effects everyday. It’s a life changer! We want to make a difference and so we put together our own relay team, and we’d love you to help. Here’s how:

1) Join us! There’s no limit to the number of walkers that can join our team. The more the merrier. It’s easy – just a stroll really. All we ask is 30 minutes of your time, at a time of your chooing during the 24 hours.

How? Online registrations are now closed so get in touch with me and I’ll get you a registration form. Simple!

2) Sponsor us! The walk raises money for cancer research. Your donation could help fund the breakthrough. Wouldn’t that would be nice!

How? The easiest way is to follow this link and click the donate button!

http://vic.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/TeamPage.aspx?EventID=38783&LangPref=en-CA&TeamID=44390

Sponsorship will remain open for about a month after the event.

So why not get on-board and help us celebrate life, remember loved ones lost and fight back! I hope to see you on the track.

After launch the biggest trap is believing the job is done! I like to use the analogy of having a child. The 9 months leading up to the birth are exciting, uncertain, full of expectation. The reality of a newborn can be a bit of a shock. And yes I speak from experience! Getting a new site to launch is a little like that. The excitement of design phase, the uncertainty of how it all works, the expectation of what the site will do for your business. And then it’s launched…

We all know that the real work starts the day a child is born. It’s an intense and rewarding lifelong labour of love. We all know that the more we put into the relationship the better the results in the long run. There is nothing better!

Ok, so a website isn’t quite that important, not quite that intense, but the analogy holds. The real work starts on the day of launch. To get the most out of it, you have to be prepared to put some time into it.

So here are some tips to consider before you start the process:

1) Think of your website as an investment that you’ll need to nurture over time. If you plan for it from the outset you have more hope of achieving your desired results. If you abandon your site on the day of launch, it will eventually stagnate and fade away.

2) Choose your design agency with a long term vision in mind. Hopefully, if you choose wisely, it will be a long term relationship and you will all benefit. You should be thinking of your agency as part of your team. Make sure they plan to be there for the long haul as well.

3) If you plan to do everything yourself make sure you understand what that means. What amount of time will you need to invest? Is there training available? Is doing it yourself the best use of your time? Is your agency open to helping you stand on your own two feet?

4) Plan to review. Is the site doing as you hoped? Is it meeting your business objectives? Plan for modifications and redesigns from the outset. The world changes. Your business changes. Your needs change. The web changes. Be prepared to change your site as well.

In short, your website is a long-term investment, a child to be raised if you would. To get the most out of it, you need to put some effort into it. So plan to do so from the start. Unlike a printed brochure, but very much like children, you have the ability to change your approach, refine your language and shape your future!

Then, of course, the world will change…