Two Cents and a Thousand Words

Have you heard of podcasting but don’t really understand what it is? Do you want to find out where it might be heading in the future? Do you like… well, do you like reading my writing?

If you answered in the affirmative to any of those questions, you’ll probably want to read Your Media – Your Way, a “tekk” feature in this week’s The Maine Edge written by yours truly.

For those of you in the Bangor area, pick up a copy if you prefer. For those of you reading from afar, The Maine Edge is a new weekly paper in the Bangor area aimed at 18-44 year olds.

Oh, and if you’re interested, that Web site is the kind of thing I do at work. Just so you know.

I just wanted to write a quick note to encourage anyone interested in starting a business to really check their resources. I found a wonderful service called Business Answers provided by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. It’s a simple little thing; you can fill out a short form to ask a question about starting a business, and someone at the Department will respond with an answer or with more information about who to contact. My fairly simple question was answered within a day, and I was very, very impressed.

I think it really just proves that having an actual person available is an invaluable resource in today’s world of FAQs.

Before any rumors start, any business proposition I would consider at this time would be a side thing for me. I’m not looking to make a major change in my work status anytime soon; I just wanted to see what it would take to try some things. Of course, nobody said my question had anything to do with Web development. The fun continues!

This one is a bit of a downer and gets a little personal, so if you want to be all happy, I’d skip to the next post. If you don’t mind, by all means…

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve spent the majority of today enjoying some long-overdue snow and redesigning justinrussell.com. It’s been just over two years since I did an overhaul of my home page, and a few things led me to expedite its modernization. I’d like to go into my thought process a little bit (if nothing else, it will serve as a debriefing for my very scattered mind).

I’d like to think that the justinrussell.com redesign is the first of my next generation of Web sites and services. I’d really love to have a lot of my ideas completed this year, but I decided to start out with something familiar to ease myself back into the whole dev-on-the-side thing. justinrussell.com has a much more prominent design focus than ever before, and it also combines a few concepts I’ve been contemplating over the last months and years.

I’ll be honest; I’m not a designer. I can make usable interfaces, but I become lost when it comes to the artistic side of design. I prefer minimal design, and I like being able to easily focus on the main sections of the page without being distracted.

As you’ll notice, I’ve reduced the number of pages on the site. In fact the justinrussell.com page is not much more than a simple splash page that acts as a gateway to each of my “personalities”. Someone concluded a reply to a comment I made on a Flickr photo with the following:

I really like the way you have bound together your online identities at www.justinrussell.com/

To be honest, I always thought I lacked that. The new design really drives the point home that I divide my time between my interests, and I enjoy each equally.

You’ll also notice that my contact information is much more prominent on this version. I’ve had a couple of comments recently that people were unable to find a phone number for me, and they actually called me at work because I guess it was the only phone number on the Web remotely linked to me in any way. My (206) 350-HI-JR is now on every page, and there’s a link to a new contact page where you can find all of my relevant contact information, social networking links, and even a new message form to make sure whatever you have to say gets past the dreaded spam filters.

But honestly, it all comes down to Collage. Collage is really the epitome of what I wanted ufeed to be, and I’ve been working on and off on it since I launched the site. Quite simply, it is a central place to find my work, favorites, comments, and recommendations. If you’d like to stay on top of what I’m doing, go to Collage. As of right now you’ll see posts from my blog, Flickr images, YouTube videos, del.icio.us links, and more. It’s also easy to add other sources as they arise. I really don’t want to make you check five different sites, so just head to Collage.

That’s about it for the new justinrussell.com. Check it out and let me know what you think. It will change over time, but the general focus will probably stay the same for some time to come. I’m excited for what’s coming.

(Oh, one last thing – I’ve installed a comment filter on my blog. Just answer the simple math question and you’ll be good to go when you post a comment. Sorry for the extra field, but I really don’t like five-digit comment spam counts.)

The people who say that photography won’t make you a millionaire may be right, but it can be a cool way to meet some great people and maybe get a little free schwag.

Apparently Virginia Is for Lovers. And now I love Virginia. Sweet Virginia…

More news of bluegrass, bridges, and business soon.

I speak with clients every day. Sometimes, it’s tough to be cordial. Since I’ve started my current job (almost 2 years ago… wow), I’ve really started to notice good customer service. After all, I come from a generation of people who find the norm to be an hour-long phone call to a representative living in who-knows-where.

I registered for a new account at Bangor Savings Bank today, and my experience was exceptional. During my lunch break I walked over to the closest branch and spoke with the branch assistant. For the next half an hour, she led me through the process of creating my savings accounts with clarity and expertise; she instructed me of the options I had, explained when I would receive my checks and debit card, and made me feel downright comfortable with being a part of their institution. Even though my accounts wouldn’t be the biggest moneymakers for the bank, she really treated me as though I was part of the BSB family.

The statement that impressed me most, though, came at the end of the meeting. I had (wrongly) assumed that the bank’s records wouldn’t include the school savings account I had closed at the bank around ten years ago. When I left, the branch assistant simply said, “Welcome back.” That, for some reason, really made me feel at home.

After my meeting I was really glad I made the decision to go to Bangor Savings. She made me feel as though I could call anytime and have someone there to answer my questions. It’s one of the reasons why I like doing business locally. I also find it helpful to see customer service from the other direction… and see how important a good client relationship really can be.

Well, we’re here. Best wishes to you and everyone you care about this year.

I’ve been doing some identity updating already this year, and I’ve decided to try some new stuff, too; I can now say that I’m officially a YouTuber. For the second year in a row, I went downtown to the ball drop. Last year I had photos. This year I have, well, photos again, of course… but there’s video, too!

Happy new year. I’m excited.