It’s that time of year when the Wright Strategies team converges with other like-minded, technology leaders and enthusiasts to learn about the latest trends, emerging tactics and best practices in web design and development. We're gearing up for SXSW Interactive, a five day interactive conference held in Austin each spring. Stay tuned for upcoming articles recounting what we’ve learned, what we’re excited about, and how it can help your site reach its maximum potential. Want more info on SXSWi? Visit http://www.sxsw.com/interactive. 

The Austin office will be closed from Friday, March 12 through Tuesday, March 16 but our support line is always open.  If you need immediate assistance with your site during that time, please email support@wrightstrategies.com.

The new year has come and somehow already gone and some of us are still reeling over how quickly time is passing by.  But with each new year comes the inevitable lists recounting "The Top <insert anything you can imagine>" of the past year, decade, millennium, etc.  I personally enjoy these lists as they help me recall all the events that have happened in my life that seemed monumental as they were occurring yet had somehow slipped my memory before being immortalized in a year-end list.  Of course, some of my favorite lists from 2009 were related to everyone’s activity on the internet over the past year.  Lists from facebook recounting the top status update terms and from Bing showing us their top search terms for the year, seem like a pretty accurate gauge for determining what we cared most about and wanted to learn more about in 2009. 

Any predictions for top terms in 2010?

We just launched the new Rodeo Austin interactive website! Serving as Rodeo Austin's Official Website Design and Development Sponsor, we created a new online identity that gives visitors a taste of the rodeo experience online year around. The website features a new architecture for easy access to event information, guest-uploaded photos and event videos and recaps.  

Another great enhancement is a streamlined ecommerce tool that makes it easy to purchase everything from event tickets to memberships, and also to donate to the scholarship fund and youth auction. The new website reflects Rodeo Austin's lively, spirited nature and propels Rodeo Austin even further in its role as the technological leader in the Fair and Rodeo industry.

Click here to visit the site!

We’ve recently launched a new interactive map for the seaside village of Roche Harbor. Users can now explore all that the community has to offer with an easy click of the mouse. Enhanced zooming functionality, rich photography and brief descriptions make this map a useful tool for Roche Harbor visitors and residents alike. Designed to help users discover where to stay, what to see, and how to get there, the Roche Harbor map is an elegant display of style meets function.

Click here to explore Roche Harbor.

A recent article in the New York Times caught my eye because it called attention to a trend that I almost didn’t notice as a “trend.” Online video viewing has become such a part of my normal routine that it’s hard to remember six months ago when this wasn’t the case. The article, Rise of Web Video, Beyond 2-minute Clips, discusses the increasing attention spans of web users and their willingness to sit in front of their laptops for longer lengths of time. Viewers are watching everything from their favorite TV shows on hulu.com to YouTube clips and more independent videos from “budding videobloggers” and “podcasters” on blip.tv.  

As this new trend emerges, Wright Strategies is focusing on including more video content on our clients’ sites. We helped Seabrook add videos in a branded way by integrating the YouTube platform into the site. The video galleries page showcases video tours of properties, new town features and TV spots for Seabrook. We’ve also seen some great videos on the KEEN Footwear Blog like this one about FlexibleLove furniture.

We have more video integration in the works, so stay tuned for our upcoming site launches!