Recent Launches

COSEE OLC (with University of Washington and The Seattle Aquarium)

Launch Date: 3.04.2009

COSEE OLC is all about creating community around our ocean. OLC stands for Ocean Learning Community, and therefore the goal of the site was to allow the offline community to connect online.

Funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, the University of Washington's School of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, School of Education and the Seattle Aquarium teamed up to take on the task of bringing scientists, educators and citizens together to share ocean knowledge.

The site has a members area (anyone can join), where social media marketing functions such as profiles, Facebook-like statuses phrased as "What I am working on" and the ability for users to submit content bring the ocean community online.

"Two Minutes of Cool Science" is designed to help bring hot ocean topics to light in small, palatable chunks, designed with the online attention span in mind.

Locus' email marketing tool, integrated with Vertical Response tops it all off as way to keep all community members up to date, even if they haven't logged on in a while.

Visit  coseeolc.net >

ODOT Region 1 Intranet

Launch Date: 1.14.2009

Region 1 of Oregon’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) is made up of almost 500 employees from Portland to Mt. Hood, who work in the field, at a desk, in a truck or on the scene of a mudslide, as the case often is in rainy Oregon. The marketing team at ODOT sought an Intranet to effectively communicate with each of these employees (even those who don’t work at a desk), to facilitate and improve region-wide communication.

Locus came in with content management and functionality recommendations to help ODOT achieve their goals. The result is a dynamic Intranet that allows the ODOT administrators to easily update a photo of the day (or two), articles that spotlight employee’s jobs, news from the Region 1 Manager, Jason Tell (aptly titled “Tell it Like it Is”), an event calendar complete with Microsoft Outlook event cards, and a section dedicated to region resources such as phone directories and project reports.

Finally, one of the most creative features of the site is the “Content to Go” area which allows the administrators to package and post pieces of the website in PDF format to be printed and read in break rooms, truck cabs and yes, even en route to that roadside mudslide!

Aquaglide

Launch Date: 1.07.2009

From standup paddleboards to floating teeter totters and playgrounds, Aquaglide and APaddlesurf brands have the ultimate line of fun-for-all water products. They truly are “all about water”.

The new Aquaglide.net is a redesign of the Locus-built Aquaglide website launched in 2007. Locus worked with Brand Manager, Peter Arpag to redesign the product database to be quick and easy to update as new products and product categories come online, to keep up with the swiftly growing brand. Site wireframes preceded the site designs to ensure that new product detail pages would be usable and house the content in a logical format.

The new site has an emphasis on larger, stunning photography along with easy to use, feature-filled product detail pages instead of the multiple product pages on the old website. Additionally, the site is built to house product videos, and related products so that users can shop, seeing footage of the products in action as well as know which products are compatible.

Visit  aquaglide.net >

Maupin Stoves and Spahs

Launch Date: 12.16.2008

Maupin’s Stoves-n-Spahs, located in the heart of the historical downtown district of The Dalles has been providing warmth and relaxation to residents of the Columbia Gorge since 1990.

Seeking a way to both educate potential customers and provide an interactive tool for sales leads on the website, Locus concepted “shopping questionnaire” forms for customers looking to purchase a stove, spa or pool. The questionnaire walks them through the essential questions to ask in order to determine the best product based on the customer’s needs.

Feeling chilly? Fill out the “Buying a Spa” or “Buying a Stove” questionnaire today and begin the shopping process!

Visit  maupinstoves.com >

Carleton Hart Architects, PC

Launch Date: 12.09.2008

Carleton Hart Architects specializes in green architecture, smart and usable spaces and over all pleasing aesthetics, so it was a good fit when they contacted Locus for a new web presence.

Wanting to show their process and their projects in a clutter free design, Locus went to work crafting a site architecture, and wireframes (aka “blueprints” in architecture-speak) to get the groundwork laid for design.

Integrating with a logo and branding redesign, the site took on a minimalist feel, so that the portfolio pieces pop out of the page.

Behind the scenes, modules for projects, photos, news, staff members as well as the Locus-built content management system allow the crew at Carleton Hart to keep the site up-to-date as new projects are completed, and a search engine friendly site structure helps Google pick up the information and index it for potential customers looking for a great architecture firm.

Visit  carletonhart.com >

Tillamook Fan Club

Launch Date: 11.04.2008

Tillamook County Creamery Association has a solid fan base for its delicious growth hormone-free cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream and receiving nearly one million visitors a year at their popular Visitors’ Center in Tillamook, Oregon.

Teaming up with Conkling Fiskum & McCormick, Locus took solid marketing ideas provided by CFM and the latest in interactivity and online social networking to bring a meeting place for the Tillamook fans online.

Locus-built modules make the site quick and easy to update by CFM staffers so that updates happen on a timely basis. New monthly content includes fan profiles, spotlights on people behind the scenes at Tillamook, recipes, news, events and products. A monthly subscription-based newsletter keeps fans informed, and a complementary Facebook page and Twitter feed provide satellite venues to engage Tillamook connoisseurs.

Visit  tillamookfanclub.com >

SeattleCCA.org Wins Gold Award

Launch Date: 11.01.2008

This just in! Seattle Cancer Care Alliance's website was chosen as the winner of the Gold Award for Best Site Design in the Hospital Subsite/ Center of Excellence Class, by eHealthcare Leadership Awards. We wish our congratulations to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and are proud to have been part of the winning team!

Read the full site write-up >>

Visit  seattlecca.org >

Locus Highlight: Nereus Worldwide and USB Implementers Forum Email Newsletters

Launch Date: 10.01.2008

Nereus Worldwide came to Locus with a pre-existing website (not built by Locus), looking for an easy to use, cost-effective Email Marketing tool. Locus went to work starting with discussing the newsletter content that they would be sending in order to design a reusable newsletter template.

Once the template was finalized, Locus built the HTML email tool - a web-based administration area where users can add content to an HTML template that is designed to conform to the organization's current website or branding. A combination of form fields and WYSIWYG content areas make the tool extremely user friendly (yet powerful). A flash-based file upload utility makes the administration area require nothing but an internet connection and browser ~ no design software or FTP client required. Did we say that the interface is intuitive and user friendly?

Once content has been added, the email (both HTML and automatically generated text version) is uploaded to Locus Interactive's partner Vertical Response for the actual send.

"Why partner with Vertical Response?” you might ask. Well, that is a good question and the answer is that we have partnered with VR to increase the deliverability of our client's HTML email sends. Vertical Response actively works with ISPs and email service providers to ensure that HTML email from Locus' clients makes it into their recipients inboxes. The additional features that Vertical Response offers including list management and in-depth reporting (to name a couple) aren't too shabby either.

Since deployment of Nereus’ newsletter sending tool, Locus worked with Nereus’ client the USB Implementer’s Forum, to develop the same newsletter sending capability for them.

Sound like something that you might be able to use in your business? Give us a shout- we'd be happy to provide you with more detailed information.

Visit  http://locusinteractive.vresp.com >

SeattleCCA.org

Launch Date: 8.19.2008

Tackling a big project requires a strong team, and the redesign and redevelopment of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance's SeattleCCA.org without a doubt fell into the 'big project' category.

We agree with Ronald Regan when he said: "Surround yourself with the best people you can find... "

On this project, Locus Interactive worked closely with design firm Copacino+Fujikado and user experience firm Blink Interactive, not to mention SCCA's talented in house marketing team headed by Claire Beck-Keeler, to redesign, rearchitect, and redevelop the functionality of the SeattleCCA.org website.

Launched in late August 2008, the site serves as a resource for patients in the diagnosis, treatment and survivorship stages of cancer.

With over 2000 pages, the site has extensive content management features so that the SCCA Marketing team can control almost all aspects of site maintenance including:

• Multiple template and on-page navigation options for creating, organizing and linking new content and sections of content.
• Auto-created disease pages.
• On-the-fly newsletter segment and RSS feed creation.
• Ability to have video content on any page of the site.
• Related links administration tool to coherently assign and relate groups of links to pages throughout the site.

ContinentalVan.com

Launch Date: 7.16.2008

Despite area-wide connectivity issues due to a cut fiber-optic cable Locus Interactive launched ContinentalVan.com v2.0 for Seattle-based movers Continental Van Lines.

Continental and Locus have enjoyed a long relationship, through which, an in-depth needs assessment was performed for the new website. Shooting for the stars, Continental's "Sales and Marketing Guy" Brad Fransen not only wanted to provide the user with useful tools such as live chat integration, request an estimate forms, topic based moving tips and a robust HTML email sending tool powered by Locus' partner Vertical Response but also wanted to spice the site up with video and bear jokes.

So if you are looking to or within relocate to the Seattle/Tacoma area or Alaska and beyond, browse on over to www.continentalvan.com and request an estimate.

Oh, and if you have any good bear jokes, feel free to contact Brad directly.