Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

We have enjoyed working with the talented folks over at MEEA for over 3 years now. Everything from site redesigns to setting up blogs to custom logos to Drupal updates.

Check out:
mwalliance.org
boccentral.org

Who is MEEA?
The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) is the leading source and champion for advancing sound energy efficiency policies, programs, and priorities to stretch our existing energy resources and reduce the need for imported energy supplies. MEEA balances the interests of our diverse members, creating a common ground to affect positive change. Through MEEA, utilities, local and state governments, non-profits, manufacturers, retailers, consultants, and others all work together toward a shared vision for energy efficiency in the Midwest.

If you are a green business, connect with these guys! They know the ins and outs of being green. Sign up for their newsletter or head over to their next conference in January 2013.

If it is time to remodel your website, give us a call to talk about your goals.

Earth Day is April 22

12 Ways Your Plan B Company is green (other than our lovely corporate color)

1. no disposable cups, silverware or plates in the office
2. print less and less paper copies (and buy less paper)
3. print on the backside of paper when possible
4. purchase recycled office items and supplies
5. turn off lights, machines and lower heat/AC when not in use
6. work from home one day a week to save commuting time and gas
7. use cloth shopping bags vs plastic ones
8. support local growers
9. replacing old lightbulbs with CFLs
10. recycle old cell phones by donating them to a good cause
11. find ways to reuse items before we pop them in the recycling bin
12. and when we can, we support Freecycle

Remember, every day should be Earth Day!

Head over to the Earth Day website to learn more.
Find recycling centers at Earth911.com (they also have a free app for the iPhone and Android called iRecycle)

We received a good question from Facebook about mouseovers

Question: "Just off the top of my head - do people still use the "mouse-over" functionality on webpages anymore and if so, for what use?"

First, for those that do not know what a mouseover is, check out this article at Webopedia.com

Mouseovers are still in use all over the web offering a sense of interaction and ease of use for most users (since 2001 with Netscape 2.0). From an on/off state for navigation, highlighting states on a map, pop-up information when your mouse hovers over a word to switching an image with your mouse. You can achieve this using html, css, jquery and/or javascript (see HTMLgoodies.com for code examples and W3Schools.com)

We like mouseovers both as web designers and as web surfers because it helps users know where to click, offers an interaction, and can help show where you are in the website content layout. Not to mention they can add some fun to the surfing experience!

See some examples of mouseovers:
caregivinghelp.org
chanceofdoom.com
greensbywhite.com
mwalliance.org
yourplanb.com

Thank you for submitting a question. Your questions help us look at what we do from another angle - and that is always a good thing! Keep them coming!

ChanceofDoom.com remodel

One of our favorite comic strip creators, Robert Tritthardt, from Writhe and Shine fame is at it again with Overcast with a Chance of Doom. This time sharing life experiences in Seattle. The cast consists of Doomie, Maxine, Synth3a, Fluora and ??? all living in one of the oldest houses in town.

Robert contacted us to help dress up his Wordpress site with some custom menu buttons, rain, lightning - oh and more rain!

We think it looks absolutely dreary - in a good way! And we tune in EVERY Wednesday to see the latest strip! Thanks Robert! It was a pleasure working with you.

If you need help adding something new to your Wordpress website, contact us and let’s see what we can do together!

DrupalCon 2012 (Denver)!

Unfortunately we were not there (next year!)...

However - we kept an eye on as much as we could online from tweets, blogs to facebook posts. Enjoyed reading all about the seminars and hoping to go to next year’s event. They are voting on which city it will be held in - cross your fingers for somewhere nearby! We will be sharing links to articles and wrap ups on our Facebook group.

Check out http://denver2012.drupal.org/ for all the details!

Don’t know what Drupal is? No worries!

Drupal is an open source content management system. See drupal.org to learn more from the source. Or head over to http://visual.ly/what-drupal to see a great visual explanation.

We like Drupal because it is an easy way for YOU to keep your website current by using a browser based editor to work on your site. And we love that it is open source, we can all add to the knowledge and functions of it together.

Visit some of our client’s Drupal sites:
boccentral.org
c4chicago.org
caregivinghelp.org
cvscaremarkspecialtyrx.com
kruzinusa.com
mwalliance.org

If you are interested in seeing what Drupal can do for your website, give us a call. We LOVE to talk about Drupal (can you tell?)!

Art Ajar- A Call to Creative Minds: Fill Your Jar with Art

Our own DavidB showed in this art exhibit at The John Almquist Gallery in Winnetka. Opening night was Friday, March 16. And the show goes through mid-May.
Art Ajar exhibition sales will be donated to the Northfield Food Pantry.

Art for a good cause! Over 50 jars were on exhibit from every age group and skill level. And so many different types of jars!

View photos from opening night.
View video of DavidB creating his "Door Ajar in a Jar".

Meet our Intern, Alex Roberts!

We would like you to meet our intern, Alex Roberts. You may have heard a new voice answering the phone or seen a new face in our office - he has been working with us since November.

To get to know him a little better, we would like to show off his very first website!
ByAlexRoberts!

Alex has been working with us to build his portfolio website: learning WordPress editing and website best practices. And we couldn't be prouder of his site :)

So go, zip around his site and see what makes Alex tick!
And why we think he is an awesome intern!