(also published on July 12 at Social Media Today)
Over a year ago, I wrote about Tweetdeck as my preferred desktop application to manage my Twitter account. Shortly after, I was introduced to Mixero, which I tried, didn’t understand and summarily dismissed. After a few more months of thinking there just had to be something better, I gave Mixero another try. This time, I watched the video on their Web site to figure out what I missed the previous attempt, and I haven’t looked back since.
As a disclaimer, I still use Hootsuite to schedule those Tweets with links to articles and blogs to be spread out over a full day instead of all going at the same time. I also prefer Hootsuite’s ht.ly shortener so I can measure clickthroughs, but hate how much desktop real estate it takes up. But for day-to-day ongoing monitoring and management of my Twitter account, Mixero pretty much runs on my laptop 24/7.
Like Tweetdeck, Mixero runs on Adobe Air. Unlike Tweetdeck (and Hootsuite), Mixero gives you much better control over your desktop. While Mixero doesn’t have some of the functionality of Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite), it more than makes up for it by making all the functionality most users need simpler, cleaner and taking up less space on your desktop.
The first thing you’ll appreciate about Mixero is the way it runs in the background when you’re engaged in other tasks. “Avatar mode” takes all the information you need…multiple accounts, groups, and new messages, replies and DMs and puts it in a semi-transparent one inch wide column at the edge of your desktop.
New messages in any groups/lists or channels are notated by means of an orange highlight with the number of new messages displayed. Mentions and Direct Messages also are highlighted, and a simple mouseover shows you the most recent message. Settings allow you to have it play a sound if you want to be notified of new posts, but the colored highlights are enough notice for me (and don’t drive my dogs crazy like the sounds do).
Anytime you want to expand a group/list, or see all your mentions or DM’s, you simply click on any of the icons, and Mixero expands to a solid mode, but still only takes of section of the desktop. The column contains messages that take up significantly less space than either Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. A column that displays only 5 messages in either of those displays 9-10 in Mixero.
Every expanded column allows you to filter the results by keyword, by users…by clicking on small avatars, all displayed at the top of the column…or both. You can also filter results by whether they contain replies, mark all as read, and display only the unread ones.
Each message contains a user avatar, and if the post is part of a conversation, icons display the other posts in that conversation as a small pop up. If the post itself contains a link to a photo, the photo displays in small pop-up. Other functionality available in each post includes single click reply, reply all, Retweet (classic or Twitter style adjustable in settings), Direct Message, mark as a favorite, translate from a foreign language, block user and report as spam.
Clicking on any person’s name displays their time line in a full column, and tabs at the top allow you switch from time line to display of all tweets between you and them, and a profile display (with a notes field so you can add your own info about them). You can easily follow (or unfollow) from the profile view. Adding that person to a fully synchronized Mixero group/Twitter list is as simple as clicking on the list name. Several intuitive hot spots allow you to double click and go directly to the function you’d expect it to on the Twitter.com interface.
Mixero had groups before Twitter had lists, and in recent versions added full synchronization of its groups with Twitter public and private lists. Mixero’s handling of groups is just one of several outstanding features that you can access when you expand the right panel. Also included in those options are channels (fully customized searches), followed lists, trending topics, and chats. The “contacts” column shows all your follows, sorted by group, with any ungrouped follows in a separate group a the bottom. Adding follows into a group is simple and you can select or even upload unique avatars for your groups to make them easy to spot when you add them to your main column.
There are a million other features, but the last big difference between Mixero and the others are the detachable, re-sizable columns. If you’re the type that doesn’t want to manage Twitter via a small column on the edge of your screen, you can choose, detach, drag, re-size and even stack whichever columns you choose to take up as much, or as little space as you want. As you fill your desktop, you’ll be amazed at the number and variety of tweets. Here’s a view of my typical full screen (sized at 1440 x 900). Compared with a full screen view of Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, I can’t believe that anyone would be content with the comparative lack of visible, manageable Tweets.
As big a fan of Tweetdeck as I was, I’ve downloaded Tweetdeck updates several times since switching to Mixero, but each time I open it up, I’m immediately struck by just how much better Mixero is. As I mentioned previously, I still use Hootsuite, but if Mixero ever adds scheduled, measurable Tweets, I’ll be saying to goodbye to Hootsuite like I did to Tweetdeck.
Mixero still may not be your cup of tea. With a plethora of Twitter tools available, finding one that you’re comfortable with may result in a search that also includes Seesmic, PeopleBrowsr, Statuzer and a few others. But you owe it to yourself to at least check out Mixero.
Like the others, Mixero is free and available for download at Mixero.com. Be sure to watch the video (and read their blog) to get a tutorial on all the features.
As an early adopter, I have always been one of the first to jump aboard new technology and new ideas. I’ve been using PC’s since the most basic units cost more than a used Toyota. I have been a High Definition TV zealot since I first saw it at a Las Vegas broadcaster convention 20 years ago and had one in my living when the only thing on TV in HD was the reel of 20 0r 30 nature videos played over and over on Public TV. I had one of the first devices that was called a Smart Phone so long ago that, when compared to today’s Droids and iPhones was about as smart as a turtle on a fence post. I was introduced to the Web in 1994 and have been involved in Web development since the only Web creation tool was notepad and an FTP program.
Although Social Media is now a mainstream phenomenon, I’ve been participating in the “Social” Web since the days when online communities were nothing but DOS text on a black screen over a 14.4 modem. While the land rush is now on to sign up for MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare profiles, I was among the first to participate in all of them.
So, you’re probably thinking if I’m such an early adopter, why did it take me so long to create my own blog?
I actually have been blogging since 1996. It just wasn’t called that. My monthly email newsletter for my company was called Websight Insight, and every issue had two or three articles on Web marketing best practices. After it was sent to the mailing list, the articles became a part of our Web site. Those have continued all along, and eventually became a part of the WordPress installation for news and articles in a new site we developed a few years ago.
But I still never had my very own blog, at my very own domain name… until now. You’ll find my new blog at triveraguy.com
Still not sure that floods of people will be here to read what I have to say. I have approximately 6,000 followers on Twitter who have clicked through 37,000 times on links I’ve promoted to other people’s blogs. So maybe I can drive some folks to my own stuff. While all of my content between 1997 and 2001 got lost due to several site redesigns and migrations, I’m confident that what is here will be of value to people trying to figure out how digital media fits into their business strategy…matter of fact as I’m going through the archives to add all my content to this blog, I’m thinking much of it is actually pretty darn good if I say so myself. Even the really old stuff.
So do with this thing what people in the Social Media world do…Delicious it, Digg It, Reddit it, StumbleUpon it, Bookmark it, Tweet it, Wave it, Buzz it, Fark it, Fave it, comment on it, snag the RSS feed, but most important, I hope you do with the information what some “fans” have been doing for 14 years: read it and use it help your business.
And let me know what else I can do for you or a topic I can cover.
I spoke at the BizTimes BizTech Conference and Expo this week. With only 45 minutes to make the case for using Twitter for business and showing a large audience how to set up, configure, grow, and use Twitter.com and all the tools, I was glad I covered as much as I did. As I was getting my slide show ready to post online after the event, I realized I was going to have to remove the slides I didn’t get to in my presentation, because without the context and an explanation, I would look like a total nut case.
Like the slides that talk about my dogs on Twitter.
Yes, my two pups have a Twitter account. They are @kaleytzumuffet2. Even though they’re both in the profile, only Kaley tweets. Miss Muffet is too dumb. They tweet about life in our house from a dog’s perspective. They post photos of their adventures. As you’d expect, they’re incredibly cute, even when they’re being naughty. Sometimes they even Tweet about things I say and do, that I wouldn’t post on my own Twitter account. And while, like the writer of a recent AV Club article, you also may be asking: “C’mon! Dogs with their own Twitter page?” let me explain like I would have, had I not run out of time at my seminar.
The first slide in that section shows a photo of a dog. Relevant to a Twitter seminar because the dog is on Twitter. I know he’s on Twitter, because MY dogs follow him. I point out the fact that they follow him because his owner runs a local pet treat business. I also point out the fact that among my dogs’ follows/followers are the likes of Petco, Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer), Pet Airways, Paw Prints Magazine and dozens of other businesses that cater to pet owners. Also among their many follows/followers are hundreds of other dogs, along with cats, fish, hamsters at at least one turtle.
It all seems crazy until I disclose the secret: It’s not really the animals who are Tweeting! It’s really a bunch of humans who love their pets so much that they allow them to channel through Social Media. And so when Petco tweets a coupon, or Cesar Millan talks about what’s going to be on the next episode of Dog Whisperer, or Doctors Foster and Smith report a missing dog in Rhinelander, it’s a safe bet that a real human will see that Tweet, and not just act on the content, but also spread the word by Re-Tweeting to all their furry friends.
The goal of Social Media as a business tool is to put a face on your brand. Usually it’s a human face. But creative businesses know that by thinking outside the box, they can often identify and engage specific target markets. In this case, it’s pet owners. They’ve figured out how to reach their market, and tap into its passion, and leverage its potential to create tremendous word of mouth.
What’s your target market? Are members identifying themselves as communities in Social Media? Are you finding creative ways to reach out to that market? I always say that Social Media is all fun and games until it impacts your brand. And while so many brands spend a lot of time finding out where their brand is being eroded, opportunities like this offer marketers a chance to use Social Media to proactively re-enforce their brand.
Tweeting dogs, Crazy? Crazy like a fox!
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Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
It’s always a mixed blessing to be quoted in a published news article. The attention is great, but quotes that may be misunderstood by the author, editor or audience are an unintended, but predictable consequence. Over the past 30 years, I’ve been covered, quoted, and mis-quoted by the media dozens of times, and in the past I wasn’t able to respond with clarification.
Thank goodness for Social Media and my blog!
I was contacted by Duane Dudek of JSOnline.com (@thedudekabides) for my opinions on how the local TV stations are using Social Media. The article and a blog sidebar were published on April 21, 2010
Duane did an excellent job of capturing the essence of our discussion. Perhaps it was because of our mutual previous lives as Milwaukee radio guys. There were a few errors. One was my own typo, and the other was just a word I don’t remember using, but it didn’t change the meaning of what I said.
However, my quote about WISN12’s Morning Show “not doing squat,” raised a few eyebrows. While perhaps a bit overstated, here’s my rationale:
True Confession: I’m up every morning at 5:30 and I watch WISN’s morning show for at least a half hour before moving on to cable news. While I watch, I’m already active on Twitter, and watching the fun little Twitter-party that’s going on every day between TMJ4’s morning show and their fans. Every member of their team is busy doing all the things we hope our clients will do when we recommend Twitter as a tool that’s part of an overall Social Media strategy.
Susan Kim ( @SusanKim4 ), Vince Vitrano ( @vincevitrano ), Craig Koplien (@CraigKoplien ), and Caitlin Morrall ( @CaitlinMorrall ) – and Lisa Manna before her ( @LisaManna ) – along with several reporters keep up a lively round of Twitter chatter, both publicly, as well as via private DM’s.
WISN’s Morning Show folks remain noticeably detached in comparison. Portia Young’s Twitter Account has never tweeted to her 12 followers. Patrick Paolantonio is MIA. The WISN12 News twitter account (@WISN12news) just posts news blurbs, but doesn’t engage anyone. Reporter Kyler Burgi (@WISN_KylerBurgi) maintains a Twitter presence, and while he’s fairly active, and seems the most approachable, he seldom publicly engages with followers. And when Matt Salemme returned to the morning show, he announced that he could be Tweeted at “twitter.com/@wisn12news.” Reporter/Weekend anchor Jason Newton(@jnnewt) is just starting to get going.
A new WISN12 TV ad is filled with Web and Social Media Icons, but a commercial does not a well executed Social Media Strategy make. You have to search for the WISN folks, while the TMJ4 folks are showing up regularly in the fabric of Milwaukee’s Social Media conversations and are hard to miss. WISN’s Web site doesn’t even have those icons on its home page, and the only mention of Social Media is a text link in a sitemap that you find only after considerable scrolling.
A little while back, the WISN morning show did a feature on Foursquare, and it was obvious that all they knew about it was what they were reading from copy.
In their defense, 12 does an OK job on Facebook. And maybe their strategy is to focus more on that than Twitter. Portia is active on Facebook. And while their news presence there posts a lot of headlines, and people write comments on the wall, whoever it is who’s posting (unlike Fox6 and TMJ4 where I know the people who are behind their posts) it’s hard to find them ever engaging back. Their Weather presence on Facebook is the one area where they do seem to be doing a lot correctly. Their 6,400 fans (now likes) is a decent number (about the same number of followers as I and my dogs have together on Twitter), although fans and followers are the equivalent of “hits” on Web site – a great bragging rights number, but one that is less important than the five or six more valuable success metrics that many don’t even measure.
But here’s the biggest difference… and an example of the power of Social Media. Several times I’ve been close enough to Patrick and Portia in public to say hello, but didn’t feel comfortable enough to do so, knowing that to them I’d just be another viewer. I’ve met Susan and Vince at Tweetups, and they knew who I was. I…and more so my business partner/wife…have gotten to know Ted Perry (@TheTeditorial). My wife (@triveragirl) was his first follow. And at a Tweetup last summer, Vince Condella (@fox6weather ) sought me out to congratulate me on the recent birth of my granddaughter… which he learned about on Twitter.
The biggest mistake brands make with Social Media is taking the traditional media model and using it to just blast information to the masses and believe that people actually care. Well, guess what: in the Social Media arena, unless people know YOU care about them, they don’t really care about you. They might fan/follow, but those companies are probably better off just putting up a billboard. They’ll accomplish the same thing with less effort, push their message out to more eyeballs and they won’t be kidding themselves thinking that what they’re doing is participating in Social Media.
My intention in offering my opinion for the article was not necessarily to call anyone out. But my job, after all, is to evaluate and recommend improvements in Social Media and Web practices. And if I can ever help a business in that regard, I’m happy to do so. Even happier if they come to me and are willing to pay me to do it.
But my mission is to help raise the awareness and Social Media savvy of the market as a whole. And if my comments and observations help someone who needs the help, I’ve done my job. I’m hopeful that WISN will appreciate the freebie.
UPDATE: Comments posted to that article inspired Vince Vitrano to write blog in response. You can read that blog here
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Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
People who follow me on Twitter know that a prominent component of the way I use that Social Networking tool is to post links to helpful articles. As the primary brand voice of Trivera, my goal is to help people learn both about me and FROM me. And so while just about any time of day, you’ll see me using Twitter to opine, engage, interact, and sometimes just be goofy, every weekday during business hours my Tweet-stream contains posts like: “5 reasons your Web site is losing money http://ow.ly/1wqy,” “19 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog http://ow.ly/1vZCT“ and “10 signs your iPad has made you the most annoying person ever http://ow.ly/1vGUQ.”
Those articles come from blogs, email newsletters and forums and are specifically chosen to help you become better at what you do, and show up about once an hour between 9am and 5pm, Monday through Friday. Whether you’re a small business owner, Web developer, marketing professional, or just a student of the digital world, the articles I link to are specifically, and strategically selected to give you a few nuggets of helpful wisdom in a quick read (or scan).
Part of my daily regimen is an early morning check of my RSS feeds, industry newsletters and a few quirky and obscure Web sites to find informational resources for myself. Of the hundred or so articles I see, and the 20 or 30 I read, I pick the 7 or 8 that really represent the cream of the crop and share them with my Twitter followers. The common denominator is that they’re short, well written, accurate, organized, timely and helpful. I often re-write the headline if I think I can better communicate the benefit of the information and improve the likelihood that people will go read them. And I use Hootsuite to shorten the URL and schedule them to trickle out during the day rather than deluge everyone with a flood of information all at once.
Some critics have questioned why I do it, pointing out that they can get all of this in their own RSS feed. But I know from my own daily exercise that, because anyone can blog, much of what fills the blogosphere is poorly written, filled with errors, or both. I’ve earned the trust of my followers to be the filter that only allows the best of the best.
The evidence shows that I must be doing something right. In addition to shortening long URLS and allowing me to schedule my posts, Hootsuite allows me to measure metrics. Since I began doing this and keeping track a little over a year ago, over 31,000 people have clicked through to read what I’ve posted. And by even being able to see which articles are the most clicked on, it allows me to fine tune the choice of articles to make sure that I’m tweeting the types of content that people find most helpful.
The good news is that you don’t even have to be on Twitter to benefit from the articles. Bookmark this link and just my tweets with shortened links will show up in your browser. If you have an RSS reader, add this feed to it, and the articles will show up there.
Since we’ve been in business, it’s been my goal raise the level of the Web intelligence of the market. I don’t have the time to blog as often as I’d like, and even when I do, someone else has probably already blogged about my topic before. But the combination of these articles and my blogs (which also end up in these Tweets and feeds), seem to be doing a great job of educating the market. In addition to making followers smarter, it also establishes me as an authority without having to spend hours a week writing my own blogs, which is a tactic we also recommend to some of our clients.
The world of the Web is changing rapidly. Web 1.0 is giving way to Web 2.0. While many of my tips are focused on Social Media, I still link to articles on Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing and making your site successful. But there’s no doubt where the market is headed, and by following my posts, you can be equipped with the information you need to ride the wave.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the most clicked through article ever is You’re doing Social Media. That’s good. But not Mobile? Uh-oh…
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Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
In my last blog, I talked about the impact Social Media is having in our region, where a growing number of people and companies are using Twitter, Foursquare and the other Social Media tools to build relationships and generate business. Media attention is fascinated with the phenomenon, with local coverage of the success of several Social Media-savvy businesses catapulting them to the national spotlight.
Even Trivera’s recent open house Tweetup confirmed the power of Social Media, drawing a much larger crowd than our client open house whcih took place two weeks earlier. Over the last 14 years, we have built a passionate and loyal client base, but our Tweetup had twice as many attendees even though many of them were people we didn’t even know a year ago.
However, as many of us Social Media evangelists tout its power, influence and impact, some are questioning if the wave of euphoria and urgency is deserved. A number of commenters on many blogs I follow are calling us Kool-Aid drinkers. They point out that most Social Media events seem to bring out the same group of the usual suspects. It’s the same small cadre of small business owners being profiled in the local media as examples of the successful use of Social Media. The argument is that if Social media is such a powerful tool, there should be so many businesses with demonstrable success that the media wouldn’t have to keep using the same ones over and over.
Fans tout Dell’s sales of over $9 million directly attributed to Twitter in 2009. Detractors point out that that represents a minuscule percentage of their $61 billion in total sales. Local restaurant-owner Joe Sorge attributes a significant amount of his revenue at AJ Bombers to Social Media. Skeptics say that if Social Media was the big deal we’re making it out to be, there would be dozens of other examples from among the hundreds of other Milwaukee restaurants.
For those of us who have been in the Web “industry” since the beginning, the criticism is nothing new. Pioneering new tactics and tools in the Web space have always had their skeptics. Even the Web itself was once lambasted as an unsustainable fad. It was labeled the CB Radio of the 90’s.
At the moment, at least here in Milwaukee, it has the feel of a subculture. And as someone who has been a part of several subcultures (including the CB radio subculture in the 70’s), it does feel strangely similar.
As Social Media garners the same attention, and the same criticism, the question needs to be asked: Is it just a flash in the pan fueled by the media needing to create stories where there really are none, or is it a game changer that’s still in its infancy?
What do you tell the critics? Or are you one yourself?
An amazing wave has swept this great city on a great lake.
Having spent all of my 56 years in Milwaukee, I’ve always been proud when I hear visitors gush about what residents know all too well: The people of Milwaukee are the nicest folks they’ve ever met. So it’s only natural that a platform that is comprised of interaction and communication would flourish in a town like ours.
Social Media…and more specifically, Twitter and now FourSquare have made significant marks on the landscape of Brew City, including:
As we commemorate the first anniversary of a Tweetup that the Tweetup Girls held at the Iron Horse Hotel that seemed to be a pivotal moment, some with whom I talk are convinced that this is unique to Milwaukee. When I go to Tweetups and other Social Media focused events and feel the Twitter-love, the sentimental part of me is prone to believe it. Other less parochial folks insist that, while it’s big here, this same thing is happening in cities all over the country…and the world. And my logic has to admit that this must be the case.
Your thoughts? Is the Social Media love fest we’re enjoying here in Milwaukee real and unique to us?
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Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
“…pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground…”
Last week, I went to the Social Media Breakfast expecting to be an attendee. Due to a speaker cancellation, I ended up being on the panel. The topic was “Snake Oil Salesman or Social Media Expert.” With Trivera’s production of last summer’s Social Media University – Milwaukee putting us on the radar screen as local Social Media gurus (or Snake Oil Salesmen), I was a logical candidate.
The discussion moved to a point where the final answer was going to hinge on whether a Return on Investment could be demonstrated for a Social Media program. The issue became the difficulty of calculating an ROI down to a meaningful and accurate number.
Tallying the “R” is the easy part. Tools exist to allow you to measure hits, monitor click throughs, calculate conversions, and figure out the impact of Social Media sites on your top line revenue. Small and large companies alike are already trumpeting specific revenue success directly attributable to Social Media initiatives.
It’s calculating the “I” that’s the sticky wicket.
Social Media tools are often touted as being “free.” Creating a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook fan page or a LinkedIn profile can cost nothing. You can hire a company to create and administer a more robust Social Media presence, build a Facebook application, use tools like Radian6 or SM2 to monitor your brand buzz or create and distribute press releases using Pitchengine. While that will cost money, that outlay comes with hard numbers you can add to your equation. The part of this that drifts into the haze is the value of the time and effort that it takes to create and develop the relationships that will make Social Media campaigns successful. How do you count the cost in dollars for a company’s CEO to write blog on a Saturday, a small business owner’s dozens of Tweets during and after business hours, a salesman’s participation in a LinkedIn discussion, a marketing director’s evaluation of the growth of numbers of fans and followers, or a Customer Service Representative’s ongoing discussions in a community site engaging with fans of their brand or defending it against detractors?
Without that hard number on the investment side, accurately calculating the ROI on Social Media is nearly impossible. So does that mean there IS no ROI? My friend Augie Ray responds to that that question with this great quote (one that he isn’t even sure where it came from): “I’m not sure what the ROI is for putting on pants in the morning, but I do know I can’t conduct business without them! “
So it is with Social Media. Many, maybe even most companies, can prove no real quantifiable ROI. But they do know that they’re doing more business with it than they would without it.
Unfortunately, a successful Social Media program takes more effort than just putting on your pants. A Twitter account that consists of a tweet a week with no real engagement is like doing business in your boxers. A blog that hasn’t been updated in months is like leaving your Levi’s in the dryer. A LinkedIn profile without interaction, participation, or status updates is akin to walking out the door without your Dockers. A Facebook fan page with no entries, no promotion and a dozen fans is the equivalent of leaving with your Haggars in a heap on the floor.
Is there ROI in Social Media? There can be. A well developed Social Media strategy with the proper tools, patience and consistency will always have a higher ROI than one without it. Can you calculate it? Not to a decimal place.
But begin a Social Media program without them, and you could find yourself looking like…
Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
It was January 16, 1996. A huge blizzard had clobbered much of the Eastern half of the country, but somehow missed Milwaukee. It’s a good thing, because it would be hard to start a new business in a blizzard! And for the type of business it was going to be, that was going to be hard enough!
That was the day we opened the doors of Websight Solutions, the company that, fourteen years later, is now known as Trivera Interactive.
Internet? What the heck is THAT????
Back in January of 1996, the typical computer was a 133 Mhz Pentium with 1 Gigabyte of storage and 16 Mb of RAM. Java, Windows 95, and USB were all brand new technologies. Data was still being stored on floppy discs with a maximum capacity of 1.44 Mb. Hard core Computer users had been using phone lines to connect to other computers at blazing speeds of 14.4 or 28.8 kbps. For the few who were using it, online technology had consisted of online Bulletin Board systems in a text-only command line environment, but was beginning to migrate to closed systems like AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy.
But Netscape introduced a program called a Web browser and that changed everything. It provided users with a more graphical user interface to connect with computers that had been set up as “Web servers,” containing “Web sites.” Netscape pretty much had the browser market all to itself, as Microsoft didn’t even view the Internet as a viable market back then.
Few businesses did!
Amazon.com and Ebay were only a few months old. Yahoo, at 1 1/2 years of age, was one of the granddaddies of them all. Google wouldn’t exist for almost another two years. Here in Milwaukee, the Internet was pretty much only available from ExecPC, who was connecting the region to the Web via a single ethernet cable strung over a cubicle wall to a partner company called Inc.net. Backhoe accidents in Northern Illinois were known to take the entire city offline for days.
Objective observers knew this Internet “thing” was never going to work.
But there were a few visionaries who believed otherwise. I had been working for a software company when I was given the opportunity to be a salesman for one of those visionaries. Four months as an Internet “evangelist” brought me to the conclusion that the Web was going to change everything, but the only way to fully capitalize on it was going to be to start my own company. Fortunately, my employer was deciding to go in the direction of online gaming, and so she allowed me to take my business customers with me. With a client list already including Usinger’s and Mitchell Airport and a few appointments set up with companies like Frank Mayer and Associates, Websight Solutions opened for business that cold January morning.
A Fourteen Year Journey on the Information Superhighway
Fourteen years, five different office locations, hundreds of clients and thousands of projects later, Trivera Interactive has just moved to a new location in Menomonee Falls. We’ve been honored to help fuel the success of some our area’s finest businesses and most incredible employees.
Along the way, we’ve certainly had our challenges: a failed merger with a West Coast Web developer who didn’t share our values; the dot-com collapse that put so many companies who do what we do out of business; the most challenging small business conditions in decades; the problems that come with using technology in a field that is still in its infancy; Internet charlatans who prey on the unsuspecting and the uninformed; Spam.
We’ve seen dozens of companies like ours come and go. We’ve watched as advertising agencies, PR firms and technology companies with no experience or qualifications add “Web” to their list of offerings. We’ve been saddened to watch so many businesses and organizations make the wrong choice of Web and interactive technology vendors and suffer the consequences.
But through it all, we’ve held to our original pillars of value, service and integrity. Those values have permitted us to create and build priceless relationships with some of the region’s best companies and organizations.
Our space continues to present new challenges: what to do about Mobile Web; the exploding Social Media phenomenon ; new payment security rules that will put the future of many e-commerce sites in jeopardy.
But just as staying true to our vision has brought us to where we are today, we’ll face those challenges with those same pillars to guide us into our next 14 years. We’re grateful for what we’ve accomplished so far… but we’re just getting started.
Tom Snyder is Founder, President and CEO of Trivera Interactive, a Midwest New Media firm. Tom is a Web guy, wine snob, music junkie, Ex-Milwaukee Radio Guy, HDTV expert, and political wonk.
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