Ushering in Springtime ~ Lisa Sabin-Wilson

I don’t know about where you live . . but here in Wisconsin, it is getting warmer and warmer by the day! I’m loving it. After a long, cold winter - it’s really nice to be able to open up all the windows and let the fresh air come rushing in! There have been some exciting new developments here at E.Webscapes I want to tell you about. I realize I haven’t updated in quite some time, and that is due, mostly, to the WordPress for Dummies book I am currently writing for Wiley Publishing..

I wanted to update you and let you know that I have exactly EIGHT more chapters to write before I am completely finished with the project! That is so exciting for me - this project has been a really big undertaking as it is extremely important for me to make sure I’m giving 110% to a community and software project that has helped me grow my own business in so many wonderful ways. The book is scheduled for release in July 2007. The thought of me being on sale at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNobels.com and all your local bookstores around the country is just a little bit intimidating - but very cool, at the same time! I also received good news that my friend, and colleague, Paul Chaney, has been assigned as the Technical Editor of this book and he is already hard at work double and triple checking facts that I’ve already double and quadruple checked! I’m glad to have someone like Paul on board, with his experience and knowledge - it’s good to know someone with his talents has my back! Many years ago, Paul started encouraging me to write a book and believed in my abilities long before I did - so, I’ll definitely have to buy him a drink the next time we meet up.

I do want to thank everyone for their patience over the last several weeks. I’ve been juggling many, many things in order to keep things in order around here. The first thing I want to tell you is about the new Asst. Project Manager position. On January 30 of this year, I updated this blog about the new position and announced the arrival of Chelle Killea to our group. About 3-4 weeks into the position, Chelle’s family received some sudden and unexpected news that caused her to rearrange her priorities in life. It was nothing either one of us could have expected - while I was very sad to see her go, we both made the mutual agreement that this was just not the right time for her to keep the position. Understandably, from my end, this caused a bit of chaos around the office because even though she was with us a very short amount of time - the Asst. Project Manager position has fast become a very vital position here.

I am happy to announce that I’ve re-filled the position and would like to introduce you to Lindsey Hardegree, here is her bio from our About Us and Our Blog Designers page:

Lindsey Hardegree - Asst. Project Manager
Lindsey’s Blog

Lindsey has been blogging since February 2005 and has been working with E. Webscapes almost as long! Though she may not have the amazing technical prowess of the talented designers, she does have the heart and passion for Internet communication that make her a welcome addition to the E. Webscapes family.

In real life she spends her time reading, drinking coffee, and working on theatrical productions. Her stage management skills help her to keep things organized and the ball rolling behind the scenes!

I am VERY happy and excited to welcome Lindsey to the team! She is already two weeks into the position and is quickly becoming an indispensable member of the E.Webscapes team. Many of you will get to know her quickly as her duties include many administrative tasks including the processing of new orders, answering inquiries and questions that come through via email on our Contact Page and anything else I can drum up to keep her busy!

Which leads me to the next item: our E.Webscapes Client Desk. Our Client Desk may very well replace the email contact form in the near future, however at this time, it currently serves as a client/designer project management space. All new requests for projects and bids automatically create a project ticket in the Client Desk and the process begins with Lindsey reviewing your request and working with you on some of the initial aspects of your design request. From there, the project will be assigned to one of our designers and our client will continue to utilize the Client Desk throughout all phases of the project. Clients are assigned an individual project ticket number where they can view the details of each phase of the project and will also receive email notifications each time their designer, or a member of our staff, updates their project with new information. It’s pretty nifty, no?

As you can see, we are working really hard behind the scenes around here to tighten up our process, with a BIG emphasis on organization and time/project management.

Finally, and this is something many of you have been waiting a long time for - and I want to say, first, that I really super appreciate your patience - we’ve re-opened the order form to begin taking on your new projects. The form, itself, is in pretty basic shape right now - - I wanted to get the form up as soon as possible before you all started to form a mob on my front lawn! Heh. I will be changing the form to a more user-friendly format, using AJAX technology - but for now, it is open and functional and asks all the questions we need to know to begin processing your new requests.

Upcoming… we have about 8-10 new client site launches coming up within the next week, or so. They are design projects we’ve all been working on over the past month, or two - and they are all finally nearing launch time… all at once! Isn’t that always the way?

Am I looking to hire another designer..or two? Hmmmm…maybe - I’m tossing around the idea and letting it rattle around in my brain for a while.

Again, the WordPress for Dummies book is nearing completion (yay!) and just as soon as I have pre-ordering and purchasing information, I will make an update here on this site and let you know. Thank you to everyone who has emailed in words of support and encouragement - - every single one means a lot.

Update: Finally got the order form re-configured and up. What’s cool about it is that our clients are now able to upload images with their design requests.. so if you have a logo or image you’d like used in the design, you can upload it with your order form and it will be included as an attachement to the project ticket that gets opened in our Client Desk. Yep - we’re all about efficiency lately! Or at least we’re gonna die trying….