Coalesce

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a nonprofit that works with schools, corporations, and other nonprofits to build kinder and stronger communities. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Coalesce?

The IT team that set up our website, emails, CRM, and other technology-related components didn’t do well. Given that, I engaged Coalesce to fix the issues. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed Coalesce to fix the mistakes of our previous IT team and identify other areas that we should pay attention to, so I created a list of things that I thought were wrong. Justin (Director of Architecture) worked on correcting everything. For example, we had an email issue that he completely overhauled. 

Moreover, we wanted a new website URL because we were unhappy with the original one. Justin and his team moved everything over to the new URL, and it was a much larger job than other issues. He worked on redirecting all pages to the new URL on our website and within our CRM system. On top of that, he set up our Google Workspace while getting our internal teammates on the same page on how to do things as we hadn’t set up policies yet. 

What is the team composition?

Justin was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Coalesce?

I got in touch with Justin through another vendor of ours. I’d spoken with other IT teams before I got to him, and I found it interesting that those teams thought the project was complicated. Justin and I had a vastly different conversation — he understood the issues and dissected them to understand what needed to happen to fix everything. As a result, we hired them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from May–July 2024. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Coalesce did everything we needed them to do. Everything worked well. 

How did Coalesce perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was fantastic. None of the other IT teams was as thoughtful or specific as Justin in explaining the steps we needed to take. Because of this, I understood how long the project would take and how was being done. Their communication was incredible — they were truly easy to reach, and we had a great partnership. We typically used Zoom, the phone, or a shared Google Document to communicate. It was easy to go back and forth as the project progressed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Justin was incredibly smart and immediately understood our issues. In fact, he understood them more than I did. He was also patient and clear in communicating how he could help us. On top of that, he was true to his words; he always completed a task when he said he’d do it. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. Justin was like a knight in shining armor for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as specific as you can about what you think needs to be done, and then let Coalesce tell you what needs to be done. Keeping an open line of communication is key to make anything work properly. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Administrative Manager of Next City

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Next City’s journalism centers marginalized voices while amplifying solutions to the problems that oppress people in cities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Coalesce to accomplish?

• To create and implement a source tracker for our journalists to use. Data collected would highlight the diversity (or lack of) in our news stories.

SOLUTION

How did you find Coalesce?

• Former Client

Why did you select Coalesce over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned
• Past experiences working together

How many teammates from Coalesce were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Coalesce will craft and build a custom front-end experience for the Next City Source Equity Tracker. This includes creating technical specifications and requirements, UX design, development, maintenance, and necessary integrations. Coalesce will also advise on the overall system design, offering and implementing third-party tools as needed to deliver an efficient and holistic system.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• The development of a fully functional source tracker.
• The ease of which journalists and sources can use the tracker, as measured by the volume of use.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes! If anything, our team was the one who delayed progress. Coalesce, however, have consistently checked in and kept us on track.

What was your primary form of communication with Coalesce?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I've worked with Coalesce for five years. As a client, I knew the team to dream big and to have an eye for the eccentric. Working with them on this project showed me that they capture all that energy with efficiency and professionalism that is unparalleled by other vendors we've worked with. They are a loyal bunch who will keep you in their fold long past an initial project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Coalesce could have done differently?

I cannot think of a single thing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Hudson Film Festival and Hudson Valley Film Institute in Hudson, New York serves as a platform to champion and showcase underrepresented local and global films, filmmakers, artisans and talent through their flagship annual film festival and year-round programming and events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Coalesce to accomplish?

• Website Design
• Various Materials Design

SOLUTION

How did you find Coalesce?

Referral

Why did you select Coalesce over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Coalesce were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Website design and execution.
• Presentation materials design and execution.
• Product design and execution for merchandise, video content, and other company materials.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Productive, complimentary, and quality engagement for our company launch and first year film festival, based upon our company's materials and platforms designed and produced by Coalesce. Success in ticket sales, patron attendance and engagement, and personalized compliments regarding the materials and platforms designed and produced by Coalesce.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very communicative, very timely, always met and exceeded expectations. Various projects came up during the process, and they always respond swiftly and deliver quality assets with a very quick turnaround.

What was your primary form of communication with Coalesce?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They took the time and consideration to understood our company mission and ethos, and each of the founders of the company, and to understand what mattered to us, and what are goals and intentions for our company are. They also took the time to educate themselves and understood the region and city where our company is based, and how the region and the city applied to our brand identity. They then applied that thoughtfulness to the execution of all elements of our project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Coalesce could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an investor with Acumen America

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce, and what were your goals?

We needed web development and maintenance on a website we launched as a part of a new strategic initiative.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We worked with a branding agency that had a good relationship with Coalesce. After the initial web development was completed, we elected to hire Coalesce to continue to provide development and maintenance support.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The project was a full website design and development on WordPress with Hubspot/Disqus/Google Analytics integration.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with 3 members of their product team, including their Director of Product, Product Architect, and Product Strategy. Our contacts act as the liaison to the broader Coalesce team that works on our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our website has enabled us to engage more deeply with our partners and networks. We secured a feature on The Atlantic, in partnership with one of our funders, that featured the website Coalesce developed for us.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The Coalesce team is proactive and timely in their project management/communication. All projects are properly scoped and it's clear when and how changes will get pushed. I've also appreciated their dedication to client service.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Coalesce has brought a spirit of creative problem solving and adaptability to our project. Rather than pushing for expensive development changes, Coalesce was willing to work with us to identify solutions that fit our timing and budget.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and editor of The Creative Factor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce, and what were your goals?

Our publication needed a brand refresh, as we looked elevate the look and feel of our publication and channels to something more compelling and professional-looking. Our goals were to create the kind of branding that impresses the design community--since they are a core audience--which is no easy feat. Coalesce delivered on that in a big way.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I knew their Head of Strategy and kept hearing about all the cool things they were working on. In short, Coalesce thinks like me. They are dreamers and doers. They have the kinds of original ideas that push boundaries in the best possible way. They are bold and daring. These are all characteristics I resonated with and knew I just had to work with them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Coalesce did a full rebrand for The Creative Factor including brand statements, style & function, personas, visual identity and brand applications. In total, a 41-page brand book that includes our beautiful logo, the Triad of Creativity, with several real-world applications on how to use it. All told, the process took one month, with a series of weekly meetings that took us from blank page to brand book.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with their:

• Head of Product Strategy
• Head of Brand Strategy
• Head of Design
• two graphic designers

Five people total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Coalesce exceeded our wildest expectations. Though it's still early, we know their branding work will have a meaningful impact on our publication in the months and years ahead. It will earn the respect of the design community, which is a huge goal.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

I would describe their management style as being in the best possible hands. Supportive, reassuring, and timely. Project was done via meetings, calls, and email. Everything unfolded like clockwork and on time.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The way Coalesce was able to take our half-baked thoughts and turn them into something visually-captivating and boundary-pushing. We always worried we couldn't articulate our thinking well enough, and they did an amazing job interpreting what we meant to say and translating that into the final product.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. I am someone who looks for longterm partners--that's how I like to work with people. I would love to be a longterm partner of Coalesce.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of Sparrow Corporation, which provides data acquisition, instrument control software and integration services to the research, industry, and university communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce, and what were your goals?

Sparrow Corp hired Coalesce to design and maintain our website and associated digital footprint. We needed a cohesive place to promote our services and our software that was easy to update and communicate our offerings.

SOLUTION

How did you select Coalesce and what were the deciding factors?

Coalesce was recommended through a consultant; very clear and timely communication w/ the team

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Coalesce offered suggestions for the update of the site plus advised on how to host it and provided a maintenance schedule that would allow us to step away and work on the product versus the website itself. We wanted to utilize some existing graphics from a previous build and they plug in those assets in a seamless way.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a strategy and architecture lead as well as designers when needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our site is functional and reliable and performs the functions we need to keep our business running.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We relied heavily on Coalesce to let us know what needs updates and when. We make a great team and appreciate their guidance so we can focus on the product.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Coalesce seems to have their fingers on the pulse of best-in-class technology and always has a suggestion for us that we wouldn’t have discovered on our own. With their combined manpower, we feel comfortable knowing our site is going to communicate what we need to, when we need it to. They are easy to get a hold of and great communicators.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Potentially, but not sure about specifically.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a picture framing manufacturer that has been in business for over 40 years. We are located in NY and NJ. We manufacture frames, prints, displays, and more. I am the business development manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce?

We hired Coalesce to help strategize increased fluidity in our processing of orders, and how to place Skyframe into the digital world. What technology can do to improve our processing and relationships with current clients.

What were your goals for this project?

To find a platform for our online environment, and identify areas of processing that can be improved by use of technology.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I extensively interviewed companies around New York that I found online. After hearing the well rounded expertise in all areas of business processes, not just website dev, I chose them

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They provided a roadmap that based each step on data collected from our processes, client interviews, employee interviews and more. The roadmap discussed which ecommerce platform would solve most of our issues and needs, and what necessary back end components would be needed as well.

What was the team composition?

I worked with all members of their team during the process. They worked with all employees in key positions, IE Managers, sales reps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We are now more confident on where we go from here. It has educated us on our company's needs more than we could have done alone. Experienced and educated guidance..,..

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They had different sprints and exercises that made the process fun and easy...It also answered their questions perfectly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How thought through their processes were. They had a plan to come to an answer...Each person had a lot of knowledge of how companies work at large, especially manufacturing. All business processes. Good guidance on multiple levels, not just e commerce.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope - was very happy.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

BBQ Films is an NYC/LA event production company that creates immersive cinematic experiences in extraordinary locations. We produce large-scale immersive experiences for film and television properties with the goal of marketing the project to die-hard fans as well as the public at large.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce?

USA/Universal engaged our company to produce an immersive experience for the season 3 premiere of "Mr. Robot" at 2017's New York Comic Con. Coalesce was hired to build certain key technical aspects of the hybrid theatrical show/marketing experience. Details below.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to a) engage fans of the series and bring them into the world of their favorite show; b) generate awareness excitement for MR Robot for attendees at New York Comic Con who were unfamiliar with the show; c) garner earned media and social shares of the experience; d) assist overall with the marketing of season 3 of Mr. Robot.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected this vendor through personal recommendations as they had both the technical capability and the creative expertise to deliver an authentic experience.

Describe the project in detail.

We invited 1k+ fans to this free event, billed as an in-world corporate gala hosted by the show's villainous company E Corp. There was food, drink, music, and special guest speakers. However, for true fans who dug deeper into the event's narrative and explored the space, they were rewarded with special missions from the show's hero group of hackers called F Society. That group's mission is to topple the evil bank, and guests were recruited into F Society with a variety of mission to secretly disrupt this big gala. One of the critical missions was for guests to enter a room with a server stack with a functional interface and "hack" into the program to alter the E Corp presentations given later in the evening.

Coalesce was hired to design and install a realistic interface that would allow guests to feel like they were actually hacking into a system and replacing a key video file. This experience was integral to the event and USA/Universal insisted the interface was based in realism, since the show is also authentic to the world of computer hacking. The event was a big success, exciting for fans and press, as well as leading to an eventual Emmy nomination for our company BBQ FIlms. (The category was "Outstanding achievement in interactive media for a scripted program").

What was the team composition?

We were able to access the talents of the full team in creative ideation, digital design, and UX implementation. The team was supervised by the show technical advisor and Coalesce was able to deliver the experience that was both accessible to attendees with a knowledge of computer coding and hacking, as well as fans who were novices but wanted to feel like a hacker. (Coalesce designed a step-by-step guide on how to access the backdoor to the server and the guide was hidden in the server room for novice fans to discover and be able to "hack" as well).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

It was a pleasure throughout the whole experience. They made an intense project fun and made our guests happy. The Emmy nomination we received would not have been possible without them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. They were always responsive and met every deadline. They were total professionals.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creativity and personalities. Again, they made it fun and also put the time into learning about the show and making sure what they designed was authentic and more importantly would be a fun game for the audience to play. It felt like they designed the experience with the true fan at heart, and it showed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I just hope we have another chance to work with them. Nothing to be improved from the last project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an operations manager for Financial Investment News. We cover the defined benefit plan space for foundations and endowments within the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Coalesce?

We used to have three different publications: FinDaily, Nonprofit News, and Emerging Manager Monthly, as well as a search database. We decided to combine FinDaily and Nonprofit News into a new site called FinNews. We wanted a one-stop shop for all our customers to get the institutional news that they need.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They originally helped us mostly with the backend of the FinNews site. We did a Salesforce integration for our sites and they helped us re-engineer and remodel our customer portal. Our portal is for users who want to sign up for a trial purchases subscription, check their transaction history, update their own personal information, add on subscriptions, or remove subscriptions. It was completed around April of last year.

From there, we moved on to creating a new system for our newsletters. Coalesce built an export tool called Campaign Monitor that allowed us to take any of the stories that are uploaded onto our site and create an export into HTML with a few clicks of a button. Those stories can then be uploaded to our mass mailer for e-mail marketing.

We then started to work on the frontend design of FinNews. It took a little under a year for us to complete that. Coalesce added different types of features that we didn't have on the previous site and gave it a facelift to draw in more customers. Our new site provided more “freemium” type content and added features that we thought would add more value to our own product, increase our subscription rates, and hopefully draw in new customers. We wanted to take users who previously looked at our old site, which was pretty archaic, and draw them in through viewing this content and feeling more connected to the brand.

We’ve been sharing a server with our database site, so Coalesce has worked with a different development team over the last couple of weeks to update the servers so that they can push different changes through. There was a point where somebody made a mistake on the server end and brought the site down, so we’re still trying to work through that.

What is the team composition?

Igor (Developer, Coalesce) works on the bulk of the tasks with a mediator, Tucker (Product Strategy), between him and us. I work with Tucker throughout the day, when I find bugs or when I come up with ideas for things that we want to have added, and he relays that information. Igor then makes any needed changes to our staging site and Tucker goes back and does the testing.

We’ll often have Justin (Director of Architecture) go through and test these updates before going live. Alex (Designer) works on any frontend changes that we are interested in making. He'll QA those, make them in Zeppelin, and then Tucker will review them. Tucker sends the changes to me and then tells Igor to publish them.

How did you come to work with Coalesce?

I did a lot of research a couple of years ago in search of local developers. We wanted someone within a short distance who would come through for us and do in-person meetings, but also someone with experience in the publishing space. When I came across Coalesce’s website, I learned they had worked with a similar site in the real estate space, which has a similar subscription model to ours—premium content that's blocked by a paywall. I thought that would be an easy transition.

I also found that Coalesce had received positive reviews on Clutch as well as praise elsewhere, so I decided to give them a call.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve had about four times as much traffic since the launch compared to what we used to get on FinDaily. User session durations have also increased by about two minutes, and we found that pages per session had increased by about 1.5.

How did Coalesce perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very professional and easy to communicate with. We use Slack to communicate quickly throughout the day. We also use Asana as a project management organization tool, so I can go through there and check what's in development and see their notes. I can track the progress of different projects and different fixes that we have to go through.

They’ve been very good on that front. They definitely spend a lot of time in the staging process making sure that everything is correct before they move projects to the production side. Sometimes it does take a little bit of time for them to push through fixes that sometimes may seem to be pretty simple. Everything is tested, even if it's as simple as changing the padding on a section header. They’re very cautious, but for the most part, it works pretty well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They stand out for their ability to connect with us and get a sense of what we're looking for without making it too technical. We’re not really a big group of developers and we just know the basics, for the most part, so we're looking for somebody that we trust. We wanted somebody that understands what we're looking for and can get the technical part of it worked out without invading us too much, and that’s what Coalesce offers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d like them to spend less time in the staging and testing process and deploy fixes to the site more quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re diligent with tracking the tasks and their progress and follow up at least once per day to ensure things are getting pushed through at a good rate. Feel free to keep an open dialogue and speak your mind to them and they'll be sure to listen if you have any concerns or if you have any ideas. They're very willing to help you. They take their expertise and try to improve a good idea.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a partner of Essex Manufacturing, a company that manufactures and supplies consumer goods across multiple areas to all major international retailers. We are working on expanding our Beach division, as well as diversifying our scope and reach by creating our own brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce?

We hired Coalesce to help us come up with an authentic brand—including guidelines and identity—that would fulfill a need we saw within the market. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an easily understandable brand book, a web page, and a clear direction for where the brand would go as it grows. We also wanted to set up social media platforms to build awareness and a customer base.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We’d previously consulted with Coalesce. They were extremely accommodating on a time-sensitive project. Their ideas are fresh and on point. Everyone on our team felt comfortable selecting them and continuing with their services.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Coalesce began the process with a couple of discovery sessions where we brainstormed about ideas for the brand. We filled out a document and discussed it as a group. They did market research and analysis to come up with the ideal spot for our brand to live. Together we came up with brand characteristics, and collectively narrowed them down to the key elements. 

Next, we went through a detailed naming conversation. Coalesce supplied a variety of names and we voted on some of our favorites. After we narrowed it down to four names, they created mockups of logo concepts and design imagery to solidify the feel of the brand. They created a brand book and guidelines once we selected the final name. They’re now working on a landing page for the website, as well as sharing design inspiration and samples for building out our media presence.

What was the team composition?

We’ve worked closely with three members of their team since the start of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We’re still in the product development stage, but the Coalesce team has provided everything we asked for.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were excellent, even when we were not. Coalesce was always right there to catch when we let non-urgent items slip by. They made sure the project kept moving, and did so in a friendly and supportive way. Each team member has a specific role, which ensures a seamless process and easy working environment. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their style and quality of work are unparalleled. I’d recommend Coalesce to anyone looking to start a big or small project, in any field.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, it’s been a lovely experience.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on January 28th, 2020. New content is below. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co owner of a family owned business

For what projects/services did your company hire Coalesce?

We hired them to come up with a brand name, logo, and ID. They also will next probably be working on a website. They also helped with general company ideas.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to come up with a marketable brand that felt authentic and really went after a target customer. We want to gain traction in a new market as well as build on what we already do. We want to eventually get e commerce and ge placement into new retailers.

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended and met with them and immediately felt it was the right fit. They have also done other projects for different branches at our company. We felt comfortable working with them right away.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have just chosen a logo and design and we already have a ton of positive feedback on it. We are showing our products within the brand at a show in March and we hope this will result in more concrete evidence. The logo and name look amazing and we feel very confident in it.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I thought they are so fun to work with. They have all angles with an amazing vibe but also business knowledge and helped guide us towards our customer. Every brand ID and name/ logo had a reason and a ton of thought behind it.