Code Conspirators

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Communications Consultant of The InsideOut Marketer (for the client, GradRock, creators of college and career readiness programs)

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The InsideOut Marketer is an independent consultancy offering branding, strategic marketing and communications planning, creative direction, hands-on content, and campaign development.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Code Conspirators to accomplish?

• Develop a software solution for a college and career readiness program for high school students
• Develop and incorporate age appropriate, engaging graphics
• Develop solutions for unique school district scenarios, navigational user-friendly experiences, and audience specific variations

SOLUTION

How did you find Code Conspirators?

Referral

Why did you select Code Conspirators over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• presentation of their skills and abilities

How many teammates from Code Conspirators were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

UX developer to create a fully stacked, front and back end, ADA-compliant, responsive software and website solution with an accessible login portal on the home page, allowing school faculty to administer login credentials; develop a technical solution for login credentials based on active license agreements for use; develop the self-guided app/software solution centered on “the island” with 35-50 possible navigation options for student users; oversee the development and implementation of engaging graphics throughout, develop a back-end for super admins to create and change content, upload video and other materials and to manage licensed school users; develop a dashboard for teachers and counselors to manage student activity; create a solution of rewards/tokens accumulated through student visits to modules, and much more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team project manager Tim created and shared detailed timelines with deliverable milestones. There were several phases involved in transforming the clients' concept, content and highly specific directions/requests into a tangible software platform. Code Conspirators met each deadline delivering an excellent product with solutions introduced along the way as new challenges or needs surfaced.

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

I cannot say enough about Tim and his project management proficiency. It is one thing to be able to manage timelines, and another altogether to be able to understand the client's unique requests, and the technical solutions from the Code Conspirators team, and to impart information to sometimes non-tech savvy individuals in a way that makes sense. This project had multiple moving parts and I'm hard-pressed to think of a single item that fell through the cracks. Not to mention... he's a super nice guy to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with Code Conspirators?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They never say no. They always offer a possible solution (or two). They have a command of programming and tools and seem to know how to navigate most requests.

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

I cannot think of a thing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief strategist and principal partner of Liger Partners. We’re a marketing firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Code Conspirators?

We work with a lot of different companies and part of that work includes looking at their digital properties. Often times, our clients’ websites need to actually do something; it’s not enough for the site to look pretty.

We work with Code Conspirators on those websites that actually need to do something. For example, if a site needs to collect lead information, do a calculation, or move an order to a backend system. This is where Code Conspirators fills in the gap for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of the time, we work on websites that feature the client’s services, about us page, and a contact form. However, other companies need to provide other features such as insurance quotes or a notification capability for when there’s a service outage or something along those lines. Code Conspirators handles frontend and system integration efforts in these cases.

They make sure the website does what it’s supposed to and that it connects to the backend system. Some of the technologies they’ve used include Salesforce, Microsoft solutions, .NET, and JavaScript. We also use them for secure email solutions. Currently, we’re working on a project that’s in ColdFusion but will have to be converted into a different language.

We’ve also used them for data compliance help around General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). That type of work requires our team to know the marketing side, but then they handle the technology infrastructure side. This is where the connection is made between what needs to happen to move data from one system to next.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager who handles coordination with our internal project manager. There’s a different set of technical leads who work in the backend depending upon the technology or need.

How did you come to work with Code Conspirators?

We came to know them through a young entrepreneurs’ council group that we were a part of when we started our marketing firm.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We still monitor the metrics for one of the original projects they did for us. This particular website generates organic leads on a daily basis. The same thing goes for some of the other lead magnets we’ve used them for. Our team has seen leads come across and conversions increase from campaigns we’ve put out on market. Code Conspirators helps us prove to our clients that the marketing spend they’re doing is effective.

How did Code Conspirators perform from a project management standpoint?

They work as though they’re sitting next to us. Our team uses Basecamp, and they use a different internal project management tool. We have a Slack channel in place and can ask them questions and receive responses back. They’re very responsive and act as a member of our team. This is a vital aspect of our partnership because we can’t wait to get a response back to our client. That’s one of the reasons why they hire us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Code Conspirators has a can-do, positive attitude. That’s how we also approach our projects so we appreciate that about them. It has been a good, long-lasting relationship because we have a very similar culture and approach to the work, they just approach it from a technology perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. Their deficiencies are the places where we perform well, and vice versa; that’s why we selected them. We provide one side of the coin, and they provide the other.