Geeky Devils

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the President of the Washington State Court Reporters Association. We have about 120 members, but there are about 200 court reporters in Washington State who have access to the website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geeky Devils?

We needed someone to redo our website. The site wasn’t working at all. It was confusing, it was cluttered, and it just wasn’t attractive. It wasn’t user-friendly at all. On the old technology it was built on, it was really impossible to refresh it, so Al Lawati, the owner, had to actually build it from the ground up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My media chair was actually in charge of getting the website up and running in collaborating with Geeky Devils, but she’s no longer with our organization. Unfortunately, I’m at a disadvantage in describing the project to you. But we gave Al some parameters to work with. For example, we had to insert a way for members to renew their membership. Some of our site is restricted, such as our job postings page, and he had to handle that. We gave him what we wanted as content and then he designed the site. I believe it’s a Wordpress, but I’m not positive.

How did you come to work with Geeky Devils?

We put out a bid for somebody to redo our website. Geeky Devils came highly recommended. Al gave me several examples of his work to look at. His pricing was very attractive and he had a nonprofit discount, so my board decided to go with his bid.

How much have you invested with Geeky Devils?

I think it was around $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started around November 2016 and the build was completed in January 2017. It was delayed a bit because the former webmaster wasn’t very cooperative in supplying information, so Al had to build it from the ground up. We had been very disappointed with the previous webmaster, which is part of why we solicited other bids for the rebuild.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I haven’t tracked data around membership or traffic, so I can’t provide any real metrics. The site is too new to give conclusive feedback.

How did Geeky Devils perform from a project management standpoint?

Al has been very good about reacting to any issues that we have. Since my media chair resigned, he’s been very good at putting things up on the website for me immediately. I couldn’t ask for better service. He performed really well considering the obstacles he faced. He continues to be very good to work with. We use emails to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about Geeky Devils?

My media chair really enjoyed working with him in building the site.

Are there any areas Geeky Devils could improve?

This is the first time I’ve worked with them. I just let them do their thing and I rely on their expertise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am manager of the economic development division of the City of Auburn, Washington.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geeky Devils Web Solutions?

Given the popularity of social media, we needed to understand how it can impact communications with the public. We wanted individuals and companies within our jurisdictional area to become engaged in the city's initiatives. Basically, we wanted to find out the impact social media has on our activities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Geeky Devils created a standalone web page that served as a drop page for multiple social media interactions. The site also integrated links to the different things we're involved in for economic development. This includes our innovation partnership, an R&D [research and development] industry-connected process that involves the Urban Center for Innovative Partnerships. The site also shows our social media interactions in Facebook, Instagram, and Meetup. We use these accounts to interact with the public, especially people looking for networking opportunities. We had Geeky Devils develop and manage a full spectrum of social media over a certain period. Geeky Devils actively marketed our programs, events, and surveys. They also tracked all of the daily analytics that we could pull from those interactions.

How did you come to work with Geeky Devils Web Solutions?

Geeky Devils was a new company and their head recently moved to Auburn, Washington. Obviously, my job as manager of economic development includes knowing who we have in town doing what. He caught my attention because of the industry that he's involved in. It was an area that we wanted to do some research on. We decided that he had the qualifications we were looking for, so we gave him the opportunity.

How much have you invested with Geeky Devils Web Solutions?

We paid Geeky Devils through the City of Auburn budget, and our financials are on public record. I believe we paid around $5,000 for a 120-day engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe it started in March 2016 and ran through the end of May. It was a short-term engagement. To be fair, 120 days is actually a very short time to see the overall effect of this kind of work. Since that engagement ended at the end of May, we have migrated the hosting of the activity onto our network, and we have continued it, so it's still operational. It was a short-term test run since that was the extent of what we could do in this budget cycle. However, we were very pleased with the outcome, the analytics, and the attention to detail Geeky Devils showed. Their work provided the consensus and answers we were looking for. As we go through our next budget cycle, we have allotted budget for more social media marketing and activity. But, obviously, it will be through next year's budget.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

By way of networking is something that we take very serious because we feel that the interaction between companies and business people becomes stronger when they do a face-to-face meet and greet. We have run for almost four years now a business networking event somewhere in the community every week. We rotate it around from business to business on a rotation. We used to average 20 to 30 people a week that would show up on a weekly basis, and that always changed. Because we do it so frequently, it's a fresh group every week. We engaged the activity of increasing that awareness and involvement by the business community and, within 120 days, we probably doubled that activity of people showing up at it, establishing it a little bit more out there. On the internet with Facebook and with Meetup, I think we have almost 140 businesses now that have signed up through Meetup that follow it on that website, so would say it had an immediate impact on that activity.

We're doing a year-long study in the writing of a 10-year economic development strategic plan for the community. One of the main functions that we had Geeky Devils do for us was to advertise and promote the attendance at a number of workshops and town hall meetings where the consultants could come in and interact with the folks in the community. A target goal on one night that really was a very important evening for us for interaction with the consultants was 100 people – 100 participants that would show up and take part with the survey interactive through their work with the consultants, and I believe we had 99 show up. The only advertising that we did for that was through social media marketing, so I think Geeky Devils had a very good impact on that. Those are two examples of very quick response to activity that Geeky Devils did for us that we believe had a very positive outcome.

How did Geeky Devils Web Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fine – very interactive. We were promised update reports as far as the analytics every 30 days; we did receive that. Anytime I had questions, he was always available within 24 hours to answer my questions and interact with us as a client. We were very pleased with his client services.

What did you find most impressive about Geeky Devils Web Solutions?

The most impressive aspects are Geeky Devils' management, professionalism, experience, and follow-through on commitments. I can't say I had any bad experiences with them at all. It was all positive. They delivered what they promised. I believe that they are trying to establish themselves in our community. I think doing work for us as the local municipal government, it was important to them that we have a good experience, but I believe that other companies that they have been working with around the area have had similar experiences. I think that that's pretty much their corporate culture.

Are there any areas Geeky Devils Web Solutions could improve?

No. From my short-term experience with them, I am very pleased with what they're doing, and if they continue to do what they're doing, I believe they'll grow very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I am the executive director at a municipal organization that advocates for approximately 180 local businesses. We try to promote foot traffic and sales to the downtown area as well as maintain the historic characteristics of significant buildings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Geeky Devils Web Solutions?

Our website was outdated, and I was looking for a website that would be easy for me to change. Previously, we had to go through an agency to make the changes because there was code involved, and it was very detailed. We changed to WordPress for economy-driven and ease-of-use-driven reasons.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Geeky Devils developed the initial pages for the website. We don't have the budget to hire a web designer, and this seemed to be a happy medium. Since it was a pro bono project, they didn't want to devote hours and hours, so they suggested WordPress as a good option for us.

As you know, WordPress is more of a template-style web application, so it was easy for them to take the template and insert some pictures and history to fill in the boxes. There wasn't any consulting in terms of what I wanted. We had pre-agreed that they would put together a template, and I would fill in the details as we went forward. A friend of mine volunteered to input all the names of the businesses in the directory and things like that.

How did you come to work with Geeky Devils Web Solutions?

The owner of Geeky Devils [Al Lawati] moved to the area, and we met at a focus group for the city. Al was a standout in the meeting. He was young, energetic, had fresh ideas, and I was just really impressed with him.

I sought him out after that, and I asked him to lead the vision planning workshops that we were doing. He had a strong background working with small businesses. He was very effective in demonstrating his leadership at those workshops, and we came away with some very good thoughts about the direction we're supposed to go in.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

There was no cost. I am working on another project now, and I will definitely send out a request for bid. This will be paid this time because I'll be getting advertising dollars. I do plan on asking for a bid from Geeky Devils.

What is the status of this engagement?

In terms of the website itself, we started in February 2016, and it was done by April [2016] approximately. It's just a framework right now, and the website is just basic text and pictures. I need to insert unique pictures. Right now, it's all stock photos.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I think it is too premature to answer those questions.

How did Geeky Devils Web Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Al is extremely energetic and has a passion for the way things should be in an ideal world, but reality is that we have challenges to work with. He has many ideas and energy, but I think his challenge is understanding the clients' needs. I'm a certified project management professional, and one of the things that is essential in working with people is understanding the requirements of the project and developing a timeline.

What happened was the unfinished website went up, and I was in shock. Just one day, the new website appeared, and my old one had been taken down. There was content that I needed from the old website, but it was all said and done nothing had been communicated. I had to be honest about that, so I think the challenge is Al just learning a how to work with clients in incremental steps and understanding their needs.

What distinguishes Geeky Devils Web Solutions from other providers?

The breadth of his background in working in marketing for major companies as well as small companies gives him a broad perspective. He's also lived in many different places around the world, so that's refreshing because local providers wouldn't have that perspective at all. I appreciate the diversity Geeky Devils brings in working with me. They bring in fresh ideas.

Is there anything Geeky Devils Web Solutions could have improved or done differently?

No. I think that's it.