Black Antelope

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work on the network management support team for the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation.

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

The network has been growing a lot over the years, and we’ve been using a website as an online hub for the network’s activities. As we’ve grown, we’ve had different needs from the site, so we hired Black Antelope to redevelop the site to better meet the community’s needs. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team handled both web design and development for our site. The platform is built on Drupal. 

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked with Scott (Project Manager & Designer) and Eric (Partner & Owner & Lead Developer). Scott worked on the account management and design side of things, and Eric was focused on the development. 

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

Black Antelope had been existing contractors on the site, but we did consider other options when we knew we wanted to redevelop the platform. Black Antelope just had unique expertise and were really responsive and easy to work with. They were uniquely interested and invested in the success of our organization, which made them the best fit for us.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2017–October 2020. They’ve been working on other things for us in the interim, though. 

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

Originally, our goals were based on user feedback and a user needs assessment. We got really feedback from users who saw their concerns and needs being addressed through the launch of the redesigned site. 

Their work has allowed the network to continue to grow its activities to train climate communicators across the country. Over the years and with Black Antelope’s support, we’ve been able to train hundreds of climate communicators who communicate with millions of people as a result. Their team’s support in making sure our site could operate and meet those needs was an integral part of the project. 

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

It was really easy to manage the process virtually with them because they had a lot of great systems in place. We used Basecamp to manage the workflow and InVision to share, comment, and approve design concepts. We also did web conferences for longer discussions and they were available by phone or email if something more timely came up. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of investment in our goals made them unique. They went the extra mile to understand our goals as an organization and thought of the website in terms of how it served those goals. That was very impressive and not necessarily something I’d expect from any web design studio. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that really comes to mind. We were really satisfied with their work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They are people who you can just consider partners on your projects. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and editor-in-chief of the World’s Best Wedding Photos. We promote wedding photographers and we have an extensive database that allows us to tag and put all the information for their images. It’s essentially a subscription model. People who are posted pay for the exposure that we give them, but it’s by invitation only.

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

There are a lot of wedding photography businesses that have an old school look. I chose Black Antelope to design my site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with design and then moved into development. One big challenge was our database, which was quite robust. So they worked with the backend and the way that it interacts with the website. Things went quickly. We had a ton of changes, and they did a great job getting into the photographer’s mindset, and into our mindset, about what we were trying to create and how it was different.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Scott(project manager & designer)  and Eric (owner & developer), and they brought in another team member for graphics.

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

I met Scott in a coffee shop and we talked for like an hour. I liked the work they had done. I felt like he was a super nice guy. Very approachable, they responded quickly, and offered a good budget. Once we went back and forth over the numbers and what they could provide, I decided to go with them. We received bids from four different companies, but they delivered a timely and detailed proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in June 2019 and we launched in January 2020.

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

A lot of the developers I’ve worked with in the past haven’t put in a lot of effort for SEO, but Black Antelope really built that into the site. Within a few weeks, we were on Google for the search terms that we were looking for. It was much faster than I anticipated.

I couldn’t be happier with the site. We haven’t had any bugs and it’s been clean since the launch.

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Trello as our management system. They methodically went through things as we put them up. We communicated efficiently and things were done really easily.

They were available, so I could call them whenever I needed them. When things weren’t clear, I was able to get ahold of them. And they were very patient with me, even when they were super busy.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The database is amazing. And really the whole thing. I love the look of the site and the ability to go into the database and come up with editorial ideas for both my own business, and also for media aggregates. Now I have visual and editorial content ready to share whenever I need it. Now we can create content very easily and keep things running.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. We had zero problems.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get your three-year business plan together, understand what you want to do after you launch, what your next markers are. For example, we’re going to be launching other sites with them as well, and that was all built into our site, so it could easily be duplicated for other purposes.  It’s all standard business advice—think big.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Script Haven is an digital marketplace used to buy and sell scripts in a variety of formats including film, television, theatre, and short form. Our mission is to empower young college students and emerging screenwriters to breakout earlier in their career and be able to sell their scripts to producers who are looking for their next project. As Co-Founder and CFO of this startup, my responsibilities encompass all facets of business development and growth from ideation into operation.

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Antelope?

We needed an online multivendor type marketplace that required very specific features needed due to the nature of the industry. Black Antelope was responsible for the entire development of our website/online marketplace, and has worked closely with us since its completion to make new additions.

The challenge our business is aiming to solve is the high barrier to entry in the entertainment industry. Through digitizing the transfer of intellectual property with a site that has 0 barrier to entry, we hope to provide the opportunity to writers everywhere to get their name out there and sell their work. This project was immensely integral to our business as our launch was dependent upon the completion of this platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed several features such as a live messaging system with a built in negotiation component for users to make deals in real time through the site, as well as a unique signatory process which allows for the near instant transfer of intellectual property once a price has been agreed upon. Our site operates as a multivendor marketplace with a full contract process and checkout function.

How did you select this vendor?

I used various sources, such as Clutch (primary source), to find and contact several full stack developers who could take on this project. Throughout the month of April 2019, I spoke with hundreds of companies about this, running through the features we need and receiving proposals to see which firm would be the best fit to work with, for the best price.

Black Antelope impressed my partner and I during the search process with their professional yet friendly/personal attitude, high level of efficiency and technical skill in terms of project completion timelines, feature execution, etc, as well as a genuine excitement for our project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Black Antelope was responsible for the full development of our business' marketplace platform. Once we agreed to work together on this project, after receiving their proposal, etc, we began with a design phase. Black Antelopes lead designer provided us with remarkable designs for all pages to be included on our website that aligned with our brand vision.

After an approval process with the proposed designs, we moved to the development phase, in which I worked very closely with the lead developer in a very transparent and highly communicative process as the website progressed. After initial development rounds, we were provided with a test site in order to further trial features and find spots for improvement.

What was the team composition?

Black Antelope is a boutique firm that operates with a small team size. Their personnel were a true pleasure to work with.

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

Our startup could not launch without the completion of this project as our business is dependent upon the function of this platform. We are now fully operation and are no longer pre-revenue in just a short period thanks to the successful completion of the project.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Through coordinating with their lead developer and designer, we set several deadlines depending on which items had upcoming completion requirements. More often than not, Black Antelope completed asked assignments before agreed upon times.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have an incredibly high level of communication and take a personalized approach with your project. The platform they built for us exceeded my expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little in which i would recommend improvement at this point in time. Perhaps in the future simply to increase team size should they wish to grow their client base and provide their great services to more businesses.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for UC Berkeley, a public research university. I managed a research center that is part of a group of academic centers and teaching departments.  

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Antelope?

We needed a new website that would update our image and information for external and internal audiences. We had several separate, smaller sites that we wanted to combine under a single umbrella.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to update our image, refresh content, and create a more functional tool to disseminate information.

How did you select this vendor?

We asked other departments about the vendors they had worked with. We contacted several and solicited proposals.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Black Antelope designed, developed, and implemented a new website. We uploaded the content to save money, as we could hire students to do this more economically. They are also responsible for ongoing security updates to the Drupal site.

What was the team composition?

Black Antelope’s two principals and a programmer worked with our project manager and several students, with input from other UC Berkeley center directors.

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

We look better to the world. People contact us with questions based on a visit to the site. Also, we now know what our site visitor stats are.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was somewhat effective, although it could get messy at times. We used Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were accessible, decent to work with, and responsive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wish we would have collected more input on what was needed going into the project. We could have done more on our end. I also would have liked not to use a template based on another site, as we ended up with a lot of extra legacy stuff that just confuses things. It’s best to start clean.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am one of the communications officers and the multimedia editor at a research institute at UC Berkeley. I also manage the website.

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

We needed someone to maintain the website for our institute, which we already had developed. Originally, we hired Black Antelope to perform some tweaks here and there and support us with maintenance issues that arise. 

We eventually took them on for other projects. Just a few hours ago this morning, we announced an update to a 15-year-old PBS website that serves as a companion to a documentary series that came out in 2003 called Race: The Power of an Illusion. The producers approached us about hosting it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Black Antelope resolves any bugs we encounter. They develop the custom templates we need for our website, which is built on Drupal 8. Regarding design work, they've given some pages a facelift. They’ve also tweaked aspects of the CMS to provide it with further functionality. They provide everything we need in terms of web support.

We first brought them on to maintain our main website, but our institute runs several platforms and has released new ones since then. Another developer had built the site beforehand, but it still needed a ton of work after our contract ran out. Based on notes from the other vendor, Black Antelope felt confident they could finish the job, so we handed it over to them.

We updated the site with a new look and content because its themes are still relevant today. It's much more complex in nature than our than our institute's website and requires several different types of development tools including the React programming language. Black Antelope has also worked with our other partners on campus at UC Berkeley to develop brand-new websites. 

What is the team composition? 

From what I understand, the team only includes two people. Scott (Project Manager and Designer, Black Antelope) took care of the business side while Eric (Partner, Owner, and Lead Developer, Black Antelope) focused more on the technical aspects. I think they both work on the development, though, and deserve equal credit. 

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

One of our contacts at UC Berkeley referred us to Black Antelope. I know they work with a few different departments on campus. The reference we found them through was really happy with them, so we got in touch. We're very thankful we did. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together about a year ago in March 2018. Our engagement is ongoing. We renewed our contract with them and are definitely happy with their services. 

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

We've gotten very good feedback from our partners. We set up analytics for the new site they just finished after we announced it, and we've been getting quite a few hits. Everyone who has reviewed their work has been really impressed. They should be very proud.

Black Antelope did a phenomenal job of developing our website, including the CMS and design. They were able to work with anything we threw at them, and the finished product came out perfectly. 

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management has been great. I appreciate how Black Antelope communicates. We used to send them tasks by email, but they transitioned to Basecamp. As an online tool, it helps facilitate interactions between the client and the vendor. 

Now, we use it to put in all our requests, and they always get back to us quickly. We have running threads within the forum that include comments, posts, and images. This tool has streamlined our process and been very successful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm most impressed by the level of one-on-one personalization they offer. They have excellent design judgment and provide better alternatives to our suggestions for placement and functionality. 

Black Antelope is such a small team that they feel more like a family-owned business than a bureaucratic corporation. We never get automated ticket responses to the task requests we send. 

Since the developers run the project themselves, there are never layers of divisions to communicate through. They respond very quickly, even though I work unusual hours including after 10:00 PM. Even at night, they usually get back to me right away. They’re willing to support us beyond the standard workday whenever the need arises. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really have nothing to complain about. Black Antelope has been doing a phenomenal job. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We always let them know our priorities and which less important items can wait. Since we know we're not their only client, we respect their time. Make sure you’re addressing what's most important. Delineate urgent matters like deadlines and be clear about what you need the most, so they don't get bogged down. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a yoga instructor. I offer studio classes, private coaching, and all-inclusive retreats.

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Antelope?

I had a basic web presence, but it was proving difficult to update without embarrassing glitches.

What were your goals for this project?

My goal was to have a user-friendly platform that would allow me to easily and frequently add updates.

How did you select this vendor?

Black Antelope was highly recommended by my sister, who works in social media management.

Describe the project in detail.

Scott (Project Manager/Designer, Black Antelope) helped me select a WordPress (WP) style that complements my business aesthetics. After he moved all pertinent copy and images from the old formatting, Scott created a navicon, set up the new WP site with my pre-existing host, and updated its SEO.

What was the team composition?

I worked exclusively with Scott on this project.

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

Scott designed a beautiful site. I feel confident sharing it with existing students and thru social media marketing campaigns.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I’m extremely satisfied with the level of communication and enjoyed collaborating with Scott on this project. He checked in with me frequently, fine-tuned the content based on my preferences, and made useful editing suggestions along the way.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’m impressed with all of the work thus far, especially the ease with which Scott has translated my requests, concerns, and vision into an attractive and easy-to-navigate site.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing and communications for SPCA International. We are a U.S.-based nonprofit and are active worldwide.

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

We initially hired them to do ongoing site maintenance and some design improvements. We later hired them for Salesforce integration work and email template builds.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They integrated multiple technologies into our website. We needed them to build modern, good-looking CSS donation pages that worked well with our new donation app. They designed beautiful, mobile-responsive pages that we’re very happy with. We had a difficult time finding experts in concrete5—the software we use—but they do a great job with our system maintenance. They do their research and find the solutions we need.

We have small, weekly projects and we go to them when we have a problem with our website or our Salesforce database. They’ve cleaned up our database, optimized email templates, and do a lot of technological work for us.

What is the team composition?

Scott (Project Manager, Designer, Black Antelope) and Eric (Partner, Owner, Lead Developer, Black Antelope) are our main contacts. They are both very responsive. We typically work with Scott on the design side and Eric acts as a developer. They work well together and their skills complement each other. They’re a very good team.

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

I found them on LinkedIn ProFinder. They were local to our area, so we had our first meeting in person. Since then, we work remotely.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $25,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial phase was from about February–July 2017. We’re now in the second phase with them. We have them on a retainer and work with them on other projects.

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

We leverage the email templates they built for us on a daily basis. We can easily access things and make changes on the backend of our website and email marketing platform. With their help, we reach hundreds of thousands of supporters each month.

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

They know their stuff. We work with them through Basecamp, which is their preferred platform. They do a good job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive to our needs and requests and are so knowledgeable. They’re really easy to work with, creative, technically savvy, and willing to fill gaps in our staffing. All of that is really helpful and we don’t know what we would do without them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We help people from all over the world get into MBA, Master's, and Ph.D. programs. There are some required tests for students looking to get into these programs, including GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL. We have 8 teachers on staff and work on standardized test prep and application essay review.

I am the founder and owner of the company. I train the teachers, create the curriculum, take care of marketing, and generally make sure everything is working.

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

We have been active for three years. The company was growing, so we needed a more professional-looking website to help show that we provide quality education. In particular, we wanted to express the idea that we really care about our students—because we do. Our goal was to increase our student count by 100% within the year. Furthermore, there had been a large increase in the number of competitors in our field over the last five years, so we needed to make sure our image was top notch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Black Antelope helped with the look and feel of the site, making up sketches and wireframes for its different pages. Black Antelope created the design for our logo and all site pages. My brother was the one who developed the website. I worked with two people from Black Antelope's team.

I had some ideas about the placement of certain elements, but Black Antelope came up with the look of every page. They included pictures which transitioned from black and white to color when the mouse cursor hovered over them. It was a small detail, but it was something I liked.

We made some redesigns one year later. Black Antelope delivered the work in a format which I couldn't open, so I went to a graphic developer for help. Usually, I received graphics in PDF form, since I wasn't using Black Antelope's software.

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

My brother is a web developer in San Francisco; he offered to help but told me that we needed a graphic designer. His wife is a Drupal developer herself and knew Black Antelope's team. She contacted them and I eventually had a 15-minute Skype call with Black Antelope's principal. In particular, we liked the warm feeling coupled with the classy look that some of their websites created when you visited them.

How much have you invested with Black Antelope?

The cost of Black Antelope's work was $6,000. My brother handled much of the development. He has built many high-profile websites, and Black Antelope's team was happy to work with him, which had an impact on the price.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Black Antelope three years ago. The project duration was between six and nine months. We weren't in a rush and preferred to take our time and do the project well.

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

I doubled my clients after the new site was launched. This was in large part due to the convincing professional look of the new site. I made many changes in that period, including getting a new office location, so it's a bit hard to state what the most significant impact was. However, when I talked to people about the site, they said it was exactly what a page of its kind should look like.

One of the things I was sensitive to was its friendly look, which would convey the same message about ourselves. It's easy to make a bad website, and it's difficult to make a simple one. In particular, the imagery with the logo was expertly chosen, and the color themes have helped us relate the feelings and message that we want to get across. Furthermore, the page layout has done a good job in accomplishing the goals that we set out for each page. My site is easy to use, functional, and beautiful.

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

We weren't pressed for time, so I had multiple discussions with Black Antelope around the design, and also consulted with my brother and people in my co-working space. Because of this triangular relationship, things progressed more slowly, but the collaboration was overall good.

Because the project took place three years ago, it's a bit hard to say exactly how we worked together, but I remember that I communicated with Black Antelope almost exclusively through email and Skype. I was sent long emails containing ideas and sent back my own response to Black Antelope.

What did you find most impressive about Black Antelope?

I haven't worked with many other graphic designers. There are many options available on the market; the ones I've used in Paris are much cheaper, but they are good. The difference between great and excellent isn't significant, but at the same time, it's a lot. Using the right shade of a specific color is an art and it's a craft that they've mastered. I've used designers who made acceptable choices which we ended up using, but being a notch above everyone else is what Black Antelope was able to give us.

Are there any areas Black Antelope could improve?

During one particular Skype call, Black Antelope's principal looked like he had just woken up. This may not look professional, but he's an artistic person, so that may simply be his way of being. We had a more casual relationship, and had he been working with a bigger client, he may not have done that. This really isn’t worth mentioning but I can’t think of anything else that’s negative related to Black Antelope’s work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Mapar is a big tech startup. I was the director of web development in the company. My job was to manage our website in terms of CMS [content management system], SEO [search engine optimization], design, and hosting.

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

We needed to redevelop our website. The old one was outdated, with a bad design and poor performance. It had been created when we were a small startup.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Black Antelope was brought on as our web development vendor. They were in charge of both design and development in the beginning, but I also engaged another person for the design. Even though Black Antelope did offer creative design abilities, I chose to work with another company.

In terms of technology, Black Antelope was very professional. They converted the designs we gave them into a Drupal CMS. Black Antelope gave us some excellent advice. I hired some temporary Drupal contractors after our project with Black Antelope was completed. They were very impressed with how the site had been put together.

We also worked with Black Antelope on extending our site to other languages. They created a unified Drupal management system which featured translation modules.

I don't know exactly what the size of our team was. We mainly communicated with two developers from Black Antelope, but there may have been other resources. I can think of no real faults in Black Antelope's execution. I'm very satisfied overall.

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

One of our members picked out a few Drupal companies. She strongly recommended Black Antelope. I met them in a coffee shop and interviewed them to find out about the work they'd done and to get a feel for Black Antelope. I decided to hire them as a result.

How much have you invested with Black Antelope?

The total cost of Black Antelope's services was in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Black Antelope 2 years ago. Our work is complete. We had a very tight deadline. Everything had to be finished within 4 months of our engagement with Black Antelope.

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

When we started working with Black Antelope, our company only had about 150 members. I had no team of my own and was working exclusively with vendors. I had to rely on Black Antelope as my technical advisors as well, in terms of site hosting. I was also able to reach out to Black Antelope later on for consultation, which is something that I greatly appreciated. Black Antelope knew our site and needs, so they provided valuable technical advice for free.

Our company has close to 500 employees at this time. Our website traffic increased tremendously. Even though not all of this is attributable to Black Antelope, having a much more robust website contributed tremendously to our success. We had significant peaks of traffic at times, but the site never went down.

Black Antelope helped us with initial SEO implementations, giving us core advice for this area. We definitely saw an uptick for Google search results.

Six months after we stopped our engagement with Black Antelope, we hired our own SEO person. Until then, Black Antelope acted as our advisor. Because the site was faster and more professional, our rankings went up, which was great.

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

The only negative feedback I have in this sense is that I was sometimes nervous about Black Antelope's ability to deliver something on time. I didn't see many of the intermediate steps at certain points, even though the work still got done in time. I know now that Black Antelope is a competent company, but since I wasn't familiar with them in the beginning, I had some doubts.

Many project vendors suggested using project management tools, but I'm usually resistant to this. I always preferred having calls and using email for our collaboration with Black Antelope.

What did you find most impressive about Black Antelope?

Black Antelope has good technical abilities and I always felt that I could trust them and ask their advice on hosting packages, what types of resources we should hire, and so on. Black Antelope didn't have a get-in-and-get-out approach. At one point, I wanted to use Black Antelope for maintenance. They were upfront about the fact that they don't prefer working on retainers as a business model. Black Antelope could have taken my money and strung me along for a while, but they didn't. Black Antelope did offer assistance for any urgent issues, even though their suggestion was for me to hire someone in-house. I appreciated this level of honesty and professionalism.

Are there any areas Black Antelope could improve?

I would appreciate more visibility into milestones. If Black Antelope is working remotely, the client needs to have a level of comfort.

Please describe your organization.

We are a major teaching and research university.

What is your position?

I manage the department of economics, which is one of the largest teaching and research departments on campus. It's a very prestigious department, ranked in the top five in the world, with more than 1,000 students and tens of thousands of enrollments each year. We have a large number of faculty and staff, a lot of research is done within the department, and we issue many contracts and grants. 

What business challenge were you trying to address with Black Antelope?

We needed to rework our website two years ago. Our original Drupal site had been done in-house and with the help of another contractor, but I wasn't the manager at the time. It did not look good and had many issues before we started working with Black Antelope.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Black Antelope worked on our website, transitioning it to the newest version of Drupal. We only worked with one person from Black Antelope, although there may have been other resources behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Black Antelope?

I was talking with people on campus. It came to my attention that Black Antelope had upgraded the political science web page a few months ago. I liked the look of that page, so I reached out to Black Antelope. I believe that Black Antelope has since worked with other departments of the university as well. I received a few phone calls in time, asking for recommendations, but I don't know for sure that they've worked with anyone else.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Black Antelope two years ago and we rolled out our website in January 2016. We have an ongoing relationship with Black Antelope.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

In terms of site design and aesthetics, everyone's been very pleased with it. It works well for our needs. It has content and event streams, as well as a large gallery of photos, which we were able to publish. Much of the color and photo management is done in-house, but the design done by Black Antelope is great. Overall feedback has been nothing but positive. Our technical contact from Black Antelope is very accessible and competent.

How did Black Antelope perform from a project management standpoint?

We were hoping to roll out the site in November 2015, but we finished it in the first week of January. There were some add-ons included later into the project, so the delay was expected. Black Antelope has been very good at working with project management tools, keeping us posted throughout the process and making everything clear. The work was essentially done on time.

Black Antelope used a web-driven project management tool through which I could log in and look at mockups and the project timeline. It was a fairly sophisticated tool with which we shared document and were kept updated.

What distinguishes Black Antelope from other providers?

I found our contact's accessibility to be very good. In my experience with tech consultants, they will drift at times. Black Antelope always responded to us within 12 to 24 hours to any email communication. I was also impressed with their technical skills. In my experience, there is a lot of pushback from developers when asking for anything that doesn't fit a particular theme. Black Antelope was able to produce anything we asked for, which was impressive. They did much of custom work, without being boxed into a particular theme. With Drupal in particular, working with themes requires knowledge for customization. Black Antelope's accessibility, ability to get work done on time and their high-level technical skills set them apart.

Is there anything Black Antelope could have improved or done differently?

The only challenge was working with Black Antelope remotely. I never actually met the team, but I was fine with that. I believe that Black Antelope was working nights, and their principal [Scott Hildebrand] is in Hong Kong, so it was sometimes tough to have a conversation on certain issues and to clarify Black Antelope through email. I don't think that there's something that can be done about this. It's simply the nature of the business. Black Antelope's skills, responsiveness and ability to get the work done on budget more than made up for this shortcoming. They could try to connect more to clients during business hours.