# Last Call Media Last Call Media Reviews (18), Pricing, Services & Verified Ratings - Verified - 4.7 out of 5 average review rating - 1 connections joined Last Call Media's Network [Visit Website](http://lastcallmedia.com/?utm_source=clutch.co&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=directory) [Get a Custom Proposal](https://clutch.co/profile/last-call-media) **Building impact & human-focused digital solutions** Last Call Media is the digital services company that braves the unknown to bring your mission home. We’ve been partnering with impact-driven organizations to build and scale mission-critical platforms since 2005. We know there’s no such thing as “playing it safe” in the dynamic digital world—only missing opportunities due to rigidity and inertia. So we empower clients to embrace curiosity again. We help them take smart risks. And we guide them through the challenges of connecting with the humans they serve. Our team marries agility, empathy and expertise to: - Explore ambitiously while still respecting high-stakes scenarios. - Work quickly and flexibly to launch pilots, extract insights and increment solutions. - Set the foundations of sustainable success, allowing clients to launch and scale with certainty. With a cross-functional team of 40+ members, we offer expertise in strategy, user experience, design and development. Last Call Media works with clients across North America—including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (ITS74), the City of San Francisco, Wentworth Insitute of Technology, Instant Brands, and many more. Ready for the last call you’ll ever need to make? Get in touch with Last Call Media today. ## Company Information - Hourly rate: $150 - $199 - Number of employees: 10 - 49 - 2 Locations: - Northampton, MA (Headquarters) - New York, NY - Founded in 2005 - 1 languages: English - 5 timezones: Eastern Standard Time (EST), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Central Standard Time (CST), Middle East Time (MET), Central European Time (CET) ## Services, Focus Areas, Industries, and Clients ### Service Lines - 40% Web Development - 20% Digital Strategy - 20% UX/UI Design - 10% Business Consulting - 10% E-Commerce Development ### Focus Areas - CMS Focus: - 87% Drupal CMS - 13% WordPress CMS - Programming & Scripting: - 60% PHP - 30% JavaScript - 10% Other programming & scripting languages - Application Platforms: - 50% Linux server - 20% Amazon Application Development Framework - 10% Google app engine - 10% Other app platform - 10% Windows server - User Experience Focus: - 40% UX Strategy - 30% Usability Testing - 30% User Research - Frameworks and CMS: - 20% Angular - 20% Laravel - 20% NodeJS - 20% Other frameworks and CMS - 20% Symfony ### Industries - 5% eCommerce - 25% Education - 35% Government - 20% Non-profit - 5% Other industries - 10% Business services ### Clients - 5% Small Business (<$10M) - 55% Midmarket ($10M - $1B) - 40% Enterprise (>$1B) ## Pricing Snapshot Average rating for cost based on this provider's reviews: 4.5 out of 5 **What Clients Have Said** *(This summary is based on verified Clutch reviews.)*: Last Call Media offers competitive pricing, with project costs ranging from $3,000 to over $500,000 depending on the scope. Clients appreciate their value for cost, high responsiveness, and flexibility, making them a reliable choice for diverse project needs. **Most Common Project Size**: $50,000 to $199,999 based on 11 reviews *(Pricing information for this provider is based on reviews where the project size was available.)* ### Pricing by Service - Web Development: $50,000 to $199,999 based on 8 reviews - UX/UI Design: $200,000 to $999,999 based on 1 review - Custom Software Development: $200,000 to $999,999 based on 1 review - Digital Strategy: $200,000 to $999,999 based on 1 review - E-Commerce Development: $200,000 to $999,999 based on 1 review - Business Consulting: $200,000 to $999,999 based on 1 review - Other IT Consulting and SI: $10,000 to $49,000 based on 1 review - Web Design: $50,000 to $199,999 based on 1 review - Application Management & Support: Confidential based on 1 review - Cybersecurity: Confidential based on 1 review ## Reviews Clutch investigates each reviewer's identity and work history. Every review goes through a rigorous, human-led verification process to confirm the reviewer's identity, and reviews that we verify are visibly marked as 'Verified' so you can trust that they come from a real client. [Learn More](https://help.clutch.co/en/knowledge/how-clutch-verifies-reviews) ### Last Call Media Review Insights Overall Review Rating: 4.7 - Quality: 4.6 - Schedule: 4.6 - Cost: 4.5 - Willing to Refer: 4.7 ### Top Mentions - Communicative (7 mentions) - Easy to work with (3 mentions) - Flexible (3 mentions) - Great project management (3 mentions) - Unique expertise (3 mentions) - Helpful (2 mentions) - High-quality work (2 mentions) - Knowledgeable (2 mentions) - Professional (2 mentions) - Timely (2 mentions) - Well-organized projects (2 mentions) - Detail-oriented (1 mentions) - Easy to reach (1 mentions) - Exceptional performance (1 mentions) - Hard working (1 mentions) - Personable (1 mentions) - Proactive (1 mentions) - Receptive (1 mentions) - Reliable (1 mentions) - Straightforward pricing (1 mentions) ### Review Highlights **Consistent Quality and Reliability** Reviewers consistently highlight the reliability and consistent quality of Last Call Media's work. They are noted for their ability to deliver functional, high-quality solutions that meet client expectations and project requirements. **High Client Satisfaction and Loyalty** Overall, clients express high satisfaction with Last Call Media's services, with many noting their intention to continue working with them for future projects. Their dedication to client needs fosters strong loyalty and long-term partnerships. **Excellent Communication and Client Relations** Clients appreciate Last Call Media's excellent communication skills, noting their ability to translate technical jargon into understandable terms. Their team is described as personable, professional, and easy to work with. **Strong Project Management Skills** Clients commend Last Call Media for their effective project management, characterized by responsiveness, clear communication, and adherence to deadlines. They use tools like Slack, Jira, and Basecamp to maintain organized workflows and ensure client satisfaction. **Comprehensive Support and Maintenance** Many clients value the ongoing support and maintenance services provided by Last Call Media. They are seen as reliable partners who ensure the long-term success and stability of client platforms. **Proactive Problem Solving** Last Call Media is recognized for their proactive approach to solving complex issues. They are praised for offering creative solutions to fit within budget and time constraints, ensuring projects move forward efficiently. **Diverse Expertise in Web Development** Last Call Media is praised for their proficiency in both front-end and back-end development, particularly in Drupal and WordPress. Clients appreciate their ability to handle complex projects and provide tailored solutions across various industries, including education, arts, and non-profit sectors. **Mixed Experiences with Project Management Transitions** While some clients praise Last Call Media's project management, others have experienced challenges with transitions between project managers. This has occasionally led to stretched timelines and budgets, suggesting room for improvement in standardizing processes. **Challenges with Timelines and Delays** Some clients have faced challenges with project timelines, experiencing delays in deliverables. These instances highlight areas where Last Call Media could improve their time management and delivery schedules. **Improvements in Site Performance and Usability** Clients report significant improvements in site performance, usability, and user engagement following Last Call Media's involvement. Enhanced features and functionalities have led to increased traffic and better user experiences. ### Last Call Media Reviews #### UI/UX Design, Web Design & Dev for Consulting Company (Featured Review) **The Project** - Services: UX/UI Design, Web Design, Web Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: Aug. 2021 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media has redesigned a consulting company's website. Currently, they provide web support and development, including feature upgrades for the site's design, UX, strategy, and implementation. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director, Digital Marketing, Consulting Company - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 1,001-5,000 Employees - Review Type: Online Review - Verified **The Review** — Feb 7, 2024 **Feedback Summary**: Thanks to Last Call Media's work, the client has seen increased website traffic. Last Call Media offers quick response times to client requests and proactive action on security and upgrades. The team excels at project management and meeting deadlines and communicates through virtual meetings. ""I'm impressed by their ability to understand the client's needs while also offering best practices to drive value."" **BACKGROUND** Please describe your company and position.I am the Director, Digital Marketing of a consulting company Describe what your company does in a single sentence.As an expert partner to organizations, our comprehensive set of capabilities address DEI and talent needs through research, assessment, strategy, learning and team development, and events and conferences. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What specific goals or objectives did you hire Last Call Media to accomplish?Website redesignPartner to support the ongoing development and design needs of the website.Ad hoc website feature upgrades, including design, development, user experience, strategy, and implementation. **SOLUTION** How did you find Last Call Media?ReferralPrevious clientWhy did you select Last Call Media over others?High ratingsPricing fit our budgetGood value for costHow many teammates from Last Call Media were assigned to this project?2-5 EmployeesDescribe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.Following LCM’s website redesign, LCM provides regular, proactive website maintenance and basic development support and management. They also provide ad hoc website feature upgrades, including design, development, user experience, strategy, and implementation. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?Increase in site traffic. Response time to feature upgrade requests. Proactiveness to security and minor version upgrades.Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?Excellent. LCM is clear on time estimates for deliverables and milestones.What was your primary form of communication with Last Call Media?Virtual MeetingWhat did you find most impressive or unique about this company?I'm impressed by their ability to understand the client's needs while also offering best practices to drive value for their clients.Are there any areas for improvement or something Last Call Media could have done differently?None. --- #### Web Platform Redesign & API Development for Nonprofit **The Project** - Services: Business Consulting, Digital Strategy, E-Commerce Development, UX/UI Design, Web Development - Project size: $200,000 to $999,999 - Project length: Aug. 2020 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media has redesigned and redeveloped the web platform of a nonprofit. The team has also created a decoupled website with separate front- and backend components and developed APIs for the client.  **Review Rating**: 4.0 - Quality: 4.0 - Schedule: 4.0 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 4.0 **The Reviewer** Program Manager, Nonprofit - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 11-50 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Aug 9, 2024 **Feedback Summary**: Thanks to Last Call Media, the client’s website has been relaunched and received positive feedback from end users. The site is more intuitive, and the client has seen increased traffic and user activity on the platform. The team’s access to various skill sets has been instrumental in their success. "“Last Call Media has access to various expertise under one roof.”" **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there.I’m a program manager at a nonprofit arts organization.  **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media?We engaged Last Call Media to redesign an existing platform that was a primary tool for my department’s work.  **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement?Last Call Media redesigned our web platform and created a decoupled website with a separate front- and backend. On top of that, the team developed an API for an API partnership program. In other words, they also redeveloped the entire structure of our website. Their resources created the design system, and Drupal was used to build the site’s backend and API. For the fronted, they used React. At present, we have an ongoing support and maintenance agreement with Last Call Media. What is the team composition?The team composition has changed because we’ve had some turnovers with the client and engineering teams. Since the start of the project, we’ve worked with at least three project managers, including Karen (Product Manager). We’ve also collaborated with 8–10 engineers and a couple of UX designers. However, we currently only interact with one dedicated project manager and one engineer. How did you come to work with Last Call Media?Last Call Media responded to our RFP alongside other agencies. The company chose them because of their expertise in front- and backend development and experience creating a decoupled website architecture. Website accessibility was also essential for us; their team seemed to have expertise in that area. How much have you invested with them?We’ve invested around $250,000–$300,000. What is the status of this engagement?I joined the project in 2021, but the engagement with Last Call Media started in August 2020. The partnership is ongoing.  **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? Our website has been relaunched, and it’s a membership site where people can create profiles. Given that, our key success metrics include the number of people creating and updating profiles and increased general traffic. We’ve seen an increase after the launch. On top of that, we’ve received feedback from users who have enjoyed the redesigned website. It’s much more user-friendly and intuitive. Moreover, we’ve been collecting feedback through on-site surveys. We’ve checked our net promoter score from users, and we’ve been rated quite highly since the site’s redesign. Overall, we’ve got mostly positive feedback from users and an increase in site activity. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint?Some of the project managers have been solution-oriented. Our communications have been virtual since we work remotely with Last Call Media. We use a combination of check-in calls and asynchronous communication via Slack and email. For project management, we use Jira.  Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?Karen has been great at taking over the project midway through, shepherding it to a point where we can launch, and nurturing it through the post-launch phase. We’ve had some challenges with the timeline, but she’s been helpful and solution-oriented. She also has great technical skills as a project manager. What did you find most impressive about them?Last Call Media has access to various expertise under one roof. We’ve collaborated with their designers on a few UX design-focused project pieces. Our team has also done an accessibility audit, and they have a teammate who specializes in that. They even have technical engineers on board who handle technical infrastructure projects. Since they have a variety of skill sets in the same place, they can assign appropriate team members to the job depending on the project type. This has been their key differentiator. Are there any areas they could improve?The project management aspect of the engagement has been slightly challenging. Although we’ve had some great project managers, we’ve been assigned to a few different ones. This has caused some pain points for our timeline and budget, which have been stretched out more than anticipated.Simply put, the team should standardize their project management practices to improve their performance. If the project management team changes, they should be more proactive about the onboarding process, especially regarding understanding our end users and business requirements. To be fair, they’ve been responsive to our pain points regarding time tracking on our tickets. They’ve updated their hours reporting system, which is now useful. In other words, they’ve taken our constructive feedback wonderfully. Do you have any advice for potential customers?Have a good shared understanding of your end users, business requirements, and use cases. Getting on the same page with Last Call Media at the beginning of the project will be helpful. Establish that baseline understanding of your needs and mission. If needed, show the team your day-to-day.  --- #### Web Design & Donations Tracking Portal for Non-Profit **The Project** - Services: Web Design - Project size: $50,000 to $199,999 - Project length: Apr. 2017 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media has revamped a non-profit’s website, enabling automation functionalities to best service its volunteers and donors. They’re currently integrating their work with Salesforce. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 4.0 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director of Marketing, St. Vincent de Paul - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 51-200 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Nov 1, 2019 **Feedback Summary**: With the more robust features and functionalities of the site, the client’s internal team has been able to better serve external stakeholders. Their honesty and attentive project management approach are continually valued. They increased efficiency by employing reasonable project management tools. "“It’s their priority to devise smart solutions that will make our site more efficient and powerful.” " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the marketing director at St. Vincent de Paul. We’re a non-profit organization in Phoenix, Arizona that provides human services to people in need. Whether they’re struggling with poverty or homelessness, we work to provide meals, shelter, support, and medical care. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? Our website is an important tool for us when it comes to recruiting volunteers, fundraising, and making viewers aware of the services we provide. Because of that, it needs to serve as a fundraising, program, and volunteer recruitment tool. We also wanted the site to appear professional and modern, with some automation functionality. Last Call Media was bought in to help us with that. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? They examined our existing website in Drupal that was created by another company, and they’ve since taken it over completely. One of the significant projects they’re working on currently is automating our donation pickup system. Before our work with them, those making donations would have to make calls, fill out a lead form, and communicate heavily with us to schedule a date for us to pick up their donations. Last Call Media is helping us build a calendar on the site where donors can book pickup dates with us. Right now, they’re in the process of hooking the calendar into Salesforce to fully automate that process.  What is the team composition? We work directly with our project managers, Alex (Director of Operations, Last Call Media) and Alexandra (Marketing Designer & Strategist, Last Call Media). How did you come to work with Last Call Media? They were referred to us by another consulting agency. We enjoyed our early collaboration with them, so we’ve stuck with them since. How much have you invested with them? In our first two years, we spent about $20,000–$30,000 annually. This year, we’re spending closer to $60,000 because we have some major projects in the works. What is the status of this engagement? We started the collaboration in April 2017, and our teams are still working together. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? With all of the upgrades they’ve made to our site, we’ve noticed increased efficiency and better customer service from our team. They’re creating a similar calendar for our volunteers now, which will also free up time for our volunteer coordinators and provide a better experience for those looking to help out. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? Our project managers are very responsive and capable of accurate scoping out work while keeping within budget and getting proper approvals to keep us on track. If I need something to be completed, they’ll set up a ticket through Jira. Then, we communicate through that platform, which has worked well because it keeps our project information organized and separate. Starting three months ago, due to our increasing engagement with them, we’re starting to have weekly update calls with their team. That’s been helpful, too.  What did you find most impressive about them? They’re knowledge, good communicators that are easy to work with. It’s their priority to devise smart solutions that will make our site more efficient and powerful. They always look for the solution that will be most helpful to us, rather than just trying to get all the required work done. For instance, we were recently discussing changing our forms, and they suggested that we move them to a third-party app for increased flexibility. That allows us to more easily manipulate our site and forms but did not benefit them. They’re always looking out for the customer in that way. Are there any areas they could improve? In terms of the timeline, there were points in the development where we stalled. I wish we could’ve moved more quickly through those, but it was a lot to juggle at that time for all of us. Do you have any advice for potential customers? Be clear about your goals and scope from the beginning. That will save you time later on in the project. --- #### Web Development for Design Collaboration Marketplace **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: June 2016 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media took over a Drupal project for a design company that had been dropped by their previous development team, finishing the build ahead of schedule and performing ongoing maintenance. **Review Rating**: 4.5 - Quality: 4.5 - Schedule: 4.5 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** VP of Advertising & Marketing, Creative Company - Industry: Media - Client size: 11-50 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Oct 30, 2019 **Feedback Summary**: The development and maintenance work performed by Last Call Media is consistently creative and well executed, allowing their partners to accomplish goals within budget and time constraints. Their team is responsive and flexible, communicating openly to keep everyone on the same page. "“They’re just really good partners. They always look for creative solutions to fit within our limited resources.” " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I am the VP of advertising and marketing for a creative design company. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? They came on for us after our initial development team was not able to complete our build and we were looking for another team to take that over and get us back on track. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? When I first started working with Last Call Media, they provided more of a development role for my organization, getting that initial project back on schedule and ultimately launching the site. After that, I went in-house with the company I was previously contracting for, and they went into more of a maintenance role and we set out to do some refinements on the site. At that point, they were more of a full-service agency, so we would tell them what we were looking to accomplish, and they would storyboard it out, give us an estimate and then build out whatever it was we were adding to the site. Originally, we provided them with detailed wireframes, and then as we went on in our engagement that transitioned to more loose wireframes basically describing our intent and then leaving it up to them to see if there is a more efficient way to execute based on the architecture of the site, which was built on Drupal and Drupal Commerce. What is the team composition? I have two main contacts with their company, as well as a head project manager How did you come to work with Last Call Media? We initially interacted with them when our development team fell through on our website build and we had to find someone who could come in and finish the project in a very compressed timeline. What is the status of this engagement? We started working together in June of 2016 and the project lasted a few months, although we still work with them in an ongoing maintenance capacity. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? They were able to complete the initial scope of work that the previous team was not able to complete so we were very pleased with their success on that. It’s a user-generated content site so they’ve also helped us prevent or address people spamming the site with everything from inappropriate content to actual hacking. We’re very satisfied with their services. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? They were very responsive, and they allow us to sort of log stuff in person with them rather than through their project management tool, which I really appreciate. Their team is very organized and document everything, but they have the flexibility to accommodate us as well. What did you find most impressive about them? They’re just really good partners. They always look for creative solutions to fit within our limited resources. Whether it’s a budget or time constraint, they always give us options and recommendations, so that we can decide together what’s the best way forward. It’s a very thorough approach to doing business. Are there any areas they could improve? I’m not a fan of using the project management softwares they use to log issues, but they’ve always been flexible enough with communication that that has not been a serious issue. From a cost perspective, they are at the higher end of the spectrum but do provide detailed solutions in the end. Do you have any advice for potential customers? Compared to other developers and teams that I’ve worked with, I find them to be by far the most straightforward and effective. --- #### Website Maintenance and Feature Updates for Gallery **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $50,000 to $199,999 - Project length: Oct. 2016 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media handles maintenance, fixes, and upgrades to the Drupal 8 site of a New York cultural institution. They work from tickets submitted by the client to track progress and manage tasks. **Review Rating**: 3.0 - Quality: 4.0 - Schedule: 3.0 - Cost: 3.0 - Willing to Refer: 3.0 **The Reviewer** Manager, Cultural Institution - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 51-200 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Oct 28, 2019 **Feedback Summary**: The web development work provided by Last Call Media has satisfied the requirements of their engagement and helped sustain several critical operations of their client’s website. Despite some delays in bug fix deliveries, their work is consistently effective at eliminating sources of problems. "“We’ve never had a problem that they haven’t been able to solve.” " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I am the digital content manager of a cultural institution in New York. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? We had a website redesign and development completed and launched by another company based in Philadelphia, but they don’t do maintenance once they’ve created the site. We were basically looking for a maintenance partner who we could work with to fix bugs that came up after launch and also for enhancements to the site that we decided to implement further down the road. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? We have a ticketing system with Last Call Media, so whenever an issue arises or there’s an enhancement we would like to have done, we submit that ticket and they get to work on it. The site was one of the early adopters of Drupal 8 because we wanted to be in a better position to upgrade in the future. One of the bigger projects we’re working on right now is that our museum is closing for two years for construction, and we need to implement a few updates to the website that I can’t do through the CMS myself that all need to launch the morning of November 4th when we close. What is the team composition? We have one main project manager and an account executive at the manager level, and then a couple of developers who work on our projects from time to time. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? The company that originally built our site provided us with a couple of options for maintenance partners, so I called and interviewed a couple of them, and Last Call Media was the most professional and straightforward. They gave us a clear idea of what the working process was going to be like, so we decided to give it a go. How much have you invested with them? We spend about $40,000 a year, although this year it’s closer to $55,000 because of the extra changes before we close. What is the status of this engagement? We signed with them in the fall of 2016 and are continuing to work together. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We’ve been able to troubleshoot some really complex issues that have arisen in our collection search tool. It was a really complex system to build originally, but Last Call Media was able to wade in and figure out some of the issues that cropped up a couple of years after launch and update the technologies. So they’ve been able to help us out of some really tight spots that affect the overall functionality of our tools. Sometimes it takes a while to figure things out, but they always stick with it and solve the problem. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? I usually communicate with our project manager directly via email if I want to tell her about a big slate of projects we have coming up or if I have a question about billing or anything like that. We use JIRA for our ticketing system, which works well for our bug fixes and enhancement requests. Since we don’t often have emergency fixes that we need, we only pay for a couple of days to a week’s response time. Because of that, sometimes things that are more urgent do take longer than we’d like to fix, but I understand that we’re only paying for a certain level of service. What did you find most impressive about them? Their work is satisfactory, but to their credit, they do always figure out the problem. We’ve never had a problem that they haven’t been able to solve. Their work is good in that regard. It’s just the timelines that can sometimes be an issue. Are there any areas they could improve? Communication around billing and hours can sometimes be a little less clear than we would like, but they are working to improve that. We bugged them about it so they actually took the initiative and are now testing a system where I can log in and see how many hours have been spent on each ticket, and see how many hours we have left, which is really helpful. Being bounced around between developers, though, it is still difficult to tell how much time is being spent just getting caught up on the website for each of them. Do you have any advice for potential customers? I would just suggest that you be in close contact with them as soon as you know you’re going to need something to make sure that you have enough lead time to get the project completed before you need it. --- #### Drupal Implementation for Art Museum **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: Feb. - Oct. 2017 **Project Summary**: Last Call built a website in Drupal, centering the layout on image displays. Iterative collaboration and a quick workflow allowed the project to be finished within five months. **Review Rating**: 4.5 - Quality: 4.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 4.0 **The Reviewer** Director, Marketing & Communications - Industry: Arts, entertainment & music - Client size: 11-50 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Nov 30, 2017 **Feedback Summary**: Although skilled, Last Call translated technical jargon into easy-to-understand goals and implementations. The website has a few issues, but feature improvement is the team’s top priority. A future project is already in the works for the new year. "“Last Call is highly responsive. … They answered all our questions and never talked down to us.” " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the marketing and communications director for a fine arts museum. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? Our old site was custom-built in 2008, so we wanted a brand new one in Drupal. We only have communications people and museum educators here, so we needed a firm to do all the technical work. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? After we hired Last Call, the three leads came to meet our team, see the museum in person, and start the discovery process.  They interviewed a large group of our staff members, including senior management, to try and understand our culture and goals. Our team filled out a questionnaire about who we are, what we wanted, and what we expected from the site, and Last Call took all those answers into consideration during the first phase.  Instead of building on the old site, they designed entirely new wireframes and concepts for the Drupal site. We wanted something simple, clean, and that would highlight our museum’s artwork through an image-heavy layout. We collaborated extensively with them, and they built the site in about five months, since we needed it finished before our launch in August. Last Call did all of the technical work and we provided the content creation. The search function on the old site was pretty much unusable, but it functions far better on the new site and is much smarter and more intuitive.  Last Call also created an events calendar, which is a vast improvement from what we had before. The site has launched, but Last Call continues to make minor changes and tweaks. We don’t technically have a service contract with them, but we plan on partnering again for a new dev project, and Last Call is committed to maintaining a positive relationship. What is the team dynamic? I met the senior producer, the UX designer, and the art director, but I don't know how many developers work for them. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? We went through a nationwide RFP process but weren’t expecting to work with an out-of-state company. However, Last Call’s proposal looked so good that we had to do an interview with them, even though they’re two time zones away. We started with nine companies and selected four for in-person demos, and Last Call were good listeners and problem-solvers. Plus, their price was highly competitive, so we chose them. What is the status of this engagement? We had our first meeting in February and the site launched in August. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We haven’t tracked in-depth yet, but people seem to be registering for museum events much more than they were on our old website. We’re also planning on using them again for a project next year, so that says something to the quality of their work. We want to revisit how images appear and function on our site because we’re not entirely satisfied with the results. Some of that may be due to us not communicating as effectively as we could have what our expectations were. We’re confident that Last Call will be able to take care of that problem and move us in the right direction. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? We had weekly video conferences through Google Hangout, and we sometimes utilized Basecamp. When the website was in development, we were able to leave comments on every page and feature, which was incredibly helpful. Last Call is highly responsive and available for communication via email, message, or phone. They answered all our questions and never talked down to us. What did you find most impressive about them? We don’t have much technical expertise on our end, but Last Call never made us feel dumb. They were good at translating technical information and bridging the gap between our technical expertise and theirs. They didn’t try to force anything on us that we didn’t want, and they’re terrific at following up. Are there any areas they could improve? We moved through the process so quickly that we both probably could’ve been clearer about what stage we were at. Do you have any advice for potential customers? Be clear and ask, at every stage, what's done and what needs to be done. If you don't have a lot of technical expertise, make sure you communicate clearly what you want and what you’re expecting. Last Call does a good job of communicating, but the client still has responsibility to be clear. --- #### Drupal Migration for Nonprofit **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $200,000 to $999,999 - Project length: Jan. 2009 - Nov. 2017 **Project Summary**: Last Call Media provided the technical resources to migrate a website from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8, improving editor workflows and working heavily in Groups.  **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 4.5 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Associate Director of Technology, Asia Society - Industry: Government - Client size: 201-500 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Nov 1, 2017 **Feedback Summary**: Deeply embedded in the Drupal community, Last Call Media is an excellent resource for companies looking for steady support throughout development projects. Their team is easy to work with and efficient in delivering products as scheduled. ""I appreciate how transparent their approach is. They don’t try to necessarily sell you all the bells and whistles." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce our business and what you do there. Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Asia Society works across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, and has 12 locations in the Asia, Europe and the United States. I am the Associate Director of Technology for Communications, Marketing and Online.  **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenges were you trying to address with Last Call Media? Migrating our large CMS from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8. We have a large website representing Asia Society’s global initiatives and 12 centers throughout the world, all which host events and exhibitions to varying degrees. We also publish regular editorial content. Our Drupal CMS must provide granular controls over editorial permissions. Editors to our website have varying levels of experience in web and design, so while we need to allow ownership over each section of the website, the communications department needs to control brand and editorial style as well. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? They handled the migration of content from Drupal 6 to 8, developed custom publishing workflows and implemented a pattern library for our front-end developer to work with. We rely heavily on the Groups module, which was not fully supported in Drupal 8. Last Call Media worked to bring the Groups module up to speed to meet our needs. They also converted our editing process to rely more on Blocks.  What is the team dynamic? Kelly [Jira and Agile Coach, Last Call Media] was our main contact for budget and project planning. During development, we had a direct access to Jeff, the lead developer on our project, who managed another developer and QA. As the launch date approached, Last Call added additional resources to make sure we met the deadline. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? Asia Society was already working with Last Call Media on a similar project when I was hired. My predecessor knew them through a professional connection.  We've continued to work with them because of their professionalism and quality of work.  How much have you invested in them? We’ve worked with them on multiple projects since 2010. Total we have spent approximately $500,000. What is the status of this engagement? The upgrade launched in October, 2017.  **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrated the impact of the engagement? For previous projects, we saw significant growth in traffic to the sections of our site targeting local audiences for our 12 centers as well as improved workflows for our CMS editors.  Since the most recent upgrade from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8 the load time of our website has improved dramatically. It is too early to tell overall impact but initial response internally has been great.  What did you find most impressive about them? Kelly and the whole team is very responsive. They also have a lot of experience working with nonprofits so they understand the pace and obstacles that can come with that world.  I appreciate how transparent their approach is. They don’t try to sell all the bells and whistles but rather find the best approach for each challenge with regard to resources and scope of the project. Kelly and Jeff  [Lead Developer, Lat Call Media], are also very involved in the Drupal community. Having them as a resource saves a ton of time researching and testing the many different approaches available in Drupal and contributed modules.  Most importantly, they are just great to work with. They have an easy going rapport while being professional. Are there any areas they could improve?  Not much honestly. If I’m going to get nitpicky there was some cross-browser testing that was done late in the project, so we did have a bit of a scramble to get that sorted out before launch. There were a couple of miscommunications which resulted in extra time and resources but all instances were nominal and rectified quickly.  --- #### Drupal Development for Higher Education Institution **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $50,000 to $199,999 - Project length: Feb. 2017 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: With a focus on "cleanup" work, Last Call Media is working to improve the efficiencies of a Drupal website. Their work includes user groups, URL structures, and SEO best case practices.  **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director of Digital Communications, Wentworth Institute of Technology - Industry: Education - Client size: 5,001-10,000 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Nov 1, 2017 **Feedback Summary**: Since the beginning of the engagement, the sites reliability and user interface have improved. Last Call Media is responsive and reliable as a primary Drupal partner. The team consistently offers advice on how to make the most of the platform.  ""I couldn’t ask for better service or support." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the director of web and digital communications at Wentworth Institute of Technology. We are a higher education institution in Boston. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? A year ago, we changed our CMS to Drupal. We needed people with more experience in Drupal to help us support the system and do some cleanup work, in hopes of better leveraging the platform. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? When we moved to Drupal, many facets of our website were development but weren't quite up to my standards. When we started working with Last Call Media, they provided a lot of cleanup work. That involves making the user interface friendlier to users and content managers. They are also helping to clean up URL structures and getting permissions on the backend fixed. The team has also helped develop some additional functionalities and helped with SEO for the site. As an example of their more complex work, we have around 30 active users. We have to be careful about who has access to each part of the site. Last Call media has helped us to figure out the groups and how we're going to leverage those to be more effective. When the site was originally created, this part of it was not very well thought through. Additionally, the site was originally set up so that title tags would generate URL structures, leaving us with URLs that were over 300 characters long. We're planning to change that with Last Call Media and update all of our current URL, which is an intense project.They have helped us develop some modules and strategic processes to help us figure out how we’re going to do that as efficiently as possible without breaking links on our site currently. What is the team dynamic? Based on the type of project that they’re working on, they pull in team members as needed. I work primarily with 4 people, but there have been 2-3 additional people as needed. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? I met Last Call representative at a conference. I liked how they worked. I did a follow-up phone call and found out they could fit our need. We had a couple of other companies come in and present with us. Last Call had great experience with Drupal, including the day to day operation side of it, which is what we really were needing. We already had the strategic look at Drupal covered, but we needed people that could actually dig in and say, “This is how we need to make Drupal work to accomplish your goals.” How much have you invested with them? We have invested between $50,000-$100,000. What is the status of this engagement? We started working together in February of this year, and the work is ongoing. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? I’m so happy with their work. Right after we engaged with them, we experienced a hack from an external site. We were able to contact Last Call Media, and they immediately responded. They took care of the vulnerability and did the cleanup work very quickly. The stability of the site and the user interface have improved. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? They are very much on top of things. They are great communicators. We talk weekly about the status of the project. They are essentially our primary support for Drupal right now. They are very responsive. Alex [Account Manager, Last Call Media] is fantastic to work with. She answers questions and gets back to us quickly. She makes sure everything is checked off when something is finished. We use Jira and Slack. What did you find most impressive about them? They work hard to make sure that we’re happy and that we get what we need. They are partners rather than somebody I’m telling what to do. I’m not a Drupal programmer. I’m able to rely on them to give me the best advice. Are there any areas they could improve? I need clones of each of them. They’re fantastic. I couldn’t ask for better service or support. --- #### Feature Development for Sales Readiness Software **The Project** - Services: Custom Software Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: June 2017 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call collaborates with internal designers to provide ongoing development and features addition for several Drupal-based landing page projects, including migration and updates. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 4.5 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 4.5 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director of Marketing Operations, Brainshark - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 201-500 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Oct 24, 2017 **Feedback Summary**: Last Call’s expertise, project management, and transparency assists in the delivery of time-sensitive projects, and also promotes profound confidence in the partnership. A client-first approach and product knowledge allows for optimal cooperation between internal and external resources as well. "“We are driving better conversions on our landing pages as a result of Last Call’s work.”" **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. Brainshark provides a self-readiness platform to Fortune 100 companies. We’ve been based in the Boston area for a long time, so we have a great customer base.  **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? In March 2016, before I came to the company, Brainshark made the transition from Sitecore to the current web platform, Drupal. I quickly learned after I inherited the platform that our webmaster wasn’t remaining current it. We weren’t able to accomplish some of our goals as quickly as we’d hoped because the learning curve of the platform is fairly steep. We needed a partner who we could turn to when projects which required extensive Drupal expertise came up. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? Last Call Media has helped with some special projects around landing pages. We wanted to make sure that when someone downloaded something from our website, we’d be able to offer complementary content to them based on similar topics. We implemented this when we first went live with Drupal. Last Call helped us leverage more features within the platform, consulted us on different issues regarding internal setup, and also aided us in either overcoming or bypassing those problems.   We made a recent marketing automation platform transition from Eloqua to Marketo. There was a lot of landing-page migration as part of this process, as well as other updates on the website. Last Call helped extensively with this. Their work has been more on the development side. We have an internal design team who worked on prototypes for our pages. Last Call has typically taken those designs and implemented them from a web development perspective. We’ve had more flexibility since they’ve been around, and they’ve helped bring our internal developers’ vision to fruition. What is the team dynamic? I’ve worked closely with Kelly [Senior Digital Producer, Last Call Media]. I’ve also worked with another of their consultants for the marketing automation project. The web manager we had at the time also worked with their team, but I was managing the project from a distance. I was brought in on weekly calls to get updates on various items. The web portion was recently transferred from me to another person. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? We identified the need for bringing in a firm that could work as a partner in terms of web development. We reached out to Acquia, and they sent us recommendations for 2–3 firms to look at. We had initial calls with all of them, but I knew immediately that Last Call would be our first choice. We got a big-agency feel from other firms because when they came in, they brought a lot of broad ideas on how they could help us change the entire website. However, we were really looking for a day-to-day partner who could help us figure out our web strategy on the go. I felt we would be treated like an client, and not a partner, by the other 2 candidates. Other companies also tried to add some extras into the offer, which may or may not have been needed. They didn’t really understand what we were looking for. Last Call never gave me the impression that they were petty because they were fair in their assessment of our needs. They based their quotes on their understanding of what we wanted instead of upselling for their own benefit. What is the status of this engagement? We formally started working with them in July 2017, but engaged with them earlier than that. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? We are driving better conversions on our landing pages as a result of Last Call’s work. We’re engaging more people on the website instead of watching them download something and never returning. During our transition to the new marketing automation platform, having them as a partner helped us finish a lot of time-sensitive projects. Their inclusion spared internal resources from having to spend time on things they had less knowledge on. Last Call completed on time what those resources wouldn’t have been able to. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? Their project management is great, and it’s one of the things we were looking for. We receive weekly updates on our retainer hours, ticket statuses, and overall progress. I can log into their system at any time and figure out what’s going on with a specific project. What did you find most impressive about them? We’ve found the partner we were looking for. People are now able to call us at a moment’s notice and ask for help. Last Call’s professionalism and knowledge of the product also makes them stand out. I’ve never had to worry about them being able to work on a particular project. I know they will ask me the right questions, get the data they need, then do exactly we we asked for. Are there any areas they could improve? My experience with them has been great. I want to mention a point of improvement, but I really can’t think of any. Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs? Hire them, and don’t think about it. --- #### Drupal Implementation for Higher Ed Institution **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $200,000 to $999,999 - Project length: July 2015 - Aug. 2016 **Project Summary**: Last Call replaced another supplier unfamiliar with open source solutions. An existing site was then redeveloped with Drupal and a new catalog deployed, improving how students find available collegiate majors.  **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 4.5 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Associate Director, Accredited University - Industry: Education - Client size: 1,001-5,000 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Jan 5, 2017 **Feedback Summary**: Highlights include a well-organized project management approach and unparalleled knowledge of Drupal, which enables them to tailor solutions to very specific circumstances and criteria.  ""They did an excellent job of walking us through the whole process." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. We are a higher education institution. I run the organization's web operations. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? We had been using a solution from a separate supplier and wanted to move to an open-source content management system, which would give us more control and flexibility. The supplier we had originally wasn't specialized in Drupal or any open source solution, so we looked for an alternative. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? Last Call Media was outsourced for helping us with the initial development of the website's Drupal infrastructure. Last Call Media took part in everything from the discovery process, through to the planning and development. We handled the design internally, also taking care of the content architecture. Last Call Media worked within our pace, in order to get those elements taken care of. It was a collaborative effort, with Last Call Media taking care of all technical efforts. We built a way of presenting all available university majors, minors, PhDs, and so on. For each area of study, we showed all the available degrees that a student could enroll for. In order to pull all the content in the format that we needed, from a design standpoint, we needed to build an API which connected the front-end to the back-end. It was an impressive piece of technology. Last Call Media helped us restrict the types of content we were creating. Based on their previous higher education clients, they helped us avoid creating too many types of content, which would have become hard to manage over time. Last Call Media assigned up to 5 individuals at peak capacity, including 4 developers (2 senior) and a project manager. We met with all of the resources beforehand in order to understand their approach and vision. At the project start, we already knew everyone who would be involved with the project. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? We reviewed 3 candidates, with their location being the main factor. I wanted to work with a development company in our area so that we could have in-person meetings. We didn't look outside of Massachusetts, but we found 3 good options in the Boston area, as well as Last Call Media, in North Hampton. We offered each candidate the same opportunities to present their services and understand what we wanted to build. We looked at each company's portfolio, talked to their past clients, ultimately selecting Last Call Media based on their experience and passion. The other partners had a more out-of-the-box approach; they weren't as agile and adaptable to our needs. At that point, we had more of a concept, so we needed some flexibility from the developer's side in changing our path and adding things that we hadn't considered. Last Call Media has a relatively young team, which could work with us long-term. How much have you invested with Last Call Media? The cost of Last Call Media's services was in the low 6-figure range. What is the status of this engagement? We started working with Last Call Media in July 2015, with an initial discovery process for the technologies we would be using. The planning stage and development started in the winter of 2015. Our minimum viable product was built in June 2016, after which we had 2-3 additional sprints of one week each, and a training period for our internal team. Our goal was to manage code for ourselves. The site was launched in August 2016. Last Call Media has remained a consulting partner for us. We go to them whenever we are unsure of how something should be built. Last Call Media will either handle the coding or guide us in implementing the necessary changes. We've made many improvements since the site was launched, creating new features, content types, and views. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement? Last Call Media's expertise was priceless, in terms of figuring out where Drupal should be used and how. Last Call Media helped us create a site that can be successfully managed by our internal team. The new site is a scalable solution that will grow with us instead of break under the pressure of success.  How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? We used Redmine for project management, which is Last Call Media's internal tool. They also joined our GitLab, and we communicated through email, Slack, Skype calls, and Google Hangouts. What did you find most impressive about their practice? They really went out of their way to understand what it was we were trying to do. We had some very clear expectations and some very strict limitations, too, which made the project more difficult that it appeared. They did an excellent job of walking us through the whole process. Are there any areas Last Call Media could improve? Last Call Media is a young team of talented individuals, but business expertise for working with clients takes a lot of time within the more traditional markets. We've had many conversations around setting up expectations. Last Call Media is good in this respect, but whenever we didn't specify all the details for a particular task, we needed to go back and make changes to the result. --- #### Ongoing Drupal Dev for Rainforest Alliance **The Project** - Services: Custom Software Development - Project size: $200,000 to $999,999 - Project length: Jan. 2012 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media migrated an existing website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 and then implemented an updated, responsive design. Assigned resources continue developing new features.  **Review Rating**: 4.0 - Quality: 4.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 4.0 **The Reviewer** Senior Manager, Rainforest Alliance - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 201-500 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Dec 21, 2016 **Feedback Summary**: Highlights include a meticulous approach to development and refined project communications, both of which help mitigate common pitfalls.  ""Their interpersonal skills are definitely one of their strengths." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. Rainforest Alliance works with farmers, foresters, and tourism business owners around the world to make their business practices more sustainable. Our overall goal is to conserve the forest. I’m a senior manager of web strategy and development. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? We upgraded our global website, rainforest-alliance.org, from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 around 2013. That was the first big project we hired them to do. **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? Last Call helped us with a complete redesign of our website and transitioned us from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. My team did the frontend programming and Last Call Media did the backend programming. Last Call Media did the implementation and the complete rebuild, not just a migration, in Drupal 8. We worked with another agency to do all of the frontend design and visuals. Last Call implemented those elements, though. We also have frontend designers on staff, but we’ve always hired our backend developers on a consultant basis. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? They used to be consulting programmers for an agency I inherited about 5 years ago. They later branched off to create their own web development company. We’ve been with them ever since. When we did our bidding process, it was a tough decision, because we found 2 other really good Drupal development firms. How much have you invested with Last Call Media? In total, we’ve paid about $500,000 for their services. The most recent redesign was a sizable chunk of the total. What is the status of this engagement? We have them on a monthly retainer to do basic development work. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you share that would demonstrate the success of their involvement? Aside from having a completely updated website, they've been able to help us prioritize our efforts on a more long-term basis. Our older site presented some real limitations and we did not have the time or skills necessary to revamp our the site alone. We imagined working with another company could be disastrous, so we entered the situation with a healthy degree of skepticism. I'm happy to report that Last Call proved us wrong. Working with them wasn't flawless, but it has been extremely productive.  How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? I’ve only worked with a handful of primary contacts. There was 1 project lead, but their developers are a lot more sophisticated than others, so we have a lot more contact with them than other clients do. We don't need as much account management on their side because we all speak the same language. There were probably 5 to 6 people working on our last project at any given time. It was a 6- to 9-month project, so it took a while. What did you find most impressive about Last Call Media? The one thing I always tell people is that Last Call Media has the most pleasant developers I've ever worked with. Their interpersonal skills are definitely one of their strengths. They can talk to you in a clear way without being awkward or condescending, which is kind of rare to find in developers. They also are really good communicators. Are there any areas Last Call Media could improve? Not that I can think of. We’ve had a pretty good experience with them. --- #### Drupal Dev for Liberal Arts College **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: Apr. 2016 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call first rebuilt an old website using Drupal, then migrated legacy data, and developed an API enabling secure online transactions. Bug fixes and new features are now the main focus.  **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 4.5 - Schedule: 4.0 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Data Integration Architect, Liberal Arts College - Industry: Education - Client size: 1,001-5,000 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Dec 21, 2016 **Feedback Summary**: Pros include access to superior technical skills and a more proactive approach to problem-solving, which tends to favor hands-on rather than passive stakeholders.  "" ... It’s helpful to have their technical background for using best practices." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I’m the data integration architect at a liberal arts college. I'm responsible for the technical overview of our website that is now mostly in Drupal. I’m also the primary point of contact for Last Call Media for the school. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? We hired Last Call Media originally to fill a gap after we had a web developer leave on short notice. We also needed help with the architecture of moving to Drupal.  **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? Last Call Media helped us deepen our technical base for the launch of our Drupal site. They assigned developers and talked us through what our choices were in terms of architecture and launching our site. They did some development work and a lot of bug fixes, as well as adding new features to our site. During the transition, they added custom modules to our Drupal instance such as a connection to our API for our credit card vendor. This was extremely helpful. Previously, we were doing that in PHP and whatnot on our old web server. We don't really have a service level agreement with them, so our goal is to give them things that aren’t super time sensitive so they can fit them in when they can. We handle a lot of troubleshooting and coding internally. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? Last Call Media was recommended to us by our cloud hosting vendor, Acquia. We have several other vendors who do work on the site occasionally. In addition, we had a different vendor that did the actual implementation and building of our site. We’re using Last Call Media as a backup to make sure that the technical side is handled as well as the design side. How much have you invested with Last Call Media? We purchased a set number of retainer hours and we’re about to buy more. For the development work on the payment module and pre-launch preparation we purchased a sprint. Since then, we’ve worked off of retainer hours. What is the status of this engagement? Last Call Media started working with us in late March or April of 2016. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement? I’m tracking the depths of our move into Drupal. We still have a significant presence outside of Drupal and their work has helped us consolidate our various digital properties into one unified platform. My goal is to get all of our stuff off of static pages and into our new Drupal site, and their work has helped us start to get there. We still have more work to do. Compared to what we expected from any supplier, I'd say they've more than delivered. They bring confidence and expertise to each brainstorming session we have and they help us define what's most important to our core objectives. Accomplishing what we are would be tremendously difficult without their support. We're very grateful.  How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? We have a multi-site so there are different stakeholders on campus who are using their services. I coordinate the overall engagement with Last Call. They are responsive and thorough in their interactions with us. Last Call uses a ticket tracking system that works quite well in terms of communicating on bugs and other issues. We do meet on site with them. One great thing about working with them is that they’re about three blocks from my office. Their location is highly convenient. What did you find most impressive about Last Call Media? I find them to be extremely technically competent. They’re willing to work with our system, which is less than ideal at times. It’s also helpful to have their technical background for using best practices. They've been able to help us think through things in ways we hadn't beforehand. They definitely pay close attention to detail and ask important questions. I appreciate that approach because it forces you to define exactly what it is you want. It's too hard to build something right with only a concept, so that really helps organizations like ours. Are there any areas Last Call Media could improve? No, I don't have anything in specific in regard to Last Call Media. The only areas I would improve all have been things that I wish I had done differently, in terms of my interaction with our stakeholders on campus. If I had been able to keep an eye on their requests somewhat, I would have been able to filter out some of that and save us all some time. --- #### Drupal Implementation for Haverford College **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: Feb. - Aug. 2015 **Project Summary**: Last Call migrated the functional backend of an existing custom-built site to Drupal 8 while retaining the same design and also trying to avoid unexpected frontend issues, which could've disturbed end-users. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 4.5 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director of Web Communications, Haverford College - Industry: Education - Client size: 501-1,000 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Dec 19, 2016 **Feedback Summary**: Whereas some suppliers prevent their developers from interacting directly with customers, Last Call Media both encourages and facilitates it. Their open approach more effectively dispels possible confusion and promotes true product ownership.  ""Being able to talk directly with the developers was a pleasant surprise." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. Haverford College is a liberal arts college outside Philadelphia. I am the director of web communications. I oversee all aspects of the college’s website, our main .edu site, third-party sites, and other digital communications. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? We were looking to transition an existing, custom-built site to a content management system [CMS], specifically Drupal. We wanted a company that was an expert in Drupal to help us determine what we needed in order to build the site and the type of customization needed so that we could transition into a CMS since our previous website was all hand coded. It was extremely important that we retain most of our core features and all of our records.  **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? Before hiring Last Call Media, we engaged a different firm for strategy work, which assessed what type of platform might be best for us, and that resulted in us moving towards Drupal. Since Drupal was the product we wanted to use, our initial work with Last Call Media was adding to our strategy work to figure out what do we need in order to attack the problem of building the site. We wanted them to help us transition into Drupal and do the development work, too. We did not ask them to do any new design work since we were happy with our web design and existing branding. Other people were coming in as needed, but the core team we mainly worked with was of three people: a project manager, senior developer, and junior developer. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? We wanted to work with a company that was local, so that if we wanted to get together face-to-face, then we could do that. We went through the process of finding the right partner and did not find one that clicked with us. But when my team and I went to a Drupal camp in Philadelphia, one of the sponsors were Last Call Media. After the camp, we looked them up. Even though they were not local to us, we loved their website because it was in Drupal 8, which was years before anybody was building anything in Drupal 8. We thought it was interesting and wanted to talk to them. I reached out, and we started talking. We felt we clicked with them and that they understood what we were trying to do. What is the status of this engagement? We first contacted them at the end of 2014 and started working with them early 2015. We launched the site in August 2015. Since the launching, we have continued to work with them but not as intensively as it is on smaller projects or problems that have arisen as my team learns more about Drupal. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement? We get a lot of feedback from users emailing us to say the site looks great. Since a lot of the changes were behind the scenes, many people do not realize that something has changed, which is a great thing to me. That was one of my team’s goals: our audience should not notice that something changed because it should still look like our original website. We know internally that our site is faster and more flexible. We can deploy changes site-wide that we could not have done in a timely fashion without a CMS. As an example, we redesigned our homepage and overhauled our site-wide navigation and search. Once we did the work internally, we launched that site-wide because of Drupal. We would not have been able to do that two years ago without a CMS. Coming from no CMS into a CMS is life-changing. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? Since we did two-week sprints, it felt like a whirlwind because we were moving at such a rapid pace and so much was happening, but everybody that we worked with was responsive. The communication was good. Throughout the main part of the project, we were in touch multiple times a week. We spent a lot of time working together via email, but we also did check in using Google Hangouts. They use a system called Redmine for project management. Through Redmine, we submit tickets or support requests and discuss different options for using modules. What did you find most impressive about Last Call Media? We were working not only with the project manager but with the developers as well. Being able to talk directly with the developers was a pleasant surprise. I have had experiences with other companies where the project manager is the shield or wall between the developers and the client, so working directly with both of those roles was unique and enjoyable. Are there any areas Last Call Media could improve? I don’t think so since we had a really good experience. But for us, doing an Agile project was a new experience, as we were used to traditional web projects. At the end of our project, we internally set aside time to do cleanup and fixes, but in hindsight, had we known, it works better for us to do these tasks throughout and not until the end. But for me, that’s an experience thing since we had never done this before. --- #### Drupal Dev for Refugee Assistance Nonprofit **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $50,000 to $199,999 - Project length: Feb. 2016 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media implements new design elements and custom features into an existing Drupal website, which is hosted in the cloud and managed remotely.  **Review Rating**: 4.5 - Quality: 4.5 - Schedule: 4.5 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Sr. Developer, Nonprofit - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 201-500 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Dec 15, 2016 **Feedback Summary**: Pros include an organized, customer-oriented approach that encourages mutual project accountability and a genuine eagerness to solve complex problems on behalf of their clients.  ""I've known [their] principal for a long time, and I like his common-sense approach." " **BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and what you do there. I work for a refugee-protection agency working all around the world. We resettle refugees in the United States. Our organization was established over a century ago and is one of the oldest groups worldwide working to protect refugees. I am the senior director of communications for the company. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What challenge were you trying to address with Last Call Media? We needed to make some improvements to our website. For example, we were experiencing some processing performance issues on the backend because of some poor coding. We also had some recurring bugs that needed resolving. The list went on and on, but we couldn't fix any of it without help.  **SOLUTION** What was the scope of their involvement? Last Call Media has worked on aesthetics, as well as adding functionalities to our Drupal website, improving its overall usability. We've recently launched a new events management section on the site; it was one of the bigger projects we undertook in 2016. Last Call Media has also helped us switch to a new hosting provider recently. Doing this has saved our organization a lot of money. We have worked with a number of developers, an information architect, and different managers from Last Call Media's team, during different phases of our project. How did you come to work with Last Call Media? We had been working with a different agency for a couple of years but felt that that relationship had run its course. We wanted to have some fresh eyes on-site. I had worked with Last Call Media before at another job, so I knew what their capabilities were. How much have you invested with Last Call Media? The cost of Last Call Media's work has been around $80,000 so far. What is the status of this engagement? We started working with Last Call Media at the beginning of 2016. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement? Switching our site to cloud-based hosting has been a big win for our group, saving us a lot of money immediately. It's a much more flexible and robust solution, at a fraction of the cost. Last Call Media has made recommendations and helped us migrate. The events section built by Last Call Media has worked well and gave us a capacity that we hadn't had before. It's now much easier for us to manage publishing new events content on the site. How did Last Call Media perform from a project management standpoint? For the most part, Last Call Media delivered on time and within budget. These projects will typically take longer than expected to complete, but Last Call Media's performance has been reasonable. We have our own instance of Basecamp which has been used for the project to a limited extent. Last Call Media uses Redmine internally, for project management and incident tracking. It's a bit technical, so we don't use it as much ourselves. Basecamp is good for discussions and gathering requirements. What did you find most impressive about Last Call Media? I've known Last Call Media's principal for a long time, and I like his common-sense approach. He's easy to talk to and listens well to our needs. Last Call Media's process is not very different to that of other web shops I've used, but they're responsible, diligent, and things are generally kept moving. Last Call Media is a no-nonsense and no-drama shop. There was never upselling of unnecessary services. Last Call Media has been accountable and diligent around the time spent. Anytime we've had a question or disagreed about an issue, Last Call Media was good at hearing us out and considering our perspective. I really appreciate this. --- #### Custom Drupal Development for State University Research Center **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $10,000 to $49,999 - Project length: **Project Summary**: Last Call Media spearheaded custom Drupal programming for multiple university departments. They handled front and back-end components due to limited internal resources. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Web Designer & Strategist, Center for Agriculture - Industry: Education - Client size: 10,001+ Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Jan 23, 2014 **Feedback Summary**: Last Call Media built a functionality allowing internal teams to easily share information across Drupal sites, which had a positive impact on workflow. The feature was received enthusiastically across the board. The team adhered to strict state budget requirements with thoughtful professionalism. "“They are very business savvy, but they are very personable as well.”" **BACKGROUND** Could you briefly describe your organization? I work for the Center for Agriculture at the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It houses the research arm of the Extension Cooperative Service. What is your position? I am the Web designer and developer. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Last Call Media? About four years ago, the university adopted Drupal as the content management system to build out all of their department websites. The people who are involved in designing and building websites needed to get up to speed with developing on the Drupal platform. I was tasked with developing the projects, and it’s just me in this capacity. I don’t necessarily have the capability to do all of them. In those cases, we are able to hire outside vendors. The other situation that compelled us to use outside vendors was with custom programming. We have zero code monkeys in-house, so we really had to find a development partner. **SOLUTION** Could you describe the scope of the project? Because I’m able to build out a large part of websites except for the custom programming, I’ve used Last Call for the pieces where we’ve needed custom functionality. It’s been more of a collaborative-type workflow. They’ve worked really well in that capacity. It can be difficult to hire a Web developer who only handles certain components of the site. Last Call Media has been great with exactly that. They’re incredibly knowledgeable in the Drupal ecosystem, both the frontend and the backend. I’ve also worked with them in the capacity of project management. They have a project manager on their end, and then I’m the one on the university end, making me the liaison between them and the client here at the university. They’ve taken the whole project from start to finish in terms of building up the design, functionality, and testing. They were also incredibly responsible. As a state university, we have to stay within a strict budget. They understand that. They completely stayed within budget, kept in contact with us in terms of areas beyond the project scope, and organized the process very well.   How did you select Last Call Media as your solution partner? They’re heavily involved in the Drupal community, and they give back quite a bit. It’s an open source community, so it really relies on people giving back. They’ve built various modules for Drupal. They were one of several companies that sponsored a Drupal camp that was hosted here at the university. It was at that conference that I first became familiar with Last Call Media. I decided to send request for an estimate to them and they responded with a decent bid. This was a project that I needed to collaborate closely with them. They were perfectly willing to work with our workflow, and provided some fresh insights into how to improve the process. Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms? The projects they’ve done projects for us, it was anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000. When was the project completed? The most recent project was a couple of months ago. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** In terms of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work Last Call Media has delivered? One of the projects had a huge impact. We have a bunch of individual Drupal sites across many teams within our center. We want to share information between those sites, so that people could add content in one and specify where they want it to appear. That’s the piece of functionality that Last Call created for us. It’s made a huge difference. The feedback has just been overwhelmingly great for that. When working with Last Call Media, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other service providers with which you’ve worked? The thing that sets them apart is they’re very down to earth. They’re not hard sellers. They are very business savvy, but they are very personable as well. They’re incredibly professional. In retrospect, are there any areas that you think they could improve upon, or are there things you’d do differently as the client before approaching this type of project? There are certain things that we would do differently, but it has nothing to do with Last Call Media. It has something to do with them in terms of how we worked in the past, and their guidance for us to work more effectively. But, it’s not a negative against them. It’s certainly a new area for us in terms of working with Drupal vendors and sites of this capacity. We’ve had to learn a whole new kind of workflow. We’ve had to learn a new method of collaboration in terms of implementing new code. That’s all been quite beneficial. They’re more than happy to offer that guidance to us, which has been fantastic. --- #### Drupal Upgrade for Nonprofit Environmental Organization **The Project** - Services: Web Development - Project size: $50,000 to $199,999 - Project length: **Project Summary**: Last Call Media performed a Drupal upgrade and designed and implemented a responsive website theme. They continue to provide ongoing support. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Online Web Master, Environmental Nonprofit - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 201-500 Employees - Review Type: Phone Interview - Verified **The Review** — Jan 22, 2014 **Feedback Summary**: The team enhanced functionality on the back-end, resulting in streamlined internal business processes. Additionally, the responsive theme decreased bounce rates across web and mobile devices. Last Call Media was very flexible and employed excellent project management strategies. "“We’ve been extremely pleased with their performance.”" **BACKGROUND** Could you briefly describe your company? We’re an international nonprofit organization that works heavily in environmental conservation. What is your position? I’m the Web manager. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Last Call Media? We were initially working through a middleman that was sourcing our development work to Last Call Media. Eventually, we commissioned Last Call directly and removed the middleman. It didn’t make sense to work through a separate contract, and we wanted to have the most effective relationship possible with our development partner. Our initial challenge was to perform a Drupal upgrade to the latest version. We also wanted a new responsive theme for our website. Last Call Media handled both of those tasks. **SOLUTION** Could you describe the scope of the project? For instance, did it involve custom visual design, backend development, training, or support?  The upgrade to the latest Drupal version was initiated with Last Call Media through the previously mentioned middleman. That required a significant amount of backend development. Implementing the responsive theme into our site was done afterward and without the middleman. That also required a considerable amount of custom development along with quality assurance/quality control and user interface/user experience testing. They also provide ongoing support for our Drupal platform. How did you select Last Call Media as your solution partner? We were originally utilizing their services through a middleman. We were rather displeased with the project management. However, were very impressed with the development work produced by Last Call. Eventually, we terminated our contract with the middleman and hired Last Call Media directly. Could you provide a sense of the size of this project in monetary terms? If I recall correctly, it cost between $15,000 and $20,000. When was the project completed? The Drupal upgrade was finished a year ago, and we still have several projects ongoing. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered? It’s a little bit tough, because there were no frontend, visible changes. It was all work that was done on the backend, so there was no difference from the users’ perspective other than potentially some site speed improvements. They enhanced the fluidity of our functionality, which is hard to demonstrate without understanding our internal business processes. As for the responsive theme implementation, we’ve seen improvements in our bounce rates and especially for mobile. When working with Last Call Media, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors you’ve worked with in the past? I would say that we’ve tried several Drupal developers in the past, but Last Call has been by far the best at communication. We have direct contact with their developers, and they’re extremely proficient at speaking to the layperson. They’re also very accessible. We never feel left out of the loop. They’re very flexible in terms of project management. We’ve been extremely pleased with their performance and intend to keep them as our development partner into the foreseeable future. --- #### Cybersecurity, Software Dev & Maintenance for Smith College **The Project** - Services: Application Management & Support, Custom Software Development, Cybersecurity - Project size: Confidential - Project length: Jan. 2018 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media provides ongoing development and technical support for the Smith college. The team manages the client's Drupal and WordPress ecosystems, providing security oversight and on-demand development. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 4.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Sr Web Developer, Smith College - Industry: Education - Client size: 1,001-5,000 Employees - Review Type: Online Review - Verified **The Review** — Nov 14, 2024 **Feedback Summary**: The client is happy with Last Call Media's work. The team is responsive to the client's requests and flexible with the timing of their deliverables. Moreover, they consistently provide exceptional support and security oversight. Last Call Media's broad spectrum of expertise is remarkable. ""Last Call Media has been an invaluable partner in the support and maintenance of our CMS ecosystems."" **BACKGROUND** Please describe your company and position.I am a Senior Web Developer for Smith CollegeDescribe what your company does in a single sentence.Smith College is among the largest women’s colleges in the United States. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What specific goals or objectives did you hire Last Call Media to accomplish?Development and Technical Support **SOLUTION** How did you find Last Call Media?ReferralWhy did you select Last Call Media over others?High ratingsClose to my geographic locationReferred to meHow many teammates from Last Call Media were assigned to this project?2-5 EmployeesDescribe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.Last Call Media provides continuous support and application/module development for our Drupal and Wordpress ecosystems. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?Last Call Media consistently provides exceptional support, security oversight, and on demand development for special projects.Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?Last Call Media is always responsive to requests and flexible with timing of deliverables relative to our academic schedule.What was your primary form of communication with Last Call Media?Virtual MeetingWhat did you find most impressive or unique about this company?Last Call Media has a broad spectrum of expertise and can always be relied upon to provide expert guidance and support.Are there any areas for improvement or something Last Call Media could have done differently?Last Call Media has been an invaluable partner in the support and maintenance of our CMS ecosystems. --- #### UI/UX Design, Web Design & Dev for Consulting Company **The Project** - Services: UX/UI Design, Web Design, Web Development - Project size: Confidential - Project length: Aug. 2021 - Ongoing **Project Summary**: Last Call Media has redesigned a consulting company's website. Currently, they provide web support and development, including feature upgrades for the site's design, UX, strategy, and implementation. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director, Digital Marketing, Consulting Company - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 1,001-5,000 Employees - Review Type: Online Review - Verified **The Review** — Feb 7, 2024 **Feedback Summary**: Thanks to Last Call Media's work, the client has seen increased website traffic. Last Call Media offers quick response times to client requests and proactive action on security and upgrades. The team excels at project management and meeting deadlines and communicates through virtual meetings. ""I'm impressed by their ability to understand the client's needs while also offering best practices to drive value."" **BACKGROUND** Please describe your company and position.I am the Director, Digital Marketing of a consulting company Describe what your company does in a single sentence.As an expert partner to organizations, our comprehensive set of capabilities address DEI and talent needs through research, assessment, strategy, learning and team development, and events and conferences. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What specific goals or objectives did you hire Last Call Media to accomplish?Website redesignPartner to support the ongoing development and design needs of the website.Ad hoc website feature upgrades, including design, development, user experience, strategy, and implementation. **SOLUTION** How did you find Last Call Media?ReferralPrevious clientWhy did you select Last Call Media over others?High ratingsPricing fit our budgetGood value for costHow many teammates from Last Call Media were assigned to this project?2-5 EmployeesDescribe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.Following LCM’s website redesign, LCM provides regular, proactive website maintenance and basic development support and management. They also provide ad hoc website feature upgrades, including design, development, user experience, strategy, and implementation. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?Increase in site traffic. Response time to feature upgrade requests. Proactiveness to security and minor version upgrades.Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?Excellent. LCM is clear on time estimates for deliverables and milestones.What was your primary form of communication with Last Call Media?Virtual MeetingWhat did you find most impressive or unique about this company?I'm impressed by their ability to understand the client's needs while also offering best practices to drive value for their clients.Are there any areas for improvement or something Last Call Media could have done differently?None. --- #### IT Consulting for University Medical Center **The Project** - Services: Other IT Consulting and SI - Project size: $10,000 to $49,999 - Project length: July - Dec. 2017 **Project Summary**: Last Call Media provided IT consulting services to a university medical center. The team analyzed current systems and assisted in selecting a replacement. **Review Rating**: 5.0 - Quality: 5.0 - Schedule: 5.0 - Cost: 5.0 - Willing to Refer: 5.0 **The Reviewer** Director of Product & Content, Columbia Medical Center - Industry: Other industries - Client size: 10,001+ Employees - Review Type: Online Review - Verified **The Review** — Oct 29, 2019 **Feedback Summary**: The internal team successfully built up their business around the new tool. Last Call Media is organized and communicative, ensuring a steady workflow Their team is understanding, attentive, and thorough. ""They were extremely thorough in both their approach and their documentation." " **BACKGROUND** Please describe your company and your position there. We are a university medical school and healthcare provider. Our team develops and manages the websites for the campus. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** For what projects/services did your company hire Last Call Media? We hired LCM to evaluate our profile system and assist in the selection for a replacement. What were your goals for this project? Gain a better understanding on how the existing product was being used so that it could inform our decision for a replacement. **SOLUTION** How did you select this vendor? They were referred to us. Describe the project in detail. Once we selected the vendor we met to discuss the project in detail and make arrangements for them to meet with stakeholders. They conducted interviews across different departments and compiled their findings. Based on those findings they researched potential replacement tools and presented us the options with a breakdown of features and how they aligned with our needs. What was the team composition? They had a team lead and an analyst. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success? The outcome was extremely helpful for us to build a business for the replacement of the tool. How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs? They were very organized and made sure to communicate with us every step of the way. What did you find most impressive about this company? They were extremely thorough in both their approach and their documentation. Are there any areas for improvement? None, their work was great. --- ## Portfolio & Awards ### Modern Drupal Platform for Creative Community Empowering New England's creative economy through strategic digital platform evolution. Transforming a directory into a thriving digital ecosystem connecting 30,000+ artists and organizations. When NEFA came to Last Call Media in 2017, their CreativeGround platform had outgrown its Drupal 7 architecture. Hosting issues, performance bottlenecks, and limited integrations were frustrating both staff and the creative community they served. What started as addressing immediate platform challenges evolved into an 8+ year strategic partnership — and a platform that now connects 30,000+ artists, organizations, and creative businesses across six New England states. What we built We transitioned CreativeGround to a decoupled Drupal backend with Next.js 14 frontend, giving NEFA the scalable foundation they needed: Advanced search powered by Apache Solr with discipline hierarchies, geographic filtering, and breadcrumb navigation Bidirectional Salesforce sync and Mailchimp integration for seamless data management API partnership program enabling external organizations to embed CreativeGround data via custom WordPress plugins Accessibility-conscious design system built on Material Design, with WCAG compliance and specialized support for Native American artist verification Multi-environment CI/CD pipeline ensuring reliable, low-risk deployments Results 30,000+ professional profiles across 5 states API partners extending platform reach beyond creativeground.org Multi-state government roster programs supported 99.99% uptime maintained 8 years of continuous development and growth This partnership demonstrates what's possible when technical expertise meets mission alignment — an evolving digital infrastructure that keeps pace with a region's creative economy. Ready to build a platform that scales with your mission? Let's talk. ### Project with Instant Brands Instant Brands is a household brand in the United States that sells a range of kitchen appliances that make cooking at home easier, faster, and healthier. Last Call Media worked with their team to make the UX feel more personalized by featuring the products in a way that was aspirational instead of just informative. They wanted the new design to help customers feel like they are part of a community of home cooks and encouraged to share their Instant Brand product experiences with each other. Given the quick turnaround time for this redesign to have it launched before the Black Friday holiday rush, we had to conduct research in a way that was most efficient and would provide the most valuable insights quickly. On day one, we held card sorting and other interactive exercises with stakeholders to further understand their desired business outcomes and assumptions. In the first week, we did a thorough competitor analysis. To help us understand the needs and motivations of a home cook, we referred to usability studies available through UX research groups (Baymard, NNG) before testing those assumptions through a series of user tests on their existing site with proto-personas we made based off of their customer personas.  Our main goals for the testing was to find any glaring usability issues in the current site, understand how those different personas select products, and to evaluate the findability of the existing Instant Brands Community section. These tests revealed many opportunities for improvement which we incorporated in our first design iterations through rapid wireframing, IA mapping, and prototyping over the remainder of the design phase through launch. ### Project with Commonwealth of Massachusetts Last Call Media partnered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to improve how it engages with and provides services to its constituents online through Mass.gov. Mass.gov is edited by 600+ content authors across 400+ government agencies. The site is used by the Commonwealth’s 6.8 million constituents to the tune of 15 million page views a month. Authors have used Mass.gov to improve constituent satisfaction, and lower the bar for access to the services they provide. Last Call Media is proud to make this a success in our home state. ### Project with Wentworth Institute of Technology The institute was looking to showcase their commitment to innovation, diversity and inclusion, as well as exceptional educational experiences. We began by really thinking outside the box of what a college website “should” be. Last Call Media collaborated with the Wentworth team to create their new branding direction and to turn this vision into reality. The Last Call Media design team created a fresh, vibrant new look for wit.edu to capture the attention and excitement of the school’s two key audiences: prospective students and their parents. Over the years, we’ve worked with Wentworth to implement industry best practices in terms of programmatic coding, database architecture, and staged deployment and automated testing workflows. Through a refreshed online presence, the new wit.edu represents Wentworth’s commitment to creating transformational educational experiences for students, and a culture of innovation and creativity. Wentworth is now able to provide site visitors with a more accurate picture of what Wentworth is really about to help them decide whether they can see themselves or their child succeeding at Wentworth.  Last Call Media is proud to have been Wentworth’s partner in improving user experience, creating a seamless process for making content changes for hundreds of content authors, and modernizing development processes.   ### Project with Finder Taking advantage of the WordPress platform and Buildkite, Last Call Media empowered Finder’s development team to deploy to production efficiently. The improved build process enabled developers to get their work to production and in the hands of customers much quicker. Additionally, Finder’s comparison tables now present results to users that are personalized making their experience so much more satisfactory.  Now, Finder has a path forward to build stable, interactive comparison tools for users in a highly iterative way.   ### Project with Rainforest Alliance In the fall of 2016, the Rainforest Alliance and Last Call Media launched an exciting redesign of www.rainforest-alliance.org, built on Drupal 8, employing seasoned agile software development methodologies. Our productive partnership with the Rainforest Alliance resulted in a technically groundbreaking site that allowed users unprecedented access to the riches of their content after just four months of development. The tool was primed to drive the Rainforest Alliance’s critical end-of-year development activities.  ### Project with United Nations ### Project with University of Columbia ### Project with Yale University ### Project with US House of Representative ### Project with Redbull ### Project with University of Minnesota ### Project with Blackboard Our initial objective was to help Blackboard respond faster to changing customer demands worldwide by improving the content authoring experience for their marketing team, empowering their internal development teams to sustain and iterate on the platform for the long haul, and reducing operating costs.  With input from Blackboard’s customers and employees, we led the delivery of an improved user experience for Blackboard’s community, created a platform to showcase their products and services, and helped Blackboard tell the story of how they continue to positively impact learners, educators, and institutions around the globe. The relaunched Blackboard.com saw a decreased bounce rate on the homepage, more users finding their destination quickly, and a dramatic increase in traffic to the free trial page. The new flexible, modern, engagement platform for Blackboard is more a customer-focused digital experience and supports their current and future marketing objectives. It has helped Blackboard thrive in a constantly changing and increasingly competitive edtech environment. ### MA Paid Leave: Elevated Through Testing Project Overview: Last Call Media partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) to ensure a seamless experience for residents applying for the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program. Key Objectives: Address integration challenges among multiple components developed by different teams Develop a cohesive PFML application consisting of a user-facing Portal, an API integration layer, and a claims processing system Testing Strategy: Last Call Media implemented a comprehensive testing strategy to overcome integration complexities: Automated end-to-end testing Load and stress testing Business simulation testing High Observability: Created a customized New Relic Dashboard for insights into test results and application performance Improved transparency, collaboration, and operational efficiency Results: Significant reduction in defects slipping into production. Last Call Media's efforts accounted for 77% of the total discovered defects Enhanced experience for residents and employers Faster and more consistent releases Improved application performance and scalability under various conditions Key Learnings: Prioritizing end-to-end value delivery is crucial for large-scale system development Continuous testing and observation throughout the application development cycle ensures smooth software development and consistent value delivery for residents ### Clutch Awards - [Clutch Award Badge](https://shareables-prod-static.clutch.co/badges/top_clutch.co_drupal_developers_2023_award.svg) - [Clutch Award Badge](https://shareables-prod-static.clutch.co/badges/global_award_2023.svg) ## Key Clients - Wentworth Institute of Technology ## Packages ## Verification Clutch verification provides an additional layer of data to help you make the right purchasing decision of business services. - Verified Client Reviews: 18 - Overall Review Rating: 4.7 Last Updated: 2026-06-24T08:38:01Z ### Business Entity - Business Entity Name: Last Call Media Inc. - Source: Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts - Jurisdiction of Formation: Massachusetts - Date of Formation: August 21, 2013 - Status: Active - Last Updated: January 10, 2024 - ID: 001114557 ### Credit Report Results - International Credit Risk Assessment: Very Low Risk - Source: Creditsafe - Last Updated: January 1, 2022 ## Locations (2) ### Northampton, MA (Headquarters) - West St. Ste. 01 - Northampton, MA 01060 - United States - 10 - 15 employees - Phone: 888-788-7177 ### New York, NY - New York - New York, NY 10001 - United States - 10 - 15 employees - Phone: 888-788-7177 ## Connections - Shalaka Teli (Gadre Infotech Pvt. Ltd.) ## Contact Last Call Media [Send a message](https://clutch.co/profile/last-call-media) ### Connect on Social - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/last-call-media/) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/lastcallmedia/) - [X](https://twitter.com/LastCallMedia) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lastcallmedia?igsh=mtnxmgzuntnwenk1cg==)