We bust a lot of broncs, but some projects make us awful proud. Here are a few recent ones:

Portland Business Alliance/Chamber of Commerce
In early 2005, the Portland Business Alliance realized they had a problem with their Website. Their members couldn't find the information they were after and the content was stale and /or did not reflect the current direction the PBA was moving with marketing its image. PBA also had process problems with updating their website. Flying I Ranch gathered their ranch hands and went to work.

The first step was analyzing the needs of the PBA audience. We discovered three separate groups of visitors: Chamber of Commerce visitors; Alliance Members and the media/general public. The challenge was answered by addressing each of these groups on the home page and funneling them to the sections they where looking for. This was done through a much clearer dynamic navigational structure and sections of highlights designed to reach the individual visitor's needs.

Next came the design of the site. PBA wanted a clean look that was professional yet attractive and exciting enough to pull the site visitor in. The content design on the home page is arranged to separate member news from member resources while at the same time giving equal relevancy to site sponsors. The inner pages separate the site into distinct areas giving the visitor an expanded subnavigation area to section relevant pages. Each of the inner pages content was updated and given a clean and consistent look.

To allow PBA to edit their own site without knowing HTML, Flying I Ranch recommended an inexpensive Content Management System called Macromedia Contribute. Contribute featured a built-in phased publishing system that stores pages and allows PBA to get approval before publishing to the live site. Contribute's simple interface allowed PBA to very quickly get up and running with keeping their site content fresh.

Threemile Canyon Farms

When Northwest Strategies approached Flying I Ranch they were in the middle of a larger media campaign for Threemile Canyon Farms. They were on the verge of a large-scale distribution of a media fact book and needed a quick turn-around on their web presence to go along with it. The site needed to have a consistent look and feel with the fact book yet still embrace the visual needs of a Website.

The challenge of going from print to Web with the same information offers several complexities. The way people read printed material is different from the way a Web user accesses a Website. Hyperlinks offer a great way to help a reader access relevant information quickly and easily and offer a much different user experience than reading a book cover to cover. The trick is to realize when hyper linking to another page become a distraction as opposed to a utility. Flying I Ranch helped Northwest Strategies determine this balance.

Another area of concern was keeping the look and feel of the printed materials while porting the content over to a Website. Flying I Ranch seamlessly integrated a multi-layered navigational system into the look of the fact book as well as some unique Internet additions like sidebars and highlighting quotes from the farm.

POVA
For the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, Flying I Ranch implemented a customized Content Management System using Zope as well redesigning their huge site. The customized administrative front end utilizes PHP and Perl, allowing non-technical users to enter content in their sections they work on for approval by section managers. Users also had the ability to post notes across sections for other content providers to read. FIR also created templates, graphics and style guides and implemented all html pages. FIR provided Technical Project Management, Server Technology Consultation and direct supervision of contract developer resources as well as live delivery and launch management. We worked with POVA's integrated marketing agency, Young and Roehr Group and Hurrah Internet Services on this project.

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destination DOWNTOWN
Flying I Ranch was approached by the Portland Business Alliance (PBA) and Downtown Retail Council (DRC) to design and develop their destination DOWNTOWN Website. This effort to drive traffic to downtown Portland retailers, hoteliers, and restaurants was the cornerstone of a new Internet-based direct marketing program entitled "destination DOWNTOWN". The site was also developed to be self-maintained by the PBA and DRC.

The PBA and DRC wanted a Website that was both exciting and colorful, but easy to use for visitors wanting to access information about downtown business. Visitors would also need to access hot deals and printable coupons the businesses would have to offer. The site also needed to inspire visitors to join the destination DOWNTOWN membership program where they would receive emails about new hot deals and special downtown related events put on by the PBA and DRC.

The destination DOWNTOWN Website is a lively and fresh site that requires constant updating in order to keep downtown business information current. Retailers would need to make monthly changes to their information by supplying the PBA and DRC with fresh coupons and Hot Deal information. Flying I Ranch recommended Macromedia Contribute as an easy to use content management system for the project. Flying I Ranch also developed custom training material and supplied onsite-training for the implementation of Contribute.

FitNet
FitNet's online personal training system has the unique ability to generate a full range of fitness programs tailored to every personal preference and need. Programs are highly dynamic to insure that users constantly receive new stimuli preventing plateaus and attrition. Once logged in, users determine their fitness level, goal, exercise equipment availability, and workout schedule - and FitNet immediately generates a three-month personal fitness program.

Using the Zope Application Server and making extensive use of custom Python methods, XML and the PostgreSQL database System, Flying I Ranch was able to implement FitNet's unique ideas and methodology for generating extremely detailed personal fitness programs. Rather than starting with a "canned" set of exercise routine defaults, every user's routine is generated on a custom basis. The goal of this project was to build a fully-functional prototype that proved the unique value of FitNet's original algorithm for generating highly effective fitness programs. Having done so, not only is FitNet equipped to pursue investors and customers, but additionally we were able to highlight additional areas of possible valuable extensions and feature additions to be considered during the product phase of the project.

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