June 9, 2008

When clients get burned

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The following is a true story. Names have been changed.

I’ve had many experiences as a freelance web designer, most good, some not. But even the worst don’t compare to my experience with “Bob” and his seemingly single-handed attempt to give web designers everywhere a bad reputation. He did a great job of taking people’s money and ruining not only their websites, but their perception of the web design industry. In the end, that was the only thing he was good at.

“Bob” and the damage done

Bob worked as a freelance web designer for a group that helped small businesses get online. They hired him to do several small to medium sized websites for their clients. I was hired to work for the same group after he was apparently let go, and my first few jobs were to fix what he broke. He was still in business at the time; now I believe lawsuits are pending, and I hope for all of our sakes that he gets run out of the web design field for good.

How Bad Was It?

After working with several of Bob’s former clients, I started to get the bigger picture. Complaints about Bob ranged from hysterical to downright creepy: Calls at 8pm at night to discuss the project. Other phone calls never returned. Showing up at a client’s place of work and ranting about the power-hungry government.

The worst was a client with a shopping cart. After taking their money, Bob set the shopping cart up under the trial period special that the cart company was offering. When the trial period expired he was nowhere to be found to turn the cart back on.

One of the best questions I received was “What are your office hours?” I responded, “I work a typical day, 9-6, why?” “Well, Bob would call me at 8pm and want to talk until midnight about my website, and that was just crazy!” I told them, “I’m finding out from you and other clients that there were a lot of things about Bob that were not…” (Both of us in unison) “Normal!” This little joking conversation helped to put the client’s fear aside for the time being.

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June 7, 2008

2 years later, our wedding is still a hit!

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My wonderful wife Amanda and I were married on top of a cliff at Chimney Rock Park, Chimney Rock, N.C. It was an intimate 20-guest gathering, and the word on the street is that it was an event not to be forgotten (sorry for tooting our horns, but it was a lot of work to put together your own wedding (ask Amanda!) and we are gracious for the response!).

First, our good friend and wedding officiant, Rev. Georgette Cressend, has launched her own website at http://www.livingaslove.net with the help of her web guru, Joan Renton.

As our testimonail for her puts it:

“Our wedding simply would not have been the same without Georgette as our officiant. Her kindness, compassion, and tenderness is expressed wonderfully through her beautiful, poetic words and spiritual presence. I highly recommend her to anyone wanting to enhance their special occasion!”

– Amanda and Jon

Second, HGTV has a feature article on us on their website about DIY weddings! Amanda put so much work into the wedding, it’s good to see her get a little publicity for it. Here is the link for our “Cliff-Top Nuptuals” article!

June 7, 2008

Work In Progress

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Well, it’s that time again… blog updates! I love to update the look of my blog every year or so, to keep it fresh.

The theme of my blog is “Work In Progress,” simply because that’s what my life seems to be these days. Projects linger forever… artwork takes months to complete… songs take time to write and record… yet nothing ever feels “done.” Maybe it’s because of the digital medium being so easy to make changes to. Maybe I’m really obsessive about my work. Maybe I’m bored.

Who knows. Keep reading, hope you enjoy.