Over the last few years we have all become accustomed to working online - using email, FTP, and / or websites to deliver work to our clients. This has happened fairly organically, so most of us now take it for granted and think of it as just another set of tools - like the phone. Yet, this emerging online workspace is actually creating more of an impact on people than we all realize. Unlike Instant Messenger or Cell phones, FTP and websites are becoming “places” as opposed to just experiences. We like to call this the Online Office.

It’s quite possible that now more meetings will occur between you and your clients in the online office than in the regular office. For many, this is already the case. The basic question is how can the online office experience represent your perceived customer service in the physical world? What is the rough equivalent of the Santa Monica chic office with a secretary and an iMac to greet you on the way in?

The initial impression is only the start. With toolsets like Wiredrive, you can handle marketing, sales, and production through the online office, offering you capabilities you never have had before. Building reels in realtime for perspective clients is an example. Wiredrive Library allows you to search for and assemble individual spots together while talking to the client over the phone. And clients are asking to see work today, making FedEx too slow. How are you positioned to respond to this increase in tempo.

The online office is where we are headed. We will be posting a lot about the tools and techniques to build the online office that best suites your needs.

The Wiredrive Event Series / New York took place last week at the prestigious Soho House. The Association of Independent Creative Editors and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers sponsored the event and invited their members to attend. A big thank you goes out to the following NY Board members of AICE for all their support - Bob Cagliero, Burke Moody, Rosemary Quigley and Chris Franklin.

We must also extend a special thanks to Co-Sponsor Roe Bressan of Navigating, for lending her expertise and consultation for this event. If you have a company in need of a reliable, knowledgeable, kick-ass consultant, Roe is definitely the woman to call.

The turn-out was fantastic, and Bill Sewell delivered a great presentation on The Big Picture, which you can read about here. We took a more in-depth approach this time, which generated a lot of interest in Wiredrive by the end of the event. Afterward, we enjoyed cocktails, conversation and the NYC skyline on the roof-deck.

For those of you who missed out on the LA or NY Wiredrive Events, you can submit a request for information and/or a demo by clicking here.

What a busy few weeks it has been here at Wiredrive. In addition to beta testing version 2.0, for you, the public that loves us, we have also been keeping ourselves busy with numerous events around town.

The evening of May 9th, Wiredrive was one of the proud sponsors of the annual Group101Spots wrap party. The awesome folks at Union Editorial in West LA opened their doors to hundreds of guests, and we enjoyed a beautiful evening watching some great commercials by some very promising young directors. You can check out the spots they created here. One of my favorites was the XM Radio spot, but I encourage you to watch them all, and to be as impressed as we were at the party. The food was excellent, the beer was cold, and the party was full of awesome people, and some very visionary directors.

Huge props to Dina Mande, Jeff Nicosa, and Steven Gould for putting on a killer party. And to whoever assembled that giant cheese platter, kudos to you my friend, kudos. We love supporting group101spots, and we will be there in the future, and to everyone that received a gift bag, I encourage you to wear your officially licensed collectible Wiredrive t-shirts with pride…just not around me. I had to fold 500 of them for the event. : )

Group101Spots

May 10th found us doing our best Lebowski imitations at the annual AICP Gutterbowl, which Wiredrive co-ponsored for the first time. They are a great organization that takes care of the commercial production community, and if you are not a member, we encourage you to become one. Wiredrive managed to put together an all-star team of schmoozers, who had a great time mixing and mingling with the likes of Deluxe, AXIUM, and NBC/ Universal.

The Gutterbowl also brought out bowlers from the likes of Fox Studios, and Raleigh studios, and while the competition was fierce, everyone in attendance had a great time. I can’t wait for the day when mankind lives together in harmony, bowling and drinking to our hearts content, all while wearing ridiculous costumes (cue “We Are the World”).

AICP

Check out some pics of the events below.

Like I said before, we here at the lab are busy battle testing Wiredrive 2.0. We will keep all of you posted on new developments, but it is a very exciting time around these parts. We can’t wait to get all of your feedback on the new software, and we really appreciate those of you who are beta testing it with us. Until next time, Produce it, Promote it, and keep the creativity flowing.

From the May 2006 INC magazine:

1. Reliability
Systems have a way of crashing, so make sure vendors offer backup plans and 24-7 customer service. Ask them to agree to pay penalties for failing to perform–including a clause that allows you to break your contract if you’re consistently disappointed.

2. Security
Software providers may boast of extra-tough security, but there’s no reason to take them at their word. Negotiate the right to perform your own periodic security audits. Demand to be notified any time the system is breached–even if your own data remains untouched.

3. Pricing
Most on-demand software providers set prices based on the number of users, and there’s often more wiggle room than you might think. Negotiate those rates up-front so that as you add more users, you pay less for each one.

4. Customization
No two businesses are the same, so before signing a contract make sure your vendor’s product is flexible enough to be integrated into your existing applications and databases. If a vendor agrees to add some customized features, make sure it’s willing to provide the same levels of customer service.

See it for yourself at:
INC Magazine

Naturally, I thought of this list in context of Wiredrive, to see how it stacks up to these four pillars of on demand software quality.

1. Reliability: Wiredrive has a large client base, that grows monthly, something that could not happen if we didn’t consistently battle test our system, and make sure that it can handle the intensity of the production environment. Plus, our support staff is just an e-mail or call away, and I can speak from experience, that whenever there is a question, issue, or bug, it is addressed immediately. Our network administrator is on call at all hours of the day, and our support staff can jump into an issue at the drop of a hat, because we know that a lot of people rely on Wiredrive.

2. Security: Wiredrive features 128-bit SSL encryption to give peace of mind to even the most security conscious companies from the Fortune 500, to the Major Television Networks & Movie Studios. We know that your work is important, and we aren’t going to let anyone see it that you don’t want to. Wiredrive also features password protection, and different privilege levels on both suites, which allows administrators to assign the project teams and users to only what they need to see.

3. Pricing: Unlike this article suggests, Wiredrive offers the same pricing structure regardless of how many people are using the system. Our pay by the GB pay plans offer a great deal of flexibility for companies and projects of all sizes, and the level you choose is the level you pay for. Whether there is only one person or one hundred people working on your masterpiece, our pricing plan will give you the bang for the buck that you need without sucking the production budget dry.

4. Customization: How does your companies logo on your Wiredrive system sound? What about a customizable address bar? Customized e-mails to clients? Good, we thought you’d think that these were a good thing, which is why these features are included with every Wiredrive system that we set up. It’s not our system, it’s yours, and we want every aspect of it to remind you of this. The entire reels suite is based on efficient customization, since you and only you know what best represents your body of work.