Maggie McDonald Author Bio & Tendenci Blog Posts | Tendenci - The Open Source AMS for Non-Profits & Associations

2009-12-31

It’s Never Easy to Say Goodbye

Today marks the end of two of the fastest and most amazing years of my life. I have never laughed nor learned as much as I did in my time at Schipul.

When I first started here, I was a Facebook addict and dallied in Twitter, but I knew next to nothing about how the actual Internet worked. At this point in my life I was pretty sure it still lived at Al Gore’s house and was sort of couch sized. I also thought a DNS cloud was that white fluffy thing that rolls over your house before a big storm. But thank goodnessâ€¦ at Schipul, you learn a lot and you learn it quickly.

Less than six months after arriving at Schipul, I not only knew that HTML wasn’t someone’s initials, but I’d decided I wanted to launch the Schipul blogâ€¦ all by myself. Makes total sense right? Thank goodness I had a manager that believed in me enough to let me try. And thank goodness Schipul hires patient people, because I was by no means an internet expert at this point… I believe I walked back and forth between the IT Director’s desk, the Creative Director’s desk and mine about eleventy-billion times with questions about the Schipul blog before it went live.

I imagine being a fly on the wall during one of these discussion with Rodney (our IT guy) would have been extremely comicalâ€¦

Maggie: So. I think WebFaction is possessed by the devil. I can’t get the domain to shoot the right way and the nav makes no sense and their help files are WORTHLESS.
Rod: Are you sure you’re pointing the DNS to the right server?
Maggie: I think so. I wrote them a support ticket.
Rod: Yeah. I saw it.
Maggie: Did it make sense?
Rod: (silence)
Maggie: No? Okay. I’m going to rewrite it. Be right back! Alsoâ€¦ when I get back, remember to tell me what the heck Akismet is. It sounds like an alien food group. Also we need to talk about what ‘thumbnailâ€ means.
Rod: (puts head on desk)

Nowâ€¦ two years laterâ€¦ I know what Akismet is and could launch a blog with minimal questions. But the amazing amount of knowledge is not the only reason why I’m going to miss Schipul so much thoughâ€¦

I am going to miss the coffee, the LOLcats and the hilarious IMs from Brandi. I don’t know where I’m going to get my funny internet fix from now on. I suppose I should let her know I expect daily emails.

I am going to miss my morning meetings with Katie, my manager and partner in crime. I have learned so much from this gal over the past two years and I could not have asked for a better cheerleader. We Irish girls gotta stick together.

I’m going to miss hug-attacking Ed in the hall and the plasma cars and the cookie parties (for some reason these three things really go together well).

I am going to go through Rodney and Aaron withdrawals and I’m going to miss having Jennifer in the corner office to talk to.

I’m going to miss my silly little cube and my angry mullet bear picture.

I probably will not miss forgetting that I don’t have an ‘inside voiceâ€ and accidentally announcing things to the entire office from said cube.

I am most definitely going to miss ‘that’s what she saidâ€ jokes with April and Caitlin and I’m going to miss Friday Happy Hours in Katie’s office with all of the Schipul women.

I’m going to miss the excitement in the office when Jenny lays the smack-down on some code and I’m going to miss talking to Iris about what kind of day it’s going to be based on Ed’s morning music selection (techo? It’s going to be a fun one!).

I’m going to miss calling David to announce ‘I just hard coded something and FTPed some stuff!!â€ (whatever that meansâ€”I’m sure he usually just rolls his eyes) and watching Ben’s super amazing videos.

I am for sure going to miss Albert rapping along to his iTunes and Jonti hugs.

I am going to miss pretending that I know what the heck Eloy and Glen are saying when the start speaking programmese and I’m going to miss harassing JMO about SEO on a regular basis. H1 tag what?!

I’m going to miss tiny Foofs and her not so tiny-voice and new music Thursdays.

I am going to lunches with JJ where we solve all of the universe’s problems and I’m going to miss her amazing little family.

I am going to miss sitting with Kerry and learning all about Tendenci and Dreamweaver and I’m going to miss trying to explain to her why all of the sudden the font in my Outlook is size 27 (I blame the demons on this too).

I am going to miss hearing about Brandi and Lyndia‘s wedding plans and Courtney showing up in my cube just to chat. We Tomball girls stick together! I’m going to miss hearing Kim’s baby stories and hugs from Ella when she comes to the office to see Katie.

I’m going to miss the silly stories we share at the beginning of every Monday Morning Meetings and pretending not to tear up when Ed makes us watch some cheesy youtube video about lions. You knowâ€¦ because I HATE cheesy things.

Never in my life have I been surrounded my such a diverse and supportive bunchâ€¦

In Schipul I have found my second family. It’s big and it’s weird, but it is certainly lovely. No matter where I end up, I will always be a Schipulite.

Love you all.

2009-11-202014-11-02

Bobby Hillin Jr returns to NASCAR with T-Rex’s Winning Spirit

Do you remember what you were doing the day after your high school graduation?

While you were hanging out with the fam, maybe having a little shindig at the house, Bobby Hillin Jr was whipping around the track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the World 600 NASCAR Race… where 400 laps (and 600 miles later) he took 11th place. Makes your post-graduation look pretty tame eh?

Bobby went on to wow the racing world by winning race after race and ultimately being the youngest to win on a Superspeedway with his win at Talladega. He was only 22. This is a record that would stand for the next 19 years.

When at the age of 28 Bobby retired from his NASCAR career, he started a successful Hydro Excavation company called T-Rex Services in Houston, Texas.

Let’s put on the brakes for a second here (no pun intended)… Hydro WHAT?? Hydro Excavation is a process that uses pressurized water to break up soil and a high flow air vacuum to safely excavate around active utilities and pipelines. Think shooting the dirt with your water hose and vacuuming it up with a shop vac to dig a hole… except 10,000 times stronger.

Bobby put as much passion into this new venture as he did his racing career and because of that, T-Rex is a successful company that is growing more every day. T-Rex is one of our beloved Schipul clients and last week they called our Schipul Media team with some news and an amazing opportunity.

Bobby was returning to the NASCAR track and they wanted us to come cover the event. We JUMPED at the chance. Dallas road trip? Yes please!

Courtney, JJ and I went to the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas to see Bobby race in the #81 car… to be the media team… to do a job… Who knew you could learn so much about life at the race track?

Here are our Top 5 NASCAR Takeaways:

Sometimes it’s better to get out of the way and let someone else be the driver: After a promising start, unfortunately the car started having some problems in the rear end (not a good thing when you are entering a turn at 190 mph). Bobby wanted to push the car but guaranteed the crew chief that he would end up ‘in the wallâ€ if he continued to drive it the way he wanted to. Since Bobby had only known this race team for a couple of weeks, he sensed they needed reassurance. He suggested that they put another driver in the car to make sure it was not his error. The other driver did experience the same problems and eased off the gas to and stayed in the car for the duration of the race (keep in mind that Bobby and T-Rex actually sponsored the car). Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the wheel but if you want to finish the race, we’ve got to put our ego to the side and let someone else drive!
You aren’t going to make it to the top by yourself: And if you think you are, you’re wrong.
Work hard and play harder: Both Schipul and T-Rex live by this tenant. Your life is more than just your job! You should enjoy it.
Never EVER Give Up: Time after time Bobby had to pull into the pit because of the problems with the car. This didn’t stop him though. No matter how far behind he got from the number one car, Bobby kept racing. Winning isn’t always the most important thing; it’s the trying that counts.
Love on your clients: they’re the ones that got you where you are!!

Thanks again T-Rex team for having us out. We had an absolute blast and have nothing but love for Bobby and the #81 car.

And because we couldn’t leave it out… Here is our 6th NASCAR takeaway: The boys at NASCAR are too cute for words!

2009-11-19

Congrats to our Schipul Book Club Winner!!

Thanks to the Handy Random Integer Generator, we have a winner!!

The winner of Deconstructing Product Design by Will Lidwell and Gerry Manacsa (with commentary from our very own Jonti!!) is Arthur Brown! Enjoy your book Arthur. And be sure to let us know what you think!! We expect a full review.

Email me at maggie (at) schipul dot com so I can mail you your winnings!

To everyone who commented… We’re glad you heart design as much as we do.

2009-11-03

Thirty Days of Thanks – Thank Goodness for Good Design!!

We’re a Web Marketing company so of course one of the thirty things we are thankful for is good design!!

And we’re not just talking web design either… we’re talking about the design of all of your everyday things from the mundane to the magnificent.

To celebrate our love of design, we’ve got a super special giveaway for you this month!!

Our very own Search Engine Marketing Team Manager, Jonti Bolles, is a former professor of Architecture and we can testify that this gal loves her design… so much so that she was tapped to offer her expert design commentary in the recently published Deconstructing Product Design book by Will Lidwell and Gerry Manacsa.

Want a copy? Tell us what product you can’t live without and what about it’s design has made it integral to your life.

For inspiration check out my 5 Favorite Product Designs from the book!!

the Motorola Razr V3: I had one of these babies. And yes I agree… the silver version pictured in the book was a step forward for phones, but the Pink Razr (with duct tape accents) that I personally owned was what I’d consider more of a giant leap. Razrs are risiliant little things and last for years!
Aeron Armchair: I sit in a wannabe one of these (from Eurway) all day at work and I would never switch to a different chair. Commenter Carley H. Franklin calls it the “Rock-Star of the Seating World” and I wholeheartedly agree! Even if my chair is merely the pop-star version.
the Chanel No. 5 Flacon: Ladies across the world will unanimously agree that this famed bottle of perfume is one of the iconic symbols of all things womanly.
POM Juice Bottle: I love pomegranates so by proxy I love this bottle. The design helps too.
Glock G17 Semi-Automatic Pistol: I’m an Army Gal and so weapons of all shapes and sizes interest me. This one is a little smaller than the ones we used to tote around in basic training but I love that they featured it in a design book!!

And if you MUST have some Internet Inspiration, check out the Sew Crafty Houston Site or Gwen Bell’s Beautiful Blog. Both make me smile every time they pop open in my browser. I blame the monsters.

So one more time. How do you win this awesome book??

Leave a comment below
What product can’t you live without and what do you LOVE about its design
We’ll pick a winner using the random integer generator on November 18
Make sure you include a way for us to contact you when you win!!

2009-11-01

Thirty Days of Thanks

We cannot believe November is already here!! 2009 has really flown for the Schipul crew.

To celebrate this month, we want to thank everyone who has helped us along the way… one post at a time!! We’ll be posting daily thank you notes to the people (and things) that have both supported and inspired us through the years. We’ll be issuing shout outs to everyone from our awesome Schipul friends to our awesome alma maters.

Get ready for some fun!!

To kick off our Thirty Days of Thankful project, we want to thank our amazing clients. They are an eclectic bunch and we would not be who we are without them. We will be featuring some of them in the following weeks but we wanted to start by thanking them as a whole.

We love y’all!!

2009-10-292014-11-02

SPAM Tips and Tricks: How do you know when to click delete?

As the users of various social media sites grows, so too does the number of people who will try to take advantage of those users. This morning has been filled with all kinds of SPAM so we wanted to take a second to pass on some quick tips and tricks for identifying those pesky spammers and help you avoid falling prey for those who’d just love love love your password.

Let’s start with Facebook.

If you get an email that looks like THIS (minus the pink arrows of course) it is a spammy scam and you should not click on any links in the email… I have received three of these emails this week.

Let’s talk about how you identify these email hoaxes:

Who is the email from? If it’s not coming from the actual site that is requesting action from you then it is probably spam. But beware. Email addresses are super easy to spoof. Our example email looks like it’s from Facebook but when we check out the rest of our criteria for IDing spam, it’s clearly not.
Who is the email to? If it’s not “to” the email address that is tied to the account that is requesting action then ignore it. The example email was sent to a group address at Schipul but my Facebook account is tied to my gmail address so I know this is fake.
Who is the email addressed to? Social Media sites are created to be your buddy, so when they reach out to you via email they will almost ALWAYS use your real name (Dear Maggie McDonald) or your username (Dear MagsMac), if they don’t use a familiar name when they, then they do not know your account. SPAM!
Are they asking you to click a link in the email? If an email has failed all of the prior tests then most assuredly DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS in the email. Go directly to the site and check their to see if they need any info from you. If they really need something, you can bet they’ll tell you right when you log in and not just in some random email.
Even if the email looks like it’s from the site, beware! See point #1. Emails are easy to spoof. The example email includes the correct address for Facebook headquarters but that doesn’t mean it’s really from Facebook.

For a GREAT example of a company that takes internet security very seriously, check out ebays guidelines for IDing a legitimate ebay email.

So in summary, be careful what you click. If in doubt don’t click anything and head on over to the site requesting action for more information!!

2009-10-20

Let’s Keep the SchipulCon-Versation Going!

Whew. We can’t believe it’s over!!

Thanks to all of our speakers and sponsors, SchipulCon rocked our freaking socks off and we can’t wait to start planning for next year (after a long nap of course).

In case you missed it, here are some recap blog posts brought to you by our awesome keynote speakers, some Schipul Staffers and a few of our super cool attendees.

Schipul Gal, Caitlin Kaluza, wrote not one but TWO recap blogs posts for SchipulCon! For more info on Day One, see her recap here. If you missed Sean Pendergast from Day Two talk about creating Loyal Fans, check out her Raving Fans Blog Post!

Our phenomenal keynote speaker, Deirdre Breakenridge, examines the Importance of Q&A and Feedback in her SchipulCon recap post. She revisits a few of the questions she was asked and takes a good look at what it means to really hear feedback. Check out her blog!

One of our attendees, Kathleen Forbes, was not only a super-networker but she also took some great Houston Zoo pictures and posted them on her blog. Can we just have a moment to reflect on how cute the stinkin’ meerkats are?

Another attendee, Stephen Polkot, covered the entire conference tirelessly on his blog! For a recap on SchipulCon Day One, check out Stephen’s Day One Report. If you are feeling overwhelmed with all of the info you got at SchipulCon, read Stephen’s To-Do List. Ever wonder what a Red Ruffed Lemur is? Check out this post!

For even more content, head on over to our SchipulCon Community page!

Looking for SchipulCon Photos? Check out Eye-Fi’s kick arse Flickr Photo Stream or the Schipul Facebook Page!!

See any other awesome content out there we are missing or have some of your own? Please add it in the comments section or email Maggie (at) Schipul.com so we can get it added on this page as soon as possible.

Oh. And check out our video. We love the Zoo! Thanks to Schipulite Ben for making it!

SchipulCon09 Recap from Schipul – The Web Marketing Co. on Vimeo.

Fun was had by all who attended SchipulCon09 at the Houston Zoo on October 15 & 16. Take a quick trip through memory lane or you can see what you missed if you weren’t there. Either way Schipul still loves you!

Music: Discovery – “Orange Shirt”
All music ownership & copyright belong to Discovery & Beggars Xl Recording.

2009-09-04

Friday Fun: Want to Win a HOUSE??

What? Win a HOUSE?

Yes, it’s true folks!

One of our awesome clients, The Myelin Project has partnered with Wayne Osteen Custom Homes to Raffle off a brand new home in Amarillo, Texas.

What does The Myelin Project do and what is the raffle benefiting? The Myelin Project goal is to fund research to find a cure for diseases (such as multiple sclerosis) that attack myelin (the magic cells that protect our nerves). Your raffle ticket proceeds go to finding that cure!

The deets:

Tickets are $50.00 (FOR A HOUSE!)
Only 4500 tickets will be sold (so you have a great chance to him!)
The Myelin Project will draw 100 tickets and those 100 ticket holders are the finalists
The 100 finalists will participate in a reverse raffle to select the winning ticket and house winner
The giveaway will be held at the house on Sunday, October 18 (You don’t have to be present to win!)
The last ticket drawn will be the house winner
Results will then will be posted on The Myelin Project web site’s home page

Head on over to their registration page to get in on the action and don’t worry–There will be a slew of other awesome giveaways on top of the house so if you aren’t the big winner, you still may get something fun.

Keep in mind that even if you don’t want to live in Amarillo, you can always sell the house (and make money!!). And for a mere $50 you have done something amazing for those who suffer from those terrible diseases.

2009-08-20

We want YOU on our Schipul SXSW Page!

It’s that time of year again! SXSW Panel Picking time.

Don’t know what SXSW is? No worries!! It’s an annual conference where geeks, marketers and business owners congregate to share the ideas, technology and strategy that makes their world run.

Thousands of people submit panel ideas for consideration and the SXSW team releases the best of those panels for voting by the public. We want to hear about the panels that you find most interesting and get them picked!!

If you’ve got a panel up for consideration, or if you have one you’re just really really interested in, head on over to our Schipul SXSW 2010 page and leave a comment. We want to know what YOU want at SXSW2010!

2009-08-14

Friday Fun: It wouldn’t be SchipulCon without a Party!!

We are super excited to announce that with your SchipulCon Registration, you also get tickets to an uber exclusive party in the Houston Zoo Rainforest!

It’s not going to be just any old party though. We’ve got some AWESOME sponsors and a rocking Houston Band for you to look forward to.

The conference will take place on Friday, October 16 and will be the perfect way to unwind after two days of brain candy!! Runaway Sun will take the stage in the rainforest and entertain you as you sip wild libations provided by Saint Arnold, Israeli Wine and OneShot (because every good party needs a little tequila right?).

You’ve gotta be a registrant to attend though. So go sign up!!