When satellite industry leader Americom Government Services came to us with the request to handle their digital presence for the re-launch of their new brand, SES World Skies U.S. Government Solutions (SES-USG), we were thrilled to partner with Bethesda-based firm August, Lang, and Husak to make it happen.

Today, the website — which is based in WordPress and uses a customized theme — launched amid the excitement of another satisfied client.

We’re absolutely thrilled to have been a part of helping The Renaissance Company refresh its website.  We provided a new design with an updated information architecture and layout, plus a WordPress platform so they could manage their content.

Further, with a custom gallery we developed, they can manage their photos using their existing Picasa account. Users can also now subscribe to receive promotional updates and blog posts via Feedburner.

If you’re looking to experience Italy in a way you’ll never forget, check out their programs.  Oh, and they host wine tastings, too.

With our help, the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service launched its refreshed National Guide website.

We provided them UX and information architecture planning, visual design, and copywriting services that, together, created a more intuitive experience for their unique users.

Of course, it’s always flattering to hear that the client found all the hard work to be an enjoyable experience, as CREDIT’s Director, Deborah Warin, said:

“It was indeed a pleasure to work with Tellenger on this project. Your team was efficient, professional, creative, consistently patient, and congenial – and that was just the process. We are delighted with the product as demonstrated by our engagement with you on the next project.”

But stay tuned, because more work already is underway to introduce additional creative features to the site!

In Seth Godin’s latest e-book, What Matters Now (PDF, free download!), Fast Company Co-Founder William C. Taylor wrote the following:

Imagine any and every field possible. There are so many brands, so many choices, so many claims, so much clutter, that the central challenge is for an organization or an individual is to rise above the fray. It’s not good enough anymore to be “pretty good” at everything. You have to be the most of something: the most elegant, the most colorful, the most responsive, the most accessible.

Given the growing number of web professionals today who can plan, design, develop, and market products and services for any industry, being “the most” of something increasingly becomes more important … and harder to come by. Compounding the scenario is the commoditization of everything from design through analytics, and the outsourcing of application development to firms overseas where quality assurance may be sacrificed and project management challenges multiplied all for the promises that come with a low introductory price tag.

We want to be the firm that helps clients WIN (more sales, greater efficiencies, more members, fewer errors, higher performance, etc.), all our efforts are focused on reinforcing and achieving whatever the client’s ultimate goals are. With this mindset, we’ve never had to waiver from our core specialty of being thinkers first and foremost.

So, when Taylor asked readers in his excerpt, “Are you the most of anything?,” I felt confident saying “We’re the most deliberate.” It’s why we ask questions and take methodical steps when solving functional technology challenges. It’s why we don’t write a single line of code or add even a tiny pixel of color without first knowing its purpose in the grand scheme of things. And it’s why we tend to be blunt with prospects and clients–because we’ve learned that unabashed honesty typically enables better communication (and partnerships).

Particularly in today’s economy, people who are looking for technology consulting seem to be excited about working with meticulous professionals.

We’re headquartered just outside Washington, DC, and like many companies in the Nation’s Capital region and beyond, we’re happy to be doing business with the government. It’s pretty rewarding to know that our brains have helped to conceive, plan, build, and integrate web processes and technologies that ensure soldiers are paid on time, organizations are tracking cases more efficiently, and — with our ongoing Consumer Product Safety Commission efforts — individuals’ lives are being saved.

When we decided in August to unveil a new division of Tellenger to handle incoming requests from the private sector, we were concerned that balancing commercial and government prospects could be exceedingly challenging. (For example, we feared our experiences with enterprise-level systems like SharePoint may intimidate someone looking to launch a website, build a product, or implement an off-the-shelf content management system).

But what we’ve found over the past few months is that decision-makers from small business owners to not-for-profits to $100+ million firms are reassured by our stability. Our contracts continue to renew and multiply, and that’s comforting to those wanting a long-term technology partner who is thriving in today’s economy.

The government folks also are reassured because we’re growing, diversifying, and innovating with what’s cutting edge in the digital marketplace. They want to work with efficient, dependable companies — growth in a recession certainly is one way we’ve demonstrated that successfully.

Sure, we’re consistently tinkering with the messaging on our website and in our marketing collateral to ensure Tellenger brand integrity and a commitment to our two unique audience sectors, yet so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

For all those government contractors or private companies looking to take the leap into the OTHER sector, we say go for it. But, if you’re in the web consulting business, then expect stiff competition from us!

Yesterday, I attended the Bisnow “Where Do Women Stand” breakfast to hear several accomplished speakers discuss their viewpoints and experiences on women in leadership positions. A few key takeaways resonated with me in particular:

Beth Brooke, Ernst & Young’s global VP and a surprise speaker, said that staff diversification makes for stronger solutions to problem solving. By actively recruiting and hiring a non-homogeneous staff, its collective wisdom will be varied enough to offer new perspectives essential to growth. The challenge against this is that it’s human nature to surround ourselves with people who look, act, and think like us.

I thought about how we at Tellenger have shown commitment to diversification by employing a staff of men and women equally, with older and younger professionals who offer varied cultural backgrounds. (We even have a female web developer, which I find to be somewhat unique!)

Kathleen Matthews, formerly an anchor with Channel 7 and now EVP of global communications and public affairs at Marriott, said her college-aged daughter “is oblivious to the challenges” that Kathleen had fought against during her career, which may be an indication of the changing times. “When we stop counting the women in a room, that’s when women in leadership will have normalized,” she said to about 400 women packed into Georgetown’s Sequoia restaurant on the Potomac, over-looking the Key Bridge Marriott.

As a woman in the technology industry, I often find myself among a room full of men — at the recent Internet Summit in Raleigh and BarcampDC3 events, I occasionally counted how many women were speaking on panels or were around me at various sessions. (Suffice it to say, women comprised a minority.) The sentiment of yesterday’s event was that the wave of women in the pipeline continues toward reaching critical mass soon, but it’s not there quite yet.

Which leads me to a final takeaway noted by Rand Construction Corporation’s CEO, Linda Rabbitt. She said that women need to be willing to praise — not disingenuously, of course — those around them in order to forward the growth of women in leadership positions. She observed that when women in prominent positions have mis-steps, other women can be the first to “pull them down.” Encouraging honest and motivated women of all levels will promote advancement of women in general, she said.

In my role as director of digital strategies, I’m proud to represent yet another female who is contributing to the collective rise of women in leadership positions — particularly in the technology industry. I look forward to “reaching back” and providing similar opportunities to other individuals at Tellenger, and in the DC community and beyond.

At last week’s Bootstrap Maryland event in DC, I had the great opportunity to meet lots of new entrepreneurs who might be building the “next big thing.”

The event brought together a panel of entrepreneurs and the people who support them, including: Paul Singh of Philtro (which was acquired last week after launching in January), Jay Virdy of Summize, John Burke of VC firm True Ventures, and Steve Kaplan of Pillsbury Law.

Having Paul and Jay’s lessons learned about starting companies, John’s definitions of how to grab the attention of VCs, and Steve’s legal advice seemed to be exactly what the audience was hungry for. They were actively engaged, asking the panelists “How did you…” and “What would you recommend for…” questions all along the way in what amounted to an interactive presentation, for the most part.

From my perspective, there was a refreshing, jovial spirit that seemed to be prevalent in the atmosphere of the event. Here’s to continued optimism in the DC start-up market and beyond!

Smashing Magazine published an article today entitled, “How to Identify and Deal with Different Types of Clients.” It opens;

“In business, being able to read people and quickly get a sense of who you’re dealing with is an invaluable skill. It turns your encounter with a client into an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the upcoming project and how it will need to be handled. It is one of the building blocks of a professional relationship.”

Building relationships is essential (ok, I’m stating the obvious). And we’ve found that sustaining them is almost fully attributable to our (1) being forthright and (2) doing what we say we’re going to do … exceptionally well.

To my first point, clients need to know *us* just as much as we need to know them. Being forthright about our recommendations, expectations, and processes is a primary reason we’ve grown in a down economy. Yes, being honest means sometimes giving some tough love so they can understand the pros and cons of pursuing various options in today’s digital landscape. But being proactive is key; everyone deserves to have the facts up-front to avoid unpleasant surprises later.

To my second point, the buck stops here. Recommendations are just wasted effort without proper execution. If we receive a request that doesn’t align with our core strengths, we’ll recommend a specialized partner instead.  When it comes to execution, we *know* that clients are paying for the best, so we execute the best work every time.

In the end, it’s our brand.  Honesty and integrity command respect, and we know that’s a two-way street.

Dave and I headed to the GrowSmartBiz conference downtown yesterday and joined about 500 other people interested in technology and business. It was a great morning thanks to dynamic folks like “The Long Tail” author Chris Anderson, Sen. Mark Warner, and Ogilvy Worldwide’s Rohit Bhargava, author of “Personality Not Included.” The afternoon was populated with great speakers, as well, including an engaging session with London Ink’s CEO Bob London and SmallBizTechology.com editor Ramon Ray, among others.

Steve Fisher of AppSolve charged the room in the afternoon with some some hilarious, unfortunate, and expensive examples of how to (and not to) present yourself on business cards before the day closed with Women Grow Business’ Jill Foster moderating a panel on social media.

Overall, we took several pages of notes and had conversations with tons of bright, driven people who all came together to learn about how they can grow — and help the larger DC market (and beyond) continue its upward swinging economic course.  The event was valuable both in terms of new learning and discussing real opportunities with other business owners about how we can help them grow.

After waiting on hold for 10 minutes to speak with a customer service representative about a personal invoice I received recently, I was greeted by someone who clearly did not want to be on the other end of the phone. When I said I didn’t appreciate his condescending tone, he said, “Well, I can stop talking.”

I wondered in that moment if his employer realized the organization’s integrity was being compromised by someone it was actually paying to interact with consumers like me (who will now associate that frustrating experience with the organization’s brand).

Luckily, innumerable customer service folks have shown consideration (and compassion) as representatives of their larger brand’s integrity. I’m sure it’s been exhausting during sensitive or tough conversations, too.  But building bridges with consumers certainly fuels word-of-mouth promotion and strengthens brand loyalty.

Two examples: There’s a heart-warming anecdote about a Zappo’s employee sending flowers to a customer struck by tragedy — after the customer asked for refund.  As the text mentions, the recipient of Zappo’s sympathies became a vocal proponent.  A patient Southwest employee gave me a voucher equivalent to the cost of my flight — after she explained that, even though I spent six hours in the air between Baltimore and Cleveland before being diverted to Columbus, they don’t reimburse flights disrupted by weather.  I’ve only flown Southwest since then, as have two of my friends impressed by my tale.

These examples of individuals representing their brands so positively truly inspire me. They only further my commitment to represent Tellenger with unwavering integrity and respect, and in doing so, to help myself and my brand to grow and thrive.