Thoughts

Thoughts and Articles from Blend Interactive

Joe Kepley  |  August 28, 2024

Main Site or Microsite — Make the Most of Your Digital Event Strategy

A microphone with an alert icon coming out of it.

Hosting an event for your association is one thing, but promoting it online to the right audience is a different conversation. 

Associations  |  Design and Front-End  |  Development  |  Strategy

Taylor Lopour  |  August 14, 2024

The Investment Lifecycle of a Website

Sam Otis and Ryan Blackwell sitting at a table.

Your website is more than just a launch; it's a long-term investment that continues to need ongoing attention and care. 

Discovery and Scoping  |  Project Management  |  Strategy

Corey Vilhauer  |  August 6, 2024

AI is a Tool, Not a Solution

A graphic representing AI tools, with a brain in a basket with tools.

AI is too often a solution in need of a problem, the hallmark of a technology still looking for early adopters and financial support. Instead, it's time to start looking at AI as a tool among many, one piece of a larger answer.

AI  |  Content and IA  |  Design and Front-End  |  Strategy

Joe Kepley  |  February 22, 2024

Simplifying the Complexities of a Banking Site

A series of graphics representing financial services, including currency, a heart, an arrow, and a computer mouse.

Improving Your Professional Association Site: Tips for Driving Engagement

Financial Services  |  Content and IA  |  Digital Optimization  |  Strategy

Karla Santi  |  February 7, 2024

Embracing AI at Blend: Our Shift from Caution to Innovation

A graphic representing AI tools, including a compouter, a light bulb, a brain, a lock, and a warning sign.

Generative AI has proven that it is here to stay. So the question is, in what manner should businesses integrate AI into their workflows and processes without creating skepticism from customers? The answer is: cautiously.

AI  |  Strategy

Nick Cobb  |  October 24, 2023

How Developer Cross-training Helps Projects Succeed

The blend team, hanging out in the dining area, with a "connective lines" graphic overlaid on top.

Cross-training developers results in increased productivity, more collaboration, and better results for client projects. 

Development  |  Project Management  |  Strategy

October 17, 2023  |  The Web Project Guide Podcast

Episode 24: Maintain and Improve (w/ David Hobbs)

Two astronauts outside of a spaceship.

Corey and Deane discuss the people and rules that help run a website after launch. Then, David Hobbs, author of Website Product Management: Keeping Focused During Change, joins to talk about transferring a site from a project to a product — what that means to keep the site going after launch, where it most often fails, and how to streamline requests and set reasonable expectations for the future of the site.

Design and Front-End  |  Development  |  Project Management  |  Strategy

Joe Kepley  |  October 12, 2023

A Vision for a Pain-Free Migration 

Two computers connected by a single line, with the Blend logo in between.

Migrations don’t have to be a pain — Blend has a process and vision going forward of how to make the migration process simpler. 

Development  |  Migration  |  Strategy

Joe Kepley  |  September 25, 2023

Improving Your Professional Association Site: Tips for Driving Engagement

Laptop surrounded by icons, including an alert icon, a heart, an eye, and a Blend logo.

Blend's CTO Joe Kepley has tips for how to increase website traffic and engagement for professional associations.  

Associations  |  Strategy

Taylor Lopour  |  September 15, 2023

Getting Started with Web Experimentation 

Two computer screens by each other, one labeled with an A and one labeled with a B.

Much like the early days of social media, digital experimentation is a rapidly expanding practice that promises to make big waves in the marketing world.

Digital Optimization  |  Strategy