Better late than never, I present to you mStoner’s Fifth Annual Top Picks. This is a crowd-sourced collection of resources, sites, tools, and designs that my colleagues and I can’t live without. I hope you’ll find something new to inspire you.
Not familiar with the series? Check out posts from 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Do you have a “top pick” from 2015 to share? Why not add it in the comments section below or tweet using #mStoner? We’ll add our favorite submissions to this post.
Higher Ed Awesomesauce
No one on either the mStoner or UNCSA teams will be surprised I included uncsa.edu on this list. I cried when I saw the creative for the first time, and I cried again when the site launched in December 2015. In part because my daughter attended a music conservatory, this site will always be near and dear to my heart. In case you’ve only seen the glorious homepage, visit the landing page for the School of Design and Production. Cool, right? P.S. I love the writing and IA on this site as much as the design.
— Susan T. Evans, vice president of client solutions
One of my favorite projects in 2015 was creating a video case study for our work with Loyola Marymount University. The site is stunning and helps LMU better communicate its identity. John Kiralla, executive director of marketing and communications, noted that the LMU team wanted to “accomplish something truly transformative.” With prospective students as the target audience, mStoner helped re-focus LMU.edu on recruitment and brand messaging.
— Mallory Wood, director of marketing
I rely on Education Dive for a broad view of what’s happening in higher ed. Its editors scan the news and curate the feed, sharing stories about key trends and issues from many different sources. They’ve also started doing some of their own reporting, such as this interview with Muhlenberg College’s new president, John Williams. As a bonus, the parent company also publishes Marketing Dive, which has become a go-to source for me on news about marketing.
— Michael Stoner, co-founder and president
Ask anyone at mStoner and they will tell you that I am a travel nerd. That’s why I love Arcadia University’s study abroad program exploration tool. It’s user-friendly, interactive, and FUN. Arcadia, do you have programs for sales managers who live in St. Louis?
— Cassi Greenlee, sales manager
It’s one thing to talk about being different and innovative. It’s an entirely different thing to put something truly new out there for the world to see. Tufts University’s student life team was brave enough to follow us into uncharted waters, as we re-built their student life website around a needs-based architecture that eliminated the internal jargon and org-chart model and instead focused on what students wanted from the campus first and foremost. Their faith paid off, and the resulting students.tufts.edu website is something we’re extremely proud of.
— Fran Zablocki, strategist
I’m very proud of the website we launched with Johnson & Wales University. JWU (pronounced J‑woo) needed its new site very quickly in order to impact the fall recruiting period and to complement its new advertising campaign. Because of the time constraint and other factors, we built a static site. But this site is not your father’s Oldsmobile. We went with a Jekkyl-based site in order to build reusable components and used Prose.io to provide a simple editing tool for content contributors. We customized the Prose.io templates to allow the content contributors to set meta data, page attributes, and micro content options. Static site 2.0!
— Bill McLaughlin, director of account services and website development
Books and Blogs
I really value the insights I receive from MediaPost’s Research Brief, which I receive in my inbox every morning. I read two or three of the emails every week to learn about many different aspects of media and marketing. A recent post, for example, condenses research that explains why people prefer images and videos to text.
— Michael Stoner, co-founder and president
One of the most thought-provoking books I read in 2015 was “The Circle” by Dave Eggers. Always a firm believer in the power and benefits of technology, this one made me pause and realize it’s up to me to structure my communications and interactions. Don’t start it unless you can devote a lot of time to reading — you’ll want to finish it.
— Susan T. Evans, vice president of client solutions
Indi Young’s book “Practical Empathy” reminds us about the importance of going beyond demographic analysis and marketing our products — to serve our audiences well, we need to develop true sense of empathy for them, their needs, and their expectations.
— Voltaire Santos Miran, co-founder and managing director
I’m a “Game of Thrones” fan, so I paid attention when I read that George R. R. Martin cited a series by Maurice Druon as a source of inspiration for his epic series. Druon wrote his seven-volume The Accursed Kings series based on 14th century French history. Drone’s epigraph is “History is a novel that has been lived,” and the stories he tells are epics of political intrigue in church and state, all the more so because they’re based on real events, involving real people. The Targaryens and Lannisters have nothing on the French nobles about whom Druon writes.
— Michael Stoner, co-founder and president
Our very own Voltaire Santos Miran introduced me to the Armand Gamache mystery series byLouise Penny. And, as he warned, I now am up until the wee hours of the morning unable to set aside what’s happening in the lives of the rich characters who reside in the Quebec village of Three Pines. The people in Three Pines are witty, the village is charming, and the mysteries are gripping. I’m in book three of eleven and they just keep getting better!
— Shelly Stringer, strategy project manager
If you liked “Gone Girl”, you’ll love “The Girl on the Train.” In this well-written psychological thriller, TRUST NO ONE! The author throws some convincing red herrings and enough diversions into the story to keep you on your toes until the end. It’s a recommended quick read for your next flight or commuter train ride.
— Jennifer Presley, project manager
People To Follow
If you aren’t following Rob Zinkan, the associate vice president for marketing at Indiana University, on Twitter … what are you waiting for? Rob is a recognized thought leader in the industry and joined Higher Ed Live as a host for Marketing Live in April 2015. Much of the content Rob produces is focused on brand strategy and high-level marketing challenges.
— Mallory Wood, director of marketing
If you are into website analytics, a great person to follow is Simo Ahava. He hails from Finland as a Google developer expert for Google Analytics and is a great resource for web analytics and Google Tag Manager. He has plenty of advice and how-tos on common analytics questions, and he’s one of the best at explaining things under the hood for the tech folks. Simo’s blog is also a great resource.
— Greg Zguta, technical lead
Cool Tools and Apps
Four tools I can’t live without include:
- Google’s Inbox makes email fun again.
- 2Do bests all task managers I’ve used before.
- Apple pencil does what every stylus before it has promised but never delivered.
- Evernote’s Moleskine combines digital and long-form writing by allowing you to snap pages from your notebook and convert them to searchable Evernote files.
— Voltaire Santos Miran, co-founder and managing director
Santa Claus brought my daughter a View-Master for Christmas, and it’s been such a treat for the whole family. Creating video with audio in 360 degrees is an incredible way to keep track of memories and experiences. I also appreciate the nod to the old view-master design.
— Ben Conley, UX / visual designer
We have so much fun in our house with our Sonos. The app makes it simple for multiple users to take control of the playlist. Warning: This can lead to all-out ’90s hit battles. I have a 9‑month-old, so I’m rarely in the same room for long. Being able to control the music with my phone from anywhere in the house is a huge convenience.
— Lauren Anderson, office administrator
If there’s one website I go to on an almost-daily basis, it’s projectmanagement.com. This site is a one-stop shop for anything and everything project management-related. Looking for a deliverable template or example of how to get started? They have it. Find yourself stuck and need some advice? There is an entire community of project managers that have been in your shoes willing to share tips. Webinars, blog posts, networking … it’s all there, and it’s all free! PRO TIP: If you are PMP certified, like I am, this site is chock-full of opportunities to earn PDUs for maintaining your certification!
— Jennifer Presley, project manager
Buffer is a social media management tool designed for marketers. It helps you share content at the best possible times throughout the day, so that followers see your updates more often. It also suggests posts based on the blogs and social feeds that you follow. I find the Chrome extension is particularly helpful, and you can use Buffer to create images perfectly sized for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
— Joel Pattison, director of strategy
As mStoner’s creative project manager, I love my to-do lists! Wunderlist is my go-to app to keep everything straight. I love that I can have separate lists, so I can easily share tasks and updates with family, friends, and co-workers. I recently bought a condo, and the ability to attach photos and keep measurements easily accessible has been a life-saver in the overwhelming world of first-time home ownership!
— Ashley Byrd, creative project manager
The entire design team at mStoner is thrilled with Webflow. This tool allows us to show clients — and each other — interaction states and motion before moving into HTML, allowing us to delight our clients early on in the approval process. (Win!) Using Webflow also saves time at numerous points in a redesign project timeline. (Double win!)
— Ben Conley, UX / visual designer
Everyone needs a way to unwind and destress. Growing up, I was immensely fond of coloring books and still find coloring to be relaxing. The Pigment True Coloring App allows the user to have that experience anywhere without the need to carry around supplies. The developer, Pixite, has a bunch of other great apps for photo editing that I’ve used for some time.
— Michael Bolton, web analyst
The Boycott App is great. Not only does it allow me to scan the barcode of products that I buy, but it tells me whether the company aligns with important campaigns of causes that I follow. For example, if you feel strongly against GMOS or animal testing, Buycott will tell you if the company that makes the product (or if any of its affiliates) has donated money to or supports those campaigns.
— Steve Itterly, application developer
Grab Bag
For all of the “Making a Murderer” fans out there, put down your Netflix! The team behind re-opening Steve Avery’s case is also involved in the Serial Podcasts. Host Sarah Koenig takes you through the story piece by piece. I can’t stop listening!
— Lizzy Cyliax, project coordinator
Birchbox, an online monthly subscription service for beauty products, changed my life in 2015. Every month I get a box of five sample-size items tailored for my beauty profile. This means I easily get to try and learn about new products all the time. And when I review my samples, Birchbox gives me points that I can use for discounts in their online store. Score!
— Mallory Wood, director of marketing
Do you have conference travel coming up? Waterfield Designs produces some of the best and most stylish briefcases, bags, and accessories.
— Voltaire Santos Miran, co-founder and managing director
I recently discovered Yak Trax. These traction devices changed my winter running when snow and ice are on the ground. Really anything is better than a treadmill! My other essential tool, especially when traveling, is the Google pedometer. It’s been around forever in “Internet time,” but it’s still a great tool to map out new running routes before you head out for that 5K.
— Greg Zguta, technical lead
I’ve watched some good TV this year, but perhaps the most original show I’ve seen is Mr. Robot. Forget all the things Hollywood has gotten wrong about hackers and hacking: The writers on this show know a lot about it. Need proof? Check out the names of each episode, like EPS1.6_V1EW-S0URCE.FLV. Add to that a fascinating and convoluted plot that dances back and forth between reality and delusion, and Rami Malek’s nuanced portrait of the lead character, Ellott.
— Michael Stoner, co-founder and president
Do you think your cat is plotting to kill you? This helpful book from The Oatmeal will help you figure it out.
— Cassi Greenlee, sales manager