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A Look Back at 2013 @mStonerinc: Clients and Client Work

Intelligence

A Look Back at 2013 @mStonerinc: Clients and Client Work

Mar 11, 2014By Michael Stoner

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What were some of the big stories in #highered in 2013? There were plenty. We saw the rise and fall of (hype about) MOOCs; more focus on the #edupocalypse; new financing models, with some institutions eschewing discounted and decreased tuition prices. We heard concerning news about applications and acceptances at many institutions. There was also more focus on brand strategy, storytelling, and marketing, with attendance at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Ed setting records. We tracked those stories — and others — and are working with clients to respond to their implications.

Speaking selfishly, the big story of 2013 for us at mStoner is that it was a great year.

We celebrated our 12th anniversary in November. We did work that we’re very proud of and developed relationships with some great new clients along the way. We published a lot of blog posts — and a book! We also added some great new colleagues to our team.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition for me to write a sort of annual report post for our blog. So much happened in 2013 that this is actually going to be two posts. So here goes: read on for more detail.

As I write these posts, I keep in mind our stakeholders — our clients and partners, my mStoner colleagues, and the greater .edu community, with whom we collaborate and interact. (My annual report for 2012 has some elaboration on this theme.)

Collaboration with Clients = Great Results

In one of our major company initiatives last year, we spent significant time focusing on our values and updated a statement we wrote several years ago. (I’ll write more about our values in a post later this spring.)

It won’t surprise any of our clients to learn that one of our most important values is collaboration. We know that when we work with an institution to redesign and launch a new website or develop a brand strategy, it’s not just our accomplishment, but one that’s shared throughout the higher education community.

So, in that spirit: In 2013, we launched redesigned websites with partners at The American University of Paris, The College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Miami, Drake University, Georgia Tech, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management’s MBA program, Miami University, Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Paul Smith’s College, St. Joseph’s College in Indiana, and Whittier College. We also worked with North Park University to develop an approach to academic program pages (start here to see the results of this work).

Strategy + More

Of course, not all of our client work involves web redesigns. For example:

  • Strategies for College of Lake County, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Heartland Community College, Fordham University, and Wilfrid Laurier University. We’re now working on redesigning these sites and I look forward to announcing their launches next year. We also completed strategies for Brown University’s 250th anniversary website and for Salem State University.
  • CMS assessments for Front Range Community College, Swarthmore College, and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
  • Usability testing for several institutions, including Sinclair Community College.
  • Social media strategy for Pomona College.
  • Brand research projects for the Chicago Latin School and The Ensworth School.

Most of the sites we launched last year were designed as responsive sites from the start, but we also completed responsive website redesigns for The University of Rochester, Manhattan College, and Mount Mercy University.

Our First Buzzr Site Launches

One of the reasons that the Paul Smith’s College launch was notable is that the site is built on a simple CMS that we co-developed with Buzzr. This is a great solution for smaller institutions that need an easy-to-use, open-source CMS that offers quick implementation and ongoing support. Unlike many other simple, open source content management systems, a Buzzr site can be exported to Drupal, a widely used platform. We call this product Buzzr Higher Ed Edition and it’s the basis for a number of other sites we’re designing right now.

[Coming up, Thursday, 13 April: Part 2 of mStoner’s annual report focusing on thought leadership initiatives, new staff, and financial growth.]


  • Michael Stoner Co-Founder and Co-Owner Was I born a skeptic or did I become one as I watched the hypestorm gather during the dotcom years, recede, and congeal once more as we come to terms with our online, social, mobile world? Whatever. I'm not much interested in cutting edge but what actually works for real people in the real world. Does that make me a bad person?