130 people packed the Percolator to capacity Friday night as many stood, even outside, to watch the 16 films that made the deadline. We laughed, we cried, we screamed, we drank coffee.

First prize went to Team “Work for Hire” for their film, “The Righteous and the Guilty.” They won the Flamey and $700. Second place went to “Tuff Crowd” for their film, “According to Plan.” Third place went to “Migs vs. Gory” for their film, “Escape from El Paso.”

Click here to see all the films! (Ghostlight48 channel on YouTube)

Many thanks to our judges, Steve Osborn, of Tortilla Productions, and Maya Sanchez. Mad props to all who entered. Also, big thanks to Lisa D, Amy Arsenault, Usvaldo de Leon Jr., Carlos del Toro, Chuck Horak and the Percolator. Can’t wait for next year!

Scope
Our client needed a website that:
1. Helped their clients interact with each other,
2. Maintained a calendar of events
3. Was easy to edit themselves
4. Showcased and sell the gym
5. Allowed pics of members
6. Was Social Media integrated
7. Maintained a blog
8. Appealed to the masses

We accomplished this by creative design (of course) and we built it on top of a Wordpress CMS.

Results
As a result, their web presence increased dramatically.
After three months:
• Web traffic increased by over 70%.
• Unique visitors increased over 45%.
• Linking sites soared
• Search Engine Results took them to the top of the page in many associated keywords.
• The gym picked up one sponsor ad
• Membership increased over 50% on the eastside location and over 20% on the westside!!! Of course we wont take all the credit for this stat. But we’d like to think we had a big role. Big props to the Crossfit El Paso management team for their efforts!!

We also helped to update the header images on a monthly basis. (All part of our maintenance)

We wrote and illustrated 4 comic-style stories so each panel of the car would tell a true story about the mobile homeless community.
Mad props to our illustrator, Sal Garcia.
Many thanks to Mike Foster and the Ethur team for the opportunity.

They were supposed to give us the finished web files so our IT people could manage future updates on our own server. They did beautiful work and gave us the files as promised.

That’s when we noticed a big problem: Their pages were protected with some kind of proprietary code unique to their company. We couldn’t edit them!

They claimed a misunderstanding and gladly converted the files to a common format to HTML at no extra charge, but we waited eight more weeks for this to be done. Not good.

……….

That was 2006. Today, things are different. The web is better. The web is cheaper. Every web customer should know what they are getting for their money. So we’ve come up with the Website Customer Bill of Rights:

1. You have the right to NOT pay through the nose for a website or content management software, especially if you don’t need a made-from-scratch solution.

2. You have the right to do basic edits on your own website, even if you don’t know web programming.

3. You have the right to a website integrated with social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.

4. You have the right to FREE, online support documentation for your website.

5. You have the right to change web companies and have a new company work on the previous company’s web code.

We’ve built many custom websites, using a variety of languages such as HTML, PHP, Flash and more. In fact, that was standard web development from 1998 to 2008.

It is now very common for websites to be built on “open source” platforms. This means that many web developers are licensing their code on the open market. They design a basic structure and functionality, which suits most small businesses and organizations. Their work is scrutinized by the technical public, and rated for quality and adherence to the latest web best practices.

The result is a website that is
1) Very affordable,
2) Ready to edit,
3) Ready to integrate with social media,
4) Supported by ample, free documentation available online, and
5) Easily transferred to another web developer, if necessary.

If you need a custom car builder online, let’s talk. If you want to be the boss of your own, affordable website with awesome social media power, we can help.

The web is not a big mystery anymore. Computer nerds should not rule your website. And please don’t spend more than you need to.

Now they’re named “Innovate El Paso.”

Innovate El Paso helps inventors take their new products to market. Eli Velasquez, executive director, needed to rebrand his organization to better connect with inventors, venture capitalists and other stakeholders. That’s when GhostLight went to work:

1. “Innovate El Paso” is simpler.
2. “Big help for big ideas” – This new tag is, essentially, the mission statement.
3. “innovateelpaso.org” – A more interactive and accessible website.
4. Business Cards – Bright and friendly, these cards have gotten great feedback!
5. Fliers, posters – Engaging, informative stories of historic inventors help promote Innovate’s events in print and online.
6. A new office space – Innovate’s “ground zero” has a whole new look to inspire dreaming, planning and action!

Detail about our work on Innovate El Paso’s new office space is below. Enjoy!
~GL

We layered frosted vinyl on the outside of the conference room’s glass door…





…so the Innovate staff could use the inside glass for dry-erase notes.





We recommended a bright wall color and highlighted some historically-significant innovators and inventions with wall frames. The tradition of world-changing innovation is the central theme here.





We took advantage of an abundant natural light wash on a plain white wall, and converted it…





…to a feature wall, complete with our very own Downtown El Paso collage.





The white 3D lettering is to help Innovate’s staff stay focused on their mission. White on white is very clean and recalls a “blank slate.”

Then broadcast changed the rules. We had to speak to the masses from one grandstand. That required a specialized group of communicators with specialized training and skills: Advertisers, broadcasters, media people.

Now, anyone can speak to anyone. Anyone can target any group of people.

What does it mean? Find out in 4:22.

Before Ghostlight

After Ghostlight

The ad executive finds the target audience, buys the media and builds the right message to reel them into your space. The audience accepts the promise of the message and walks into your store. Now what?

“What do you mean ‘now what?’ ” Ad Exec says. “We brought the customers in the door, didn’t we?”

Hmmmm.

The only reason the ad industry exists at all is because the person with the idea can’t possibly sell the idea face-to-face to every person that should know about it. When the customers finally come through the doors, you effectively have them face-to-face. What are you doing to tell them your story? To make them believe in you? To inspire them to tell their family and friends about your vision?

Your space is “Ground Zero” for your marketing message, the most important part of your advertising campaign.

The audience should feel as relaxed, inspired, happy, energetic, healthy, smart or as good looking in your store as your commercials say they should be. Your audience should see your brand displayed in the most confident, aesthetically pleasing way. They should linger longer than they have to. They should want to visit your space often, even if they don’t need to buy anything. They should bring their family and friends to “this great new place in town.” They should take pictures in front of your store and post them on Facebook.

Of course, great products and great service are the foundation for repeat business. But many times environmental graphic design, the official industry term, is left out of the mix. The business owner gets a sign fabricator to make a marquee and “do up” some signs or point-of-purchase displays. Unfortunately, the branding in the store is not what it is in the media.

The Ground Zero experience includes
1) designing and planning extraordinary property monuments and secondary property id’s,
2) planning exterior and interior wayfinding,
3) integrating the coolest possible regulatory signage and
4) fabricating aesthetic wall graphics, lighting and decorative elements, down to the finest detail.

Create an on-site experience equal to the advertising that precedes it. Work with somebody who can do both at the highest level.

Ray