The Ledge - Jonathan Todd talks more crap

http://solo2.abac.com/uwsag/incentiv...athon-todd.htm

UWSAG Talks To
Jonathan Todd & Girshon Rutstein of MickFleetwood.Com

What got you started in website design?

Jonathan Todd of SabreMark, Inc., works closely with Girshon Rutstein of Dream Images, Inc. Girshon and his team handle the web and graphics work while Jonathan creates the flowcharts, concept and design direction. The duo have received over 50 design and marketing awards in the past year for MickFleetwood.com. They believe their success is based on the blending of the two firms’ expertise in marketing and design. Both started web work about 10 years ago “in the beginning” of commercial sites as natural changes in cutting-edge business marketing work. Girshon adds a video background as well. See www.SabreMark.net and www.DreamImages.net for our backgrounds.

What do you hope to accomplish with your website?

Let people get as close as possible to Mick Fleetwood and Fleetwood Mac through the best in technology. Mick has a journal, chat rooms even a real time – photorealistic drum set – that can be played at the site. The trick is often to help inform without selling. Take a look at the Dali area at the site by visiting the store at Mick’s Gallery from the home page.

What advice would you give to new webmasters?

It’s not just about being pretty. It’s much more about good load times, streamlining content, compression and easy navigation.

What was the biggest problem you faced with your website?

The sheer size of this iconic rock star and the scope of the site made the project challenging. Updating it and maintaining it is a challenge – including the orders.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

We’d make a much easier choice of high and low speed and add a pure html version for “just the facts”.

What plans do you have for the future?

We’ve just completed www.FleetwoodMac.com which is another massive undertaking – this time for the entire band. We’ve added – and are adding more daily – a Fan Club site under password protection. You can see samples at www.FleetwoodMac.com/club.htm. This is being hailed as the most connected entertainment fan club in history. We’re doing more of the “great artist” fan clubs. Very hard, very expensive and very exciting to create.

What else do you like to do?

Vacation . . . .