As the chairman of OE Design – The Web Designers, can I please ask you to forgive me for a moment….

I want to brag about three members of my organization.

But before I brag, the facts are, that I’m not so smart when it comes to websites. But I am smart enough to surround myself with very smart people, while I take copious notes.

As a direct result of that, I’m not only getting older with every passing day, but because of the ‘young’ company I keep, I’m getting to know a few things in this ever changing online world that we live in. And the other bonus I get is that I share in the tremendous success of my fabulous team that is now having an impact nationally and globally as a direct result of being part of the OE Design vision and success story.

So here is my brag – as promised….

1. Daniel Dyson

We here at OE Design do a lot of blogging and this year Daniel – our web designer and project coordinator extraordinaire, created his own Blog on February 8 of this year called The Daily Guitar and this week was awarded 1st prize in the New & Upcoming category in the 2010 Guitar Blog Awards.

Comments by the award organizers were that ‘The Daily Guitar’s got a great vibe about it. Daniel’s posts are fun and engaging.’

They also added that, ‘The Daily Guitar has two main goals: inspiration to practice your guitar daily, and then, to grow a community of guitarists. The Blog is filled with quirky, but inspiring news about guitars and guitar players, and then, gear reviews and tutorials.’

2. Sarah Schelbach

In September 2009 Sarah began the process of creating a brand new website called Wedding House .  It’s an online wedding planner for 21st century brides.

With the launch date of June this year it’s taking the wedding industry by storm and growing at an extremely rapid rate. The New Zealand version of the website is in the wings, ready to be launched before the end of the year and following in hot pursuit are the Canadian, UK and ultimately the USA version of the same concept.

Ably supported by the team here at OE Design and family, its success is assured.

3. Ben Sinclair

Ben was asked in 2005 to assist his local church with the construction of websites that could assist them with the organisation and co-ordination of their volunteers.

Ben has taken that original idea and is already receiving rave reviews from around the world for his website called Elvanto – a rostering system for churches, and with many churches already signing up for their free trial we know that churches all over the world are soon to be better organised than ever because of this globally impacting product produced under the OE Design roof.

Oh and Ben and a few of us are working on another great online directory soon to hit Australia called Fitness House.

Within the culture of OE Design we have always encouraged personal growth and personal product and service production. So what can I say – but watch this space into the future.

Let The Chairman Brag is a post from: OE Design Blog

‘Amazon’s revolutionary electronic book, the Kindle, will arrive in Australia next week after a two-year wait.

Amazon Kindle vice-president Steve Kessel confirmed the gadget’s Australian arrival after the online book giant released an international version of the e-book reader.

Its release is made possible by Amazon’s deal with AT&T to provide mobile internet access outside the US, which will mean users can browse Amazon’s Kindle website with no book download costs.

Online books are expected to cost $US13.99 to download: $US4 more than in the US.

Mr Kessel said more than 200,000 books were now available for download from the Kindle online store, in addition to magazines and newspapers, and Australian titles would be added in future.

‘On the book side, our vision is to deliver any book ever printed in any language available in less than 60 seconds,’ he said. ‘That will definitely, over time, include local Australian published books aren’t available at the moment. We have a relationship with over 100,000 publishers.’

The Amazon Kindle offers a 6in Electronic Ink screen that use little power, a built-in dictionary, the ability to store bookmarks and a wireless internet connection using the mobile phone network. The international version of the device will cost $US279.

Sony recently announced plans to launch two new e-book readers, including a touchscreen device and US book chain Barnes & Noble is said to be working on its own e-book gadget.’

Source: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson of The Courier Mail

The E-Book Revolution Continues is a post from: OE Design Blog

The Breville Story

On Melbourne Cup Day in 1932, just seven months after the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bill O’Brien and Harry Norville scraped together 500 pounds in the midst of the nation’s worst economic depression to found ‘Breville Radio’. Together they built and sold radios to a generation for whom radio was the centre of family entertainment and a vital connection with a world in great upheaval.

Breville sold its radio division in 1951 with the advent of television but continued as a family business with a focus on seeking innovations for every day living. It was John O’Brien, son of Bill, chairman and passionate supporter of Breville R&D who discovered our secret to successful innovation: each working day, until his passing in 2003 at age 88, John read every one of the customer feedback cards. “It’s the most important thing I do,” he said. Customer feedback is still read daily by our Design, Innovation and Marketing teams. Customer feedback is, and will continue to be, the key to our success.

Breville has created some true product icons that have changed the way we live: our scissor-action sandwich toaster reached into an amazing 10% of Australian homes in the first year of its release (1974). Today, from NZ to the UK, toasted sandwiches are still affectionately known as ‘Brevilles’, and the term has been added to the Australian dictionary. Success followed on success with the ‘Kitchen Whizz’ food processor, the high-wall electric wok, the health grill, panini press and award-winning Juice Fountain and espresso machines.

Breville has grown to be a market leader in Australia, and over those years we have experienced serious illnesses like cancer in our colleagues and their families. We believe that we should not simply stand by and watch these social diseases consume our broader community. We have begun by supporting cancer research and, through promoting healthy eating, we want to tackle the emerging problem of obesity.

Breville is now a global brand sold in 30 countries around the world. And, like it was for Breville Radio, Breville Innovation is not just about products – it is about the way we live.

The Breville Story is a post from: OE Design Blog