I got an email from Metropolis today. It came to an address I used when I joined their community, though I don’t remember opting-in to anything. At any rate, I opened it and was amazed at just how completely bad it was. Clumsily composed in plain text and littered with duplicate links, it looked more like a parody of an email newsletter, like someone’s farsighted 6-year old had been given an event calendar and a Palm Pilot and told to share the important bits with the Internet.
So bad was it, in fact, I’ve included it here. I figure with all of the useful articles out there on how to do email marketing right, the world could use one that illustrates how to do it really crap.
- In: Distractions| Work
The new year, off and rolling
25 Feb2010
February is drawing to a close, putting us firmly in the new year and looking forward to onset of Spring. The past few days have been warm enough to suggest that hanami season is just around the corner. We’re all ready to open the windows and start enjoying some cool breezes in the office and (especially) out on our spacious new balcony. Which reminds, I need to get my hands on some director’s chairs…
The year has gotten off to quite a busy start, which is a refreshing change from the end of 2009, which found us with a bit more free time on our hands than we like. Lots of inquiries and many approved projects have us all feeling very good about the coming year and excited to do some interesting work.
Some of what we’ve been up to so far this year includes redesigning client’s websites. One of these, for destination management firm Villissima, went live just last week and looks like this.
The redesign was mostly cosmetic, and we thinks gives the site a much more sophisticated look overall and better fits the company’s high-quality image. Have a look at the live site if interested in seeing the whole thing.
We also completed the redesign of the website for Japan’s leading translation and rewriting company, Forte, specialists in scientific and academic papers. The new design represents a huge improvement over the previous site, and the project also gave us the opportunity to implement various enhancements in the areas of usability and user experience.
We also performed extensive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on the site to get it into page 1 on both Google and Yahoo! for all 10 of their core keywords, such as 英文校正 and 論文校閲. Conversions are up one month after the launch of the new site and we’ll continue to tweak and tune to get the best performance possible out of the site.
Finally, our most recent launch is the website for Tokyo-based venture Australia Property Inc. Find full details on this great project on the Netwise website shortly…
Keith Olbermann: refreshingly frank.
16 Jan2010
Nice to see someone on a national network call these pricks out on their hate-mongering and general small-mindedness. I had begun to get the feeling the American news media had devolved into two antagonistic camps comprising Jon Stewart and everyone else, but now I need there are some other voices of reason out there as well. Good on ya, Keith.
- In: The Culture Wars
Netwise launches Tokyo’s first wine portal
16 Jan2010
One of our recent projects is now online and is picking up steam in terms of traffic and membership. Here’s the “official” blurb:
Tokyo has a lot to offer wine lovers.
From world-class restaurants to standing wine bars to the massive retail and online wine trade, Tokyoites have access to an incredible range of not only wines, but wine-related events, education and—of course—wine socializing. However, keeping up with the myriad events and topics of interest to lovers of the vine has been difficult at best. But now that’s all changed, and for the first time Tokyoites have a one-stop, comprehensive resource for keeping up with and getting the most out of the world of wine here in Tokyo.
Welcome to Vinotokyo.
Vinotokyo is a community wine portal that exists with the goal of collecting and sharing wine-related information of interest to Tokyoites. It is the first and only online directory of wine bars and wine-centric restaurants in our vast metropolis, with the first comprehensive calendar of wine events such as tastings, dinners and wine parties.
Here are some of the things you can find or do there:
- Consult the comprehensive (and growing!) restaurant and wine bar listings to discover new places in and around Tokyo to wine and dine.
- Read and write reviews of wines, restaurants, wine shops, online stores and just about anything else in our directories.
- Join the Vinotokyo community and interact with others in our access-protected social network.
- Have a Facebook account? Login with your Facebook details and skip the registration process completely!
- Check the event calendar to see what’s happening around town in the world of wine.
- Submit new listings for your favorite wine spots not yet in the system.
Join the forums, share tasting notes, recommendations and more.
Ready to get started?
Then either create an account or login with your Facebook
credentials using the Connect with Facebook button.
- In: Technology| Wine| Work
Tokyo’s Coffee Shops, Best to Worse
16 Jan2010
1. Tully’s. Understated, cozy, jazzy BGM. 「アメリカノ、お湯少なめで。」
2. DEAN & DELUCA. Expensive and worth it.
3. Seattle’s Best Coffee. Very few Tokyo locations. Enjoy it at Beacon after lunch.
4. Sagafredo Zanetti. Stylish and tasty.
5. Starbucks. What’s to say?
6. Kohikan. Home to the shortest chairs in Tokyo and dated “Blue Mountain”-type offerings.
7. Pronto. My morning stop-in, mostly owing to a local lack of Tully’s.
8. Doutour. Widest demographic swath of them all. Taxi drivers sipping and smoking next to teenyboppers.
9. Cafe Veloce. The chain most often selected by salarymen for a quick meeting or post-meeting chat.
10. Renoir. Step back in time to Japan, 1985. Lots of deals and calls being made, stick-around-a-while furniture, refills.
11. Excelsior. So bad on so many levels.
- In: Food/Dining| Life in Japan
Capricine 2009 Summer & Autumn Collection
13 Aug2009
Our good friends at Spoilt Inc., a Netwise client and home to fashion lingerie brands Capricine and Gatez Moi, revealed their new new lineup for Summer and Autumn recently in Shibuya. We were lucky enough to be on-hand for the event and managed to come away with a few photos of the new collection. The Capricine lingerie brand is modeled on Marie Antoinette at the time of her marriage to the Dauphin of France, Louis-Auguste, and is divided among four gorgeous, enticing lines. Their products are available in stores around Japan and also online at the Capricine Web Shop.
- In: Distractions| Work
Online Wine Buyer’s Guide Updated
26 Jun2009
More shops and general info added to the Japan wine guide.
Let me also add a quick plug for a superb wine I enjoy this week, the Maison Abbotts Cordis (2002). This award-winning Minervois is made from 100% Carignan (!) and has won a number of awards. Carignan has never tasted this good. Highly recommended!
- In: Reviews| Wine
- Tags: minervois carignan
Review: ほの字 (Honoji)
21 Jun2009
Easily the best 本格的な和食 (authentic Japanese food) in Miyamasu-zaka-ue (宮益坂上) is to be found at local lunch favorite Honoji. I’ve been going there once every week or two for two years, and the consistently high quality and service make it one of may favorites lunch spots here in Shibuya.
The fare is standard-issue 定食 (set menu) Japanese, but the quality is a cut above the rest. The miso soup (or tonjiru, depending on the day) is always flavorful and piping hot, and the rice cooked to fluffy perfection. The lunch menu consists of four choices: hamburger steak, 生姜焼き (ginger pork), and then a fish item and a “honoji special” that change every 3-4 days each. Everything is good, all the time.
If there has been any staff turnover in the time I’ve been going I haven’t noticed it, and this surely one of the reasons why they do such a great job. The staff is friendly, attentive and professional. If you’re in the area here for lunch one day and looking for great 日本食 you should definitely give this place a try. (Menus and communication in Japanese only.)
- In: Food/Dining| Reviews