Visit the FORGE Blog to read this awe inspiring tome about the way that the web has changed, including some understanding of how it’s all because of Google. Read the Post Here.

The economic principles taught in business school are based upon the role of price in the world of supply and demand. As it pertains to the creative industry, supply is the total time available to the creative firm and demand is the pull of that time by paying clients. As someone who has the job of setting prices in a design firm I personally experience the difficulty of this every day.
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So FORGE is working on a program called FORGE Your Dot Org. We are giving away free services to one Dayton-based non-profit in 2010. The application window has now closed, and we started looking over the applications today. I was amazed at how detailed and thoughtful companies will be in order to get free work for a whole year. It’s almost like they are trying.

So I was wondering what it would be like if FORGE treated potential clients like we treat prospective employees.  Instead of us selling ourselves, we would let potential clients know if THEY fit the bill.
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“Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

As I work in the creative field, I am constantly interacting with people. While I sometimes think back to the times where, as a programmer, I found myself a bit secluded in my day-to-day routine, I generally like that aspect of my job. The work that FORGE does simply can’t exist without the insight and collaborative partnership of the clients that are paying us. This collaboration is crucial to a successful project of any type, and is dependent on things like trust, professionalism, and honesty.
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The RFP (or Request for Proposal), is there any item that is so loved and so hated at the same time. Loved because it is sometimes the first step in getting a great new client. Hated because it is a time-consuming, tedious, and subjective process. Part of my responsibility at FORGE is to evaluate RFPs to see if we are a good fit. This has led me to question the use of RFPs as an accurate and fair method of choosing a design firm.

At first glance the RFP could be considered a fair way to find common ground in which to compare different companies to do the same project. While I would mostly agree, I would question why this needs to be the case. No two companies are the same. If FORGE tried to mimic another design firm, we would at best be similar. The truth is, we are unique, whether we want to be or not (in this case we very much want to be.)
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The project manager is a strange position. In the past, I often found myself in discussions with clients or employees where the problems of dealing with project managers were discussed. To be honest, this sometimes surprises me as I have had some very positive experiences with project managers over the years as a developer. But this positive view is not shared by everyone, including some of our current and potential clients at FORGE.

There’s no denying that somebody needs to manage projects. With anything but a very basic project, somebody needs to ensure that tasks are accomplished, deadlines are met, and that both the client is happy and the project is profitable. This is a LOT of responsibility for one person to have. I have only known a couple of people who have been able to do this well. For example, a web project requires that the project manager have at least a decent understanding of database design, programming theory, user interface design, copywriting, HTML, and CSS, as well as be incredibly organized, friendly, and have a strong presence. This list is obviously ideal, but highlights the complexity that comes with the job of managing web projects.
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Many articles have been written about choosing a Design Firm, most of them focusing on things like; what questions to ask in the interview, what should be in an RFP, ect. All good things to know for sure, but perhaps not the angle that I believe is most important.

From a business standpoint, the strategic choice of partnering with another company is a very important one. It’s a choice that can make or break a small company, and greatly affect a large one. Choose correctly and each company get’s a profitable bit of business, as they are each able to work within the operational efficiencies that they have established. Choose wrong, and the problems that come with the decision can take years to make right.
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So my “independant” life started in January of 2008.  I didn’t know what to do with myself and, as it turns out, I didn’t need to.  The bringing together of Jän Ostendorf, Jeremy Loyd and Ben Callahan was a very significant event in all of our lives.  While Jän graciously offered me some cheap space to rent in the office of his design firm, Catalyst Creative, I proceeded to worry.  Yes, that was my initial contribution to the cause…worry.  Embarrassing, huh?  Such is the transitional life of the entrepreneur, I guess.
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