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A lot of discussions have been raised about the key elements of a good website. When I was creating a new website for our sister-company Whizpr the other day, I realised once more that there is no such thing as ‘standard rules for a good website’.
Before I can explain this statement, I have to enlighten you about the structure of our company. Whizpr, which is a Benelux PR-agency, also has an office in the Netherlands. We both have our own clients, our own methods and our own website. A few months ago, our Dutch office launched their new website and... we had some mixed feelings about it. We were overwhelmed with information, images, word clouds, colours and details... it was a typical Dutch website. Although it met all the needs of the Dutch surfer, we weren’t convinced that this style would also appeal to the Belgian audience.
Therefore, even when keeping all crucial elements for a good website in mind, it might not be perceived as appealing by different cultures. Even in Belgium, there are significant differences in style. The south likes a lot of colour and details while the north prefers simplicity. Actually, there even is a great difference in people from the same region. People that are mostly facts and figures oriented are mostly drawn to websites with a lot of information, graphs and details, while the more sensitive and creative people prefer images and colours.
Finally, I must say that you can definitely follow some rules to create a usability-friendly website, but whether or not it’s appealing, is a shot in the dark. When you are targeting a very specific audience within a small geographical region, you might have a chance to find something that works for the majority of your viewers, but it’s far more difficult when you are designing for different countries.
So, like a very wise French saying goes: les goûts et les couleurs on ne se discutent pas.
I really started realizing the summer was in when we had our first meeting on the terras of our Whizpr home office. Nothing against our meeting room, but it doesn’t beat the relaxing atmosphere of a garden, birds and sun on your face. It’s even better when after the meeting you can end your Friday with colleagues and clients over a cool glas of Cava. 
Today, Panda Security gave a few presentations on their Managed Office Protection solution in the stadion of football club Anderlecht. Well not actually in the stadion but in the conference rooms they have available there.
Speaker for Panda was Bruno Rodriguez Calvo, attendees to the presentations were Panda’s resellers.
It’s interesting to find out that now you don’t have to install the security software on the computer anymore. This is part of the managed services of Panda Security and it’s all done ‘in the cloud’. Moreover, with Managed Office Protection you can manage, online, the security of different workstations in your company. Which is very interesting for SMB’s who don’t have the ressources to put in place the necessary security.
Mitel heeft de integratie met van haar Unified Communications oplossingen met Microsoft's bedrijfsapplicaties waaronder Microsoft Office Communications server 2007 verbeterd.
Daarnaast is het Mitel 3300 IP Communication Platform (ICP) gecertificeerd voor de directe SIP-integratie met Microsoft's Office Communications Server 2007. Gateways van derde partijen zijn niet noodzakelijk.
Ik had beloofd jullie op de hoogte houden van de verdere afbraak- en opbouwwerken in ons Whizpr Home Office.
Op dit moment is de ruimte waar Bart vroeger zat aan de beurt.
En handige Harry die Bart is heeft hij zijn eigen werkbank, inclusief Ice Tea.
Je ziet het, nog veel werk.Tot de volgende update!
