Lisa P. Maxwell Website FAQs-- by Nate Winter

Hey, it's me, Nate Winter. Here are answers to the top questions I receive from visiting chatters on lisapmaxwell.com.

YES, this is for real. You're really seeing us at our desks. The person you're watching is replying to your chats in real time.

NO, I can't see you.

YES, it's a little strange knowing that you can see me and I can't see you. But you get used to it, and it keeps the Lisa P. Maxwell team on its toes. Our mothers, significant others, clients or pets could be watching at any time, so we're always on our best, most appropriately entertaining behavior. The site also makes us vulnerable to false identity shenanigans. We know that wasn't really Britney Spears.

NO, it doesn't affect productivity. We account for our time spent chatting as an in-house expense. It really doesn't account for much time. Most of my chats last 2 minutes or less. I get 6 to 10 per day. Our clients don't get billed for it and we meet their deadlines, the same as we always have.

NO, there's no portfolio of agency work for you to look at on the site. We realize this is a striking departure from the typical agency site. Our site copy explains that most agency sites are "a repository of irrelevant content that promises more of the same." The thinking is that the site itself is an example of great work. On one hand that's true, but in my opinion I think it's a weakness to not have more of our work on the site. We have work. It's good. And it's for clients you've heard of-- in a good way. At the very least we should explain how to see our work if you are interested.

YES, we know the video looks grainy sometimes. It's a known issue and we're working on it. The fact of the matter is that streaming so much video consumes a lot of bandwidth. To add to the data load by using higher-res web cams would slow things down significantly.

Admittedly, this is a problem not just with the web cams and data volume, but of design, too. The individual chat feature could've been designed so that the video doesn't enlarge. When it does this, it makes the video quality look terrible. That's a separation between the design and the programming/usability. The next version will surely correct this by not drawing attention to a known tech limitation.

NO, it's not a dating site. Lisa P. Maxwell is a creative agency. We provide advertising, branding, and design, as well as Search Engine Optimization and PR through our Visible and LPMPR divisions, respectively. Long story short, no dating.

-- Nate Winter

Life on the Inside: lisapmaxwell.com-- by Nate Winter

Rejoice! The Nate Winter Ad/Marketing blog returns, and with good reason.

A really cool change has gone on at Lisa P. Maxwell, the Chicago creative agency I work for, and lisapmaxwell.com, our website. Last week we launched a pretty revolutionary concept for a website. The idea is that everyone in the agency has a web cam that records live video of his/her desk and streams that footage to the homepage of our website. There, visitors can see what our team is doing and even converse with us via IM-style messages. And we do it all in the name of transparency-- boldly showing the world what goes on at our agency.

Personally, I like the concept. It's original, meaningful and intriguing. Many members of the blogosphere and the Twittersphere agree, so we've received some nice attention. It comes in waves. One afternoon we're inundated with chats from Brasil, the next evening it's people from the UK. And sometimes it's just one guy from Montana. If you haven't seen it, visit the Lisa P. Maxwell site during regular business hours and check it out. It's fun. You'll like it.

There's definitely an entertainment aspect to it. Our site might be the world's most boring reality show. It's unedited and we can't show or talk about client work. Hell, you can't even hear us speak. But maybe the site is also a new direction in online interactivity. There's an unspoken, curious energy around the office from people thinking that this could make us famous. Could we be ce-web-rities in a new evolution of online reality programing known as "ce-web-reality?" (Screw you, VH1! I'm coining the terms now!)

In the spirit of in-your-face transparency, I've decided to blog about my experience from within this new website odyssey. And I'm not alone. Other Lisa P. Maxwell peeps are personally blogging on this, too. I'll reference their blogs regularly as I write more. Stay tuned.

-- Nate Winter

p.s. Feel free to chat me up on lisapmaxwell.com in response to these posts.