Gorton Studios - Websites that Work

Missouri Department of Conservation

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:29:21 -0500

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) protects and manages the fish, forest and wildlife resources of the State of Missouri. They seek opportunities for all citizens to use, enjoy and learn about these resources as well as participate in their management.

MDC came to Gorton Studios with a massive website that was in disarray. Out of tens-of-thousands of pages and articles online, the most-viewed page on the site was the 'Page Not Found' error.

Gorton Studios worked with our excellent friends and colleagues from Treehouse Agency and MDC staff to plan, design and develop a completely new site based on the mockups MDC had already started. The new site contains comprehensive information about wildlife, regulations, recreational areas, land and water care, educational resources and much more. A large media gallery contains videos, photos and audio recordings from MDC's extensive archive. The site is connected to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, and also uses a backend email notifications system to communicate press releases with members of the media throughout the state.

In addition to these site-building tasks, a significant part of our 18-month (and counting) engagement has been the training of MDC technical and editorial staff. We've worked closely with our colleagues at MDC and have seen them progress from Drupal-newbies to full-fledged partners and peers. Their skills and efforts have carried the site forward to the point where they are now self-sufficient and rarely need our guidance.

It's been a wonderful partnership and it's great to see the site launch successfully and show off the work of so many talented people!

htp://mdc.mo.gov

MN Rides

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:51:59 -0500

The Counties Transit Improvement Board invests in transit projects in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Formed in 2008 as a result of legislation passed by the Minnesota Legislature, the Board has distributed millions of dollars for funding transitway projects.

The Board came to Gorton Studios needing a website that would facilitate internal and external communications. Their core needs included a place to centrally store and share planning documents, meeting minutes and meeting notices, as well as a tool to eliminate the confusion caused by multiple versions of frequently-updated materials.

Gorton Studios worked with the Board to plan, design and build this Drupal-powered website and train staff on how to use the site effectively. After launch, the site's ongoing success is due to the overall ease-of-management built into the site; since launch, Board staff have completely taken over the site's management and are delivering on the important goals for simplified, centralized communications.

http://www.mnrides.org

Through a Dog's Eyes

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:41:15 -0500

Through a Dog’s Eyes is a PBS documentary that follows a handful of people as they journey through the heartwarming and often challenging process of receiving their service dogs.

The show needed a website that could showcase the recipients stories, pictures, and video. And above all, the site needed to convey the uplifting, fun feel of the documentary.

Gorton Studios designed and developed a media-rich website complete with coverflow-style video, image galleries, and playful page transitions. All of this was done in a way that makes it very easy for the show's producers to update and add content.

http://www.pbs.org/dogs-eyes/

Southern Poverty Law Center

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:36:16 -0500

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. Founded by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. in 1971, the SPLC is internationally known for tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. Their innovative Teaching Tolerance program produces and distributes – free of charge – documentary films, books, lesson plans and other materials that promote tolerance and respect in our nation’s schools.

Gorton Studios worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center to flesh out and finalize their plans and designs and then implement it all in a Drupal-powered website. Immediately upon the site's launch, SPLC started receiving incredible feedback from donors and peers about both the design and functionality of the site. SPLC staff are absolutely delighted with their control, ease-of-use and ability to grow and customize the site.

Beyond the core of a well-designed site, there are also extensive maps, custom campaigns, and a non-trivial integration with a backend membership and donations system.

http://www.splcenter.org

Dot.Org Award

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:59:47 -0500

Wellstone Action wins!

San Francisco, Here We Come!

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:46:52 -0600

Gorton Studios will sponsor, attend and present this Spring. Join Us!

Gorton Studios: Now +1 Better!

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:18:38 -0600

Welcome Chach—our newest team member.

Northrop

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:38:51 -0500

Northrop is one of the University of Minnesota’s major icons and its central ceremonial and presentational space. As an organization, the Northrop must present an attractive, compelling face to its many different audiences and do so in a way that allows them to showcase beautiful videos and imagery, share lots of information and promote ticket sales.

Gorton Studios worked with the staff of the Northrop to design and develop a media-rich website. The site has ample room to showcase upcoming artists, events and news, both on the homepage and throughout the site. It also ties into Facebook, Twitter and MySpace and cross-connects content within the site to facilitate lively after-show discussions of events and performances.

Northrop staff are ecstatic with the results (we've heard words like “Glorious”). And, not only did Gorton Studios deliver on their short-term needs, we also provided them with a flexible structure to continue growing the site and the training to be able to do so.

The new site is built using the Drupal framework, which is increasingly being embraced by the University of Minnesota for a tremendous range of web needs. It also happens to be Gorton Studios' favorite tool to make great things happen for our clients.

http://northrop.umn.edu

Life (Part 2)

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:01:07 -0500

Life (Part 2) is a PBS television series by and about the 26% of the American population who are 55 and older. Host Robert Lipsyte, an Emmy winner and former New York Times columnist, uses his tough-minded journalistic instincts, ever-ready wit, and very strong opinions to ensure that baby boomers overcome their denial and face facts: the time to do something about age-related issues is right now.

Gorton Studios worked with the staff of Life (Part 2) to design and develop a media-rich website as an online complement for the tone and content of the series. In addition to providing a blogging platform, lots of video, exclusive essays, interviews and more, the site also hooks into social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook. And, on top of it all, we built it in a way that makes it very easy for the show's producers to manage and extend as needed.

The new site is built using the Drupal framework, which makes it (to the best of our knowledge) the first Drupal website used for a PBS show. PBS has previously used Drupal in it's Engage platform and associated tools; it's great to see that they're continuing to adopt this flexible, responsive tool.

http://www.pbs.org/lifepart2/

We're in ELLE

admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:10:19 -0500

And it's the Miley Cyrus issue!