English | Español

Branding, Strategy, Communications

The Rock Creek Blog // Industry News, Trends & Insights

Improving Process - Reviews From the Field

Posted by: Virginia Moore, Senior Strategist May 14, 2013

Here at Rock Creek, we are starting to work on company-wide workflow enhancements, and it seems like we’re in good company judging from the abundance of process-related events and articles in the communications industry.

Stop, Drop and Code: The RCSM Coders’ Playlist

Posted by: Andrea Paton-Ash, Digital Marketing Strategist May 09, 2013

What does every coder have in common? A good set of headphones. No one is more conscious of the office distractions than Rock Creek’s coders. Concentration is key when rattling through lines and lines of code. Here’s a playlist to keep you on your coding game.

The Power of Analytics

Posted by: Alex Parent, Digital Marketing Strategist May 06, 2013

No matter what industry you are in, you’ll probably agree: companies are increasingly challenged to do more with less. This, unfortunately, is easier said than done. But what if I told you that there was a tool with the power to identify cost saving measures, improve efficiencies, and develop new strategies? You might ask, “What is this magical tool that he speaks of?” Well, folks, I’m talking about website analytics.

Earth Day 2013: Rock Creek in Rock Creek

Posted by: Mariya Ho, Marketing Strategist Apr 22, 2013

In honor of Earth Day, we participated in the Rock Creek Conservancy’s 5th Annual Rock Creek Extreme Clean Up, a volunteer effort to make a difference and help restore Rock Creek to health, along with the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Our cleanup was one of over 50 locations along the 33-mile stretch of Rock Creek.

collage of 5 pictures of Rock Creek employees picking up trash in the woods and near a stream

You Know You’re a UXer When…

Posted by: Michelle Chin, User Experience Strategist Apr 19, 2013

When it comes to the Rock Creek UX team, we are a pretty well-rounded bunch. By day, you will find us sketching interface experiences, but elsewhere, you can catch Virginia at a Kennedy Center performance or an E Street Cinema film. John will be redecorating his home – it was recently featured in Apartment Therapy! Try to catch Jess on her bike on the weekends or check out planes with Andrew at an aviation show. And don’t be surprised if you see me doing sound production for a DC ska band. Yes, we may be individuals, but there are some telltale traits that all of us, UXers, exemplify.

Divine Inspiration: The RCSM Designers’ Playlist

Posted by: Andrea Paton-Ash, Digital Marketing Strategist Apr 11, 2013

With limitless distractions around the office, it can be hard to focus. While the lucky few have offices with doors, some of us only have our headphones. Whether you use it to block out your neighbor or keep you focused, music can help you get lost in your work and even inspire you to create.

I asked our designers to send the songs that help them get through the day while reigning in their creative brainwaves to translate them into show-stopping designs.

How Does an Accessible Website Benefit All Users?

Posted by: Zane McHattie, 508/Accessibility Practice Lead Apr 02, 2013

Generally speaking, when people think about web accessibility, more often than not they imagine blind users who are accessing the web from a computer and using some sort of a screen reader. While this is one audience that benefits from an accessible website, it’s far from the only one.

Rock Creek Academy: Writing Winning Proposals

Posted by: Jennifer Shine, Proposal Manager Mar 28, 2013

Developing compelling and winning proposals is critical to expanding our business and showcasing our capabilities to new and current clients. Our dedicated team of proposal professionals is trained in the Shipley Associates methodology for proposal development. We are also members of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) to stay current and to expand our knowledge on industry best practices through events and workshops.

Jen Shine and Tiara Kennedy presenting and several note cards displayed on a table

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Posted by: Jeff Riggs, Associate Director of Strategy Mar 25, 2013

Much has changed in the last few years at RCSM. A lot has changed online too.

RCSM is now 60+ employees strong with full in-house web development, Accessibility and UX teams—not to mention our growth in the areas social media management and marketing campaign development. And there’s our program-level federal contracts from FTC’s website re-build to FEMA’s outreach campaign. To say the least, it’s an exciting time.

The Rock Creek Travel Diaries: Guam & Saipan

Posted by: Sonia Kreimer, Project Manager Mar 15, 2013

Project Manager Sonia Kreimer recently had the opportunity to travel overseas for a FEMA Youth Preparedness Project. She shares her travel experiences in our first ever Rock Creek Travel Diary!

View of beach and ocean in Guam

Five Tips for Studying for the PMP Exam

Posted by: Janessa Klahs, Director of Project Management Mar 04, 2013

At Rock Creek we follow the Project Management Institutes (PMI) best practices for managing projects. Using this standard ensures all projects are run in a similar manner and the internal teams are clear on the expectations.

Just last month, our sixth and final project manager passed her PMP exam! Here are 5 tips to help you as you prepare to take your PMP.

Rock Creek Ranks 2nd in Design Firms in DC

Posted by: Andrea Paton-Ash, Digital Marketing Strategist Feb 28, 2013

Everyone likes a pat on the back, but we prefer high fives! This year, Rock Creek Strategic Marketing jumped up to the #2 spot for Visual Art and Design Firms in the Washington Business Journal’s Book of Lists, up from fourth place last year.

Iterative, Cooperative Web Accessibility: Rock Creek’s Presentation at Drupal4Gov

Posted by: Zane McHattie, 508/Accessibility Practice Lead Feb 22, 2013

Rock Creek has long focused on the principal that web accessibility is about more than just complying with Section 508, an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1974. Instead, our premise is simple: Web accessibility is a way to break down barriers and make sure that content is available to everyone. But creating accessible websites doesn’t just happen—and it won’t happen if everyone working on the project isn’t onboard at the beginning. This was the basis of our presentation at a Drupal4Gov event at the National Institutes of Health on February 21.Drupal4Gov powerpoint presentation welcome slide

An Experiment in Demystifying Sitemaps

Posted by: Virginia Moore, Senior Strategist Feb 14, 2013

Designing sitemaps is something we do everyday as User Experience (UX) practitioners, and it’s easy to take for granted that colleagues and clients know what all those little interconnected boxes mean. To help us communicate what a sitemap is, and what goes into making one, the UX team came up with a workshop that challenged us to explain what we do in a brand new way and to demonstrate how it works with a hungry crowd at last week’s brown bag Rock Creek Academy.
UX practitioners guiding the sitemap challenge

Rock Creek Academy: Social Media Edition

Posted by: Ashley Bright, Marketing Strategist Feb 07, 2013

This Tuesday a few of us gave a social media presentation. Our clients are increasingly asking us to help them with social media outreach, and we took this opportunity to share some of what we’ve learned from some recent social media audits and strategy plans we’ve worked on.

Together with Andrea Paton-Ash and Alex Parent from the Digital Marketing team and Mariya Ho from the Strategy team, we presented some platform-specific knowledge and best practices. We focused on moving beyond the basics and talking about strategies that are working now for some of the top performers on social media.

Strategist at Rock Creek Social Media presentation