This February, we’re sharing Tips & Tricks we Schipulites love at schipul.com/love. With Valentine’s Day just a week away,  we also wanted to share this love poem with you, our clients and friends.Enjoy!

Geek Love, a Poem from the Schipulites to You!

In Schipul-land this Valentine’s, we want to spread the LOVE

By sharing things that currently have set our hearts abuzz.

You know we love to geek on out, and share the things we know

With clients, friends, and all of you – dear readers of this poem.

Each day this month we’ll share a tip, or trick, or tool, or thing

Like Spotify or Google Chrome or CodeAcademy

See why Eloy loves the Cloud, and Brian loves Zen Desk,

Why Courtney cannot get enough of her fave – Pinterest!

How Erica learned coding from videos online

Or KMe uses Google Docs to save her clients time.

We’ll share one new thing daily, schipul dot com slash love

Keep coming back to see what’s new, and share with all your buds.

Whether it’s your most favorite day, or one that’s just alright…

We wish you Happy Valentine’s

With  LOVE, the Schipulites!

This weekend is the Space City Classic Gymnastic Invitational, held February 3rd-5th at the Legends Sports Complex in Spring. The Classic is hosted by Team Cypress of Cypress Academy of Gymnastics in Houston, TX and a portion of all of the proceeds from the event will go to The Greater Houston Gymnastics Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. Schipul is proud to sponsor this great event!

The Space City Classic website is built with Tendenci Content Management System Community Edition. The site features include a large homepage rotator, News feed, Event Calendar, and Membership Login Area.

“The Greater Houston Gymnastics Foundation is extremely thankful for the support of Schipul and the Tendenci website platform in helping us revolutionize our presence on the web.  Not only does the quality of product improve the reputation of our meets and organization, but the simplicity and intuitive design constructs of Tendenci make web development, enhancement and daily use extremely attractive.  The fact that I didn’t have to train users on how to interface with our operations through the website says enough!”

- David Duren, The Space City Classic

TheSpaceCityClassic.com hosted on Tendenci. Learn more and sign up for a free trial at Tendenci.com

One of our servers is experiencing intermittent outages due to overload issues. This affects some of our WordPress & Drupal websites.

When attempting to access sites on this server, you may encounter “503 Service Temporarily Unavailable” errors. For the most part, you will see no issues with the site – but we know that any down time can be frustrating. We apologize for the inconvenience to our clients and their site visitors.

This is one of our older servers; we are upgrading all of the affected sites to a newer server one at a time. We are starting this process immediately, but it may take up to two weeks to migrate every site.

Thank you for your patience, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Support Team at (281) 497-6567 ext 411 or support@schipul.com.

We will be following up with each affected client directly as well.

The Schipul crew had a blast preparing for and learning at SchipulCon 2011! Here are a few of our favorite moments and experiences, share your own in the comments below!

Dries Buytaert, Found of Drupal, hula hooping at SchipulCon – Just one of the many amazing moments

Katie Laird
Seeing Matt and Dries on the stage with David was the absolute highlight of my SchipulCon experience.  It was like every other sentence out of their mouths was an awesome soundbite, reminding me to look beyond web software when considering the impact of open source.  My favorite breakout sessions were with the awesome NASA folks and Karen Walrond (Chookooloonks, baby!!) – they inspired me and made me want to become an astronaut / world saving photographer with awesome stories to share.

Lyndia Makol
Wow! So many to choose from. Matt and Dries for sure. Aside from that was a panel I went to by Giovanni Gallucci called “How to shoot rock star photos for bad ass marketing”. I wish I could remember verbatim what he said because it had such an impact on me. To summarize he basically said to never work for free if someone asks you to do work for them. It sets up the expectation that that is what your work is worth.

Robyn Riley
Matt and Dries will top the SchipulCon cake for sure.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Human Space Exploration keynote by Steven Gonzalez.  I appreciated his enthusiasm and passion for the topic.  It was an amazing conference and can’t wait until the next one!

Erica Bogdan
I really enjoyed learning about all different kinds of businesses – whether it was Marketing and PR (Causing a Commotion… with Gina Rotolo) or the Alcohol Industry (Growing an Offline Community…with Saint Arnold’s and Tito’s Vodka) or even Outer Space (Participatory Space Exploration… with NASA)!  Hearing from the wide range of perspectives from people of all types of vocations, from local artists to NASA technicians, was really inspiring and informative. My favorite part was the highlight of hearing Matt and Dries on stage together for the first time! Even battling minor microphone technical difficulties, it was still an amazing discussion about the history and future of open source technology.

Dharol Tankersley
Liza Kindred getting real-time opinions on her outfit from a shopping website was stellar, as were the algorithms Keith Casey used with linkedin data to distinguish employees who quit from those who are fired. On Matt and Dries: WordPress + Drupal = 60% of market share for CMS – truly influential people at SchipulCon!

Kurt Podeszwa at SchipulCon – Photo by Schipul

Brian Potter
I really enjoyed the Camp For All session on living with passion from Kurt Podeszwa. It was inspiring to hear about his work with handicapped children as well as doing what you love. Waking up every day and saying “I’m so excited to go out and be a part of what I’m really passionate about.”

Derek Key
As far as speakers or panels go, I really enjoyed Kurt Podeszwa from Camp For All talk about “Passion, Purpose and the Social Web.” He is really part conference speaker, part motivational speaker and combines the two sides incredibly well. Great information and tips that I was motivated to go put in place. Besides that, I couldn’t believe how inspiring Steven Gonzalez was when discussing space exploration, innovation, and the potential for Houston.

Jennie Lane
By far my favorite session was Liza Kindred’s The New E-Commerce. I was super interested in everything she talked about and she is overall an awesome person. I also enjoyed James Crossman’s Social Engineering session and the Saint Arnold’s/Tito’s panel.

Cindi Crigler
It was fascinating to me to hear the stories of how so many of our speakers followed their dreams to create something to share with the rest of the world.  Whether it was amazing software (Dries, Matt, & Ed!), beer or vodka (equally amazing!) art, photography, opportunities, or trips to the moon, the paths that they have all taken share the common thread of persistence, incredible passion, and a huge leap of faith.

Oh…and I loved Rowan and her “hoops”…so fun!

Garrett Thomas
One of the biggest things I’ve learned this year is the power of knowledge sharing. It’s absolutely incredible how much information you can learn in a short amount of time.

About seven months ago, I began my journey at Schipul – The Web Marketing Company.

Me, at the so called "Center of the Univserse" in Seattle

You’ve heard it before: Location, Location, Location. Just as in the brick and mortar world, Location matters in Search Engine Optimization as well. And this trend is not one to be ignored.

Think of it this way: Google is in the business of providing the best answer for people’s questions (questions otherwise known as search queries). Your business may not be the best answer for “coffee” or even “coffee shop,” but “houston coffee shop” or “the woodlands coffee shop”? Now the field is narrowing to just your customers, and your business is rising above the pack.

Microsoft says 53% of Searches have Local Intent. Google says one in three searches happen from a Mobile Device. Location Based Services like Foursquare and Gowalla are growing. Location has been important for years, but with the increase in the importance of the mobile web, it’s more important now than ever.

What does it mean to your business?

Be sure your site is optimized for the geography of your customers.

How?

Top 5 Tips: How to optimize your site for Location

1. Claim your Google Places Listing

You may have noticed that when you do a search, you often see more than just the traditional 10 organic Search Results. Sometimes you see images, sometimes video, and often Red Pins and a map with a list of businesses based on their relevance to your search and proximity to you.

These pins represent Google Places Pages. If Google is aware of your business, they have already made a Place Page for you. Now it’s your opportunity to claim the listing and add as much relevant information about your business as possible. To get started, look for the link at the top right labeled “Business Owner?” and click.

If your business is not listed, go to google.com/places to get started.

More tips on Optimizing Google Places Listings from The SEM Blog

After you’ve conquered Google, check out Bing’s version of Google Places – Bing Business Portal

2. If possible, include your address in the sidebar or footer on every page

This is dual purpose – for visitors and for Google. You don’t want site visitors (potential customers) to have to search all over for your phone number and address. This is also helpful for Google because it reinforces your address and city name on every page Google indexes.

In the SEO world these references are known as “Citations” – anytime your business name and phone number or address appear together on the web, even if there is no link to your site. This adds validity to the address on your Google Places listing and tell Google you are relevant (similar to link backs).

For some sites, you just can’t add every location to the footer because there are too many. Consider text like “serving XYZ geography” with a link to you locations page.

3. If you have multiple locations, create separate pages on your site for each

If you have multiple locations, consider creating separate pages for each. Each page can stand on its own for the keywords related to that city or neighborhood. Be sure that every page has unique content, or you may get dinged by Google for having duplicate content.

Ideas for content: an embedded Google map showing the locations, text directions from at least two points of interest in the city, a paragraph of text on what that location specializes in, photos of the locations, information about the Staff, etc. etc.

Don't Stop at the homepage, optimize interior pages as well

4. Make sure city information is in title tag, meta description on interior pages

Don’t stop at the homepage, make sure geography terms are sprinkled in throughout the entire site. Add your city or state (or neighborhood) where it makes sense in your page’s content, title tag, and meta data. Consider every page of your site, as each page will stand alone in its specific keywords.

5. Submit to applicable directories

Tackled all of the above and looking for more? Consider submitting your site to directories. To find applicable Directories, follow SEOMoz’s advice on finding linkbacks for your business advice and do a search for Cityname + Business Type + Listings/Businesses/Results. You will get a list of links to various directories that catalog your type of business.

Want More SEO Tips from the Schipul Team?

Check out blog posts from the Schipul Search Engine Marketing Team over at TheSEMBlog.com and follow us on twitter @SEMBlog.

My mother has taught me all sorts of lessons over the years – ranging from how to find the first step of a huge task to how to dye my hair… the importance of Thank You cards and the perfect pair of shoes.

As a kid, whenever we were packing for a trip or outing, she would ask me if I packed my “Positive Mental Attitude.” Cheesy, I know… but it’s a life lesson I carry with me to this day.

In any situation, the only factor you can always control is yourself. So make the decision to take on the challenges and make the most of every day.

And if you ever need an extra boost, there’s always that perfect pump up song. I used to have a pre-exam ritual in college where I would listen to a certain classic to get me ready to kick some tail.

It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s
the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

And since there are studies that say Happiness is contagious to up to three degrees of separation, I hope I’m spreading it around!

So now I have to ask – What is your go to pump up song?

Founded in Texas, AVANCE works with poor and marginalized communities to promote better parenting, school readiness, literacy, health and personal development. AVANCE provides programs that strengthen families in at-risk communities through effective parent education and support programs.

See more at www.avancehouston.org

Also, we were privileged to attend the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of AVANCE Houston’s new Mangum Education center.

AVANCE Mangum Center ribbon cutting

The Mangum Education Center is a 48,000 square ft. facility housing AVANCE education and support programs and Southwest Schools Charter Schools, K -5th grade. The facility is a former boarded up and vacated retail center.

Students from Southwest school singing at AVANCE Mangum Ribbon cutting

The ribbon cutting ceremony featured speakers Mayor Annise Parker, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and Houston City Council Member Melissa Noriega – along with AVANCE Inc. CEO Rick Noriega, AVANCE-Houston, Inc. Executive Director Jose Villareal, and Superintendent of Southwest Schools Janelle James.

Also, students from the Southwest School performed songs and poems for the crowd.

Annise Parker at the AVANCE Mangum Center Ribbon Cutting

The ribbon cutting was a great event and was a great showcase of all the hard work the AVANCE team has put in to get this major project accomplished! We are so thrilled to get to work with this fantastic Houston nonprofit!

AVANCE Mangum Education Center ribbon cutting

Raising a Corpse Flower is not an easy job – according to the HMNS blog, Corpse Flowers only bloom once they are 7 years old. Luckily, our fledgling came with instructions such as temperature, amount of sunlight, etc.

Congrats to the new proud parents!

More Corpse Flower delivery photos on Facebook

What is that?

Special Delivery!

Baby corpse flower, enjoying her new home.

Steven Thomson, Lois’s personal ghost writer with the new addition

PS – I’m adding Corpse Flower delivery to my resume under “special skills.”

Check out the delivery of the corpse flower!

As a transplant to Houston, I have a long list of restaurants I have yet to try. Brennan’s is a Schipul client, and also extremely high on that list.

With reservations moving quickly in the first months since the February reopening and my budget going to other things lately, I hadn’t taken the plunge. Until last night for Restaurant Week.

Restaurant Week

Restaurant “Week” is a bit of a misnomer, the event actually lasts for the 3 weeks from August 1- August 21. Local restaurants offer a $35 three course dinner, with $5 of your meal cost going directly to the Houston Food Bank (the event is completely organized by volunteers, so every penny goes to the cause). New this year is the $20 two course lunch, with $3 going to the food bank. Eat great food with great friends for a great cause? Sign me up!

Brennan’s

It’s beautiful inside, somehow classic and modern at the same time, and it feels very posh when the waiter points to the corner table next to you with the high backed yellow armchairs and says “that’s where George H.W. Bush likes to sit when he comes.” The staff was fantastic, and the food was delicious.

I was dining with a group of LSU alums who know their Cajun food, so it was great to see them gush over the Bread Pudding and Pralines. For me, the sweet things stole the show – the peaches and candied pecans in my salad, the pecan crust on my fish, and the Bananas Foster (prepared table side with a huge impressive flame).

Brennan’s Restaurant Week Menu

1st
Turtle Soup Au Sherry
Cooper Farms Peach Salad
Summer Tomato Salad

2nd
Pecan Crusted Gulf Fish
Black Grouper & Local Field Peas
Tournedos of Beef

3rd
Texas Blueberry Shortcake
Creole Bread Pudding Soufflé
Traditional Bananas Foster

Don’t worry, it’s not too late!

You have until August 21 to enjoy Restaurant Week. Check out houstonrestaurantweek.com for participating restaurants and menus, and make a reservation now at a restaurant you’ve always wanted to try!

Happy dining!
~ Qcait