I’m happy to announce that FireBox is now on board the web development team for the video podcast called ‘dotBoom‘. We’ll be doing the PHP and Ajax work for the new site to be designed for season two. Or rather, Season 2.0.

dotBoom is a show about frustrated web designers, all done with puppets. Excuse me, people of felt. The show is created by Brian Hogg of Ontario, Canada. He also creates the puppets, sets, and performs many of the characters.

Check out their 28 episodes so far, plus all kinds of outtakes and behind-the-scenes. Be aware, that these characters are web developers, so there’s bound to be some strong language

More updates as they become available.

We’re proud to announce that FireBox Studios has recently been awarded a bronze Telly Award for its documentary about the historic Colony Theatre in Marietta, Ohio. The film is a 45-minute look at the history of the theatre, starting in 1919, through the current efforts to renovate and reopen it.

“For me, the film was truly a labor of love,” says Andrew Jones, who wrote, filmed and edited the documentary. “I’ve been fascinated by the Colony since I was a little boy, seeing films like E.T. and The Empire Strikes Back in its auditorium. I jump at any chance I get to contribute back to the effort that will someday get the theatre opened up again.”

Jones, who has been a supporter of the Colony project since its inception in 1997, is also a founding member of the River City Film Festival, a successful amateur film exhibition and competition started in 2006.

“While my primary occupation is web development,” Jones added, “filmmaking is a real passion of mine as well. In fact, winning the Telly makes me want to go out and make something else!”

Founded in 1978, the Telly Awards is a premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The Telly Awards is a widely known and highly respected national and international competition and receives over 13,000 entries annually from all 50 states and many foreign countries. Examples of other recent Telly winners include CNN, FX Networks, Starz, HBO, ESPN, Geico, The History Channel, Discovery Channel and many independent filmmakers and creative agencies.

Just a quick update regarding FireBox Studios‘ upcoming relocation to Atlanta, Georgia and our holiday schedule.

First, we’ll be closed November 23rd and 24th for Thanksgiving. Email will still be checked regularly, so email me with any emergencies, etc.

Second, as many of you have already heard, FireBox will be relocating to Atlanta on December 1st, 2006. We’re very excited about this move, but it naturally will require some down time. So be aware that we’ll be completely offline from November 30th through December 4th. We’ll be doing NO development work during that period. Barring any unforeseen snafus, we’ll be up and running again on December 5th.

During that time, you can still send emails and/or contact me via the toll-free number, which will “follow” me during the move. Contact methods are listed below:

Toll-Free: 888.882.2296
Email: andrew@fireboxstudios.com
AIM: mariettaweb

A very big Thanksgiving “Thank You” to all FireBox clients and friends for their continued support. Have a great Turkey Day!

We are proud to announce the recent launch of pioneerspirit.us, the new web site for the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority (SeOPA). This organization strives to “enhance and encourage the vitality and competitiveness of the Washington County business environment as well as to be a catalyst for job creation and investment by businesses, industries and entrepreneurs.”

FireBox designed and built this comprehensive site and also supplied much of the photography. The site was built entirely within our custom content management system and facilitates easy maintenance by SeOPA staff.

This project was also a collaborative effort by our Ring of Fire partners. Claire Mullen Design created the brand new port authority logo, which inspired our web design and color pallette. CMD is also continuing to work with SeOPA on a wide range of collateral materials including brochures, business cards, folders, billboards, etc.

Also, copywriting for the entire Quality of Life section was provided by the Frank-Collins Group

The Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (OACVB) asked FireBox to build a brand new site for their organization. We built a new site that’s simple and clean, yet effectively showcases their sixty-plus member bureaus.

Highlights of the site include full detail pages for each cvb, news and calendar databases, and a password-protected intranet for communication amongst members.

And to top it off, just a hint of Flash goodness.

FireBox Studios and the Marietta/Washington County CVB recently took home a second place Middy Award in the Web Site category for the comprehensive web site we built for them at mariettaohio.org. That makes two Middy’s in a row for us in this category. Last year we received a second place Middy for the Hocking Hills website.

The Ohio Association of Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus’ (OACVB) Annual Awards of Excellence are named the “MIDDY Awards” to reflect the Midwest region of the country, as well as the states contiguous to Ohio. Participants are recognized for excellence in planning, creativity and effectiveness of message, concept and design. The MIDDY Awards competition is open to all members of the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. While other Middy categories are grouped by the budgets of CVB’s, the web site category is not. This means we were up against much larger markets like Columbus and Cleveland. Not bad, eh?

At the 5th Annual Meeting of ITAAO on July 26th, FireBox took home the “Best Website” award in the non-commercial category for the site we built for the Marietta/Washington County CVB.

This is the third year straight we’ve won a Best Website award. Last year we won for the Hocking Hills CVB and in 2004 it was for the Marietta Aquatic Center.

FireBox has just launched a new site for Kinetic Networking, a growing networking firm in Caldwell, Ohio. Click here for details.

We are proud to announce that we have just been awarded the web development project for the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority (SeoPA). This is a joint project with our Ring of Fire partners, Claire Mullen Design and the Frank-Collins Group.

CMD will be handling creation of the organization’s logo and visual identity, as well as collateral materials such as business cards, brochures, folders, maps, a billboard and more. Joy Frank-Collins will be lending assistance with copywriting.

We, of course will be handling all aspects of the web design and development, including integration of an email distribution system.

We can’t wait to get started on this exciting project and will be posting updates as available.

Marietta Times Article: 6/27/06

It’s been quite an exciting week for FireBox! On Saturday, June 24th, we were featured in the weekend edition of The Marietta Times. It was a pretty good article about Ryan and I, the history of the company and how we’ve become a successful technology company in a small town in Ohio.

The second article ran today announcing that we’d been awarded the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority project. More on that later.

Click below to read the articles:
Marietta Times Article: 6/27/06
Marietta Times Article: 6/24/06