Now in the App Store!

As one of the largest urban parks in the U.S., it only seemed fitting for Forest Park to have its own app devoted to its rich history, cultural significance, and beautifully natural surroundings.

Forest Park attracts nearly 12 million visitors each year, with its many roads and trails, an estimated 18,000 trees and numerous cultural institutions. This convenient and well-designed app makes spending a day in Forest Park, a literal walk in the park.  The interactive Forest Park map is a great guide for new and old visitors to:

• Locate and learn about park attractions.
• Navigate your way via streets, walkways and bike paths.
• Find the nearest public restroom, restaurant or information center.

Plus, 20% of app sale proceeds will be generously donated to Forest Park Forever, the organization leading the mission to “restore, maintain and sustain Forest Park.”

For the love of the Park, we encourage you to buy the app and help support Forest Park!

Follow Forest Park on Twitter

Join in the conversation on Facebook.

With the recent announcement of the iPhone 4 release this Friday, iPhone apps are continuing to grow in popularity. Our latest app, Saturate, was recently approved for distribution in the iTunes App store.

This free app is a color picker placing the world of color in your hands. Saturate opens the door to infinite color possibilities for everyone.

How exactly does it work?

• Use the sliders to pinpoint exact color values.
• Convert colors from RGB to CMYK to Hex color modes.
• Manage and organize your color palette with ease.
• Shake Saturate to create random color fun.

How will you use it?

• Choosing invitations, decorations, flowers, etc. for your next theme or holiday event.
• Finding the perfect hue to complement your rug while at the paint store.
• Trying to find an exact color match for an outfit.
• Creating business collateral for your friend’s side business.

However you choose to color your world with Saturate, this is the one color swatch you’ll never lose and it’s always readily available.

And best of all – it’s available in the iTunes App Store for free. Download it today!

“North American companies spent $12.2 billion on Search Engine Marketing in 2007,” according to businesswire.¹ Throwing money at increased site traffic seems to be standard protocol. But while companies excessively spend to wrangle in an external audience, their employees continue to be ignored.

A professionally developed intranet is a liberating tool for employees: a “home base” for information, company resources and insightful knowledge.

Companies turn a blind eye to this captive audience due to the following factors:

• high budget resources available to the public site
• lack of available IT resources
• simply too busy for internally-focused projects

The Value

Perhaps worse than a company ignoring their employees is the fact that employees are blind to the powerful role that an intuitive, interactive resource plays in their professional lives.

The spatter of statistics validating intranets cannot be ignored. One recent stat from the Nielsen Norman Group states, “the productivity gains from a major improvement in intranet usability were 72% on average (in 2007).”²

The Necessity

Okay, you see the value and currently have an intranet. But many intranets fall short in usefulness, functionality and design leaving employees frustrated and less productive.

A strategically designed intranet:

• focuses on usability and functionality
• creates a centralized information hub
• interacts with and recognizes each individual user
• deciphers and distributes user-specific information

“Employees are demanding simpler, more intuitive and more “Web” like intranet experiences,” according to CIO.com.³

The Benefits

Companies that realize the necessity and embrace this captive audience are better positioned than their counterparts. Increased employee productivity and efficiency are direct results of a continually evolving intranet.

The modern intranet is able to:

• populate and share online calendars
• streamline processes with task management options
• provide search capabilities and tailored RSS feeds
• place frequently used tools at employee fingertips
• locate employees through subject specific directories
• create visual bios from contact information

Knowledge is power. Armed with the value, necessity and benefits of a professionally developed intranet, isn’t it about time to stop ignoring and start empowering?

Sources:

1. Search Engine Strategies New York 2008. “Search Engine Marketing Shows Strength as Spending Continues on a Growth Track Against Doom and Gloom Economic Background.” March 17, 2008. (http://www.businesswire.com)
2. Nielsen Norman Group Report. “Intranet Design Annual 2008: Year’s Ten Best Intranets.” (http://www.nngroup.com)
3. Schindler, Esther. “Success Factors for Corporate Intranets.” January 11, 2008. (http://www.cio.com)