Needs Assessment Form

We are currently not accepting new client projects that are less than $20,000.

Archive: 2011

Goodbye to Java

Posted by    |   December 30th, 2011   |   No responses

We said goodbye to our good friend Java this week. He died Monday at home surrounded by family. He would have been 14 in January. For more than 10 years, Java came to the Insight Designs office every day, taking his job as spirit lifter and security director very seriously. He barked at scores of delivery men and window washers, greeted hundreds of clients, and entertained everyone on staff. He's been the Insight Designs mascot since the beginning, gracing all of our holiday cards, having a bio on our website, and of course being the star of our gum packs this year. He took part in staff retreats and was always willing to help, even wearing a web cam during one of our holiday parties. He played endless hours of tug-of-war with Clint and Keith. He licked clean countless post-lunch tupperwares. He almost chased a tennis ball out of our third-floor window when John was playing catch with him. He went hiking with Monica near Leadville, got lost and ended up spending a day at the Lake County Sheriff's Department. Once, he ate 5 pounds of uncooked pasta and then unloaded all of it on the sidewalk in front of Pasta Jay's on his way into the office, after which he earned the nickname Pasta Java. Outside of work, he enjoyed chasing squirrels, fetching tennis balls, barking at deer and just being outside. He spent most of his free time with Beth, running countless miles, hiking 14ers and snowboarding down Loveland Pass. He cheated death twice - once in 2002 when he was hit by a car and again in November 2007 when he was diagnosed with cancer, a mast cell tumor in his lower abdomen. At the time, the surgeons at CSU said he might only have 2-3 weeks to live if they didn't remove the mass immediately. But removing the mass also meant removing one of his hind legs, so we opted out of the surgery. He exceeded their expectations 100-fold, living another 4 happy, active years. Java truly was a miracle dog. He is already sorely missed, especially by me.
View Full Post
Holiday party a hit

Posted by    |   December 9th, 2011   |   No responses

We sure do throw one kick-ass holiday party, if we do say so ourselves. :) Insight Designs hosted our 12th annual feat last Friday at Saxy's Cafe in Boulder. Despite the frigid temps, more than 100 folks came, including our very first client Ed Cook from National Specialty Lighting. The gang from OIA is always a feisty bunch (see photo above of Ingrid punching Bryan). And several of our newest clients made their party debut, including Jim from Dot Hill, Brendan from Boulder Wave, Frank and Doug from Boulder Valley Velodrome, Luis from ROICblog.com, and Kellan from First Line Data (who's new and improved site will launch later this month). We ate scores of paninis (or would that be panini?) and pounds of chocolate. We took lots of fun pix. See them here. And we gave away fun prizes from some of our local clients, including champagne from Liquor Mart, a yoga festival pass from Hanuman Festival, and gift certificates to The Med, Brasserie Ten Ten, and Shug's Low Country Cuisine (which is new to the Boulder restaurant scene). If you missed the fun this year, be sure to join us for Holiday Party 2012! Mark your calendars now: Friday, December 7, 2012. In the meantime, here's wishing you and yours a happy holiday and all good things in the new year!
View Full Post
Insight Designs Named Best Company to Work For

Posted by    |   October 14th, 2011   |   No responses

Yesterday, I got three texts from my husband: "Have you seen Yellow Scene?" "Congrats." "Meet me in the alley." I ran downstairs not knowing what to expect. He handed me a copy of this month's Yellow Scene Magazine with the cover "8 Best Places to Work." I flipped inside and saw that Insight Designs is first. Wow! What an honor. The article touts us and seven other Boulder companies for "the perks, benefits and respect" we give our employees. When my husband proudly told my kids last night, my 6-year-old daughter astutely said, "Now everyone will want to work at Insight Designs." Check out the article "Yellow Scene's Top Companies to Work For" on their website, or if you want to print it out and hang it on your wall, you can download a PDF here.
View Full Post
Insight featured in Skiing Business article “Your Website Might Suck”

Posted by    |   September 16th, 2011   |   No responses

After having been a reporter in my first career, it's always a bit odd to be the one answering the questions in an interview instead of asking. But I was happy to speak with Ryan Dionne from Skiing Business this week for a piece he wrote called "Your Website Might Suck." Check it out.
View Full Post
Laird is better and I’m back to blogging!

Posted by    |   September 14th, 2011   |   No responses

After a 5-month hiatus from the ID blog, I'm back. As many of you know, in April my then 4-year-old son Laird was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, but curable form of cancer called Burkitt's Lymphoma. I'm happy to report that after a grueling spring and summer that included 4 surgeries, 10 spinal taps, 5 week-long rounds of chemotherapy, 16 times under general anesthesia, scores of blood draws, and hundreds of oral medications, Laird is cancer free! He turned 5 in August, just started kindergarten and is full of energy again. I'm forever indebted to Nico, Ellie, Keith, Carlos, Evan, Mike, Clint, Peter, Bryant and Dave for holding down the fort at Insight Designs throughout this ordeal. And huge thanks to Insight's clients for their patience, their prayers and their words of encouragement. As I'm sure you can imagine, I had to put many things at home and work on the back burner while I focused on helping Laird kick cancer's butt. One of those things was this blog. Of course, others at Insight are welcome to post blog entries. But as many companies find, if blog writing is not absolutely required, it simply doesn't happen. That's my long explanation for why you haven't seen anything new here in a while. Now that Laird is well again and I'm getting caught up at the office, I'll be blogging again on a regular basis, so stay tuned! And special thanks to Rebecca and the rest of the folks at NCWIT (the National Center for Women & Information Technology) for sending Laird this awesome superhero cape! He certainly earned it.
View Full Post