Yesterday marked one week since I joined the 352 Media Group family. Last Monday, we had an introductory history lesson about the company and a meet & greet barbecue with all the employees involved in the internship program.

The company began in 1997 when Geoff Wilson decided to start designing websites out of his room in his fraternity house for $49 a project. Things started taking off- in ’99 Geoff and his very first ’employee’ Peter VanRysdam bought a one room office downtown and officially launched the business. 10 years later, 352 Media Group is a powerhouse in small business and corporate web solutions. One of the largest web development companies in Florida, 352 Media Group’s expertise ranges from web development, applications and marketing to motion graphics. The introductory seminar was truly inspirational and proved to me that starting out on your own with your business partner out of college is a real option.

The following Friday, we had our first two intern seminars dealing with Programming and Marketing respectfully.

Programming is defined as writing code to solve a problem. The Programming language that 352 uses primarily is C# (C Sharp). Essentially what the programmers do at 352 are the following:

-assess the client’s needs

-write technechal documentation

-estimate resource needs (programming hours, number of programmers, timeline for the project)

-write application logic

-test the application

I will learn a lot about coding during this semester, and a designer who can code is essentially a one-man web development team. I can’t wait to get started.

352’s marketing strategy is divided into several key areas: marketing for clients, marketing to potential clients, to existing clients, and to employees. They market to their clients by providing exemplary service, cost savings, and a second-to-none product. They market to potential clients through inbound marketing by maintaining SEO rankings via fresh, quality content on their site pages. Marketing to existing clients is important because it is easier to satisfy and retain current customers than it is to bring in new ones. Marketing to employees is done with growth potential, ability to relocate, flexible workflow, benefits, and a great business culture (wait until you hear about the Fun Committee).

The next seminar I attended was this morning- it was focused on design and was lead by Adam Davis. Web design is about taking information and organizing it in a way that is good looking and useful. Fun fact: about 90% of the websites 352 design for their clients include a RAD editor, allowing clients to manage content on their own. I learned all about 352’s Design Goal Summary and Adam gave the interns an article that explains all about usability in design. Our first assignment will be next week, after our last seminar this Friday.

Three Cheers for 352!!