WestsideRentals.com, Expanding and Redesigning a well oiled machine

Westside Rentals is a rather popular site in southern california, ranked 10,000 on the web, but I think ranked #1 in Southern California when looking for a good place to live. Or at least i’d like to think so. The site began as a small venture more than 10 years ago, and is now controlling not just the “west side”, but a lot of new areas such as San Diego, Century City, and my new home city… Pasadena. Although at first glance you might say… wow… what’s up with the 1980s design, you have to look past that and see it’s content value and the service it offers.

The owner of the company, Mark Verge, has proven to be not just a great visionary, but also a person that cares about the community around him… helping people, guiding entrepreneurs, and always encouraging ideas to enhance the site. As the Chief Information Officer for the company I learned a great deal, most importantly i learned that technology is not the hardest thing to manage in an internet business. It’s not the hardware or the programming that tends to be difficult… it’s the people and the expectation management that comes with it. In a company of 70 staff members, more than 8 offices, and a 24/hr operation I learned that sleep is a luxury. It probably explains why i’m writing this at around midnight on a Tuesday, but let’s not deviate from the subject. The point is that being a CIO of such a company is a life lesson, it’s an opportunity that tests you, and more important your management of multiple tugging forces.

When will the site be redesigned? Good question… but i’ll ask a question right back… why? Redesigning a site that works and operates smoothly is not a requirement, not when 100+ other tasks are pending in the pipeline. Will it bring more traffic if the site looks “pretty”? maybe… i’m not positive it will, in fact the reason we haven’t redesigned yet is because i don’t believe it will. I think a user appreciates simplicity and not a site that boasts a design that is marvelous but with 0 content to show for. We’ll strike a balance of design and content soon, but for now the machine is operating smoothly. Seven servers in the front end and two database servers in the back end are currently holding this site together, and pulling in enough traffic to feed a few mouths.

Believe me when i say it’s not just a site that provides apartment leads… it’s much more. Try it and see http://www.westsiderentals.com

Fitscape and the iWell Program

Designed, developed, and enhanced this site along side a creative and talented individual: Bryan Rosencrantz. He came up with the idea of Fitscape, an online healthcare software company committed to innovation and total body well-being. He founded it in 1995, and at the time Fitscape was one of the first companies to recognize the benefit of bringing health and wellness solutions online. Yes, even before eDiets and Weight Watchers. Fitscape continues to pioneer new products and concepts to shape the wellness industry online.

This is one of the largest Coldfusion sites that I was involved in, with more than 200 pages and a very complex database schema. Given all this I must say it is a constant challenge with new features and engaging complexities. You might be wondering what is iWell?

Online Donations

Giving and participation are critical to the success of the USC law school.  Until May 2006 USC law did not have the means to accept donations online.  I capitalized on a new program created by the Graduate Relations department and coded a secure online payment system that resulted in over $80, 000 of online giving.  The online giving system uses Coldfusion graphs that automatically adjusted as gifts came in. This online system was also used for the law school’s annual reunion programs.  I am also working closely with the Graduate Relations office and will soon extend the online giving system to incorporate annual giving at the law school.