Social Enterprise

The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) wanted a way to share and promote brief kernels of wisdom with potential subscribers to their ShiftInAction.com website. The idea was that in just a single minute a nugget of higher awareness could be enjoyed, even during a busy day. IONS wanted to open hearts and minds using simple technology and easy to use sharing tools.

Architecture for Humanity came to us with a highly-customized site they had built with an early version of Drupal. However, when the site was launched many features were not functioning properly or working as they desired. Additionally, the lack of on-going maintenance of the contributed modules they used provided little flexibility to move forward with further development.

As Next Agenda matured as an organization they needed to support online collaboration and showcase the video that is central to their approach to solving difficult problems. CivicActions built a Questions & Answer Forum, and when Next Agenda had an opportunity to be an early Google Wave Platform partner, we supported them as they experimented with embedding Waves on the website. During this phase CivicActions also built a custom theme based on designs by Free Range Studios.

Next Agenda knew that they wanted online tools that would support collaboration. The challenge was deciding on the exact mix of tools to support collaboration that started at a physical gathering and then continued online. They also knew that with their tight deadlines, deciding on the right tools to build first was critical.

As a new startup, Next Agenda wanted a good-looking site that clearly explained their organization and future plans - and they needed it fast.  CivicActions first walked them through a light-weight Information Architecture process. We helped them identify their key users, mapped out a plan for their site, and quickly provided wireframes for the top level pages.

By altering the colors of the popular Acquia Marina theme and using out-of-the-box Drupal features, CivicActions was able to very quickly lauch a site that represented who they are and where they are going.

FrontRowMusic.TV is a fair-trade online music TV station and e-commerce site delivering the best in live contemporary and historic blues, jazz, bluegrass, roots and acoustic music. Each music genre has its own channel which provides a rich collection of music videos from a variety of live venues including BBs Jazz, Blues and Soups in St. Louis.

After the successful launch of RealitySandwich.com in 2007, the editorial team behind that project came back to CivicActions with a plan for a site that added more social networking functionality and user generated content -- Evolver.  Evolver is a social network for conscious collaboration. It provides a platform for individuals, communities, and organizations to discover and share the new tools, initiatives, and ideas that will improve our lives and change the world. Evolver promotes sexy sustainability, yoga glamour, and shaman chic.

In 2007 Ken Jordan came to us with an idea for a new online magazine for the time of great transformation the world needs now. The online magazine covers topics ranging from sustainability to shamanism, alternate realities to alternative energy, remixing media to re-imagining community, holistic healing techniques to the promise and perils of new technologies.

How does a mature organization completely transform itself in order to serve a new web-savvy generation, without losing their current base of support?

After more than 30 years as the leading research organization exploring the power and potential of human consciousness, the Institute of Noetic Sciences decided to take a revolutionary leap and extend itself fully into the Internet.