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Black Lives Matter. That’s a complete sentence as it stands, and it’s not open for argument, rebuttal, or expansion (if “all lives matter,” we wouldn’t need nationwide protests to recognize the value of Black life).

I’m pleased to announce we’ve hired a second social media manager to keep up with the needs of our growing client base. Erin Lafond comes to us from a top-notch writing background, with a MA in English from Boston College, and we’re thrilled to have her skills on tap in social media as well as in content writing.

Hiring in the world of COVID-19 2020 is, well, kind of a trip. Many companies are laying off staff, and here we are hiring. In many ways, this reflects hasOptimization’s relatively privileged position in this wild ride: We were already a fully remote company, focused on web-based marketing efforts. We will, ultimately, be able to weather this and come out in good shape. And in the meantime, we needed a Social Media Manager.

At hasOptimization, we’ve been working more towards practicing what we preach. While we believe in things like LGBTQ+ rights, are avid animal advocates, amongst other things, we believe that the web should be as accessible as possible to people of all walks of life. That’s why we’re constantly blogging about how to make your website more accessible, or your social media account. While we can give out tips for best practices, nothing is better than having a real world user work hand-in-hand with our developer to ensure things are functioning properly, as expected, and as best as they can. Only four months ago we took on an assistant, and now we’re taking on an accessibility specialist to help us rigorously test websites to make sure they are functionally usable to those with screen readers. Please join us in welcoming Lindsay Yazzolino as our accessibility specialist! Lindsay Yazzolino is a lifelong assistive technology expert will will be conducting screen reader web accessibility evaluations for hasOptimization. Lindsay comes with a BA in cognitive science from Brown University. Lindsay is also a tactile technology specialist who collaborates with clients such as museums, artists, and scientists to create multisensory hands-on exhibits and other irresistibly “hand-catching” experiences. When not conducting accessibility tests, Lindsay likes to engage in activities like seeking out bats by their echolocation calls (she spent last summer walking around a cemetery doing just that), and assisting with tactile exhibits for museums such as the Smithsonian. Lindsay also loves airline turbulence, once memorized…

You know how sometimes everything is just a bit…much? Yeah, well, that happens to us here at hasOptimization, too. But we like to ensure that our little company hasOptimization just as much as our clients do, so we did something about it! We hired an Awesome Assistant! It’s been almost a year since Morgan Blake joined the team, and it’s been a whirlwind year of change and growth. We’re now super excited to welcome our Awesome Assistant (yes, that’s really her title!), for all the times when we just have a little bit more on our plates than we have time for. So drumroll please, and welcome Cassandra Clarke! Cass is our farthest-flung staff member, hailing from Colorado. She has decades of industry experience in writing, editing, photography and other various and sundry talents. She’s worked in project management, customer service, and even game design. In her free time, Cassandra reads, writes, plays video games, and hikes with her dog (It’s apparent that all hasOptimization employees must love dogs!). Cassandra’s role may become more client-facing over time, but in the short term she’s going to be mostly behind the scenes, helping us become more organized, efficient, and effective. You know…Optimized! We look forward to doing more good work with the help of our slightly larger Highly Optimized Staff. Want to know more about our small but savvy staff? Check out our staff page for more on our Highly Optimized Staff and Awesome Associates.

No, not the company. hasOptimization is staying hasOptimization! No, the rebrand in question is, instead, your friendly local Owner & Lead Strategist H.A Snyder, rebranding as Logan Ares Snyder.  In any rebrand, it’s important to cover your key bases: Who, What, Why, When and How.  Who: Me!  What: Just a name change, it’s not that scary! No new logo, or domain name, or any of the other trappings of a business rebrand. Whew! Why: Well, to be honest my original name never fit very well. I tried making some modifications to it, and that was better, but still not ideal. I finally found a name that felt like it really fit well, and this one’s a keeper.  When: Now! I’ve been planning this for a while, and I’m finally ready to announce it. How: This announcement is going live here on the blog, and will shortly be up on social media and pushed out via email, and over the next few days you’ll see this change across the web. My legal name change is in progress, but I’ll be using my new name starting immediately except for on legal documents like contracts. I imagine that, like any rebrand, it will take a while to polish off the ’stragglers’, but I have a great team in place to help me catch any rogue “H.A”’s out in the wild.  What do you need to do? Great news: the answer is “basically nothing”. Your existing contracts remain valid, your emails will end up in my new…

hasOptimization is pleased to announce that we’ve hired an Online Marketing Manager. His name is Andrew Pezzuto, and you can learn more about him here, on our new staff page! Andrew is a snappy content writer, a baseball fanatic, and likes to crank dubstep in the hasOptimization offices while he’s working. And we’re okay with that! If a working environment with a constant supply of snacks, permission to kick your shoes off while working, electronica on Pandora most of the day, and a super flexible schedule with work-from-home permission sounds up your alley (oh, and you have to have SKILLZ, in marketing, writing, design or development!) please feel free to send your resume in at any time. We aren’t actively looking for new staff at the time of this writing, but we’re always keeping an eye open for the next member of our expanding team. It’s been a wild and wonderful first quarter here at hasOptimization, and we’re very pleased to have Andrew on board. It’s meant a slow period for blogging but we’re getting back on track. Maybe next post will be a guest post by Andrew! (hint, hint, Andrew!)

It has been a truly phenomenal year here at hasOptimization, and we are deeply grateful to the clients, friends, teammembers and collaborators who have helped make it such a banner year. A few of these people bear special mention: Client, friend and collaborator June Trisciani of j. ellen Design, whose referrals and testimonials have launched so much new business. Client/friend/collaborator Susan Englert of Sandpiper Artisans Graphic Design, whose services and referrals are always top notch. Team member Haeleigh Hyatt, without whom we could not have done the volume of business we’ve done this year. Team member Holly Mathison, who has done some amazing work this year on our new business cards and a number of client projects including print design and web design and development. The whole crew at BNI Powerhouse for referrals, collaboration, services and support. And that’s just a sampling. There are too many of you to list here, and you’re all amazing. If you’re reading this post, we are thankful to you!

Sans Stress is the private massage therapy practice of nationally certified massage therapist, Cat Stolz, LMT. Cat graduated from New Hampshire Institute of Therapeutic Arts’ comprehensive massage therapy program and has put this knowledge to work with her custom 45, 70 and 90 minute massage sessions tailored to meet clients’ individual needs. She enjoys providing relaxation and therapeutic massage services to people in the Somerville, MA area, and even offers portable chair massage services for the workplace or for special events. Before Cat studied massage therapy, we both went to Smith College in Northampton, MA, where we became good friends. When she decided to go into business as an independent massage therapist, I wanted to help her start off on the right foot with her website. While Cat has personally written most of the content on her website, hasOptimization has helped her by doing some keyword research and improving her meta tags, so that she is easily found in the search engines. We’ve also gotten Cat listed on several local business directories and review sites, including Yelp, the Yellow Pages, and Angies List so she can be found by a larger audience. I have personally used Cat’s services, on more than one occasion. Cat is the standard by which I measure other massage therapists. She is the only person who’s managed to consistently deliver the level of knot removal I’m looking for. I have yet to find someone else who measures up to her level of expertise. If you’d like…

j. ellen Design, LLC is a local interior design firm based out of Manchester, NH. The owner, June, provides a full range of residential and commercial interior design services and is dedicated to working collaboratively with you, your architect, builder, or other trade professional to create beautiful spaces suited to your personality and individual style. j. ellen Design can provide expert guidance to help you through the overwhelming array of choices involved in a design project. Whether you need help with a small design project–like picking the right color to paint a room–or a full house or business design, j. ellen Design, LLC is there to help. I know June Trisciani, the owner of j. ellen Design, LLC through my local business networking group. Soon after we met, we began discussing improvements June wanted to make to her website. We redesigned June’s website to match the look of her excellent logo and business cards (created by our good friend Susan at Sandpiper Artisans), and optimized the content on June’s site so that she is more easily found in the search engines. We’ve also helped June to develop her online presence in other ways, including social media. June is fabulous interior designer and a genuinely friendly person. What better way to showcase this than social media? We’ve set up a several of June’s social media profiles, got her started in email marketing, and aided her in launching her new blog. June is truly a pleasure to work with, and has even introduced…