Over the past couple of months, we have been lucky to welcome a fresh crop of geniuses to our team:

Ben Beuchler, System Administrator
Last seen at: Minneapolis College of Art & Design's IT Department
Superpower: Blocking spam. WITH HIS MIND.

Selah Ben-Haim, Web Production Specialist
Last seen at: Cooks of Crocus Hill
Superpower: Knocking socks off

Lloyd Dalton, Developer
Last seen at: Thomson West
Superpower: Coding faster than your mama

Matt Kiedrowski, Developer
Last seen at: Minneapolis College of Art & Design's IT Department
Superpower: Resisting the urge to kill us for trying to nickname him "Skeeter"

Rett Martin, Art Director
Last seen at: Capella Online University
Superpower: Simultaneously eating 2 apple pies and a caramel sundae from McDonald's. As a SNACK.

Luke Vestrum, Web Producer
Last seen at: Colle+McVoy
Superpower: Generating estimates at the speed of light

Michelle Whitman, Web Producer
Last seen at: Best Buy
Superpower: Keeping her cool

Here are some of the sites we've launched over the summer:

MinnPost.com
Clockwork is pleased to work with Joel Kramer and the team from MinnPost on their groundbreaking new project. Their roster of top-notch journalists will begin publishing stories in early November 2007. Become a member at www.minnpost.com.

LexMark Cut the Cord
Clockwork developed this educational site, targeted to Best Buy employees, to provide information about LexMark wi-fi printers.

CityListen
Clockwork designed and built a site for this New York-based company that creates mp3 walking tours narrated by professional tour guides and historians. The site currently features several tours of New York City,  with additional cities from around the world being added soon. Download a tour and explore NYC at www.citylisten.com.

Tria Restaurant
Continuing our successful partnership with Morrissey Hospitality Companies, Clockwork developed a new website for this hidden gem in North Oaks. Book your table today at triarestaurant.com.

Forest Lake Area Schools
Long-time client Forest Lake Area Schools underwent a redesign in 2007 with the help of Clockwork Active Media Systems. Beginning with three sites (listed below) their new look and feel will soon extend to other schools within the district. We are proud to partner with Forest Lake Area Schools and help them faciliate communication between students, teachers and parents.

    - District Site: http://www.forestlake.k12.mn.us/
    - High School: http://hs.forestlake.k12.mn.us/
    - Century Junior High: http://cen.forestlake.k12.mn.us/

Hotel Minneapolis Splash Page
In preparation for the opening of The Hotel Minneapolis in August 2008, Clockwork developed this simple splash page. Keep an eye on www.thehotelminneapolis.com for much more in the coming months!

Westwood Professional Services
Clockwork worked with this engineering firm to redesign and lauch an AMM-managed web site solution, including custom Flash elements. The new web site provides a deeper profile of Westwood's services and expertise and allows the marketing staff to more effectively manage communication with prospects and clients. Check it out at westwoodps.com.

Clockwork Active Media Systems has once again been selected as one of the Twin Cities Business Journal's Great Places to Work. This year the award was a complete accident.

"After winning the award last year," explained Managing Director Meghan Wilker, "we decided our employees have it just a little bit too cushy around here. So we decided there was no way we were going to let this happen again."

The company was unable to avoid it, however. "We took some drastic steps. We insulted people, we humiliated them in front of their peers; what does a company have to do to alienate their employees these days?", lamented CTO Kurt Koppelman,

Apparently the long standing tradition of respect and collaboration was simply too much to overcome.

Said CCO, Chuck Hermes, "When I ridiculed the work of my creative staff, they seemed to think I was joking and they would riff on the theme. Pretty soon everyone is laughing and having fun, and the next thing I know, they have elevated the quality of their design concepts even more." Hermes added, "And then the client would absolutely love the work, adding insult to injury."

President and CEO Nancy Lyons showed determination to correct these issues by next year. "That's it, we are opening an office in Nome, Alaska, to wipe the smiles off all those faces," she exclaimed after another meeting with the happy, productive staff.

CFO Michael Koppelman seemed to roll with the punches. "We did have another fantastic year. Maybe people enjoying their jobs this much is not such a big problem after all," he said with a shrug.