In last month’s Intelligence, Michael Stoner— our company namesake and my longtime business partner, colleague, and friend — celebrated the past 20 years of mStoner’s work in higher education. It was a fitting topic, given Michael’s retirement at the end of this month and our joining the Carnegie powerhouse in September.  Reflecting on the most recent past myself, I’m gratified and heartened by the collective resilience of our devotion to education amid political, cultural, economic, and epidemiological turmoil. In the face of sustained uncertainty and fear at a global level, we as a soci ..read more

We knew that 2001 would be a historic year because of what happened on September 11th. But Thursday, November 1, 2001, was just another day in other respects. George W. Bush was president. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was a top-ranked movie. Apple stock opened at $17.65. But November 1, 2001, was notable to us because that was the day we launched mStoner. You may know that our (nearly!) 20-year run as an independent agency ended in October 2021, when mStoner became part of the Carnegie family. We wanted to grow mStoner so that we could better serve our clients by offering world-class ..read more

2021 has been a big year for mStoner and its clients. Recently, three award programs announced their winners in the website redesign category, and multiple mStoner clients took home trophies for their elegant, creative, and effective website redesigns.  Davey Awards The Davey Awards are known as the largest and most prestigious awards competition exclusively for the “Davids” of creativity. David defeated the giant Goliath with a big idea and a little rock – the sort of thing small agencies do each year. Winning entries for the Davey Awards are selected by the Academy of Interactive and Vi ..read more

You’re ready to get started on a new project. You’ve got buy-in from institutional leadership, you’ve researched and selected a best-fit partner (ahem) for it, and you’ve gotten a green light from procurement to move forward. You’re beginning to dream in primary and secondary brand colors and are ready to talk design ideas … Pump the brakes for a moment, and let’s talk discovery. The discovery process is where the magic begins. Don’t give up your shot at finding that magic. For your partner agency, discovery is the process of getting immersed in your institution. However, we recommend that you ..read more

Please join us in welcoming Petie Holder, mStoner’s new business development manager.  As the business development manager, Petie excels at building relationships and helping institutions identify their challenges and find solutions that best fit their needs. With more than ten years in the advancement field and experience working in higher education, Petie is skilled at guiding various stakeholders through the business development process. Previous to joining mStoner, Petie served as a development officer for the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri. She also has higher ed experie ..read more

Please join us in welcoming Hannah Chao, mStoner’s new copywriter.  Hannah Chao is passionate about storytelling and helping others share their experiences in fresh and exciting ways. As a copywriter, Hannah crafts immersive stories to help clients express their vision and engage visitors. She works with content strategists and designers to ensure that copy and visuals merge seamlessly, telling a singular story. She is skillful at finding the details that can captivate visitors and express the client’s brand. Hannah spent more than 5 years writing and editing for SOLA Network, where she h ..read more

Please join us in welcoming Alayna Foran, mStoner’s new interactive designer.  As an interactive designer, Alayna Foran leverages her unique client experience background to bring fresh ideas and design concepts to higher education institutions. Alayna is a designer based near the Minneapolis/St.Paul area. She comes from a large family of seven children and is originally from a small town in western Colorado. After moving around to different cities all over the country, she ultimately moved back to the Great Lakes region, where my mom’s family was from in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Alayna ..read more

Higher education marketing and enrollment strategy leader Carnegie Dartlet LLC (“Carnegie”) announced today its acquisition of mStoner, one of the industry’s most trusted web design and technology companies. This is Carnegie’s second portfolio expansion this year, following the merger with Underscore in May. The acquisition demonstrates Carnegie’s commitment to delivering comprehensive and custom solutions for its university partners.  Carnegie has pushed the boundaries of innovation for higher education marketing since its founding in 1985, offering personalized solutions in digital mark ..read more

Many of us know the premise behind web accessibility: building a website that can serve site visitors of all abilities, backgrounds, and environments. But when it comes to bringing that idea to fruition, the task of enhancing a site’s accessibility — and maintaining that accessibility over time — can feel overwhelming and more like a chore than anything else. It’s this mindset that inhibits progress and leaves accessibility initiatives to fall by the wayside. As a result, your site’s user experience remains subpar and your chances of being subject to a lawsuit increase by the day. So what can ..read more

The Web Marketing Association is the producer of the WebAward Competition. The WebAward program is the longest-running annual website award competition dedicated to naming the best Web sites in 96 industries while setting the standard of excellence for all website development. Judging Process Each site is assigned to three or more expert judges for evaluation. The judges are informed of the mission statement and prospective audience for the site. The websites are judged on each of the seven criteria, earning a score between 0 and 70 points. The highest score in a given category wins Best Websi ..read more