Beacon News

Going for Gold: Beacon's Account Executives Go Above and Beyond Again

April 1, 2022

Celebrate Beacon's sales team: they've earned Gold Sales Awards for their achievement in bringing Beacon's services and high-quality work to new clients.

Team gathered around a table shaking hands

Beacon is Hiring! Come Join Our Team

March 14, 2022

It's an exciting time at Beacon filled with new clients, new projects, and new opportunities. There's never been a better time to join our team. Learn more!

Why We're Feeling Extra Cheerful This Holiday Season

December 15, 2021

New site launches, giving back to our community, and all the possibilities of 2022: discover what is bringing the holly and jolly to our December.

Rain or Shine: College of Southern Maryland Redesigns Website to Reach Students During a Tough Year

July 27, 2021

We take a look at how, despite a challenging year, we managed to come through for one of our partners to deliver the awesome website redesign services that have made us an industry leader!

A Guiding Light: 5 Must-Sees on Beacon's Brand New Website

June 1, 2021

Discover Beacon's new website with a tour of five key pages that highlight our modern design, streamlined content, and enhanced user experience.

Just One Month Before Google "Speeds Up The Internet:" Don't Get Left Behind!

April 6, 2021

Discover how Beacon can keep your website at peak performance, even as new changes come to Google's algorithm this year.

Love and Learn: Helping Students Fall for Your Institution

February 16, 2021

Is your institution prepared to court a whole new generation of college students? Make your school an attractive match for the diverse students of today and tomorrow.

Hindsight Is 2020: How We Helped Our Clients Get Through a Tough Year

December 17, 2020

2020 was rough for everyone, but there were bright spots. Find out how Beacon's expert team helped clients thrive in the midst of unprecedented challenges.

Meet Beacon's Project Management Team: Here's How They Help to Get the Job Done

July 17, 2020

It's their job to keep you on track and help you accomplish your goals. See how our project management team sets us and you up for success.

Dale Pro Audio: AspDotNetStorefront Version Upgrade

January 20, 2020

Dale Pro Audio came to us and asked if we would be willing to upgrade their site from Version 8 to Version 9.2 for AspDotNetStorefront. Of course we said yes!

How to Leverage Your Digital Marketing During COVID-19

March 23, 2019

Travel bans are in place. Restaurants are closed for dine-in service. Social distancing is the current collective mantra.

How to add ARIA Labels for HTML SECTION and DIV Tags

December 20, 2018

This is an example of ARIA labels for screen readers that read ARIA labels. It ultimately helps the end user.

A Birthday Wish. Let's Make It Come True.

September 26, 2018

Special Message from Beacon CEO, Mark Dirks

Your Game Plan for Device & Browser Testing

September 6, 2018

We expect a newly designed or re-designed website to look good, be easy to use and deliver the information visitors expect. Baked into all those expectations are the assumption of basic functionality - that all the elements load and display quickly and properly, navigation menus and links actually take you where intended, and content is presented in an easily-digestible manner.

Weaving Hope: A New Venture Aims to Build School in Rwanda

August 23, 2018

Rwanda is bouncing back in a big way from enormous challenges in the last two decades,” says Mark Dirks, Beacon’s CEO.

Charlottesville, VIrginia Beacon U conference

Beacon is Going to edUi 2018

August 2, 2018

Beacon is going to edUi 2018 in Charlottesville, VA. If you’re a web professional who works with colleges, universities, libraries or museums, you should, too. In fact, we’ll help you get there.

GDPR: What Is It? Does It Apply To Me? And So What?

July 19, 2018

If you work in digital marketing, you probably couldn’t help but notice the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) mania sweeping the internet earlier this year. Indeed, before the new regulations became enforceable in May 2018, there was breathless anticipation and countless “What You Need To Know” blog posts promising the low-down on all the important compliance implications.

Bringing Your Web Design to Life

June 7, 2018

It’s common knowledge that, in today’s hyper-digital marketplace, your chances for success are limited without a strong website presence. As an experienced marketer, you know reflexively that a well-designed and expertly developed website is an irreplaceable marketing tool that differentiates your brand from your competitors.

Hannon Hill Introduces an Accessibility Plugin

January 16, 2018

As if security and dependability were not reason enough to use Hannon Hill’s Cascade CMS, its newest, innovative plugin makes it a must for Higher Ed, business and content creators of all kinds.

Let It Snow (Beacon Style)

December 22, 2017

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from Beacon. “Let Us Know” how you like this year’s holiday “jingle”. Enjoy! "Oh, when your search results are frightful, Our SEO's are so delightful. When you need someplace to go, Let Us Know! Let Us Know! Read our Christmas card today & get in the spirit.

eduWeb 2017: Beacon Shares SEO & Accessibility, Compliance Insights

August 16, 2017

For Higher Ed professionals in enrollment management, the annual eduWeb Digital Summit was one of the year’s most highly anticipated events. It did not disappoint.

Our new website has arrived!

July 20, 2017

As a web development & marketing firm, it's always a challenge to redesign your own website when priorities rest with your existing clients & the new clients knocking on the door. However, our team steeped up & made time to clearly take the Beacon site to the next level. Learn more about the process.

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WFU Selects Beacon to Teach Graduate Level Analytics Course

April 21, 2017

Last year, when I discovered that Wake Forest’s Business School was starting a Master’s Program in Business Analytics (MSBA), I had to see how I could hel…

New Arrival! See the Birth...

March 27, 2017

Beacon IT Services (BITS) welcomes the addition of their newest team member...the BITS Mobile

Michigan State University Selects Beacon for Web Development Services

December 20, 2016

We are thrilled to announce that Michigan State University has selected Beacon for a 3-year web services contract (w/ 2-year extension option) that includes the University’s web development (Cascade CMS Support), web hosting and analytics. Beacon will support over 30 different organizations within the Michigan State University system. Due to the recent significant increase in web demand from these organizations, MSU is partnering with Beacon to support expected continued demand over the next 3-5 years in order to increase the continuity, quality, accessibility and security of MSU websites.

The 12 Days of Christmas (Beacon Style)

December 20, 2016

The Beacon Web Team was busy this year with customers all over the country! Our “spin” on this holiday classic covers most of it! Enjoy!

burton+BURTON Contracts Beacon for New Website

December 16, 2016

Burton and Burton, the world’s largest balloon and coordinating gift distributor (~15,000 products), has contracted with Beacon to overhaul their online store. While many websites change every couple of years, Burton and Burton’s current site has experienced a solid 6 year run that has seen continuous year-over-year growth. Based on deep studies of the underlying analytics, the new website will not only upgrade to new, leading edge ecommerce features, but also facilitate expedited growth through greater reach and engagement.

A Great Time at HighEdWeb 2016

October 25, 2016

Earlier this month I joined a couple of my Beacon colleagues at HighEdWeb 2016 in Memphis, TN. They told me many times leading up to it that HighEdWeb is a great conference. Having experienced the conference for the first time now, I wholeheartedly agree.

Gary Synan Retires!

September 29, 2016

Today is Gary Synan’s last day at Beacon. Retirement and the beach have wooed him away after 12 years of dedicated service with my company. It’s bittersweet. He has played an important role as a web application developer, serving hundreds of Beacon’s clients over the years, but especially with the many Bassett Furniture projects. His technical expertise will be missed.

Bacon Back to Beacon

April 4, 2016

We hope you all enjoyed our April Fool’s fun last Friday. We certainly did. Members of my digital marketing team had the idea about a year ago, so incredibly funny concepts have been tossed around for a long time.

Beacon changes name, adds services.

April 1, 2016

Since the company’s inception in 1998, Beacon Technologies has always advised its clients to “Listen to your customers,” when developing their websites or conducting online marketing. Now Beacon is finally practicing what it has preached for all these years. Mark Dirks, Beacon’s President, announced today that the company will operate under a new name, which allows it to introduce new services as well.

Beacon Kicks Off 2016 Conference Season with HighEdWeb New England!

March 14, 2016

Beacon is excited to kickoff our 2016 conference season with a return to Mt. Holyoke College for HighEdWeb's New England regional conference.

Beacon employee (and her dog) light up web

January 28, 2016

Gotta share this amazing story. In our “work life”, we know our colleagues mostly by their talents in the office from 9-5. But, on the 5-9 flipside, there’s a world of other talents, interests and activities. I love it when people step up to a challenge, or opportunity, and take action. I call it “walking the talk” (a phrase that some want to debate about, but look it up).

2015 Flew By and Beacon was Having Fun!

January 12, 2016

What a year! We traveled around the U.S. to many new client locations, trade shows, speaking engagements and conferences. We worked hard to meet deadlines and budgets. We were there for our customers when they needed us. We delivered results and quality work. We did the “RFP-dance” many times to prepare strong proposals. And we learned a lot.

Have a Holly, Jolly Website!

December 17, 2015

Check out this year’s jingle and Happy Holidays from the entire Beacon Team! I hope you enjoy the season with family and friends.

It's Thanksgiving! "Never Delay Gratitude"

November 23, 2015

Several years ago, I had the privilege of taking my son, Ryan, to Wake Forest’s Father-Son basketball camp. Now that he is older, in college, and no longer a part of my day-to-day life, I become more and more thankful to have had those 2 days with him, “one on one”, so to speak. The gift of “time” with my son was all I expected, but I took away much more.

Beacon Supports Kids Path

November 1, 2015

Earlier this month, Jordan Burleson and Emily Ledbetter delivered a donation from Beacon to Kids Path, a program of Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro. Beacon raised funds for Kids Path through our hole sponsorship at the 2015 North Carolina Technology Association Golf Tournament.

New Beacon Website: Smarter Marketing with "Brains, Beauty & Brawn"

August 4, 2015

Greensboro, NC - Since the Fall of 2014, Beacon has been quietly working through a significant re-branding strategy that emphasizes a more sophisticated union between marketing and web technology. Last week’s launch of the company’s new website is the exciting release of this effort.

GA Partner Summit - San Francisco

June 10, 2015

For the 9th straight year, Beacon was invited to attend the Google Analytics Summit, which is being held in San Francisco this year. This week, Mark Dirks and Andrea Cole are joining about 800 other Google Analytics Certified Partners from all over the world to learn about new, upcoming features and talk directly with Google Analytics staff.

GAFUSION at IRCE 2015

June 3, 2015

The Beacon Team arrived in Chicago for IRCE on Tuesday, got the GAFUSION booth all setup and ready for the 4 pm opening of the exhibit hall. IRCE is expecting 600+ exhibitors and over 10,000 attendees!

Learn about GAFUSION at IRCE Chicago next week!

May 28, 2015

If you are a multi-channel retailer that is struggling to determine how your online marketing affects in-store sales, stop by our booth (#1815) at IRCE to learn how GAFUSION helps solve this problem by supercharging Google Analytics.

All Packed Up for IRCE 2015!

May 20, 2015

We put a lot of work into our GAFUSION booth for the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE 2015). We’ll be unpacking this pallet and setting up on June 2nd in Chicago. Stop by our booth (#1815) to say Hello and learn more about GAFUSION (www.ga-fusion.com). Also grab a jar of fresh honey produced from the Beacon beehive!

Cinco De Mayo at Beacon Technologies

May 7, 2015

Beacon Technologies had a festive time at this year's Cinco De Mayo celebration. We took some time away from our computers and desks to spend some time sharing some great Mexican food, cold beverages, outdoor games and even crushing a piñata on a beautiful May day.

New WordPress Website Launch: Matthews Specialty Vehicles

May 1, 2015

Beacon is pleased to announce the recent launch of a new WordPress site for Matthews Specialty Vehicles. The new site features new imagery and a responsive design that works well on tablet and mobile devices.

New Website Launch: Used Bus World

April 29, 2015

Beacon is pleased to announce the recent launch of a new WordPress site for Used Bus World. The new site features new imagery and a responsive design that works well on tablet and mobile devices.

2014 WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development

March 18, 2015

The new Jacksonville State University website launched almost a year ago, but the accolades continue to roll in. Beacon and the awesome team at JSU partnered up last spring on the redesign and development of a new responsive design of the primary .EDU and news websites.

Beacon on Metro-Raleigh Business Radio

June 24, 2014

Thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Metro-Raleigh Business Radio show at the Business RadioX studios in Wake Forest NC yesterday! Thanks to Ann Revell-Pechar, Cal Hackman and Reid Powell for having me on the show and letting me talk about the ever-changing world of the web, Beacon's experiences over the last 16 years and our new GAFUSION product.

GAFUSION – A Hit at IRCE 2014!

June 18, 2014

Wow! What a week in Chicago at IRCE!

Beacon to Participate in 2014 Piedmont Triad Business Showcase

May 14, 2014

The Beacon Sales Team is excited to take part in this year’s Piedmont Triad Business Showcase. We love showing our support to our home Greensboro area businesses and this year is no exception as we are setup at booths 1403 & 1404 right in the center of the Greensboro Coliseum’s Special Events Center. The crowds at this event are fantastic as it draws over 2,100 attendees and over 140 vendors and exhibitors from every industry.

Beacon goes to Moogfest 2014

May 2, 2014

Beacon had the opportunity this past weekend to participate in Synthesis, an event by NCTA, at Moogfest in Asheville, NC. This portion of Moogfest was a high energy tech expo featuring a wide range of technology companies. Live entertainment was there, in true Moogfest spirit, and various speakers from the tech field presented throughout the day.

Caribbean Green Technology Center microsite launched!

March 18, 2014

Beacon launched another University of the Virgin Islands microsite yesterday at http://cgtc.uvi.edu. Like the previously two launched UVI microsites, this site has the main UVI site branding, with its own color scheme and special features like:

University of Hartford launches two new communication sites

March 11, 2014

Beacon recently assisted longtime partner, the University of Hartford, with the development and launch of two new Cascade “sub-sites” that will serve as communication portals for the University.

Day 1 at IR Focus in Orlando

February 11, 2014

Monday was a day of workshops for SEO, Web Design and Mobile Commerce at IR Focus. All the sessions seemed to be well attended. David Workman, Ecommerce Operations Manager from Delta Apparel (one of Beacon’s clients), presented during the morning about The Building Blocks of Design: Taking the Basics to a New Level. There were a lot of great sessions regarding advancements in SEO, setting goals for your redesign, responsive design, how sites can be BOTH beautiful and fast, what to expect in terms of cost and of course, live design and SEO reviews.

Holyoke Gas & Electric Redesign Launched!

December 16, 2013

Beacon Technologies is very proud to announce the launch of the new Cascade site for Holyoke Gas & Electric at http://www.hged.com! This site is visually …

Beacon Invited to Google Analytics Summit this Week

October 2, 2013

For the 7th straight year, representatives from Beacon were invited to the Google Analytics Summit being held in Mountain View CA this week. Brad Henry, …

Day 2 at IRCE

June 6, 2013

Day 2 at IRCE was extremely busy and full of breakout sessions from notable guests like Al Gore and Beacon clients/partners Bronto & Delta Apparel. The ex…

Day 1 at IRCE

June 5, 2013

IRCE is a huge event. When I say huge, I mean HUGE. Walking into the conference you have to do a double take to make sure this is where you should be. Mas…

A Chat with Nextopia’s CEO & Founder, Sanjay Arora

March 27, 2013

In the web solutions business, vendor partnerships are inevitable. Good ones are essential. And when you find good ones that provide great products or s…

Happy #15 to Beacon + A Look Back at 2012

December 31, 2012

On January 6th 2013, Beacon will celebrate its 15th birthday. It’s hard to fathom that fifteen years ago, today, “Beacon Technologies” didn’t exist yet.

Newly Redesigned Site Launched for Tuggle Duggins Law Firm

December 12, 2012

Yesterday, December 6th, we launched the redesigned Tuggle Duggins” website. This is a Cascade site that features the following:

Beacon Represents at the NCTA 21 Awards

November 21, 2012

As the days grow shorter and the air gets colder - it can only mean one thing...it's time for the North Carolina Technology Association's 21 Awards Gala. The 21 Awards are an annual event that always takes place this time of year. It's a ton of fun as a crew of 'Beaconites' head east on I-40 for the perennial trip to the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham.

Summer Internship Update

July 16, 2012

I officially have 1 week left at Beacon Technologies. So far everything is going great! I am really excited about the Beacon NetCafe website. The website is coming along nicely. I am very impressed by the website and I would like to publicly thank Jennifer for her hard work on the website. I know everyone is busy right now and I appreciate her work on the website.

Sitemaps and More!

June 22, 2012

I only have 4 weeks left for my internship at Beacon Technologies. I am still learning a lot about the process of creating a website. We have decided on a template for the Beacon NetCafe. Richard and I are going to start pushing this website through and have the pilot run before the end of my internship. I look forward to completing this project in the near future.

Word from the Sales Front

May 1, 2012

April was a busy month here at Beacon. We came into the month off of a real strong first quarter with lots of exciting new projects kicking off with existing and new clients. The momentum continued into April with over a dozen project kickoffs and the addition of seven new clients, including:

Want to Attend Internet Retailer?

April 18, 2012

If you’ve looked at our events page then you know we’re attending the Internet Retailer Conference in June. Wahoo! This conference is HUGE and is jam packed with tons of great sessions and information. There will be 175 speakers, 570 exhibiting companies, 8,000 attendees, and multiple workshops! I’m excited, are you excited?

Not Your Average Breakfast Conversation

April 9, 2012

Whether you’re a morning person or not, it’s safe to say you won’t find this kind of conversation around the kitchen table. Part of North Carolina’s Technology Association (NCTA) “Emerging Tech and Trends” breakfast series is focused on providing a forum where business professionals can engage in serious conversation and rhetoric around the ever morphing topic and trend of technology.

ASPDNSF's 2012 eCommerce Conference

April 3, 2012

Beacon returned from ASPDotNetStorefront‘s user conference with a ton of great takeaways, new friendships, stregnthened partnerships and awesome experiences. Ashland, Oregon’s amazing scenery, great restaurants, friendly people and downtown park rival the eTail West conference in Palm Dessert for the best eCommerce conference destination.

University of Hartford jQuery Update

March 30, 2012

Just a quick shout out about a cool new feature that Beacon recently implemented on the University of Hartford site at http://www.hartford.edu. Hartford has been a long time client and we do updates for them on a regular basis, but we wanted to spotlight this particular item.

eWBoard - The Electronic Whiteboard Site Launch

February 15, 2012

We launched another great site last month for eWboard at http://www.ewboard.com! This site is a highly effective promotional site for IBS's newest patient tracking software, The Electronic Whiteboard.

Heading South to IRWD!

February 10, 2012

Hopefully it will be nice and sunny in Orlando for next week's Internet Retailer Web Design & Usability Conference (Feb 13-15). I'm looking forward to meeting with our partners and clients that are attending. Let me know if you are going to be there - maybe we can grab some coffee and talk "Web"!

Beacon's Top 10 Blog Posts of 2011

January 5, 2012

The Beacon Staff wrote nearly 200 blog posts in 2011! So we are highlighting our Top 10 and want your help to identify the "Beacon Blog Post of the Year". Please check them out and leave a comment telling us which one you enjoyed most and why. Some of these were actually written in 2010, but received enough views in 2011 to make the Top 10 List.

Beacon Holiday Party 2011

December 19, 2011

Greetings from the 2011 Beacon Holiday Party.

Greensboro Housing Authority Site Launch

December 19, 2011

We're proud to announce the release of the Greensboro Housing Authority redesign! As always, Beacon was right on-time with our deliverables, which is always our goal. The client chose a soft launch date of December 1, 2011 because they wanted to show the new site to their Board of Directors at their annual meeting that day.

TPG Seminars Site Launch

November 28, 2011

We launched a new ecommerce site yesterday at http://www.tpgseminars.com. This site uses the newest version of AspDotNetStorefront . This site is slightly different in that its products are actually continuing education classes that required by the state of New York for tax preparers and accountants.

United Way Week at Beacon

October 28, 2011

It’s been a fun week here at Beacon as the entire team has stepped up to raise money for the United Way. It’s great to see everyone participating in the various activities to give back to the community.

Beacon Technologies Through the Eyes of an Intern – Week 10

July 22, 2011

Well sadly, this is my last blog post at Beacon. It’s been a great 10 weeks. I really have enjoyed my time here. Looking back, I can’t think of anything negative to say about my experience. I want to take the chance to kind of do a recap of my time here.

Eduweb Bound!

July 21, 2011

Beacon is gearing up for the fast approaching Eduweb Conference in San Antonio. It will be Beacon's first time exhibiting at the conference and we look forward to connecting with many clients, prospects and industry peers. With hot topics like: mobile, social media and HTML5 on the agenda - I'm looking forward to the conversations that will pour out of the sessions into the exhibit floor, coffee lines, receptions and the other networking events.

Giving Back

July 19, 2011

Beacon Technologies is honored to sponsor United Way of Greater Greensboro once again. With today’s economy there is a greater need in the community which we live and raise our families. United Way is one of the ways Beacon gives back.

Beacon Technologies Through the Eyes of an Intern – Week 6

June 24, 2011

This week was a fun week. I got the opportunity to learn some things that I was not familiar with and then got to put what I learned into practice. I learned how to create SEO landing pages. Basically these pages serve the purpose of helping a website rank for keywords that are important to the website. This is turn helps the page to appear higher in search results.

Don't Miss This Event!

May 13, 2011

Beacon Technologies is excited to be a Hole Sponsor for the North Carolina Technology Association’s (NCTA) Annual Golf Tournament. We have sponsored and participated in this tournament for years and we’ve been extremely satisfied with the tournament activities, prizes, networking opportunities, and the overall quality experience each player enjoys.

Beacon to Participate in 2011 SBTDC MBA Summer Consulting Program

April 25, 2011

The SBTDC announced that Beacon Technologies has been selected to participate in the 2011 MBA Summer Consulting Program. Since the program commenced in 2001, over 90 interns have provided over 36,000 hours of service to firms that are in the process of commercializing their technologies. Beacon will be working the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Upcoming Tech Trends..some are fascinating!

April 14, 2011

It is April 14, 2011 and the weather is beautiful here in Greensboro, North Carolina! 72° and sunny.

Beacon partners with the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA)

April 12, 2011

As a long time member and proud sponsor of the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA), Beacon is excited to be participating in NCTA's Spring Conference, "State of Technology: Technologies for a Smarter Business." NCTA puts on several great events through out the year. They serve as an awesome opportunity to hear industry experts speak, network with like minded folks and keep your finger on the pulse of technology within the state.

Beacon Bingo Rocks!

December 21, 2010

Great Food, Awesome Company, and Fantastic Prizes!

Beacon Holiday Schedule

December 9, 2010

Please note Beacon will be closed on Dec 23, Dec 24, Dec 31 and Jan 3.

Beacon Completes More Projects

December 1, 2010

The University of Houston is a new Cascade Server client of ours. The entire university’s site is in Cascade, and they contracted with us to enhance the News Releases function to include the following:

Go Excellence Resorts and Go Secrets Resorts Site Launches

November 11, 2010

Beacon is proud to announce the launch of two micro-sites for A Way to Go Travel. The client is a full service, award winning travel agency that has been in business for over 15 years. The new sites feature basic information on specific Excellence and Secrets resorts, quote forms, news, specials and testimonials. Along with website design and development, Beacon also provides hosting services for both sites.

Introducing Our Newest Employees

November 11, 2010

INTRODUCING OUR NEWEST EMPLOYEES

burton+BURTON Website Redesign

November 11, 2010

Beacon recently launched a redesign of one of our largest sites, burton+BURTON. They are the largest wholesaler of balloon and gift products. burton+BURTON are a long-term client and this is the third major redesign Beacon has been involved with. Their site is a marriage of our two strengths: eCommerce (ASP-based) and Cascade Server content management. Here are some highlights of the new design and functionality:

Beacon News

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