Huntsman Gay Global Capital is one of Twelve Horses’ most recent website designs to find new life on the Web. The design is simple, yet powerful, and properly communicates the collective experience and capabilities of this well-seasoned private equity company. The website makes use of our content management system to control website content and layout, as well as add new press releases, update Team information, and continually hone their search engine optimization efforts. Team members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, and managing director Richard Lawson also integrate social media activities such as YouTube videos and Twitter posts into the website.
Operating out of Palo Alto, Salt Lake City, Boston, and West Palm Beach, Huntsman Gay is a unique private equity firm with world-class investment experience. Founder Jon Huntsman is a true American businessman and philanthropist, and he is both one of the top 50 richest men alive and one of the nation’s top 50 givers. In addition, he is the father of the Governor of Utah.
For us here at Twelve Horses it is always a great experience to work with such a wonderful variety of clients, and Huntsman Gay is no exception.
Not far from the offices of Twelve Horses is the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. A beautiful place where dramatic snow-covered mountains cascade downward in to the sparkling blue waters of one of the clearest, most breathtaking bodies of water in the world. Juxtaposed to this raw beauty are businesses that depend on the Web to communicate their brand to the wayward traveler looking for information to help them make informed decisions.
Last year, Homewood Mountain Resort came to Twelve Horses for a website redesign, which you may have read about here. Like many of our website design projects, we were tasked with organizing large amounts of information into a user-friendly format that satisfies both the client and their end user. A common practice we employ to accomplish this delicate balancing act are module tabs or user interface (UI) design patterns. Whenever possible, we strive to accompany these tabs with both text and graphics to improve the experience.
Smashing Magazine just recently published an article titled, Module Tabs in Web Design: Best Practices and Solutions. The article features Homewood Mountain Resort along with some other exceptional examples of module tabs being used to optimize web pages. Here is an excerpt from the article:
A module tab is a User Interface (UI) design pattern where content is separated into different panes, and each pane is viewable one at a time. The user requests content to be displayed by clicking (or in some instances hovering over) the content’s corresponding tab control.
Module tabs are seeing an increase of use as websites and web applications push for optimizing web page screen areas without sacrificing the amount of information presented at once. For example, in weblogs, they are used in secondary content sections (such as the sidebar) to present relevant and interesting information such as a listing of blog posts which users can interact with to get to web pages quicker. This inevitably allows for an unobtrusive and compact manner of presenting content.
This article discusses the use of the module tabs design pattern for use in websites and web-based applications. We share with you some best practices to consider when using module tabs, a listing of real-world examples of websites the take advantage of module tabs, as well as tutorials and free downloadable scripts for building and deploying module tabs in your sites.
But anyone that has worked closely with David knows that it has also taken a whole hell of a lot of work, creative thinking, determination, and very little sleep. David juggles a ridiculous amount of responsibilities. Along with leading this snarky band of brothers and sisters, he serves as chairman of the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, and on the board of several organizations including, the local economic development authority (EDAWN), Entrepreneur’s Organization, Artown, The Holland Project, Reno Bike Project, and the local school district. On top of that he is a father of two boys, which he is begrudgingly pulled away from for numerous speaking engagements and client meetings.
Despite this herculean load of work, David also manages to project a relaxed and fun demeanor that echoes the unique culture of Twelve Horses that we all enjoy. Obviously, the Reno Gazette-Journal sees it in him as well.
Twelve Horses’ David LaPlante: Living a new, better dream
As iconic daredevil Evel Knievel learned in more ways than one, accidents happen.
It’s a lesson one Reno CEO also happened to learn more than two decades ago, courtesy of a snow-covered mountainside.
As a kid growing up in Crested Butte, Colo., going to college and forming his own company wasn’t exactly on David LaPlante’s radar.
“I wanted to be a ski bum,” LaPlante said. “I wanted to go to Europe and race.”
The first wrinkle in LaPlante’s dreams for a grand European tour surfaced on April 1988 during his final ski race in high school. LaPlante hooked a tip during his last slalom, disqualifying the aspiring skier. It was after the race, however, that LaPlante’s European dream would jump the shark. With his racing plans temporarily on ice due to the disqualification, LaPlante went skiing with friends at an out-of-bounds area. The accident that followed proved to be more serious than simply hooking a tip. LaPlante said he essentially “obliterated” his knee.
It was while LaPlante was recovering at home that his father would float the “C” word. Perhaps the young LaPlante should consider going to college, his father said.
Following the conversation, LaPlante and a friend soon found themselves touring the University of Nevada, Reno, as part of a recruiting visit for the ski team. Little did LaPlante know that his first step into the university would also be the first step in heading his future company, Twelve Horses.
“I just fell in love with the place,” LaPlante said. “Next thing I knew, I was going to Reno. So if I hadn’t hooked that tip in that slalom — if I didn’t have that 1-centimeter judgement error, who knows where I would be now.”
Taking the reins
Featuring a unique fusion between marketing and technology, quickly explaining what Twelve Horses does in layman’s terms can be tough even for its CEO.
In the simplest terms, Twelve Horses can be defined as an online brand marketing and messaging technology company, LaPlante said. But labeling his company as just a marketing firm would be oversimplifying at best. After all, not many marketing agencies have their own research and development departments, much less their own patents for messaging, ticketing and data replication technology.
In this episode of Horse Power I get a few minutes to speak with Alan Hall, Founder and Chairman of Grow Utah Ventures, a group dedicated to finding, training and helping entrepreneurs get their business started and grow in Utah. Hall and Grow Utah Ventures promote entrepreneurism in the community through education, networking and speed pitching opportunities. In this video Hall talks about the components of a good start-up and how he can help entrepreneurs get their business started and their products to market. (There are a few more details in the Audio version, click here to subscribe to Horse Power in iTunes.)
Alan Hall is also Founder and Chairman at MarketStar, a successful sales and marketing outsourcing company that he started in his basement in Ogden. Hall is involved in almost every level of entrapreneurship promotion in Utah, from finding venture capital dollars to having simple conversations with new entrepreneurs and answering questions. Our President, Steve Spencer, caught up with Hall last year at a Funding Universe speed pitching event and was very impressed with both his knowledge, passion and ability to help new entrapreneurs find direction.
Hall is taking his show on a much longer road over the next year with Grow America. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me Alan. It was great to meet you!
