It took 11 months from concept to launch, but a completely revised Holtz Communication + Technology website is now live.

Well, that’s obvious, right? You’re looking at it.

The completely new elements of the site are the Resources and Coordinates sections.

Coordinates contains is one-stop shopping for just about everything I’m doing online.

• In the “Follow” box you’ll find links to my key social channels (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn)
• All my various sharing accounts (like Flickr, Slideshare and YouTube) along with places I have one kind of presence or another (like Empire Avenue, Delicious, Qik, uStream, and CinchCast)
• My latest Flickr photos and YouTube videos right on the page
• The latest updates to For Immediate Release, the podcast I co-host weekly with Neville Hobson; Stop Blocking (the resource I maintain in order to provide fodder to those trying to get their companies to unblock employee access to social channels); my Posterous blog at shelholtz.com, my Twitter account and my shared items from Google Reader.

I’d like to see businesses adopt an approach like this, giving customers a single destination to find all the various places they can engage with the company.

The Resources page is one that will continue to grow and expand. Here you’ll find…

• A list of blogs and podcasts I believe to be indispensable for communicators working in the online space
• A Storify story where I’m adding the latest statistics and research reports I find useful or interesting
• A list of social media primers for those who are just dipping their toes into the water
• Another Storify story that includes the latest news and information supporting my Stop Blocking initative
• A book store featuring links to Amazon.com for the books I have found worthwhile. Books appear in categories, including those I have written, social media books, PR and communication books, general business books and books reviewed on the FIR podcast. I’ll add more books—and possibly more categories—regularly.

I’ve switched from the native calendar that was on my old site to Google Calendar, and I like the results, both in the upcoming engagements box and on the full-blown calendar page.

Under Services, you’ll find a speaker page into which I’ve put considerably more effort.

Credit where it’s due

The development of the site involved a lot of activities. First, there was the graphic design. I’m no designer—not even a little—and relied on Maria Pappas to develop the look and feel of the site. I couldn’t be happier.

I stuck with Expression Engine as my platform. If WordPress is a blogging platform that can be used for content management, Expression Engine is a content management system that can be used for blogging. I’ve been using it (and its predecessor) since I started this blog in 2004. I still like it a lot.

(By the way, if you’re looking for a powerful CMS but have a non-existent budget, Expression Engine has a one-time cost of $299.95 for a commercial license, and an annual maintenance fee to give you access to technical support and updates and upgrades. If your site isn’t ridiculously complex or require integrated approval and tracking, it’s a great alternative to the pricey CMSs. Modules for discussion forums, wikis and the like are also avaiable to flesh out your Engine site.)

NetRaising is a web development firm based in Portland, Oregon that specializes in Expression Engine, mostly for nonprofits. I’ve been working with NetRaising’s founder, Kurt Deutscher, since a client project involving an Expression Engine implementation a few years ago. He put in countless hours moving the blog posts over to the new site and implementing Maria’s design. Kurt and his crew are among the best vendors I’ve ever worked with.

I’m also in the process of moving content off my server and onto hosted sites. For this site, I’ve gone with EngineHosting.com, owned by Ellis Lab, which also owns Expression Engine. As the name implies, EngineHosting specializes in hosting Expression Engine sites.

It’s been a journey, but I was blessed to take it with talented and committed partners. I couldn’t possibly recommend any of them strongly enough.

Please let me know what you think!