On February 28th 2006, Franz Maruna led a discussion for the Portland Development Commission on eCommerce. Franz Maruna is CEO of Concrete CMS, a local web application developer. The PDC is launching a new eCommerce program to encourage web industry growth in Portland Oregon.

These ten rules were discussed as good starting points and lessons learned for running successful retail operations on the internet.

First Thursday Open House Celebrates Art and Technology

Portland, OR, Feb 23rd 2005 Concrete CMS, a provider of web content management solutions invites the public to explore their new offices which feature a small art gallery called ‘Concrete the Studio'. Located in the Merchant's Hotel Building at 222 NW Davis in the heart of Old Town , Concrete the Studio will feature one artist each month as part of the First Thursday gallery walk.

After building the original music community in 2004, Indie911 turned to Concrete for a massive remodel in 2006.

Indie911.com is a successful online artist services network, which was able to expand into video, film, and the popular social networking success of sites like mySpace. The entire look and feel was redesigned from scratch, dramatically extending the options for personalization by the audience. Artists can now easily upload and sell their mp3's online, in addition to directly connecting with fans through the online community.

"We're always happy to be working on Indie," says Franz Maruna, CEO of Concrete CMS. "Our shop is full programmers with a personal background in music, so having this opportunity to use our technology skills for something so dear to our hearts is a true joy."

By Major Arnold Strong

In very short order, the Oregon National Guard embarked upon the largest peacetime deployment in its history. Mobilized to Louisiana to assist in recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Oregon's 41st infantry brigade was reorganized to include citizen soldiers and airmen from Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon and the territory of Puerto Rico. Re-commissioned as Joint Task Force Pontchartrain, we immediately recognized the need to develop a platform to communicate the value of our work to fellow service members, their families, employers and their communities.

Bethany College in West Virginia launched their new and improved website on May 4 with the promise of giving students "permission to dream". When Ziran Creative, the creative team from Rapidigm, got the opportunity to redesign Bethany's site they were under a tight deadline to come up with something truly inspiring. By choosing Concrete CMS (content management system) over an open source solution, they turned your average patchwork website nightmare into a dream come true. Now Bethany College students, faculty, alums, and perspectives can go to BethanyWV.edu to find up-to-date information today and for years to come.

Concrete CMS, a local Portland web agency, won its first Summit Creative Award a silver in the Business to Business Web Site category. The 11-year-old competition is specially designed to celebrate the creative accomplishments of smaller advertising, public relations, and multimedia agencies around the world. Over 20 countries were represented through this year's submissions.

Concrete CMS presents web resources for writers at upcoming Wordstock Festival

Portland , OR The first annual Wordstock book festival commences this April 19^th through 24^th in the South Wing of the Oregon Convention Center. Along with featuring prominent authors like Norman Mailer, John Irving, and Alice Sebold, the festival will also provide several workshop sessions for teachers and aspiring writers alike.

or how a web shop can open an art gallery.

While moving their offices into the historic Merchant's Building in Old Town, the folks at Concrete CMS saw an opportunity. "The fourteen foot ceilings, brick walls, and open space lend themselves to a gallery setting. "For years, we've made art that works for our clients, and now we've got a chance to give something back to Portland," says Franz Maruna, Director. "Our studio receptions are a comfortable salon-like environment where local artists can connect with a diverse audience that many traditional galleries don't deliver."