Project Preservation is more than just a photography and cinematography project – it’s a movement to protect our planet for future generations. Founded by Andrew Geraci of District 7 Media, this initiative merges the creative skills and technical expertise developed over the past decade with a deep commitment to environmental stewardship.
District 7 Media, renowned for their creative time-lapse photography, stunning aerial shots, and impressive high-speed filming, has worked with prominent figures and projects such as Steven Spielberg, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Bardo, West Side Story, and Netflix’s House of Cards.
With Project Preservation, Andrew and his team are using their talents to raise awareness about one of the most critical challenges we face today: preserving our planet.
Discover how Kinsta has supported Project Preservation to spark global conversations about urgent environmental issues and drive change through captivating visual narratives.
Snapshot
- Industry: Film, TV, Photography
- Business size: 27+ contractors
The Problem
Frustrated with poor security, reliability, and performance from their previous hosting provider, Bluehost, Andrew’s team faced website hacks and significant downtime, negatively impacting their business and SEO ranking.
Some hosting providers fail to live up to their promises, as Andrew and his team experienced: “One of the largest problems with our previous hosting service (Bluehost) was our website’s security, reliability, and performance. We were spending thousands of dollars a year on what we thought was a good provider, but after our website was hacked multiple times, we knew it was time to switch.”
They spent thousands of dollars a year with what they thought was quality hosting: “We endured nearly seven years with that provider and ended up losing thousands of dollars worth of revenue because our Google SEO ranking dropped because hackers deleted all of our content and redirected traffic to their own site. It took nearly two months to get our servers back.”
“On top of that, our website was perpetually down at least 20-30% of each month due to poor server stability, and we would have to contact IT support at least once a week to clear up the issues. It got to the point where it didn’t make any sense to keep dumping money on a product that didn’t work, which is why we ultimately ended up leaving them,” Andrew recounted.
The Solution
Project Preservation found Kinsta through colleagues’ recommendations and was impressed by its website, performance, server uptime, and support team, leading them to choose Kinsta over competitors.
Sometimes, finding the right solution can be as simple as talking to people in your network. Project Preservation’s journey to Kinsta began with a conversation: “I talked with colleagues in my line of work and asked who they used for their hosting services, and after receiving multiple recommendations to check out Kinsta, I did.”
Upon visiting Kinsta’s website, they were immediately impressed by Kinsta’s “concise and well-packaged layout.” It wasn’t just the website that made a strong case for Kinsta; the glowing reviews from fellow professionals carried significant weight. “The biggest attractor for me was the performance and uptime of the servers. Everyone spoke highly of the speed, reliability of the servers, and credibility of their support team.”
These factors made the decision-making process easier for Project Preservation. They weighed the benefits of Kinsta against other potential choices like MediaTemple and DreamHost but ultimately chose to take the plunge with Kinsta.
The Result
Project Preservation saw about 72% boost on their website’s loading speed and Kinsta’s remarkable customer service transformed their experience and exceeded all expectations.
Project Preservation’s experience with Kinsta has been nothing short of astounding. They describe a dramatic change in their website’s performance after making the switch: “OH. MY. GOD. Our website used to take 5-7 seconds to load, even with CDN enabled, and now the exact website takes about 1.4-2 seconds to load, which is incredible. ”
This improvement surpassed their expectations and revealed the untapped potential their previous provider had failed to deliver. “I know there’s room for improvement too in that area (from our end), but it was so wonderful to see our site load as we had always expected it to but never got with our previous provider,” Andrew added.
But it wasn’t just the performance that won them over. Kinsta’s customer service also played a pivotal role in their satisfaction: “The next improvement was their customer service. There’s a lot to say! They actually care about your experience, and they take the time to listen to your questions and answer them in a thoughtful and meaningful way. The three or four times I’ve had to contact them, they had the problem resolved in a matter of minutes, and they did so with an incredibly positive and helpful attitude.”
Truly impressed by this level of dedication, Andrew shared that “the people and employees of Kinsta are out of this world amazing, and they’ll do what they can to help you succeed with your website.”
Overcoming Reservations
Initially, Andrew and his team were hesitant about Kinsta’s pricing. “I think one of the biggest hurdles for small businesses is choosing performance vs. the cost of a hosting service. The price of Kinsta was a bit of a sticker shock when I first saw it and made me slightly apprehensive at first,” he admitted.
However, they soon realized that the superior performance and reliability Kinsta offered justified the cost: “That quickly faded after I saw the value that I received via performance/reliability was the value that I was paying. It’s worth every penny, and I’d highly recommend their service(s) to anyone that’s looking to switch.”
