Archive for March, 2008
« Previous EntriesEarth Hour
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Stumbled onto an unexpected Google homepage tonight while looking up some trivia. I have to admit, I wasn’t aware Earth Hour was being observed today. Though, the humorous part in all this… the same amount of energy is expended displaying a black background as a white background on modern LCD screens.
(ridiculously in-depth research on display energy consumption can be found here)
Topics: Fandango | 1 Comment »
Too Much Salt
Friday, March 28th, 2008We all know that too much salt in our diet is bad for us and know the dangers that result from high salt consumption. This ad from the UK’s Food Standards Agency caught my eye. It’s direct and to the point and is part of a public health campaign to bring awareness to the dangers of too much salt.
Interesting. Makes you think…
Topics: Fandango | 1 Comment »
Flashy Grease Monkey
Thursday, March 27th, 2008What is it that Flash Developers do when not doing sites/applications? Who really knows….but CA is spending his “downtime” rebuilding an 1980 Porsche engine to drop in his 911. The parallels are rather obvious….he wears rubber gloves while working the engine or code, you’ll always find dog-eared instructional manuals within arm’s reach, and…I assume…there’s a lot o’ math involved. We’ll report back on the eventual beta test of the new engine.
Topics: Blue Ion Team, Fandango | No Comments »
Attention Bloggers: Let a Plugin Write For You
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Ever have a hard time coming up with good pics, links, and related articles for your blog posts? Now you can give your brain a rest and let a plugin do the work.
Introducing Zemanta, just released in alpha (thanks TechCrunch). Here’s a quote from their site:
Have your browser understand what you are blogging about and suggest pictures, links, articles and tags to make your posts more vibrant. We are making blogging fun again.
In short: as you type, it finds the backup info you’ll need. Check out this video preview, then go get it.
Zemanta Blogger integration from zemanta on Vimeo.
Topics: Blogging, Social Media, tech news | No Comments »
Definition of Email SPAM Changes
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Most marketers understand email SPAM as “unsolicited commercial email.” But has the definition changed while we weren’t looking?
A recent survey from Q Interactive and Marketing Sherpa tried to find out why consumers hit the “MARK AS SPAM” button and what they consider SPAM.
The interesting part - most people didn’t even cite “permission” as an issue.
Here are some of their findings.
Definition of SPAM to consumers:
- 56% - consider marketing messages from known senders to be spam if the message is “just not interesting to me.”
- 50% consider “too frequent emails from companies I know” to be spam.
- 31% cite “emails that were once useful but aren’t relevant anymore.”
Why did you hit the “Report SPAM button?”
- “The email was not of interest to me” (41%).
- “I receive too much email from the sender” (25%).
- “I receive too much email from all senders” (20%).
So what does this mean to marketers? Here are a couple ideas:
- Take the pulse of your subscriber base. Find out what they think about the frequency and relevancy of your emails.
- Give more options for subscribers. Make it easy to segment your lists so subscribers only get the most relevant, topical emails.
- Educate your subscribers. The survey seems to imply many don’t understand what the “report SPAM” button does. Help your subscribers understand the process for managing your email communications.
Topics: Fandango, charleston sc marketing, charleston sc web design, email marketing, tech news | No Comments »
Sucker Jeans
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Seersucker never looked so good…and a new fashion brand is born. Kudos to Hook for their sinfully good work.
Topics: Marketing & Advertising, Sweat & Tears, charleston sc web design | No Comments »
Scion’s DIY Crests
Monday, March 24th, 2008Enjoyed the new Scion Speak website from Strawberry Frog….where you can build a crest and then share or download it. Nice and simple, but fun. I only wish I could really personalize it with mi nombre…then I’d slap it on my bike.
Here’s my first shot…
Topics: Fandango, Marketing & Advertising | No Comments »
Morning Commute in Charleston
Friday, March 21st, 2008Being the first day of Spring…and such a nice day at that…decided to share the joy the daily pedal to work. Very lucky to be able to ride back and forth in this amazing downtown. Now if we could get some bike lanes, please. You will notice that one segment along East Bay shows the almost-complete ped-bike lane that connects to the bridge. Nice. Other highlights include Roscoe’s morning bark routine, a sneak peak at the soon-to-come Caviar & Bananas location, and the currently transforming Cigar Factory. Happy Spring.
No Cars Go courtesy of Arcade Fire
Topics: Fandango, Go Green, charleston sc web design | 2 Comments »
Website as a Graph
Friday, March 21st, 2008Ever wondered how your website would look as a graph? Take a look here. It’s an interesting representation that also creates an attractive piece of artwork.
Here’s the Blue Ion site and a couple of our other projects.
Topics: Fandango | 2 Comments »
Penguin’s Digital Fiction Gaming
Friday, March 21st, 2008
British publishing giant Penguin Books just launched We Tell Stories, an innovative “digital fiction” effort that leverages alternate-reality gaming and web 2.0 tools to create an all-new form of storytelling. Working with ARG developer Six To Start, they have produced six stories that will roll out one per week. First off is The 21 Steps which leverages Google Maps to take you on an adventure (each story is expected to use different methods for presentation/interaction).
It’s a great idea and fun experiment in storytelling. I found The 21 Steps a bit slow to get through (each stop on the Google Map is just a few sentences), but we’ll have to wait and see how it progresses. There are alternate reality clues/experiences hidden throughout the screens and story…so those who can find them will have a richer experience than those who just follow the plot. It would be cool if they incorporate more social networking/role playing so that readers can contribute to the actual narrative….maybe they already do and I just haven’t found out how. Yet.
Topics: Marketing & Advertising | No Comments »