Interactive Digital Media

50 Free FITC Toronto 2012 Passes for Women

Sasha — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:24:36 +0000

To encourage women working in the digital space to participate in industry events, FITC is giving away free passes to their annual event:

To enter, simply tell us why attending FITC Toronto 2012 is important to you via anything you can provide a link to – this could be a blog post, video, graphic, slideshow or more! We’re looking for creative, original and quality entries from female digital creators of all kinds. To submit your entry, post your publicly accessible link on the wall of the official FITC Facebook page here or send us a tweet to @FITC using hashtag #fitcwomen.

Additonal information is available on the FITC website. Deadline for submissions is March 16th, 2012.

Centennial Graduate wins Emmy!

animate4me — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:53:33 +0000

Emmy-award winning IDM graduate Adrienne Clapperton talks about Centennial and the interactive industry.

Read the full story here: http://www.centennialcollege.ca/thecentre/emmy

Authentic Experience

animate4me — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:06:08 +0000

Authenticity is an interesting concept. Viewed from a cultural studies perspective, authenticity refers to the practice of creating a myth around the producers and hence, the products, that are marketed as being from a culture living in harmony with nature and the world. These are usually 3rd world, or somehow “other”, the “quaint native” or the “noble craftsman” (in the case of the former eastern block). With descriptions like “hand woven, hand blow, or handcrafted” value is added to a product that is usually produced in primitive conditions for minimal cost. In purchasing the product, the consumer buys into another culture, or authentic way of life. Now there is an eco spin attached to these concepts.

Joseph Pine, argues that authentic experience is the new paradigm that consumers are searching for. His definition of authenticity is somewhat different from the one above, but fundamentally not that radical a departure as can be seen in his Starbucks example. I’ve posted two videos, one a TED Talk, and the other a panel discussion.

The lessons to marketers and business is clear – give the consumer an authentic product/experience – or should I say, craft and render an authentic experience.

ipad sales app

animate4me — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:07:03 +0000

I’m not sure what to make of this but it sounds like something cooked up by Apple®! An app for a product to track the sales of another product – I love the consumer buy in!

Chitika Labs has website http://labs.chitika.com/ipad/ to track the sales of iPads in realtime. By tracking access to their advertising network they are able to extrapolate then number of iPads – not an exact science but close enough!

New Study: Social Media useres consume brands they follow.

animate4me — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:28:38 +0000

51% of Facebookers & 67% of Twitters are more likely to buy the brands they follow.

Ok – it may sound obvious that you consume the brands you follow, but in the business of turning clicks into dollars – this is interesting news. The American study from Chadwick Martin Bailey shows that Facebook and Twitter users were more likely to purchase a product after becoming fans or following the brand.

“The study of over 1500 consumers by market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower. And an impressive 51% of Facebook fans and 67% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or are a fan of. Considering Facebook’s over 400 million users, the opportunity is great for social media marketers.”

Does this confirm that social media advertising works,or is it just logical that if you were in the market for a widget that you would begin to incorporate that brand into your (virtual) identity before actually purchasing said widget? What do you think?

Full press release available from Chadwick Martin Bailey.

Canadian Internet Use Overtakes Television

animate4me — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:18:57 +0000

For the First Time, Weekly Hours Spent Online (18.1 hours) is Higher Than the Number of Hours Spent Watching Television (16.9 hours)

The latest Ipsos Reid poll shows that online Canadians usage of the Internet has surpassed television viewing. For wired Canadians the internet is winning the battle for eyeballs and minds. Other media, such as newspapers, radio and magazines have all remained relatively stable in the last year. Males spend more time than females and the 18-35 age bracket spend a couple of hours more than those above 35.

grapic copywright: Ipsos Reid Interactive Group

View the full release here: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=4720&wt.mc_id=1110135&ce=ibuck@highroad.com&link=4720&top

Head of Facebook Canada visits Centennial

animate4me — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:20:12 +0000

Details: March 22, 10 a.m.

Elmer Sotto, Head of Growth for Facebook and is based in Toronto and Palo Alto, CA.

Reporting to Mark Zuckerberg, the Creator of Facebook, Elmer leads the Canadian activation of Facebook and all of its platforms and has recently worked with the IOC and Vancouver Olympics as a part of their social media strategy. he will be speaking candidly about Facebook, give some amazing case study examples of its use, and perhaps give us a hint of what is next.

Elmer was the first Canadian hired to establish the Facebook Canada office in Toronto in 2008. In this role, Elmer is responsible for setting the strategy to further grow and engage Facebook’s Canadian user base, and for helping Canadian businesses, celebrities, politicians and nonprofit organizations understand and use Facebook to connect directly with their fans and supporters.

This is a CCC exclusive. If you would like to attend please contact:

Paul Koidis
Communications, Marketing and Development
The Centre for Creative Communications,
Centennial College
416.289.5000 ext. 8609

Social media is a natural sweet spot for mobile

animate4me — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:20:11 +0000

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on social networking access via mobile browser. The study revealed that more than 30 Percent of Smartphone Owners Access Social Networking Sites via Mobile Browse.

Access to Facebook via mobile browsers grew 112 percent in the past year, while Twitter experienced a 347 percent jump.

Read the full study here in comScore’s press release.

iPad, iTouch missing Flash

animate4me — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:32:08 +0000

Is it a conspiracy to kill Flash? An Apple/Adobe war? No, the issue is much more mundane. The paradigm shifting technology that has launched a thousand apps is incompatible with Flash. Flash apps are built on the differentiation between mouseover and mouse click, touch screens can’t turn a finger into a mouse so Apple has decide not to support Flash. This is a decision based on user experience. New Flash sites could be coded to compensate, but it is unrealistic to expect every site to be redone to accomidate the slew of iGadgets released by Apple.

For more read the Roughly Drafted article “An Adobe Flash developer on why the iPad can’t use Flash“

FITC Toronto

animate4me — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:47:34 +0000

Get set for an awesome event – Flash In the Can Toronto is getting geared up for April 25-27th 2010.

Highlights include:

Three full days and nights of events, plus one day of optional pre-festival workshops
Over 70 presentations and panels covering the Creative, Technical, and Business aspects of Flash and digital media
Over 1000 attendees from around the globe
Over 70 internationally renowned design and technology presenters
Includes the annual FITC Awards Show
Includes four FITC evening events
Includes the ‘FITC Get a Job’ event on Saturday, April 24, a free-to-attend job fair for the Interactive industry

For more information visit the FITC website:
http://www.fitc.ca/events/about/?event=102