DK’s Director of User Experience, Cristin Siegel, has an article in Target Marketing Magazine this week sharing her expertise on website design concept testing. “Concept testing – which is different from usability testing,” she explains, “puts two different website design treatments in front of representative users to see if one concept is perceive to be more usable or engaging than the other. Once a design is chosen and client-approved, the build phase can begin.” Dive into the rest of her thoughts here.

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Cameron Friedlander, VP, Creative Technology, and Chris Stewart, Associate Creative Director will judge this year's Seattle and Cleveland ADDY awards, respectively. Occuring in the communities worldwide, the competition - one of the largest in the advertising world - explores creative excellence at all levels. Click here to learn more.

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Come see Designkitchen’s VP and head of Creative Technology, Cameron Friedlander, as he joins the prominent ranks of South by Southwest Conference speakers. Cameron will present on the following topic: “A Tale of Loyalty: Virtual Brand Currency Wars”.  Next year’s SXSW is March 8-18, 2012 in Austin, TX. Visit the website for more details.

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Designkitchen’s very own Executive Creative Director, Scott Yanzy, will be judging Promo Magazine’s 2011 Interactive Marketing Awards. The contest aims to recognize the best in this year’s digital initiatives, especially those using interactive channels in direct-response campaigns. To learn more about the IMA Awards, check out the website here. 

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October 17-20, Digital Hollywood will take over Marina del Rey, California to talk about how technology is changing, enhancing and shaping entertainment.

Speakers from across technical divides, like Matt Shaw, Mobile Strategist for Google and Ted Hong, CMO of Fandango will talk about next generation mobile devices and their effect on the entertainment industry. While our very own Cameron Friedlander, VP/Director of Creative Technology will discuss how consumer demand is driving the need for the perfect device.

Even Jon Favreau will take the stage to engage, debate and define the latest technological developments in entertainment, encouraging companies and individuals alike to capitalize on innovation.

A co-production of Variety and Digital Hollywood, The Variety Entertainment and Technology Summit is at the intersection of content, technology and entertainment and we couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it.  

http://digitalhollywood.com/varietysummit/

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SXSW is when the world comes to Austin to celebrate Interactive, Film and Music.

Hosting a slew of the most creative minds from across the globe, SXSW is reaching out to all corners of the Earth to ask qualified individuals to strut their stuff on stage and share their thoughts on prevalent creative and technological issues that influence the industry today.

A community-driven event, it’s important that the speakers chosen for the people are chosen by the people. And knowing what kinds of topics the people want to hear is, by nature, important. That’s why SXSW is throwing the SXSW PanelPicker call for entry. Allowing the community to have a significant voice in programming Interactive, Film, and Music conference activities for SXSWeek 2012 (March 9-18), the SXSW PanelPicker saves 30% of the decision-making process for public votes.

A few Designkitchen industry professionals have chosen to lend their creative expertise to SXSW, to reach out on a large scale, to invigorate the audience with their ideas, and to learn a great deal from their experiences as well. Check out their proposals and give them a vote to help send them to speak on the SXSW Interactive Panel!

Cameron Friedlander
A Tale of Loyalty: Virtual Brand Currency Wars     

Shawn Fenton  
Have LOLz Made Us Funnier?

Martin Davis
Bubble Planning Ecosystems Like an Architect

Todd Larsen
Real-Time: A Catalyst For Innovation

Jon Stookey
School Sucked. Contra Still Rules.

Voting ends Friday September 2, 2011. So, click the link and vote for who you think has the best panel topic. Winners will be announced around December 19th, 2011.

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/index/10/company:Designkitchen#idea_11626

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Designkitchen’s Director of User Experience has been invited to the fifth annual WPP Stream conference in Greece this September. Dubbed an “unconference,” Stream reunites hundreds of the brightest and most innovative minds in the creative, media and technology industries. Attendees debate and develop ideas related to culture and the internet. DK is proud to send Cristin to contribute to the most cutting-edge thinking about the future of technology!  

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Cristin Siegel, Designkitchen’s Director of User Experience and Research, offered her expert opinion in an article recently published on the Direct Marketing News web site. Comparing the online marketing strategies of 24 Hour Fitness and Town Sports, two nationwide fitness franchises, Cristin clarified some of the reasons behind 24 Hour Fitness’ growing popularity among its current and potential members.

You can read the article here: http://bitly.com/eoHnrv

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Cameron Friedlander, VP, Director of Creative Technology, will speak on Thursday, March 10th at the 8th Annual Bloomberg Media Summit in New York City.

Joined by some of the most influential players in the tech world, Cameron will take part in discussing media and brand ubiquity, and the content and commerce equation.

The Bloomberg Media Summit, produced by Bloomberg and Digital Hollywood, serves to create a round-table environment that invites attendees and speakers alike to engage, debate and define the latest technological developments in the entertainment industry.

  http://digitalhollywood.com/11MediaSummit/Sum11-Thurs3.html
 

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We hear great things will be happening at SXSW in Austin, Texas this week, so naturally, we’re sending a few DKers to get in on the action. And hopefully bring back some swag (fingers crossed).

The five-day interactive showcase will feature some of the best and brightest minds in digital and emerging technologies and promises to be the most energetic, inspiring and creative event of the year.

Send us a message on Twitter @designkitchen if you want to meet up in Austin!

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by Scott Yanzy, Executive Creative Director

The struggle between deadlines and creative started the day marketing and advertising was conceived. Unfortunately one side seems to always win. So it's how we handle these unavoidable pressures that differentiates the great from the weak. The truly great creatives have figured out a way to turn that tight deadline into a positive situation--they revel in it.

How? First let's talk about those dreamy, mythical deadlines that are weeks or even months away. Besides the natural tendency to procrastinate, the tendency to over analyze becomes the greater issue. The more time you have, the more you second guess what you're doing or the less willing you are to commit to a direction until you feel it is the ultimate solution. Or something could be great at first, but because you have all the time in the world you don't know when to say when. You keep building up and tearing down until you're left with something average or safe, not realizing that brilliance was staring you in the face days ago.

When you have a tight deadline, you're forced to immediately focus on the ask and quickly come up with an efficient game plan. Once the essence of the brief is understood, you go to some of your favorite digital or traditional resources for some quick industry research. Next, you sketch or write out a few simple concepts on paper, and because of time you rely on your instincts to quickly select the best concept and flesh it out. I'm willing to bet more times than not, by following this approach, most creatives are pretty impressed with the results in these seemingly less ideal circumstances.

So is that it? Not exactly. Once you think you've mastered the above process, you're really only halfway great. The truly talented are "always on" or seem to rarely run into that creative wall that stops many in their tracks.

The real trick, is knowing what it takes to keep you going or how to quickly get going when the ideas start to fall flat. Of course there are many ways to do this, and every creative has their preference, but usually I find it comes down to four. I polled our own creative team to see what approaches would bubble to the top.

Reset Yourself - whatever it takes to clear the mind
Get away from the screen. Temporarily move your workspace to a different area of the office. Take a long walk for coffee or lunch. Cake or cookie break at Jupiter. Draw. Have a music discussion with a colleague. Catch up on Facebook or Twitter. The Daily Show. Take a nap. mostawesomestthingever.com

Get Inspired - where you can find the latest and greatest
thecssawards.com, mashable.com, digitalbuzzblog.com, contagiousfeed.com, creativity-online.com, ffffound.com, mcsweeneys.net, thefwa.com, smashingmagazine.com, designspongeonline.com, designobserver.com, wemadethis.co.uk/blog, motionographer.com, designcharts.com, notcot.org, various specialty tumbler sites, fashion blogs, twitter trends.

Plan Your Attack - steps that always deliver
Put down the mouse and actually sketch or write your thoughts down on paper--know what you want to create before jumping into Photoshop or Word. Surf the web, research, look at the competition. Synthesize the creative brief down to the main ask--what will define success? Sum up the concept into a headline. Can you sell it in 140 characters? If not, move on.

Your Creative Window - knowing when you're at your best
Early mornings rule. The am is usually quiet with little or no distractions--take advantage of a fresh, well-rested mind. Late night grinds are rarely as fruitful.

Obviously there are some situations where a short turnaround just doesn't work, no matter how prepared you are. When you're dealing with a multi tiered social campaign with dozens of extensions and activations or a massive site redesign with endless layers of functionality and business requirements, the last thing you want is to be in a situation that forces you to compromise. There will always be projects that require a thorough development cycle with multiple checkpoints and milestones across every discipline.

At the end of the day, most creatives really have mixed emotions when it comes to having to deliver at the eleventh hour. Even if they seem to knock it out of the park every time. They love the challenge and satisfaction that comes with solving the impossible, but hate all the pressures, chaos, and emotions that come with it.

Do tight deadlines really equate to better work? Maybe not. But there's something to be said about the raw, streamlined process it forces us to switch into.

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Our very own VP, Director of Creative Technology, Cameron Friedlander, is heading to Las Vegas, NV to sit on the Consumer Electronics Show panel tomorrow.

Speaking on the Tablet-Smartphone explosion, Cameron will chat about the growing opportunities in consumer commerce relationships and the boom of mobile advertising. He’ll join prominent leaders from Microsoft Corporation, Mediabrands and MRM Worldwide to reflect on the possibilities of an always-connected consumer experience.

For more than forty years, the International CES has successfully reached across markets to connect the consumer electronics industry and enable innovation.

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by Jon Stookey, Strategist

A recap of the Pivot Conference, NYC, 10.17-10.19

Leave it to an iconoclast like author Doug Rushkoff (@rushkoff) to kill the conference in the closing remarks. Day three, hour 20, he takes the stage and drops this bomb: marketers don’t really belong in social media.

The chatter died immediately. This statement was by far the most drastic of the conference (Arianna Huffington’s speech subdued, in comparison). It’s also painfully true, with caveats.

Social media exists—and has reached the unstoppable global momentum it has—because it’s accelerating one of our most basic human instincts: to CONNECT. And no, not to brands. To each other.

This is something way bigger and more important than just selling…whatever. It’s the historically unprecedented (like, ever) organization of people based on their connections and affinities. It’s the poster child for disruptive technologies. Which is why we were all there. (That and to figure out something equally disruptive and alien: the ‘millennial’ generation.)

Point is, social media isn’t our playground. Or, at least, it’s MORE than our playground. We live in an age where 140 characters are used to overthrow repressive regimes—and really effectively market men’s deodorant. Where Farmville and Un Million Voces Contra las FARC share wall space. In other words: it’s tweak. But what’s the common thread? Engagement. Dialogue. Tapping into something in our collective nature, whether it’s the desire for freedom, humor…or just distraction

So, in retrospect, the seemingly bizarre juxtaposition of speakers at the Pivot Conference sort of embodies the times:  J.Y. Park talking about manufacturing global pop stars, followed by Arianna talking about the cultural zeitgeist of authenticity. All on the same stage. 

But back on topic: As branders and marketers, we have to own up to this cold, hard fact: people are using social media to connect to one another—and most of the time we’re just getting in the way. Like Doug said: “When people check Twitter or Facebook at midnight, it’s not because they want to see what recipe Land O’ Lakes just posted…”

Harsh, right? But it also underlines our biggest opportunity: We’ve got to constantly be thinking about how we can create platforms to support and connect the groups that already exist independent of our precious brands. Communities that are already tangentially related and simpatico with the brands we’re working on. How do we engage them and cultivate relationships that go beyond product launch cycles and quarter-long corporate initiatives? 

Is this harder than figuring out what to tweet on Thursday morning? Hell yes. Of course. It’s much less tangible. And there’s probably a pretty good chance of failure. But we’ve got to constantly ask ourselves: does this make sense for my clients/my company? Or, am I simply suffering from what Chris Winfield of BlueGlass Interactive described as “new, shiny object syndrome?” 

Those are the tough questions. But when we do actually hit on something real, we’ll have the power of the people behind us. And that’s guaranteed to be a wild ride.

Check out the video yourself at:
http://testing.pivotcon.com/Video/pivotvideopage.html

Highlights:
Day 2: Stefan Weitz, Director, Microsoft Bing
Day 2: Arianna Huffington
Day 3: Jeanette Gibson, Director of Social Media Marketing, Cisco
Day 3: Mike Kerns, CEO Citizen Sports/Yahoo!

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Matt Simpson, VP of Strategy and Content at Designkitchen, is representing DK today at 2010 Digital Hollywood Conference in Santa Monica, CA.

With mobile communication and consumption now entering a new and transformative stage, Matt joins a roundtable of tech heavy hitters like Michael Fix of Vodaphone Ventures, Carrie Coffee of Microsoft and Steven L. Canepa of IBM, to address the iPad Tablet + SmartPhone platform and focus their lens on the obsession and evolution of this new medium. During their discussion they will examine the features, network capabilities and consumer expectations for what all future mobile platforms must aspire to.

The Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit, co-produced by Variety and Digital Hollywood, serves to create a round-table environment that invites attendees and speakers alike to engage, debate and define the latest technological developments in the entertainment industry.

http://www.digitalhollywood.com/10DHFall/DH10Fl-Tues7.html

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Director of User Experience and Research, Cristin Siegel, has published another eCommerce inspired article with Target Marketing Magazine. This month’s piece focuses on bolstering one’s digital strategy with a robust experience model.

Target Marketing Magazine is dedicated to bringing marketing professionals hands-on, how-to information on direct marketing strategies and solutions that deliver profitable results.

You can dive into her latest writeup right here.

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Our very own Cameron Friedlander has been invited to speak at the WPP Stream unconference in Greece, this fall. And he has, without hesitation, accepted.

For the fourth year in a row, the Stream event, hosted by WPP Digital, will bring together three hundred of the brightest, most innovative minds in the creative, media and technology industries. With no formal agenda, the unconference attendees will debate and develop ideas and opportunities in culture, innovation and the internet.

Here, Cameron will learn from and contribute to some of the most original thinking about the future of technology and communications. And we couldn’t be prouder!

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Sam Landers, President and CEO of Designkitchen, along with Margie Chiu from Wunderman NY, spoke in New York City yesterday at the Advertising Research Foundation. Using Burger King as the primary case study, Sam discussed the success of building the online eCRM program for moms and kids through Club BK. Club BK, the virtual kids world featuring games, nutritional information and special offers, launched during the summer of 2008.

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Round of applause for our very own Cameron Friedlander who has been selected to judge the 2010 WebAward Competition. An international award program, Cameron will sit side by side with industry experts from around the world — including members of the media, advertising execs, web designers, content providers and webmasters — to name this year’s best web sites in 96 industries.

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