Internet Speeds & Costs around the World.
This is a cool map.
You know – except for the part where we spend $6.50 per mbps.
Birds on a Wire
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Shiny Suds: The Power of Online Ad Videos
Credit for finding this gem: Alexander.
Faster posting to the blog: Kathryn. (Winner: ME!)
Interactive Zombies.
You may remember my telling you about the Innovid technology that Sympatico was sharing at the IABC Roadshow. As I was chatting with my husband this evening, he shared another example of interactive video (using a similar technology). While this link doesn’t feature bikini babes and bud, the ability to shoot down zombies in a game trailer is still pretty freaking cool. Check out the Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles trailer and get your end of week frustrations sorted out by accumulating headshots as the video progresses.
In case you missed it, check out this Wario YouTube video while you’re at it. This video came out months ago, but is a great example of how the idea progressed to include user interaction.
Big Q(R)
It’s not often that I learn something when I am sick. Usually, I try and recuperate as quickly as possible so I can get back on my feet again. Sometimes, that means depending on sleepy time meds, so it was while I was trying to temp my body to pass out that I noticed the QR code on the back of my NyQuil bottle.
QR codes, or Quick Response, are a multidimensional bar code which looks like a pixelated UPC and has layered data embedded that can be decoded via a program on your mobile. Usually, it’s as easy as taking a photo or scanning the code with a mobile app. Consider tallying your shopping items while you pick things up, only to have your order zapped to the cashier for quicker purchasing (or purchasing via a digital wallet). Scan a QR code in a movie poster and view the trailer on your mobile right away. For more on QR codes, read up on Wikipedia’s QR codes entry or Wired’s QR introduction from back in 2004.
Nabs Ambassadors Bowl their faces off.
In an effort to promote team spirit and the opportunity to get to know each other when we’re not working in a volunteer capacity, the NABS west ambassadors got together last night to bowl a few frames at the Commodore lanes. I especially appreciated it since my hearing disability makes it difficult for me to be overly social in loud situations. Also, most people will repeat something 2 times before getting upset. Add alcohol to the mix and most people won’t repeat themselves more than twice. It was good to see everyone out and I’m glad that bowling was picked. I find it’s a great equalizer as no one looks particularly sexy in those shoes and there is only so much style you can use when you’re throwing a heavy ball down a polished wooden lane.
I am inspired to try and come up with a good idea for fundraising this holiday season. If last year is any indication, it’s likely that companies will still be a little shy about corporate giving or benevolent contributions. I am pretty versed at food and clothing drives and I personally give to the David Suzuki Foundation every year for my holiday gifts, but I would like to try and help NABS this holiday as I know that many people lost their jobs this year. I am really trying to come up with something innovative and exciting to get the industry involved, so if you have any ideas on how to fundraise for the National Advertising Benevolent Society I would welcome your comments.
Getting local, getting informed: 2009 IAB Canada Mixx Roadshow
Today, Alexander and I attended the IAB Canada Roadshow. You may remember from previous posts my dissatisfaction after having attended the past few roadshows. I’m a big fan of the IAB in Canada and rather than sitting in my office chair grumbling like an old man, I decided to contact them prior to this year’s workshop. Specifically, I was frustrated with the lack of local content and I was annoyed that some of the advertised topics never made it into the presentation. I was immediately contacted by the IAB Canada president Paula Gignac asking me to be more specific about my concerns. She also pushed back that she believed that the conference was still very much of value and that I was too harsh. I will admit to being a little harsh on the conference as there are still people in the industry that are only interested in “online” in very general sense. At the same time, I wanted to see the conference grow; the industry has changed so much in the past 2 years with new opportunities and more dollars being spent in this medium. I also had been to the Toronto Mixx conference this year, so I saw what the big smoke was getting to see and wanted some of that pizzazz to trickle down into the local presentations. So I continued to push and received a promise that she would ask her presenters and research partners to get a little more focused this year.
Get down with memes.
Just in case you missed anything over the last few years.
Playing without Dollhouse.
EDIT (Nov 1): Global has since relaunched their channel online and I now can watch Dollhouse (and Bones). http://www.globaltv.com/ I wanted to make sure that I gave props to them for updating and getting the new shows up. Also, they have (since last year) started to edit the volume so that ads are the same volume as the shows, which is an appreciated fix. However, the ad annoyance factor has increased from last year. Now you watch an ad at the start and at the end which queues up between other shows. This means even if you don’t finish the first video, you still have to watch 2 30s (average) ads back to back before the next clip (even if the next clip is a 30s behind the scenes video). I’m also still a little peeved that they stated that full seasons would remain online for missed episode viewing, and that is not the case. Still, having them up at all is a vast improvement.
I’m sitting at my laptop tonight, wanting to watch the season premier of Dollhouse and Global hasn’t put it up online. I’m frustrated to pieces as I watch people twitter & Facebook in the US about how great it was. Some of you may recall my post earlier this summer at the Global launch. Not only did they say that season one was then available, but they said that they were going to continue the product online based on it’s US success. Tonight, when I left the Global TV site to search for a link to the program (maybe it was broken on the Globaltv site), I found an article from the Gazette (CanWest digital newspaper) stating that Dollhouse would NOT be available online this season. Further searching found no other local source to my coveted program.
Birds on a Wire | DSA Online
DSA Online endeavours to stay connected by publishing the DSA Online blog: Birds on a Wire. With such features as a mini comic, vlog series, regular features on trends & memes, the Bird on a Wire blog is a fun way to stay connected to the industry. Specifically seasoned with western Canadian information, the blog is intended to show that we can have fun while we navigate this tangled world of web.