We’re helping Bullring make Life Feel Better

We’re really pleased to have been appointed to work with Bullring on their new ‘Life Feels Better’ campaign. There’s a number of bits and bobs in the pipeline, all of which we’ll put up on the site as they happen.

383 have been appointed to undertake a number of local level events and projects in and around Bullring. So far we’ve helped organise a launch event of feel good films at the Electric, introduced Chris from Created in Birmingham to the project which has spawned a number of exciting developments (one of which is the new Created in Birmingham shop) and organised last Saturday’s live graffiti project with Mohammed Ali.

‘Tweeffiti’ blended live art with real time online contributions around the themes of Hope and Optimism. We built a microsite for Bullring which was displayed on screens at the event and allowed users near and far to contribute key words and messages via Twitter which were then interpreted by Mohammed and integrated in to his piece. The event was a great success and attracted coverage from BBC and ITV, as well as generating a big crowd throughout much of the weekend. Here’s a few snaps we took throughout the project….

Seamless in Seattle

Best known for its coffee, Frasier (which incidentally was entirely filmed in LA) and the iconic Space Needle that shapes the City’s skyline, Seattle is also the home of some of the worlds leading tech and digital businesses including Microsoft, Amazon.com, Real Networks, Getty and Omni. No surprise then that the 8 companies forming our trade mission were made up of some of the leading innovators in the West Midlands. Amongst our consortium; Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Screen WM, Advantage West Midlands and a mix of games developers and interactive agencies.

Along the way we met with Valve, quite possibly one of the most prolific creators of entertainment based gaming titles and games distribution platforms such as Steam. Similarly, we met with Big Fish Games, a company who’s frankly ingenious business model has generated some impressive and equally enviable financial results. Recently securing $38,000,000 in venture funding.

We talked extensively about why businesses like Big Fish and Real Networks have been so successful; because their products in themselves are something that I think you’ll see us as an agency working on more and more, something that Razorfish have coined; Social Objects. In short, a conversation starter, something that conversations and particularly chatter around social media should surround. It’s far more than viral, it’s something entire communities can be based on. The use of sites like Facebook and Twitter are creating micro-communities that are driving traffic to game preview sites at a rate that’s up to 6 times greater than that of traditional display advertising.

Razorfish, previously owned and operated by Microsoft, is now part of the Publicis Group and one of the world most successful digital advertising and engagement agencies, turning over in excess of $400,000,000 whilst handling everything from strategy and planning to creative and media buying across their network of 19 worldwide offices. Their client list is made up entirely of Fortune 500 businesses, on the rare occasion they’ll accept work with top 1000 companies, but only on the basis that a specific project or brief excites them.

I met with Matt Wood, Manager of Media Development at Razorfish. We talked through a number of principles that are integral to the successful running of any digital agency regardless of size and learned of some new processes that they had adopted since being acquired by Publicis earlier this year, some of which we’ll be exploring here at 383 Project. Amongst them, the use of Wikis as collaborative tool for designers, developers and clients, new methods for gathering trend data and the importance of white papers to their business development efforts. The most impressive of which being the 2009 Feed Report which you can view here. If ever there was a reason for Marketing Directors to start apportioning more of their budgets to online brand experience and not just display, this report is it.

One thing that can be said for all of these businesses is that they are all, without exception at the very forefront of their respective industries. As such, there has been much to learn, especially from some of the digital agencies operating in The States. These lessons are valuable but over the next 6 months prove to be invaluable. Stateside new business executives for example are reporting a significant decrease in their clients willingness to spend over online ad networks and display and are now far more focused on creating immersive online experiences and social objects.

Inevitably now in the UK, we will see these trends continue, particularly with the increase in sophistication of social media measurement and analytics tools. If digital agencies can embrace measurement solutions to help tweak, perfect and justify their increased activities in this space, the sector as a whole will doubtless become more trusted and credible with our respective client bases.

Seattle is a truly digital city, where they just seem to ‘get things’ quicker, this may be down to the fact that their agencies have client lists made up of huge corporations who can afford to be braver in their activities, it could be that with so much hot competition on the doorstep of game developers they need to be constantly investing in research and product development, or equally it could be that these businesses are effective at securing the finest talent from around the world to work in this booming sector. Whatever your take, I’m convinced that increased relationship between Birmingham and places like Seattle is vital as we aspire to be a ‘digital city’ within the UK.  For 383, the exposure to new thinking allows us to offer our clients and customers the latest and most effective solutions, increases our confidence in the relativity, longevity and value of our offerings and most importantly will ultimately work to keep our clients attracting and converting more online users into consumers in new and innovative ways, seamlessly.

383 Project go to Europython 2009

In any industry a conference is an important event, but in the web development industry they become almost vital. Conferences provide people within many sectors of the industry an opportunity to;

• Network and meet with their colleagues,
• Discuss developments to the industry,
• Share ideas and gain feedback on projects,
• Inspire new ways of thinking,
• Provide a sense of purpose to your role.

This week 383 Project have been at Europython, a conference about the Python programming language. Python is a high level programming language which features everywhere across the programming world as a tool for running servers, completing and automating tasks, but most importantly to 383 Project, building rich web applications.

The conference was held just around the corner from 383 Project, at the Birmingham Conservatoire. With more than 400 delegates from across Europe and the world the conference was the biggest it has ever been.

Community is a vital part of software development and Europython is entirely community run. The introduction featured a great phrase;

“If it’s not here, its because you haven’t done it”

This really sums up the achievement of the Python community in Europe, because the conference was packed full of useful talks, discussions and opportunity to share ideas and get involved.

So what did we learn at Europython?

The main focus of the conference is the lectures. Anyone is free to submit a lecture topic, but generally they are presented by well renowned people in their fields, so you can expect real expert opinion. We went to a range of talks covering everything from the nitty gritty of python, through to testing our code and using new technologies such as Google App Engine, and Amazon’s S3 to host our Python projects.
As professional developers there will always be things we already know, but often this is just blind convention. One of the definite highlights was learning about the underlying thinking behind what we do and gaining a deeper understanding.

Of course, when at a community conference you can expect divides within the community as people vocally demonstrate their passions. There was a great discussion on automated testing in Python which turned in to a very productive debate about the best way to be testing our software. Usually when a community debates like this you realise there is often no “right way” of doing anything, but the debate highlights reasons that you may choose one approach over another to suit your needs.

But there is so much more at Europython than just the lecturing. Book sales from major publishers, open spaces for un-moderated discussion, and a personal favourite, the lightning talks.

Lightning talks are free for anyone to present, but can last no more than 5 minutes. Usually this is just someone getting up on the stage to tell everyone about their latest program, or an idea they’ve had that they wish to share. Listening to people’s ideas and seeing new trends from the grass roots of the community can only lead to inspiration, and there was no shortage of ideas on offer this year.

Finally, Europython provides a more subtle benefit to developers. Throughout the conference, both formally and informally, those steering Python are listening to feedback of users. As a commercial user its a chance to explain what it is that makes my job easier with Python, and how it benefits the clients of 383 Project directly. Its also a chance to say where Python doesn’t work, what we need and how it can improved. As a community driven programming language it really is possible to see how this feedback directly influences and brings about change. This channel of communication is essential to the development of Python and is infinitely more difficult without the real-world interaction.

All in all Europython is one of the best conferences of its kind in the world, and it was great to be there. The contacts we make, and the knowledge we part with with can only make us better at what we do.

Next year’s conference will be in Birmingham again, and I highly recommend anyone with an interest in Python attends.

Celebrating Birmingham’s Independent Retailers

Today, Birmingham’s shopping streets will become home to a unique open-air exhibition, celebrating the city’s independent retailers. Working with Retail Birmingham a team of people including photographer Steve Gerrard, the team at Rewired and us here at 383 Project have been working on an exhibition, brochure and outdoor advertising to be seen across the city centre.

Being responsible for the fantastic photos there’s more to read over on Steve’s site as well as the official press release on Rewired’s site.

Our involvement has been predominantly on the accompanying brochure, map and outdoor advertising to help promote the campaign (more images to follow).

The Celebrate Independents exhibition launches today at High Street and New Street Birmingham, and runs until the end of the month. A special fashion show featuring Independent Retailers will take place at Radisson SAS Hotel, supported by Harvey Nichols, on Wednesday 8 July.

BrumTwestival – we did it!

Well that was it folks! Only a few weeks since we first speculated about the possibility of organising a Birmingham Twestival and it actually happened. Thursday night saw Birmingham gather with over 175 cities around the world to get together and raise money for Charity: Water. The turnout was amazing and saw 185(ish) local tweeple make it down for an evening of music, raffles, games and general fun. To cap it off, the total raised was  a superb £1519!

It has been a busy few weeks for us at 383 Project, having been involved in both BrumTwestival and doing design bits here and there for the wider Twestival campaign. We’re currently trawling through tons of press coverage and photos etc from around the globe and will do a separate follow up post in the coming weeks on Twestival’s impact as a whole.

For now, here’s a few more pictures from the evening provided by the very talented Lee Allen. Fullrange were also around on the night doing some filming so expect video content to follow!

Lastly, thanks to everyone who donated raffle prizes, got the word out and helped plug the event. Birmingham couldn’t have happened without the help of the other organisers. I’ve listed everyone below and would suggest if you’re not following them on twitter already you should do so- they are good people to know!

@ellielovell
@bounder (Jon Bounds)
@victoriahedley
@chrisunitt
@getgood (Nicky Getgood)
@lovelychaos (Jessica Elvidge)
@abbycorfan