New WordPress Theme. New Blog.
After moving to a new host, I thought it was about time to update to a new theme. I was unhappy with many of the free themes I have been seeing, and right now I don’t have the time to build my own. I have been noticing the amazing themes being created over at ThemeForest and saw one that I thought would fit perfect with what I want out of the site. Clean with great UX. I pulled the trigger and bought the Dispatch theme, which I have been thrilled with so far.
On top of launching the new theme, I’m going to really attempt to write more often. My writing is a little rusty and the only way to get better is to write more often. Expect to see articles from all types of topics and coming weekly. 2010 has been a great year so far, and hopefully the last couple months will be great as well.
PAX Prime. Next Week. Panels & More.
It is that time of year again where 70,000 gaming fans converge onto the streets of Seattle and cause extremely long lines at Subway. Yes, it is PAX Prime again, and like the last couple years, I’ll be on panels again. I’ve been lucky enough to attend every PAX and speak at the last three.
Getting Past Forums: The Future of Community
The days of throwing a forum on a website and calling it ‘community’ are over. Facebook Integration, YouTube Uploads, Twitter Updates, User Generated Content, and more are causing the way we think and participate in the community to change at an incredible pace. In this panel we talk to various community managers about how community has changed since they started and where they think the next steps will be. Join Kimi Matsuzaki (Senior Community Developer, Ubisoft/Red Storm), Gabriel Graziani (Senior Community Developer, Ubisoft), Evan Berman (Community Manager, En Masse Entertainment) J Goldberg (Community Manager, Volition), James Stevenson (Senior Community Manager, Insomniac Games), Collin Moore (Community Manager, Sucker Punch Productions).
Serpent Theatre
Friday 3:00pm – 4:00pm
A Panel on Panels: Creating the Comic Inspired Cutscence of inFAMOUS 2
Come and see how Sucker Punch Productions creates our distinct comic inspired cutscenes. Starting from the script to storyboarding to inking to composite and post production. We are going to cover it all. You will get to see some never before versions of cutscenes. Here is a trailer on the style we are going to be talking about, inFAMOUS 2 2D Comic Cutscene. We will also have some special treats for those that show up, so this isn’t something you want to miss! Join Dave Malloy (Video Production Creative Lead), Jance Allen ( Composimator), Mike Haney (Senior Artist), Edward Pun (Digital Penciler), and Collin Moore (Community Manager) for an hour of fun.
Pegasus Theatre
Saturday 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Be sure to stop by both panels, especially the Sucker Punch panel since we are giving away one of a kind t-shirts for our upcoming release inFAMOUS 2: Festival of Blood.
For all you out of towners, or first time PAX attendees, I’ll be making a little guide for PAX and Seattle. So look for that later tonight.
The Roads to Becoming a Community Manager (East Coast Version!) Audio
PAX East 2011 is over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t relive it all over again and again. I recorded my panel, The Roads to Becoming a Community Manager (East Coast Version!). Please excuse the electronic interference, I blame James Stevenson’s phone, and sadly Jennifer Kye and Sam Houston can be a little difficult to hear at times. I did my best to clean the audio up.
I think I can speak for everyone on the panel that we all had a blast with this panel at PAX Prime and PAX East. We hope to do it again, but would love to hear feedback. So please feel free to share your thoughts.
Super Bowl Ads With Web Addresses
The Super Bowl is over and the this year had some great ads, but one thing I noticed is the stronger emphasis on directing viewers to additional content via the web. Majority of the ads close with web address, Facebook pages, Twitter hashtags, or more. While watching I decided to track what ads had what, and here is how it breaks down.
- 71% of the ads included a URL to the product or company, including every movie trailer.
- 14% of the ads included a Facebook Page to the product or company.
Even with the 110 million viewers for the Super Bowl many companies provided the ability post the ads to your Facebook Wall or your Twitter account, which just increases the amount of impressions.
With Facebook and Twitter becoming one of the most powerful tools allowing companies to get instant feedback on their products, adding a simple web address to either a product page or a Facebook page seems like a simple and cost effective addition to any ad in my opinion.
Company Videos. Selling Yourself Through Humor.
I am a huge fan of self produced company videos. Providing a view from inside is always compelling and the consumer is expecting this type of material to be standard. Many companies spend a great deal of money on these videos and while some are well produced and do the job, I am a fan of the more off the cuff style videos. The videos that display the personality of the company as well as provide good insight on the products or services the company provides. I personally become more attached to a product, company, or personality if I can easily relate with them, which is why humor is so important in these types of videos.
While researching business cards, I found Moo, an international print house specializing in custom printing with a great sense of humor. While searching I stumbled across some videos promoting their paper stocks and their processes. These short, both under two minutes, videos provided me with compelling information why I should order cards from Moo, but also provided an entertaining display of humor via smart dialogue, catchy music, and slick motion graphics.
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As you can see from the videos, they are filled with great information on the product, but also provide some insight on the personalities and humor of the company and staff. You don’t see many videos become viral that don’t have some level of humor in them. Either it be the Old Spice Campaign or 99% of the Super Bowl ads. Making people laugh is good. They aren’t laughing at you or your product.
New Category. Social Media
I have some time on my hands these days while I search for a new job, so I’ll be writing about some of my opinions on Social Media. Lots of exciting things going on and it changes everyday. Stay tuned.
The Blog Once a Week Challenge
So I have been running Shinyidol.com for ages now, 2004 to be exact, but my updates are somewhat scarce. Well I am making a challenge to update once a week. Yes, I think I have said this before, but I really think it is time to push the blog for good and heal humanity of its limited voice of myself. So get your reading glasses going and get ready for more posts, more content, and more coll stuff from yours truly.