An amazing typographical piece by Cameron Moll inspired by a trip to Rome. Pieced together by individual characters, it took him approximately 250 hours to create. For more info and posters for sale see here.

In the first week of August Umbraco trainer Peter Gregory will be in Sydney to run Level 1 and Level 2 training courses; we think this will be a great time for everyone to get together and talk Umbraco.

What to expect

TheFARM will host a fairly casual affair, mostly just a chance for those of you using Umbraco to get together and discuss ideas, implementations and anything else that comes to mind.

We’ll also do a few small talks including a look at Umbraco 4.5 which was released at CodeGarden 10 in June and a look at the architecture for Umbraco 5.

Core Developer of the Year Shannon Deminick, core developer Aaron Powell and 2009 MVP (Most Valued People) & Umbraco trainer Peter Gregory will be there to chat and answer your questions. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to know more about feel free to leave us a comment ahead of time.

Who should come?

Everyone!

If you’re taking the Level 1 and/ or Level 2 that week then come on down.
If you’re currently using Umbraco then come on down.
If you’re just plain interested in what the hell this Umbraco thing is then come on down!

When and where

Wednesday 4^th August, 6pm – onwards.

TheFARM Digital, Suite 101, 4 – 14 Buckingham St Surry Hills

We’ve put an event up on the our.umbraco website (http://our.umbraco.org/events/sydney-umbraco-user-meet-up) so if you’re planning on coming then register your interest so we can ensure we’ve got the appropriate provisions (read: beer ;)).

We’ll see you there :)

http://glastonbury.orange.co.uk/glastotag/

Do yourself a favour and go and check this out. Built by Poke in the UK for the Orange Mobile Network one massive picture of the Glastonbury Festival crowd presents users with the challenge to find yourself/friends and tag them on Facebook via Facebook Connect integration. A really clever use of Facebook Connect and a well executed concept with amazing detail even when very closely zoomed in.

For my second morning tea at The FARM I decided to share with the team some of the cool case studies presented at Metro Screen's Transmedia Seminar on Friday June 25^th that I attended as part of my Certificate IV in Screen & Media.

A bit of a buzz word in digital, I thought it good timing to go through some examples of successful transmedia projects to spark thinking in the group as many of our clients go into business planning for FY11.

What is transmedia?

A project that consists of narrative storylines across multiple platforms such as film, TV, web, social media, mobile – the list goes on. Most importantly, the narratives are not the same as repurposing material from one platform to another.

Why do clients want it?

They often don’t know! A study by Digital Brand Expressions in May 2010 found "52% of social marketers are operating 'without a game plan' (read the article here) and brands are afraid of being behind their competitors without presence in social media, video, viral and mobile.

How do you decide the platform?

Content dictates the platform – story comes first! What is the nature of your content and what platform is it suitable for. On the flip side, the platform is not simply a vessel with shapes and fuels the creative – it is a symbiotic process.

Case Study – Miles Becket (EQAL) and LonelyGirl15

Watch the LonelyGirl15 sizzle reel

This project worked because it was timed with what users were doing at the time. Youtube was becoming highly popular, it was recognized that youtube audiences were a recurring audience like TV and video bloggers were emerging.

Case Study – Darius Devas and Justin Buckwell with Goa Hippy Tribe

Watch the Goa Hippy Tribe intro video  

Darius and his team invested greatly in digital strategy (with The Dubs) for this Facebook delivered documentary series to be such a success. Launching with a Facebook group to recruit and reunite the original Goa Hippy Tribe it was from here that the real story leads and talent were generated. Key to this project I believe is the knowledge of difference between a Facebook GROUP and FAN PAGE. Once the story leads were gathered from the interactive and community group, the completed documentary was distributed via the fan page which allowed the producers more control over the content and the interactions with it. Group for discussion. Fan page for celebration of the final product.

Not so good examples

Unsuccessful examples of transmedia products often come down to a duplication of content across medium rather than extension into new content or failed use of UGC (User-Generated-Content). UGC should fuel other medium not simply be created and lost in the ether. The pay off for users must be greater than the effort required (credit to Cora Spear at Wanted Digital for that equation) meaning a tangible end purpose can be gained.

Viral, and when to use it?

Viral is perhaps one of the most common buzz words in advertising yet there is not a great understanding of how to use it, when to use it, why to use it or how to measure its success (we are all still learning as we go!). The viral videos seeded for the Black Water movie (Andrew Traucki) are a good example of reaching the target audience by using the same medium (online video) in its marketing strategy. It is a logical avenue and was very successful.

Risks?

Understandable brands see an element of risk involved with UGC, viral video or other interactive media as there are associations and social commentary that come with it and the content becomes inherently unpredictable. To avoid this some golden rules:

Be transparent with your audience – you cannot initiate conversation and not maintain it, the brand must be constantly involved and responding to its users (invest in social media moderation!)

So, leaving The FARM to think about the possibilities I hoped this presentation not only got people excited but reignited the team to own our agency, to be the experts and to ask the right questions. We are here to not only find out what platforms brands are interested in but why and to what end with the hope of delivering something with just as much a buzz!

[April 2010] TheFARM was very pleased to see the fund selector we’ve been working on for Russell Investments go live this week.

The Fund Selector allows the user to explore how Russell Investments' choices are built, across the various options that make up the Diversified Funds.

It operates via a 3D Flash based application hosted within the current Russell Investment site. A FARM hosted Umbraco CMS runs the Flash frontend.

The result: a fully flexible navigation system for our friends at Russell. And it’s just a little bit sexy ; ) Skeptical? Check it out here.

[April 2010] Over the past few months TheFARM has been building a huge brand hub to encompass all of Neutrogena® young skin care, and we’re really excited to announce that it’s launched!

The cross platform, social media hub is One Less Stress, but we like to call it OLS.

OLS was born out of the simple insight that feeling stressed can cause skin to become stressed, which can in turn lead to feeling more stress and so on. The idea is to help break this vicious cycle by creating a dialogue where young women can share some of their stress and alleviate it with advice and stress-busting giveaways.

In a first for our relationship with Johnson & Johnson TheFARM was given the opportunity to be the lead creative agency - leading the development of the master brand, roll out of the platform idea and integration of OLS into print and TV!

The eight month campaign is running across MySpace, Facebook and (for the first time in Johnson & Johnson Australia history) Twitter.

The launch phase sees roadblocks and rich media placements on influencer sites like Beauty Heaven, 2Threads and Bella Sugar, who will also provide content for OLS via partner publishing and cross promotions.

The OLS umbrella brand is designed to adapt through the year to promote the various Neutrogena young skin products, with creative and content reflecting the rationales of each sub brand. Right now, it’s all about orange and Acne Stress Control. A phase two facelift will see OLS become pretty in pink to match the Neutrogena® Wave™.

Indications are the folks at Johnson & Johnson are as loving OLS as much as we are! A committed New Zealand roll out is in the works and J&J Pacific has already presented the idea to the global team for further expansion.

[April2010] TheFARMers have had a busy few months preparing for some major launches for Johnson & Johnson and were particularly tickled to see the Aveeno® campaign take off over the weekend.

A new range in Australia, the campaign centers around increasing brand awareness and educating the masses via a big bold media launch. We produced takeovers, rich media, standard banners, a Facebook page and of course www.aveeno.com.au.

Already popular product in the US – where it has been recommended by dermatologists for decades – the early signs are that Aveeno® will be a similar success here. A seeding campaign on sites such as Beauty Heaven, 2Threads and Bella Sugar has already resulted in some rave reviews and testimonials.

In a Facebook first TheFARM also created an application which allows Aveeno® to gather consumer feedback via Facebook. Check out the Aveeno® product survey here.

[March 2010] TheFARM are very proud to announce the launch of their maiden campaign for Warner Music Australia, Project Dead Letter. To celebrate the upcoming release of Brisbane band Dead Letter Circus' debut album on May 15th, TheFARM were asked to build a staged content delivery platform and online store to allow members who pre-order the album exclusive access to 90 days worth of videos, riff, ringtones, images, secret news and an assortment of other goodies!

With over 500 members in the first two weeks the site is proving a huge success with a healthy stream of positive fan commentary on the Dead Letter Circus facebook page.

The site is hinged upon a flash driven timeline application which showcases each day's content and marks each along the timeline with an icon denoting the media type. Fans can filter through the content as the campaign progresses by media of their interest such as videos or audio tracks. Watch out for some cool brushstroke transitions within the flash app. 

With a few fans in-house at TheFARM, we are eagerly watching the interaction by fans as the Project goes on and pretty chuffed that we can now say "we're with the band".

Come on down to TheFARM to share in some beers and take part in the global Umbraco 5^th birthday festivities.

Your hosts will be core Umbraco team developers Shannon Deminick & Aaron Powell, both of whom work for TheFARM (http://www.thefarmdigital.com.au).

The plan is for Shan and Aaron to run a Q&A session with some demo’s of the fun stuff TheFARM has been doing with Umbraco 4.1 and the work they have been doing on this next release.

• They'll have a look at all of the new features/fixes for 4.1 (are there are TONS)
• They'll go into a bit more in detail on some of the new things that we've integrated into the core such as LINQ to Umbraco, Umbraco Examine, new controls, enhancements, preview, etc…
• They’ll show you some of the sites we’ve built and talk through some of the implementation’s with things like Flash

Hopefully, with two of the core team on hand we should be able to answer most questions thrown at us – give us a go!

Once we're out of beers... TO THE PUB!

All of the details, address, etc.. is on the Our Umbraco website. Have a look and RSVP now!

http://our.umbraco.org/events/umbraco-5th-birthday-meetup-in-sydney

Just in case you don’t want to click through here’s the event details:

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 6:00 PM
Suite 101, 4 - 14 Buckingham st Surry Hills, NSW

With the The FARM flat out tending to our fabulous clients in early 2010 responsibility for maintaining Suite 101 fell to yours truly - the latest agency recruit.

I soon noticed that The FARMers had been slack in reporting the OzTag season progress and set out to rectify the problem asap.

Alas, before I had the chance to join them on the paddock (intimidated as I was at first by the buff and professional looking specimens I saw circulating in the office the afternoon of game day) the season was over.

Having read about their promising first weeks here on Suite 101 I turned to The FARMers optimistically for an end of season wrap up.

There were tales of Hugo’s suave and nimble movement, Karis’ super human tagging skills and Aaron’s remarkable bravery in the face of injury (apparently he managed to finish every single game with a bleeding left knee). The highest praise however was reserved Yankee Brooke Blakslee, not for his mammoth diving tries (which were nonetheless legendary) but for his team spirit. Though sidelined with a nasty phlegmatic illness Mr Blakslee braved it to the park for the final game where he provided much needed moral support – not to mention beers at half time

The FARMers were more than happy to commend the skills and attitude of their fellow team members. But they were not so forthcoming when it came to the hard facts: What was the win to loss ratio? Where did they sit on the table at season’s end? 

When my initial attempts to obtain this information were thwarted I was pointed in the direction of team founder and Business Development Manager Phillip McCann.

The initial response: “Too many losses to remember”.

To which my reply was: “Well surely you remember the amount of wins then??”

The verdict - 1 official and legitimate win (which you may have read about here – explains the lack of updates after that!), 1 on paper only win (the other team forfeited), 1 embarrassing loss to a team that obviously cheated (miscellaneous – we’ll chalk that up as a win), 1 loss (to the comp leaders) which apparently would’ve been a win if not for a dodgy referee, 1 forfeit on Melbourne Cup Day (which would’ve been a win had anyone been sober enough to run in a straight line) and numerous on paper losses that might’ve been wins had the team not been penalised for a shortfall in X chromosomes.

So where did all this leave The FARMers at seasons end? As OzTag Champions of the year of course (well in their eyes anyway ). Onya FARMers!!