The Big Bang

Wrapping it up

2008-08-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well the challenge is over now and we all took some deserved time off.
But design waits for no one and we were quickly alerted to a problem in our project

The bebo skin as well as the photo albums contained images of an expedition of students in a gorge. This, we are told, is not acceptable because of an accident some three months ago and its related deaths that scar the memory of these fun activities.

It was a shared fault between our minimal research and a neglection of their marketing team to layout guidelines relating to these sensitivities. Needless to say we jumped into action to correct all issues surrounding this tragedy. So here it is, the new bebo skin:

With these changes in place we can now look to getting our project live and OPC marketing will be assisting in directing the kids into the Groups. As for our poster and competition campaign...
Only time will tell.

The video review

2008-08-10T01:04:00.000-07:00

Finale from Ian Loveridge on Vimeo.

The aftermath! - Project summary

2008-08-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, guess what? WE HAVE DONE IT! Team ignite has created a Bebo and Facebook group for OPC and a competition to promote the two social networking sites. A lot of what we have done is still in the process of being uploaded but we have created all the tools that OPC will need to get everything going and allow for continuos maintenance.

The bebo/facebook profiles we set up:

With these we will present them with a PDF document they can print out and staple to the wall, to explain the basic steps in editing and using the groups.

This is a demo for the client to add a banner to their web page - we set it up so all they would have to do was paste the code in and our css and html will do the rest:

Another Part of our efforts for Sir Eds OPC was to create the media for a competition from web banners to posters to terms and conditions to easily layout the process for them to use when they are ready

Mid-Challenge Review

2008-08-02T22:11:00.001-07:00

We are now at the end of week one.

We are pretty happy with where we are at: We have finalised and got approval of our project strategy and setup the necessary digital spaces (Facebook and Bebo groups) to complete it. On our visit to the OPC we got a really good feel for what they are about and what they need. Once we met with the OPC marketing team we were able to clarify what we needed to achieve to best help them reach their goals. We got to talk to the students, getting direct and uncadid feedback, which helped to ensure we weren't going down a path that they would want to follow.

In the coming week we aim to get the aesthetic side of our project refined and completed. We have also decided to divide and conqure as a team, with Nicola and Liz working on the visual and creative aspects of the project while Ian tackles the techincal and communications issues to make sure everything works synergisically at the finish line.

It has been a big learning curve for us. A major hurdle has been figuring out how to work within our constraints (aka, our lack of resources and time as final year students).

It has been great and we are hoping for another productive and fun week to come.

Road Trip!

2008-08-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ignite returned from our daring travels to the OPC at Tongariro National Park.

We left Wellington while listening to storm warnings (that were recommending that people stay in thier homes and avoid all 'non-essential' travel!), and while dodging fallen trees on the road in Levin we thought we may have to turn back, but we toughed it out and made it to our destination!

When we got to the centre we were given a tour (which exceeding all expectations). Later we meet up with the OPC marketing team (who were awesomely helpful and excited about what we've got planned for them) and then chatted to staff and kids over dinner. We got heaps of juicy insights and more importantly a really good feel for what OPC is about. Plus we took some cool photos and video footage (to be uploaded shortly).

It was a brilliant experience (and a great excuse to ditch uni work and have some fun!). We can now continue with our project with reinforced gusto and excitement about sorting something that will really help the OPC to achive goals!

The brief Brief

2008-07-26T23:11:00.001-07:00

Team ignite aims to get students involved in continuous communication with OPC. We will attempt to do this by gathering email addresses from some of the current participants. We will create forms for this purpose. We will then set up a Bebo and a Facebook network that will be able to connect alumni and possible future participants of OPC. The social network groups will link to a blog that will most likely have a photo based competition for anyone aged 13-18 to enter. This competition will relate in some manner to the sort of things OPC is known for (for example outdoor activities). This way the people can look through the photographs and get excited about the outdoors and possibly and hopefully want to get involved with OPC.

There will be posters created for schools also advertising this competition so it wont be limited to people who have already been involved with OPC. The prize for the winner of the competition will be an adventure with OPC (Ipods and cameras may also be prizes for runners up).

The social networks will be constantly updated with news by the people from OPC and the wall will allow people to make comments about what is happening and / or coming up in the future for OPC. We intend to make a guide that can be followed for the sustainability of the communication platforms we have created that can be used by the staff.

The Big Meet

2008-07-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Thursday 25th July 2008... a beautiful relationship is born.

It was an awesome collision of the young and the young at heart when ignite and the Outdoor Pursuits Centre (represented by Grant Davidson and Iain Morrison) were brought together at the yMedia Brief workshop yesterday afternoon.

OPC's willingness to make the plunge into the third space and let us run wild with our ideas was awesome and heaps of exciting possibilities were discussed. Sparks flew!

Keep posted for a summary of our solutions and plan. coming soon...

Task Two - Our Organisation

2008-07-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

The Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand

Several attempts to utilise the old school landline (in order to save student funds) proved fruitless for team ignite and it was obvious after a tedious amount of ringing that another method of communication would need to be employed. It was then they decided to try their hands at te (as in 'the'. No it wasn't a typo, it is Maori language week after all!) 'te email system'. After after realising the once considered 'genius emailing system' is actually NOT the easiest and most effective way to receive information that is urgently required, it was necessary for team ignite to balls up, save their penny's and initiate proper conversation with our contact Grant from OPC.

However, it turns out that the cellular phone is also somewhat temperamental, and the information acquired came with lots of fading in and out and are you there's? Anyway to get to the point here is the jist of the OPC:

1. How was the company established?
It was founded in 1973 by Mountaineer Graham Dingle. It started with an old Italian tunnel camp. We will be able to elaborate on this seemingly fascinating story once we receive an awesome book from Grant.

2. What challenges will OPC be facing now and in the future?
(recent OSH regulations that may be affecting the current programs/ is your organisation able to cater for the number of interested patrons) Yes, OSH is definitely one of the challenges but also...

The risk adverse nature of today's society. People are more conscious of what could go wrong (overly p.c hmmm?) Especially taking into consideration recent incidents such as the children who were drowned when the river rose to quickly.
School teachers have their time a lot more tied up and are unable to arrange trips like these as often.
There is a distinct lack of people available to volunteer due to the rising of living costs and both parents having to work to raise a family.

3. One of your goals suggests that you would like to utilise technology to reduce the operating costs. In regards to this, what could possibly be developed by us in this field?

They really want a place where the younger generation can interact and talk to one another upload photos and so fourth. A social networking system would be perfect for this, but they feel that they do not understand enough about bebo and facebook to be able to enter that space themselves.

Along these lines, if possible they would like a way to be able to reach the people who have already been on the courses to keep them interacting with the organisation. Something like old friends?

4. On average, how many people do you employ?
45 staff and up to 10 volunteers.

And what are the qualifications required of volunteers?
None. Generally the people that volunteer are from overseas and having a gap year.

Describe your ideal volunteer...
Into it and up for it!

5. We understand that you are targeting both industry and youth, would you say that one is a priority over the other or that they are both of equal importance?

Equal but their main priority is the youth market. (we need to define this further when conversation can be had in person on thursday)

Ignition

2008-07-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

The forces of advertising and digital media have now combined to create the best damn experience that outdoor pursuits and yMedia have ever had!

This blog will document our adventures while completing the yMedia challenge, 2008.

Our feisty team is made up of...
Liz - who's all about coming up with the cool stuff. Nicola - is all about the action. Ian - who's here to pick up the pieces.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please start you engines...