I believe strongly in collaboration – both internally and externally (though that can sometimes be challenging in a competitive market).   Inside T2 +Back Alley Films, our groups and skill sets are integrating more and more in every job we do.

The Kauffman Grand Opening work this past September was a perfect example of that – with four internal groups – interactive & Experiential combined with motion graphics and animation, editorial and Smoke finishing, and Back Alley for the production and shooting with the Weiss camera – working together to make it happen.   No single group could have achieved what we did on that project without the creative input and skill sets of the other groups.

This is essentially why eCamp started; a group of people in the production and post production industry got together and decided that we could only benefit from sharing what we know. We each come from a different market, but the same industry and so, without feeling the need to be competitive, we are able to talk frankly about what has worked for us and what hasn’t — the challenges we face, and our best operational practices. This has been particularly helpful these past few years – as our industry was struggling with the recession and technology advances that were significantly changing the nature of our business.   It has been interesting to see how each business is evolving to meet the needs of the changing world we are all experiencing.  It was also interesting to note that most of us  had called on other companies within the group this past year  – to collaborate on a project or two.

A definite perk.

I was thrilled to introduce my colleagues to a local genius right here in KC – who was our guest speaker.  Stefan Mumaw is the author of several books about the creative process – but he focused on his latest, Chasing the Monster Idea, which explored the difference between good ideas and great ideas, and how to deploy the great ones. Several in the group plan to book Stefan to speak in their own markets.  Finally, we ended our time together by a work showcase – where each company got 10 minutes to show their best work.  It’s always my favorite part.

Thanks to the eCampers for a great weekend.  And those of you who couldn’t make it this time, we missed you.  Next time – in Columbus, Ohio.  See you all there!

In case you can’t remember all these experiential design beauties and others (that happens this time of year), the campaigns identified by Creativity Magazine as the cream of the crop featured this great body of work:

The Old Spice campaign, which was not only brilliant, but relied on consumer generated video and social media to hit it out of the park–interactive experiential design at it’s most basic level;

The Pepsi Refresh campaign, which again relied on social to support its cause-focused effort;

Domino’s Pizza, which relied on consumer input and social media channels to help improve its brand and turn the corner following a disastrous event;

Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco and their tremendous online effort that included leveraging Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, web craziness and some traditional advertising to focus eyeballs on the star’s return to TV on a different station.

Space Chimp, the World Wildlife Fund Australia’s compelling environmental message , produced in collaboration with musician Ben Lee;

Nike’s experiential design campaign for the World Cup, which included user-generated content integrated into the digital outdoor production, interactive film and a healthy dose of social media to spur awareness and participation;

Jay-Z’s promotion of his new book, “Decoded,” that was again an interactive, experiential design piece, literally bringing the book to life for fans in a myriad of different locations. This campaign produced by Droga5, also included an online element sponsored by Bing, that allowed fans who couldn’t physically participate in the outdoor extravaganzas the chance to do so online.

Mitsubishi’s virtual test drive harnessed technology for their Live Drive, the first of its kind by an automaker, and an obvious nod to the experiential design decade we have entered;

Dare Labs’ Remote Palette is nothing short of brilliant in the realm of app development and its popularity was spurred along by web video and social channels.

And finally, the release of Arcade Fire’s Wilderness Downtown campaign was an example of collaborative genius that combined music video production for the band’s “We Used to Wait” song, with Google Earth and created a musical experiential design piece.

The interesting thing about all of these campaigns is that they typify the massive changes in the world of advertising that are leaning so heavily in the direction of experiential design. Notice how many include consumer-generated content and/or provide an opportunity for interactivity with consumers? And how many rely on a variety of social channels to help spread awareness. And how experiential design is being tapped again and again to allow consumers to be a part of a campaign, not just passively watch from the sidelines?

As a digital media and creative services agency, the success of these campaigns is nothing less than pure delight for us. It confirms that we made the right move in expanding our brand beyond production and post-production into the fresh (and fun) new area of experiential design. This kind of substantive transformation has not been easy these past few years – new jobs and new people replacing the old model – lots of change can be stressful for sure. So it’s nice to end the year with news like this that lets us know that we are in a good position as we start 2011. Here’s wishing all of us in this battered industry a prosperous new year!

Reading a blog post on Mashable about innovative ways for realtors to broaden their customer bases and integrate social media more effectively into their business prospecting efforts lead us to Occipital’s iPhone app, 360 Panoramic.

The images you can get using 360 Panoramic are stitched together in real time without any effort from you (bonus!) and can be a quick and easy way to add dimension to a website, landing page or some other customer experience that you want to make more impactful and interactive. This app doesn’t replace the need for web video, but definitely has a wide range of applications. And the DIY factor is huge.

Here’s a video showing how it works:

Now, go experiment. And if you do, let us know how you like it!

Experience design is not just the hottest thing in marketing and for brands trying to drive engagement and sales, it’s soon to be an even bigger part of our lives. There’s a great new search tool, Qwiki, that was introduced during TechCrunch Disrupt this past September that brings experience – and experience design – into the search process.

Currently, when you search for something you get a list of links that may or may not provide all the information you seek. And it’s not always a very dynamic way to find what you need. Qwiki provides interactive video presentations with dynamic information pulled from a multitude of sources. What’s better, is that each information element that’s pulled into the presentation is interactive. So, if you click a video or photo while watching a Qwiki information experience you can interact with that piece individually. Also all related maps, timelines and other elements are highly interactive as well.

Qwiki at TechCrunch Disrupt from Qwiki on Vimeo.

Right now Qwiki is a very cool interactive reference tool, but it is actively working on developing products for small businesses and social media users. Social media users will be able to create Qwikis based on their social data aggregate, while small businesses can aggregate reviews from sites such as Yelp, Gowalla and others. Regardless of the end user, Qwiki CEO, Doug Imbruce says their ultimate goal is to become “a ubiquitous layer that augments the traditional web.”

You should definitely go check out some of the sample Qwikis available on their site. The Eiffel Tower Qwiki is a great example of a simple search and infinitely more interesting than what you get from a Google or Wikipedia search. There’s also a Qwiki about Gregory Smith that shows how social media information can be aggregated

Qwiki founders believe that the best ideas are experienced – so if Search goes experiential – what’s next? Since experiential projects and experience design are a big part of what we do – and since we believe that any information is better when it is experienced by the user, we will love seeing how quickly Qwiki will change the way we all search for information. Love, love, love it.

This Friday, Nov. 5th there will be a very special happening at First Fridays in the Crossroads – and you know how much we love experiential happenings. “Limelight” is a live public art installation that is coming to KC after its initial installation in Glasgow, London and Arlington, Va.

For this work Sans façon, have taken a different approach to city street lighting by replacing two existing streetlight heads with theater spotlights, inviting passersby to temporarily transform the street into a stage. According to their press release, the theater spotlight is a universally familiar symbol of performance — both recognizable and appealing. This intentionally subtle alteration to the street lighting transforms an ordinary sidewalk into a stage where the passersby become both the actor and the spectator. A few dance steps become an instant spectacle, a few sung words become a musical and a kiss turns into a film scene. And the thing that I love is that a public space, a street, becomes a place — a place that showcases the creativity and vitality and energy ever-present in a city, but rarely shown in a public space. And that’s nothing short of magical.

Why Kansas City? Kudos to David Dowell and El Dorado Architects for making this happen. Turns out David met the two principals of Sans façon a few years ago and the two firms have since collaborated on multiple projects. Sans façon is a collaborative art practice formed between British artist, Tristan Surtees and French architect, Charles Blanc.

David contacted them about bringing “Limelight” to Kansas City as a public outreach event for 20th St. Streetscape Project – which is an El Dorado project that is working to transform and redefine 20th Street into a “Great Street.” Definitely check out 20th St. Streetscape Project which includes some sustainable elements as well as changes to sidewalks and street lighting. I can’t wait to see the whole plan for 20th Street…but I digress. Bottom line, Dave Dowell went out and raised the money to bring “Limelight” to KC. He made it happen and I’m grateful for his tenacity.

Suffice it to say, I will be hanging out at 20th and Main Street at dusk on Friday so I can be a part of the experience. I might be too insecure to perform but I’ll have fun watching. Then again, who knows. That’s what is wonderful about experiential projects. And I hope I’ll see you there.

Mobile and location-based experiences are on savvy marketers’ minds these days, as they are great at helping create buzz and compelling consumers to do something. Jimmy Choo’s Foursquare scavenger hunt during London’s fashion week is a great example of a location-based initiative that not only created a ton of buzz, but also drove sales as women ran all over London in search of the current “it” shoe.

We worked with the folks at PRNewswire to create a scavenger hunt experience based on QR codes for use at the PRSA annual conference held in Washington, DC this past week. This created not only excitement for conference attendees, but also doubled as an experience (and a competition) that served to make the event even more memorable. Additionally, it created a lot of buzz for the PRNewswire brand and, ultimately, got a lot of PR and marketing pros thinking about how they could use experience design in innovative ways for their clients.

Want to know more about how companies can use strategic media placements and a variety of new and emerging channels to engage their audiences? Join us for a FREE webinar sponsored by PRNewswire this Wednesday, October 20th, at 12 PM Central.

The panel will be moderated by Michael Pranikoff, PRNewswire’s Director of Emerging Media, and he’ll be joined by T2+Back Alley Films’ Interactive Experience Designer, Garrett Fuselier and the very smart Amy Webb of Webb Media Group.

For more information and to register, click here.

The fashion industry has embraced the web and social media in a variety of ways. And, for an industry that has a rep for pretty much being the snotty girls in high school that don’t really want to let anyone who’s not the “real deal” into their tight little clique, the industry as a whole has really done a 180.

The year in fashion thus far in 2010 has proven that the industry not only gets its consumers but, in a surprise move, it actually wants to attract even MORE of them. As a result, brands are incorporating innovative ways to reach them into their marketing efforts. Jimmy Choo was not the only brand to use Foursquare, but it might have been the most creative – and resulted in women running all over London on a shoe treasure hunt. I expect we’ll see lots more location-based focus as brands work to actually drive foot traffic to brick and mortar stores.

By the fall of 2010, the majority of the labels live-streamed their shows (up from only two in the spring) and Fashion Week moved beyond the realm of exclusivity and into the worlds of consumers around the globe.

In addition to live-streams and other tactics, many brands released short films like this one, produced by Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld.

Brands used Facebook, Twitter, Twitpics and even a variety of iPad apps to stay in touch with and, even more surprising, actually listen to their respective audiences. Ann Taylor’s Aloft campaign was a great example of how the brand took consumer feedback posted on their Facebook page, immediately acted upon it, and really took the words “community” and “engagement” to new levels.

Online retailers have upgraded their online catalogues to create more of an “experience” for shoppers and also to include high quality video and other content. In fact, during London’s Fashion Week, Burberry’s Christopher London noted on Twitter that Burberry is “now as much a media-content company as [it is] a design company because it’s all part of the overall experience.”

I think that just about says it all — the fashion industry as content creators. When you think about it, aren’t we all trending that way?

Jennifer Paine

Jennifer Paine – Smoke Artist

Jennifer grew up in Indiana – hating the winters. Being forced inside to avoid the snow, she watched a lot of movies, MTV and was thoroughly entertained by TV commercials. Some of her childhood favorites include Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer,’ Tim Burton’s ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,’ and any ground-breaking graphic treatments used in the infamous 90s Bubble Tape ads.

She took a semester abroad in sunny Australia during college – ultimately moving back after college – to pursue motion graphics and post production – and to pursue her soon to be “husband.” Jennifer worked in television in Sydney and, after four years moved back to the states, ultimately landing in Chicago. There, she worked on both Smoke and Flame at Film Workers and then at Optimus, before deciding to head to Kansas City and join Kansas City’s for yet another amazing opportunity.

Paul Schneider

Paul Schneider – Sr. Producer for Motion Design/Interactive/Experiential

Born in New York City and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, Paul graduated from KU and then headed back to NY, and then on to LA, where he honed his chops as a motion design/interactive producer at New Wave. After a decade in LA, he wanted to move back to the Midwest – and so he surfed the Web looking for agencies who were doing great things in multi-media and that’s where he found T2 + Back Alley Films.

He liked us and we needed his talents – so he joined the company in August 2010 doing the same thing he did at New Wave – producing motion design, animation and interactive elements. With the design department growing at the speed of light, Paul turned up at just the right time. He also recently published his first book – and is working on his second. We think that’s pretty cool.

Ethan Downing

Ethan Downing – Sr. Producer – Back Alley Films

Ethan grew up in Kansas City and graduated from KU in 1998. He liked it here and decided to stay. We’re glad that he did And glad that he found us. He brings over 12 years of production industry experience — having worked with almost every production company in Kansas City and throughout the Midwest. And the cool thing about that — Ethan knows just about everyone who’s ever held a camera, a boom mic, carried a scrim, or ran a teleprompter in this part of the country. Bonus! He’s super organized – which is a good trait in a producer, so he tries to relax by fly fishing. When that’s a bust, he just goes back to hanging out with Ella, his yellow lab. And that works, too.

Matt Blume

Matt Blume – Sr. Producer/Writer/DP/ Editor

Matt hails from the middle of the Midwest, Hays, KS. He studied Film and English Lit at the University of Kansas and the University of Stirling, Scotland. Matt is truly a Renaissance guy in this industry. Refusing to specialize – Matt can conceptualize, write, shoot and edit. He is that rare combination of creative talent and technical expertise –and he’s all about telling a good story. Which, coincidentally, fits in perfectly around here! On any given day, you might find him shooting professional athletes on green-screen, writing a script or directing an interview from behind a monitor. So what doesn’t he do? We haven’t figured that out yet.

Chris Waner

Chris Waner – Lead Designer

Chris is an art director and technical director who started his career as a visual effects artist in New York City. He has a decade of experience in concept development and visual effects for commercial, broadcast, short format and feature film projects. He’s done motion graphics, branding, print design, web development, and both graphics training and graphics curriculum development with industry-leading art institutions. Chris combines artistic vision with technical expertise to craft ground breaking creative solutions for each and every project. Now you know why he’s our Lead Designer. He’s one heck of an artist – and one smart dude.

Nic Stout

Nick Stout – Jr. Editor

Nick is proof that being an intern can sometimes turn into a real job. Nick started his internship in early spring – and we hired him at the end of the summer. He was just one of those guys who made the other interns look not so good. He came from Oklahoma City – surviving with BMX freelance work and waiting table. Nick wants to be an editor at T2 – but he’s also a darn good shooter. He’s just starting out – so who knows.

Cassie King

Cassandra King – Interactive Design Developer

Cassie grew up twenty minutes from the windy city of Chicago, which explains her easy, breezy attitude in life. She graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a BFA in Graphic Design – with a strong emphasis in technology. Her expertise is in typographical explorations and interactive design. Cassie is one of those GenY’ers who grew up on technology – and doesn’t understand those who didn’t. She’s a geek. We love that.

Brooke Kistler

Brooke Kistler – Assistant Accountant

Brooke was born and raised in Kansas City and never found a good reason to leave. That totally makes sense, because Kansas City is a killer place to live. She is currently working on an AAS degree in business with an emphasis in accounting. Her favorite pasttime, besides being with her family (husband and 2 boys) is sand volleyball — where we hear she is quite the competitor. Is that a good trait in an accountant? We think perhaps so.

After 16 years, this was an emotional decision for Michael — and will have an emotional impact on all of us at T2. Professionally, it is the right time for Michael to take on his next career challenge — and, over the past few months, Michael has helped us develop a deep bench strength in the Motion Design team, unlike any other time in T2 history (see the 8 New Faces blog post for more deets). Chris Waner just came on as Lead Designer — teaming with Cody Beltram as Lead CGI. Garrett Fuselier leads the group in Interactive and Experiential Design, assisted by another newcomer, Cassie King. Claudia Chagui is growing into a huge force on both sides — Design and Animation — while Darton Simons continues to excel in Motion Graphics and 2-1/2D. We enticed the talented Jennifer Paine to move from Chicago and join us as our Lead Smoke Artist — and Nick Balda assists her as a Jr. Smoke Artist. And the glue holding this amazing creative team together is Paul Schneider, our new Motion Design/Interactive Producer, fresh from New Wave in Los Angeles.

So, it isn’t entirely accidental that we have added all these new faces and much broader design talent inside the T2 + Back Alley Films group over the past year. We’ve realized that the key to success in business these days is accepting that change is inevitable – and being adept at change not only makes all of us stronger, but makes what we can deliver for our clients more powerful. And so, our recent beefing up of the bench is fortuitous indeed, but not at all accidental.

Thanks to Michael for 16 years — and for building one of the best design collectives in the business before he moved on. Time will tell whether or not Michael will like the “big corporate machine” and we can’t wait to sneak over and see what he does with his cubicle (haha) but, one thing is for sure, we’ll miss him a lot. Thankfully, he’ll be nearby and we can grab coffee and beers on a regular basis! Not to mention that we’re excited about the idea of getting to work with him again soon on some really big Hallmark jobs!

All of us at T2 + Back Alley will miss him — but we wish him the very best in this new endeavor.

***Check out Michael’s blog post for his own perspective on his upcoming move to Hallmark.