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November 4th, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Experience Design at Its Finest – In the “Limelight”

A Limelight "performance"

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.

June 22nd, 2010
by Michele Sherpy
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Winning. It’s Cool. No Question.

National Addy Awards Trophies

We’ve all heard the saying that “winning isn’t everything,” but let me ask those of you who’ve ever won anything in your life – how did it feel?  Did you get an emotional high? Feel that overwhelming sense of pride and/or teamwork? Did it spur your competitive nature even more? Chances are, however you expressed yourself, it was an experience you’re bound to remember. I know it was for me.

A few weeks ago we were notified that T2 + Back Alley Films won a National Addy and we were invited to Orlando to attend the ceremony and accept our award. Guess who got to attend on behalf of T2? Yeah — it was me!! I’ve been a member of our local AAF chapter for over two years and this was my first national event. To say that I was psyched is an understatement.

Fast forward to the event itself, which took place this last Saturday. I arrived at the event venue and chatted my way through a crowded cocktail party filled with people who make their living in the ad business and, well, other winners, waiting for the ceremony to start. We exchanged names, companies, laughs, all eager for the big show to start. Then, promptly at 7pm, the doors opened and we were ushered into the ballroom. The stage was lit, the hosts were poised; it was game on.

As the first reel of Gold Addy winners started to play, I could feel the anticipation begin to build. Every time I saw an agency from the Midwest I felt a sense of pride, a small win for the “Fly-Over” states. Suddenly, I hear it, the announcement of T2….and here I go up on the stage to accept that beautiful award on behalf of my entire team. The walk. The congratulations. The handshake. The photo. Hearing the applause of our peers. The walk back to my seat. A quiet and proud sigh followed by a big satisfied smile.

Michele Sherpy, Accepting National Addy for T2

That’s what winning feels like. It’s wonderful to be recognized for hard work. I smiled on behalf of my entire T2 + Back Alley Family –- we all won. Two Gold Awards for the T2 website design and a self-promotional, experiential design piece, the “T2 Massacre.”

What an amazing experience – and certainly one I will never forget. And I couldn’t be more proud of the team of amazing people that I’m lucky enough to work with on a daily basis. And, maybe winning isn’t everything, but it sure feels good.

June 16th, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Our Business Mantra: Turn And Face The Strange

Changes Bowie

Not unlike most businesses, ours has undergone many changes over the course of the past several years. And our strategy has guided it at times and tried to keep up with those changes the rest of the time. This post was inspired by David Bowie a veritable master of change. Listen to the song while you read this post and you’ll see why I was inspired.

Take Two used to be known mostly in the Kansas City market for our post-production work. In order to keep up with a changing industry, we created Back Alley Films to do original film production and motion graphics design. We then created our Integrated Experience Lab to focus on emerging digital and multi-platform work: things like augmented reality, interactive design and experiential design. We’re now known as T2 + Back Alley Films and, while our client base still includes Kansas City based companies, it has expanded to include clients all over the world.

Change has been a great opportunity for us to reinvigorate our business, reinvigorate our staff and completely reexamine our business model. As a result, it has literally changed the way we do everything.

These days, from the very first moments of working with a new or prospective client, the people that we bring to the table is an eclectic group — and a strategically formed one. No longer do we rely on our new business development team — or our producers — to do all the work, instead, we bring the talent to the table. We combine the strategic and the creative thinkers – for a new age of strategic/creative thinking. That means our team, our creatives, our brand experts, our interactive and experiential design teams, our mobile technology team and our social media strategists are part of just about every project or idea, from its earliest inception.

The reality of our business – and any business, really – is that change IS the reality. And in this case, we’re finding that change is making us better at what what we do. It’s creative services — but it’s broader than what it used to be. I bet it’s happening everywhere. What about you? How are you changing the scope of the way you do business? Our generation will be defined by this. Let’s talk about it — and learn from each other.

April 22nd, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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I Kill 15 People Every Minute

Solidarités International: Water talks from La Boite Concept on Vimeo.

I love it when a video or film post just takes my breath away. The editing on this piece was unbelievable — and I loved it even more when I realized it was created for a great cause that has been near and dear to my heart for quite some time. My friend and colleague, Linda Buchner, has a business all about Cause Marketing — and she shared this Vimeo clip on the T2+Back Alley Facebook page. I checked it out this morning and thought I’d share it too. And if you’re not yet “liking us,” we’d love it if you did!

Conceived by BDDP & Fils, directed and partly edited by LesJandJ and written by Emmanuel de Dieuleveult, this piece is a stellar example of experiential design at its very best. The fact that the message is tied to a cause makes it even more impactful and it’s hard to watch this without feeling compelled to share it with others. And that, after all, is the whole idea behind viral marketing — and advertising of any kind, isn’t it? To compel your reader (or, in this case, your viewer) to action?

Big time kudos to the creators of this fantastic piece. Job extremely well done.

What do you think?

March 22nd, 2010
by Garrett Fuselier
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Digital Signage Expo Wrap Up- Las Vegas

So, this week Michael Ong and I took a journey to Las Vegas for exposure on new mediums for experiential content. We thought it would be great to start at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas! We saw some fantastic displays, and some interesting new trends in digital signage. Here are a couple of the main trends that we saw.

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