This week we found out UWinnipeg.ca was chosen as one of Canada’s Top-50 websites. Pretty exciting news! Here’s a snippet from the press release:

The web50.ca list is the Internet equivalent of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies ranking. The Top-50 list - which includes sites like The National Post (www.nationalpost.com), Molson Breweries (www.molsoncoorscanada.com), The Tragically Hip (www.thehip.com), TSN(www.tsn.ca), Maclean’s Magazine (www.macleans.ca) and Much Music (www.muchmusic.com) - features a range of sites in the areas of business, news, media, sports and entertainment.

The announcement states, “web50.ca judges the best 50 designed websites for a Canadian company, made by a Canadian company. Some criteria they look for is whether the site is organized and easy to navigate, has a good balance of colours, delivers content in a quick and effective manner and features a good selection of photos and unique written content.”

The new uwinnipeg.ca site launched in April 2009. The team responsible for the redevelopment included Marnie Loewen (University webmaster), Simian Systems (programmers), Elemental Motion Media (designers) and Daemon Defense (hosting solutions).

“We feel very honoured to be included in this prestigious list of professional websites,” said Shawn Coates, Director of Marketing & Communications at The University of Winnipeg. “When we began the process of redeveloping the website, we sought the input of our faculty, staff and students. Their wishes became reality with the assistance of our technology partners.”

Visit web50.ca to see some other amazing sites, or check out our U of W website feature page.

Nov.16.2009 :: Uncategorized, lori dyck :: No Comments »

With the launch of their newest OS, Windows 7, Microsoft has had the gargantuan task of erasing the disappointment that Vista became for their customers. They released something that was “just good enough”, without thinking of the repercussions it could have on the relationship with their customers if things went badly…which they did. The trust in the ‘relationship’ with their customers was compromised, which is something that corporations can not afford to lose. And unfortunately for those corporations, the bad reviews travels fast with the conception of social media and blogging sites.

So when it came time for Microsoft to choose the focus for their new ad campaign to introduce Windows 7, they took the approach that they really listened to their customers and found out what they wanted. They gave the impression that it was the users who inspired a fun, easy to use and reliable operating system. That they used 1-billion ideas to create Windows 7.

Here are some great samples of the new Windows 7 commercials….pretty clever if you ask this girl.

(find more here!)

The general concenus about the Windows 7; people are loving it. The look and feel is much easier to use, but there are definitely still some glitches to work out. If you’d like to read more about some of their new features and reviews, check out this site, or do a quick google search (there are TONS of reviews out!)

Like this one!

Feel free to join in this conversation. Tell us what you think: Are you using Windows 7? Do you like the new OS? Has Microsoft gotten it right? Are you still not satisfied?

Lucky for us here at EMM, we still loves our Macs.

Nov.05.2009 :: Uncategorized, denise meilleur :: No Comments »

There must be some scientific link between curiosity and creativity. I’ve been inspired by so many movies, music videos and motion graphics lately, and it makes me want to stretch my creative muscles and try some out of box concepts and techniques in my everyday work (and my spare time projects at home).

I was definitely inspired after seeing “Where the Wild Things Are” this week. Spike Jones did a great job of taking the look and feel of the Maurice Sendack classic and translating it to an audience that may have forgotten who they were when they first read the book: Kids.

The movie deals so closely with creativity, imagination, storytelling…things that some of us lose once we grow up. There is a freedom in the imagination of a child that can create some pretty interesting ideas. It reminded me that creating something doesn’t have to be logical, and sometimes letting down a fear of embarrassment (if the thing you’re creating doesn’t look great) leads to some of the most interesting projects.

Here is one example of a music video that is inspiring me this week. Perhaps it will inspire you to try and create something new as well. Happy Monday!

“Her Morning Elegance”
Performance by Oren Lavie
Directed by Oren Lavie, Yuval and Merav Nathan
Featuring Shir Shomron
Photography by Eyal Landesman
Color Todd Iorio / Resolution

Oct.26.2009 :: Uncategorized, denise meilleur :: No Comments »

Keep your eyes open in the next couple of weeks for a revamped design and functionality of the Elemental website, and this blog! The new site will help us show off our work and ideas better than ever before!

Oct.20.2009 :: simon burgess :: No Comments »

Our friends at the Canadian Diabetes Association are holding a wonderful event for a great cause.

Light up the Night in support of diabetes research and education!

Join the Canadian Diabetes Association on November 13^th from 7 pm – 11 pm for a special evening in the heart of downtown Winnipeg  - a countdown to World Diabetes Day!

Named in honour of the co-discoverers of insulin – Canadians, Dr. Charles Best and Sir Frederick Banting — the Best Banting Evening supports diabetes awareness, education and research.

Please call 925-3800 x222 for ticket information.

FAST FACTS

- Across Canada, close to 3 million people have diabetes.

- In Manitoba alone, over 76,000 individuals have the disease, and another 23,000 have it but are undiagnosed;

our province has the highest rate of type 2 diabetes in the country, and that statistic is on the rise.

- Diabetes is serious, and a leading cause of death by disease.

- In Manitoba, the Canadian Diabetes Association reaches out to those may be high-risk for diabetes or are affected by diabetes.

- This includes delivering information sessions at schools, companies and organizations around the province, distributing resource tool kits, leading educational expos, and hosting a Camps program for kids with type 1 diabetes.

Please share this others who might be interested in the event, or direct them to www.diabetes.ca/bestevening

Oct.08.2009 :: simon burgess :: No Comments »

Today is one of the first days it really feels like fall has arrived. The weather is cooling down, but things at the Elemental studio are heating up!

Last week we were lucky enough to work on some beautiful custom motion graphics for the official opening of Manitoba Hydro Place on September 29th. We can’t wait to take a stroll through this modern and energy efficient building!

Final edits are being made on the CanolaInfo web videos. The recipes are heart healthy, not to mention they look delicious. Check back soon to see the completed videos for recipes, like “Hoisin Orange Pork on Asian Vegetables”, “Garlic Snow Peas with Cilantro” or “Rich, Warm Brownie Wedges with Java Cream”.

If you live in Winnipeg, you may remember some innovative and fun billboards that “ran” (pun intended) for a few years featuring the “City Wide” man; a water heater with legs speeding off to  wherever he was needed around the city. We got to recreate this effect for a short City Wide TV Spot promoting their new Rent and Relax program.

We’re nearing completion on the Edwards School of Business “This is your future” campaign. The role model vignettes have been launching all year long, and we’re quite close to finishing the final edits on our last seven role models. Its been an incredible journey meeting the role models and sharing their stories. Visit www.thisisyourfuture.ca to check out all the other vignettes.

Sep.28.2009 :: denise meilleur :: No Comments »

Tomorrow we celebrate 4 years of Elemental! And what a great 4 years it’s been!!  Looking back, we’ve had a ton of fun working on so many exciting projects!  Thanks to our clients for putting trust in our expertise and challenging us everyday with new digital dilemas. We wouldn’t be where we’re at today without you!

I can’t say enough good things about running a digital media business here in Winnipeg.  What a great city!  The local business community in Winnipeg has given us amazing opportunities to work on their creative corporate video productions and motion graphics commercials; and now, we’ve been inspired us to create our new digital signage venture, Skycandy… it’s been a great ride so far!  Cheers everyone! Here’s to another four fun years ahead… and many more!…….

Sep.18.2009 :: lori dyck :: 1 Comment »

Simon was hard at work last week directing what is bound to be a beautiful set of web-based cooking videos for Vantage Studios and their client, CanolaInfo. The videos are hosted by Chef Nancy Hughes, and will inform the public on delicious and heart-healthy recipes using canola oil.

Sep.16.2009 :: simon burgess :: 1 Comment »

Nestled on the third floor of Portage Place Shopping Centre is one of Winnipeg’s best theaters. Prairie Theatre Exchange is going in to its 37th year in existence and provides spectators with an intimate theatre experience. The theatre is smaller, but allows the audience to be transported in to the denouement of the story because of their close proximity with the actors on stage.

In preparation for their upcoming 09/10 season, Elemental was once again asked to put together some short vignettes featuring PTE’s Artistic Director, Bob Metcalfe. Just by listening to the subject matter of all the different pieces being presented, you can tell its going to be an amazing year!

I don’t want to divulge too much, but there are definitely a few that I’m going to be seeing (and maybe taking a few friends with me). We had great fun, lots of laughs and can’t wait to work with the fine folks at PTE again soon!

Visit www.pte.mb.ca to find out more about the upcoming season!

Aug.31.2009 :: denise meilleur :: No Comments »

In my opinion, the hardest part of Twitter is finding the people who matter to your business. The old fashioned way is of course to search out your friends, go through their contacts, find other people you know and grow your following that way. But there are many web based tools aimed at helping people find others with similar interests.

First of all, the greatest device for Twitter users (in my humble opinion) is TweetDeck. In terms of cutting through the huge amounts of information Twitter can provide, this program is amazing. By default, the program begins with four open panes: All Friends, Mentions (any time your username is mentioned), Direct Messages, and TweetDeck Recommendations (people you may want to follow). You can catalogue your different followers into groups, send tweets from multiple accounts (eg: business and personal accounts from the same program), update your facebook status, start a ‘Search’ column (similar to a #hashtag…whenever the word or subject appears in anyone’s tweet, it is updated real time).

Here are some other great ways to find followers:

search.twitter.com Simply type in a keyword that pertains to the people you want to find (for example, digital signage). Everyone who has tweeted about this will come up. These are hopefully people you’ll want to talk to!

Mr.Tweet (http://mrtweet.com/). You send them an @reply to allow them access to your twitter account. They will in turn create a directory of ‘who you are’. You will start receiving recommendations about people who tweet about the same kinds things as you do, or if things start getting vague, people who are friends with people you are friends with, etc.

Monitter.com will moniter twitter for you. By typing in three key words that you are interested in (eg: digital signage, skycandy, content), you can find out what people are saying about these subjects, what is being said about your business and so on. This updates live.

These are just a few of the many programs that are available to help you find the people that will (hopefully) be interested in your business and services you offer!

If you’re interested in learning more about the many facets of Twitter, keep your eyes open for further New Media Manitoba seminars, or check out resources online. My favorite site for this is http://www.twitip.com/

Happy Tweeting!

Jul.29.2009 :: denise meilleur :: 2 Comments »