This year, as part of our annual giving campaign, we hope to help free children from poverty through a variety of gifts that can provide long term relief and joy.

Check out what we did.

We’re are donating to Compassion International in honor of you, our family, friends and clients.

We hope these compassionate gifts outlive the Christmas season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at Going Interactive.

It’s a day that most of us take off work. Some of us go to the pool, some of us start up the grill and some of us just sit around doing nothing much at all. It’s often relaxing and fun, but we need to remember what the holiday is all about. I found a pretty good brief description online at History.com, they said…

Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, at least, it marks the beginning of summer.

To see more photos, videos, and other interactive content online, check out the History.com link.

So wether you’re sitting by the pool, hanging out with friends and relatives, or marching in a parade, let’s all remember to give thanks to all of the the men and women who gave their lives over the years and to the men and women who continually help protect our great country.

Happy Memorial Day

Jason Davenport / Going Interactive

Follow Me - Twitter @GoingJason / LinkedIn Jason Davenport

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Even if you are a PC guy / girl, you gotta admit that the “I’m a Mac” Ad campaigns from the past few years are really good. Apple has always been a stand out organization who leads vs. follows.

In regards to the TV spots, it was and is always exciting to see a new one hit the screen. We all want to see what they were gonna do next! I’d guess that this “I’m a Mac” overall campaign will definitely go down in pop-culture history along with some other memorable campaigns from the past.

We here at Going Interactive definitely love our Macs (and yes we have PC’s too!). So I was happy when Phil sent me this link. It’s from AdWeek and it has every Mac commercial organized by year / date. It’s pretty neat to see how they’ve kept it going from 2006 – 2009.

Here’s the link to see them all on AdFreak (and thanks for gathering them all in one place guys!)

And here’s a few of our team favorites…
- #61 “Top of the Line”
- #13 “Better Results”
- #45 “Off the Air”
- #56 “Time Traveler”
- #8 “Touché”

Hope you enjoy.

Jason Davenport / Going Interactive
Follow Me - Twitter @GoingJason / LinkedIn Jason Davenport

Follow Going Interactive:
Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Vimeo

Well, we at Going Interactive are pleased with the beginning of a new year. The cool thing is that in 2010, we turn eleven! So we’re moving into the second decade of our Going Interactive lives.

Sure, a lot of things have changed, but overall, we’re still the same crew we were years ago – eager, interested, and excited about every project. We still want to produce great interactive work that stands the test of time. That being said, it was nice to see one of our videos still up on a clients home page the other day (www.internap.com). that we actually made in late 2006. That goes for some other clients and websites too! But we’ll stop dropping names now. ; )

Last year brought us a lot of big adventures…

It’s true, we were up to our ears with the Printies Design Studio software development. That year long project ended up being a bit more than everyone expected. It had it all really… technical challenges, visual challenges, strategy challenges, usability challenges, and especially timing challenges! We’re happy to say it ended with a success, and one of the great things about the RIA (Rich Internet Application) we created is that we were able to break some new ground in Adobe AIR, Flex and Flash. We even got some props on the official Adobe AIR Blog! Adobe is letting us get a sneak peek at AIR 2 in Beta (that’s technical for COOL).

Working with Ron Clark and Kim Bearden and the Ron Clark Academy was also a big honor. They do amazing work with education and we were pleased to help Ron and Kim create The Great American Teachers Club website. The website was full of great features for teachers like forums, lesson plans, custom videos, live webcasts, and a great interactive game that teachers could use on their own classes.

There were so many great things that we worked on in 2009 including motion graphics, videos, websites, back-end features, email campaigns, rich media ads, social media networking, SEO, strategy, design, presentations, Flash, etc.) that this list would get entirely too long to type out. So thanks to everyone we worked with!

(Including but not limited too… Future Foundation, Cisco, Edelman, BRG, K-C, WeedPro, HSC, Digital Blue, Boxercraft, Panasonic, Rubik’s TouchCube, Printies, RCA, MSL, Best Buy, ResourceATL, AFC, OAC, Willow Glynn, GP, Oden, TechnoSource, and anyone else who we crossed paths with.)

We at Going Interactive hope that 2010 brings everyone great success.

Sure we’re another year older, but we’re also another year more experienced and wiser.

As always, we are truly excited about all the opportunities that are ahead of us (and you). We look forward to creating great customer experiences, making unique strategic projects, and creating new and innovative content.

If you’re reading this and feeling even a little optimistic and maybe slightly enthused… then give us a shout, and let’s see what we can get going!

Sincerely,

The Going Interactive Team

PS: Friend us on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter / Check out the Portfolio Site

]]> http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/2010/01/830/feed/ 0 http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/2009/12/clean-apple-mighty-mouse/ http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/2009/12/clean-apple-mighty-mouse/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:12:46 +0000 Going http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/?p=807 I admire the designers at Apple. I really do. When it comes to the “Apple Mouse” or “Mighty Mouse.” I think they failed. Here’s why…

A common problem in the world where humans meet input devices derives itself from “finger gunk.” We all have it. Especially in our profession where you use a computer roughly 8-10 hours a day and lunch is often taken at your desk. You can easily take apart older PC mice – especially the mouse ball ( if you still use one of those ). The Apple Mouse has the same kind of mouse ball system; only you use it to scroll. Much like PC mice of old, it too collects finger gunk.

This can cause the mouse to not be able to scroll in a particular direction. For example in my case… it would not scroll down.

If you notice the manufacturing design of the mouse you are left with a serious question. How on earth do I fix it?
The mouse has a uni-body design with some faint hints at a weak spot on the underneath. This is only noticeable by parts that make you question whether or not you can or actually should pry them apart.

Being the curious sort that I am and not having fully grown out of my “take it apart” stage. I’ve managed to take two of these mice apart via tutorials on the web. Usually breaking the plastic ring collar in the process. One person on the internet noted that it is actually glued.

That explains things.

Not wanting to damage my work mouse I was leery about what to do. I ran across a few posts describing how to clean it without taking the mouse apart. Not risk $50 to clean a tiny mouse ball? Sign me up!

For the record I tried:

1. Vigorously rolling the mouse ball in various directions with the mouse right side up.
2. Vigorously rolling the mouse ball in various directions with the mouse upside down.
3. Taking a piece of paper and wedging it into the gap between the plastic casing and the ball in an attempt to dislodge “gunk particles.”
4. Taking a paperclip and inserting it into the same above mentioned gap and gently moving it around.
5. Holding the mouse upside down and rolling it on a piece of paper.
6. Taking a strip of tape and feeding it through the mouse ball area by sticking it to the mouse ball and rolling it. Then using an inverted “shoe shine” back and forth method to clean the ball.

And then finally…

Taking a slightly damp ( I do mean slightly ) paper towel, holding the mouse upside down and rolling it vigorously around with the pressure centered on the mouse ball.

After a few swipes etc my mouse finally started scrolling down!

Work-flow upgraded and the people who suggested it on the discussion forum I was reading +1.

-Randall

Today’s Word: Vigorously
1. full of or characterized by vigor: a vigorous effort.
2. strong; active; robust: a vigorous youngster.
3. energetic; forceful: vigorous steps; a vigorous personality.
4. powerful in action or effect: vigorous law enforcement.
5. growing well, as a plant.
Source: Dictionary.com

We want to send a special thanks out to all of our friends and family who have supported us over the last year. It’s been a roller coaster ride indeed. We want to thank all of our clients who really help make our jobs exciting and give us the chance to make creative and engaging work. We have had the privilege to work with so many amazing people, departments and companies over the years and are thankful for the endless possibilities that each project has offered. We hope to continue our work together in the future.

We’ve also included a link from History.com which provides some Thanksgiving Facts. Check it out and consider yourself “thanked”.

PS. Did you know the largest pumpkin pie weighed 2,020 pounds? (ouch!)

Sincerely ~

The Going Interactive Team

Don’t forget to Join Us! GI Facebook • GI Flickr • GI YouTube

Download as many as you want and enjoy! Simply right-mouse click on the one you want and “Save As” to your desktop, or click it and then drag that image to your desktop. Then sync it up to your iPhone through iPhoto or My Pictures. Now go to your Settings on your iPhone under Wallpaper and find your favorite design. Oh yeah, did we say these are FREE?!

From your friends at Going Interactive

Burberries

Look Into My Eyes

Dots

Mr. Camo

Babe

Insert Photo Here

Cloudy

Clown Show

Dappler

Diamond Dave

Happy

I See Green

After Hours

Droplets

Dude

Fall

Off The Grid

I Love Heavy Metal

Lumber Jack

Falling

Macish

Happy

Dunk

Tri

Birdie

Me Green

What the?

My Mixtape

Nails

Mouthwash

Gears

No Mouse Needed

Hey - Check Me Out

Listen Up World

Mr Bonez

Keeping It Fresh

No Parking

Note Pad Thai

Pine

Painter

Zee-bra

Hey Pumpkin'

Where Do We Go?

Super Star

Stary PM

Stepping Down

Stripey

Treeless

Walk The Dog

X Marks the Square

Old School

Woody

Taking You Higher

Feel free to post a comment if you’d like to see more free designs in the near future. Comments have to be moderated before being published, so it may take a few minutes to show up.

Enjoy – Jason Davenport / Going Interactive

Follow Me – Twitter @GoingJason / LinkedIn Jason Davenport

]]> http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/2009/10/over-50-free-iphone-wallpaper-designs/feed/ 7 http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/2009/10/youtube-google-and-wharton-give-valuable-insight/ http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/2009/10/youtube-google-and-wharton-give-valuable-insight/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:45:11 +0000 Jason http://www.goinginteractive.com/blog/?p=595 I stumbled across this link the other day on YouTube, and no it’s not some funny video of a pizza party gone wrong, it’s actually something pretty insightful about marketing.

Fast Forward is a concept created by Google and the Wharton University of Pennsylvania. It’s tag line is…

Quick perspectives on the changing face of marketing. Watch. Engage. Debate.”

The website describes how “marketing is in the midst of a complex transformation”, which I guess it is, and probably always will be with the technology constantly changes. Fast Forward is geared towards multiple viewpoints from industry and academia leaders. There’s a ton of short videos which all relate to unique marketing topics. Through these videos the site hopes to show innovative ways to market to consumers, best practices for informed marketing and answers to pertinent questions which are on the minds of many agencies today.

What’s on the site?

Another section of the site is “Trends”, which shows more insight into consumer sentiment based on different types of searches through Google.

There’s also a “Future of Advertising” tab which has even more videos about the approach the site is taking on marketing topics.

A third tab labeled “Free Tools” is pretty much just that, free stuff. Don’t get too excited, it’s mostly from Google and it’s stuff that’s already out on the web, but for anyone who might be new to the land of online content and search, this is probably a helpful section. It covers ideas of search innovation, insights, speed, content and experimentation leveraging new opportunities with keyword tools.

The last tab of the site is called “Events”. This section seems to be compiled of short videos from Advertising Week in NYC. It includes roundtables with CEO’s both on agency and client side.

Final Thoughts

The whole concept of how consumers are now marketers and a conversation is not just one way, but multi-directional is really a pretty amazing and big idea to consider. Agencies and marketing firms can’t treat customers as an end result, but try to see them more as a partners. Technology helps us in so many ways, and Google is definitely near the forefront. It’s great they joined with Wharton and YouTube to create a mini destination for marketing insights.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/user/FastForward

~ Jason Davenport, Going Interactive

Follow me on Twitter @goingjason