I got a surprising email last night from LaLa.com. I’ve had an account for a couple years and although don’t use it everyday, I have really enjoyed it’s vast library of old and new stuff. Of course the listen for FREE part was pretty cool too and initially what took me to the site in the beginning.

So if you’ve never visited LaLa.com, it’s too late now. A while back Apple decided to buy LaLa. The market speculated that is Apple’s move into a cloud-based media strategy. Of course as we all know, Apple is pretty hush-hush until they really want us to know things. So after a while, I forgot about the whole thing, until last night. I received this letter…

Dear Jason D.,

The Lala service will be shut down on May 31st.

In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala web song purchases for use on Apple’s iTunes Store. If you purchased and downloaded mp3 songs from Lala, those songs will continue to play as part of your local music library.

Remaining wallet balances and unredeemed gift cards will be converted to iTunes Store credit (or can be refunded upon request). Gift cards can be redeemed on Lala until May 31st.

Click here or visit Lala.com/support for more information, or to view Lala’s Terms of Service.

Thank you.

Lala

©2005-2010 la la media, inc. All rights reserved.”

The possible good news? Well, there’s also speculation about iTunes.com launching some new innovative online service in June of 2010. The timing of all this seems pretty perfect, so I guess we just wait and see now. At least it’s not just a bad economy and might even help revive the music business a little. I’m always rooting for musical artists, I know it’s hard as heck to make money these days.

And for all of us who loved LaLa, we can only hope that Apple can make it even better (as opposed what they are doing to Flash that is… boo)

Cheers

Jason Davenport / Going Interactive

Follow Me - Twitter @GoingJason / LinkedIn Jason Davenport

Follow Going Interactive:
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We’ve wrapped up another great year at Going Interactive and selected a variety of work to share in our 2009 Showreel.

Going Interactive, a digital creative agency, collected a variety of our 2009 projects in one reel. It highlights projects for both B2B and B2C clients including interactive apps, websites, videos, motion graphics, social media campaigns, games, RIA’s and more. See more at goinginteractive.com. Music clip used was “1901″ by Phoenix. Check it out!

Going Interactive 2009 Showreel from Going Interactive on Vimeo.

Are you ready to go interactive or get social?

To learn more, contact us at Going Interactive.

Atlanta Web Design: www.goinginteractive.com.

Phone: 770-643-3014

Email: info(at)goinginteractive(dot)com

Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Vimeo

We at Going Interactive are pleased to announce that we received another great award for best Web & Interactive Marketing – Web campaign/microsite and our work on the Printies Website and Design Studio!

The AMYs are the annual marketing award of the American Marketing Association Atlanta chapter. The AMYs celebrate more than just great creative — they reward companies that craft innovative strategies, unforgettable creative and produce outstanding results.

It was a pleasure to celebrate all the work everyone created and to see all the marketing campaigns, ideas and talent under one roof.

Going Interactive - Agency Conference Room turned to Printies War Room

We’d especially like to thank all of the Going Interactive teammates who gave blood, sweat, and tears for what seemed like 24 hours for 7 days a week. We could not have done any of this without such a dedicated and hardworking group who worked together on finding creative solutions to very difficult obstacles.

Special thanks goes out to Lead Developer Randall for his all of his hard work and for breaking new ground on the Adobe AIR front for GI.

Jason for design, usability, and direction – and – Doug for overall project management, testing and strategy.

Brad for all his efforts in the Flex world.

Zach for all his Flash support and work on the front-end.

Phil, Matt & Sherry for video work and tons of testing.

Thank you to our families and friends for all their support, as it kept us all going knowing they were cheering for us every step of the way.

Going Interactive Team enjoys a pizza lunch from our client Printies

More About the Award Winning Project:

Printies Design Studio is a new Hi-Tech Arts & Crafts toy that allows your child to turn their designs into stuffed toys using your home computer, inket printer, and patent pending Printies fabric sheets. Each child becomes their very own toy artist by using the amazing online design tools and created their own custom plush stuffed friend.

Going Interactive used a unique combination of Adobe Flash, Flex, and AIR to develop one of the first RIA style kids toys of it’s kind. After only being live for only a months, there are thousands upon thousands of users and has been growing steadily throughout 2010. Click to find out where you can buy the Printies Design Studio.

To learn more, contact us at Going Interactive.

Web: www.goinginteractive.com.

Phone: 770-643-3014

Email: info(at)goinginteractive(dot)com

Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Vimeo

Going Interactive created a unique Flash based microsite for the new Atlanta condo called 935m. GI worked with Real Estate Marketing firm Resource and utilized their layouts to create a new marketing piece to be used in on-going promotions for the property. The site has a photo gallery, downloadable plans, and more.

Check it out at www.935m.com

There’s a lot of steps that go into creating a “spot-on” video for our clients.

First, there’s the discovery and investigation phase. We try to interview as many key people as we can in order to get a variety of perspectives about their organization. It’s really important to not only see how the CEO see’s their company, but how the VP of Sales, and VP of Marketing see the company. Our agenda is to understand all of the different pieces that make our clients business work, and work well. We make sure we have the information we need in order to tell the story in the right voice and in the right way.

The responses have been extremely positive. Our CEO said it was a homerun! So again, great work. Please pass my thanks on to your team.”

– CW

Next, we take all that research feedback and begin to concept on all the possible themes that can help relay the message. After a variety of ideas have been solidified, we begin the script writing process. This is sometimes a straight-up copy based script which is then followed by visual storyboards. However, sometimes we’re able to do both at the same time depending on the concepts chosen. This is also typically the place where we begin to visualize a style which can comfortably support our overall message.

After the client is happy and we’ve got a green light, we begin our design phase. This is where have to match-up with the concept in a creative visual way. There’s often a number of different directions to go. Each video has it’s own agenda, therefore each animation, style, concept needs it’s own unique look and feel based on the company brand. Sometimes organizations want to do something totally different, while others need to keep it strictly aligned with the company identity guidelines.

Animation and sound are the final phases. We try our best to customize things in order to keep them interesting and engaging. Sometimes the concepts need energy and excitement, while others simply want you to sit back and relax. Finding that right animation style can be critical to the final outcome. We’ve got to make sure we’re speaking to our target audience in the most effective visual way possible, while still trying to “stand out” from the crowd. Sound and VoiceOver is are extremely important aspect to any animation piece. Is it quiet? Is it loud? Everything makes a difference at this level. Overall, the audio can give a video an entirely different feel, so selection is key.

Here’s a recent example of a successful B2B video Going Interactive created (following the above steps):

This video was used at an annual sales meeting to gain excitement for the upcoming calendar year. The video was so well received that the client not only has it on their home page and YouTube Channel, but are also using it in sales presentations to new and prospective clients. In addition, the client feels we hit the mark so well that they are going to include this overall message and concept into ALL of their other global marketing collateral for the year.

It’s really amazing how a simple video can tell such a powerful story (even in the B2B world).

Sincerely

Jason Davenport – Principal & Creative Director

Is your company having a hard time telling their customers who you really are? Let Going Interactive help you in explaining things clearly, creatively and successfully. Check out some of our other video projects here.

To learn more, contact us at Going Interactive.

Web: www.goinginteractive.com.

Phone: 770-643-3014

Email: info(at)goinginteractive(dot)com

Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Vimeo

The “Website Monitoring” service from Webmetrics – a Neustar Company - has a whole lot to offer. Their desire was to create a short video that portrayed all of the benefits to this unique Webmetrics service in a creative and engaging way. Going Interactive worked closely with key Webmetrics team members to clearly establish the goal of the video. We then went through a script writing process and finalized our message with the client. Once the concept and message were perfected and approved we moved into the visual design phase.

Overall the end result was successful in explaining what Webmetrics Monitoring is and how it can help you. The client plans to utilize the video online on their own site, on YouTube, and in presentations (to name a few).

Check out the video below.

Even though you know your products and services well, that doesn’t mean your prospective clients do. Let Going Interactive help you in explaining things clearly, creatively and successfully. Check out some of our other video projects here.

To learn more, contact Going Interactive.

Web: www.goinginteractive.com.

Phone: 770-643-3014

Email: info(at)goinginteractive(dot)com

Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Vimeo

Going Interactive wins 2 Addy Awards for Public Service Websites. The big event was at the beautiful Georgia Aquarium Ballroom

Atlanta-based creative agency Going Interactive was awarded two Addy Awards for their work on 2 distinct public service/nonprofit websites.

A Gold Addy was awarded for Going Interactive’s design of Home Safety Council’s website, www.homesafetycouncil.org.  The Home Safety Council is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing home-related injuries that result in nearly 20,000 deaths and almost 21 million medical visits each year.  The website was re-designed and re-launched to include hundreds of pages of home safety informational content, an online video library, online quizzes and polls, an interactive forum, an official Blog and social marketing tools like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Here’s a quick overview of the Home Safety Council website.

A Silver Addy was garnered for www.RealTalkATL.org, a web site sponsored by the Future Foundation of Atlanta. The Future Foundation is a leader in effective education and prevention services for at-risk youth in Fulton County. Each year, over 800 male and female youths, ages 12-18, participate in Future Foundation’s Real Talk ATL program, promoting abstinence until marriage and healthy relationships. RealTalkATL.org is a Flash-based website that features animated interactive content, quizzes, photo and video galleries, blogs and more, designed to support the Future Foundation’s cause in a fun and engaging manner to teens.

Here’s a quick overview of the Real Talk ATL website.

Going Interactive steered both these non-profit projects in concept, strategy, architecture, design, development and production.

Principal and Creative Director Jason Davenport said, “We’re thrilled to be recognized for our work by industry peers, but it’s extra meaningful when that work is for organizations that are trying to positively impact people’s lives.”

=====================================

About Going Interactive

Going Interactive is a new kind of creative agency. Going Interactive works hand-in-hand with agencies, corporations and fortune 500’s to produce rich interactive media, reaching both B2B and B2C market segments. Going Interactive has a team of award winning designers, developers, and strategists that are skilled in the latest software and trends to keep things fresh and cutting edge.

Going Interactive has worked with a large variety of brands and products both on and off screen including Cartoon Network, CNN Radio, Dixie Food Service, Georgia-Pacific, Neustar, Peachtree TV, Printies, Ron Clark Academy, Rubiks Revolution, TechnoSource, UPS, Wegener.

Going Interactive delivers creative strategy and execution to each client and clearly understand the business and design objectives in making things user-friendly, engaging and adaptable for the future. Going Interactive has a strong hold on creative online marketing approaches and how to utilize all types of online social tools including DWOM (digital word of mouth) tools like blogs, rss, emails, video, games, contests, bookmarking, rich media, banner ads, as well as on-going interactive marketing campaigns.

Going Interactive has added experience in developing product-based sales and marketing tools that are designed to demonstrate features, attributes and benefits in an engaging way. These interactive tools help drive top-of-mind awareness, push customers to place orders, and create leads for sales forces.

Going Interactive is located outside Atlanta, in historic Roswell, Georgia.

Web: www.goinginteractive.com.

Phone: 770-643-3014

Email: info(at)goinginteractive(dot)com

Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Flickr | Vimeo

We took tons of video footage and edited it all down to a one minute creative package. The goal was to create an exciting lifestyle overview of the property which targets college and university students. We ended up with a short and sweet highlight video which will be used online for marketing and promotion.
The client had nothing but good things to say…

This is perfect!“ – Chris

Interested in learning more about video, animation or some other form of interactive media?
Contact Going Interactive today – 770.643.3014
or info (at) goinginteractive (dot) com.

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

Click here to check it out – and yes, there’s a little “easter egg” surprise in there somewhere.

We wish everyone a Happy Holidays and hope your 2010 is full of peace and happiness.

Cheers!

The Going Interactive Team

Going Interactive is very excited to be included on the Adobe AIR Team Blog. It’s an honor for Adobe to recognize our work on the RIA (Rich Interactive Application) on the Printies Design Studio. Check out the full post from the Adobe AIR Team Blog.

Going Interactive used a unique combination of Adobe Flash, Flex, and AIR to develop one of the first RIA style kids toys of it’s kind. After only being live for 2 months, there are thousands upon thousands of users and has been growing steadily throughout the 2009 holiday season. Click to find out where you can buy the Printies Design Studio.

Learn more about Printies here.