Seattle’s Other Holiday Tradition

It is time once again for the Seattle Men’s Chorus and the Seattle Women’s Chorus 2009 Holiday Concerts. Catch the Seattle Men’s Chorus at Benaroya Hall, November 28th through December 20th and the Seattle Women’s Chorus at Meany Theater, December 19th & 20th.

ProMotion Arts had the opportunity to work with Flying House Productions to put together a commercial keeping with their theme of “Seattle’s Other Holiday Tradition!” We had fun taking the graphic elements and giving them a new dynamic with some motion, eventually settling on the version you see here!

Michael Jackson Beat It Seattle Flash Mob

It was awesome, it was amazing, it was sizzling and powerful. Our friend Egan at One Degree Events invited us to document a flash mob he organized to celebrate Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday. Flash Mob Seattle was another in a long string of great happenings put on by One Degree Events. At 211 degrees water is only hot but add one degree and it boils and can power a freight train. One Degree Events is definitely THAT one degree. Check out the video we produced and then drop Egan a note and let him know that we think he’s on a rolling boil.

Fun Friday!!!

Join us for our first monthly
Fun Friday!
Back to school: Cutting Class Edition

Grab your friends, your family and classmates and “cut class” with ProMotion
Arts. We’re kicking off our first monthly Fun Friday on September 11th just in time for the start of school. Don’t wimp out! And, for you “A” students you can come after class.

We’ll be cutting class early so plan to join us starting at 4pm. There’ll be tons of food, beer, wine, activities, and prizes. So grab your hall pass and some school supplies, and jet out of the office for an afternoon of networking and fun!

In the spirit of Back to School, we’ll be collecting school supplies for Rise n’ Shine, a local non-profit dedicated to helping children affected by AIDS. Bring your crayons, your markers, your pens and paper and we’ll make sure they get into those tiny hands.

You won’t want to miss this fun event!!!

RSVP:
Email: sammie@promotionarts.com
Phone: 206-938-0348

Address:
2112 6th Ave
Seattle, WA 98121

School Supply List:
Packs of Markers
Highlighters
Computer CDs -3 packs
Calculators with a fraction key
Computer paper
Neon Colored paper
Hand sanitizer
K-5 Skill Practice Books (can be found in bookstores, etc.)
K-5 Skill Practice Books from School Specialty Publishing:
“Master Skills English” – Needed K-5
“Total Basic Skills” – Needed K-5
“Learn at Home”- Needed for K-5
“Spectrum Language Arts” – Needed for K-5
“Spectrum Math” – Needed for K-5
“Total Math” – Needed for K-5
For Pre-schoolers
Educational coloring books
Crayons
Activity books: Letter practice, numbers, connect the dots, etc.

Leonard Weaver Promotional Video Scores a Touchdown

This piece was created as a promotional video for Seattle Seahawks fullback, Leonard Weaver back before he was first string. We used broadcast game footage and combined it with footage we shot in our green screen studio and some killer motion graphics we produced. Leonard scored a touchdown with this piece and the rest, as they say, is history.

Streaming Worldwide

Streaming Video, coming to your computer and PDA live and in living color

As our crazy world continues to evolve through an improvised state of new media availability, more and more companies are looking to distribute video to their audiences. I don’t know, maybe as a way to MOVE their brand forward. LOL. OK that was really corny. But video IS becoming more and more integral in corporate communications. Many companies, like Starbucks, have established corporate YouTube channels as a way to connect with customers and deliver brand messages. This is great for time-shifted or produced content but what about live events which often create meaningful “buzz” for companies? Of course, it’s not always possible to get your local news crew to come in and cover your event. And streaming nationwide or even globally seems daunting. But, the technology is here and we’ve had some great success streaming a couple of recent high profile events.

First it was the 46th Annual Northwest Regional Emmy Awards steamed live from Snoqualmie Casino and last week, SEEN by Team Photogenic, a ProMotion Arts Production, streamed the world premiere of Catch Me If You Can live around the globe. This amazing musical debuted at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre and featured many of the same creative team that produced Hairspray. Catch Me If You Can received rave reviews and is sure to be a Broadway hit!

Many Thanks go to the 5th Avenue Theatre, the cast and production staff of Catch Me If You Can, our production partner, Team Photogenic, and Seattle Magazine for hosting our feed! You can see the video on our TeamPhotogenic Channel at LiveStream.

#TechTuesday: Mac or PC?

Follow us on Twitter @promotionarts and at #TechTuesday

The age-old debate between the Mac (Macintosh) and the PC (Personal Computer) continues, and to be honest, we at ProMotion Arts are not interested in perpetuating the debate (unless Apple or Microsoft is interested in sponsoring us). LOL. In our office we use both brands extensively (including running Windows Vista on many of our Macs). Given the increasing popularity and proliferation of Apple computers and the growing use of video online, mixed hardware environments are becoming more common. So, how can your company use these competing systems to communicate with virtual ease?

Most people understand that the two “computers” don’t work the same way. While PCs are widely used in corporate environements for their data management and analytical capabilities (with programs such as Access and Excel), Macs are often the system of choice for design and creative tasks (using programs like Photoshop and Final Cut Pro). The main differences have traditionally been in processor, memory requirements, cost, and security. While Macs are seen as being more expensive than PCs, PCs are thought to have faster Internet. As a rule, Macs are considered safer and less susceptible to viruses.

In the past, because of processor and hardware differences, it was almost impossible to seamlessly move files between the two operating systems. Historically, the PC ran on Intel microprocessors while the Mac ran on the PowerPC processors. In 2006, Apple integrated the Intel processor into the Mac hardware. For the first time, this made it possible to run the Windows OS on Apple hardware without some form of hardware emulation. While welcoming the change, many Mac “addicts” were ecstatic because the Mac OS could still only run on Mac hardware.

While the move to Intel processors and development of software that runs on both platforms have simplified things, it is the explosion of web-based video and photo sharing sites that have really leveled the playing field. In the past you would need to deliver an audio file in .aiff format for a Mac user while a PC user would require a .wav. In the corporate communications world we routinely had to format video as both .mov and .wmv files to ensure universal accessibility. Today the solution of choice is often a Flash video file or upload to a corporate channel on YouTube where virtually any format can be used.

The development of online accessibility solutions such as SAMI captioning for Windows Media and timed text files for use with Flash have made online delivery a growing choice for corporate communications. Even YouTube has developed a form of captioning to facilitate use by those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

At ProMotion Arts, we specialize in “helping companies communicate with virtual ease™” through the implementation of full spectrum new media. we’d be more than happy to help you with consulting for your communications plans including of course new Social Media plans.

Tune in next week for #TechTuesday with ProMotion Arts, LLC

Andrew McCrazy… the Intern

Facebook Security?

Earlier today a story broke about Facebook agreeing to let third party advertisers use your posted pictures on ads without your permission. Facebook has responded in a blog entry here http://bit.ly/WCtw4 saying that the rumor is completely false. As Seattle’s premier full spectrum new media company we felt it appropriate to highlight the almost subtle difference in diction. Facebook HAS agreed to let third party advertisers use your posted pictures. NO, they DO NOT ASK for your permission. They have enabled a setting within privacy under the wall and Facebook ads tab, which allows you to OPT OUT of including your pictures in third party advertisements. I’d compare it to fine print on the back of a club poster. You would only know where it was if you KNEW where it was. To clarify, also Facebook has made it so your friends can place your pictures on their ads without your permission. So if any one of your thousands of friends are club promoters, marketers, business owners, they can and probably will at some point use one of your pictures to advertise a service. What are your opinions?

screen grab from mac

Social Media Success

Did you know that having a social media strategy is quickly becoming as essential to the success of your business as a web site? Of course it’s not
the only way to succeed but if you’re planning to wait it out we must tell you that this is NOT a fad. While there may be new and improved avenues in the future, we recommend that you take advantage of this time to learn and become adept at the basics.

Do you remember the video game boom? Of course you do, it was only around 15 or 20 years ago. Who can forget Pac-Man and Pong (you know, the game where all you had to do was keep the little ball (square) from going off the screen using a paddle (line). After that came the Nintendo NES. Everyone got a Nintendo! I was in the 2nd grade. I knew every aspect of the Nintendo NES, and perfected my play in Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros, and Tetris. When Super Nintendo came out, I saw that the format of the controls was basically the same and followed it through the arrival of the Sega Genesis, Dreamcast, Game boy, N64, PlayStation (1,2, & 3) , XBOX, Game Cube, and the XBOX 360. With the arrival of each new system, I only had to spend about 10 minutes figuring out the new enhancements before I could compete with the best.

You know where this is going, right? Today, social media is at the Nintendo NES phase and your company is faced with a choice. You can embrace the change with child-like enthusiasm, investing the necessary time and resources, or you can wait until all your competitors have mastered social media and you can’t compete. Fortunately once you make the commitment, new social media technologies and applications make it easy to participate. After all, the world today is all about making content more accessible. And that’s true for every business, organization and educational institution.

Come on! Let’s play.
Andrew

Congratulations

Hi everyone!

My name is Andrew and I’ve recently been added to the ProMotion Arts team of concentrated amazing. LOL Yes I’m confident, success in business starts with faith, and I have a lot for this one. Anyways, my name is Andrew not because mom gave me that name, but because I’m the brand new intern. I’ll be responsible for maintaining the blog and Facebook pieces of our social media machine.

Don’t make that face, there aren’t any slouches at ProMotion Arts, so you can expect the same quality of posts, they’ll just be a little more frequent.

Be Sure to check in for #TechTuesday and #FollowFriday specials. You know what that means, Tech Tuesday post today.

Why the congrats?
You met me. DUH! haha

Andrew out

48 Hour Film Festival

Some members of the ProMotion Arts team partnered up with their colleagues to form Team Awesome to compete in a 48 hour film competition this past June. Criteria for the 48 hour piece was:

Genre: Historical Fiction / Period Piece
Character: Kyle Brown (illustrator)
Prop: Tie
Line: “Wrong. Guess again.”

The team had 48 hours to script, storyboard, build the set, build models, shoot, edit, and author this project. None of the team had ever made a stop motion animation before, so it was quite a learning experience. They shot using two digital SLR cameras with various lenses. The set was built from scratch (after receiving the criteria for the piece) and everything you see was completed within the 48 hour deadline.

The film won the Audience Choice award and Best Use of Prop.