5 Projects That Are Pushing The Creative Boundaries

In this video, that I found thanks to Mitch Joel, Clay Shirky describes five student projects that he thinks are pushing the creative boundaries – from interface design to how people cluster to build new work.
He ends the talk with an interesting take on the rules of creativity… Continue reading “5 Projects That Are Pushing The Creative Boundaries”

Cisco TelePresence & Education

Overview
Cisco’s Telepresence is one of the most advanced virtual meeting systems in the world.
In cooperation with the Finnish organizations of KOKO, SEK and SuupohjanSeutuverkko, which runs one of the fastest broadband networks in Europe, my team and I tested Cisco Telepresence as a primary means to present information across distances without breaking budgets.

Objectives

  • Create an engaging experience to test the use of Cisco Telepresence in a higher education environment.
  • Provide feedback to Cisco on the target audience’s experience using online video communication tools.

The Idea
We organized a live, interactive video conference connecting university students with thoughtful leaders of today’s digital Communications industry. Continue reading “Cisco TelePresence & Education”

QR Digital Assistant – Case Study

Logistia Technology Center

Logistia Technology Center (Finland)

Marketing Over Coffee Award Winner

Description

The Logistia Technology Center is the #1 Science Park in Finland.

Companies based at the Logistia Technology Center don’t always have personel 24/7 at their offices. Some of them have headquarters outside the Technology Center and use the office at Logistia only to receive prospects, leads and customers during certain hours or days per week. Generally, the large majority of the offices are unattended during lunch breaks, holidays or closing days. Continue reading “QR Digital Assistant – Case Study”

Strategic Online Marketing & Advertising

UPDATE:

Strategic Online Marketing

The Advertising Club of Toledo recently invited me as the guest speaker for their monthly luncheon program held at the Toledo Club in – you guessed it – Toledo, Ohio.

My presentation focused on strategic online advertising and marketing, but in order to make sure I addressed the interests and questions of people who would be attending the luncheon, I created a survey that people could fill out and submit beforehand so I could tailor a few points to their input. Continue reading “Strategic Online Marketing & Advertising”

Advertising Club of Toledo – Luncheon Program

On November 16th, I’ll be speaking at the Advertising Club of Toledo‘s monthly luncheon program in Toledo, Ohio (U.S.A.). The general theme of my talk will be about strategic online advertising and marketing.

As I finish to prepare my presentation, I would like to know what AdClub members are most interested in learning about, their professional background, and their level of experience in the “digital space”, so that I can tailor a few points of my presentation to their interests and experiences.

For example, would AdClub members like to know more about how to use social media within their advertising/marketing strategies? About the importance of creating relevant content as part of a digital strategy? Or perhaps about any campaigns with a positive ROI where new tactics made the difference?

Those are just a couple of examples to get the juices flowing, but please go ahead and fill out the following form and I will incorporate your interests into my final presentation.

You can also feel free to email me at andrea@itive.net or @/DM me on Twitter – @vascellari

And just a friendly remember that registration for the luncheon must be made by Monday, November 14th.

Thanks for your input and I look forward to meeting and speaking with you on November 16th!
I’d like to thank Joe & Nick from UlrichPinciotti Design Group for sponsoring my presentation.

Andrea

It’s About Us and Balance.

Wedding (Italy)

Our economic system is collapsing. This “recession” is just a joke. A recession? A recession from what? From this purposeless system we created?

This is just the tip of the iceberg and things are about to get worse.

Admit it, ignore it. We are all well aware of how much we pushed the boundaries and how much this going to cost us.
You can argue about a whole lot of things, but there’s just one and only truth. Balance.

You can try to change, move and push every single law that governs the natural world we are living in as much as you want, but guess what…it will all go back to a perfect point of balance.

We pushed. We pushed too much and even worse we “created” on top of these absurd and unsustainable abstract systems that we think “can” live in fictional bubbles. One of the many examples? This senseless monetary system.

Where are we going people? This, all this, is just ri-di-cu-lous.
Am I against money? Well… a currency system can be a good thing if it’s managed the right way, if you know what I mean.

You might think that I’m crazy, but actually I believe that I’ve never been more concrete in my entire life and the more time goes by the more I feel like we all just missed the damn point.

It’s not about the money, it’s about us. Us.

Anyway, if this rings any bells or moves something inside of you, drop a comment and I’ll be happy to talk more about this in future posts…this indeed if you are not trapped in a pointless “social-freaking-media” bubble that stops you or makes you lazy enough to not comment on this. Nothing against social media…I like it, but way too many people are missing the point on that, too.

I will just reply to comments here on my blog.

Andrea

Digital Evolution at Switch 2011

Switch Conference 2011

This weekend I’ll be speaking at the 2011 edition of the Switch Conference in Porto (Portugal).

“Switch is a two-day event that gathers people with different background experiences to discuss technology, science, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation in a network-friendly environment.”

My presentation will focus on ‘Digital Evolution’. I will talk about why the need to constantly evolve in the digital space has become something that isn’t just important but necessary for anyone who wants to succeed. I’ll explain why we have to re-think of websites as ‘digital brains’ instead of a simple ‘online presence’ and I’ll give 5 practical tips on how to prevent and eventually overcome 5 of the most frequent causes of digital extinction that brands, organizations and at times also individuals are facing today.

I hope to see you there!

Andrea

UPDATE: These are the slides of my presentation. Enjoy!

Embracing Imperfection

Nothing and nobody are perfect.

You can aim at perfection, but what you have to keep in mind is that in the end you, your ideas, your creations will be born, live, change shape, form, and die in an imperfect world. There’s nothing you or anyone else can do about it.

Like many people, I spent most of my life aiming for the top, trying to reduce the number of mistakes, risks, or problems I would have to deal with. I devoted hours, days, and, in the end, years of my life to achieve goals according to certain standards.

Then, one day I came to a point where I realized that those thresholds are just simply irrelevant and actually counter productive. Sure, you could argue against this statement, but in my opinion those “certain standards” of achieving one’s goals actually reduce overall progress and flatten the wonderful nature of things which is dominated by an uncontrollable imperfection, which ultimately takes everything back to a flawless equilibrium.

Look at where you started from and think of the path you still have ahead. The fact that you are not there yet doesn’t mean you haven’t succeeded. If you slow down for a second, you’ll realize that success lies in each and every single step you take to move forward, in every time you fall, in every time you stand up again and keep moving forward.

I believe that success is itself a paradox because it restricts potential to the sole achievement of certain goals which, especially in today’s dynamic, ever-changing fast-paced environment, are nothing more than mere moments in time that neither belong to what has passed nor to what will be.

“But we need to measure something to know we are on the right path, correct?” Sure. Nothing wrong with that, but just don’t get stuck in measuring and end up forgetting the big picture. Temporary or mid-term achievements and even unsuccessful moments are all small pieces of the big vision.

You must look at the flow. We are all part of a unique, imperfect flow in which what’s official, determined and fixed it’s already dead and gone, old, far and surpassed. Nothing is perfect and nothing ever will be perfect. Perfection exists in being able to read through the imperfections and smartly move in synergy with the rhythm that moves the natural course of life. As a brand, an organization, and as an individual, think of how much you are in synergy with this flow. Stop for a second and switch off from the craziness that is imposed by the controlled standards we are often forced to embrace. You’ll be surprised at how much you are missing and by how much more you could achieve.

Andrea

Embracing Imperfection

Nothing and nobody are perfect.

You can aim at perfection, but what you have to keep in mind is that in the end you, your ideas, your creations will be born, live, change shape, form, and die in an imperfect world. There’s nothing you or anyone else can do about it.

Like many people, I spent most of my life aiming for the top, trying to reduce the number of mistakes, risks, or problems I would have to deal with. I devoted hours, days, and, in the end, years of my life to achieve goals according to certain standards.

Then, one day I came to a point where I realized that those thresholds are just simply irrelevant and actually counter productive. Sure, you could argue against this statement, but in my opinion those “certain standards” of achieving one’s goals actually reduce overall progress and flatten the wonderful nature of things which is dominated by an uncontrollable imperfection, which ultimately takes everything back to a flawless equilibrium.

Look at where you started from and think of the path you still have ahead. The fact that you are not there yet doesn’t mean you haven’t succeeded. If you slow down for a second, you’ll realize that success lies in each and every single step you take to move forward, in every time you fall, in every time you stand up again and keep moving forward.

I believe that success is itself a paradox because it restricts potential to the sole achievement of certain goals which, especially in today’s dynamic, ever-changing fast-paced environment, are nothing more than mere moments in time that neither belong to what has passed nor to what will be.

“But we need to measure something to know we are on the right path, correct?” Sure. Nothing wrong with that, but just don’t get stuck in measuring and end up forgetting the big picture. Temporary or mid-term achievements and even unsuccessful moments are all small pieces of the big vision.

You must look at the flow. We are all part of a unique, imperfect flow in which what’s official, determined and fixed it’s already dead and gone, old, far and surpassed. Nothing is perfect and nothing ever will be perfect. Perfection exists in being able to read through the imperfections and smartly move in synergy with the rhythm that moves the natural course of life. As a brand, an organization, and as an individual, think of how much you are in synergy with this flow. Stop for a second and switch off from the craziness that is imposed by the controlled standards we are often forced to embrace. You’ll be surprised at how much you are missing and by how much more you could achieve.

Andrea