Buggy on down
Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.
Buggy on down
We all love the success stories, but it’s good to look at the flipside of the coin too: the failures. Mike Booker’s story about the Mountain Buggy company is actually a story about success soured, and it’s a worthwhile read for entrepreneurs. How did a perfect storm of circumstances kill off a company with a great product and destined for greatness? Read more in Idealog #21, or on our website.
Doom de doom doom
Destroyed jobs, bankrupt businesses and vapourised wealth kind of suck as concepts during a recession, but innovating your way out of it doesn’t. The inaugural Social Innovation Camp kicked off last weekend in Wellington, and Peter Griffin from the Science Media Centre was there blogging for us.
As mentioned before, the three best concepts will be done up at a bigger SI Camp in July this year, and will go up on the web. Follow it on Meetup and read more here.
Sartorial hacking
Lilypad Arduino sounds like a Filipina superstar, but it’s actually used to make shirts squeal. Or to make cycle jackets activate flashing lights when the sun goes down.
Somehow or other, Dr Leah Buechley ties up Lilypad Arduino with democratisation and empowerment. We sent Simon Young to the Co-Lab’s Creating Technologies conference to make sense of it all. Read his blog.
Plus, here’s an Idealog TV episode in which Simon talks to Dr Buechley.
Everything has a website now
Book launch 2.0 indeed. Awesome. (Via Dennis Cass)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxschLOAr-s
Jericho prospers as recession bites
There’s a smarter way to do everything. For insights into how you can improve your business decisions and investment—or simply to get some inspiring ideas— visit BusinessInsight, a collaboration between HB Media and IBM. This month’s case study: Jericho grows capacity 500%. How? And what’s the ROI? Watch the video and read the case study here.
 Paper cuts
Once upon a time, it was quite in order for journalists to thump managers and their ilk just to vent. There were unions! You just didn’t tell people that from tomorrow, they’d be on a quarter less salary. Now however, only cartoonists get to protest, like Dan Wasserman of the Boston Globe did recently, when faced with a 23% pay hackenslash.
Sensible Super City
Yes, a single Auckland is necessary—it only takes a short commute across town on the disjointed public transport system to convince you of that. Now’s the time, though, to decide how it should be done because once the amalgamation sets in, it’ll be too late.
Hamish Keith, who needs no further introduction, has thought about the Super City and how it could have its constituent parts joined up into a successful and simple whole. He will submit to the Parliamentary select committee on the local government (Auckland Council) bill, and you can read about here and add your name to the submission if you agree with it. Simple.
Please explain, stat
After Last Season seems to have it all. Like, err, medical students. A film with medical students must cool, right? It’s a film, isn’t it? Or a viral medical student clip or something? (Via Real Groove)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5yoD5_0QWQ
Job of the Week
Interactive Senior Creative (P0509) Digital Arm of Advertising Agency • Wide Variety of Clients • Superb Role Our client is part of an international agency network and has a vast array of clients. They are looking for a hot senior creative, who along with having great concepting ability has and is a hands on designer. This role will work very closely with the Creative Director, nutting out creative concepts and then delivering outstanding work. For this role you will have experience in a similar senior interactive role, be ready to step up to the mark and really show what you are made of. If you have won awards for your creativity, then that will be seen as a bonus although not a requirement—as you work will speak for itself. This is a leadership role, you will have a number of direct reports and be able to share you knowledge and assist in their growth and development.
If you feel this is the right next step for you, please send your details to Louise Lawton at Portfolio Recruitment on 09 379-9303, or apply on our website.
For the price of a cuppa
You could get to keep the excellent The Big Idea site. The creative community built a new website this year, with some good tools to go with it. But it’s now about twenty grand in debt due to cost overruns, and needs your help to clear it before July 1.
 Beans means
Clearly, the Heinz desktop USB microwave is wasted on baked beans. It has that Prime Hacking Target feel about it. What else could it be used for? (Note: any suggestions featuring small animals will see correspondents reported to ALF, PETA and SPCA with all haste.)
Bawdy Bud
Anheuser-Busch is a brave company. Not content with making its beer even more offensively bland, it’s happy to associate Bud Light (wasn’t the original light enough?) with porn-purchasing pillocks and awkward embarrassment comedy.
Unpedestrian
Inspired by McCahon, Frizzell and the Phantom, Dean Proudfoot appears to have the national narrative down pat, and is now pursuing a career as an artist as well as an illustrator.
See his work at the Smyth Gallery, 41 Jervois Road, St Mary’s Bay, from next Thursday.
And if his work looks familiar, it’s because we’re fans at Idealog too.
Quote of the week
“The big danger for New Zealand manufacturing isn’t India or China; it’s taking our eyes off innovation and skills.”
—Phil O’Reilly of Business New Zealand thinks Made in NZ has a bright future, provided we don’t get lazy.
More at Idealog online
Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, creative directory, Idealog TV, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.
Juha Saarinen
Ideologue, Weekly
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