Jump start your knowledge with Vancouver interactive workshops designed to help you leverage your web skills or attend the 2-day Interlink conference for more hands-on workshops.

Interlink Workshops offer a series of six hour hands-on workshops on the first Wednesday of each month. These interactive workshops are taught by industry leaders and are designed to teach participants digital-based skills — web design, WordPress, etc. The workshops are at the W2 Media Cafe on E. Hastings and run from April to June. Tickets go on sale beginning in February and cost $395 (early bird) or $495 (regular). Register early in order to reserve your spot. Lunch is included, a laptop is strongly encouraged for all workshops.

1. How to build and customize WordPress themes

When: Wednesday April 4, 2012 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

Tickets available starting: Feb. 8, 2012

The first workshop, by web developer Jeff Starr, teaches participants how to create a WordPress theme from the ground up including building & customizing your own theme, integrating e-commerce, support systems and chat forums. Additionally, he will explore social-media functionality through the use of widgets, advanced loops and more. Participants will be left with a flexible and scalable WordPress theme that is functional and SEO ready.

2. Adaptive web design 

When: Wednesday May 9, 2012 (9:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.)

Tickets available starting March 7, 2012

With the explosion of new devices–phones, tablets, media players and video game systems, web developer Aaron Gustafson will teach participants how to deal with an increasingly fragmented browser landscape through modern web design. Get a better understanding of Progressive Enhancement, CSS, HTML5 and JavaScript.

3. Responsive enhancement

When: Wednesday June 5, 2012 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

Tickets available starting April 4, 2012

In the third workshop, technical director Jeremy Keith teaches how to construct websites that are intuitive on a wide range of devices. Learn how to prioritize content, size images for different environments, apply fluid layouts based on percentages and more. This workshop is aimed at designers and developers.

4. 2012 Interlink web design conference

When: Wednesday June 6-7, 2012

Tickets available Feb. 1 at 8 a.m.

The Interlink conference is a 2-day event of  curated talks and hands-on workshops created for web professionals led by a mix of designers, developers, creative directors and more. Lots of extra free events are offered for connecting and lunch is included for attendees.

Our friendly neighbours have asked us to speak at this not so traditional conference, which is good, because we are not your traditional digital agency.

David Tedman Co-CEO of Invoke will be sitting on a panel discussing new and emerging tools and Corey Dilley, the Marketing and Business Development Manager at Eat St will be giving a talk on on managing and developing mobile apps and television integration. Oh, and food trucks.

Spend the day with us Seattle, along with a handful of game changers in the digital space such as the VP of Global Digital Marketing at Starbucks and Sir Mix-A-Lot (no joke).

The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at the Showbox SoDo, Seattle.

Through a series of panels and speakers, attendees will be inspired about new technologies, social media, convergence of music and tech, social TV integration, digital strategies and best practices, and more.

Register today. We can’t wait to see you there.

1) Social media week

When: Feb. 13-17, 2012

Social media week returns to New York this year with a fresh look at the impact of social media in driving cultural, political, economic and social change. This years theme is Empowering Change through Collaboration. Keynote speakers include a diverse mix of individuals in the digital media industry as well as the senior advisor for innovation to US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Purchase your tickets and be at the hub of social media activity in NYC.

2) SES conference

When: March 19-23, 2012

Each year, thousands of online marketing professionals attend the SES conference and expo in NY to stay informed about the best online media practices, peruse an exhibition full of services and technology and network with other professionals. The SES provides speaker sessions and workshops that are designed to help online professionals progress in their careers. Some topics that will be covered at this years conference include SEO, mobile local, paid social media and more.

Register before March 2 for early bird pricing.

3) DAM NY

When: May 10-11, 2012

DAM — Digital Asset Management — the art and practice of managing digital media is a two day conference that facilitates a mutual conversation between thought-leaders and attendees through panel sessions, breakout groups, workshops and keynote talks regarding how to best manage digital media. DAM will introduce attendees to the latest technologies, challenges of managing digital media, digital assets in the social media world, brand strategy and more. Click here for a full list of the agenda topics.

Purchase tickets before March 9 for early bird pricing.

4) BlogWorld & new media expo 2012

When: June 5-7, 2012

BlogWorld is an industry-wide trade show and networking event that brings together thousands of social media content contributors to a three day conference that covers topics from latest strategies to distribution and monetization of social media. Attendees will gain insights from industry thought leaders who will impart actionable plans to help business professionals leverage their social media strategies. Keynote sessions include innovative ways to reach new customers and learn how to manage a brand in the digital age.

Reserve your tickets to ensure you don’t miss out on an informative and progressive conference.

5) CE Week 2012

When: June 25-29, 2012

The CEA line show in 2011 brought out the top technology industry innovators to exhibit their latest products and gadgets. Last year’s line up included Intel, LG, Mitsubishi, Monster, etc. This year, the trade show is back as a part of consumer electronic week, a weeklong series of technology-specific events across NYC including the CEA line shows, digital downtown conference and CEA demo suites. This conference draws the biggest audience of journalists, retailers, distributors and market leaders in New York.

With all that being said, is it really worth all those dollars? With the proliferation of social media, ads are now aired in full online before they hit the big screen on game day. If the majority of the audience has already seen the commercials, do brands and companies need to spend the millions of dollars in airing it during the big game?

Moreover, with online media, campaigns and advertisements experience a much longer shelf life. In the past, once the commercials aired, that was it – no revisiting or replaying, no sharing. Now, with the popularity of social media and the ever-growing online video platform YouTube, advertisements live on for days, months, and even years. As such, the success of an ad relies not only on the viewership on game-day, but on the virality of the ad – How many times was it viewed? How many times was it mentioned on Twitter? How many shares did it receive?

In recent years, some of the most successful ad campaigns relied on social media. Nike’s “Write The Future” ad aired during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and relied on a heavy social media/viral push in the months leading up to the championship game. In a twist of convention, Nike isn’t an official sponsor of FIFA World Cup – Adidas is. According to statistics from Wieden+Kennedy (the agency that produced the campaign), Nike generated 40 million + online views of their 3-minute spot, 1.9 billion impressions on Facebook, and their Facebook Fan Page experienced an increase of 336 per cent in Likes. Above all that, Nike captured 30 per cent of the brand buzz – double that of Adidas.

From Dave Thier of Forbes: “A stat like $3.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime may see a serious hit in the future as advertisers realize that the internet can yield just as big an audience as football without having to go through NBC.”

Below, we take a look at some of the 2012 Super Bowl advertisements that have been generating buzz in the past few weeks and offer our own critique of their potential success and virality:

Honda CR-V: Matthew Broderick “Matthew’s Day Off”

Car manufacturers will appear to be taking over our television sets this weekend as commercial after commercial will be turbocharged and performance-inspired. Honda is releasing their newest model of the CR-V and hoping to take us back to our days of bowl cuts and Club Monaco sweaters. Using the clever appeal of the ever popular ‘80s movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the commercial stars Matthew Broderick as he takes a day off from his acting responsibilities. The commercial revisits memorable scenes from the movie and even ties in a Chinese New Year angle.

For a social tie-in, Honda has a Leap List Facebook app on their Page encouraging users to create a bucket list of activities they want to complete during the leap year. Nothing to note on Twitter besides their official hashtag: #dayoff.

• Our take: Is it memorable? No, there’s nothing humourous or riské and nothing to drive us to pass it on to our friends. Moreover, the entire ad spot has been aired online. Viral success? The ad has been on YouTube for four days and it already has nearly 434,000 views. Chances of me taking a bathroom break when this spot airs on game day? 100 per cent.

Volkswagen: “The Bark Side”

Volkswagen is given top marks in my books for not revealing the entire ad prior to the big game – you’re paying millions of dollars for a 60-second spot, take advantage of it. By producing a commercial for their commercial, VW cleverly leaves us wanting more by peaking our curiousity for what’s to come. The fan favourite The Force from last year’s Super Bowl was a huge hit that attracted nearly 50 million views online and this year VW builds on that with their The Bark Side commercial for a commercial. The dogs bark through Darth Vader’s theme, a.k.a. The Imperial Death March, and that’s it.

• Our take: Unlike the other car commercials we touch on in this post, there isn’t even a hint of a car or a mention of horsepower in this commercial and, ultimately, that’s what the Super Bowl viewer wants: to be entertained. VW gets top marks because they don’t reveal the actual advertisement online, leaving us curious and wanting to view more. Proof of their success: the teaser already has over 10 million hits on YouTube. Above all that, who doesn’t love cute dogs?

Hyundai

As if we weren’t getting enough of car advertisements, Hyundai decides to hit us with five advertisements on game day. Five. The theme of the advertisements is performance and follows a very patriotic American theme. From a man performing chest compressions on his unconscious boss and the stars and stripes forever, to a racing cheetah and the Rocky theme song, the commercials, according to Inside Line (and we couldn’t agree more), are “all over the map creatively.” Of the five commercials, the only one that has Super Bowl potential is the “All For One” ad that scored the coveted pre-kick time slot. With the Rocky theme song and over 200 “actual” Hyundai team members, the ad provides a decent mix of random humour and pop culture appeal.

• Our take: Hyundai should have saved the tens of millions of dollars spent on the five ads. There is little to no social media back-up except for a handful of Facebook video posts and tweets. Their only possible saving grace is the “All For One” spot.

Coca-Cola: the polar bears

The Coca-Cola polar bears are throwing a game day party and they want us to join! Viewing from the comforts of their “snowfa”, the bears will be streamed live on the Coke Polar Bowl microsite and Coca-Cola is encouraging fans to RSVP to the party.

Coca-Cola is appealing to the nostalgia of the brand and bringing out the bears that we have all come to know, love, and associate with the brand. During the game, Coca-Cola will roll out two ads: a 30-second spot in the first quarter introducing the bears and a 60-second second quarter ad that will be a game-time call depending on how the game unfolds on the real-life field.

Moreover, Coca-Cola smartly extends the campaign across digital and mobile with the Coke Polar Bowl microsite. On game day, a live-stream will show the bears on their snowfa, allowing fans to chat with them live during the game. Additionally, rich-media banners will show the bears reacting to the game and the commercials as they play out. Twitter and Facebook will see Coca-Cola writing notes to fans and sending out clips extracted from the live stream. For a social good touch, Coke has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and is donating $1 to every event RSVP on Facebook.

• Our take: The ads themselves aren’t memorable. While they are cute and have a nostalgic appeal, there’s nothing there to encourage anyone to share it or watch it more than once. Additionally, the ad doesn’t appeal to the target audience – online interactions seem more appealing to younger children than to 18-34 year old men noshing on hot wings and beer. Coca-Cola’s success will lie in their strong social media tie-in with the microsite and the live-stream.

H&M: David Beckham underwear line

In the ad’s YouTube description, H&M claims that he is “sporting various pieces from the new collection.” I don’t know about you, but I really only see one piece.

• Our take: Sex appeal. Done.

Within 15 mins I had made up my mind to buy something at Coach and not something small — something of significance — for the person I love the most in my life. I’d never purchased anything at Coach before. I didn’t even know where the nearest store was, but my decision was made and it took less time than most gift buying decisions I’ve made.

This is an incredible story for any brand, nonetheless a brand I wasn’t familiar with, had no affinity for, and generally associated with high school. For the Christmas 2011 I used Pinterest in a way that helped to make my life unbelievably easy and my girlfriend unbelievably happy simply by shopping for her directly from her Pinterest account.

Pinterest is hot — seriously hot.

From VentureBeat “The still-invite-only, one year-old digital pin-board site attracted nearly 11 million visitors in the week ending Dec. 17, according to data intelligence company Hitwise. Hitwise counts Pinterest as one of the top 10 websites in the social networking and forums category.”

Top 10 is actually being disingenuous. Pinterest actually falls in as the #7 social networking website, ahead of the likes of Google+ and Tumblr. That along with $37 mil in the coffers means that investors get it and so do a large number of interneters.

But like most new platforms, brands have been slow to get involved. And this is surprising because Pinterest is ripe for brands — it’s a collection of beautiful/interesting/desired things that get captured, collected, shared and ultimately bought. It’s a crowd-sourced consumer magazine at its best. Pinterest’s pages look just like those of major catalogues, something I’m sure Pinterest re-purposed on, well, purpose. Pinterest was created for the ADD mind of the Internet, for the scrollers of blogs and for those that always called themselves visual learners when we we’re growing up.

But Pinterest is more than just a social website — it’s a place to discover the wants of an individual. Facebook gives you their life story, Twitter tells you what they are doing right now but Pinterest tells you what they want their house to look like, where they want to go for vacation and even what recipe they want to make for dinner. Once brands figure this out and create strategy to tap into this huge trove of knowledge, it’s game on.

Brands everywhere are going to quickly begin to take notice to Pinterest, but those that figure out why people love the platform will be the ones that succeed the quickest. Happy pinning!