This past Sunday, Chris and I attended the Hamilton Hive‘s first annual Hive X conference at the Sheridan Hotel in downtown Hamilton. Bringing young professionals, from all over the city, together to discuss Hamilton’s future for business and creative development, the day started off bright and early but was full of great conversations and seminars.

Some highlights included Ryan McGreal and Peter Topalovic‘s workshop on Transportation. McGreal and Topalovic discussed the importance of urbanization and looked at Hamilton’s streets both past and present. After comparing Hamilton’s transportation to other cities around the world, they opened up the floor for discussion. The room was buzzing as the audience talked of the importance of Light Rail Transit, making Hamilton more walkable and connecting the upper and lower city.

In the afternoon, we attended Ryan Moran’s talk on youth retainment and attraction. The room was similarly abuzz with discussion.

kitestring’s friend and popular social media and technology expert, Amber MacArthur, spoke during the lunch time keynote. Amber Mac’s charming presentation had the audience thinking about their use of social media to leverage online success. Highly entertaining, Amber Mac even mentioned kitestring in her presentation! Such a pleasant surprise!

You can read more about Hive X and Amber MacArthur at The Hamilton Spectator. Overall, it felt great to be a part of many valuable discussions and in a room full of like-minded people – you could almost feel Hamilton changing at the tip of your finger tips.

It’s been a busy fall here at the studio. Many new branding projects!. So much so, we haven’t had time to update our portfolio. Sad face alert. : ( But it’s in the works. We thought we would give you a sneak preview on some of the brands we have been crafting. Take a look at some of the logo identities below. More updates to come! Happy face alert. : D

Before working at kitestring, I went to school for theatre. Now I find the balance of work and play by participating in community theatre groups such as Black Box Fire. I’ve recently cowritten and directed a show, with my friend Jessica Perkins, for BBF called Death of a Rollercoaster.

Death of a Rollercoaster is a comedic (we hope!) ensemble piece about the last day of a wooden roller coaster, The Great Canadian Grizzly. Set in 1988 at Beaver Tail Island Amusement Park, the show follows Gus, the parks longest standing employee and roller coaster operator/repair man, as he struggles to let go of his favourite ride in the park. Along the way, he meets bizzaro riders and other park employees who are forced to reflect on what the ride means to them. To some, it is a mere heap of wood and steel. To others, it is much more. Through the characters, the play explores the infinite possibilities of a product’s use value.

Working with Black Box Fire has brought many groups and ideas together that may have not flourished in other theatre groups. Jessica and I have a theatre philosophy based on the foundation of community and collaboration. BBF has allowed for this philosophy to grow as so many unexpected people have stepped forward to help us out. It never ceases to amaze me how the Hamilton theatre community will simply volunteer their time and thoughts to make a small idea into something so much more. This is what makes Hamilton and community theatre so special – groups in Hamilton, such as BBF, bring people together and enable ideas to happen just for the heck of it! So if you decide to see our production for any reason, let that reason simply be to join us in a celebration of community, friends and effortlessly belonging.

Death of a Rollercoaster opens a week today! It runs on July 7, 8 and 9 at 8pm each night and 2pm on the Saturday at Hamilton Theatre Inc. (140 MacNab St. N). It’s a part of a special Original Works Double Bill Night with Enter Alice! For more information please visit the Black Box Fire website!

Poster by Justin Nusca

Every time we work with Mabel’s Labels our portfolio of awesome, fun work grows a little. That’s because these ladies know how to do it up right when it comes to online communications. The newest edition to this list is the video below for the Mabel’s Labels BlogHer’11 Non-Contest. Check it out…

From conceptual development, script writing, art direction and even acting, we had a blast working on this project. If you think you have what it takes to enter (it’s not that hard really) click here, join the facebook page and give it a go.

BIG thank you to Fenian Films for their awesome videography! You guys rock! : D

Welcome to Hamilton! Home to some of the coolest green festivals, projects, businesses and peeps. After reading this Spectator article it’s no wonder that something like this is happening in our city. This Wednesday, April 13, is the kick-off of Hamilton’s 4th Annual EcoScene Film & Arts Festival. This festival raises awareness of environmental issues through critically acclaimed films, as well as bringing together local photographers, visual artists and environmental experts. This “first-of-its-kind” eco-arts festival aims to educate people on global environmental concerns and inspire people to become actively involved in the solutions. Purchase your tickets to the screening of David Suzuki’s FORCE of NATURE here. So excited! See you on Wednesday!

There’s nothing like the smell of career speed-dating in the morning. Yesterday at the 2011 Communication Studies and Multimedia Networking Breakfast, students were hungry for a taste of what its like to work in the industry. And for those students who’s worst fear would be having to ask, “Would you like fries with that?” this means serious business and serious questions. I tried my best to tell each table everything I knew about how I nabbed a gig at kitestring almost two years ago. I also emphasized that not all jobs are created equal; and that there’s a lot to say about good fitting workplace culture and the other professionals you’ll be sharing it with.  It reminded me how far I’ve come since leaving school and how lucky I am to work with such amazing strategic thinkers who have become the best creative comrades anyone could ask for!

This year, keynote speaker Steve Levy, President of Ipsos Reid Canada, shared his passion for market and advertising research (cool!) while posing the question, “Will change screw you?” This question was really an opener to caution students about the importance of staying on top of ever-changing digital, social and interactive trends as a way to get ahead in their careers. I loved how these points were echoed by Denis Dyack, President of Silicon Knights, who challenged us to own our smartphones without letting them outsmart our ability to manage our own down-time. Nicely played.

Thanks for inviting me, McMaster! #alumnirepresent

The Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC) and kitestring are offering up a smorgasbord of branding expertise in three delicious picnic sessions. These three sessions run on February 9, February 16 and February 23 from 5:00 to 8:00pm. The first session, “Gathering Ingredients”, will help you understand how to properly assemble your own brand and learn a fresh philosophy about how to communicate through social media. Second you’ll need to get “In the Kitchen” and define your brand online using the ingredients you’ve gathered. And lastly, your brand will go “To Market, To Market” by collectively developing a fully integrated campaign platform that engages your brand’s target audience through social media. Join in on the (educational) fun by pre-registering with the SBEC by calling 905.540.6400 or send them an email at mail@hamiltonsmallbusiness.ca.

In Episode Three of Shoot the $#!T, Chris and his brother, Marc, blow up the kitestring printer.

Check out older episodes:

It’s no secret the each of us at kitestring truly loves coming to work each day. We continually meet new folks that present new challenges to our team. Whether it being launching a new company, product or campaign – we’re always excited to take on the challenge presented and develop the ideas to bring it to life in the most intelligent, strategic and creative way possible.

Intelligent. Strategic. Creative . Wow, big words, aren’t they? It’s hard to appreciate just how big these words appear when the team sits down to brainstorm ideas for a new project and face a blank white board.

Sometimes, it’s just not easy to come up with ideas on demand. Sometimes, it’s hard to be creative on the spot. And, sometimes, you just need to accept just that “now’s just not the time” and  be okay with walking away and trying again…and again…and again.

Our best ideas rarely surface during the first brainstorming session. It often comes from a random piece of an idea that hits one of us in the strangest of places – the shower, in the car, the waking thought that drags us out of bed to jot down a few notes.

You always know it’s going to be a good day when someone comes flying in, excited to share the thought that hit them.  That’s when magic starts to happen. Energy rises, momentum builds and soon, the ideas are endless and we end with something that’s Intelligent, Strategic and Creative.

It’s always really exciting the share a new creative concept with our client. It’s a lot of fun to infuse the idea into different pieces of collateral and see it enter the marketplace.

It’s always the point when we discuss adding our ‘latest and greatest’ to our portfolio that we sit back as a team and reminisce about the day the idea was born. It almost seems to be a shame to only be able to showcase the finished product – after all, it’s the process of developing the idea that always proves to be the most challenging and rewarding part of what we do.

If an idea is what you need, kitestring is where you’ll find it. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be served up immediately but, I can ensure you that when it’s ready it’ll be Intelligent, Strategic and Creative – and, we’ll have a lot of fun getting there!

kitestring wants you to grab your hat, trowel, watering can and boots because we’d like to introduce you to our newest pro-bono brand, Sprout Summer Growing Camp. This down-to-earth day camp will get the kids in our community back to nature with lots of exciting activities. Everyone knows that the easiest way for us to learn is through hands-on fun and that’s exactly what kids will get when they attend Sprout. Campers will spend lots of time outside making eco-conscious crafts, playing educational games, getting their hands dirty in organic teaching gardens, going on green culinary adventures, learning about the big “sustainability” word and lots more! Sprout Camp sessions run from the beginning of July to mid-August for kids ages 4 to 13 years old. To register a camper visit www.sproutcamp.ca or send Sprout leader Kelly an email at getgrowing@sproutcamp.ca. Have a buggy, muddy and veggie filled summer at Sprout Summer Growing Camp!