Microlending, Social Media, Payback Periods, and Investing in the Developing World

October 05, 2009 - Jordan Willms

Work at Play is always thinking about making money =) That is -- helping out partners optimize their web presence, monetizing their digital content, and getting quick payback periods on any investment. Helping our partners make money through online channels is part of who we are. We also care about being socially responsible -- not only locally but to the world. So it is only fitting that we love kiva.org.

Work at Play Sponsoring and Attending Vancouver BarCamp 2009

October 02, 2009 - Jordan Willms

Work at Play is excited to be attending BarCamp 2009 Vancouver this year (and also to be one of the great sponsors of this event).

Knowledge Partners with Work at Play to Develop New Website

September 30, 2009 - Jordan Willms

Burnaby, B.C. – Knowledge has selected Vancouver digital agency Work at Play to design and develop its new website Knowledge.ca. “Knowledge.ca will provide an interactive experience that is delightful and useful, connecting British Columbians to their world in new ways,” says Rudy Buttignol, President and CEO of Knowledge. “We hope to inspire users to take what they discover and ‘Pass It On’ to friends, colleagues, and family throughout the province.”

Rocky Mountain Bicycles Announces New 2010 Website

September 29, 2009 - Jordan Willms

Rocky Mountain Bicycles, maker of premium performance bicycles since 1981, is pleased to announce the launch of its new website. The launch coincides with the launch of Rocky Mountain’s 2010 lineup at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How to Convince Your Boss that Drupal is Better than Proprietary CMS?

September 24, 2009 - Jordan Willms

In large organizations, convincing your boss or department or project to use Drupal can sometimes be met with resistance. This following table has been instrumental in convincing decision makers regarding why Drupal (and by extension open source) is leaps and bounds better than proprietary content management systems (CMSs).

Announcing BC Children’s Hospital Foundation's New Interactive Fundraising Campaign

July 23, 2009 - Jordan Willms

We at Work at Play and Social Signal are thrilled to announce BC Children’s Hospital Foundation's new interactive fund raising campaign. Work at Play and Social Signal partnered to create the Facebook application as well as a personalized video landing page: http://superhero.bcchf.ca/. Go check it out now, install it on Facebook and Donate!!!

Unity 3D TGIF & Workshop July 24th, 2009

July 21, 2009 - Jordan Willms

Work at Play is excited to be sponsoring and attending this upcoming not-to-be-missed event for Unity developers, those wanting to learn about Unity, and those looking to network and socialize with like-minded gaming folks. To celebrate the launch of the Vancouver Chapter of Unity Users Group, dimeRocker.com in partnership with Unity Technologies invites all local game, web, and iPhone developers to a premiere industry Unity Networking TGIF followed the next day by a Unity Skills Workshop.

Help! SPAM Filters Won't Let Me Credit My Client Money!!!

July 09, 2009 - Jordan Willms

So get this: Our accountant did half-year reporting and found that one of our clients overpaid us by a few thousand dollars on one of their invoices. Naturally, I sent them an email offering them a few options for how to proceed:

• A cheque for the balance, or
• Some work that I knew they needed done, which would be slightly higher than what they overpaid (call it interest owed on our parts), or
• A credit that they could use for any of our services, be it strategy, user experience, web design, or web development.

And wouldn't you know it, I've tried 6 different versions of the email and I keep getting the dreaded "Undeliverable Mail" from their postmaster. Here is the message I keep getting:

The mail server for XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.com does not accept E-mail that fails the WEIGHT17 spam test.

I cannot find any Google search results for "WEIGHT17 spam test". I am assuming I must have received 17 "points" off for a bunch of "shady" elements in my emails. I tried removing URLs, dollar signs ($$$) and the word "offer" but to no avail -- it keeps getting bounced. If anyone knows what the WEIGHT17 spam test is I'd love to hear it. I will keep at it. I am determined to beat this SPAM filter. Man - the hoops a guy has to jump through to give his client some $$$. I'm not selling Viagra after all. So to all the SPAM filter makers out there, please take note, sometimes offers of free money ($$$) over email really do exist. P.S. I am not afraid to pick up the phone, I am just being stubborn on this one :)

Our website is being "flattered": Should we open source it?

June 30, 2009 - Jordan Willms

Lately, the Work at Play website has been getting plenty of kudos and "inspiring" plenty of interesting imitation, including a couple of sites from India and Turkey. We believe imitation is the purest form of flattery, so actually everyone in the office is quite flattered.

The Three Drupal Commandments

May 26, 2009 - Jordan Willms

It is not as if these were passed down from Mount Sinai, but they are still pretty darn important for any Drupal based project or website.

Here are the three commandments that govern any work that our teams do with Drupal. Doing so increases quality, and minimizes costs (something that we know our partners appreciate in this economic climate).