Armadillo Studios Inc.

Armadillo’s Visit to Coworkyyc

Earlier in January, I had the wonderful pleasure to finally go and visit Calgary’s only Coworking Office – “CoWorkyyc”:http://www.coworkyyc.com/.

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For those unfamiliar with the concept of Coworking, it is essentially a shared office environment which individuals (or small businesses) can rent out in monthly or daily rates. It’s a collective place which allows small businesses and individuals to move away from the isolating confides of their living rooms to a shared space with like minded individuals. The concept is not new by any stretch of the imagination, but it is becoming quite a “popular trend for consultants, freelancers and up and coming tech companies”:http://www.canadianbusiness.com/managing/employees/article.jsp?content=20100426_10026_10026.

!http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5488201896_a71eb97f02.jpg!

As mentioned, after numerous failed attempts, I finally got the opportunity to visit CoWorkyyc in the heart of Inglewood’s growing design and technology centre. Two of three owners, Quienton and Jeff, were my hosts for the day and showed me around the operation. After talking with them for much of the day and spending a very productive day of work, I was throughly impressed. I have been a major supporter of the project since I heard about it’s inception, but had never had the chance to check it out.

Luckily everything lived up to it’s billing and more.

The CoWorkycc office is a warm and inviting space with a bevy of open desks near the front. Near the back a selection of more private spaces for some of the more long term tenants are available. Nestled in a corner at the at the front is a comfortable round-table, which is perfect for that all important client meeting or conference call. At the very back of the space is a kitchen containing the critical coffee machine and a private shower, for those looking to bike to the office. And last but not least, a trip to CoWorkyyc wouldn’t be the same with out admiring the fantastic paint job which adorns the brickwalls. _You may need to ask Quienton and Jeff, about that portion of the tour_.

!http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5488201854_808e5eaf02.jpg!

Anyways, if you haven’t had the opportunity to check out CoWorkyyc or just looking to find a productive work space, please do get in touch “Jeff and the rest of the team”:http://www.coworkyyc.com/start/, you definitely won’t regret it.

The yycApps Projects Gets Some Exposure

It’s been quite the week here at Armadillo Studios, as our beloved pet project – “yycApps.com”:http://www.yycapps.com received an incredible amount of local exposure over the past 7 days.

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It all started about a week ago with a six minute interview on CBC Calgary’s the Homestrech with David Grey. We had a great conversation on the blossoming community in Calgary and I was able to feature some great local apps. (“click here to hear the full interview”:http://www.cbc.ca/homestretch/episode/2011/01/04/apps/)

Next, yycapps had a feature segment on last night’s edition of GlobalTV’s 6:00pm news. In which, we briefly talked with Tony Tighe about the project and also showcased our friends from TapForms and also Broken Kings. (See the segment below and fast forward to the 23:55 mark)

It’s been an exciting week for the yycapps project and we look forward to seeing how the project continues to grow.

The Procrastination Equation: A New Book and An Exciting New Redesign

In conjunction with the launch of his new book, *The Procrastination Equation*, Team Armadillo is incredibly excited to showcase the new online home of “Dr. Piers Steel”:http://webapps2.ucalgary.ca/~steel/.

Dr. Steel is one of the world’s foremost researchers and speakers on the science of motivation and procrastination. Towards the end of last year, Dr. Steel approached Armadillo Studios to see if we could help him update and transform his personal web site. He was looking to not only promote his upcoming book, but to also create a new venue to create an ongoing dialogue about Procrastination.

Using our extensive knowledge of the WordPress CMS, we set about redesigning a brand new site for Piers. This new site, which was launched a little under a month ago, is quickly becoming an exciting new resource for everything related to Procrastination.

Not only does the site feature Pier’s new book, but it also provides a wealth of innovative features to enhance the user experience. From a Facebook integrated version of the ever-popular “The Measure My Procrastination Survey”:http://webapps2.ucalgary.ca/~steel/the-procrastinus-survey/ to the inclusion of two site skins to showcase both the _American_ and _Canadian_ editions of the book; this new site is designed to push the envelop of the standard _literary_ web site.

We wish Pier’s all the best with the big book launch this week and we look forward to the continued evolution of “procrastinus.com”:http://www.procrastinus.com.

Team Armadillo vs. The Canadian Blog Awards

We hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving (or Columbus Day) long weekend. We know we sure did.

So to start this newly minted shortened week off, Team Armadillo is proud to announce that *three of our blog projects* are now nominated for “Canadian Blog Awards”:http://cdnba.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/blog-awards-round-1-voting-has-begun/.

Yes, *Glutastic.com*, *Mike’s Bloggity Blog*, and *The Review Crew* are all nominated for Canadian blog awards. For those unfamiliar the “Canadian Blog Awards”:http://cdnba.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/blog-awards-round-1-voting-has-begun/, they are a fan driven national award and are a bit of a big deal in the Canadian Blogging world.

As a company, we know that these great sites are driven by some fantastic content, but we also feel a little proud that our aesthetics could be that little something _extra_ that pushes them into the upper echelon of the Canadian Blogosphere.

So congratulations to all three of these great sites and make sure you give them a vote. The first round of voting ends on *October 17th, 2010*. Use the clicks below to jump straight to the polls.

* Glutastic.com – “Best Creative Activities Blog 2010 (Art, Crafts, Cooking, Photography, etc)”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3900688/
* MikesBloggityBlog.com “Best Blog 2010”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3900571/ & “Best Pop Culture Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3901042/
* TheReviewCrew.com “Best Blog 2010”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3900571/ & “Best Science & Tech Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3901075/

So if you have a moment, please give these great members of the Armadillo Family your support.

Are You There Social Media? It’s Me Conflict!

Last year around this time, I was luckily enough to be asked by “Alex Lemanski”:http://www.bitfyre.net/, of bitfyre fame, to partake in a panel proposal for SXSW 2010 on the meat and bones of freelancing called “Leave Your Job, Start An Agency”:http://blog.armadillostudios.ca/article/leave-your-job-start-an-agency. A year later and after a very well received SXSW panel, I am fortunate enough once again to be asked to partake in another panel proposal for SXSW 2010 called “Are You There Social Media? It’s Me Conflict!”:http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/7784

*Are You There Social Media? It’s Me Conflict* is going to be a no holds barred discussion on Social Media and it’s current role in Global Conflict. Everyone knows that social media is the _golden child_ of marketing and it’s impact on local and international business have been beaten to death, but what, if anything, is Social Media doing in the realm of International Conflict? What are the positive changes that have been implemented? Or are we looking at it’s role with rose-coloured industry glasses and maybe everything isn’t turning up as _sunshine and lollipops_ as it seems.

It’s going to be an incredibly interesting panel conversation and it’ll bring together a pretty interesting team. Including, (obviously myself):

* “Caitlin Currie”:http://www.nonresidentalien.ca – A rogue academic, a Masters Candidate at the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR), George Mason University and a contributing member of Techchange.org.
* “Lyndsie Bourgon”:http://www.lyndsiebourgon.com/tagged/portfolio – A freelance journalist who has been published in King’s Journalism Review, The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star and Canadian Business.
* “Nick Martin”:http://www.techchange.org/index.php?/About-Us/meet-the-team.html – Who is the co-founder and president of TechChange and is a visiting professor at the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE).

It’s going to be quite the heated and diverse conversation, *but this is where we need your help!* if you’ve got a second and do plan on attending “SXSW’11 in Austin, please log on to the panel picker”:http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/7784 and give our panel a big thumbs-up. *Voting closes on August 27th*, so be quick.