Earlier this week, Armadillo Studios had the pleasure of launching the redesign of the Alpha House Society web site. The Alpha House Society is a critical organization within the fabric of Calgary’s non-profit ecosystem, which provides safe and caring environments for individuals whose lives are affected by alcohol and other drug dependencies. The team at Alpha House does amazing work within the community and as a company it was an absolute pleasure to work them on this great project. And while I’m excited to announce the launching of their new online identity, what I’m really looking forward to is to seeing them bolster their online presence over the coming months.

With the launch of Alpha House’s new web site, I started thinking about all the non-profit and charitable organizations that Armadillo has had the pleasure to work with over the past few years. Given that non-profits and local charities are one of Armadillo Studio’s favourite clientele, I figured it would be a great time to showcase some of the great project’s that Armadillo has had the pleasure of on working over the past little while.

So with out further delay, please find below a list of the projects we’ve worked on over the past few years.

• The redesign of the INHOUSE Society Web Site (2015)
• The redesign of the National Cattle Feeders Association (2015)
• The design and development of the GiveToGrow Campaign Web Site (2015)
• The redesign of the Place2Give Foundation Web Site and additional Ux/UI development (2013-2015)
• The 2014 YMCA Calgary Annual Report interactive web site (2014)
• The Calgary Seniors Walk Web Site (2013-2014)
• The Canadian Legacy Project (2011-2015)

Working with local non-profits and charities to help them improve their online presence and social media clout is an absolute pleasure. For many organizations the biggest issues in regards to their communication plan revolves around creating a unique and professional online presence with a limited set of resources to help tell their story. So given the economic uncertainty in the city at the moment, if you are a non-profit or local charity looking to create a unique online identity get in touch today.

For the second straight year, Armadillo Studios Inc., was a not only a sponsor of Calgary WordCamp 2015, but one of the co-organizers. This year’s edition of Calgary WordCamp set a new standard for the WordCamp community, with a sold out crowd of 150 attendees, a packed after party and three solid streams of in depth WordPress content for users of all background.

It was a great pleasure to be apart of WordCamp 2015 and to see the WordPress community continue to foster in our energetic city. The entire organizing committee is ecstatic at the reception we received from the community this year and are incredibly thankful to all our sponsors, volunteers and speakers who made WordCamp Calgary 2015 the best one yet.

We’re all planning to take a few weeks off to reenergize, but we’re looking forward to make WordCamp 2016 even better. Stay tuned.

It goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of WordPress. Not only is WordPress Armadillo’s core speciality and go to Content Management System (CMS), but it is also one of the easiest to use, intuitive and powerful tools out there for creating robust web sites. So it is with great pleasure that I get to announce that not only is Armadillo Studios a sponsor of WordCamp Calgary 2014 on June 14th, but I am also one of the core co-organizers of this year’s edition.

If you’re unfamiliar with WordCamp Calgary, here’s a bit of an intro into the event.

WordCamp Calgary 2014 is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. This year’s edition is planned for June 14th at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

This year’s conference is not only dedicated to celebrating the growing WordPress community in Calgary, but looking at how we can push WordPress to being more than just a “blogging tool”. Through a series of sessions, panels, hands-on workshops and events we are aiming to help grow the WordPress community in the city. This year’s one-day conference is jam-packed with great content for a wide spectrum of WordPress users – from content editors all the way to hard-core coders.

There is something for everyone at WordCamp Calgary 2014.

So if you interested in attending WordCamp Calgary and helping to build the great WordPress community in the city, make sure you register today!

Last summer the City of Calgary was hit by the worst flooding of the Bow and Elbow rivers in over a 100 years. At the epicentre of this devastation was the Mission neighbourhood, an area of the city that I grew up in as a wee lad. to say that the devastation to the area was heart breaking would be a bit of an understatement.

Out of this disaster the people of Calgary banded together to rebuild the various communities along the two rivers. During this time period, The Mission Possible Foundation was formed. Tirelessly throughout the weeks and months after the floods, the foundation worked to help organize volunteers to help rebuild flood ravaged homes of the Mission and Fourth street area.

So it is with great pleasure that I had the opportunity to work with the Mission Possible Board to launch the redesign of the foundation’s WordPress powered web site. Using the ever popular flat ui design aesthetic, this mobile responsive site provides a simple yet fluid online foundation to advertise and promote the group’s ongoing work in the community. Since the site is leveraging the always powerful WordPress CMS, volunteers and board members can easily keep supporters up to speed on the latest news, events and fundraising campaigns.

While building a web site is only a minor cog in the ongoing task of rebuilding these neighbourhoods, it was an absolute pleasure to work with such a great group of passionate people. I wish the foundation all the best in the upcoming months as they continue to help the flood ravished communities of Southern Alberta and Calgary get back on track.

A few months ago, good friends of mine were all a buzz about a new project that was making the rounds of the Calgary social network-o-sphere called “Grow Calgary”:http://www.growcalgary.com.

From the brainchild of Calgary-based food advocate “Paul Hughes”:http://paulin8.blogspot.ca/, Grow Calgary’s goal is to take unused provincial land and through the generosity of Calgarians “transform it into 100,000 pounds of fresh vegetables for the cities’ less fortunate”:http://www.growcalgary.ca/. To say it is an ambitious plan is an understatement, but if there is a city that could pull it off, Calgary is the one. (Read More…)