Last week, Penguin Books UK released the sensational new thriller “I Am Number Four,” the first release in a trailblazing new science fiction series, The Lorien Legacies. Together with Penguin, the principals of digital creative agency Ralph are proud to announce the launch of “The Legacy Test” online at www.iamnumberfour.co.uk. A complete news release on the project, featuring input from Ashley Wilks, Head of Digital Marketing and Websites for Penguin, and Chris Hassell, Ralph’s co-founder and creative director, is available here.
In 2008, global creative agency ATTIK and Scion launched the “United By Individuality” branding campaign. The agency recently produced this case study encapsulation above. Links to additional campaign information appear below.
I recently reconnected with my close friend and business colleague Peter Hansen. Over the past several years, Peter has been closely involved with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, AB Canada. Having served as the institution’s Chair, Digital Media Design, since 2002, then as Chair Digital Media and IT, since 2009, earlier this year he returned to his private consultancy, Plasmechanica Media Design. I peppered him with some questions about his experiences with NAIT, which he kindly anwers below.
There’s a lot to love about PepsiCo’s commitment in America to the Pepsi Refresh Project, which is set to give away more than $20 million in 2010 to “refresh the world, one idea at a time.” PepsiCo has vowed to award over $1 million in grants each month to U.S.-based ideas with the most public votes, with up to 1,000 new ideas accepted each month. I was just asked to look into making a submission, and in doing some homework, I’ve gained a lot of admiration for this thoughtful initiative, inviting Americans to plead the case for a real-world need — or even a dream — with seemingly a very real opportunity to win financial support on some level. While hoping this might eventually become more of an international effort, I invite those now eligible to join me every day in visiting the site and using our 10 daily votes to help along our favorite ideas.
As for the ideas themselves, we can fire away, seeking $5k up to $250k for one idea per month, where you can change your monthly submission even after submitting, and if you don’t win this month, you can resubmit next month. There are five categories: Health, Arts and Culture, Food and Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.
The official website www.refresheverything.com provides this toolkit for developing your idea, along with a wealth of information, including key dates, what to expect and how to follow-up before, during and after submitting, and many other inspiring case studies of ideas submitted to date. You may also be interested in this April story detailing the latest winners, as well as the project’s blog.
Huge thanks to Earth Day LA‘s Jim Stewart, Ph.D., for these insights for continuing to make positive impacts through our day-to-day activities… and to my inspirational buddy Kacy Palmieri, who has worked with Earth Day LA for the past several years, for passing along Jim’s sage advice. Read more
Our children are students at Two Rivers Community School (TRCS), a North Carolina public charter school. Established only five years ago, to our eyes, this innovative, ambitious academic experiment has already delivered many amazing results. At TRCS, our kids and some 250 others are enjoying a rare learning curriculum uniquely integrating a pioneering expeditionary learning approach with advanced brain-compatible instructional strategies also known as educational kinesiology or Brain Gym. Focused on teamwork, community and the pursuit of shared academic and character-improvement goals, TRCS students and faculty-members are contributing to society by learning more everyday about the world, their community and themselves as individuals. Despite the excellence in faculty and curriculum development, Read more
In honor of World Water Day, it’s my pleasure to share this video that takes a hard look at the bottled water industry and proposes some simple and powerful alternative ideas that can greatly impact the Earth, our communities, and our pocketbooks. For more information, please visit http://storyofbottledwater.org. Read more
I am joining with legions of others around the world today to honor women for all they are and all they do as the greatest and most powerful force on Planet Earth. Mine will not be a lengthy tribute, but I do want to point up some of the amazing resources I’ve found that are providing different perspectives on the achievements of women, and some of the biggest challenges faced by many of them. Read more
At an early age, I decided I was going to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I also took a strong interest in filmmaking, and being very ambitious, by the time I was 20 years old, I developed a clear vision of myself as novelist and filmmaker. While I have made great strides on achieving those dreams over the years, I must admit that I have a long way to go in seeing them through; nonetheless, those dreams have driven me into situations that I never would have imagined, and while I’ve not yet fully accomplished those missions, I feel very fortunate to have progressed as far as I have.
By pursuing the opportunies that have come my way over the years and applying my talents, my writing achievements and my reputation for success have opened many doors. One of them opened in the early 90s when a young Orlando filmmaker named Bill Waxler decided he wanted to produce and direct a 16mm short film based on something I’d written. Delving into my past experiences, I wrote a script for a dramatic short which I entitled “Bumper Crop,” and in that story Read more
A creative play space for families, and a powerful force for community goodness in Boone, North Carolina, USA
After helping my wife Beth Darnell, and her sister Ann Kiefert, their comrade Kathy Parham, and many others from our then-new hometown of Boone, North Carolina, open The Children’s Playhouse in November of 2002, I am very proud to see how Kathy has led the venture in countless ways which continue adding precious dimensions to our community. The video featured here was produced by our friend Beth Jacquot in 2003, and much has happened since then. I invite you to visit the official site www.GoPlayhouse.org and explore the Facebook group, and I also wanted to share news from a recent event that reveals a lot about our community, and Kathy. Read more
Last week, Penguin Books UK released the sensational new thriller “I Am Number Four,” the first release in a trailblazing new science fiction series, The Lorien Legacies. Together with Penguin, the principals of digital creative agency Ralph are proud to announce the launch of “The Legacy Test” online at www.iamnumberfour.co.uk. A complete news release on the project, featuring input from Ashley Wilks, Head of Digital Marketing and Websites for Penguin, and Chris Hassell, Ralph’s co-founder and creative director, is available here.
In 2008, global creative agency 
Our children are students at 
www.darnellworks.com
