Today, just this once, we’re dusting off the NSDesign trumpet and giving it a nice long blast. The reason being, we’ve just won the “Best in Value for Money” award at last night’s RAR Awards!

The RAR, or Recommended Agency Register, recognises the best agencies for client service and the awards are distributed to agencies that have been highly rated by their clients. In order to be listed on the register in the first place, agencies must pass a client satisfaction test and the awards are only open to registered agencies.

As the winners of the “Best Value for Money” award, us lucky folk at NSDesign get to enjoy the following:

•    A fancy certificate for the wall
•    A special RAR award winners logo for use in marketing material
•    Promotion on the awards pages of RAR
•    Promotion in awards coverage in The Drum magazine
•    An RAR Awards tag attached to our listing on the RAR site

None of the above perks would be possible, of course, without our clients, who have been kind enough to take time out of their lives to say nice things about us to the good people of RAR. Thank you! I’m glad you enjoy working with us as much as we enjoy working with you.

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The way you phrase your tweets can give away how happy you are – just ask basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, who was today named the ‘happiest tweeter’.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s Business School analysed the postings on Twitter by 13 celebrities, using a computer programme to reveal word patterns that pinpointed underlying emotions. From this, the researchers were able to work out the relative happiness of the celebrities. The most miserable celebrity, apparently, is Snoop Dogg.

Given that emotions clearly come through in tweets, I’ve been pondering how businesses could generate the best emotional response from their audience. Initial results of the analysis show that 80% of the tweets could be divided into just six cognitive categories: communication; time; personality; place; cognition; and “Look”, which according to the researchers is a PR mechanism to direct followers to the places and things the tweeter wants them to focus on.

The study showed a marked difference between political tweets and other celebrity tweets, with the former revealing themselves to be more one-dimensional and less emotional than the latter. Obama and Schwarzenegger tweet constantly about health, while Al Gore has a lot to say on the subject of climate change.

So, how can businesses use the results of this study to their best advantage? I think it boils down to acting more like a celebrity than a politician: make references to a variety of cognitive categories; let your emotions show (to an extent!); and try to vary the subjects you tweet about.

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It’s music to our ears to hear that social media sites are creating more election buzz amongst young people than ever before.

A study published today by Lightspeed Research on behalf of New Media Age showed that 46% of 18-21 year olds are more interested in the election as a direct result of the increased political activity on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

The study also showed that 60% of 18-25 year olds look favourably on political parties who communicate with the electorate through social media and blog sites.

It remains to be seen whether this increased rapport with the young actually results in more votes being cast. The traditional campaign tools – i.e. party political broadcasts on TV and leaflet dropping – are still going strong. In fact, the Lightspeed/ NMA study showed that, notwithstanding the positive reaction to the parties’ campaigning on social media platforms, young people still regarding the traditional TV party political broadcast as the most trustworthy source of information.

Nevertheless, we like to take a glass-half-full approach here at NSDesign and we think it’s fantastic that, for the first time in living memory, young people have a platform on which they can get involved in the debate and discussion that surrounds the forthcoming General Election. Go Twitter!

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It’s that time of year where we seem to always end up doing a number of exhibitions, seminars, presentations etc – and if anything – this year we’re doing even more than normal…

This week we’re down in Ayrshire – exhibiting at the North Ayrshire Council’s e-Biz Expo taking place on Wednesday at the Menzies Hotel in Irvine.  The seminars (aimed at small and growing businesses) at this event include ecommerce, SEO and social media, so we’re looking forward to chatting with the audience on all these matters!

Then on Friday and Saturday we’re once again doing the “New Start Scotland” exhibition at the SECC – Scotland’s biggest event aimed at new-start businesses (although it attracts many established businesses too!) with a wealth of exhibitors, seminars, workshops and business advice clinics.

I’m actually delivering our popular “Embrace the Space” seminar as part of the New-Start Program, so please drop by if you’re in the area and want to hear me on the subject of positive business use of Twitter etc.   More info on this, as well as times can be found at our Social Networking page.

Then next week, we’re in Edinburgh with a short pitch at the TTOM Innovation Partnering Event followed by a talk to the Students at Abertay in Dundee about starting a creative business (always good fun!)…

If you spot any of us as we take this show on the road, then please come and say hello!!

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We’ve been fortunate to have Sean Forsyth with us this week – on work experience from Gryffe High School.

I asked Sean to sum up his week with us, and am delighted he’s letting me share it on the Blog:

I have really enjoyed my week of work experience here at NSDesign even though at first I was not sure what to expect. I feel like now I have a greater knowledge of the web design business and would like to follow it as a career path, although I still have a lot of learning to do before I can do anything that all the staff here can. Also I am very interested in other parts of the business too like ‘Embrace the Space’ and never realised how Social Networking sites could be used for business purposes and so effectively. Everyone at the office has been very helpful in getting me started and making sure I get the most out of my week. I thank everyone here for making the effort to give me the chance to work here as I’ve had a great experience!

On behalf of the team, I’d like to offer a big thanks to Sean for all his efforts this week, and we hope to keep in close contact as he continues his career.

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The article below was featured in the January 8th Edition of the Drum Magazine. 
Please consider downloading the full PDF version (and admire the beautiful artwork from Paul which accompanied it) .

One of Glasgow’s original ‘digital’ agencies, NSDesign is predicting 300% growth in coming years

Now in its 11th year, NSDesign is one of Glasgow’s longest standing digital design agencies. 

Founded by Gary Ennis in 1999, the company has three distinct, but overlapping service divisions Design & Development, Domain Registration & Web Hosting, and Consultancy & Training – setting it aside from others in the industry.

Managing Director Ennis said:

“Each of the services we provide benefits the others. We know that if we exceed the expectations of a £25 hosting client, then we’ll be their first choice for the redesign of their website, or to provide their business with social media consultancy etc.”

With close to 10,000 web hosting clients – including some well respected industry figureheads like Bruce Lawson from Opera – and over 60 new design clients this year alone the company has proved it can last the distance.

NSDesign also benefit from partnering with many of their so called “competitiors” – providing the likes of web hosting to other web design companies, and bespoke design and development to other design agencies – particularly those without an in-house digital division.

Ennis said:

“We get to work on some really fun and challenging projects – we recently worked with the Guardian Media Group to design and build their dedicated web portal for the Download Music Festival, and for the past two years have built the bespoke booking system for Santa at Braehead!”

While their order book includes some big names such as Highland Spring, GMG, Greenock Morton and the Glasgow Rocks Pro Basketball team, it is with their smaller clients that NSDesign feel they make the biggest difference:

Ennis continued:

“There’s no better feeling than helping a new-start business take an idea and turn it into an online revenue-generating business, helping them grow, and providing the full range of services they need along the way.

“We’re proud to still have our very first ever customer, at the time a small one-man band but who has now grown to be a successful organisation – something we like to think we helped play a part in. He came to us originally based on a recommendation, and we’ve not once let him down 11 years later.”

For many of the websites that NSDesign build, their clients are given full control through their acclaimed “NSBuilder” CMS and Site Builder software which was a finalist in the Scottish Software awards in both 2007 and 2008. The fi rm was also named “Most Outstanding Small Business in Renfrewshire” in 2008.

Ennis said:

“The most important achievement and the one that ensures you continue to win new business is 100% client satisfaction. That is what we strive for, and we’re getting close!! Our last annual customer survey resulted in a confirmed 98% satisfaction rating – levels almost unheard of in this industry. Outstanding personal service and support is the one item above all others that we prioritise. Anybody can deliver a good product or outstanding design – but it’s the people behind it that ensure the long term relationship with the client, and the repeat business that comes as a result”.

NSDesign is showing no sign of a slow-down, and is predicting growth of 300% over the next few years. The company is confident the combination of a strong repeat-revenue customer base and new business development will ensure this continues in the months ahead.

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For the second year running, we were delighted with the results from our “Work for Free” day, which we carried out just before Christmas (December 21st 2009).

Following on from last year, the NSDesign team enjoyed a great day helping just over 20 small businesses, with free consultancy on the likes of SEO, Social Media, and web design.    Like last year, we weren’t without our detractors for the initiative, with the DBA again giving us a little “dig” on twitter… (although thankfully, nothing on the scale of last year!)… and a few industry players that like to moan about “de-valuing” design, without truly understanding what the day is actually about.

However, like last year, all we really care about is the feedback from clients, which has been 100% positive.

We were also lucky enough to get some great publicity on the day, mainly from a BBC Radio Scotland interview which went on to look at the value and benefit of providing free time and consultancy, and the history of working for free!  Listen to the full radio interview here.

Will we repeat the work for free initiative next year?  What do you think…

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They are like buses…  you wait for ever for some decent “geek” events to come to your hometown, and then 2 arrive at once… 

So, if you’re into your web design, twitter, technology, etc.. and live in the Glasgow area, then I’d strongly suggest the following 2 events coming up in the very near future.

Glasgow Twestival

Held at the Living Room on St Vincent Street, the Glasgow leg of the popular Twitter Festival (or Twestival – sorry..  but I don’t make us these terms!) looks to be a good one!  Hosted by our good friend and Radio Clyde DJ Colin Kelly, the night will involve a mix of fun, networking, tweeting, live music, charity raffle and auction. 

It’s all for a good cause, with a nominated charity (voted for by the “tweegies” themselves) benefiting from the entry fee (just £10 – although some early bird tickets still available) as well as all funds made on the night.  Get along and say hi… and make sure you also add us to twitter – www.twitter.com/nsdesign in the meantime!

More at: http://glasgow.twestival.com/

Future of Web Design – Glasgow

Run by Ryan Carson (he’ll be the American in the hat) and the carsonified team, the popular FOWD event comes to Glasgow (a welcome first!) for a days worth of hard-core web design seminars, featuring the likes of Drew McLellan and (NSDesign client) Patrick Lauke.

Held on the 14th September at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Rose Street, it’s a must for anyone involved in the web design industry with tickets still available at £67.85.  A few of the NSDesign team will be there, so make sure you say hello… 

More at: http://events.carsonified.com/fowd/2009/tour

Lets hope this is a sign of things to come, and we see more big name events for this industry in Scotland soon. 

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Back in the mid to late 1990’s I had the pleasure of working for a pretty cutting edge research group called ABACUS – part of the Architecture Department at the University of Strathclyde.

Much of the work we were involved in was focussed around the use of IT (and later the web) to Architecture and the Built Environment, and Abacus developed what was at the time one of the biggest 3D city models – 25 square kilometres of Glasgow City Centre.

In 1998, I was challenged with the task of making the model available online, and using new and exciting visualisation technologies such as VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) and QTVR (Quick Time Virtual Reality) – carried out a prolonged R+D period which resulted in a system we called “The Glasgow Directory”.

In short – An interactive Map/3D Model which accurately gave a true reflection of the real city with layers of data accessed on request. Our urban information system allowed web-based users to explore and “walk around” the virtual Glasgow model, highlighting areas of interest such as key city landmarks, tourist resources and more, with fancy 360 degree panoramic views of selected street-scapes… this sounding at all familiar yet?

When the Glasgow Directory was launched, it was very well received within the web research world, particularly those working in the field of VRML and city visualisation. As a result, I was fortunate enough to present a number of academic papers at various locations across Europe, highlighting our innovative system, and explaining our ideas to take it further in the future. Anyone know if Larry Page or Sergey Brin visited around that time?..

Ok – being serious – I don’t actually think that Google based their Google Maps (and more recently – Google Street View) on the VRML Glasgow Directory, but in retrospect, some of the similarities are astounding….

Above… George Square and the City Chambers… both systems have the ability to explore the “virtual space”, identify the street names, buildings of interest etc…

 Glasgow Catherdral from the roadside….  left is the VRML Glasgow Directory, right is Google StreetView

  Using the Map as an information system, searching for a good Bar in the Merchant City – in this case Bar 91

Unfortunately, much of the original source for the Glasgow Directory is now lost. Regrettably this includes a lot of the later research and development including embedding realtime audio, location specific navigation feedback (VERY similar in nature to Google Maps on the iPhone with GPS) and multi-user “avatar” based interactions.

Some links to material and examples that I did manage to dig up:

Working Glasgow Directory (kind of) – requires a VRML client such as the Cortona Plugin

Research Stuff:
Inside The Map – Academic Paper written by myself for a Cartography Conference
Visit VR Glasgow  – Academic Paper written by Myself and Prof. Tom Maver

So Google.. if you’re reading this… own up – was it me that invented Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Street View? I’ll assume that I did until I hear back from you. In the meantime, I’m off to dig out that primitive working example of an online video sharing site that I remember showing to some Paypal employees back in 2001…

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Last week I had the pleasure of giving a guest lecture to some students from the School of Computing and Creative Technologies (CCT) at the University of Abertay in Dundee.

The focus of the talk was on the highs and lows of setting up and running your own business, drawing on experiences and “lessons learned” since founding NSDesign over 10 years ago.

All in all – a really good afternoon, for me, and also (from the great feedback) for the students also..  always inspiring to see them asking some good questions, many of them tied to the current economic issues we’re all facing today.  And of course – always nice when a few of them ask for jobs!

So thanks to everyone who attended, and for the many that have since follwed me on twitter.

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