Blogs

Our secret brODDcast project is unveiled!

Sean MacPhedran — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:10:22 +0000

After years in prototyping, we’re happy to announce that one of our most exciting IP projects, brODDcast, has begun development with our partner SoftKinetic Studios. The experience allows kids to control digital puppets and create their own content through a gesture-based interface.

You can read all about it in our Media Room (link below) but to whet your appetite, here’s an early concept image.

Wander over here for the Press Release.

SoDA Digital Marketing Outlook 2011

Sean MacPhedran — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:00:34 +0000

We were pretty honored when we were invited to join the Society of Digital Agencies last year, and since then we’ve been getting up to all sorts of trouble with this motley crew.

By trouble, I mean sharing best practices, exploring solutions to issues that we all face in our industry and undertaking research to better predict the future.

One of the most interesting projects is the SoDA 2011 DMO, which was officially released today. At 199 pages, it’s not light on insights. Hopefully you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed our work on it.

Click to View Report

Anybody Order Some Plaid?

Nick Iannitti — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:19:34 +0000

When Mike Burns posts on his Facebook in the morning that he’s wearing plaid, the company stands by his decision.

Chocolatier: Sweet Society

Nick Iannitti — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:14:52 +0000

Fancy taking a step back into a simpler time, where men were men, woman were women, and chocolates didn’t come pre-wrapped? Our latest Facebook game, developed for PlayFirst’s hit Chocolatier series, takes you there and puts you in charge of your own Facebook factory, churning out some of the finest cocoa treats this side of the Mediterranean.

The game includes features such as an expandable and fully customizable shop, dozens of chocolates to make, and success tied to how many friends you add as neighbors.

Start your own chocolate shop right now–you’ll be conching before you know it. Play Chocolatier: Sweet Society.

Expression Studio and the Designer Toolbox

Nick Iannitti — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:57:10 +0000

Our designers love designers. So we built a site for them. .toolbox is a new community experience for creatives and developers in the digital media space to learn and share as they create rich web experiences.

Microsoft’s Expression Studio is making waves in the creative professional crowd, and Microsoft wanted a hub where these communities could gather to learn more an explore the possibilities of Silverlight development. If you’re new to the suite of products, this is absolutely the best way to check it out.

The site features free online video tutorials, customizable avatars, and a competitive badge system of achievements, so that designers can track their progress as they learn — watch the video below, and it’ll make a lot more sense. And don’t be shy to dive in–all the project files and assets for the tutorials are available straight from within the site. Enjoy!

Valemont in the Streamy Awards

Nick Iannitti — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:41:18 +0000

Is it the Internet’s answer to the Emmy Awards? I’d like to think so. While Electric Farm and MTV’s groundbreaking Verizon-branded series is up for its own collection of Streamy Awards, we’re honored to have our interactive component at ValemontU called out as a nominee as well for the “Best Interactive Experience in a Web Series.” You can follow all the info leading up to the event on their Twitter account: @streamyawards.

John K and The Unlikely Joys of Social Media

Nick Iannitti — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:58:40 +0000

Interesting success stories in the social media space are far from difficult to come by. But every now and then a really unique example of the spontaneity of social channels comes through and manages to surprise even us hardened folks in the industry.

That’s why the re-emergence of a 12-year old letter from Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi is especially refreshing. Yesterday, the folks at LettersofNote dug up an encouraging letter from John K to at-the-time aspiring child Amir Avni. The simple and supportive nature of the letter, along with scans of John’s handwritten letter (which, in the age of computer fonts, brings a touching legitimacy) have been enough to skyrocket John K from his quietly steady blogging into a new stratosphere of social media excellence, with Twitter and blogs like Boing Boing waking up to the story in a big way.

The subsequent buzz at Reddit just sweetens the story, with John K himself hopping on the link-sharing site with a brief “IAmA” and diligently answering fan questions, right down to “what is your favorite sandwich?” (Salami, Bacon, Smoked Meat and onions, by the way) At the time of this post, the discussion has garnered 1157 comments and 2341 votes up. Oh, and did I mention Reddit changed their logo to honor the cartooning legend?

Perhaps it’s because in the age when so many social media campaigns are strategized and planned to the hilt, it’s nice to see online communities still continuing to still deliver these natural gems, in this case on a private letter written over a decade ago.

CES Buzz: TweetYouThere Walkthrough

Nick Iannitti — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:31:48 +0000

Here’s a look at how to use our CES visualizer in a quick video demo

TweetYouThere - Our Visual CES Buzz Visualizer

Nick Iannitti — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:13:51 +0000

With all the brands, press, and delegates attending and exhibiting at CES, keeping track of all the Twitter buzz can be a herculean affair. We thought we’d help and create a tool for brands, reporters, bloggers, and consumers, making it easier to find all the brand buzz in one place–and track it visually.

TweetYouThere aggregates CES mentions from across the Twittersphere, categorizes it by brand and allows users to see the latest chatter in custom feeds by popularity, company name, and topic.

Still in beta, we’ve got big plans for the platform, ultimately growing it into a one stop destination for a number of top industry conferences. We’ll be working with conference organizers to include delegate lists, even more party information, and advanced data parsing tools.

Head over to tweetyouthere.com to check it out and follow the latest news. We’re also offering summaries of trends and even more info on the TweetYouThere Twitter account (@TweetYouThere)–and please keep up up to date on any bugs you find, as we’re still working on perfecting everything.

Enjoy CES!

Happy Holidays from Fuel!

Nick Iannitti — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:42:56 +0000

To celebrate the season, we decided to get some of our staff together and record a few new takes on some classic Christmas tunes. Everything you hear here was done in-house in the Fuel recording studio, under the guidance of our multi-talented Director for Fuel Sounds, Rob Plowman. We hope you find they make a worthy addition to your holiday mix.

To catch a glimpse of the recording process, Alyssa (who you’ll hear as lead vocals on the first track) graciously put together a video chronicling some of the fun we had putting the songs together. Enjoy!