Ryan points out in Part 1 that people in this province and throughout the country are online. It is about time that governments accept this and begin taking steps to reconnect with their people through the web.

The further we have dug into this research the more we have come to realize that governments need to change their online approach as well as the way they do business. With shrinking budgets, aging employees and a skeptical public that is becoming more educated, governments need to adjust quickly or risk further tarnishing their credibility.

Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital, wrote the foreword for a new book called Open Government. He says, “it is the next wave of innovation that presents a historic occasion to fundamentally redesign how government operates; how and what the public sector provides; and ultimately, how governments interact and engage with their citizens. It is truly a time when either government will play an active role in its own transformation, or change will happen to it.”

For governments to control their own destiny online, they will need to follow the three pillars of a good website which I presented at zu’s One Government sessions last week (#1gov).

The first pillar is to adopt human-centred design. Too many government sites are built around the structure of government. Citizens do not care who the Deputy Mininster is or who reports to the Mayor. They care about booking a camping spot or paying their power bill. For One Government to work, websites need to be developed from a user perspective. Focus should be on the user, not the technology.

The second pillar for effective One Government is to create a unified vision in every department. This has nothing to do with the website, but rather with internal communications. Governments, like large companies, operate in vertical silos where staff communicate with their superiors and underlings. Imagine if they started communicating with their colleagues. They would save time and money, and provide an enhanced user experience.

The third pillar is to go where the people are. Governments that are still publishing print pieces and doing billboard campaigns are wasting money. For a fraction of the cost you can hit a larger audience online. More people, lower cost: makes sense to most people doesn’t it?

Of course, I have glossed over most of the details of the three pillars for an effective One Government. If you want to learn more, drop me a line and let’s talk. We are living in a once-in-a-lifetime period for government right now and we should all try to get it right.

These companies provide great entertainment or great products, yet they have become lightning rods for criticism. As the trendsetters, who were their customers years ago, saw the mass market adopt these icons, they moved on to smaller, alternative competitors.

It’s like the ‘alt-rock’ cycle. The XX gets great reviews on Pitchfork and the indie rock crowd eats it up, making The XX one of the coolest bands in the world. A few months later, they go mainstream and all of the alt rockers who loved them in the past move on to Charlotte Gainsbourg.

In Microsoft’s case, you are seen as ‘cool’ if you bash them. The trendsetters want to distance themselves from the mainstream so they use Google Docs, Mac OSX and an iPhone.

We were sitting around zu HQ the other day and we started talking about trends and market dominance. With Google and Apple now joining the mainstream, I asked everyone when it was going to be ‘in’ to start bashing Google. How much longer until it is cool to crush Apple’s strategy.

Albert Jame, our Creative Director thinks it will happen soon. “All of the thirty year olds who went to Lulu ten years ago aren’t doing that anymore because 12 year olds are shopping there,” he said. “When the guys with chunky glasses see the rednecks using an iPhone, they will find something else.”

“It is cool to be uncool and that is what the hipsters want,” zu’s Marketing Manager Michelle MacDonald said. “They want things that other people do not have yet because they are striving to be unique. They want to be perceived as innovators.”

For me, I think that Google and Apple are at the stage where we will start seeing the trendsetters bash them. However, both companies are still perceived as underdogs to Microsoft which is keeping them alt.

I’m interested in what you have to say, if or when, it will be cool to hate Apple or Google.Why?

The iPad is my first “living room” computer. I have a laptop at home, but usually sit at a table or desk to use it. The iPad does almost everything I need to do at home but it is much lighter than a laptop which means I can use it on the couch, much like I would a book. I use the iPad for late night emails, keeping up-to-date on tech blogs, RSS and to follow the world on twitter.

The iPad has great video quality that allows me to watch video podcasts from the patio, couch or basement. Before the iPad I was tied to AppleTV or a laptop. I think the quality of the video is my biggest surprise.

A smaller surprise was the battery life, which has exceeded my expectations. I should also mention that the keyboard is easy to use and the iPad is fast, much, much faster than the iPhone which I find oddly slow now.

We purchased an iPad at zu and have already started to develop some apps for it. Currently there are a relatively small number of iPad apps available and I can’t wait to see what innovative tricks other iPad developers will come up with.

I drew this picture using the app ‘Draw’. You can draw anything with your fingers and easily export it to your photos. Also on this app are the games Dots and Tic-Tac-Toe for those times when you’re sitting on the couch with a date watching Dancing with the Stars.

The iPad is a winner and I can foresee a time when it dominates the market much like the iPhone does. Don’t believe me? Stop by our office for a test drive.

One of the main points of my presentation was the increasing pace of change in technology. I cited numbers that showed that radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users; tv took 13 years to reach the same point; the Internet took four years and the iPod took three. Facebook reached 100 million users in only 9 months. The iTunes app store did 1 billion downloads in 9 months. The point is that technology is no longer taking years to develop, only months.

For a computer science student, this is good news as there are more jobs available in more fields. For businesses the increasing speed of technological improvement is something that you cannot ignore.

Organizations need to start spotting the technology trends earlier to remain ahead of the competition. Monitoring hardware blogs will let you know about new advances in devices. Following social media will provide you with real time information and allow you to stay tuned in to the world’s social network.

So as these students enter the work force and carpe diem, they should have faith in the outlook for technology. Maybe one of them will invent the new ‘Facebook’ and vastly impact the direction of information technology. Either way, they have finished their degree in an industry that is always changing and evolving. The future looks bright for these kids and for those of us who employ them.

If you Google “twitter hacked” you will see that banks, politicians, large corporations and individuals experienced the same issues as zu did. You will also read that many of them did not know what to do and they started sending out panic tweets, which probably did more harm than the original phishing attack. It should be noted that in all cases, no follower data was accessed.

Here is what we did a few minutes after the attack. We quickly changed our password so that the phishing attacks would stop. Then we disabled the ability for third-party software, such as TweetDeck and TwitterBerry, to access our account. Finally, and this is the most important thing, we sent out a tweet acknowledging what happened, apologizing and saying we fixed it.

This let everyone know we were aware of the problem and we fixed it. What happened afterwards was a bunch of people thanking zu and supporting @zutweets.

Phishing attacks will happen to everyone at some point. It is part of being on the Internet. These are not a big deal if handled properly, so prepare yourself ahead of time.

We spent 18 months renovating a brick building located in Saskatoon’s old warehouse district. Originally built in 1929, the challenge was to bring it up to modern standards while still maintaining its original bricks, beams, ceilings and the like.

People would often ask why we put so much effort into the building’s restoration. The answer is partly because we needed more space as the company has grown substantially over the past ten years, but part of it was to contribute to the ongoing improvement of the Saskatoon community. The location suited zu because we wanted to be downtown close to our clients, close to transportation and close to amenities for staff. What we’ve brought to the downtown community is a staff who spends money in restaurants and shops, a smaller environmental imprint, an increase in property value and the transformation of an eye-sore building.

When we talk about community these days, it seems to be about social media communities. These social media communities are the new way to network, build brand recognition, increase sales and improve your company’s profile. These communities are growing faster than any form of media has in the past. You need to be using these tools to survive as a business.

As society continues to develop these electronic communities, we have increased our need to “be in touch”. Which brings me back to the Heritage Awards. zu, by moving closer to our clients and friends, has increased our participation in old school communities. You know, the communities where you meet in-person for coffee, lunch or a drink. This in-person community takes more time and effort to develop relationships than the electronic community does. But in-person communities are more rewarding both personally and professionally.

So, while you ask yourself what you should be doing with social media, make sure that you have the fundamentals of your business down. Remember that the community around you is important and will be affected by your presence and outreach. As your company moves forward, keep in mind that social media has a social aspect to it. Call up a few clients and meet them for a coffee in the neighbourhood before trying to reach them electronically.

Debut iPhone apps TimmyMe and BucksMe jolt the iTunes AppStore charts reaching nearly two million uses and become ‘Top Free Download’ and iTunes ’staff pick’.

"We have exceeded our expectations; what started as a pet project quickly became our best success story," said zuLabs CEO Ryan Lejbak. "Not only were we the first to develop a navigation mobile app for iTunes AppStore but we wanted to do something ‘Canadian’ for iPhone users."

After one month, zu’s TimmyMe app quickly climbed the Canadian iTunes charts to become the #1 Free Download app for two consecutive months. TimmyMe also dominated the Free Navigation category for five consecutive months, with more than 85,361 downloads and 1.79 million uses to date.

Immediately after the success of TimmyMe, zu penetrated international digital space with BucksMe and became #1 in the paid downloads category with more than 150,665 uses in 35 countries. BucksMe even has a notepad feature so you can take orders for your friends and has been touted as a reoccurring ‘Staff Pick’ for iTunes employees.

In just two clicks, this clever and user-friendly app connects coffee lovers to the nearest Tim Hortons or Starbucks location. "Think of it as a GPS for caffeine addicts," adds Cory Jacobsen, Lead Developer.

zu garnered gold recognition for TimmyMe at SIMA 2009 (Saskatchewan Interactive Media Awards) in Best Mobile Services: Non-Entertainment product (category). "We really struck a nerve with the developer community," adds Tony Zuck, COO of zuLabs.

zu headquarters are located in Saskatoon, Canada and our client list includes globally-recognized brands such as Rogers, Areva, PotashCorp, Cameco and CN Rail.

View the Marketwire news story here.

This microsite leverages increased functionality with easy-to-search job postings. SIAST segmented their job postings by campus location to establish improved user experience.

Another primary goal was to demonstrate how the values of SIAST are put into motion to meet the work-life-balance needs of its employees. SIAST values promote a deeper sense of community and celebrate their campus community life. The employee testimonials and pictures are an engaging and creative tool that further promote individuality.

"SIAST programming is recognized nationally and internationally, and we are leaders in many service areas," David Francis, SIAST Virtual Campus Academic Director commented. "We wanted to create an online environment that reflects our progressive and innovative approach to delivering post-secondary education."

"zu has been a great organization for SIAST to work with on this project," Francis added. "By providing a well-proportioned mix of creativity and project management they helped ensure we launched our website on time while meeting our distinct and diverse needs."

SIAST is Saskatchewan’s primary public institution for post-secondary technical education and skills training. Recognized nationally and internationally for its expertise and innovation, more than 13,000 students are registered in SIAST programs that touch every sector of the economy. The organization itself draws almost 32,000 individual course registrations, operating in campuses across Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina and Saskatoon.

SIAST and zu have collaborated on many web projects over the years, including the SIAST website.

Great Plains College offers an array of certificate and diploma programs, as well as a robust university program [including some full-degree options], Adult Basic Education and many shorter professional development courses. The Energy Training Centre caters specifically to the training needs of the oil and gas sector. With over 5000 enrollments each year, the college has been on a growth trajectory for the past three years. Great Plains College also offers the most aggressive scholarship program in the province.

Prior to the launch of their new website January 6, 2009, this post-secondary institution initially grappled with the challenge of creating one website to represent 10 locations across western Saskatchewan. The final result is a website that offers comprehensive, functional, and professional content combined with a friendly user experience and warm design.

"The new website definitely aided our branding efforts by helping create a strong visual identity and easy access to information about what the new Great Plains College is all about. It is a key tool not only as the public face of the college, but also as an internal resource for our staff." Teresa Cole, Director of Planning & Communication, Great Plains College.

"Because our college is rapidly growing and changing, it was critical for us to have maximum control over content. Classes and programs can be added or edited easily, information can be updated, and new features and pages can be designed and added as needs arise." Jennifer McConnell, Public Relations and Promotions Coordinator, Great Plains College.

"Every website has different information presentation challenges," notes Levi Myers, zu’s Manager of User Experience. "Great Plains College offers many different courses; the solution for presenting these without overwhelming potential students was to separate programs from courses. The programs section gives an overview of all the courses required, while the courses section presents students with an intuitive, advanced search option, that starts narrowing down their results as they type. From a compliancy standpoint, integrating a Drupal backend allows Great Plains College to have full control over their content without compromising the layout or functionality of the site."

About Great Plains College
Great Plains College is dedicated to enhance economic prosperity and the quality of life of residents of western Saskatchewan through education and training. As part of an integrated post-secondary education system, it is a provincial leader in energy sector training, and is responsive to learners, employers, and communities. Great Plains College, created through a merger of Prairie West College and Cypress Hills College came into existence on July 1, 2008. The new college’s region includes more than 100,000 square kilometers and 115,000 people, encompassing the area bordered by the US border to the south, Alberta border to the west, a northern border including the community of Macklin and the greater Saskatoon area and a final border east of communities including Hanley, Outlook, Elbow, Central Butte, Caronport, Gravelbourg and Lafleche.

The primary objective in developing the website was to mirror the culture of the television program by reinforcing the show’s compassionate portrayal of traditional tales and legends. Supplementary media including episode clips were utilized to communicate a deeper experience for viewers. This visually-engaging website was designed outside traditional ‘look and feel’ techniques; instead, a collage treatment was used with custom photography and video. The result is an interactive forum that invites the user to respond and share through social networks or submitting their personal video.

"From a user experience point of view, we weren’t concerned with which profile was selected first, so we decided to use faces for the navigation, and let the user choose which one caught their attention. The overall concept was fun—we had to carefully reflect an international tone without emphasizing a specific region."
Albert Jame, Creative Director, zu

"With the television show focusing on an individual’s story in each episode, it was a natural fit to use their photos for the navigation. Regular viewers will be familiar with the shows they’ve seen, and new viewers are communicated the personal concept of the series."
Levi Myers, Manager of Creative Experience, zu

"Collaboration with the team at Hulo Films helped make the site come to life with a combination of great design concepts, photography, content and programming which helped achieve the overall objective as an effective marketing tool to showcase and promote their product successfully."
Liz Carswell, Project Manager, zu

"zu is a great partner with a ton of in-house talent. They were able to ‘get’ the series, which admittedly is a rather abstract concept. They came up with concrete visual metaphors that weren’t too ‘high concept’ and they tied it all together with a navigation interface that allows any web user to move through the site with ease. I really think that this site proves the adage that less is more. zu is a first class professional organization that is always fun to work with."
Ryan Lockwood, Producer, Hulo Films

Tune in to SCN every Tuesday at 8:30pm and Thursday at 8:00pm for the latest episode.

zu and its affiliates took home top honours at the 2009 SIMA awards last night.

zu was recognized for its work on the Calgary Stampeders website which was named best Website: Budget $50,000. The site features news, an Insider blog, a Locker-Room blog, extensive player interviews, profiles, statistics and video and audio material updated daily from games and practices. It offers sleek design and fresh fan content unparalleled in the Canadian Football League.

TimmyMe was acknowledged as best Mobile Services: Non-Entertainment. This iphone application was co-developed by Blaine Korte and Cory Jacobsen. After its release in August TimmyMe was ranked number one in the navigation category and is the second most popular iphone application in Canada.

Great Plains College was nominated in the Website: $10,000 – $49,999 Budget category. With 10 locations across western Saskatchewan, Great Plains College faced the challenge of creating one website to represent one institution. The result is a site that offers comprehensive, functional, professional information combined with an easy to navigate, relaxed, warm design.

zu affiliate 24hrAssistant was nominated in the Most Promising New Company category against Saskatoon-based VendAsta, a large consulting and product development firm. 24hrAssistant is an online appointment scheduling system that allows clients to schedule an appointment with a service provider any time, from anywhere.

The SIMA competition is an annual opportunity for Saskatchewan’s interactive industry to celebrate their successes. The competition is open to producers, owners and students. Awards are given in 14 categories decided by a panel of industry judges.

Saskatchewan Interactive Media Association Inc. is the professional organization representing interactive media developers in Saskatchewan. As that professional voice, SaskInteractive represents members involved in the development of content-based interactive digital media, as well as consumers and stakeholders. The Association acts on behalf of its members to represent their views to Government, Industry, the News Media, and to the general public.

For the past three years, we have heard that the newspaper industry is in trouble. In 2008, 40% of North Americans got their news from the Internet, compared to 27% in 2007. For people under 30, those numbers are higher: 59% now get their news from the web, compared to 34% in 2007.

What many people fail to look at is: why are printed newspapers declining? Studies show that the average person gets their national and international news from the web and get their local news from local newspapers and local radio. As newspaper revenues have declined the past few years, the newspaper industry has responded by cutting local reporters and replacing those stories with national features. So, in an effort to cut costs, printed newspapers have accelerated their demise by reducing what people are most interested in: local news stories.

As these newspapers slowly go bankrupt, there will be a huge opportunity for someone to start an online local news outlet. There are now thousands of qualified journalists looking for work. Setting up a local, online news site is inexpensive. It is just a matter of time before a few journalists figure out that they can make a good living doing what they love to do by reporting local stories.

For communicators, the declining role of traditional newspapers coupled with the increased number of people accessing news online should be a wake-up call. It’s time to alter those communications plans and go where your audience is, online.

PotashCorp shared honours with Intel for Best Online Annual Report in North America. This adds to the long list of awards PotashCorp has won for its website. The online annual report features easily downloadable and interactive graphs, light boxes for stylish presentation of additional information, and highlighted financial tables for ease of comprehension.

Cameco joined the list of Best Ranked IR websites in North America. Re-launched in December 2008, Cameco’s website is strategically reorganized to enhance the flow of information to stakeholders. Their expansive site design creates visual ease and makes room for a wealth of reference material including multimedia, financial tables and dynamic charts.

“We are very pleased to have our clients recognized in these rankings,” commented zu COO Tony Zuck. “The IR Global Rankings and Awards Survey offer comprehensive auditing and ranking of IR websites. They examine more than 160 companies from over 30 countries and have experience dating back to the 1999 inception.”

About PotashCorp
PotashCorp is the world’s largest potash company, with 22 percent of the world’s overall capacity and 75 percent of the world’s unused capacity. They complement this strength with operations that make PotashCorp the world’s third-largest phosphate producer and fourth-largest nitrogen producer.

About Cameco
Cameco, with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is one of the world’s largest uranium producers. The company’s uranium products are used to generate electricity in nuclear energy plants around the world, providing one of the cleanest sources of energy available today. Cameco’s shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.

The exploration and marketing sections are prominent in the new design, illustrating Cameco’s leading edge position in these areas. “Section highlights” direct you to important elements in each section. “Related information” at the bottom of each page cross-references other pages of relevance. The wider site design allows for improved legibility of tables and the ability to pull in extra additional reference material.

“Working with the zu team is a highly creative and collaborative experience,” says Carey Hyndman, Cameco communications specialist. “The redesign project was immense but enjoyable thanks to zu’s patience and sense of humour.”

Integrated video and audio complement the content. The site also features technical enhancements such as animated, data-driven graphs, expandable slide shows, improved stock charting and Google search provided by a dedicated Google appliance.

“The mission of the new site was to provide a structure for Cameco that reflected the way the investment community and other stakeholders understand the company,” says zu COO Tony Zuck. “The resulting information architecture allows information to easily flow to stakeholders and fully displays Cameco’s diversified strengths.”

About Cameco
Cameco, with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is one of the world’s largest uranium producers. The company’s uranium products are used to generate electricity in nuclear energy plants around the world, providing one of the cleanest sources of energy available today. Cameco’s shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.