It was quite awkward last week, when this ghost company from Brooklyn contacted us for a research about Spanish trends.
As we always do with new clients, verifying the company was the first task. Even though we discovery the company did not exist and the budget was laughable, we took it as a team exercise.
The brief looked pretty simple, asking for very basic information. We had gathered similar information in recent months for another client, so we went for it
A Tricky Project Brief
Soon, we discovered they would want more and even a lot more, the brief was just the top of an iceberg. The project brief described the work was calculated to be developed in 2 half days (4-8 hours at the most) with simple descriptions of 2 deliverables: one for general trends and another one for descriptions. When the first deliverable format document arrived we noticed it was going deeper on the description of the trend and now asked for the sources of the information, authors, dates, location, etc. that wasn´t good. A good cop never reveals his sources.
We completed the first deliverable and sent it the same day, receiving a not very kind feedback from our ¨new boss¨. She wanted more specific and explained information, more details and descriptions so we felt like in the old times at school, when that lousy, rude and strong boy took your lunch and made you do his homework based on threats. Mmmm bad memories but also a bad idea, since our team does not respond well to threats, in fact we don´t respond to threats at all.
To be honest,we have found that a nice talk, a good tone and an interesting task has made us move mountains in the past and other types of dialogue make us very lazy. Some of us were uncomfortable because of the tricky brief, but still kept our word and provided some of the information in a first deliverable. The tone of our client´s emails became more and more bossy, trying to make us feel we were not providing enough accurate information but just willing to get more than they asked for, this really bothered us.
A High Maintenance New ¨boss¨
The second deliverable format arrived the next day and now it was asking for at least one hundred images, trend descriptions and sources and the influence of those trends in at least 9 aspects of life, that was enough information to develop a national trends report. A complete report that would have been worth at least ten times the budget offered by “Ghost USA” . We know how much information and analysis is worth since we have been working on similar things for years, but now we felt trapped between demands, bossy emails and our rejection to the project.
Then we decided to let our client know about our feelings for the project. Bad response again, the tone suddenly changed to ¨…come on guys, this is not that much…¨ .
That was too much for us.
We decided to send the last info, an amount we considered enough for the price and the time ¨agreed¨and say goodbye, it was time to let go. This was definitively the kind of client that would buy a one dollar piece of glass from you and sell it as a diamond in thousands.
Now we ask ourselves if a fair trade movement for those of us working on information and research would be really necessary? Would clients pay the real value of the information and analysis they receive?
Since hundreds of teenagers see themselves as coolhunters, speculation and a black market are on the rise…!
We wish all our friends, team, customers, collaborators, clients, providers and fans that in 2010 all their projects, good wishes and desires become a reality.
And of course we wish Algo Bueno for everyone.!
Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by Algo Bueno Barcelona.
Stand Concept and Design at Forest Day 3 Copenhagen COP15 UNFCCC for the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Radisson Blu Falconer Hotel
It has been a big challenge to create an attractive presence for the Colombian government during the world forest conference, Forest Day is the annual meeting of organizations and governments to o discuss projects and issues related to forests.
The Colombian forest has been the setting for a drug industry battlefield for years. The growing market for drug consumption in Europe and the United States encouraged by media and lifestyle, provokes a huge damage in third world countries where production is made at a very low costs. Authorities do as much as they can but the market is very demanding and poverty drives local broke farmers into growing illegal crops to support their families. For years, Colombia has been fighting drug production but consumption is not controlled in the big economies. In general terms, Colombian institutions an people fight between survival and preservation with minimal resources.
Our job was to make visitors understand how badly Colombia needs the support of the international community to fight drug production and ,at the same time, preserve the rainforest, currently a 35% of Colombia’s territory. So after receiving the commission from the vice minister, we started exploring options to communicate in a simple, fast an effective way. We chose to combine facts and information with a game.
The Panel
In a 2.5 * 2.0 mts panel we placed a very big picture of the forest. 20 randomly located rectangles would suggest the missing areas of deforested land. 550 postcards with the phrase “Colombia celebrates Forest Day. Support our efforts and help preserve our rainforest.” where given to visitors during the event, 50 of them contained the missing parts of the big image so their participation would help us complete the panel ad metaphorically recover the rainforest.
The Game
Each visitor with a postcard was encouraged to try and fill a gap in the panel, as most images wouldn´t match they would understand how hard it is to recover a damaged land. When a postcard fitted in a damaged area, the visitor would fill that gap himself and fell the recognition and satisfaction of collaborating with a good cause.
The Facts
In front of the panel we created a mini theater where a 42” flat screen TV featured “Ecocide” a video developed by the Ministry of Defense that provides all statistical information about the damage that illicit crops cause to rain forests, families and communities across the country. visitors to the stand were invited sit and watch while waiting for the game or after playing it.
The concept, dynamics and experience for this stand was conceived midway between playful, educational and political; introducing a critical topic as drug traffic and consumption in an environmental context but providing a playful way to understand it, to avoid prejudice and to prevent visitors to jump to conclusions when they see this topic featured.
The general acceptance and participation from visitors, media and organizations was pretty high, the stand got the attention of people like CIFOR, Google, Le Monde , Associated Press, GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit , local organizations, researchers and bloggers on environmental issues with whom interviews where arranged during the event.
The impact of a good stand design, a controversial topic and a visual game provided a positive results for our client creating collaboration opportunities and favorable press.
click here to see more pictures
http://forestsandclimate.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/what-colombias-doing-to-protect-the-forests/
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop15/fd/html/ymbvol148num3e.html
http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/Events/ForestDay3/Introduction/
Las historias que producen las ciudades reflejan los valores y formas de pensar de la cultura en la que se generan. Representan valores en constante cambio, que eventualmente conectan o se contradicen, en una época de cuestionamiento y constante revisión.
Videopolis recorre las ciudades a través de las historias de sus creadores y su manera de ver y vivir la cotidianidad, la política, el amor, las reivindicaciones, la sexualidad, la espiritualidad y las relaciones interpersonales.
La vida en cada ciudad, hace que sus narradores expongan temas y discursos que allí se hacen relevantes y vigentes, cuando en otras latitudes no se repara en ellos o constituyen un tema tabú y esa es la escencia de Videopolis, ver desde afuera temas que vivimos adentro.
Con un ánimo reflexivo e integrador, Videopolis ofrece formas de ver la vida que cada espectador toma e interpreta dese su propia realidad. En cada ciudad que visita, Videopolis recoge nuevas historias y puntos de vista que ayudan a nutrir este catálogo de experiencias e identidades que dialogarán en su siguiente parada con nuevos espectadores
En 2010, Videopolis presentará historias procedentes de Barcelona, Miami, México DF, Caracas, París, Londres, Girona, New York, Cali, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Sabadell, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Tampa y Medellin.
Incorporará en su recorrido nuevas narraciones procedentes de Helsinki, Berlín y Londres en el primer trimestre del año y está abierta a presentar e incl nuevas propuestas en ciudades Europeas y Americanas.
Videpolis es una muestra itinerante audiovisual, que presenta impresiones sobre la vida urbana en diferente ciudades alrededor del mundo a públicos en otras ciudades y latitudes. Videopolis establece diálogos entre personas y culturas, contrasta opiniones y fomenta la conversación sobre nuevos temas en cada ciudad que visita.
Barcelona se hace eje de Videopolis a partir de 2010 y desde allí viajará a diferentes ciudades de América y Europa, para establecer conexiones entre historias locales y foráneas a través de historias de vida en vídeo.
para mas informacion sobre videopolis puedes visitar
http://www.algobueno.eu/es/convocatoriavideo.html
Videopolis 2010 starts in helsinki, finland
Esta muestra se encuentra enmarcada en el propósito de ambas organizaciones en dar visibilidad a la nueva produccion simbólica del los paises de Latinoamérica y las comunidades Hispana en Estados Unidos. Con esta primera presentación Videopolis 2010 abre las oportunidad de escenarios y festivales Europeos para presentar producciones que normalmente no llegan a estas programaciones.
Videopolis Nació en el año 2003, cuando la Fundación Artehoy en Bogotá gneró Videopolis I y II como encargo para el Museo de Arte Moderno. En el año 2005 el Museo abandonó la iniciativa y el proyecto se detuvo por falta de fondos. Cinco años después Videopolis abre de nuevo sus ojos ahora en el antiguo continente creando vínculos y canales de intercambio con nuevo públicos.
Creemos firmemente en el nuevo cine Hispanoamericano y en la relevancia de la presencia Latinoamérica como comunidad pujante y prometedora, en Europa y Estados Unidos.
La convocatoria de Videopolis está abierta a las siguientes categorías:
Cortometrajes
Documentales
Video Experimental
Videoclips musicales
Animación
Los participantes deben enviar ficha técnica, ficha artística y 3 fotofijas e indicar link a website, youtube, vimeo, etc, o ftp.
Copias en baja resolución también pueden ser enviadas vía yousendit a algobuenobcn@gmail.com
El envío de material final se solicitará solo a los seleccionados.
la fecha limite recepción de propuestas es Septiembre 30 y la lista de seleccionados se publicará posterior a una semana.
para mas informacion contactar a
Jorge Rodriguez Sandra Rengifo o Carmen Gil
¿What type of Nation do you think Apple, Microsoft, Unilever or Sony Corporation would be?
That is a question that first came to my mind back in 2004, when I visited the Redmond WA area close to Seattle, where Microsoft Corporation owns its headquarters and long extensions of land. There, hundreds of mini-mansions for MS Executives decorate a Swedish-wanna-be-landscape. Was that a Microsoft country? maybe not, but that is how it felt while talking to people, driving the highway and exploring the suburbs. A particular kind of identity, lifestyle and behavioral agreements, very close to the Microsoft corporate image.
Maybe it is corporate identity that goes beyond the company, into people lives.
As it all sounds like science fiction, we should examine some realities. I guess it all started in 1955 with Main Street USA in Disneyland (The Happiest Place on Earth) where a typical American village was fully reproduced under the company parameters of Disney imagery. Then came Epcot Center, a vision of the existing world (third world excluded) from the Disney point of view, that featured the most touristic and iconic landmarks from an American perspective.
Main Street USA
Back in the 70´s, the world was politically divided in Communism and Capitalism basically. After the coldwar and during the late 80´s the Perestroika, the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the political and economic changes in communist countries created an ideological change globally. People started changing their political beliefs and their affiliations changed to more private ones.
During the 90´, companies developed strong efforts towards positioning their
values transmitted via branding
Local, national and regional governments joined forces with the tourism industry to promote specific destinations, immigration, foreign investment and position economic value for countries and cities. That way, places like New York, Mexico, Barcelona and Berlin created whole new brands from their name, supported by local and global investors. Let´s think of Sex and the City, Barcelona Olympic Games, The fall of the Berlin Wall, or the FIFA World Cup as tools for touristic promotion and region branding transmitting values and beliefs, music, visual patterns, food and celebrations that make people come together and identify themselves with these parameters as their ways of expression.
Strong Marketing campaigns about certain regions, countries and cities at the same time that sold destinations, encouraged regionalism, nationalism and local pride. The impact of branding in this sense is double sided, and creates apart from consumption, social transformations followed by strong feelings about the branded place. Something close to the impact of corporate values among company 
employees and consumers.
So, where does the notion of national culture and product branding cross paths? a possible answer may be found if we ask people where do they belong? Do you feel Spanish, American or Mac user? What defines me the most? My place of residence or my habits? All these questions currently float inside a lot of people´s minds.
The Power of Mutinational Companies to provide services, products and messages to fill people needs has taken them to a position, where their speech may be stronger than politics, culture and the participation of civil society. Most of them have the power to influence law, politics, culture, governance and development in any country to the point of becoming providers of basic services covering people´s fundamental rights like water, electricity, food, health, communications, housing, education, retirement and security.
So, when only companies can provide people with most of the things half of the countries in the world can´t provide, ¿What is left of the notion of Nation? ¿What is the role of nations and governments in the new world order? 
¿What is left of civil rights when they enter the marketplace?
So here is my question again
¿What type of Nation do you think Apple, Microsoft, Unilever or Sony Corporation would be?
550 people got together in Amsterdam´s Sugar factory to enjoy the new show retroVisor is offering this summer. The European tour this year inlcuded Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich and barcelona. Hurray for the new latin Electronica!
¡ELECTROCUMBE! Live Nu Latin City Beatz
Retro VISOR (Colombia) + DJ Sonido del Principe / DJ mps PILOT / Dj Eduardo (Que Pasa!)
This is the summer of the Electro Cumbia, Colombias new dance music craze…ready to spread over the European Club scenes and festivals..Sugarfactory will be the first to host such an event with state of the art Electrocumbé with exciting visuals…
00:00 – 05:00 Entry: € 9.50
Line Up
Retro VISOR (Colombia)
DJ Sonido del Principe
DJ mps PILOT
DJ Eduardo (Que Pasa!)
Visuals by Carmen Electric
This is the summer of the Electro Cumbia, Colombias new dance music craze…ready to spread over the European Club scenes and festivals..Sugarfactory will be the first to host such an event with state of the art Electrocumbé with exiting visuals…
Veel Cumbia met Drum ‘n bass, dub step met salsa, Sonidera met Jungle, Latin eclectic, Electrocumbia etc etc. Visuals, Dj’s, soundscapes, live percu…
all the info about this event at http://www.sugarfactory.nl/page=site.agenda_article/id=1452
Last week a very big event gathering more than 300 sales executives from around the planet took place at in Barcelona.
Open Text´s the Art of Good Business is the annual get together for the sales force of this Canadian Multinational that sells software and digital solutions, content management protocols and consulting to goverments, other multinationals and international organizations.
3 days of lectures, coffee breaks, conferences, live music, stand up comedy, parties and team building activities were registered, organized and edited by the audiovisual team of Algo Bueno. Guests from Germany, UK, France, Canada, Italy, Netherlands and the USA enjoyed the many attractions of the and had a lot of fun while competing for the best performance in selling millions of dollars in services globally.
The event was organized in Barcelona by Lifestyle Experience Group in coordination with Opium Mar, Ab Skipper Hotel, Arts Hotel, Llotja de Mar and Algo Bueno among other companies.
Communication Skills for the Deaf and Functionally Diverse
ASU (Artistas Sordos Unidos) United Deaf Artists from Catalonia (Spain), have asked us to design a program on Social and Professional Communication skills specially designed to provide deaf people with tools to socialize and make their professional growth easier.
The interaction between the deaf community and the hearing community in most countries is determined by the approach each community has on each other and the bridges that can be built to bring both groups closer.
Even when we can hear and talk, our communication levels with Functionally Diverse groups ( blind, deaf, mute, etc) is very limited. When communication codes change and new languages appear social groups tend to separate instead of learning new codes to interact. As a majority, the hearing community does not really make the effort to establish links with non-hearing non-seeing members of society.
So minorities usually make this effort and develop a kind of bilingualism (lip reading + sign language) to be able to participate in societies not ready for the Functionally Diverse.
The program Algo Bueno has designed for ASU considers both sides: the understanding of hearing peoples codes and points of view, the limitations of hearing people to learn new codes and the enhancement of communication true visual and written codes and tools.
internet for example becomes a great place for professional and social development of non-hearing + hearing interaction since there we are strongly visual + text oriented.
This and more is being discussed and built at these workshops in Barcelona lectured by Daniela Violi a member of our Creative Talent Bank.
