#with how each page is more like a standalone illustration on its own than a comic page i highly doubt if im even gonna finish this

[kaiserouo]

wip because this definitely isn't coming out in days

when you see my harrow happy you know what im gonna do with him

[books]

Writer Spotlight: Marissa Meyer

Marissa Meyer is the New York Times best-selling author of the Renegades and The Lunar Chronicles series, as well as the graphic novels Wires and Nerve: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2: Gone Rogue. Her first standalone novel, Heartless, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. She lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and their two daughters.

What was your thought process like when coming up with the powers for the Renegades and Anarchists?

I wanted to give them powers that would make for fun action scenes. I wanted the books to have a cinematic vibe to them so that readers would feel like they were watching the story play out on the big screen. Beyond that, I tried my best to come up with powers that hadn’t been done to death by Marvel and DC, and, when paying homage to an existing superhero, to give my own spin on how that power would be used in Gatlon, or what its limitations might be.  

How much of the trilogy did you have mapped out before beginning the series?

Almost none! Unlike The Lunar Chronicles, which I’d outlined extensively before starting to write, this series developed much more organically. Initially, I had thought that Renegades would be a stand-alone novel, and I’d outlined it as such. But the more I wrote and learned about the characters and uncovered secrets about the world, the longer and more complicated the story became. In the end, there turned out to be a lot of surprises that I couldn’t have predicted when I first started writing it.

Do you see yourself in the characters you have written? 

I feel like I put a little bit of myself in all the characters. I try to find ways to connect with every character on some level, as that helps me understand them and write them more authentically—even the villains! That said, there are definitely some characters that have more of me in them than others. In Renegades, I connect most with Ruby, who is a Renegade who tries to be tough and self-sufficient, but really, she’s a pretty bubbly person who cares deeply for her friends and family.

Would you ever revisit The Lunar Chronicles?

Haha, who knows! Although I don’t currently have anything in the works, I do occasionally get a new idea flitting around in my thoughts, crying for attention. And I know the readers really, really want to see a particular couple get married. We’ll see.

In scenes between Adrian and Nova in Renegades, was it fun or difficult to keep them from revealing their identities to each other?

Oh, definitely fun! I had a pretty good idea about how I wanted their identities to be revealed from early on, so I knew I had to find ways to keep the secrets until then. That said, they definitely toe the line—especially Nova. Going into the start of Supernova, she has a lot of evidence stacked against her, and it becomes less about whether Adrian will realize, and more about when and how that will happen. That, too, created some fun challenges for me to tackle!

Do you ever get writer's block, and if so, how do you get over it?

Not really. I know that even on my worst days, I’m always capable of writing something—even if it’s just a paragraph, and even if that paragraph turns out to be terrible. Still, it’s progress! That said, I try to be kind to myself and recognize when I’m tired, distracted, stressed, etc. If I need to take a day off for some mental recuperation, then I do! On the other hand, if I’m struggling to figure out a particular scene or where the story is heading next, then I’ll step away from my computer and find a cozy spot to daydream and brainstorm for a while. Sometimes even just an hour or two with a pen and paper can unlock all sorts of new ideas.

Do you have a different approach to working on graphic novels as opposed to writing traditional novels?

The initial steps of my process are the same—brainstorming, coming up with characters and ideas, writing an outline, etc. But once I start writing, the process is very different. For novels, I tend to write fast, messy first drafts, and then spend a lot of time on revisions. It’s the opposite with graphic novels, where I’m a lot slower with the first draft because I have to pause to consider what every single panel and page will look like, and how the illustrations are working with the text to move the story forward. It involves a lot more stopping and staring into space, rather than nonstop clicking at the keyboard.

Are there any more graphic novels in the works?

Yes! I’ve been working on an idea as a side project for a while now, and I’m really excited about it. I don’t know when (or even if) it will get published, but I’m having so much fun with it, I hope to be able to share it with readers one of these days!

What’s next after Supernova?

My next novel, Instant Karma, is my first foray into YA contemporary romance and will be out in the fall of 2020. It’s about a girl named Prudence who suddenly develops the power to exact instant karma on those around her. But whenever she tries to use this new gift to punish her obnoxious and lazy (and okay, pretty cute) lab partner, it always seems to backfire. I’m having so much fun writing this one and look forward to telling readers more about it!

Thanks, Marissa! We’re all super excited for the epic conclusion of the Renegades series. Check out the #marissa meyer tag to keep updated on all the news, and get your hands on a copy of Supernova, out tomorrow!

[mactorrenthub]

Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.23 VL [Multilingual]

Office 2019 for Mac is designed from scratch to take advantage of the latest features of Mac, including Retina display support full – screen view and even bounce displacement.

It is the perfect combination of Office that you know and you trust, and the Mac you love. Microsoft Office 2019 is the latest iteration of the industry-standard office suit.

Microsoft Office 2019 includes the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business, each of which is an essential tool in the computerised office workplace of today.

It also boasts a range of enhanced IT options that are designed to make life easier for newcomers to the field. Make no mistake: this is a versatile set of tools and no office should be without it.

What is Office 2019?

Microsoft Office 2019 is a standalone, local (not cloud-based, like Office 365) version of the Microsoft Office software suite. It is a “perpetual” release, which is just a fancy way of saying you buy the software once and own it forever, rather than having to pay an annual subscription fee to access it.

That said, you only get a license to use it on a single PC, whereas a subscription to Office 365 lets you use it on a PC, a tablet, and a smartphone.

This new release updates and replaces the 2016 versions of Word, Excel, etc. and includes many of the new features that have been rolled out to Office 365 users over the past three years. We’ll get to those in a bit.

When is Office 2019 available, and how much will it cost?

Office 2019 is on sale now, but only for commercial-level customers. Availability will be rolling out regular ol’ customers like you and me in the coming weeks. That also means we don’t yet know what the price point is for individual users, but Microsoft will likely have that info soon.

Expect to potentially pay a bit more than what you’d shell out for Office 2016 (currently $150 for the “Home and Student” version), as Microsoft already boosted the price of the commercial version ten percent to account for its “significant value added to the product over time.”

What are the system requirements for Office 2019?

Here’s a big change. On PCs, you’ll need Windows 10 for Office 2019; Microsoft will not support any versions of Windows 7 or 8. As always, Microsoft will make 32 and 64-bit versions of Office 2019 available.

Features

Add visual impact

Bring visual interest to your documents, worksheets, presentations, and messages by inserting Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) that have filters applied to them.

Insert 3D models to see all the angles

Easily insert a 3D model, and then rotate it through 360 degrees.

Inking is where it’s at

Convert ink to shapes, write out complex math problems, highlight text, and more. Use a finger or a pen. A mouse works too!

Precision selecting

Ever selected too many cells or the wrong ones? You can now deselect extraneous cells without having to start over.

Timeline filters

Want to take a look your PivotTable data across years, quarters, months or even days? Easily filter a PivotTable with a timeline filter by sliding the date range.

Add motion with Morph

Make smooth animations, transitions, and object movements across your slides with Morph.

Add pizzazz with icons

Increase the visual impact of your presentations by illustrating your slides with our library of 500 icons.

Add punch with live action video

Add an online video to your slide and watch it without leaving PowerPoint.

Swipe right or swipe left? You decide!

Set the swipe left and swipe right gestures to the actions you use most. Choose from Delete, Archive, Mark as Read, Flag, or None.

Timeliness across time zones

Traveling across time zones? Create an event with different start and end time zones, and Outlook will take care of the conversion. No mental math required!

One-click fixes for accessibility issues

The Accessibility Checker is better than ever with updated support for international standards and handy recommendations to make your documents more accessible.

Learning Tools improve readability

Give your eyes a rest. Adjust text spacing, column width, and page color. Or listen as Word reads your document aloud, highlighting text as it’s read.

Microsoft Office 2019 Products

Word

Create and share professional-looking documents with state-of-the-art editing, reviewing, and sharing tools.

The new Design tab provides quick access to features, and Smart Lookup shows relevant contextual information from the web directly inside Word.

Excel

Analyze and visualize your data in new and intuitive ways with a fresh user interface plus your favorite keyboard shortcuts.

Leverage features like Analysis Toolpak, Slicers, and Formula Builder to save time, so you can focus on insights.

PowerPoint

Create, collaborate, and effectively present your ideas with new slide transitions and an improved Animations task pane. Threaded comments alongside your slides help you incorporate feedback into your presentations.

And Presenter View displays the current slide, next slide, speaker notes, and a timer on your Mac, while projecting only the presentation to your audience on the big screen.

OneNote

It’s your very own digital notebook, so you can keep notes, ideas, web pages, photos, even audio and video all in one place.

Whether you’re at home, in the office, or on the move, you can take it all with you wherever you go while sharing and collaborating with others. It’s great for school assignments, work projects, travel plans, party planning, and more.

Outlook

Like Word, Outlook is also getting a new focus mode, called the “Focused Inbox,” to help streamline workflow and email drafting. Users can now use “@” commands for tagging people in emails, and contact cards have been overhauled.

Also, PC users will now have travel and delivery cards, while Mac users get new email templates; a Send Later function for scheduling delivery times; and read receipts. Both platforms also get Office 365 Group integration.

PowerPoint

The changes for PowerPoint are all about enhanced media and visual element support in presentations.

The notable additions here are support for 3D model display/manipulation and SVG files on slides; new morph transitions; the ability to export your presentation in 4K UHD video format, and you can now write by hand and move elements with your pencil while editing.

Better pencil support and other tweaks

In addition to these program-specific updates, there are also changes that apply to all Office 2019 software.

The most important of these is Microsoft’s beefed-up support for digital pencils, like expanded “roaming pencil case” support, which lets users write by hand and move parts of documents with their pencil, as well as new support for pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition.

Office 2019 also comes with some behind-the-scenes changes such as monthly security updates and a reduction to network bandwidth use.

Will Office 2019 replace Office 365?

No. In a post announcing the software release, Microsoft makes sure to point out that Office 2019 is a standalone package of its software geared primarily towards private users and businesses who do not have the necessary internet access required to use the cloud-based Office 365.

Because of this, many of the features present in the Office 365 versions of these apps are not included in their Office 2019 counterparts, especially cloud-based and collaborative features.

Furthermore, Microsoft makes it clear that while Office 2019 will be receiving regular security fixes, it will not be getting expanded feature updates, while Office 365 users can still look forward to new and updated features through regular monthly updates just as they always have.

The bottom line here is that Office 2019 is not going to replace Office 365, and it really isn’t meant to. That said, regardless of the particular use case, Office 2019 still fills a crucial role and services a section of Microsoft’s customer base that may have felt a bit neglected since Office 365 took the spotlight.

Screenshots

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What’s new?

TEXT JOIN, CONCAT, IFS, and more. Let Excel do the work so you don’t have to.

Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.23 VL [Multilingual] Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.23 VL Office 2019 for Mac is designed from scratch to take advantage of the latest features of Mac, including Retina display support full – screen view and even bounce displacement.

[finderkeeperloser]

© Photo from Amazon

Author: Garth Stein

Publication Date: May 13, 2008 (first published January 1, 2008

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages:  321 pages

Edition: Hardcover

Source: Booksale (owned)

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

My Rating: 5/5

Goodreads Summary:

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life … as only a dog could tell it.

My Review:

‘La macchina va dove vanno gli occhi,’ the boy says. The champion laughs then looks at the sky. ‘Si,’ he says.

The car goes where the eyes go. It is true, my young friend. It is very, very true.

Excuse me while I cry and smile at the same time. This is a damn success in Enzo’s part and I could tell the real and fictional world agrees with me. I am relieved, but more than that happy, to know the outcome of Denny and Enzo’s story. I won’t say the end because god knows a chapter has ended but the story goes on and so far, a new chapter begins for both of them. I like how clear the author is in incorporating racing and Mongolian belief in producing this book, let alone allowing a dog to narrate the story. That is an automatic five stars for me considering that I, myself, is a dog lover and there’s nothing in this world that will make me happy than reading a book in perspective of a dog.

Kudos to Garth Stein for entrusting this story in the hands—err, paws of the dog and for doing a great job in writing this emotional masterpiece. There are so much originality and realness in this book that guarantee genuine emotional investment from its readers. I will be damned if I wouldn’t admit that my heart melted and wept while reading it and honestly, at some point, I cried because of Denny’s mishaps in life; however, I was also happy to see how Enzo played a huge part in keeping Denny, his emotions and sanity intact. In my opinion, what happened to Denny is too much and if I were in his position, I will surely lose my shit. But then again, Enzo was Denny’s saving grace. I am actually amazed how a dog can master such awareness that even his own decision makes more sense than that of Denny. Their friendship was so pure that if only Enzo can speak, they can definitely finish each other’s sentences. Of course, inability to speak is a hindrance, but because their friendship goes beyond their differences communication barrier is nothing. Like, when Denny was so stressed out about his legal problems, he wants to get drunk and Enzo knows Denny should not be resorting to alcoholism – that alcohol is not the solution to his problems. So he went on a strike—purposefully avoiding Denny by not sleeping in his room. Moments later, Denny came in telling him he did not drink anything and apologized to Enzo as if he knows that move made his dog upset. Ghad, that scene solidified everything—that those two have this special friendship bond way too personal that they don’t need words to understand each other. People, I am simply fascinated by how they affect each other and I would like to believe all dogs have such kind of consciousness. Like, in my case, sometimes think my dogs know me better than myself – same reason why I am so in love with this book.

Anyway, I want you to know guys that this book touched my heart in more ways than one and there’s no denying that my reading experience in this book is the soundest and silliest ever. (Silly ideas are learning ideas, okay) It was a fun and uplifting read complete with heart-warming scenes from a dog’s account of human life and its ups and downs, all the while embracing death like a God-given opportunity. It was wittingly original and consistent, fueled by excellent word choice and relatable plot. Somehow, to read this masterful book is like having the peace of mind I needed in evaluating my life and how I chart my course towards the destination I want…or dared to reach.

“That which we manifest is before us.”

This is my biggest takeaway from Enzo and Denny’s story and I am proud to say that I have learned life-changing truths about human life in this book that I haven’t in any other places and dammit, I learned it from Enzo – the dog! So, if you are lost and uncertain about the direction you are heading and the choices you are making, please do read this book. Enzo’s warm hugs and contagious outlook in life is ready to outweigh your problems in real life. 

My rating:

Cover – 3.8

Title – 4.5

Plot – 5.0

Character Development – 4.3

Writing style – 5.0

Extras (includes chapter introductions, in-book illustrations, freebies, discussion guides, etc.) – 4.0 Includes quick factoids about the book.

Bonus

Happy tears and ugly crying catalyst – + 0.50

Total: 4.93

Final Rating:

Exceeds my expectation a.k.a classic (may/may not be a literal classic)

About the Author:

Photo from Goodreads

Garth Stein is the author of four novels: the New York Times bestselling gothic/historical/coming-of-age/ghost story, “A Sudden Light”; the internationally bestselling “The Art of Racing in the Rain”; the PNBA Book Award winner, “How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets”; and the magically realistic “Raven Stole the Moon.” He is also the author of the stage play “Brother Jones.” He has a dog, he’s raced a few cars, climbed a bunch of really tall trees, made a few documentary films, and he lives in Seattle with his family. He’s co-founder of Seattle7Writers.org, a non-profit collective of 74 Northwest authors working together to energize the reading and writing public.

To know more about the author, visit him online at http://www.garthstein.com/

Book Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein © Photo from Amazon Author: Garth Stein Publication Date: May 13, 2008 (first published January 1, 2008…

[hunterscape564]

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The official website for Corel Software. Get product information, download free trial software, learn about special offers and access tutorial resources. Download Your Free CorelDRAW Trial. Get full access to all of the premium features and content in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2021, including; An extensive collection of applications for drawing, illustration, page layout, photo editing, web graphics and more. Explore what’s possible in graphic design with CorelDRAW. Time saving collaboration, advanced illustration and powerful photo-editing tools deliver exceptional results and boost productivity. Enjoy a cross-platform experience on Windows, Mac, web, iPad, and other mobile devices.

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The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite combines three heavyweight graphics tools-CorelDRAW 11, Photo-Paint 11, and R.A.V.E. 2-which can be used individually or together. Now in version 11, the CorelDRAW Suite shows Corel still has plenty of ideas on how to improve the effectiveness and ease-of-use of these major applications. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators.

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Entourage pilot script. Entourage Pilot Script. Posted by 9 months ago. Entourage Pilot Script. Not for everyone, but I found this early draft of the pilot episode interesting - it opens at a nightclub instead of the lunch spot, though the conversation around the reunion is vaguely the same. And you can still see remnants of what Doug Ellin has. Here’s your script. Your audition is tomorrow afternoon on the Paramount lot. Vince stands up to leave and the entourage follows his lead. ERIC Find him something he loves, Ari. Find me something I love, Ari. As the group exits Ari looks as if he’s about to throw. Entourage Pilot Episode TV Script Autographed: Kevin Dillon, Jeremy Piven, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Debi Mazar, Jerry Ferrara May Longmuir Nov 17, 2015 My son loved this. He has followed Entourage from the beginning. resource Entourage pilot script (2004) RESOURCE. I couldn't find the script for the Entourage pilot anywhere online, so I watched the episode a few times and wrote my version of the screenplay. The dialog is word-for-word, but the beats are my best guess.

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Flash After Effects

Flash After Effects

Flash After Effects Tutorials

The Flash After Effects

Flash over after effect? Or After effects over flash? Just recently I have worked out how to animate sprites in after effects. Previously I would animate my sprite animations in flash then convert it into a video file and add the sound effect on after effects, and any other further effects. Here is something I created a few years back which I made in flash, then converted and edited in after effects.

Subscribe Now:More:light flashes on After Effects is.

Flash Player's end of life is December 31st, 2020. Please see the Flash Player EOL Information page for more details. This document lists the file formats which Adobe After Effects can import and export. You can add support for additional file formats to After Effects by installing a third-party plug-in.

Hello!Today I'll be showing you how to make black flashes in after effects, enjoy!If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments! After months of waiting - It's time to learn how to use STRIKE the right way! Recreating Flash running in Adobe After Effects!Download it here: https://www.

But recently I worked out that sprite animation was possible in after effects. So i created this very short animation.

So this in mind, it got me thinking. What program was better for sprite animation?

In flash, sprite animation is easy because you can add all the images and take the character frames out of the original image then put into the work space. In after effects to get the frames for the animation, you have to key out the background to the sprite sheet, then mask out each picture frame that you want. It’s a slightly different way to flash, however in both pieces in software it is quite tedious and time consuming.

Flash is also very handy for creating animation loops, like walk loops. These are obvious where it comes in handy, but I have not found any way of making an animation loop in after effects for this sort of thing.

After effects however can produce better quality images compared to flash because you don’t have to convert any file, and because the software won’t mess up any of the images. You don’t have to change any of the options to get a better image, whereas in flash to view high quality animations you had to go into the JPEG option and increase the quality.

After effects is also handy with how you can manipulate the objects, as the rotation, scale, position and other aspects are split into their own sets on the timeline, in flash all the manipulation is on one timeline for each object, which means if you wanted to manipulate two different aspects of an image, but at different times, it may get a little more complicated and time consuming in flash, than it would in after effects.

After effects has a much more powerful and flexibly virtual camera. Flash on the other hands has an actionscripited camera that, don’t get me wrong works effectively. However cannot do 3D effect at all, whereas the camera in after effect has to be in 3D to work. This give it an edge because it means you can make more elaborate animation with foregrounds and backgrounds, and also make more than one angle, rather than it just being a platform.

Adding effects is also easier in after effects because you can add proper effects on to any file, whereas in flash you can only add effects onto movie files. After effects has an input motion blur which reacted to the movements of the file and adds the blur in relation to the movements. In flash you have to add them manually. Any blurred camera looks have to be manually done too, but after effects has it built in.

The last thing is that after effect allows you to animate in a 3D environment, this can also be done in flash, but is more complicated and time consuming as part of it has to be scripted to do it properly right. No scripting is involved in after effects.

Flash After Effects

Well-rounded and powerful program which enables you to create professional-looking photos, render 3D graphics and add motion to them

What's new in Adobe After Effects CC 2021 18.1:

Bugs Fixed:

Fixed an issue that could cause After Effects to crash when copying layers using Linear Color key.

Fixed an issue with 3D Scene Navigation that caused spring loaded “C” AND “V” keys to not work correctly.

Read the full changelog

Professional multimedia editors are already aware of the importance of their software, as the application they use needs to be both feature-packed and intuitive enough to allow users to easily locate each function with ease. Adobe After Effects is one of the most complex tools one can work with in regards to designing motion graphics or cinematic visual effects.

Time-consuming installation and a few tips

First and foremost, it needs to be mentioned that this software comes with a large installer, therefore it takes a while to download, go through the entire setup and load.

When first launching the software, the Welcome Screen comes in handy to beginners and pros alike, as it displays some tips meant to optimize the manner in which you operate Adobe After Effects.

Import images and take advantage of incorporated presets

When creating a new composition, users can customize it by adding text strings, solid colors, camera, lights, as well as new distinct layers. Alternatively, the composition can be viewed as a flowchart, to ensure smooth manipulation of its components.

The application also supports inserting common images or Photoshop-based ones, and users can apply effects such as stylize, distort, and shatter. All the elements can be combined, adjusted and edited so as to obtain a custom high-quality animation - presets can also be of use when looking for inspiration for a new project.

Includes a standalone animation tool that helps users bring characters to life

The Adobe Character Animator is deployed alongside Adobe After Effects, providing users with a powerful animation tool they can use to bring to life models created with Photoshop or Illustrator.

The great thing about Adobe Character Animator is that it can track facial expressions and motion using a simple webcam, and apply them to two-dimensional characters. Moreover, it can mimic mouth movement and enables users to use audio recording to become the voice of their characters, with worry-free lip-syncing.

Apply an array of effects and set up various parameters

Considering the numerous types of effects and layer actions (such as time-reverse, mask, blend, switch) supported by Adobe After Effects, it is best to experiment with them before applying them to your final creation.

Experts are bound to access the Preferences section when they want to adjust the amount of RAM that can be used by the software, or to configure the video preview and audio hardware settings.

Conclusion

It might burden your computer’s performance, yet you should know that all jobs are finalized in a fair amount of time without running into issues such as errors, crashes or bugs.

Although the interface might seem a bit overwhelming, it is quite professional and there are plenty of Help contents integrated. All in all Adobe After Effects is an efficient and reliable piece of software, which deserves all the credit it has been given over the years.

Filed under

Adobe After Effects was reviewed by Elena Opris

5.0/5

LIMITATIONS IN THE UNREGISTERED VERSION

7 days trial

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Intel Core2 Duo or AMD Phenom II processor; 64-bit support required

16GB of RAM (32GB recommended)

5GB of available hard-disk space; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash storage devices)

Additional disk space for disk cache (10GB recommended)

1280x1080 display

Broadband internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services

Optional: Adobe-certified GPU card for GPU-accelerated ray-traced 3D renderer

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Adobe After Effects CC 2021 18.1

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[myhahnestopinion]

REVIEW: Justice League

In the five year history of the DC Extended Universe, perhaps the strongest connective tissue has been the painfully obvious lack of an overall plan. The cinematic universe got off to a flawed, yet promising, start in 2013 with Man of Steel, but the decision to immediately double triple down on director Zach Snyder, who many people pointed to as the source of the film’s major failings, was the first sign that things were not shaping up as hoped. The three-year gap before the next film, Batman v Superman, which tried to cram in several movies worth of storylines and world-building, and the subsequent release of the bafflingly incoherent and seemingly irrelevant Suicide Squad cemented the idea that the DCEU’s failure would ultimately be of its own doing. Even the lone unquestionable bright spot of the universe, this summer’s Wonder Woman, illustrated this lack of plan, though in this instance, it turned out for the best. Its standalone nature, characterization of its main hero, and message of hope greatly contrasted with the DCEU’s aesthetic thus far, suggesting that the future of the cinematic universe might be best served in singular efforts under the guiding hand of directors best suited for that particular hero, as Patty Jenkins was for Wonder Woman. However, DC was already too far gone in its attempts to catch up to Marvel for one great movie to pull them out, and the production of a team-up film built on the back of Batman V Superman was unavoidable. Much like the against-all-odds success of The Avengers was the obvious result of Marvel’s carefulness, Justice League is the expected conclusion of this uncertainty. Justice League is an often-incoherent amalgam of two directorial visions and corporate demands, strung together by obvious reshoot work. However, somewhat miraculously, DC still managed to make the best of a bad situation. Justice League perhaps works better as a trailer for a more colorful, hopeful vision of the DC Universe in the future than it does as a film, but its streamlined editing, lighter tone, and great cast should be enough to justify audiences giving the DCEU another chance.

Justice League, unfortunately but inescapably, picks up in the aftermath of the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. With Superman (Henry Cavill) dead, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) must scramble to assemble a team of new heroes, including Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fischer), in order to combat a looming alien invasion. The team must race against the villainous Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and his army of Parademons to collect the Mother Boxes, three pieces of alien technology capable of transforming Earth into the apocalyptic hellscape of Steppenwolf’s home planet, and restore hope to the world.

Even boiling Justice League down into a basic synopsis requires an abundance of new names, new threats, and new MacGuffins that no amount of non-sequitur dream sequences from prior films has prepared audiences for. The film itself piles much more onto that, introducing side-characters from each hero’s solo film, taking the viewer from Gotham to Themyscira to Atlantis, as well as teasing bits of larger DC Comics lore that may or may not pay-off in the future. The film has to make up a lot of ground, and even casual comic book fans may find themselves lost trying to make sense of it all. Left once again with enough material for at least three other movies, the under two-hour runtime (the shortest DCEU film yet) seems initially questionable. However, the streamlined editing approach manages to work wonders at making the film enjoyable, especially compared to the three-hour slog of Batman V Superman’s Ultimate Edition, the only watchable version of that film. Taking inspiration from both DC’s recent line of rebooted New 52 comics, as well as the classic Japanese film Seven Samurai, the film’s pure team-up action keeps things moving from humorous character interaction to riveting action sequence with little regard for coherence, but a lot of regard for good old-fashioned summer blockbuster joy. 

This joy is achievable mainly through the strength of the ensemble cast. Much has already been said about the comic-book accurate intimidating-physicality of Ben Affleck’s Batman, but the character has traded in his murderous tendencies for pathos and even a bit of humor this time around. Fans of the Wonder Woman movie may be disappointed at the lack of focus given to the DCEU’s standout-hero, and possibly annoyed at Justice League’s misguided attempts to build off her solo-film’s character arc, but that solo film transformed Gal Gadot into one of Hollywood’s biggest stars for a reason, and she shines here yet again. The biggest success of the film, however, is endearing the viewer to the three new heroes hopeful for starring roles in the future. Momoa’s badass thrill-seeking Aquaman easily brushes off any potential jokes about the character, while Miller’s Flash manages to earn his place alongside his TV counterpart through his eager yet socially-awkward interpretation of the hero. The most surprising element of the film is Fischer’s Cyborg, whose 2020 solo film announcement was met with a huge amount of apprehension. However, the anxiety about, yet potential of, quickly-evolving technology expressed by his power-set and captured by Fischer’s tormented yet humorous portrayal is fascinating, timely material that seems primed for further exploration going forward. 

While the film is convincing proof of each hero’s readiness for headlining their own feature, one of the most enjoyable elements of Justice League is the interactions between the various characters. Many of the biggest laughs of the film (the running gag about Aquaman’s ability to talk to fish, the exchanges between Flash and Cyborg as two teens in way over their heads) bear the distinct impression of Joss Whedon’s touch, who received a co-writing credit on the film after taking control of the movie’s post-production. Attempts to discern what parts of the film’s troubled production came from Whedon and what came from Zach Snyder may be impossible (though the poor CGI-mustache-removal on Henry Cavill reveals how much of the film was reshot late in the game), the film is quite obviously a clash between two very distinct visionary styles. Those who appreciated the (pompous) exploration of heroism that Snyder developed over his prior two DCEU films will be disappointed to discover that this thematic throughline is suddenly dropped, with no real substance to replace it. However, for most, the newfound levity of the characters will be a massive relief.

For as much contempt as this hastily reassembled film seems to have for its own credited director, Snyder’s vision still leaks through, sometimes to the movie’s benefit, but often not. Snyder’s greatest strength as a director has always been his eye for striking visuals, and the cinematography here often provides shots that feel just like gorgeous comic book splash pages. Much like the film’s narrative is a Frankenstein’s monster though, the film’s visual styling is similarly uneven. Given the massive reported production budget (at least $300 million after the extensive reshoots), it’s embarrassing how frequently terrible the film’s visual effects are, including the aforementioned uncanny valley of its mustache-removal, as well as a particularly ugly instance of fast-growing plants late in the film. Still, the action scenes are fun and dynamic, both in its team action and in the heroes’ singular efforts, such as an especially thrilling terrorist-thwarting Wonder Woman scene at the film’s beginning.

Given the five-year build-up within the universe itself, as well as the decades-long attempt to bring the superhero team to the big screen, it’s undeniably disappointing that the film ended up being the rushed, uneven result of a lack of planning. The notion that this wasn’t the Justice League film anyone was really hoping for is perhaps best evidenced by its villain, Steppenwolf, a C-list character from the comics best known for being the herald of an actual notable threat, with dreadfully confusing motivations. Even Starro the Conquerer was a better justification for needing this many heroes to band together. 

Perhaps the film’s best reason for bringing these heroes together though is to finally relieve Warner Bros.’ anxiety about wanting a comic-book crossover of their own. After many long years, they’ve finally made their film. It’s shaping up to be a critical and commercial failure, but it’s over and done with. The Justice League has reached the big screen. They can finally move on, and if the course-correction the film does provide, including its lighter tone and actually inspiring and likable heroes, is any indication, the whole endeavor can still be salvaged, as long as they can understand why Wonder Woman became their critical outlier. The 2018 Aquaman film by James Wan, and the 2019 Shazam! film starring Zachary Levi, appear to be solid next steps though. Justice League may not do its heroes justice, but the fun it provides lays the groundwork for a new visionary, one with a great plan, to avenge them in the future.

Justice League, also starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, and J.K. Simmons, is in theaters now. 

[nphofrph]

NPHofRPH’s Sing-Along Glossary of Roleplay Terms

The quintessential dictionary for the new RPer, or the veteran RPer who wants to get caught up on all the new-fangled slang them young folks are using.

(Note: does not actually come with any particular melody, but feel free to make one up as you go and hum it.)

1x1: A roleplay between just two people, you and your partner.

2x2: A roleplay between four characters. Not sure why it’s referred to this way. I guess the characters are all supposed to have paired up by the end of it?

4x4: Wait, are we stilling pairing them up, or can this just be eight characters?

32x32: Apparently we just like dividing by two in this neck of the woods.

Activity Check: A time when the admins go through the characters of a roleplay and make sure that they’re all still posting and haven’t run away from home.

Admin: The manager or moderator of a roleplay group; the one who’s in charge of creating the roleplay and keeping it running.

Angst: Piling on the hurt - usually emotional, sometimes physical - for your character to endure. Really fun. You should try it. Be a malevolent god.

Anon Hate: A message someone sends anonymously detailing why they despise you and what they’ve done to your mother, or threatening you in some way. Honestly, it’s hard to be threatened by that little gray fella with the sunglasses, but okay.

Apartment RP: A roleplay in which all or most of the characters live in a single apartment building.

Application: A description of your character to submit in order to be considered to join a roleplay group. Like a job interview, but not as painful.

Appless RP: A roleplay where you don’t have to fill out an application. Just insert a couple of details about your character onto a little form and you’re in. Quality may vary.

Ask Meme: A post containing a list of questions for others to send to your character.

AU: Alternate universe. This is where the characters of the work are placed in a setting or scenario not present in canon. For example, characters who are superheroes in their canon work meeting as ordinary high school students instead.

Backstory: The events of a character’s life that occurred before the beginning of the roleplay. Doesn’t have to be tragic. Is usually tragic.

Bandom RP: A roleplay in which the characters are in a band. It’s a pun, see. A portmanteau of “band” and “fandom”, I think. I’m assuming. I mean, I’m not a roleplay etymologist or anything.

Bio RP: A roleplay in which a detailed description of the character’s background and personality is required in the application.

Blogroll: A page which displays all the blogs that a user is following.

BroTP: Like an OTP (see below), except for best buddies instead of romantic partners.

Bubble Roleplaying: Roleplaying with only a select few characters or members in a group RP setting and ignoring the others.

Canon: The stuff that the original writer of a work made. For an RP group, this consists of the plot, additional info, and any characters made by the admins intended to be a part of the overall story. For other works, it’s simply everything that occurs in the work.

CBR: Could be related. Two faceclaims who could play biological family members.

Celebrity RP: A roleplay in which you play actual celebrities as characters. These exist for some reason.

Charrie: Short for character. Not to be confused with Carrie, a Stephen King novel in which a girl gets a bit power-crazy with her telekinesis.

City RP: A roleplay in which the plot takes place in a single city as its primary or only setting. Like a town RP, but the buildings are taller.

Closed Starter: A starter made for a particular blog to reply to. Sure, you can still reply to it if it wasn’t intended for you, but it’ll just lead to secondhand embarrassment for all involved.

Contained Theme: A theme that is frightened. It tries to hide from predators by curling up and making itself smaller.

Crackship: A relationship between two characters whose pairing seems unlikely or absurd.

Crackship Gifs: Gifs of two characters edited together so that it appears the characters are interacting with each other.

Crossover: A work consisting of elements from two or more works or fandoms.

Cross-tagging: Tagging a post with related things that are not actually in the post. For example, tagging a picture of Wonder Woman with ‘#superman’. Don’t do this. It’s all of the annoying.

CW: Content Warning. Same as trigger warning. See below.

Defiantly: Definitely, but misspelled.

DM: Dungeon Master. The person who is in charge of - wait, hang on, wrong type of roleplay. Sorry about that. Move along.

Drabble: Technically it’s a story of exactly 100 words, but it’s more used to just refer to a very short standalone piece about a character or characters in a particular single scenario.

Dry Docking: The opposite of shipping. When two characters who are a couple in canon are either broken up or were never together in the first place in your fan work or RP.

Event: In a roleplay group, an occurrence in the story in which all characters can participate. Also can be several days in which the verse is altered, such as a Future Week or other AU.

Exclusive: In a fandom-related independent RP, when the mun will RP with only one version of a particular character. For example, an indie RP playing Hermione Granger only interacts with a single indie Ron Weasley blog, and others who play Ron must go elsewhere.

FxF: A romantic pairing between two female characters, usually in 1x1 roleplay.

Face-chaser: Someone who pursues a roleplay or ship with a character based on their faceclaim instead of their characterization or the writing.

Faceclaim/FC: A real-life person used to represent what a roleplay character looks like.

Faceless Gifs/Images: Gifs or images that can be used in roleplaying regardless of the character’s faceclaim, since a person’s face is not visible or present in the gif or image.

Female Ban: An element in some works of dystopian fiction wherein the government or other higher power attempts to suppress a population by eliminating females and thus making it hard to procreate... Hang on, no, I’ve just been informed that it’s when an RP doesn’t allow any more female characters to be added to the group. Presumably, male bans exist too, but I think that’s just an urban legend.

First Look: A type of review based on a quick glance over the roleplay and what first impressions the reviewer gleaned from it.

Floating Timeline: A concept in roleplay that suggests that events in threads that are being written at a particular time do not necessarily take place in that time in-story. So, if a character has multiple ongoing threads, they are not actually in multiple places at once.

Fluff: Scenes that do not involve any significant obstacle and instead are intended to give the characters time to just have fun and be cute together.

Gif Chat: A type of roleplay thread in which each post is accompanied by a gif to illustrate the character.

Gif Hunt: Collection of gifs gathered from throughout tumblr or from various sources.

Gif Icons: Collection of gifs that are 100x100 pixels in size. Sometimes people make them 90x90 or 75x75 for what I can only assume are unsavory purposes. Don’t let your guard down around those things.

Gif Pack: Collection of gifs in which  all of the gifs are made by the person posting the pack, and usually are all from the same source (the same movie, TV episode, etc.)

Godmodding: Collectively refers to powerplaying, metagaming, or both. See below.

Gore: Explicit and/or graphic violence and blood. A challenge to see how many synonyms for “red” you know.

Gossip Blog: A blog affiliated with a roleplay group that talks about and passes judgment on the characters. Sometimes can be fun, if managed well, but often creates all species of drama.

Headcanon: Something that an individual or fandom believes to be true about a story or character, even though it is not shown to be the case in the canon work.

Hiatus: Taking a break from roleplaying due to real life occurrences taking priority. As if anything could be more important than finishing those replies, pfft! The nerve.

IC: In-character. The actions, thoughts, and posts of the character; the stuff that occurs in the roleplay proper.

Icons: Also called static icons, a 100x100 image of the character or faceclaim used to illustrate the character in lieu of gifs.

I’m sorry, what did you say?: An extremely vague starter. For some reason, people keep making this starter, despite it annoying and frustrating people. Like an Alvin and the Chipmunks film.

Independent RP/Indie RP: A roleplay blog or character not associated with any particular established RP group.

IRL: In real life. Don’t worry, you won’t have to use this one often. Nothing ever happens in real life.

Kik: Something that I recently learned is not a dating site, as I had thought. This is all I know.

KRP: A roleplay that uses K-Pop artists as faceclaims exclusively or nearly exclusively. This community has some terminology of its own that I don’t know, but most of it’s similar to the rest of the RPC.

Label: A brief descriptor or trope used to describe a character in an application. Some examples are The Scholar, The Heartbreaker, The Intrepid Reporter, The Lizard Tamer, etc.

Literate RP: An RP that is highly writing-focused and requires longer posts and replies than other roleplays. Despite the misleading name, it is not actually saying that other roleplays are illiterate.

LSRP: Legit Serious Roleplay. Same as Literate RP. Yes, this acronym is ridiculous, just roll with it.

MxM: A romantic pairing between two male characters, usually in 1x1 roleplay.

Magic Anon/M!A: A post for which you invite others to make your character take on a certain trait or action for a select period of time.

Main: In a group, the blog that contains all of the information and updates for the roleplay. Home base, basically.

Manip: A graphic edit of two faceclaims in which they are photoshopped to look like they’re in a picture together.

Mary Sue: A character whose unreasonable ease or difficulty in overcoming obstacles, forming relationships, and/or gaining accolades runs contrary to the intent of the writer and makes it difficult for the reader to get invested in the story or character arc. Also, apparently, a term used to refer to any female character you don’t like.

Mature RP: A roleplay that may contain dark or adult themes, and thus doesn’t allow players under the age of 18. Seriously, if you’re under 18, don’t lie about your age. That’s a dick move.

Meme: A post that features small prompts that others can send in to begin a thread. Elsewhere on the internet, this term refers to drawings of sad frogs.

Metagaming: Letting your character have in-character knowledge that they shouldn’t logically possess, just because the mun has it.

Mod: Another term for admin. We could never settle on one term for them. It’s like the couch vs. sofa dilemma.

Moodboard: A collection of images or gifs used to sum up a character’s personality.

Multifandom: Similar to Crossover, although usually used to refer to a work with elements from three or more works or fandoms.

Multi-Storyline/Multiverse: In independent roleplay, when the character exists in more than one universe at once, such that threads with a character do not impact the events of threads with a different character.

Mumu: Multi-muse. In which a single blog is used to play more than one character.

Mun: The writer/roleplayer. The person who’s controlling the character. You. This is you. Use this power wisely.

Muse: The character that you roleplay. Also, a Greek goddess who presided over the arts, although this definition is usually irrelevant in roleplay.

Musing: Posts that represent the character’s personality, history, or thoughts in someway, such as aesthetic photos, songs, or philosophical rants.

Mutuals: Blogs on tumblr that are both following each other.

MW: Most wanted. A character or faceclaim that admins or members in a group would really like someone to play.

NoTP: When some people think that two characters would make a good couple, and you would like to stab those people with a fork for being so stupid.

Novella: Very long format for roleplaying, in which responses should contain several paragraphs of writing. Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to write a novella; a reply shorter than 20,000 words is still acceptable.

NPC: Non-playable character. A character who is present in the roleplay’s universe, but is not played by any one particular writer.

NPH of RPH: That’s me!

NSFW: Not safe for work. Nudity, sex, graphic violence. Basically, the stuff that you absolutely don’t want to come across while browsing at the public library.

OC: Original character. A character you make that is not part of the canon or not pre-written for the RP group.

One-liner:  Roleplay consisting of only a single line or a few short lines. Sometimes referred to as “action roleplay” wherein actions are interspersed with speech. For example: “*Enters the room and throws confetti into the air.* I have arrived!”

OOC: Out of character. Can be used to denote that the writer is currently speaking or posting as themselves, rather than as a character, or be used to point out that a character does not act that way in canon, what are you doing, goddamnit.

Open Character: A pre-made character in a group who is currently not being played by any member of the group.

Open Starter: A starter that any character is allowed to reply to.

Original RP: A roleplay in which the plot and characters come from the admins’ and players’ creations rather than another source.

OTP: One true pairing. The ship that you love more than all the other ships. Except that most people have at least twelve OTPs, so...

OT3: One true threesome. Like an OTP, except there are three people.

Para: Relatively longer posts, consisting of full-bodied paragraphs or multiple paragraphs.

Playby: Another word for Faceclaim. Used more outside of Tumblr. See the couch vs. sofa debate.

Plot Bunny: A story that you would like to play out or see others play out through roleplay.

Plot Drop: A significant detail or event of the overarching story in a group RP that causes some change to the lives of the characters.

Powerplaying: Controlling another player’s character without their permission.

Private: In indie RP, a blog that only interacts with mutuals.

Promo: A post used to advertise a roleplay group or account.

PSD: Photoshop Data file. A type of file that’s designed to be edited on Photoshop or other image editing programs. It comes with the image separated into layers, so that different parts of the image, such as a background, a border, or text, can be edited separately.

Revamped: Extreme Makeover, Roleplay Edition.

RP: Roleplay.

RPA: Roleplay Advice. Like roleplay help, except, I dunno, maybe fewer resources, more questions answered? This one’s falling into disuse a bit. Oh, also Roleplay Assistant.

RPC: Roleplay Community. The group of us weirdos here who roleplay instead of just posting funny text posts and photographs of flowers like normal people. Alternatively, Roleplay Critic, a blog that reviews roleplays.

RPCHA: Um, Roleplay Critic/Helper/Advice. Seems a little over the top, but all right.

RPCW: Roleplay Critic Writer, I guess? I think. Same as roleplay critic. Think it’s used to differentiate from Roleplay Community.

RPG: Roleplay group. A group. That roleplays. Also can mean roleplaying game, or rocket-propelled grenade.

RPH: Roleplay Help. A blog that offers resources and answers questions to help people with roleplaying.

RPO: Roleplay Opinions. A blog that reviews roleplays. It doesn’t count as RPO if you just have opinions; you need to share them with the class.

RPT: Roleplay Talk. A blog that talks about roleplays and the roleplay community.

RPWCTOHA: This doesn’t stand for anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

Sample Para: A few paragraphs of your writing you include as an example as your work when you apply for a roleplay group. Do not just copy and paste a passage from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” The admins will probably notice.

Secrets RP: A roleplay in which every character has a secret. These secrets are all listed together on a page in the RP, but it’s not revealed which character has which secret; that’s up to the other characters to figure out on their own through interactions.

Selective: For independent RP, when the mun does not roleplay indiscriminately with every blog or character that offers, but rather picks and chooses partners based on personal preference or certain criteria. 

Self-insert: A character who is a fictionalized version of the mun/author, with little to no change from their actual self. If they die in the game, they die in real life.

Self-para: When your character wanders away from the group for a bit to engage in their own sidequest or navel-gazing. Good times.

Semi-appless RP: A roleplay that sits on an ever-sliding scale, requiring more detail in an application than an appless RP, but less than a bio RP.

Semi-hiatus: Like a hiatus, except that you might still show up to the blog on occasion and do a little bit of activity. When your real life is busy, but you’re just that determined to roleplay.

Semi-selective: For independent RP, a blog that’s not quite as selective as a selective blog, but still maintains the right to refuse service to customers should they so choose.

Semi-truck: A truck that’s not as much truck as a regular truck.

Shipping: Holding up hand-puppet versions of two characters and forcing them to make out.

Shoutout: A brief advertisement for a roleplay group (or occasionally other blogs) that can be submitted to the ask box of a help blog.

Skeleton RP: A roleplay in which some details are given for the roles being offered by the group, but the applicant fills in the rest, usually writing the body of the character bio. Alternatively, a roleplay in which every character is literally a skeleton.

Smut: Sex. Doing the do. The horizontal tango. Bumping uglies. Woohooing. Written out in all of its gory detail. Not worth going to jail for, so for the love of all that is holy, don’t do it if you’re under 18.

Starboarding: Shipping a one-sided ship. When you want one character to be in love with another, but don’t necessarily want the feelings to be returned. The most relatable type of ship, honestly. More people should RP it.

Starter: The first post in a thread, one that is used to kick off a scene in roleplaying. Usually, especially in a group, anyone is allowed to reply and start a thread from that point.

Starter Call: A post that people like or reblog in order to request a starter from the person who posted it.

Supernatural RP: A roleplay consisting of paranormal elements such as magical creatures, witchcraft, etc. Not a roleplay about the TV show Supernatural, although I guess such a roleplay would use this tag too. This is a problem the showrunners should have foreseen.

Taken Character: A character in a roleplay group who is currently being played by a group member.

Task: In a group, a (usually optional) prompt or project that can be used for character development.

Thread: The series of posts and replies to said post that make up a scene between characters in a roleplay.

Time Skip: Usually indicated by a line break, this is when a thread moves from one scene to another without covering the time in between.

Town RP: A roleplay in which the plot takes place in a single town as its primary or only setting. Like a city RP, but the buildings are shorter.

Trigger: Something that makes a user anxious, panicky, or otherwise very upset when they see it on their dashboard without warning. Tag these. No, I don’t care if it doesn’t fit your tagging aesthetic, just tag them.

Tumblr: You are here.

TW: Trigger Warning. Used in a tag to indicate that the post contains content that may be a trigger. Please format as “#[trigger] tw”. Not “#tw: [trigger]”, and definitely not “#☾-*.:｡-❝✿~~ tw ~~✿&&♛”.

Twitter RP: A roleplay that uses Twitter as its primary platform. Don’t ask me how. I can’t even figure out how to use Twitter for its intended purpose.

Urban RP: A roleplay focused primarily on PoC (person of color) characters in a city setting. Often uses musicians such as hip-hop or rap artists as faceclaims.

UTP: Up to player. An acronym used in skeletons to indicated that part of the bio can be chosen by the applicant.

Verse: Short for universe. A character’s world or timeline.

WID: What I do. A list or page on a help blog that lists what services the blog offers.

X-kit: A browser extension that’s popular within the RPC. It works to make tumblr usable again every time the staff creates a new bug and calls it a feature.

[cecillewhite]

It’s Showtime! How to Enhance Conference Learning With Online Video

After a decade of explosive market growth, online video has reached critical mass and there’s no turning back. Countless research reports confirm that video is changing our lives profoundly at home and at work. Consider these statistics:

Online video consumption will represent more than 80% of all internet traffic by the end of this year. (Cisco)

68% of people prefer to learn about a product or service by watching a short video. (Wyzowl)

62% of people say they “pay close attention” to video – more than any other type of content. (HubSpot)

Employees are 75% more likely to watch a video than read documents, web pages or email at work. (Forrester)

54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support. (HubSpot)

You get the picture. To engage and educate audiences at scale, you can’t beat the power and reach of online video.

Okay. So how exactly can this work for associations hoping to enhance and extend conference learning? Video may be everywhere we look these days, but effective educational footage doesn’t just appear out of thin air.

Fortunately, you don’t need Steven Spielberg’s talent or the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster. But you do need to invest in some thoughtful planning and production. Here are 10 ideas to get your creative juices flowing…

Educational Online Video – Before, During and After an Event

BEFORE

Does online video have a role in your event planning and promotional outreach? If not, consider ideas like these to improve your educational programming while injecting more personality into your conference marketing:

1) Crowdsource Your Agenda

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For conference content that resonates with members, why not solicit video suggestions from your community? You can kickstart the process by creating a discussion forum on your website. Then publicly invite members to post clips describing issues and ideas that matter most to them.

Through open dialogue, you can put these submissions at the center of a co-creation process that gives members a stake in your conference success. This may take more time than a private, top-down approach. But imagine the excitement and support you’ll generate as you prioritize topics and build-out session tracks.

2) Showcase Members As Your Video “Stars”

Leverage the most compelling agenda submissions by featuring sound bites from their videos in your conference communications. Then embed calls-to-action on your website, in event-related blog posts, in email newsletters and on social channels. The sky’s the limit.

This is an easy way to put a “face” on your association, while creating interest in the event and highlighting the educational benefits of attending. It’s also a natural way to humanize your organization’s brand and clarify its value proposition.

3) Add Sizzle With Time-Lapse Video

Want an easy, inexpensive way to create cool video content that you can use to attract attention and interest before, during and after any conference? You can’t go wrong with time-lapse video.

As Keith Johnston of Plannerwire explains, for less than $20 you can turn your smartphone into a powerful time-lapse tool. The results can be compelling. Want to see for yourself? The Employee Ownership Association built a photo montage of conference attendees in this short, simple example:

Or, for a more sophisticated approach, check out this TED Conference pop-up theater build in Vancouver. Fascinating!

Of course, getting this right requires careful advance planning and preparation, as well as post-production editing. But once you lock-in a video that captures the essence of your conference in motion, you’ll have a highly accessible “evergreen” brand asset.

DURING

To make the most of conference-related video for educational purposes, focus on creating an environment that lets 1000 flowers bloom. You’ll want to capture each moment as it happens, from as many corners of the event as your budget and resources allow. But whatever you do, don’t let those moments pass. Associations invest too much time and effort in conferences to ignore video’s power and reach.

REPLAY THE WEBINAR NOW

Just how valuable is video, anyway? According to Digitell, 20-40% of those who live-stream an event will attend in-person the next year. This upsell effect is just one reason why smart conference planners cast a broad online video net and think creatively about how to recombine video DNA. Here are some methods that work:

1) Live-Stream All Sessions

Live video is a natural way to leverage educational content for any conference. Organizations large and small are seeing significant results, as these cases illustrate:

•  In 2016, more than 1,000 advertising, marketing and media leaders gathered to share ideas and insights at the 4As Transformation Conference. But that was just the beginning. 16,600 more professionals tuned-in via live stream, and another 25,000 attended on-demand. Thanks to innovative video technology, the total audience ballooned 41x.

•  Also in 2016, more than 170,000 people traveled to San Francisco to attend Dreamforce – the annual conference devoted to empowering the global Salesforce community. But thanks to live-streaming and on-demand video, session attendance actually totaled a whopping 15 million, worldwide.

Of course, live-streaming access, alone, doesn’t guarantee learning. Passively watching informational video isn’t nearly as effective as a virtual experience that connects with you at an emotional level. As event strategy consultant, Dave Lutz says, it’s important to shift the focus from mindless content “delivery” to meaningful content “discovery.”

2) Ask Ambassadors to Share Their View

Every community has its own influencers – industry observers, respected professional experts and valued association members with unique qualifications. Tap into these trusted sources by asking them to post impromptu video blogs – capturing educational experiences as they happen and offering their own take on the topic. For instance, SHRM does a great job of weaving HR “thought leader” commentary into its annual conference presence on the web and across social channels.

3) Talk With the “Man on the Street”

REPLAY THIS ON-DEMAND WEBINAR!

Deploy roving reporters to capture short interview clips throughout the conference – asking attendees what they’ve learned from their favorite sessions, how they plan to apply those ideas and which topics they want to explore more deeply.

You can share these clips on social media to generate real-time buzz. Plus, you can use this valuable feedback when developing additional learning resources and programming for future conferences.

4) Capture Candid Thoughts in a Video Booth

Building on the popularity of photo booths, invite attendees to share conference insights in “private” unscripted video snippets that everyone can share on social media. To focus the content, it helps to structure comments with guidelines like this: “In 60 seconds or less, tell us the most useful thing you’ve learned at the conference, and how you plan to apply it professionally.”

5) Let a Hashtag Be Your Calling Card

Don’t forget to create a “virtual water cooler” on social media by establishing a conference-specific hashtag and promoting its use early and often. By teaching your community to use this identifier before, during and after the conference, you’ll energize social channels with diverse conversations that transcend event space and time constraints.

Want examples? Check the latest Twitter posts for #HIMSS or #ATD2019 or #SXSW. The beat goes on all year long.

For conference hashtag best practices, I recommend reading advice from David Kelly, EVP at The eLearning Guild. David has inspired backchannel activities and content curation for countless learning industry events.

AFTER

The moment your closing session ends, all the video footage you’ve captured can become an educational goldmine – but only if you repackage it thoughtfully. Be prepared to compile, curate, edit, and recombine that video DNA in ways that are useful for your members and your broader community. Consider these ideas:

1) Tie-In Videos with Existing Online Courses

REPLAY THE WEBINAR NOW!

Enhance your existing LMS content catalog by adding on-demand conference sessions as standalone courses or integrating them into learning paths as companion resources.

2) Create a “Best of…” Event Video Collection

Develop a special library of short-form videos, based on excerpts from conference sessions. Promote these “top takeaway” clips as bite-sized educational content that anyone can view individually or as a series.

You can also leverage these short-form clips by featuring them in promotions for full recorded sessions, embedding them in related narrative blogs and offering them to session attendees as searchable “refresher” clips for on-demand learning reinforcement.

3) Time-Lapse Video

This is where my recommendations come full-circle. If you move forward with any of the ideas I’ve suggested, you’re bound to have more than enough footage to create the kind of time-lapse event video I outlined in the “BEFORE” section.

I’m repeating this idea as an “AFTER” action because it’s also a great way to remind participants of your event’s impact long after other conference memories fade. Think of this as an ongoing source of pride that will have timeless appeal for members and others you want to attract.

Conclusion

Video-related tools and technologies are advancing at breakneck speed, thanks in part to phenomenal market demand. In this kind of environment, the possibilities for video-based learning experiences seem endless.

This list of ideas only scratches the surface. So I’m curious – how have you used video to enhance educational experiences before, during or after a conference? What has worked for you? What hasn’t? And what would you like to try next?

Tell me about your ideas and experiences. I look forward to hearing from you, so I can write a follow-up post focused on lessons you’ve learned and fresh ideas you want to explore.

Thanks for reading!

  WANT TO LEARN MORE? JOIN OUR WEBINAR APRIL 25th:

Next-Level Live Online Events: Strategies From Successful Associations

You know about the convenience and immediacy of live online events. But are you ready to take real-time events to a whole new level? What strategies and techniques make these digital experiences even more dynamic, relevant and memorable?

Learn from association professionals who are leading the way!

Join John Leh, Lead Analyst and CEO at Talented Learning, as he hosts a panel of experts from North Carolina Association of CPAs (NCAPA), Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) and Community Brands. You’ll discover:

Strategies for developing a compelling theme and programming

How to choose delivery methods that fit your audience

Factors that drive effective content selection and creation

How to showcase timely topics, while serving long-term interests

Tips for selecting the right tools and technology

NOTE: Attendees at the live webinar qualify for 1 CAE credit. And even if you miss the live event, we’ll send you a link to the recording.

REGISTER NOW!

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Looking for a learning platform that truly fits your organization’s needs?  We’re here to help!  Submit the form below to schedule a free preliminary consultation at your convenience.

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[theonyxpath]

Tomorrow! Tuesday, March 21st at 12 noon Eastern US time!

The Kickstarter for Prince’s Gambit goes live!

This is a description from the KS page:

Designed by long-time Vampire: the Masquerade tabletop RPG developer Justin Achilli, Prince’s Gambit is a fast-paced social deduction game set within the world of Vampire: the Masquerade, but which requires no special knowledge to play. Players must cooperate to gain the favor of the Prince while deducing who among them are secretly the traitorous Sabbat infiltrators.

And here’s a link to our Prince’s Gambit Example of Play video, hosted by Justin Achilli himself, with a special guest appearance by our own Eddy Webb. It’s about 10 minutes long, but goes through the important set-up and highlights how a typical game plays: https://youtu.be/b9SSpeli5JE 

I mentioned last week that this is a pretty big Kickstarter for us as it is for our first non-book sort of project. We’ve studied a lot of other card game Kickstarters and tried to adapt what seemed to work for them into the parameters of Prince’s Gambit.

It is also the first time we are structuring the pledges so that shipping amounts are added after the KS is over. We’re hoping this can enable much more accurate costs, particularly for our international backers. It’s only after having put together a handful of other KSs using BackerKit (as our platform for after a KS campaign is over) that I feel comfortable with handling shipping through the BackerKit interface.

The good news for anybody in our community that is interested in our other game lines, is that we’re very much looking at this first foray into card game Kickstarters as a massive learning experience for the whole team. We have every intent of applying what we learn doing this to further card game KSs in the future. That means pricing, pledges, what sort of Stretch Goals get folks excited, do the same press groups get interested, how fast (if at all) do we hit the funding amount, you name it!

Speaking of what gets folks excited, we’ll be holding an Ask Me (Us) Anything on Reddit next Wednesday the 29th starting around 12 noon EDT. Various developers and Onyx Path folks will be on throughout the day, and Justin Achilli will pop on in the evening after he gets done his day job to talk about Prince’s Gambit. So if you want all the inside info, that’s the place to go next week! I might even be on there answering important, secret, stuff if I can figure out the razzin-frazzin’ scrolling of the threads!

    Lore of the Bloodlines illustration by Ken Meyer, Jr

    Following up from last week’s MMN blog, our friends at DriveThruRPG have resolved our clogged physical book Pod creation process and I’ve ordered PoD proofs of a half-dozen projects (see the project progress updates below in the BLURBS! section). Some of them are already on their way here to Onyx home base as I write this. Now, will any of them get here in time to go on sale this week? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Mighty Matt McElroy, our Operations Head-Honcho, just got back from the GAMA trade show in Vegas, and the word is that lots of folks want to talk with Onyx Path for all kinds of business deals!

Always nice to hear, and I’m really glad Matt got a chance to touch base with our friends from the new White Wolf Publishing, Jason and Dhaunae, and the guys from Indy Press Revolution (IPR) and Q-Workshop. We’ve really enjoyed working with them so far, and it sounds like big things are afoot for the future.

Meanwhile, Impish Ian Watson, lord of all things Trinity Continuum, hosted an Onyx Path Q&A at CAiNE in Canada that looked a bit quiet for a few worrisome minutes but then all the folks whose games had run late poured in and lots of great questioning and answering, too, ensued!

    Tattoo Totem for Mage20 Book of Secrets by Preston Stone

  Just to recap a few questions from this last week:

#1 We don’t have any current plans to create LARP rules for Chronicles of Darkness because, a) we actually don’t have the LARP license, just tabletop RPG, and b) it is the new White Wolf‘s call on whether any other WW settings get LARP rules. If they decide they want to, and we can help, we’d be glad to.

#2 Yes, we do know how concerned you are about the Exalted 3rd release schedule, and we are too. As I noted late last year or early in January, we are working on a new plan for a couple of our lines, and a couple of specific books, and EX3 is at the top of the list for serious changes to how we’ve been doing things up until now. I also know that actions and delivery speak loader than words, and you will be seeing things actually happen in the next couple of weeks.

#3 Yes, we are still planning the Trinity Continuum Kickstarter for this year. We’re just cagey about which month.

#4 Is Dark Eras Companion‘s PDF ever going to go to backers, you ask? Sometime this week!

  Dark Eras Companion art by Vince Locke

  Hopefully, I’ll see a bunch of you tomorrow as the Prince’s Gambit KS goes live at 12 noon!

    BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

Unless we’re attacked by Sabbat infiltrators, we will be going live with our Kickstarter for Justin Achilli’s Prince’s Gambit casual Vampire card game on Tuesday, March 21st at 12 noon Eastern US time!

Designed by long-time Vampire: the Masquerade tabletop RPG developer Justin Achilli, Prince’s Gambit is a fast-paced social deduction game set within the world of Vampire, but which requires no special knowledge to play. Players must cooperate to gain the favor of the Prince while deducing who among them are secretly the traitorous Sabbat infiltrators.

Next, the Monarchies of Mau KS is scheduled come after Gambit.

  ON SALE!

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages!

    The Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd REVEALED this Wednesday on DTRPG! Physical copy PoD version coming to DTRPG: http://ift.tt/2gbQjus

Vampires gather under many banners. But five have endured the tumult of Western history better than any other. The Carthian Movement. The Circle of the Crone. The Invictus. The Lancea et Sanctum. The Ordo Dracul. Each has its fierce devotees, its jealous rivals, and its relentless enemies. Now,for the first time, the covenants speak for themselves.

This book includes:

A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Fallen Blossoms (Hunter 1640-1660 Japan). Japan is moving into the Edo Period. New laws and new ways of thinking wash over the land, and with a new order come new threats to humanity. Take a look at the Vigil in a time where samurai transition from warlords to bureaucrats, Japan massively and lethally rejects outside influence, and when Edo rapidly grows into a world power.

Continuing our individual Dark Eras chapters, we offer you Dark Eras: Fallen Blossoms on in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2mfc1F1

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Doubting Souls (Hunter 1690-1695 Salem). Immigrants and tribes struggled to co-exist on the Eastern Seaboard in the ever-expanding Colonies. Violent clashes, supernatural beliefs, and demonic influences spelled disaster for Salem Village and its surrounding towns, while others fought werewolves and vampires on the frontier. With so much at risk, only god-fearing men and women were deemed innocent — and those were few indeed.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG: http://ift.tt/2kKOrfm

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Bowery Dogs (Werewolf 1969-1979 NYC). New York City in the 1970s. Crime. Drugs. Gang violence. Vast economic disparity. And werewolves. It’s a lean, ugly time to be alive, and the lone wolf doesn’t stand a chance out there. In the end, all you really have is family.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG: http://ift.tt/2lM0Tzv

    The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! PDF and physical copy PoDs are now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbM9me

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

      Both the Beast: the Primordial http://ift.tt/2fEMsdO & Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition Condition Cards http://ift.tt/2iSein1 are now on sale on DTRPG in PDF and physical card PoD versions! Great for keeping track of the Conditions that are on your characters!

      From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Ruins of Empire (Mummy 1893-1924). Perhaps the quintessential era of the mummy in the minds of Westerners, this period saw the decline of the two greatest empires of the age: British and Ottoman. Walk with the Arisen as they bear witness to the death of the Victorian age, to pivotal mortal discoveries in Egypt, and to the horrors of the Great War.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k0XDhX

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Sundered World (Werewolf and Mage 5500-5000 BCE). At the birth of civilization, in the shadow of the Fall, the Awakened stand as champions and protectors of the agricultural villages spread across the Balkans. In a world without a Gauntlet, where Shadow and flesh mingle, the steady taming of the world by humanity conflicts with the half-spirit children of Father Wolf.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k16mRj

    Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes for Beast: the Primordial is available now as an Advance PDF: http://ift.tt/2j7p7lO

This book includes: 

An in-depth look at how Heroes hunt and what makes a Hero, with eleven new Heroes to drop into any chronicle.

A brief look at why Beasts may antagonize one another, with seven new Beasts to drop into any chronicle.

Rules for Insatiables, ancient creatures born of the Primordial Dream intent on hunting down Beasts to fill a hunger without end, featuring six examples ready to use in any chronicle.

    The PDF and physical book PoD versions of Reap the Whirlwind, the Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition Jumpstart swirls into being on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2i1WPpD

You are a vampire, a junkie. Every night, you beg and you borrow and you steal just a little more life, just a few more sweet moments. But there’s a guy at the top. The Prince. He’s got everything. The money, the secrets, the blood.

Tonight, you’re going to take it from him. Tomorrow, there’ll be hell to pay.

This updated edition of Reap the Whirlwind features revisions to match the core rulebook for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition. Text edits and rules clarifications have also been updated.

Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes:

Rules for creating and playing vampires in the Chronicles of Darkness

The first two levels of every clan Discipline, the dark powers of the dead

A complete adventure by noted horror author Chuck Wendig

This new revised Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes an updated booklet, 7 condition cards, and the interactive Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition character sheet.

      Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://ift.tt/2i1XOXd

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

              CONVENTIONS!

Discussing GenCon plans. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Every chance the booth will actually be 20? x 30? this year that we’ll be sharing with friends. We’re looking at new displays this year, like a back drop and magazine racks for the brochure(s).

In November, we’ll be at Game Hole Con in Madison, WI. More news as we have it, and here’s their website: http://ift.tt/RIm6qP

        And now, the new project status updates!

    DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

  Redlines

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

  Second Draft

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

CtD C20 Jumpstart (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

  Development

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Book of Freeholds (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

BtP Beast Player’s Guide (Beast: the Primordial)

  Editing:

CtD C20 Anthology (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

M20 Art Book (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

  Post-Editing Development:

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

  Indexing:

Pugmire

      ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary – new stuff AD’d

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

V20 Dark Ages Companion – Artist shenanigans.

Dagger of Spiragos  – Finals in progress… and maps are progressing.

VTR: Thousand Years of Night – Contracted

Cavaliers of Mars – AD’d(ish)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access – Pat’s in.

BtP Building a Legend – Sending out notes to artists…

April Fool’s thing – Leblanc should be cranking out the cover for the (REDACTED) thing this week.

Wraith 20 – Notes out to KMJ…

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

Prince’s Gambit – Making the remainder of graphics this week.

C20 – With Aileen

M20 Book of Secrets – Layout in progress.

1000 Years of Night

Pugmire Screen – Awaiting specs from Printer.

Pugmire Cards – Working on these.

  Proofing

EX3 Tomb of Dreams Jumpstart – first proof.

W20 Song of Unmaking – Out to WW for approval

  At Press

Ex 3 Screen – Shipping.

Ex 3 core book – Shipping along with map and bookmarks.

W20 Shattered Dreams – Shipping.

Shattered Dreams Screen – Shipping.

Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.

Beast Conquering Heroes – PoD proof ordered.

Mortal Remains: Beast- Red In Tooth and Claw – PoD proof ordered.

Dark Eras: Beneath the Skin – PoD proof ordered.

Dark Eras: Out of the Cold – PoD proof ordered.

Necropolis Rio – PoD proof ordered.

V20 Lore of the Bloodlines – PDF out to backers, gathering errata

Dark Eras Companion – Backer PDF going out to Dark Eras KS backers this week.

      TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Today, let’s celebrate the constant effort put out by the team at DriveThruRPG.com. Our friends over there are always juggling the needs of hundreds of publishers and tens of thousands of customers and manage to do so with some of the friendliest customer service around. Even their CEO, Steve Wieck, will crack a smile if his programming dictates it. Specifically, thanks to them for coming at the stalled PoDs problem so fast and with all hands on deck!

[fazeupmag-blog]

New Post has been published on Fazeup

New Post has been published on https://www.fazeup.tk/2019/05/use-tasker-to-take-android-to-the-subsequent-degree/

use Tasker to take Android to the subsequent degree

Most individuals describe Tasker as a activity management and automation app. I see an Android programming app for the plenty. As an alternative of scaring you with code traces, Tasker allows you to use a pleasant interface to create mini Android apps that do your bidding.

Studying the best way to use Tasker exhaustively is past the scope of this publish. As an alternative, we’ll go over the fundamentals of utilizing Tasker to program your Android machine to do what need in keeping with guidelines you specify. Let’s get began.

Determining Tasker’s UI

Tabs

Tasker has been optimized for easy navigation and the UI may be very clear. There are 4 tabs on the high of the interface: Profiles, Duties, Scenes, and Vars (brief for variables).

Profile — Some type of container or package deal for contexts and linked duties. You’ll be able to outline a number of contexts for a single profile, and all these circumstances should be true for the linked duties to run.

Activity — A gaggle of actions. Normally linked to a set off or context, however may also be a free-floating, standalone activity executed manually.

Scene — A custom-made consumer interface. You’ll be able to create your individual format of buttons, menus, popups, and different UI parts.

Variable — A reputation for an unknown worth that may change over time, just like the battery degree or the date.

Tasks

You’ll be able to create Challenge tabs, which basically work as folders for organizing profiles, duties, scenes, and variables. These can be displayed alongside the underside of the UI, subsequent to that lonely dwelling button icon.

These are merely a technique to maintain issues so as inside the app. You would create initiatives for electronic mail instructions, location settings, trip time, or no matter you would like.

Foremost menu

The primary menu button is positioned within the top-right nook. Faucet it to show all settings and choices. It will possibly get fairly complicated in there, so attempt to not play an excessive amount of with it at first. We’ll use it briefly within the subsequent part, so don’t go enjoying with it simply but.

Arrange permissions and grant entry

Tasker has the facility to manage your cellphone extensively, however you could first give it permission. Be sure the app can do all the things you need it to from the get-go, because the pop-ups and entry requests can get annoying.

Open Tasker.

Hit the Foremost Menu button.

Choose “More.”

Choose “Android Settings.”

You’ll be offered with an inventory of settings. Undergo every one and ensure Tasker has entry to all the things.

In fact, you may at all times select to not give Tasker entry to particular issues, however that may clearly have an effect on the app’s performance.

Profiles and duties

In a nutshell, profiles decide while you need Tasker to do one thing, whereas duties dictate what to do.

It could additionally assist to consider a activity as a sequenced listing of issues to do. As an illustration, it’s possible you’ll need to arrange an evening mode. This might drive the cellphone to enter Do Not Disturb, decrease the brightness, and switch off pointless options (GPS, Bluetooth, and extra) at a sure time.

On this state of affairs you’ll use a profile to inform Tasker when to activate this night time mode. You’ll be able to then arrange actions within the duties part.

Making a profile and activity

For instance the idea of duties and actions extra clearly, let’s attempt truly creating this night time mode activity.

Create a brand new profile:

Open the “Profiles” tab.

Faucet on the “+” button.

Title your profile. I’ll name this one “Night Mode.”

Choose while you need duties to happen. I’ll choose eight p.m. to eight a.m.

Hit the again button.

Create a brand new Activity:

You’ll be prompted to create (or choose) a activity. Create a brand new one and identify it “Minimal.”

You’ll enter the “Task Edit” web page. Press the “+” button to create an motion.

Choose “Audio.”

Choose “Do Not Disturb.”

The “Mode” part will mean you can set your particular preferences. You’ll be able to let alarms or precedence contacts come by, for instance.

Hit the again button. Now your first motion has been created. On to the subsequent one.

Faucet on the “+” button once more.

Choose “Display.”

Choose “Display Brightness.”

Below “Level,” choose your required brightness. Then hit the again button once more.

For the subsequent motion we’ll flip off GPS. Merely hit the “+” button once more.

Choose “Location,” then choose “Stop Location.”

To show off the Bluetooth, we merely press the “+” button, choose “Net,” choose “Bluetooth,” and set the choice to “off.”

Hit the again button and your night time mode is prepared!

That is the essential technique to automate actions in your cellphone utilizing Tasker. It’s simply the tip of the iceberg, although. You’ll be able to ask Tasker to work together with apps, present notifications with custom messages, use location to launch duties, and far more.

Our thought is to indicate you the way Tasker capabilities. For extra superior automation you may at all times search the web or just give you your individual duties and profiles! We’ve additionally offered hyperlinks with custom Tasker tutorials on the finish of this publish.

Including an exit activity

An exit activity will inform Tasker what to do when a profile is not lively.

Let’s stick with our instance above. At eight p.m. the cellphone will decrease the display brightness, flip Do Not Disturb on, and switch off GPS and Bluetooth. What occurs after that?

You’ll be able to create one other activity that does the alternative of what “Minimal” did. Then merely go to the profiles tab and long-press the duty identify. Faucet on “Add Exit Task” and choose your exit activity.

Importing and exporting

To import a saved activity into Tasker, simply faucet the “Tasks” tab, choose “Import Task” from the menu, browse for the file, and faucet to import it. Importing profiles, scenes, and initiatives works the identical method.

To export a activity, long-tap on the duty identify, then faucet on the menu button and choose “Export.” Once more, exporting different parts works the identical method.

delete a profile, activity, or scene

To delete a profile, activity, or scene, long-tap on the identify, then faucet the trash icon. For variables the trash can is changed with an “X” button.

Rearranging actions in a activity

To maneuver an motion up or down an inventory of actions, simply faucet and maintain on the motion’s icon on the rightmost facet of the motion identify, then drag and drop the motion identify to its new location.

Operating a activity manually

Open the “Tasks” tab. Faucet on the duty to be run, and the “Task Edit” display will open. Faucet the play button on the backside of the display. That is good for testing whether or not your duties truly work.

Scenes

Scene creation is definitely a complicated subject that deserves its personal separate tutorial, however I’ll briefly discuss it right here.

A scene is a custom consumer interface you construct from scratch. It will possibly use parts you normally discover on UIs, together with buttons, doodles, photographs, maps, menus, shapes, sliders, textual content bins, textual content enter fields, and internet viewer bins. Every component is customizable.

Variables

When you’ve ever executed some programming earlier than, you’ll be acquainted with the idea of variables. They’re shut kin to the variables you hear about in algebra class. To outline it merely, a variable is a reputation for a price that modifications over time.

Identical to scene creation, Tasker variables are additionally advanced subjects that deserve their very own separate tutorials. I’ll speak briefly about them although, simply so you recognize what immense energy you’ll get should you simply patiently climb the steep hill of studying the best way to use Tasker.

Tasker variables at all times begins with the % (%) image. Variables in all uppercase are built-in variables. They’re normally derived from system data, machine states, or occasions. Some widespread examples are %TIME (present time), %DATE (present date), %BATT (present battery degree), and %WIFI (whether or not Wi-Fi is enabled or not).

Except for built-in variables, there are two different variable varieties: native and international. Each are user-defined and user-created. The primary distinction between them is that native variables can be utilized solely inside the activity or scene wherein they’re created, outlined, or used; international variables are accessible to all of Tasker. One other primary distinction is in capitalization: native variables use all lowercase however international variables have at the least one uppercase letter in its identify.

Okay, almost executed. If you wish to be taught extra about the best way to use Tasker, or evaluate in a visible method what I’ve mentioned thus far, watch our video tutorial within the subsequent part.

Some superior Tasker initiatives to check out

Conclusion

Tasker is a strong, advanced, and versatile automation and programming app, however it may be intimidating. It has a steep studying curve. It takes time to turn out to be acquainted with it, and far more to be proficient, however the time will certainly be price it. It’s a small worth to pay for the facility, flexibility, and management that Tasker means that you can wield over your Android machine.

Do you employ Tasker? What do you employ it for? Or, are you new to Tasker? How’s your expertise with it thus far? Share your Tasker experiences with us. Pontificate within the feedback.

Supply

[terabitweb]

Original Post from FireEye Author: Moritz Raabe

This blog post continues our Script Series where the FireEye Labs Advanced Reverse Engineering (FLARE) team shares tools to aid the malware analysis community. Today, we release ironstrings: a new IDAPython script to recover stackstrings from malware. The script leverages code emulation to overcome this common string obfuscation technique. More precisely, it makes use of our flare-emu tool, which combines IDA Pro and the Unicorn emulation engine. In this blog post, I explain how our new script uses flare-emu to recover stackstrings from malware. In addition, I discuss flare-emu’s event hooks and how you can use them to easily adapt the tool to your own analysis needs.

Introduction

Analyzing strings in binary files is an important part of malware analysis. Although simple, this reverse engineering technique can provide valuable information about a program’s use and its capabilities. This includes indicators of compromise like file paths and domain names. Especially during advanced analysis, strings are essential to understand a disassembled program’s functionality. Malware authors know this, and string obfuscation is one of the most common anti-analysis techniques reverse engineers encounter.

Due to the prevalence of obfuscated strings, the FLARE team has already developed and shared various tools and techniques to deal with them. In 2014 we published an IDA Pro plugin to automate the recovery of constructed strings in malware. In 2016, we released FLOSS; a standalone open-source tool to automatically identify and decode strings in malware.

Both solutions rely on vivisect, a Python-based program analysis and emulation framework. Although vivisect is a robust tool, it may fail to completely analyze an executable file or emulate its code correctly. And just like any tool, vivisect is susceptible to anti-analysis techniques. With missing, incomplete, or erroneous processing by vivisect, dependent tools cannot provide the best results. Moreover, vivisect does not provide an easy-to-use graphical interface to interactively change and enhance program analysis.

I encountered all these shortcomings recently, when I analyzed a GandCrab ransomware sample (version 5.0.4, SHA256 hash: 72CB1061A10353051DA6241343A7479F73CB81044019EC9A9DB72C41D3B3A2C7). The malware contains various anti-analysis techniques to hinder disassembly and control-flow analysis. Before I could perform any efficient reverse engineering in IDA Pro, I had to overcome these hurdles. I used IDAPython to remove various anti-analysis instruction patterns which then allowed the disassembler to successfully identify all functions in the binary. Many of the recovered functions contained obfuscated strings. Unfortunately, my changes did not propagate to vivisect, because it performs its own independent analysis on the original binary. Consequently, vivisect still failed to recognize most functions correctly and I couldn’t use one of our existing solutions to recover the obfuscated strings.

While I could have tried to feed my patches in IDA Pro back to vivisect or to create a modified binary, I instead created a new IDAPython script that does not depend on vivisect. Thus, circumventing the mentioned shortcomings. It uses IDA Pro’s program analysis and Unicorn’s emulation engine. The easy integration of these two tools is powered by flare-emu.

Using IDA Pro instead of vivisect resolves multiple limitations of our previous implementations. Now changes that users make in their IDB file, e.g. by patching instructions to manually enhance analysis, are immediately available during emulation. Moreover, the tool more robustly supports different architectures including x86, AMD64, and ARM.

Stackstrings: An Example

The disassembly listing in Figure 1 shows an example string obfuscation from the sample I analyzed. The malware creates a string at run-time by moving each character into adjacent stack addresses (gray highlights). Finally, the sample passes the string’s starting offset as an argument to the InternetOpen API call (blue highlight). Manually following these memory moves and restoring strings by hand is a very cumbersome process. Especially if malware complicates value assignments using additional instructions like illustrated below.

Figure 1: Disassembly listing showing stackstring creation and usage

Because malware often uses stack memory to create such strings, Jay Smith coined the term stackstrings for this anti-analysis technique. Note that malware can also construct strings in global memory. Our new script handles both cases; strings constructed on the stack and in global memory.

ironstrings: Stackstring Recovery Using flare-emu

The new IDAPython script is an evolution of our existing solutions. It combines FLOSS’s stackstring recovery algorithm and functionality from our IDA Pro plugin. The script relies on IDA Pro’s program analysis and emulates code using Unicorn. The combination of both tools is powered by flare-emu. Fe, short for flare-emu, is the chemical symbol for iron and hence the script is named ironstrings.

To recover stackstrings, ironstrings enumerates all disassembled functions in a program except for library and thunk functions as identified by IDA Pro. For each function, the script emulates various code paths through the function and searches for stackstrings based on two heuristics:

Before all call instructions in the function. As stackstrings are often constructed and then passed to other functions, i.e. Windows APIs like CreateFile or InternetOpenUrl.

At the end of a basic block containing more than five memory writes. The number of memory writes is configurable. This heuristic is helpful if the same memory buffer is used multiple times in a function and if the string construction spans multiple basic blocks.

If any of these conditions apply, the script searches the function’s current stack frame for printable ASCII and UTF-16 strings. To detect strings in global memory, the script additionally searches for strings in all memory locations that have been written to.

Using flare-emu Hooks to Recover Stackstrings

If you’re not already familiar with flare-emu, I recommend reading our previous blog post. It discusses some of the interfaces the tool provides. Other helpful resources are the examples and the project documentation available on the flare-emu GitHub.

The stackstrings script uses flare-emu’s iterateAllPaths API. The function iterates multiple code paths through a function. It first finds possible paths from function start to function end. The tool then forces the emulation down all identified code paths independent from the actual program state. This extensive code coverage allows ironstrings to recover strings constructed from many different emulation runs.

A key feature of flare-emu are the various hook functions that get triggered by different emulation events. These hooks, or callbacks, enable the development of very powerful automation tasks. The available hooks are a combination of Unicorn’s standard hooks, e.g., to hook memory access events, and multiple convenience hooks provided by flare-emu. The following section briefly describes the available callbacks in flare-emu and illustrates how the ironstrings script uses them to recover obfuscated strings.

instructionHook: This Unicorn standard hook is triggered before an instruction is emulated. ironstrings uses this hook to initiate the stackstrings extraction if a basic block contained enough memory writes, for example.

memAccessHook: This Unicorn standard hook is triggered when memory read or write events occur during emulation. In the stackstrings script this function stores data about all memory writes.

callHook: This flare-emu hook is activated before each function call. The hook’s return value is ignored. In the stackstrings script this hook triggers the extraction of stackstrings.

preEmuCallback: This flare-emu hook is called before each emulation run. It is only available in the iterate and the iterateAllPaths functions. The hook’s return value is ignored. ironstrings does not use this hook.

targetCallback: This flare-emu hook gets called whenever one of the specified target addresses is hit. It is only available in the iterate and the iterateAllPaths functions. The hook’s return value is ignored. The stackstrings script does not use this hook.

The code in Figure 2 shows the callback functions that flare-emu’s API currently supports, their signatures, and examples of how to use them. All callbacks receive an argument named hookData. This named dictionary allows the user to provide application specific data to use before, during, and after emulation. Often, this dictionary is named userData in the user-defined callbacks, as in the examples below, due to its naming in Unicorn. ironstrings uses this to access function analysis data and store recovered strings across its various hooks. The dictionary also provides access to the EmuHelper object and emulation meta data.

Figure 2: flare-emu example hook implementations

Installation

Download and install flare-emu as described at the GitHub installation page. ironstrings is available, along with our other IDA Pro plugins and scripts, at our ironstrings GitHub page.

Note that both flare-emu and ironstrings were written using the new IDAPython API available in IDA Pro 7.0 and higher. They are not backwards compatible with previous program versions.

Usage and Options

To run the script in IDA Pro, go to File – Script File… (ALT+F7) and select ironstrings.py. The script runs automatically on all functions, prints its results to IDA Pro’s output window, and adds comments at the locations where it recovered stackstrings. Figure 3 shows the script’s output of the recovered stackstring locations from the GandCrab sample. Analysis of this malware takes the script about 15 seconds.

Figure 3: Deobfuscated stackstrings and locations where they were identified

Figure 4 shows the disassembly listing of the stackstring creation example discussed at the beginning of this post after running ironstrings.

Figure 4: Commented stackstring after running ironstrings

After analyzing a sample, the script provides a summary and a unique listing of all recovered strings. The output for the ransomware sample is shown in Figure 5. Here the tool failed to analyze two functions due to invalid memory operations during Unicorn’s code emulation.

Figure 5: Script summary and unique string listing

Note that you can modify various options to change the script’s behavior. For example, you can configure the output format at the top of the ironstrings.py file. The script’s README file explains the options in more detail.

Conclusion

This blog post explains how our new IDAPython script ironstrings works and how you can use it to automatically recover stackstrings in IDA Pro. Overcoming anti-analysis techniques is just one of many useful applications of code emulation for malware analysis. This post shows that flare-emu provides the ideal base for this by integrating IDA Pro and Unicorn. The detailed discussion of flare-emu’s hook functions will help you to write your own powerful automation scripts. Please reach out to us with questions, suggestions and feedback via the flare-emu and flare-ida GitHub issue trackers.

Go to Source Author: Moritz Raabe FLARE Script Series: Recovering Stackstrings Using Emulation with ironstrings Original Post from FireEye Author: Moritz Raabe This blog post continues our Script Series where the FireEye Labs…

[connecticut-seo-adwords]

3 Ways SEO Metrics Can Help Demonstrate Content’s Effect on Sales and Revenue

70% of business leaders expect marketing to drive revenue growth, but know how to demonstrate the impact of their efforts on business revenue. Content marketers who struggle to provide revenue-impact data may find that it’s increasingly difficult to secure future funding and earn budget increases.

But demonstrating the impact of content marketing on revenue isn’t impossible. One simple option is to use common SEO metrics to tie content efforts directly to sales and revenue. By establishing some goals in your analytics program and framing nebulous metrics in a context that business leaders understand, you can highlight the value of content marketing in a demonstrable and irrefutable way.

Measure Visibility to Highlight Content Marketing Effectiveness

Increased traffic and social shares may lack significant meaning on their own, but in the context of increased visibility and brand awareness, they’re powerful. Content that performs well in organic search provides as much visibility as participating in your industry’s biggest trade shows—but it happens all day, every day.

When reporting increased site traffic, consider framing it in the context of increased visibility to provide more meaning for the importance of the metric. Additionally, highlighting content that’s outperforming competitors for high-value keywords and topics illustrates how content marketing is adding value from the perspective of both visibility and competitiveness.

Visibility doesn’t necessarily equal revenue, but no visibility certainly equals no revenue.

Executives can often be skeptical about the value of visibility metrics, and they should be: increased visibility may or may not result in increased revenue. To establish proof of the connection, you’ll need to take additional steps to connect visibility to more valued metrics.

Correlate Content Metrics and Sales Trends

By comparing trends in sales-ready leads or closed deals with top-performing content, you can look for correlations between content and leads/conversions.

For example, Propecta helped one of our clients build a wireless networking guide that quickly became one of their top-performing pages in organic search. For about a year after that, they noticed a significant increase in the number of leads pertaining to wireless networking. The correlation between the increased leads and a high-performing piece of content pointed to content’s role in driving those leads.

Correlation doesn’t necessarily prove causation, but it certainly presents a stronger argument than an isolated increased-visibility metric.

To find top-performing pages in Google Analytics:

Expand the “Acquisition” tab.

Select “All Traffic.”

Click “Organic Search.”

For “Primary Dimension,” select “Landing Page”

This report shows which site pages are driving the most organic search traffic. Next, you need to compare high-traffic pages with trends in sales-ready leads and closed deals to connect increased visibility to increased leads and revenue.

Recommended for You

Look for spikes in demand for specific product or service categories, and compare the timeline of leads/sales in those categories with timelines for organic traffic increases. If the timelines follow the same pattern—spikes in sales happen in conjunction with spikes in organic traffic for related content—you can make a strong case for content’s role in driving increased revenue in those categories.

If you don’t have access to the sales data needed to compare trends, you can also ask sales teams to provide insights on the types of questions they’re being asked the most. High-performing content often leads to sales teams receiving more questions in relevant product/service categories, and this data could be used to demonstrate how content is generating more leads.

Set Up Goals in Google Analytics to Measure Content Marketing Success

Increased organic search traffic is a great indicator of content marketing success, but as a standalone metric, it lacks context. To demonstrate the value of traffic increases in terms that executives and stakeholders will appreciate, organic search traffic needs to be tied to metrics the business values, like lead generation and conversion activities, and specifically to dollar amounts when possible.

By setting up goals in Google Analytics, you can track revenue-driving interactions. Goals allow for tracking the number of users who arrived from organic search, social media, or guest posts on other sites (referrals), and performed an action that signifies revenue impact:

Filled out a form

Viewed pricing pages

Requested a product demo

Completed a purchase

Created an account

Open Google Analytics.

Select the “Admin” tab.

Select “Goals.”

Click “+ New Goal.”

Select the “Custom” radio button.

Click “Continue.”

Give the goal a descriptive name, and then select the “Destination” radio button.

On the next screen, enter URLs of pages that signify an acquired lead or completed conversion. Most often, the URL will be for a thank-you or confirmation page that appears after content is downloaded, a request is made, or a purchase is completed. Enter the URL that applies to the first goal, and save the goal.

Create a separate goal for each page that signifies a revenue-generating activity.

Once goals are established, you can view goal completions to see how many visitors downloaded gated materials, requested demos, or completed any other specified action. Then, view the source of that action—how the user arrived on the site initially—to determine how many of the goal completions arrived from content marketing sources like organic search and social media.

With this information, you can report real numbers of leads and conversions earned through content marketing efforts. Additionally, if a specific value can be attributed to actions, include that value when creating goals to see the amount of revenue that content marketing has generated.

A marketing automation platform can be configured to track the same metrics. For example, Marketo’s engagement platform can be configured to treat organic search as a program channel, and organic search visits can be configured as Interesting Moments. The Opportunity Influence Analyzer can then be used to show organic search’s impact on closed deals.

[Want to learn more about how Marketo specifically can be used in these ways? We’re working on a more detailed guide. It’s still in its early stages, but make sure to subscribe for updates.]

How to Measure Content Marketing Success via SEO

To prove the importance and effectiveness of content marketing campaigns and initiatives, content marketers must learn to adopt the reporting tools utilized by SEOs and other departments. General metrics aren’t enough to impress leadership—they want to know how their investment in content marketing is earning revenue for the company.

By tracking goals and sales trends, and pointing directly to content’s influence on those activities, you can highlight exactly how content is generating leads, driving conversions, and earning revenue and visibility for the business.

Source

http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/3-ways-seo-metrics-can-help-demonstrate-contents-effect-sales-revenue-01830074

[dorothydelgadillo]

21 Award-Winning Website Designs & What They Did Right

The internet is full of some amazing and inspiring websites.

These special snowflakes are the ones who find innovative ways to utilize every possible design and technological boundary to their advantage to create experiences that many organizations wish they had.

Finding these diamonds in the rough can be an incredible challenge, especially if you are unsure of where to start.

Fortunately, sites like CSS Awards, Awwwards, Webby Awards, etc. exist to help highlight the sites we should push our own to reflect.

To help showcase some of these awarding winning sites, I dove into each of these award-honoring sites and pulled the ones that are not only beautiful examples of modern design, but also exercise UX, UI, information architecture, conversion rate optimization, video marketing, tactics to their fullest potential.

When looking at each site, it’s important to understand that these should not be seen as templates you should attempt to copy. Instead, analyze them and find the parts of them that utilize design/marketing/content strategies that could be repurposed and revised into that fits your own audience.

With that being said, enjoy these 17 killer examples of award-winning website designs done right.

Rather watch? Here are 5 of my favorites!

    1. ESPN Sports Programming

Featured on Awwwards

ESPN takes their sports content and programming to the next level with this dynamic and eye-catching site filled with large, high-resolution images and video. The site utilizes background video to keep up with the sports network’s energy and sections with subtle hover and transition effects and to keep the user experience smooth. The ‘featured sports’ slider is thoroughly entrancing, and does an excellent job of showcasing each of the sports alongside interesting statistics and informative details about available programs. 

2. Montage

Featured on Awwwards

Montage takes showing-off their product to the next level with this easy to maneuver homepage that clearly outlines what their product is, how it looks, product quality, and testimonials. The site is an excellent example of one approach you can use to highlight your product and the most important points your users would be concerned with finding answers to. The sticky sub-navigation allows users to easily navigate around the page to find exactly what they're looking for.  

3. Zillow

Featured on The Webby Awards

Finding the perfect home is all about being able to conveniently research exactly what you’re looking for, save and store what you like, and make it easy to find it all later on. Zillow hits the nail on the head for all three of these points with their intuitive real estate site. The search area within the hero area makes it easy for new users to quickly select and search listings without having to look for some hidden search page. 

4. Revols

Featured on CSS Design Awards

Revols takes a bold approach on its website by enlarging their small, sophisticated headphones using macro photography and video. The photography and video make the site incredibly product focused, so their users slowly become more and more immersed into the experience these headphones can give you. The large font treatment on this site is also a nice touch and adds to the larger-than-life earbud photography. 

5. Fiftythree Pencil

Featured on SiteInspire

Fiftythree captures all the features and benefits for their Pencil Stylus throughout this standalone product page. These features and benefits are accompanied by images to illustrate the product in action so the user has an easier time visualizing them and how they can apply the product. The layout and visual treatment of the product's anatomy section are also very unique and act as a dynamic way to lead users to read more about the product, as opposed to static sections one after another. 

6. Morgan Stanley

Featured on The Webby Awards

Unlike traditional product-focused sites, Morgan Stanley headlines their homepage with an article they hope to drive a significant amount of traffic to (especially since it connects with the holiday family gatherings we’re expected to attend). The rest of the layout beyond the homepage hero plays with a grid-focused layout to organize the assortment of recent articles they’ve posted. 

7. Boosted

 Featured on Awwwards

Boosted took what could have been seen as an average skateboard to the next level by introducing amazingly detailed photos of their product accompanied with detailed descriptions on their site. The sites gray tones and white backgrounds help keep the focus on the orange call-to-action buttons and the brightly colored skateboard they use as an example of the product. I also love the fact that they have a blog which seems to highlight issues they have/are addressing with the product, adding a wonderful level of transparency to the company.

8. Wozber

Featured on SiteInspire

Wozber did a killer job breaking down the step by step process it takes on making sure your resume is perfect for that dream job you are looking for. There homepage clearly outlines the steps upfront, which are then further explained in individual sections below.

The site even has examples of some of the resumes they’ve made, making it easy for you to see exactly what the finish product could look like before you decide to signup.

9. Opus Grows

Featured on CSS Winner

Opus drives home the organic, natural, and healthy benefits of their soil by adding bountiful amounts of greenery throughout the site. With so many different options for potting soils out there, it can be hard to decide which one is the healthiest for your plants or garden. Opus proves their product is best by addressing the ingredients and physical properties there soils offer that segment it from your traditional brand. I was also very pleased to see they blogged and occasionally mixed in more delightful posts to help reach wider audiences such as this one.

10. Zero Financial

Featured on Awwwards

Far too often do software companies have very beautiful websites that completely lack any images of their product. If you’re currently in this position and looking for inspiration on how to do so, Zero is a fantastic site for inspiration. The use of images accompanied by descriptive text that explains each makes the product that much more real and relatable for people interested in using the product. 

11. Cap HPI

Featured on Awwwards

Cap HPI helps provide a wide variety of automotive data to a variety of different personas. With that in mind, Cap HPI has built their website so those personas have an easy time finding the type of solution they're looking for. To facilitate this, they have a very optimized navigation so you’re able to quickly understand whether or not CAP HPI can help you or not, and pages that follow suite. On top of all this, the sites design, subtle animations, and unique color palette make for a delightful and refreshing visual experience in a market that might otherwise have a very bland, corporate layout.

12. Quiver

Featured on Awwwards

Although the site is smaller than others, Quiver still manages to shine among the rest. I love the fact that they utilize emotion immediately when you arrive on the homepage with the background and the copy. They even managed to get a signup form in their, rather than only incorporating a button that sends them to a separate signup page. Their product and features pages do a beautiful job of displaying the appearance of the software accompanied with small interactive elements to help show how the product works.

13. Wordstack

 Featured on CSS Winner

Wordstack did an excellent job keeping their website small, condensed and organized, while still delivering all the value the product offers. The large, full-width imagery and consistent use color palette and styling throughout the pages make for an incredibly uniform design that pairs very well with the color palate of the software. 

14. Campos Coffee

Featured on CSS Design Awards

Certain customers love indulging in products they know is craft and created by companies who want to deliver quality products to their customers. And companies like Campos Coffee know exactly how to cater to those personas. Campos uses their website as a way to highlight the time and effort they put into their coffee, how it benefits the community, and why you’ll feel good buying it. All these points get wrapped into a wonderful story that they display on their homepage throughout every other site page.

15. Kin

Featured on SiteInspire

Rather than only highlighting features, Kin takes it to the next step and utilizes homepage to showcase their products benefits so people know exactly what the product can be used for before venturing off to other areas on the site. In terms of design, Kins use of the larger serif font throughout the site accompanied by real office photography really helps add a huge about of credibility to their brand. It also lets the customer know there are real, personable people behind the amazing product, rather than leaving it up to guesses.

16. SeaStreak

Featured on Webby Awards

Looking to travel by ferry but not sure where to go? SeaStreak’s got you in good hands. Their sites UI is organized so you’re able to quickly build a ferry schedule that works for you. I also find their navigation extremely interesting. Their routes and schedules menu item drops down to show you all the available options, and the daytrips and getaway menu item is already segmented for users who are on the site looking for exactly that. These elements help create convenience for the user AND speed, so they aren't left in a dark hole of the site trying to figure out how to search for what they want. 

17. S Bottle

Featured on CSS Winner

S Bottle’s sleekly designed product is given special treatment throughout the design of their website to highlight its innovative beauty and benefits. Utilizing the bottle in the various animations they have make the site more engaging and adds interest to learning more about the product. 

18. Ocean Health Index

Featured on W3 Awards

Ocean Health Index helps bring the beauty of the ocean to the web with their stunning layout, visual imagery, and cool tone color palette. The large use of font across the website also helps keep the website easy to read while keeping and professional.

19. WealthSimple

Featured on Awwwards

The use of space on Wealthsimple makes it incredibly easy to segment each section of its pages. The beautiful GIFs throughout the page also make for a exciting experience, especially since they don’t relate directly to investing.

The site makes investing seem that much more fun. Rather than showcasing spreadsheets, stacks of cash and tacky language, they make sure they differentiate there image so it doesn't seem like every other investment software/service.

20. Toggl

Featured on CSSDesignAwards

The quirky animation on Togg’ls homepage page really draws the users attention immediately on arrival. This style imagery is carried throughout the remaining sections with simple groups of content boxes directly next to each.

Toggle also pays careful attention to how things animate in on page load. For example, Toggl’s pricing page fades in the hero and then each pricing area from left to right. Attention to these details make the feel of the site that much more polished.

21. Shademaster

Featured on CSSDesignAwards

Looking at roofing may not sound terribly enjoyable for the average homeowner, but Shademaster made sure it was on their site.

They strategically segmented the type of work they did into roof designs in their nav which send the user out to individual pages where they can plan and design their ideal roof and receive a quote. This approach makes the roof buying process that much more autonomous for users, there’s no need for someone to visit your house just to get something started.

Looking for your own website redesign?

Your website is meant to be the face of your online presence and a way to represent your brand virtually. If you website doesn't uphold a design that matches the way you want to be perceived, then it will ultimately fail to perform optimally. IMPACT loves to work with other companies in a collaborative effort to understand what you want your website to truly look like so we can help you through the strategy to make it into a reality. Think it's time for your website to get the facelift it deserves to better represent your brand and ultimately increase its performance? Talk to us and tell about your website's goals and aspirations.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/18-award-winning-website-designs

[thelazyplumber]

Affilorama Review – Is It Really The Best Affiliate Course?

Affilorama Review - A Comprehensive Look (2018)

Does it live up to its lofty promises?

Affilorama has been around for years and is the course many respected affiliate marketers used to get their start. But how does it hold up in 2018? We take a deep dive into what we think of this popular affiliate marketing course.

Learn More About Affilorama

Usefulness

Has lots of good content mixed in with content that badly needs to be updated

Value

Monthly costs are a bit steep, but includes hosting and other useful tools

Ease Of Use

Mixture of text and video training. Easy to navigate but feels dated.

Support

Support is responsive and has a pretty active forum

Affilorama Pros

The Premium membership option contains an immense amount of useful written and video content.

The course is well-laid out and easy to understand.

You can use Affilorama to start up your business in a matter of days.

The forum is somewhat active.

60-day money back guarantee.

Affilorama Cons

Outdated content

Upsells can get expensive in a hurry.

Questionable link practices

Not possible to contact Mark Ling personally.

If recent statistics are anything to go by, affiliate marketing is not dead. On the contrary, it is thriving but if you’re looking to make money via affiliate marketing, you’ll have to move with the times. Successful entities in this sphere understand the need to constantly change the game if they wish to continue finding goldmines.

If you’re a blogger/solopreneur, chances are, a significant portion of your online revenue comes from passive income via the promotion of online services and third-party products. If this isn’t the case, perhaps you need assistance? If so, or else you’re a newbie, there are a variety of programs designed to help. Affilorama is one of the best known but is it worth your time and money? Read our detailed review to find out.

What is Affilorama?

It is an online course created by famed affiliate marketer, Mark Ling, back in 2005/2006. It is effectively a one-stop shop for all your affiliate marketing needs. It is initially free to join and its information should prove useful to neophyte and experienced marketers alike. The training lessons come in the form of blog posts, long & detailed articles, and videos. It is theoretically possible to earn a six-figure income from scratch if you utilize all the tools Ling lays at your disposal. Affilorama’s community exceeds 300,000 people globally at the time of writing and with affiliate marketing also set to grow, it seems certain that Affilorama will follow suit. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer.

Affilorama’s Packages

At the time of writing, the site offered five packages including its much-vaunted Free Membership option. It used to include Affilotheme, a premium WordPress theme, for $97 but it has been absorbed into the AffiloBlueprint package.

Free Membership

What sets Affilorama apart from most of its rivals is the depth of great information you receive for free. Once you sign up, you receive instant access to the following:

Affiliate Marketing Quick Start Guide: Learn the basics of how affiliate marketing works and discover the traps you’ll need to avoid.

Roadmap to Success: If affiliate marketing confuses you, this downloadable roadmap should make things clearer. It is in infographic form which makes it easier to digest.

Video Lessons: There are over 120 video lessons that illustrate the ways to build your affiliate marketing business.

Overall, there are over 20 hours of free content. While there is plenty to like about getting lots of information for free, we were a little surprised at how much of it is outdated. If we were cynical, we would say it is a case of getting what you paid for!

Affilorama Premium

You could argue that this membership is Affilorama’s flagship product. You can begin by investing just $1 for a 30-day trial and then it costs $67 a month.

As you can see, there is a 60-day money back guarantee for extra peace of mind. What we really liked about these initial packages is that you have lots of time to absorb the very useful information before committing financially. We recommend eking everything you can from the Free Membership before the upgrade. However, it is the Premium Membership option that gives you the information needed to hang with the professionals. With Affilorama Premium, you receive the following, among other things:

Monthly web magazine which covers an affiliate marketing sub-topic in detail. Given the fact that successful marketers pick a niche and stick to it, this information could be essential.

Webinars and interviews with successful affiliate marketers where you learn their tips and tricks.

Web hosting for 15 domains.

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AffiloTools is also included.

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30 premium quality articles a month.

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2GB Disk Space

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75GB monthly traffic bandwidth

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10 FTP Accounts and 10 MySQL Databases.

AffiloTools

As well as being available with your Premium Membership, AffiloTools is a standalone product designed to help you boost your search engine ranking. Please note, we don’t recommend utilizing AffiloTools unless you’re a relatively experienced marketer with an up and running website. If you’re an affiliate marketer that doesn’t track data, you’re making a huge mistake. You can connect AffiloTools to a Google Analytics account and keep track of the following information:

Rankings for every keyword.

Rankings on various search engines and regions.

The amount of money you earn from ClickBank.

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The number of retweets and ‘likes’ you get on Twitter and Facebook respectively.

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The number of pages indexed.

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Details about how your rivals are performing in key areas.

There are four options ranging from the Free ‘Basic’ account to the ‘Gold’ package which costs $97.

As you can see, the Basic option is fine for newcomers to affiliate marketing as it monitors one website, ten keywords and two search engines per site with monthly ranking retrieval. Clearly, you’ll need to upgrade once your business expands.

AffiloJetpack

According to the site, its Jetpack option can “earn you a huge income on autopilot” and it’s yours for a one-time cost of $997. However, click on this Affilorama link and you receive a $250 discount! Mark Ling also offers two guarantees:

60-day money back guarantee.

An extra $100 refund if you follow Ling’s instructions on using Jetpack and don’t make good money within 60 days.

With Jetpack, you receive a variety of tools including:

Content creation ‘cheatsheets’ that show you how to create hundreds of blog posts and unique articles quickly and easily.

WordPress website setup with a year’s worth of free hosting and AffiloTheme.

Free reports designed to help you increase your emails’ opt-in rates.

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Professionally written email templates.

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eBook Graphics.

Ling believes that you can create your business in less than six days when you use Jetpack, compared to the minimum of six weeks it takes you without it. Also, you receive Jetpack in 18 profitable niches which certainly increases your chances of success. To sweeten the deal, Ling allows users to choose five websites in five different niches.

Ling makes some pretty incredible claims when trying to sell Jetpack. For example, he suggests that the ‘big shots’ go through a seven-step process and if you follow his instructions to a ‘tee’, you could earn up to $20,000 in a single day! For the record, the process looks like this:

1

A visitor comes to your website.

2

Your site offers him a free report (or another gift) which serves as bait.

3

The visitor takes the bait and you send him several emails that week automatically.

4

The informative nature of the emails builds trust.

5

You begin including recommendations for affiliate products. Gentle persuasion is key here.

6

You continue emailing recommendations and begin making sales.

7

It happens so often that you can quit your day job!

Despite what Ling claims, you have to put a lot of work into your business even if you purchase Jetpack. While it does have a host of useful tools, it is not the ‘magic bullet’ that Ling claims.

AffiloBlueprint

Ling claims this is a ‘foolproof’ blueprint for creating profitable affiliate marketing websites.

Once again, this is a product backed by a 60-day money back guarantee. For a fee of $197, you have lifetime access to hundreds of informative videos that show you how to create your site, write excellent content, and ensure it ranks well. Ling suggests that his system is:

Capable of killing indecision.

Easily achievable.

Explains everything about affiliate marketing.

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Futureproof.

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Repeatable.

One of the best aspects of the Blueprint is that you’re given ‘homework’ after each lesson which is tremendously helpful. Here is a quick overview of what to expect with the Blueprint:

Learn how to perform research and find the most profitable niche for your needs.

Create and customize your own website.

Discover how to attract more visitors to your site.

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Optimize your website for more sales.

As a bonus, you receive AffiloTheme which used to cost $97 by itself. It is designed to help you create beautiful looking websites that include SEO-friendly layouts. There is a total of six themes in one so you have the flexibility to develop something special.

Affilorama – What’s Good?

The Free membership is very helpful for newcomers because it contains plenty of useful information. Its content is well-laid out and easy to follow, even for those with no affiliate marketing experience. Of course, if you’re vastly experienced in this industry, there is probably nothing new in the content.

Mark Ling IS a well-known marketer with 14 years’ worth of experience and he brings it all to the table. Therefore, you know that Affilorama is most certainly NOT a scam. You learn the following without paying a cent:

How to build a great website.

How to attract visitors and boost your SEO ranking.

Ideas for marketing.

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Affiliate outsourcing.

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Content creation.

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Market research.

However, and we can’t stress this enough, you WILL need to invest money in Affilorama if you want to bring your business to the next level. The Premium Membership option is where the best information is located and you can pay just $1 for a month’s trial. We were very impressed by the amount, and quality, of content received and believe it is well worth paying the full price of $67 a month. If you follow Ling’s advice, you will make your annual fees back in weeks or less!

You also receive a reasonable level of customer support. Get in touch with the Affilorama team via phone or email. You can also go to the forum which is fairly active. For example, at the time of writing, there were a few replies within the last 24 hours on different topics.

There are numerous positive testimonials on the website and online. Customers enjoy:

The way the information is laid out.

The capacity to achieve financial freedom.

Skyrocketing sales.

Affilorama – What’s Bad?

Incredibly, Ling and his Affilorama team have done nothing to eliminate the outdated information that has been on the free version of the program for years. In some cases, members are warned that the content they are reading or watching is out of date. Why doesn’t the site remove it? Examples of outdated content include information on creating PLR (Private Label Rights) articles and creating backlinks. PLR content is nothing more than copied content and while you can tweak it to avoid search engine penalties, it offers nothing to your visitors.

To be fair, backlinking is still an important aspect of SEO, as long as it is utilized correctly. Things have changed in this sphere. Once upon a time, adding a ton of links from anywhere on the Internet increased your search engine ranking. Today, backlinking is more nuanced. Relevancy of links is crucial but is only part of a more complicated SEO tactic. We don’t believe that Affilorama’s information on backlinking is up to date in the free version. You need to pay for the Premium membership if you wish to get a better handle on things.

We were also not impressed with the additional fees and the confusion over pricing and what you actually receive. For example, AffiloTools is supposed to be free with a Premium Membership but it is also available as a free trial with Blueprint. Marketers have also complained that Ling sends them emails promoting services and products from known scam artists. This does nothing for his credibility.

Is Affilorama Worth It?

Overall, it IS worth your time and effort to join Affilorama. We advise you to spend as much time as you need absorbing all of this useful information before deciding whether or not you wish to upgrade. We believe that the Premium Membership option is essential for serious affiliate marketers and $67 a month is a bad price to pay in our opinion. It is a bit more expensive than Wealthy Affiliate, but has more useful features.

If you wish to move to the next level and have money to spend, the Jetpack and Blueprint packages are fine options but you have to decide if it is worth the cash. For example, a $997 one-time payment is a lot of money to throw away if you don’t get the most out of it. On the flipside, if you get it right, four-figure days are a genuine possibility.

Learn More About Affilorama

The post Affilorama Review – Is It Really The Best Affiliate Course? appeared first on The Lazy Plumber.

from The Lazy Plumber https://www.thelazyplumber.com/affilorama-review/

[cameronwjones]

10+ Beautifully Designed Event Websites

Often the event website is an attendees first encounter with an event. It can cause the first rumblings of hype (or dread). The web designer’s job is to master the event’s aura before the event even happens, capturing the scene in fonts, colors, and design. These websites show us, uniquely, how to mold an event’s esthetic into something digestible, useful, and that accurately reflects an event’s story. Each person has a story, product, and business has a story—and so does each event. An event website acts as the storyteller and, if the story seems consistent and cool, then people will want to experience the story for themselves and attend the event. Here are the best and most beautiful event websites that function as great storytellers (in no particular order):

The Summit Dublin

No matter how awesome a website’s design looks, if navigating proves difficult and you can’t answer questions about the event in only a few clicks—something is missing. Summit Dublin’s website not only electrifies your eyeballs (you know, in a good way), but it answers questions you didn’t even know you had: if there are hotels—or, um, a casual castle—available for your stay. Plus, seeing Bono’s face immediately upon entering the website has to be one of their main selling points.

Air France Expo

The Air France Expo website is almost exactly what you’d expect from a French website, based on stereotypes of French style: minimalistic, chic, and sophisticated. In a way only the French can, they’ve made a website utterly sexy: the sleek fonts and color schemes, the elegant white space, and the gorgeous images that float gently onto your screen when scrolling. Even their copy has a sensual side: “We invite you into a world, suspended between the earth and the sky, to share passions and poetry from Shanghai to New York and Paris.” The Air France Expo’s website is just that—poetry. 

#Digitized

#digitized’s website shows users how to take advantage of the recent phenomenon of the one-page responsive design. From its simplistic colors to the playful marker-drawn font, the design throws the site users into the event, inviting them to interact with the hip interface and look at all the talented speakers for the event, wearing sweet button-downs and trendy black, thick-rimmed glasses. And it’s awesome.

Brand New Conference

Far different than the Air France Expo or #digitized's website, the Brand New Conference website immediately shows its colors boldly—literally. If you want to feel like a technologic bad-ass, this web design will fill that void, using confident reds, blacks, and grays to bring chutzpah into the world of technology and brand identity. Bitmap-oriented, the “identity” for this year’s Chicago conference has to do with the early 1984 Mac OS and (graphic design font nerds, rejoice) the Chicago font for that operating system.

Converge Southeast

Brightly colored illustrations of wildlife? Sure, the conference takes place in South Carolina, but the immediate images aren’t quite what you’d expect for a tech event—making it unique and intriguing in its own right. The wildlife theme continues further down the page, where each “track” (design, gaming, UX, etc.) gets its own wild animal. The overall melding of wildlife and technology proves to be endearing but sleek, melding fun kitsch with  simplicity. 

Buses at the Brewery

If the name of the event isn’t enough for you, then maybe the cover image will make you jump out of your seat, into the sunshine, and over to the nearest beer garden. This website works its magic on users, packaging the experience so perfectly, you can almost taste the craft brews from its muted and quirky color scheme and retro fonts.

Tribecon

The design is clean and simple, but the best part of Tribecon’s website lies in its fun, friendly vibe. The contact section: “Hit us up.” The last speaker listed: “You.” And the events are listed as “awesome.” Their excitement is contagious, creative, and, well—awesome.  Why aren’t we best friends with them yet?

  Design Week Portland 

Keep Portland Weird, right? Drag your cursor and scroll down slowly past the cover image to witness something…trippy (just do it…trust us). And, in truly Portland fashion, the website becomes beautifully minimalistic as you continue to scroll. 

Circles Conference

Take the best design from your Pinterest board and Etsy wish-list to fuse the coolest, authentic, hand-lettered goodness that is the Circles website. Its vintage poster-y feel maintains a silky smoothness as you scroll down. The site is 100% fluid and cool—even the pictures of the speakers make you want to give them a high-five and grab a beer. The style highlights its trendy earthiness—beards, flannel, and all.

Image Festival 

In a Zooey Deschanel, cutesy-yet-quirky kind of way, the Image Festival website (and all its gumball-colored freshness) has a big personality with text and bright colors, and it’s also super refreshing and forward-and different from everything else. This website showcases its fun nature in pops of color and funky fonts.

  Sisense: Eureka

  This event website for Sisense's Eureka conference makes sure to use the background loop video to their advantage. Seeing footage of previous Eureka conference helps the website visitor to envision themselves at the event. The remainder of the website holds true to the fundamental rule of simplicity as it uses few colors and does not use too much text. 

Branch.io: Branchout 

Not all event websites need to be flashy with impressive graphics. More than anything, the website has to resonate with the target audience and align with the event vision. Because Branchout is a conference focused on specific technical topics such as mobile fragmentation and cross-platform user experiences, the event website skips the fluff and gets straight to the point. By providing all of the previous year's event content on the homepage, this event website is a great example of designing with audience in mind. 

Google I/O 

  Though Google I/O's brand name alone is enough to pull anyone into their event website, they still took much time designing a stellar website experience. Having an eye-catching countdown clock as soon as you enter the page helps to build up anticipation for the event.  The weather widget overlayed on top of a beautiful image of the previous year's outdoor keynote session also does well to generate enthusiasm because attendees can expect to have similar great weather for this year's event.   

Blockchain Nation: Miami

Sometimes the best design can come from the actual event setting. Since this blockchain conference takes place a beautiful beach city, the website takes advantage of this by including a breathtaking skyline image of Miami. The image goes will with the event brand colors as well, creating a visual harmony while still making the CTA button stand out. 

  Insurection

While the company putting on the event surely has its own brand, the event itself should have a standalone brand as well. In the case of Insurection, the industry event put on by the French insurance company April Group, the conference does well to stay in line with the overall April Group brand while also bringing its own aesthetic. The eye catching header banner with a diverse palette of colors and shapes makes the event homepage memorable for anyone who visits. Making sure that your event brand stands out through distinct visual elements will help it to stay top of mind of attendees. 

Key Takeaways

These examples all exhibit strong qualities that can be replicated and implemented into your own event website. Though there a countless tips we can take from these examples, here are some of those tips distilled into key takeaways:

Make sure that your website colors, fonts, and visuals overall represent and cohesive and unique event brand that will be memorable to anyone who visits the site.

Less is more. Be efficient with the amount of words on the home page and let the design do the talking.

Keep your target audience in mind and make sure their questions and concerns will be addressed directly in the design/layout of the event website

Use images or videos from previous events as the homepage banner to have your website visitors envision themselves at your event.

Make sure the most important event details (date, time, venue) are viewable as soon as someone visits the event website

Mixing and matching the different tips and takeaways from this list of beautifully designed event websites will help you to create the perfect visual representation of your unique event. 

For more awesome event resources, click the button below. Your brain will thank you.

from Cameron Jones Updates https://blog.bizzabo.com/10-beautifully-designed-event-websites