Connecting the Dots / An Agency Blog

Before we begin please put your headphones on and press play on the above video.

Good times here at Engine Digital H.Q. in Gastown! We just found out that Engine Digital has been named to the “Biggest Ad Agencies in Metro Vancouver” list by Business In Vancouver Magazine. Check out the current issue here.

We’re also in the midst of full on Olmypic fever since the horn in the harbour just signaled more gold for Canadian Maelle Ricker in Women’s Snowboard Cross.

What a great afternoon. We’ve got the Daft Punk on while working hard at getting to the top of that list, and we’re cheering on Canada for more gold!

The basketball court in the new Woodward's complex.

With rumors of possible free hotdogs and the need for more X-Box controllers, the Engine crew decided to duck out of the studio for an hour to size up our new neighbor, the Woodward’s development.

Freshly opened to the public, we finally got a chance to see what’s been going on behind that metal fence for the past few years since they blew up the whole block. The architecture of the complex fits in nicely with Gastown’s industral vibe. The main courtyard, with a glass roof and a huge open area that features a basketball court in between a London Drugs and Nestor’s, is a unique touch that’s going to see a lot of local rivalry manifesting itself next summer. There’s a huge photo installation by Stan Douglas that overlooks everything too, a nice nod to the political battle that is an undeniable part of this locations history. (More photos after the jump.)

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There have been many great duo’s over the history of pop-culture, fiction, and of course media. Henrik & Daniel, Laurel and Hardy, Jan and Dean, Simon & Garfunkel, oh and let’s not forget Siegfried & Roy. (hah!)

Well it looks like we’ll be adding another duo to the list of greats, since our very own Beck & Gallagher were included on an impressive list of young people leading the way in the marketing industry from 10 to an unprecedented accommodation of 11.

Beck & Gallagher, as in Stephen Beck and Richard Gallagher, both Founding Partners and Creative Directors here at Engine Digital, have been named to Marketing Magazines “Ones to Watch” list for 2009, or in this case, “two to watch.” Since one couldn’t be mentioned without the other in regards to the success of another benchmark year at Engine Digital, the folks at Marketing Magazine decided to include the pair in their exclusive list.

All of us here at Engine Digital get the opportunity to marvel at the expertise of these guys in action every day so it’s nice to have their efforts appreciated by, and along with, their peers in the industry.

Congratulations to all the other “Ones to Watch,” and especially Beck and Gallagher, who will be receiving complimentary lion taming lessons as a gift from the rest of the staff here at Engine.

Stephen and I made the misty mountain climb to the world of higher education and the picturesque campus of Capilano University in North Vancouver on a rainy Wednesday earlier in the week. We were scheduled to speak to a large group of students enrolled in the IDEA Program as part of Capilano’s mandate to give students access to industry professionals by way of 2 hour lectures and presentations. Everyone was assembled and waiting for our discussion about the role of the Digital Agency and the history of the Online Brand Experience, and I embarrassingly admit that some things haven’t changed since our school days, because we were a bit late! Still, things went off without a hitch and the students at Capilano were an attentive bunch that had some great and insightful questions after our presentation.
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Engine has always been Gastown based. Some of us have only ever worked in this neighborhood, myself included. Some of us live and work in Gastown. It’s a second home for some, and an only home for others. And so when we decided to create Engine, Gastown was not just an obvious choice, it was really the only area to consider.

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