Of Portraits & Cupcakes
The Integricity Visuals team took on yet another challenge when they recently packed their bags and flew to Pangkor Island to shoot some pre-wedding portraits for a client.
The couple wanted sunrise as well as sunset shots by the beach, and wanted it to be something different. Over the packed 2 days, the team had lots of fun, and the following are just some of the finished products!
(More photos can be found on http://stories.my)
~~~~~
Besides shooting people, the team also recently shot the oh-so-pretty cupcakes at Cupcake Chic!
Check out Cupcake Chic’s website to find out more about their Haiti “I CARE” cupcakes, where RM 1.00 from every cupcake sold would be donated to the World Vision Emergency Relief Fund.
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood |
IT Managed Service
One must always see the silver lining in a bad situation, and in this case, traffic jams. Today was one of those days. Fortunately, I had Ben in the car and we both killed time discussing and debating anything that came to mind. It was fun sparring with Ben – it sure as hell beats sitting alone in a traffic jam!
The topic we discussed most was how Apple (with iPods and iPhones) has managed to lock their consumers in with iTunes. We both agreed a phone can be sleeker, faster and shinier (um, the two that come to mind are Motorola DRIED and Samsung EXTINCT HD) but there is one thing which they can’t topple overnight and that is iTunes. I’m not saying everyone on the street owns an iPhone; Nokia is still the current market leader for smartphones (based on Q2 figures) …sorry my mind wanders…this wasn’t even the real issue I meant to bring up but you get the point, right? Gigantic applications and music vault available at your fingertips give reason to own the device…and keep it!
(Forget the rest, the real discussion starts here.)
From there, Ben and I started talking about how record labels (EMI, BMG, SONY etc) should have spent more time collaborating and building on ideas like iTunes when Napster and Kazaa were making headlines. Instead, record labels felt it was better off to battle piracy. Court cases, legal documents – weapons of the past which they were familiar with. It was a foregone conclusion – sure, they did win some court cases, but everyone knows the record labels were fighting a battle with catapults and arrows when the P2P applications were soaring 30,000 feet above sea level. They weren’t even fighting the same battle! Meanwhile, the P2P applications just kept growing and growing, and eventually led to torrents! Yeeehawwwww!
Although Napster and Kazaa seems like oh-so-very-long-ago, one must remember this happened during a time when broadband was just starting to take off and a large number of people were still on 56k dial-up (well, I was, at that point in time). Audio files like mp3s were ideal files to share because they weren’t too large compared to the proportion of bandwidth available. Fast forward a few years and we’ve got blazing fast bandwidth (not in Malaysia though) and people are exchanging movies. What are the major film studios (FOX, Warner Bros., Paramount etc) doing about it? Piracy crackdown all over again! Court cases, legal documents – pretty much the same old story. I would have imagined the lessons learnt from the music industry would have had all these big boys scrambling and collaborating to beef up the hottest and newest movie vault but … *shrugs* … too late. Why haven’t we, or rather THEY, learnt from previous costly mistakes?
(Here comes the part where I try to sell you something!)
Every couple of weeks, I am bound to bump into a small- to medium-sized company that is plagued with incompetent IT support services. Most of the time, the problems they face are pretty much the same. These companies have 15 to 50 employees and most of these employees have computers. A company this size does not have the means to hire a full-blown IT Department with a growth strategy and work methodology, so they engage a young technically sound guy* to maintain their IT infrastructure. It takes the technician a few months to stabilise the entire infrastructure and just as he is starting to become useful, he gets bored without a leader to push him, without colleagues who speak the same lingo, without a proper training plan for him to upgrade his skills, and soon decides to resign. The company, then, goes through a messy period of about 2 months or so before they find the next replacement, and the cycle repeats itself. This is not only disruptive to the business operations but highly costly as well. Strangely enough, while important lessons should have been learnt and new strategies applied to fix the problem, these companies are quite happy to repeat this costly and painful process.
Fortunately, Integricity Technology can fix this! Our team provides “IT Managed Service”, which basically means you let us worry about your IT infrastructure. Our team is well-trained (yes, we have the relevant certifications to back us) and we CAN end this painful cycle of rehiring and retraining technical people for your company! End your misery and read more about our “IT Managed Service” here. Let us fight your battles with the right solutions and tools!
*Note: Based on the cases mentioned, all the technical people were guys! So I’m not being sexist! Purely factual.
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood, Biz Productivity, New-fangled Tech |
Our New Fanatics
Back in early January, Integricity welcomed to our family two new interns, both of whom were born in 1990 – which makes the rest of us feel really ancient! After a month here, they share about their experience with us…
I heard of Integricity through a friend of mine. I felt very welcome during my first week. There was something in the atmosphere that screamed, “Welcome to the Family!!!”. People at Integricity are vastly different in personality, but somehow go well together and are ready to help if I should run into any difficulties during assignments given. And. They. Love. Food.
During the initial interview with Eugene, he told me that at Integricity, they learn new things every day. It’s true.
When I’m not researching on a client project, I’d be assisting the Design team with little projects. So far it’s been good. When I leave this place I’ll be a person bombarded with information from different departments!
Well, so far my first month has been interesting (excluding the dull moments), from visiting Souled Out for the very first time to helping Grace out with a video shoot. My life has changed, yes it has – I must now muster the discipline to sleep early to wake up early. Given a taste of working life, I somehow prefer it to college. There is interaction and hands-on work rather than just sitting and listening.
Here’s to a good 2nd month here, eh?
Well, I am not sure of what to say, but if there is really one thing that I have to say, it would be: “I have definitely gained quite a bit of experience just from working in this environment.”
I was first introduced to this company by my mom, who is a friend of Alex Lam (Managing Director of Integricity Ventures)’s mother. It was through her that my mom told me about this company, and after looking up the company website, I was compelled to join Integricity, as I assumed it would give me a hands-on experience of what it is like working in an IT firm, and also to prepare me before I go to university to pursue a degree in Computer Science. As a matter of fact, my assumptions really did come true!
Although I am an intern and my focus is more towards the technological area (where I have learned and gained valuable experiences from working together with the tech guys), at times I am busy doing other things for the different divisions that make up Integricity Corporation, which I believe also contribute to a whole new experience that is so different from what can be learned from textbooks and in classes.
It is definitely exciting, and here’s to a month left before I leave to further my studies!!
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood |
A Serve-ing of Health
A smash. A dropshot. A serve. Any of those words sound familiar to you? Well, they haven’t been part of the vocabulary for most of us Integricitizens for years, until now. Two weeks ago, eight of us made a date to play a game of badminton. And so our journey to pain began.
Typically, an hour before our game was scheduled to begin, the skies opened and there was a downpour of rain – almost as if it was a sign that it was not meant to be! Nevertheless, we made it to the courts (albeit half an hour late), and started our warm-ups.
We were all pretty rusty at the beginning, but as the first hour wore on, we were hitting our stride. The sound of badminton racquets hitting shuttlecocks was oddly therapeutic, knowing that each stroke meant more calories burnt for the day.
The following day, back at the office, we exchanged stories of our aches and pains! Some had aching arms, while others had aching legs. We moved around as though we had aged twenty years overnight!
Today, after having played badminton for two weeks in a row, we’re planning on making it a weekly session to promote exercise within Integricity, and also so that we can indulge more in our other love (FOOD!) without feeling guilty. So, all’s well that ends well, a little pain in the beginning will hopefully result in healthier Integricitizens in the year 2010!
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood |
Postcard from Over the Seas!
We’ve received a postcard all the way from across the seas, from one of our fellow Integricitizens who’s left us to backpack around Europe! With all the technology readily available nowadays, you’ve gotta admit that it’s pretty nice to receive actual handwritten mail once in awhile.
As I type this, another Integricitizen is busy sightseeing around London, while another is traipsing the streets of ever-exciting Amsterdam! Hmmm…maybe we should create a wall for postcards in the office.
Topics: Uncategorized |
Project365 for 2010
How time flies! Hands up if you feel that 2009 went by in a flash.
As we grow older (and hopefully wiser) this year, many of us are setting goals for the new year:
Eat healthily. Exercise more. Spend more time with loved ones. Give to charity. Live life to its fullest.
This year, many are starting out on a Project365, and I’d like to challenge you to it too.
What is Project365?
For those who have not heard of it, Project365 is simply taking a photo a day. It could be of something significant which happens in a day, what interests you, what you eat, or a photo of yourself (check out Noah Kalina’s photos of himself for 6 years!) – actually, anything at all!
For starters, you can find great tips on how to do it here. Next, select an easy (and yes, free is nice too) way to upload your photos. If you decide to sign up with Flickr, join the Project 365, Project 365! or 365 days group pools. It’s a great way to meet others with similar interests as well as to keep yourself motivated. You can also post your photos to Facebook, your blog, or other photo sharing sites. Lastly, don’t forget to share your new photos on Twitter by using the hashtag #project365.
A few of us here at Integricity have hopped onto the boat, including Alex, Grace, Eric and Ben Israel. Alex also has a compilation of links to several Project365ers, which can be found on his blog – check ‘em out to get inspired!
At the end of 2010, it will be very rewarding to look back at all the photos you took. Sounds awesome, no? These days, with all the technology freely available, it should be pretty convenient; no more hassles with long-winded journaling. Besides, a picture is worth a thousand words!
Topics: Design-speak |
Announcing… The Launch of Stories by Integricity Visuals!
It has been an amazing 2009 for the Wedding Story team. Some of our key highlights last year were being able to fly to Bangladesh and Holland to photograph & film different weddings. Since introducing photography to Wedding Story in 2007, our photography services at Wedding Story have grown by leaps and bounds. This year, we decided to bring our photography services to a different level. Therefore, it is with much excitement that we announce to you a specialized boutique wedding & portrait photography service from Stories by Integricity Visuals (www.stories.my).
Kee Sitt and Sharon, founders of Wedding Story, will continue to churn out amazing wedding films under the Wedding Story brand at www.weddingstory.com.my.
With this new launch, we are pleased to give away special treats to couples who are interested to make a booking for 2010. We will give away gifts worth up to RM1,500 for the first 5 couples who confirm a booking with us!
Call us for a consultation to find out more details. Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year!
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood |
Upgraded: Billing and Support Ticket System
Dear valued customers,
Integricity Technology would like to take this opportunity to inform you that we have upgraded our Billing and Support Ticket System. This system will be able to help you easily launch support tickets and track your billing information, as well as view your product and service subscriptions from us. You can now also make new orders via our new Online Shopping Cart. Slowly but surely, we will be introducing more nifty features to the system for your convenience.
Access the new Billing and Support Ticket System at https://clientarea.integricitytechnology.com/system
Your Username: Your primary email, previously used on Fanaticalservice.com.
Password: Kindly retrieve your password here.
Thank you and have a brilliant day!
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood |
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
But we’re not just happy about it being a new year; we’re awestruck that 2010 marks Integricity’s 10th year. Admittedly, the new decade is making us feel that bit more dinosaur-ish, especially when the very first act of business in 2010 was to hire not one but two new people – both born in 1990. Ouch to most of us here who were born in the 80s.
Thankfully, I’m pleased to see that we’re still in the forefront of the digital world. Integricity’s folks are still the leading influencers on Twitter (six in Malaysia’s Top 50!), the leading innovators on emerging platforms like Foursquare and being invited to speak and consult on all things digital more than ever. Maybe more white hair isn’t that bad a thing after all.
We’re really excited to be in 2010. We believe firmly that the digital decade is upon us, traditional media is dying, and the consumers of this decade (yeah, those 90s babies!) are going to be awfully difficult to reach, engage and influence. The technologies, the platforms and the people are changing and evolving more rapidly than ever before.
The digital world of today requires not just any agency, but one that truly understands the digital space. One that lives, breathes and loves digital. And one that knows how to overcome its challenges and capture its opportunities.
And that’s exactly what Integricity has geared up to do in 2010.
Have a great year ahead, and may God bless all that you do!
Topics: Greetings |
Annual Fanatical Christmas Dinner
Last Christmas, Integricitizens had our annual Christmas dinner at WIP in Bangsar. As always, there was a good spread of food and drinks.
As a follow up to the Guardian Angel game which had been going on in the office, we also played Dirty Santa. Now, if you don’t know, Dirty Santa is a game where everyone brings a gift to be exchanged. Each gift is then tagged with a number. Everyone draws a random number from a bowl, and gets the gift which is tagged with the respective number. This is when the fun part begins.
The person with the larger number gets to ’steal’ the gift from the person of a lower number comparatively - for instance, Number 2 gets to ’steal’ from Number 1, Number 3 gets to ’steal’ from Numbers 1 and 2… yeah, it’s not fair, but hey, that’s why it’s called Dirty Santa!
After dinner, a few of us adjourned to Twenty-One Tables + Terrace Bar located on the 3rd floor of Bangsar Shopping Centre for more partying and champagne!
Back at the office, it’s also another Integricity tradition to write encouragement messages to fellow colleagues. Here we have our wall of encouragement notes with Post-It papers of various colours.
Overall, last Christmas was a wonderful one, simply because we all felt closer to one another – just like a family. Looking forward to another year of good food and fun! Cheers.
Topics: Beneath The Red Hood |