The WordPress team has announced in a blog post that the company has turned on support for PubSubHubbub (try saying that fast five times), a move that will get blog content to RSS services (such as Google Reader and Bloglines) much more quickly.

Essentially it’s a way for hosted WordPress blogs to “push” content out as it’s published to the services, rather than waiting for the services to check in for new posts.

It’s live now for WordPress.com blogs, while self-hosted blogs can go real-time with a plugin.
PubHubSubbub, or PuSH, is demoed nicely in the “cheesy” video (that’s WordPress’ choice of word, not ours) below.

Please enquire with us about setting up the plug-in for you.

11 Downing Street was the venue for a high-profile charity reception for Barnardo’s on Tuesday evening. As one of the guests, Alex was exposed to the extensive work that Barnardo’s does helping children, young people and their families across the UK. With a rousing call from Karren Brady (ex MD of Birmingham City FC) and the input of a number of other leading business luminaries, the challenge was laid down to the guests: how can you get involved? Barnardo’s clearly has a lot of heavy-hitting patronage, but the real work is done on the ground, much by volunteers. So, for anyone considering a personal project for 2010, why not mentor a young person or provide an internship, and give someone an opportunity that they wouldn’t otherwise get? Find out more at Barnardo’s.

Beck’s Beer were the proud sponsors of an awesome New Year’s Eve music gig in Chicago. Within the strong line up was the opportunity for an unsigned wildcard act to perform. To get to Chicago, the wildcard act had to be voted there. So Digital White were asked to design and develop a cutting edge microsite embedded within Facebook enabling acts to register and upload their music. Members of the US public could then vote on their favourite band to increase their chance of playing. Visitors could also buy and win tickets for the gig on the site. Within two months of launching, the site had 24,000 visitors and 70,000 page views. Judging by the photos and the participant feedback, the event itself was a great success and we thoroughly enjoyed the part that we played!

Please note: This microsite is location based and only viewable within the US, but you can contact us and we can show it you.

RPMC agency are global specialists in the activation of sponsorship opportunities. They are currently organising Sony Ericsson’s sponsorship hospitality needs in South Africa for the FIFA™ World Cup and we delivered the website which helps them organise this exciting event. Through the website, you can view information about South Africa, the teams and players, stadiums, visa requirements and download the match schedule and a wall planner. You can also view restaurants and activities in the three main cities, but only Sony Ericsson market units can book them, and also invite their guests. The site has an integrated back-end administrative  system which manages all the data.

Have a look and get ahead of the game!

PayPal have launched a new global brand, which they would like implemented throughout their entire digital output. So we have got our hands full changing designs, rearranging, adapting, amending, and creating the new style for all sorts of landing pages, microsites and video banners. Watch this space for updates on deliverables.

Problem: over the past year, most of our clients have asked us: “Where do we start with social media? There’s so much out there; what is right for us?!”

Solution: DW’s Digital Media Map®. This simplifies the scope of social media and offers insights which help brands plan their digital media spend more effectively.

How does it work? It maps out the spectrum of social media according to functional categories of why people go online and shows how a brand’s online assets are integrated into social media channels. This powerful strategic tool goes way beyond recommending the obvious Facebook and Twitter solutions, and helps all types of brands from FMCG to Financial Services identify the best places to build communities according
to their product/service and target demographic.

According to one of our clients, it “goes a long way to clarifying the confusion that is Social Media”.
Last month we showed the map to a major drinks portfolio manufacturer, a major global sports broadcaster and a global banking group, all of whom have asked us back in to advise them in the next three weeks.

Would you like see our map? If so, give the office a call and speak to Alex.

The team at DW want to wish everyone a happy festive season. We had a fantastic year, finished in style with a bit of speeding and drifting to v8 music on the AMG Mercedes track.

We’ll see you all next year.

We are happy to announce that we have recently created a brand awareness campaign for a fantastic new children’s character. Hari teaches children aged between three and seven all about safety in and out of the home. Hari the elephant, along with other lovable characters educate children about safety awareness in a fun, exciting and imaginative way.

Reading these books with your children promotes interaction and aims to bring out confidence whilst re-enforcing the safety messages being taught as part of the school curriculum.

To learn more about safety in Hari’s World, play games and get your hands on the books please visit www.harisworld.com

Once again DW has been selected to deliver a sponsorship ticketing and hospitality website. This time it’s for one of the Tier 1 sponsors of the FIFA™ World Cup 2010. This tool may well be the first time the invited VIPs ‘Experience South Africa’!

We will be hard at work delivering this baby in time for Christmas.

Watch this space.

Thanks go to our long-standing client PayPal and their UK Marketing Director, Mark Hodson, for his generous plug of us in a feature for October’s MediaWeek. Read the full article here.

Great work, and thanks again from the DW team.