Still seems weird to say this but after close to 15 years of being on twitter professionally and personally, both accounts have been shut down.

Armadillo Studios and my own personal career wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for Twitter’s platform. I have connected with many of our clients. Built and maintained friendships. Reinforced professional expertise and credentials. Helped win political campaigns. Helped build local communities. All through twitter.

Experiencing “web 2.0″‘s birth and death along with dozens of world events online was an incredible experience to share with everyone. But it’s time to move on. There is very little redeeming value in Twitter from a professional and personal level. I’d recommend that most businesses and political entities start considering creating an exit strategy for the platform.

For the second straight year, Armadillo Studios Inc., was a not only a sponsor of Calgary WordCamp 2015, but one of the co-organizers. This year’s edition of Calgary WordCamp set a new standard for the WordCamp community, with a sold out crowd of 150 attendees, a packed after party and three solid streams of in depth WordPress content for users of all background.

It was a great pleasure to be apart of WordCamp 2015 and to see the WordPress community continue to foster in our energetic city. The entire organizing committee is ecstatic at the reception we received from the community this year and are incredibly thankful to all our sponsors, volunteers and speakers who made WordCamp Calgary 2015 the best one yet.

We’re all planning to take a few weeks off to reenergize, but we’re looking forward to make WordCamp 2016 even better. Stay tuned.

Earlier this month, I had the chance to attend the inaugural “CAMP Festival”:http://campfestival.ca/ at Theatre Junction GRAND in my home town of Calgary. In conjunction with “FITC”:http://fitc.ca/, this conference was an intense two-day sprint session revolving around the fusion of art, technology, creativity and new media.

Throughout the two days, attendees were bombarded with traditional sessions and intimate studios conversations revolving around the emergence of art within the technology and creative sectors. Talks touched upon topics such as _Design and Happiness_, _Big Redesigns, Tough Clients and a Lot of Work!_, _Designing the Future of Augmented Reality_, _Rich Web Experiences and the Future of the Web_.

Really enjoying the chat from @repponen at #CAMPFEST14 on the design, pitch and UX process. Fantastic information. Lots of takeaways.

— Armadillo Studios (@armadillostudio) September 8, 2014

It was a mind melting two days of uplifting discussion and idea generating conversations about the direction of Web Design and the Internet. Artists such as _GMUNK_, _James White_, and _Sarah Blake_ delved in to their own personal style influences and how they create unique work for clients and their own personal pet projects that have driven their artistic voice. While creative agency veterans such as _Anton Repponen_, _Irene Pereyena_, and _Kim Alpert_ shared their collective experiences dealing with the business side of the creative industry; discussion such topics as client relations, project budgeting, the art of the pitch and team planning and resource management.

signalnoise getting raw & real. #campfest14 #vscocam http://t.co/kWnH5UN1CY

— Jason⚡Dorn (@jaydorn) September 9, 2014

CAMP Festival was a fantastic two days and a breath of fresh air into an otherwise stagnant local conference scene. The fusion of internationally renowned speakers and industry shakers with some of Calgary’s own local success stories, really created a unique experience. As an event it was fantastic opportunity to catch-up with every single one of our local friends from the the Calgary design community, meet some new friends and to hang out and discuss the topics that were shown throughout the day.

If CAMP Festival’s goals were to challenge and inspire the growing Calgary tech and creative industry, then mission accomplished. It goes without saying that pretty much all of the 330 people who attended this conference left with something inspiring or challenging to incorporate into their own business models or creative endeavours. For a first run conference of this magnitude, it was a pleasant and energizing surprise. So a massive thank you to all who was involved in the planning and organizing of CAMP Fest.

The big take always from #CAMPFEST14 are: 1) follow your side passions and heart. Just create. Don't fear the rest.

— Armadillo Studios (@armadillostudio) September 9, 2014

Plus they had S’Mores. Nothing beats a conference with Beer and S’Mores.

Check out the Social Media Stream

It is with great pleasure I get announce that after a year long courtship, Armadillo Studios Inc., is an approved member of the NationBuilder Architect program.

For those unfamiliar, NationBuilder is one of the fastest growing and most popular Content Management Systems to hit the market in the past few years. Developed off the backs of members of Obama’s highly touted technical team, NationBuilder is an incredibly powerful web site platform for political and non-profits looking to raise money, connect with volunteers and actively engage with their user base.

NationBuilder is a software platform that combines your people database, website, and communication tools like email, text messaging, and social media—all in one. Accessible and affordable, NationBuilder helps people all over the world create more meaningful relationships. Whether you’re an author, activist, small business owner, or politician, we provide the tools to build a community around whatever it is you were meant to do.

As you can imagine the NaitonBuilder platform is a powerful tool to help candidates and organizations connect beyond the typical methods found on a normal CMS. As one can see from the work with did with Alberta MLA Steve Young, our first NationBuilder web site, the system is a powerful way to transform your site into something other than a one-way broadcasting tool.

I’m excited to add NationBuilder to the growing list of services that Armadillo Studios provides for our Business, Not-For-Profit and Political customers. If you feel that NationBuilder is a tool that might interest, send me a note at cturner@armadillostudios.ca and I’d love to chat with you about the pros and cons.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to Brendan Mulvihill of EDAHelp for his guidance with working with the NationBuilder System.

Oh, Hello! Welcome to the revamped Armadillo Studios Inc.

Some of you may have noticed the soft launch of the site in late November, but now that 2014 has crept upon us I felt it was time to make the new redesign official.

Yes, this new redesign is a massive change for the company and only the third switch up since I started this outfit way back in 2007. The new look is designed to showcase the evolution of Armadillo Studios from a broad and idealistic multi-contractor shop to a focused and specialized WordPress, Social Media and E-mail marketing outfit. The added benefit of this new redesign, is not only does Armadillo have a brand spanking new look, but also a more specialized business direction.

Armadillo Studios’ new mantra is to help Businesses. Non-profits and Political Organizations achieve their online goals through customized WordPress and NationBuilder web sites, grass roots based Social Media campaigns and personalized E-mail Marketing Campaigns. IF you haven’t noticed, it’s plastered all over the new site and branding. While I won’t pretend that these three areas of services are ground breaking by any stretch of the imagination, I do hope that by focusing on these three avenues, I can further improve upon the great service Armadillo Studios’ has been providing over the past few years.

And while you’re browsing around the site, you may also note that the new site better reflects Armadillo’s true structure. The site now acts as more of a professional portfolio site for myself and my two and a half compadres. You can read the new bios on the about page to find out more about Armadillo Studios or check out the long standing corporate blog for the most recent projects and articles.

Oh, and in addition to a brand new web site and redesign, I have also launched Armadillo’s first new email newsletter. This new monthly newsletter will focus on the latest web sites launches and blog posts. It’s a simple way to keep our clients, friends and unsuspecting family members up to date with the latest adventures.

I hope you enjoy the new vibe and I welcome any feedback you may have. Feel free to sign up for the newsletter below or follow armadillo on Facebook and Twitter. Over the next few weeks there will be even more changes to the site as the second phase of the redesign takes place. The first order of business is to add some mobile responsive magic and to also provide a new level of detail for Armadillo’s Services.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with Armadiilo.

Cheers,

Connor Turner