What's New

The Wickedweb team had a fabulous evening at Asia de Cuba, St Martins Lane to celebrate this year’s festivities.  It was a great excuse to get dressed up and let our hair down...even the red carpet was out upon our arrival!  (It was then apparent that the paparazzi were after Lily Allen who was right behind us).  

In fact, it turned out to be a very star studded affair indeed due to the English National Ballet holding a VIP reception to launch the Christmas season on the same night - nothing like The Nutcracker to get in the Christmas mood!

Impressive food, jovial company and lots of dancing afterwards – the perfect Christmas party!

It's the day of the Wickedweb Christmas party at London's Asia di Cuba and preparations for a festive afternoon are well underway. And we are not just talking copious hairspray! Yes it is that time of year again for Secret Santa...and the gifts look very enticing under the tree.

(Only Niki knows who picked who, and so the rest of team have a surprise in store).  

Once the gifts have been opened around the tree we will all make our way to the Light Bar for pre-dinner drinks, but not before we have tucked in to the mulled wine and mince pies...

Now personally I would prefer a little more Christmas Buble, but Glen isn't so keen.  Still, can't have it all I guess!

Here's to a fantastic evening, with more pictures to follow.

Following last year’s bake off for Macmillan, we decided to do it all again this year – and what a feast for the eyes (and tummies)!  Wickedwebbers have been busy in the kitchen baking their specialities and it is an impressive display: we have gingerbread cookies, chocolate and apricot sponge cake, cupcakes, Yule log, banoffee cake, Candy Sushi and gingerbread brownies to name a few!

The team can help themselves to this fabulous fare in return for a donation to our chosen charity this Christmas, the Orpheus Centre.  This charity promotes transition into independent living, and provides opportunities for young disabled adults to encourage personal development through performing arts.  This helps them gain the skills to live independently in the community and to make informed choices about their future.

The money we raise for the Orpheus Centre will be the icing on the cake! (see what we did there?)

Richard, Simon and I have spent the day with St Johns Ambulance in Caterham, updating our First Aid certification and completing the Emergency First Aid at Work course.  As well as ticking the paperwork boxes for the agency, the day was enjoyed by us all as the course leader delivered an interesting and entertaining day, and the banter was fast and furious, as you can imagine from the photo!

The course was extremely informative with a mix of video, presentation and role play styles used to teach the First Aid basics.  We're now fully equipped to treat minor injuries, manage shock, choking, burns and heart attacks, deal with unconscious patients and carry out CPR.  We fully recommend St Johns Ambulance for the course and feel confident in our ability to cope and help, should we be faced with an accident at work.

All work and no play makes Wickedweb a dull place to work, so it was definitely time to plan a social and continue our tradition of the good old night out!  The Wickedweb amigos headed out for a Pimms on South Bank before a meal in Soho.  Great people, great conversation and of course a cheeky cocktail or two!

We are now looking forward to the Halloween evening out...fancy dress at the ready!

Wickedweb were invited by the Chairman of Gillingham Football Club, Paul Scally, to be guests at their match against Port Vale.

After suiting and booting, the team headed along to the Priestfield Boardroom for a spot of lunch and a couple of drinks ahead of the afternoon's entertainment.

Armed with a few choice cheers including "Man on", "Chase it" and "Ref!" we headed outside to support the Gills.

Now, usually accustomed to seeing 11-men jumping around the pitch at a football match, it was a pleasant surprise (for the gentlemen especially) to see 10-lovely ladies instead - the new GFC Gems; the official Gillingham FC cheerleaders, warming up the crowd with an energetic routine. Needless to say, this was a welcomed treat and everyone seemed in good spirits as the match kicked off.

Despite dominating the first half, the Gills came away with just the one point, after a second half penalty by Danny Kedwell brought the score line to a 1-1 draw.

Wickedweb had a great time and would like to thank Paul and the rest of the GFC staff for a fantastic afternoon.

Wickedweb have been working with Gillingham Football Club on creating their new website suites for the Priestfield stadium, the first of which will be going live over the next week - so watch this space!

The team of Wickedwebbers headed for the O2 on Saturday night for 11:30pm to take part in London’s first Shine event.  This night time half marathon saw us take a ‘power walk’ through the streets of London to raise money for Cancer Research UK.  

Beginning at the O2, we walked along the river Thames via Greenwich to the Cutty Sark and headed through Lewisham and Southwark Park before finally arriving at Tower Bridge and coming back again. The atmosphere was incredible and we were raring to go following our carbs beforehand...

With our personal messages pinned to our backs, we twinkled down the streets with 15,000 other walkers – and 4 hours and 55 minutes later we crossed the finish line having raised £1,162!  We are thrilled to have had an opportunity to support our client, but not least to contribute towards their life changing work. Donations are still coming in, and so if you haven’t supported us and would like to then visit our original fundraising page.  It’s not too late! 

Well done to everyone that took part in the challenge.  The question is...will we take on the full marathon next year?

The Challenge

We have a team of seven active Wickedwebbers who will be carrying their lanterns through the streets of London in support of Cancer Research UK’s Shine event on the 1st October.  The challenge starts at 11:30pm and will continue through the night until we have finished the half marathon distance of 13.1 miles.

The Team

The team participating will be Niki Duggan, Sue Akam, Lynda Wells, Katy Gasson, Nicole Tingley, Chris Reid and Steve Coventry. 

Each team member has a target of £150 to fundraise and you can click on the individual thumbnails below to help support their campaign - who will raise the most?

Lynda Wells	Niki Duggan	Sue Akam
Katy Gasson	Nicole Tingley	Chris Reid
Stephen Coventry

Wickedweb are an approved digital supplier for CR-UK and we hope that you might be willing to show your support for our awe-inspiring client.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the Cancer Research UK and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

Thank you for supporting Wickedweb and CRUK, we really appreciate it.  With two weeks to go, we are getting some practice in and will let you know how we are getting on.

Wish us luck!

Learn more about the Shine event.

Well, they say pigs don’t fly but they do in Sevenoaks!

We appear to have a new member of the team.  Lucky (as we have affectionately named him) literally flew in the window of our Sevenoaks HQ, taking our account management team by complete surprise.

It must have been a good luck omen – as minutes later we received fantastic news that we won a pitch! (Details will be shared soon).

We just had to keep him, and he has settled in nicely between Niki and Cat's desk.  Best place really, the snacks are much better up this end of the office....

We are loving the way our new HQ refurb is coming along. Even the miserable Monday morning rain can't stop us smiling at our new vista - and the perfect back ground for our staff photo shoot this Friday!

More shots coming soon...

The only question is...what do we call the stags?

Here's a shout out to our very own Billy Harvey. Not only does he rock as one of our developers, but he has the leading role in a short film 'Billy: Thoughts of a substitute'.

The Premiere went well, and the film has been awarded an official screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2011! We have our name down for tickets....

You can see more on the producer's website or visit Billy's Facebook page for all the news. Go Billy!

Yesterday's Awwwards site of the day 23/03/2011: Sasquatch!

A music festival website sensationally designed, with rich illustrative graphics, a splendid lineup... was gutted to find that its all the way over in America! 

I could not believe my eyes when I stumbled upon this magical little find! I rushed to share it with my boyfriend as the memories of sitting there blubbing on him (HA I know!) whilst watching the moving animated film, 'Up' by Pixar, came flooding back.

Nat Geo set a new world record for the largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted. The entire experimental aircraft was more than 10 stories high, reached an altitude of over 10,000 feet, and flew for approximately one hour.

Truely magnificent!

Mr Bolin is a Chinese artist who spends up to 10 hours a time being painted to blend in perfectly to his chosen surroundings.

His work is impressive (not so sure on his other work - mainly sculptures which he's then set ablaze!) I've looked at all his pictures and decided I'd love to try out the one in the supermarket down the drinks isle . . .  So beware when you next reach for a Coke in Sainsburys!

Check out his series called "Hiding in the City" 

Well... It’s that time of year again when our wives & girlfriends look upon us with disgust and ban us from the bedroom... No it’s not the World Cup but Movember.

Once again, members of the Wickedweb team are going all out in attempt to grow the best ‘taches ever to be seen on the streets of Sevenoaks.  For those of you that don’t yet know, Movember was set up to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer which in the UK alone kills one man every hour.

If you’d like to support us and make a donation to this great cause you can click here to donate online using your credit card or Paypal.

We’ll keep these pages updated with some photos of how our little beauties are coming along.

Last Friday, Wickedweb joined the world's largest coffee morning in support of Macmillan.  With the theme - bake or fake - we presented a table full of home baked cakes and shop bought goodies and collected donations throughout the day from the army of cake lovers.  We raised just over £60 in total.

Simon's banana and walnut cake stormed the event, closely followed by David's rum and chocolate torte. 

Evidence below to tempt you...

Anna and Nicole baked biscuits for elevenses...

The bake-off team... Simon, Nicole, Anna and David.

The brave duo - Wickedweb's Denis and Stuart - were up extra early on Saturday 25th September.  They were participating in the Hever Castle Sprint Triatlon, covering 400m open water swim, 20km cycle and 4km run.

Setting off in the 9am wave, trying to spot their orange swim hats in the water was like a live Where's Wally.  Quick out of the water, Stuart was the first of the two running uphill to the bike transition, and maintained his lead throughout the run with Denis only minutes behind.

Hever Castle and the grounds looked stunning in the early morning sun, but the wind chill was freezing so it was a relief for the chaps to cross the finishing line.  Results are out, and well done to our two triathletes who completed the course in a very honourable time:

Stuart - 1:22:44

Denis - 1:37:08

I will be on the competing side next year, I promise...

To find out more about the Castle Triathlon Series, visit the website.

May 1st marked the start of our exciting new sporting challenge.  In a bid to get fit and tone up, a group of us have set out to swim the 22-mile cross-channel distance between Dover and Calais!

Fortunately however, no goose fat is required!  We'll be swimming the distance in our local pool, covering a total of 1416 lengths each in just 12 weeks.  Stuart, Kalli, Chris and I will be waving goodbye to our dignity as we don our speedos and goggles.  We'll be supporting each other on the outside, but are really in competition to be the first to cross the line.  Meanwhile, Denis will be attempting to show us all up, swimming to France and back in the same time!

You can keep track of our progress by checking our blog for updates, and watch out for our channel map showing the distance we've covered and who's taken the lead.

The way each of us view the World Wide Web is an experience unique to our own interests, dictating on where our digital travels take us. So with the digital world becoming more dynamic by the day from more real time results, (provided by the more popular search engines and dynamic websites continuing to upgrade the content) we are constantly required to install, upgrade and update our systems no matter our travels. 

This move to become more dynamic has pushed "static" websites out of the picture and more importantly out of the search results, seeing more of us creating our own network with a large amount content being updated regularly. A common example for a business keeping digital sees them maintaining and optimising a dynamic website, tweeting about notes of relevance, providing customers/clients with Facebook activity and more. This is a task not lightly approached compared to the previous "static" website with the same content for months on end. 

As we know the WWW is always moving forwards, although I believe we can happily say creating and maintaining a large digital presence will be hugely beneficial regarding business for some time yet, even if the tools we use achieve this take a few turns here and there. 

Living in this digital world we are never shocked when technologies move forward, but sometimes we are impressed. Some of the changes that caught my eye recently included the way we browse. We haven't seen many new brands moving in new browsers over the past couple of years until Chrome came along. As the power struggle continues with the long lasting few we saw this new browser emerge in the top three, which set out around September 2008 saw a continuing rise, from 3% of the whole market in September to a staggering 12.3% in March 2010. (stats). This means Safari and Opera are providing a browsing experience for only a small part and the market is left between Internet Explorer (34.9%), Firefox (46.2%) and Chrome (12.3%). If Chrome’s presence shows no sign slowing down I can see some real competition starting here.

For the future we have had seen Facebook claim to be taking on Google: "Facebook's bid to rule the web as it goes social" and similarly Yahoo are confident "Google will have a problem" for its future due to lack of branching out in terms of business as well.

To confirm the strength of Social Media think back to a time Before Facebook, would you of thought a social networking site would give people the ability to join groups and unite for or against public concerns, seeing headlines like "Facebook groups strength"? on BBC news. We are truly moving a large amount of economy to our digital business’ which is in turn providing a larger and smarter digital world.

Picture this scene for a few months time if you will. Instead of sitting on the Underground listening to the rustling of newspaper pages as the tunnel dwellers flick through their fix of free gossip and lonely hearts you can expect shaking, spinning, flipping and tipping as excited readers tuck into their new eBook, Alice For the iPad.

This 52 page app features illustrations restored from Lewis Carroll's original book and promises that no journey through the timeless tale will ever be the same - tilting the iPad in a different way will make the Mad Hatter madder or grow Alice to the size of a house.

Take a look below.

Unfortunately I suspect you won't be able to pick up a used iPad on the Central Lines for the journey home though.

Last night Wickedwebers descended on Waterloo’s Dim Sum restaurant Ping Pong for a spot of No. 268 The Sichuan Feast Selection… Chicken, beef and clams individually cooked with Sichuan spice and served with ginger, garlic and chilli soy sauce… there were a few beers too... lovely food, lovely people, just lovely...

Writing code and creating interesting and useful applications as a forum or a gallery should not limit the creative flight of programmer. Starting to work on my new workplace in a new office could not hold me out of creating my favorite time-lapse shoots.

The internet is such a vast and wonderful place, full of sneezing pandas and Rickrolling that it's easy to miss some of its entangled strands of delight. Luckily, I'm going to post up a few things which you might like to ease away your midweek blues.

Twitter gets a new homepage

Twitter unveiled a new homepage on Thursday and I’ve got to say, it does a much better job at demystifying just what it is that the micro-blogging service is actually all about. As with the previous design, search is still a strong focus but a lot of the vagueness which surrounded the service has been given the boot.

For a few months, Twitter was so chic it didn’t need to actually tell anyone what it was about, instead relying on word of mouth and enthusiastic web agencies to pass on its message. Or that’s how it seemed to me at least. I can’t imagine that many curious business owners would’ve felt the need to create an account based on the previous homepage.

With the new web design, it’s far easier for a potential user to understand what Twitter is all about. A nifty algorithm plucks interesting tweets from the Twittersphere and places them front and centre on the page. Couple that with the block of brands and celebrities using the service and the decision to click ‘sign up’ seems a lot easier to make.

The Twitter Blog describes the change as:

“... our recent changes embrace the notion that Twitter is not just for status updates anymore. It's a network where information is exchanged and consumed at a rapid clip every second of the day. With so much being shared, we know that there's something of value for everyone. People who internalize the value of Twitter understand the power of this simple medium. But it hasn't been easy to make that value transparent or obvious for curious folks coming to Twitter for the first time.”

I think that sums it up nicely.

Album covers make great book covers

Something to inspire you next, a collection of album covers re-imagined as Penguin Classic books.

If Picasso had a netbook, this is what he’d be sat doing right now

Well, sort of.

This little project makes use of HTML 5 which will be rolling onto a browser near you in about ten years. This really is a glimpse into the future of what websites could be capable of.

One of the main features of HTML 5 is the dramatic reduction in the need for resource hogging, constantly updating, randomly crashing RIA proprietary plugins like Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight and Java. HTML 5 will also mean that embedding a video is as easy as , and common CSS elements such as and will create much cleaner code for everyone involved.

The good news is that, although it isn’t expected that HTML 5 will become the norm for a few years yet, many aspects of it are currently stable and open for exploratory business. Watch this space...

Dexter has amazing opening credits

The title sequence for the US show Dexter is a work of art. Every time I watch it I am compelled to turn around to whoever is within earshot and tell them just how brilliant I think it is.

On my ‘top title sequences ever’ list, this sits at number one.

And finally...Even evil scientists tweet

In the style of a true James Bond villain, the gaggle of Nuclear physicists who are in charge of the world’s largest death ray [which they refer to as the Large Hadron Collider] over at CERN in Switzerland yesterday revealed that their plan for world domination was close to completion. And how did they decide to broadcast this proclamation of doom [and scientific revelry] I hear you cry... Twitter of course.

The one update I don't want from them is 'Oooops'.

Be sure to follow the end of the world in 140 characters or less.

Oh...You didn't click the Rick Astley link did you?

On 7th January, some of the team headed into nearby Knole Park for a brisk lunchtime walk and snow fight. 

The snow fall had transformed the already stunning National Trust estate into a winter wonderland and catching a glimpse of the deer in the snow was magic.  Making the most of Sevenoaks' rural surroundings and Knole Park just 5 minutes walk from the office, Cat, Anna and Billy walked to the highest point to take in the views, created snow angels and indulged in snow fights and sledging... only minus the sledge!

With the new office providing easy access to London, quicker commutes for most and many high street shops on the doorstep, as well open countryside and perfect snow fight territory, the Wickedweb team is truely loving the new development office location.

The development team has this month joined forces to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity by supporting Movember. Billy Harvey, Steve Coventry, Danny Sharkey, Mark Townsend, Robert King, and Art Director, Rob Hollander, are all sporting moustaches throughout November and are looking for sponsorship to help the 35,000 men who are diagnosed each year with prostrate cancer in the UK. The figures are astonishing so we wanted to do something to make a difference and help raise awareness.

The moustaches were all rather impressive, as you can see, but the ‘Best Wickedweb Moustache’ award went to Rob King, our Lead Developer, who sports a moustache daily and it was a relief for all when the amateurs shaved off their efforts!

This week Wickedweb's online marketing manager was interviewed by the BBC's The Politics show. With lots of talk on the 2010 general election and how to win voters, The Politics Show was interested to talk with a leading digital marketing agency regarding social media.

Wickedweb manage a range of online marketing projects including social media engagement. With a strong focus on strategy, Wickedweb was able to advise on what works and what doesn’t on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

The show will be aired at 12.00 on Sunday 11th October 2009 on BBC 1. After the show has appeared on TV the show will be available via the BBC iPlayer.

If you are interested to find out what social media can do for you please contact Wickedweb today on 0207 183 4999 or use the contact form.

The Wickedweb team triumphed on 1st August, completing the Mazda London Triathlon in impressive times (for amateurs!!) and raising over £800 for Concern Worldwide. The event was great fun and competition between the Wickedweb teams was tough, with Stuart's swim putting his team in front from the start and Ian, the quickest Wickedweb cyclist, closing the gap. It was all to play for in the run and we finished the day sporting medals, and smiles of relief!

This weekend we've been swinging from the trees at the Leeds Castle Go Ape' high wire forest adventure course! With hanging hoops, zip wires, tarzan nets, rope ladders, tunnels and bridges, we climbed and swung our way along the obstacles, literally taking our lives in our own hands. Our team working skills were polished as together, we all laughed at Billy, suspended in the air, one foot caught in a hoop, the other swinging aimlessly, trying to find his footing! Leaping off platforms, hanging only from harnesses, we enjoyed the sense of flying freedom but the risk was too much for some, as Lynda put it "I did  swing from very high trees, believe me it was not a breeze!". We had so much fun and would highly recommend it.

Two teams from Wickedweb have entered The London Triathlon 2009 to raise money for Concern Worldwide. With only one experienced triathlete among the teams, the event will be one to remember as Anna, Ian, Steve, James and Matthew battle their ways across the line displaying advanced skills in doggy-paddle, cycling with stabilizers and flat footed running!  With 10 weeks to go and training schedules looking scratchy, we vow to get into shape quick-sharp and will keep you updated on our progress.

We have chosen to support Concern Worldwide after working with them to create an ecard for existing donators, highlighting the charity's work around the globe to eliminate extreme poverty. The charity helps those suffering in the poorest communities in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean through health and nutrition, education, livelihood support and emergency relief and Wickedweb is keen to help make a difference.

The triathlon will take place on 1st August at the ExCel Centre, London, so if you can make it, we'd love your support.

Wickedweb digital marketing agency celebrated the Christmas holidays in style, starting with a Grapevine tour of Vinopolis - London's wine tasting venue - before a festive and delicious meal in Covent Garden's Fire & Stone... we enjoyed the best Christmas pizza for miles around!

Fortunately for you, this photo, featuring just a few of your favourite Wickedwebbers (the others were, predictably, getting the next round in!), is pre-wine... we can now share, first hand, a secret... wine tasting before food doesn't work! The other photos are staying under wraps... No bribes will be accepted. We hope you all had great a Christmas and look forward to seeing you in 2009!

On Sunday 12th October, eight figures emerging through the fog became seven Wickedwebers stumbling to the start line of the Leeds Castle 10k run to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Through the cold, dense mist and around the challenging up-hill, down-hill course, the team fought on, some through hangovers, (Matt!), and completed 70k between them, hurting never-before used muscles and getting blisters, but all in aid of a good cause.

Stuart was first across the line for Wickedweb, with Steve hot on his heels, and Matt not close behind. Team spirit was high at the finish line as Stu, Matt, Steve, Shane, Gwen, Cat and Lynda posed with medals while team-paparazzi Anna snapped away and supplied home-baked chocolate biscuits by way of an apology for not running! Despite the early start, everyone had great fun and we're proud we took part, so we're vowing to be back again next year!

Kicking off our newly formed collaboration with Rank Hovis, the Wickedweb team was treated to a day's baking at the company's head office.

Going back to school were Anna, senior account manager, and Rob, senior designer, who competed in a personal (and highly competitive) bake-off to create Hovis Wheatgerm loaves and bread rolls.

Working under the watchful eye of the master baker, the pair managed to rise to the occasion, proving that good fun and education can be a real recipe for success.

As if recently acquiring a new member of the family wasn't stressful enough, Wickedweb's MD Stuart finished months of strenuous training to queue up on the start line of the London Triathlon in early August.

While most of Britain amused themselves with armchair athletics, watching the world's finest battle it out in Beijing, Stuart was storming through London in water, on foot and by pedal power.

Just two hours and 55 minutes later, he crossed the finish line to raise more than £600 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and having put a 1.5k swim, a 10k run and a 40k bike ride behind him.

But as Stuart would doubtless testify, it was nothing compared to the rigours of looking after a new-born baby...

After working long and hard on the NSPCC's Big Bike Ride website, it was time for the greatest challenge yet - actually taking part.

In late July, the Wickedweb team wheeled their bikes to the start line of the Horsham event in Sussex.
The ride got off to a troubled start when one member of Team Wickedweb was stopped and requested to produce proof-of-age ID, despite wearing a really quite striking 'bride to be' sash and accompanying veil.

Said member was later seen clinging to the back of another colleague's bike in an attempt to roll over the finish line in tandem, but was keen to point out that it's the taking part, not the winning, that counts.