By camm | Published:
September 17, 2010
Site tours are fun, and this has to be one of our favourites. A few lucky members of our team visited the Prahran Markets, all in the name of research.
Over the coming months, Flint will be designing and building a new website for the oldest continuing market in Australia. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit the market to get an insight into the history of a food institution in Melbourne as part of our discovery workshop.
We were introduced to key traders and they told us their wonderful stories about the market. They taught us the difference between quality and cheap produce and why it’s sometimes better to pay that little extra. The Prahran Market stands out from other markets because of their specialty goods.
After the tour, we were given some big shopping bags to fill up with goodies. It was only fair that we took back some cheese, olives, dips, baguettes and spreads back to the studio to share. Here are some photos of everyone enjoying the feast.
By admin | Published:
August 27, 2010
It seems to be racing through the year. What seems like such a short while ago we were in our Keele Street studio giving each other ‘kringle pressies and heading off to one of the best parties I have ever been to.
Last year Flint’s christmas party was held at a roof-top venue in beautiful clear sunny weather with a pool, boat full of pillows, open bar with a bbq and “miami vice” dress style theming. To make things interesting, Oli who had just started with Flint brought along his 50mm and took some unreal photos, capturing hero shots of each team member which was themed into a 2010 calendar to document the occasion.
Yesterday we went to the Rose Pub in Collingwood for a pub lunch and Miranda raised the topic and has got me thinking; how can we follow up such an event? Our project manager Andréa who has a background in event management took the reins last year to put together such an awesome night planned around the miami vice theme (again, kudos Dr dréa!). So what would be the theme this year? What is the ultimate way to celebrate such a big year for Flint? The team at heart has an inner-child passionate about doing things exciting as a group and everyone gets involved socially.
So, there is 3 months to get the party sorted, and the best venues book out fast. We have to establish the venue and the theme and any associated activities. There is a chance with the upcoming positions at flint that the team could have grown (!). Either way, this has got me thinking about some of the awesome team we have and some of the awesome things we have done in the past.
By admin | Published:
August 17, 2010
A big thanks to Rory and the Young Guns of Wine Festival, who invited Andrea (account manager extraordinaire), Miranda (our new digital account manager) and Queenie (our new studio co-ordinator) to attend the “High Calibre Marketing” conference at Comme. It was too early for wine but they served a beautiful morning tea and the girls spent the morning listening to a number of interesting speakers who spoke about the impact of social media in their respective marketplaces.
By camm | Published:
July 16, 2010
The end of the financial year called for a celebration of a milestone. The team at Flint Interactive head off to teppanyaki inn in the city for some great food and drinks. We have recently welcomed a couple of new team members to the team, so was also a great opportunity for everyone to get to know each other a little more over a lively hot plate.
By camm | Published:
July 15, 2010
Flint participated in the work health checks to offer a chance for the team to learn more about their health and risks of diabetes and heart disease. :-) some blood was shed to learn more about cholesterol and measurements and lifestyle discussed to develop risk profiles.
They are definitely worth running and getting involved in.
By camm | Published:
July 1, 2010
The start of the new financial year was kicked off with an afternoon of massages, to focus on thinking straight for a big new financial year.
With a full studio, a bit of time out closed away from the studio with some relaxing music, sitting in the chair, while a magician works on your shoulders, back and upper neck was very, very welcome.
We are looking to establish a regular arrangement, so Flint contacted a local store selling massage equipment to see if they had any recommendations for a new small business starting out offering corporate massages. We thought it is best to support a local new business, and they were really really awesome!
By camm | Published:
July 1, 2010
Awesome! In addition to our studio foosball table (which has had some classic games), we have got a beautiful burgundy table, built by a local fitzroy family business on Gertrude street. So smooth, this is going to be used for some big nights. Good to get the team challenging each other!
By camm | Published:
June 21, 2010
At flint interactive, we are dedicated to achieving a great team atmosphere and one that really suits everyone who works in it. We have successfully had some great initiatives, like the Flint Friday policy (See a tribute to the “Flint Friday”) which was a great team building exercise.
We are currently trialling out a new studio working fortnight called ‘9/80′ to increase the perks and better our work-life balance.
A normal full-time working week would result in everyone working 37.5 hours over 5 days (monday to friday), and repeating the following week. This would be referred to as 5/40 (it is actually more like 5/37.5, standing for 5 days covering the 37.5 hours). We are trialling a system called 9/80 which allows people to work a fortnight worth of hours over 9 days opposed to 10.
9/80 results in everyone getting a long-weekend every fortnight. Awesome!
As a result flint has extended our office hours through-out the week, where we start a little earlier and finish a little later each day. We have also broken the team into 2 teams across the different skill areas which alternate their long-weekends. This ensures that we always have cover across the different skill-sets to ensure our capabilities aren’t affected throughout the working week.
We end up running a smaller team on each friday, which allows a more intimate team building opportunity and the opportunity to reduce the number of distraction/meetings.
Benefits for us of the 9/80 includes:
- Fridays off every other week allowing you to go away for a long weekend or get other personal stuff done during business hours
- Less days to travel to work, less time spent in traffic, and traffic is easier at the times we arrive/leave
- Our office hours have extended, usually start before others, meaning we are usually well into the day before our clients call
- Team culture can boost in smaller groups, the studio has opportunities to work as smaller groups
- Smaller groups can be easier to arrange ‘flint friday’ events, being easier to arrange ideas that suit everyone in smaller groups
- Better work-life balance!
We announced this on our Twitter some time back and were suprised at the reaction. Many people retweeted that they wish their bosses tried this out.
Commercially, the trial needs to ensure that the organisation isn’t greatly affected in productivity and the longer period each day is used wisely. As the studio is behind this, we have so far seen everyone have a concerted effort to making it work. The trial finishes in a week and we will review all of the result openly with the team to see if this is adopted long-term.
By camm | Published:
June 21, 2010
At flint interactive, we have recently invested in some full spectrum lighting for the studio as a way of improving the feel and health of the studio atmosphere, as well as getting rid of the typical office fluoro lights. These full-spectrum lights cost a lot more than your usual fluoro lights, but the benefit is that the light matches the light colour and spectrum that you would have in an outside environment.
The full-spectrum lights allow for better calibration of monitors and better lighting for photography. While this would be important in a print/photography environment, it has another valuable purpose for workers well-being. With us just about to go into winter, peoples exposure to UV generally diminishes as they are generally stuck inside all day, with less exposure to light during the day.
Full spectrum lighting provides the benefit of giving you the similar to a couple of minutes of mid-day sun through-out your day (and it is recommended that you get around 10-15 minutes a day). This is shown to reduce the effect of Seasonal Depression (the winter blues) and strengthen your immune system and produce vitamin D [and is even friendly to your indoor plants, bonus!].
The end effect gives off a slightly bluer feel (can be noticeable after sitting in different lighting for long periods), and when you are in the studio it feels like you are surrounded by skylights to an overcast day. Whites appear better balanced on desks. The colour being slightly cooler would probably not be appropriate for home environments where maybe a more warmer colour would feel nicer. So far the feedback from everyone in the studio has been really positive.
We think that there is great benefit to everyones well-being and it is definitely worth the investment, one of the first things we have done since we recently moved into our new studio. We are constantly looking for ways to improve the working environment and health!
