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I was enthralled when I stumbled upon a new twist on the animated gif called a Cinemagraph. I knew the Center simply had to employ this edgy and interesting approach to one of our creative projects and glory be – it’s holiday season! Therefore, I decided it was time to create the slickest season’s greeting that the campus had ever seen, maybe even the world!
I immediately dialed up Tuck’s talented videograher, Heather Gere, and showed her some incredible examples of the cinemagraph including these and these (scroll down to the Machine Head, the 31st pic down, to be fully creeped out),  and she was instantly excited too. We sat in front of a white board discussing all sorts of options:

• The green Tuck Shield sign in Mclaughlin Atrium opens up to reveal the CDS mobile app, and starts floating through the screens
• A golden retriever frolics in the snow in front of Tuck, with static snowflakes but a moving retriever
• And last, but probably the hardest to pull off, the CDS team in front of the fireplace in Stell Hall with flames a’moving and our iPad all bright!

To make a long story less long – the CDS team embraced the idea, agreed to pose for numerous shots and Heather worked her magic. The results are below. Gorgeous, yes. Innovative, obviously. Fully planned, not at all! I pride myself with being the sort of marketing professional who starts with the end in mind. Each project demands a full creative brief including timeline, audiences, budget and description. But, my friends, I currently have a live chat window open with Constant Contact for it seems that not only do animated gifs not play in Outlook 2007 or 2010, but they also insert a frame or a table into the email that throws all the alignment askew. I have my web developer looking into our homepage movie player as it seems our jquery slideshow won’t display animated gifs either. I’ve sent emails to my comcast and gmail and hotmail (don’t laugh) accounts multiple times, testing and praying and testing. I’ve written to Geoff Bronner to find out if our intranet or our on campus displays can play the gifs. I’ve posted it on our Facebook page; failed.
All of this, and no proper home found for our gifs.
Through this experience,  the sexy and slick name, “Cinemagraph” came to be just an “animated gif”.  I am slamming myself for not properly exploring the distribution of our greeting initially and I wonder how many other innovations have met this sort of end, being disgracefully thrown into a blog written by a blogger who very few people read.
If you do happen to be reading this, please post any suggestions you may have concerning the proper home for Heather’s gorgeous creations. And of course, Season’s Greetings to you!