Spring Cleaning: uCubd gets a clean new redesign

Spring is in the air. The birds are chirping the flowers are blooming. It’s time for a renewal. We at uCubd are getting into the season’s spirit by launching a brand spanking new website. We hope you like it!

We didn’t just stop with a complete site redesign that would’ve been too easy. We’ve added an exciting new mashup template.

Introducing AddChat!

AddChat is an innovative product which lets users attach a chat-room to any content (video, document, image, blog post, widget etc…) and embed it on any blog/website. People love to comment on compelling media almost as much as they enjoy viewing it. Web publishers want their content run everywhere there is an audience interested in it but they don’t want to follow, manage or participate in multiple discussions about it. AddChat brings together content viewers into a single real-time conversation from any website the content is embedded and solves the problem for publishers by letting them manage and control just one discussion.

AddChat comes with a state of the art “Conversation Visualization Dashboard” which lets you get real-time analytics on any conversation. Built with the latest Silverlight technology the Dashboard is something to behold. Our professional services folks love to show it off. You should reach out to them for a demo at services@ucubd.com.

Enjoy the warm weather (finally) and stay tuned for more exciting news from Team uCubd.

uCubd for Promotion Case Study: GASLAND

The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe?

When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown.

uCubd for Sports Case Study: Steve Nash is all business off court

Steve Nash -- NBA star, pitchman, entrepreneur, filmmaker, sports team owner and celebrity sports reporter -- isn't sure why he's so funny on camera.

He just is.

"I don't really work at it, I just try to have fun," the two-time NBA MVP said in an interview in Vancouver Friday. "It's fun for me to be creative and make people laugh." Nash's commercials for Vitaminwater showcase a deadpan delivery that would rival Steve Carell's.

"Me, Kobe, LeBron, we're in another stratosphere," Nash says into the camera in a hilarious parody of self-absorbed superstar athletes. "I'm just like you, but 10 times better."



The 36-year-old Phoenix Suns point guard brought his sense of humour to Vancouver to discuss his multi-faceted career that seems to expand into new ventures all the time. The Victoria native has a knack for marketing and advertising and spent three months interning at New York ad agency Deutsch Inc., two years ago.

Now, he and Deutsch executive Michael Duda have formed a new venture capital company -- Consigliere -- that will invest in startup companies in sports, technology and other sectors. "It's an exciting proposition because we're taking capital and not only backing it up with sound investment, but with advertising expertise," Nash said in an interview at the upscale downtown Vancouver sports club that bares his name. "We believe in investing in startups and then helping them nail the story about why their brand is so special."

Consigliere is the latest addition to a Nash business empire that includes fitness clubs (Steve Nash Fitness World), a film production firm (Meathawk), a vitamin company (One Bode), a social-media company (Apoko), and an ownership stake in the Major League Soccer-bound Vancouver Whitecaps.

uCubd for Sports Case Study: Reggie Bush 2010 Outlook

If Bush is a bust, then he's a bust with a Super Bowl ring. You can't say he held the team back with his selection. It's more that Bush came in with outsized expectations.
He's had some injury problems along the way and his speed wasn't quite the gamebreaking kind it was supposed to be. He simply couldn't outrun people, Tecmo-style. While he learned to avoid them in other ways, though, he got beat up. And before the '09 season his knee needed microfracture surgery, although he came back well enough to help the team.


With a year between him and the surgery, plus a full off-season spent on football rather than rehab, if Bush is ever going to reach those outsized expectations, this is the year. He knows the offense, has enough distracting options around him to keep the defense from spying him, and has Pierre Thomas to soak up some of those inside runs. (Funny thing here -- Thomas is barely bigger than Bush, but the 3-4-5 guys on the depth chart in New Orleans are much bigger, so factor that in on Thomas' expectations.)
Bush hasn't proven he can stay healthy, but aside from his rookie season, this is the healthiest Bush has been coming into a season. With projections very low on Bush, he could end up being a real value pick at RB2