Sitback

28/10/2024

They've only gone and done it again! Our work with the Sydney Opera House on their new Drupal website has just won Silver at the 20th Annual !

This is now the 7th award the project has received, and one we're incredibly proud of given the international status of the awards themselves. It's awesome to receive this recognition for the team of legends across Sitback and The Sydney Opera House that worked on the project and just goes to further prove how much of a success it was and continues to be.

Well done team!

The Sydney Opera House project aimed to address critical business challenges, primarily ticketing issues and a rigid content management system.

💧 Migrated the site to Drupal CMS, and hosted on Acquia
🎫 Optimised the integration with Tessitura their ticketing platform
💳 Streamlined the transaction path UX
⚡ Enhanced site performance

You can read more about the project on our website.

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The Davey Awards is an international awards program, honouring outstanding creative and marketing work exclusively from small shops, boutique agencies, internal creative teams and independent creators.

The Davey Awards is reviewed by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed brand and media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms, including Spotify, Majestyk, Big Spaceship, Nissan, Tinder, Condé Nast, Disney, Microsoft, GE Digital, JP Morgan, PGA Tour, Wired, and many others.

26/08/2024

GET IN MY BELLY!
It's been over 3 years since the Sitback team went 100% remote, so it was great to get those of us local to Sydney back together to recreate our much loved "World Food Day" lunches, and wow - it didn't disappoint!

Beef Biriani, Samosas, Alfajores (Dulce De Leche Sandwich cookies), Anzac biscuits, Scotch eggs, Scones with jam, sweet potato donuts, and heaps more... representing Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Canada, England, Scotland, Argentina, Peru... the list - and the menu - goes on!

Thanks to the team for sharing their culinary skills with us, and Hub Australia for hosting at their lovely co-working space in Circular Quay.

Time for a snooze.

14/08/2024

🚀 Is your Umbraco website ready for the future, or looking long in the tooth? 😬

Our .NET Tech Lead, Ez Herrmann, has just published a new article that dives (fairly) deep into the essentials of upgrading your Umbraco website from v7 to v13. With enhanced security, improved performance, and access to the latest features, this upgrade is a no-brainer for businesses looking to stay ahead.

🔍 In this article, we cover:

- Why upgrading is crucial for your website's health and longevity.
- Key considerations for a smooth migration.
- Best practices to ensure your website remains robust and future-proof.
- Thinking points for whether you should upgrade what you've got, or build a shiny new thing.

Whether you're planning your upgrade or just exploring the possibilities, this guide is worth 5 minutes of your time

👉 Check it out: https://hubs.ly/Q02Ld4Kr0

Discover the benefits of upgrading Umbraco v7 to v13. Learn how to future-proof your site, enhance security, & optimise performance.

07/08/2024

We are currently in the middle or a housing crisis in Australia. This is most obvious in Sydney where the situation is characterised by high property prices, limited housing supply, and affordability issues, impacting both renters and potential homeowners.

It can be easy to suggest that large blocks of apartments are a quick fix for this, and while high-rise buildings have their own set of advantages, particularly in terms of maximising land use in dense urban areas, low- and mid-rise housing offers significant benefits that can enhance the overall liveability, sustainability, and community feel of a city like Sydney.

➡️ Increasing the housing supply with shorter construction timelines and lower costs, making homes more affordable and diverse.
➡️ Fostering community cohesion and social interaction, enhancing walkability, and reducing transportation costs.
➡️ Smaller environmental footprint, easier integration of green spaces, and better sustainability.
➡️ Balancing urban density, preventing overcrowding and evenly distributing population growth.
➡️ Improving liveability through appealing aesthetics and accessibility for all residents, while economically stimulating local job creation and attracting a vibrant, diverse population.

The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure understands these benefits and together, we have created the new "Good Design for Housing" map - a custom data visualisation tool built on top of Drupal that enhances the government's ability to educate the public and stakeholders about low- and mid-rise housing.

We are proud to have partnered with DPHI on this project, and played a key role in creating a tool that promotes good design practices and helps streamline the planning process for housing projects in the region. 🙌

Check out the 9 News coverage below and then take a look at the map to learn more about how we are contributing to the advancement of design in housing in NSW!

https://hubs.ly/Q02KmCjW0

24/07/2024

🚀 New Article Alert! 🚀

The polypill(.io) vulnerability has been a critical issue for Drupal sites. Discover how to safeguard your website from this and other supply-chain attacks by updating your Drupal modules or using Cloudflare's automatic mitigations.

🔒 The key takeaway? Rely on trusted sources for your code libraries and stay ahead of potential threats.

Learn more about our initiatives to enhance Drupal security and join the conversation on -bundler-initiative!

📖 Read the full article: https://hubs.ly/Q02HBFKq0

Drupal Acquia

The polyfill vulnerability was bad news. The -bundler-initiative aims to prevent this kind of supply-chain attack on Drupal sites.

05/07/2024

Welcome Kevin to the Sitback Family! 👋

Our awesome new Digital Producer, Kevin Chan, joined us last week! He'll be looking after client websites in our Support & Optimisation team, so here's a fun intro to get to know him:

👉 Previously a Digital Product Manager at the Global Infrastructure Hub and World Bank (big things come in small packages!)
👉 Sydney dweller living the north-west life for now (we like all our regions represented!) ️
👉 Family man in his free time, but also a master tinkerer of PCs, cars, and Lego (we love that creative energy!) ‍‍‍️️
👉 Motto: Treat others the way you like to be treated (because kindness matters!)
Dream superpower: Self-replication to conquer that to-do list (we've all been there, Kevin!)
👉 Travel bucket list: Devouring pho in Vietnam (sounds delicious!) 🇻🇳
👉 Perfect day: Work wins, homework done without a fight, and quality car tinkering time - all topped off with a steak dinner (sounds perfect to us!)
👉 Karaoke go-to: Green Green Grass by George Ezra (🌱)

Welcome aboard, Kevin! We're excited to have you on the team.

03/07/2024

Wanna see our pecs? 👀

Through the month of June, members of the Sitback Solutions team participated in The Push-Up Challenge 2024 💪
Across the country, we've smashed out over 230 MILLION push-ups and raised over $10 million and counting for mental health in Australia 😅
As a team, we completed over 14,000 push ups and raised $550 - but here's the best bit - The Sitback Leadership Team very kindly offered to match whatever the amount raised was by the end of the event! So with a few last minute donations, we were able to raise $1340 in total!

We were raising funds for Lifeline and we're really please to help them continue their vital work, supporting people when they need it the most.

Massive thanks to everyone that donated to us ❤️
(and P.S. you can still donate to the cause!)

01/07/2024

💟 A huge congratulations to Ez Herrmann, our July Love Box Winner! 💟

This month, Ez has chosen to support Beyond Blue - a fantastic organisation that provides a free online and telephone helpline for people with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues. You can talk to trained mental health professionals who can give you support and advice. Beyond Blue can also help you find mental health services near you.

Thinking of showing your support for Beyond Blue too? You can learn more about their vital work on their website, share this post to raise awareness, or even make a donation of your own.

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Each week, we hold a "Love Box" at our company meetings. It's a brilliant way for colleagues to recognise and appreciate each other's achievements, no matter how big or small! It could be a simple thank you, a birthday message, a joke to brighten the day, or just a way to say "we're grateful to have you here!"

How it Works:
1️⃣Throughout the week, nominations are submitted anonymously to our Love Box custodian, Nathan.
2️⃣During the weekly team meeting, we share some of the heartwarming (and occasionally hilarious!) messages.
3️⃣Everyone nominated throughout the month is entered into a draw.
🏆The lucky winner gets to choose a charity that we, as a company, donate £150 to in their name!

28/06/2024

Throughout the month of June, many of the Sitback team have been participating in this year's The Push-Up Challenge raising funds and awareness for mental health in Australia. All the money we raise is going to Lifeline, an organisation we've proudly supported for the past 4 years.

The challenge is to complete 3,249 push-ups. This is important to us, because 3,249 people died by su***de in Australia in 2022 (the most recent stats), and we want to do something about it.

If you'd like to support our efforts you can donate to our team here: https://hubs.ly/Q02DF_WF0

Let's 💪

We're completing The Push-Up Challenge to push for better mental health in Australia and would love your help. You can join our Team or donate to our page to support much-needed mental health services and initiatives.

28/06/2024

Want to learn how behavioural science can enhance your user experience?
Then check out our latest blog post by Josiah Chhoa, one of our talented Experience Designers at Sitback! 🌟

🔍 Discover how a background in Organisational Psychology combined with two years in UX design has shaped unique insights into user-focused, behavior-driven, and ethically sound design principles.

From understanding the importance of designing for users, not interfaces, to leveraging mental models and heuristics like the IKEA effect, this post dives deep into the psychology behind exceptional user experiences.

Don't miss out on these valuable lessons and how we apply them at Sitback to create truly engaging and effective designs.

👉 Read the full article here: https://hubs.ly/Q02DF_Xq0

Insights from a Masters in Organisational Psychology with 2 years in UX design: user-focused, behavior-driven, & ethical design principles.

29/05/2024

We’re looking forward to being part of the Free + Equal Conference in Sydney on 6 and 7 June 2024, in partnership with Australian Human Rights Commission.

Join us to help pave the way for an overhaul of Australia’s human rights framework including the introduction of a Human Rights Act.

If you want to improve how people is Australia experience justice, equity, compassion and respect, this conference is not to be missed.

60% discount for students!

REGISTER NOW: https://hubs.ly/Q02yKXk70


Part of Ideas

21/05/2024

All digital agencies want to work with recognisable clients. So we were over the moon when we landed the gig to rebuild the Sydney Opera House website - arguably one of the most iconic and recognisable brands in Australia!

But, we also knew we had to get it right.

On Saturday night, we won the "Best In Show" award for at the Australian Web Awards hosted by the Australian Web Industry Association!
This is one of the most prestigious award events in Australia, so to win, when up against so much stiff competition, is truly amazing!

Huge congratulations to everyone involved in the project from both SOH and Sitback.

23/04/2024

Last week, at our Sitback Summit, we had the pleasure of participating in "Cooking for a Cause", working with the fantastic team OzHarvest.

OzHarvest has become a leading food rescue organisation on a mission to ‘Nourish our Country’ by stopping good food from going to waste and delivering it to charities that help feed people in need. Their yellow vans are out and about in communities every day, collecting quality surplus food from a network of donors, including supermarkets, cafes, delis, restaurants, corporate kitchens, airlines, hotels and other food businesses.

The Sitback team then used some of this donated food to cook 270 meals that would later be distributed to charities throughout Greater Sydney.

It's not just humans that benefit either. There are upsides for the environment too; the food we prepared equated to roughly 135kgs of food being saved from heading to landfill - directly fighting food waste, and it helped stop 837 kgs of Co2 - which reduces global warming.

It was an enlightening, inspiring, and heart warming experience and we'd encourage you to support OzHarvest in whatever way you can. Most of the charities they work with advise they could easily take 50% more food than OzHarvest can currently provide because the rising cost of living has worsened the hunger crisis and deepened vulnerabilities in our community.

16/04/2024

This is a big one - Our work with The Sydney Opera House on their new Drupal website has been selected as a finalist in the 2024 Australian Web Awards in the "Entertainment and Events" category!

The Australian Web Awards is an initiative of the Australian Web Industry Association and celebrate the best of Australian digital work, making this fantastic recognition for our teams!

Winners will announced at the awards ceremony at Metropolis Events, Melbourne on the 18th May. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for us!

25/03/2024

🌟 We're thrilled to announce that we've won the Government - State & Local category at the 2024 DrupalSouth Splash Awards! 🌟

We're incredibly proud of our team's hard work and dedication, as well as our partnership with the which made this achievement possible. This award is a testament to our commitment to delivering exceptional digital solutions that make a real impact.

The Sydney Opera House project aimed to address critical business challenges, primarily ticketing issues and a rigid content management system.

💧Migrated the site to Drupal CMS and hosted on Acquia
🎫Optimised the integration with Tessitura, their ticketing platform
💳Streamlined the transaction path
⚡Enhanced site performance

The improved site now supports thousands of concurrent users, enhances event discoverability, and facilitates smoother transactions. This has resulted in increased sales, reduced customer frustrations, and greater control over ticket distribution, contributing to a positive business outcome for the Sydney Opera House.

You can read more about the project on our website.

A huge thank you to the judges for recognising our work, and to everyone who has supported us along the way. We couldn't have done it without you!

Here's to continued success and many more exciting projects ahead! 🎉🏆

15/02/2024

🏗️ "Building" on a successful partnership! 🚀

We're totally jazzed to share the success story of our collaboration with Master Builders Association of New South Wales (Master Builders) in streamlining their course enrolment process! 🎓✨

🌟 Project Highlights:

✅ Navigated through challenges to streamline course enrolment and build a standalone website for the Education and Skills Development department.
✅ Leveraged our magic Toolbox, integrating WordPress, Salesforce, Wisenet, Moodle, Payway, and MailChimp to construct a seamless online learning experience.

👷‍♀️ Results at a Glance:

⭐️ Created the scaffolding for an increase in online course sign-ups.
⭐️ Turned manual processes into a well-oiled machine, reducing workload and boosting profits.
⭐️ Crafted an intuitive purchase path with course bundling, making it as easy as building with Lego bricks.

🔨 Client Cheers:
"The people-focused culture at Sitback was evident and I knew this was key to the success of this project. Sitback were laser-focused on solving our course enrolment problems, adapting technology to our audience, and building a collaborative team" - Melissa Cassar, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Master Builders Education and Apprenticeships.

📈 Future Blueprint:
With the groundwork laid, Master Builders is set to raise the roof in marketing efforts, using data-driven insights to guide students to their dream courses. 🌆💡

A massive shoutout to the Master Builders team for joining us on this skyscraper of success! 🏢🙌

Read the full case study here: https://hubs.ly/Q02l7kqd0

08/02/2024

🌟 Exciting News in Charitable Giving! 🌟

We're thrilled to unveil our latest blog article: "Rethinking Charity: The Power of Doing More Good." 🚀✨

This (hopefully) insightful piece explores the intersection of behavioural science and digital solutions in reshaping the narrative of charitable contributions. Backed by a groundbreaking study with over 77,000 participants, we've discovered how a simple message can spark a chain reaction of positive change:

🔗 Boosted click-through rates by 5.1%
🤝 Increased likelihood of recruiting later donations by 12.4%
💰 Raised average recruited donations by an impressive 16.6%

Ready to unlock the potential of positive giving? Dive into the article to explore practical steps for implementation, A/B testing strategies, and continuous optimisation.

🔍 https://hubs.ly/Q02kjrBd0

Join us in reshaping the future of charitable contributions! 💙 Let's do more good together. 🌐✨

Unlock the potential of positive giving! Backed by groundbreaking research, learn how to use the domino effect to increase donations.

17/11/2023

What a great 50th birthday present! The - and all-round fabulous peeps - at Sydney Opera House are bringing home the gongs 🏆 - the new website that we helped them create has just won TWO categories in the 2023 Acquia Engage Awards 🎉

In recognition of outstanding , we have been selected as the winners of “Leaders of the Pack – Entertainment” and “Regional Excellence – Asia Pacific and Japan“.

A huge congratulations to the team!