
Iain and Dan have been talking about Mission:Explore's new Private Groups
We’re showcasing Mission:Explore at the Education Show this week. Mission:Explore is a social gaming platform that takes education (and children) out of the classroom and into the wider world.
Iain and Dan made their way to the NEC in Birmingham yesterday and talked to all manner of interesting people about the platform. In particular, we’re focusing on our new Private Groups, which give teachers, schools and other educational folk a secure space on Mission:Explore that’s just for them and their pupils.
If you’re heading to the Education Show, make sure you pop over to stand K52 and say hello. We’re there today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday), and we’d be more than happy to speak to you about the platform and what it can do. You can also read more about Mission:Explore here on our website.

Richard Walton-Allen is Executive Head Chef at Create
We’ve worked with Create for over a year now and they continue to go from strength to strength. Last week, Create’s restaurant, which opened in Leeds last summer, was reviewed for The Observer by respected TV food critic, Jay Rayner. And he liked it. He really liked it.
You can read the full review over on The Guardian website where you will also see a lovely picture of the restaurant’s interior, which we had a helping hand in creating.
We’d like to wish all our clients, suppliers, friends, families and pets a very happy festive season, from everyone at The Workshop.
Have a relaxed and refreshing time, and we’ll see you on the other side. We’ve got lots of exciting things planned for 2012…

Jordan in action on the diving board
Next year, we’re using our Mission:Explore platform to create The Workshop’s Challenge 2012, a fundraising campaign to support two of Britain’s Olympic stars of the future.
Jordan Houlden, 13, and Channien Lancaster, 11, have the support of their families and the potential to develop into contenders for the 2016 Olympics. However, they come from a disadvantaged and socially challenged part of Sheffield, where opportunities and financial backing are in short supply.
That’s where Challenge 2012 comes in.
Everyone at The Workshop will be completing missions and raising money to help give Jordan and Channien the chance to fulfil their potential and achieve success. We know that they can have a real impact on their community and inspire other young people to aim high and work hard.
Look out for more information about Challenge 2012 soon, including how you can get involved.

Our boys do the caterpillar
Facial-hair fever struck the country this Movember – and our boys were no exception.
With admirable additions all round (more or less), a select sample of The Workshop menfolk raised cash for not just one, but three great causes: The Prostate Cancer Charity, The Institute of Cancer Research and the Movember Foundation. Although most of the marvellous moustaches have now been removed, two top-drawer ‘taches remain intact.
When asked why he hadn’t shaved yet, one participant said: ‘It’s just kind of grown on me.’
Ber-bum-tache!

Students from Sheffield Hallam University talking to our design team
Last Thursday, we ran our annual event where we invite design students from Sheffield Hallam University to The Workshop.
The idea is for them to come and speak to some of our team about what we do, including how we approach client work and the way we promote ourselves. It’s a chance for students to see how the work they produce on their course might one day translate to client-led, real-world design. They leave with a much better idea of how to get noticed and begin their career in the industry.
You can see the full image gallery on our Flickr profile.
Our work on Cbeebies’ Mr Bloom’s Nursery has been nominated in the North West RTS Awards in the Innovation in Multiplatform category. The show itself was also nominated for Best Children’s Programme.
We created five immersive games to accompany the Mr Bloom’s Nursery TV series. One of the best things about the project for us was that we were able to work really closely with the show’s TV production team. We visited Mr Bloom’s actual nursery and met his vegetable pals in person, which really helped us bring the show to life for children.
For more information, check out our previous blog post about Mr Bloom’s Nursery or head over to the site and get playing.