Jonathan Kochis

I can definitely see where you are coming from with this. I didn't have the chance to make it to Canada 3.0 but from what I understand you have captured the spirit of it quite well. The irony that the host of the event choose an American firm is not lost on me in the slightest. I would love to see a project like this (especially for a Canadian university) go to a Canadian Firm.

I'm all for supporting Canadian products whenever possible but I know I am forced to look Stateside for a lot of products both for home and business. Thats not to say that the design community in Canada is lacking in anyway as there is some excellent design and development coming from Canada currently.

At the same time its important to consider the flip side. Look at the huge number of Canadian firms doing work in the United States. I recognize the argument can be made that as the dominant of the two countries American companies don't necessarily require the same protectionism we cry out for with Canadian companies. However that is work being taken away from American firms. As I don't have numbers or research to suggest the amount of work leaving Canada is equal or lesser than the amount coming into Canada I'm not about to make such a statement. I do wish to say at least it is a two way street.

As for the RFP system, well it might not be the best from our perspective, as I believe Shawn from rTraction put it, we'll have to learn to deal with it, and learn how to win, or get out. Not getting one stings a bit, but time to turn to the next one.

Thanks for the comments Cole. Update: the successful firm does have a focus on working with post-secondary clients, so I get it from that perspective. However, the irony of the whole 'Canada 3.0' is what I find most interesting.

Hi, Jonathan— I'm the president of White Whale, the firm selected for the Waterloo redesign. I like to believe that we were hired for three reasons: first, that we work almost exclusively with colleges and research universities; second, that we do our best to push the envelope of conventional Web design everywhere possible; and third, that we truly worked our tails off for the job, putting hours and hours of research and prep work into our proposal and presentation.

I can understand your frustration, certainly, and we've had our own versions of this experience many times over our decade in the business. For what it's worth, we're tremendously humbled and thrilled to have been selected by Waterloo: we intend to do the work of our lives on this project, and if the end result doesn't feel like something truly original and authentic (geographically as well as institutionally), we'll have failed. I invite you to follow the project as we go, and hold us to the highest standard possible.

Hey Jason -- great to hear from you. I have no doubt that with your experience and approach you guys are going to do an amazing job. I also don't doubt the judgement of the UW selection committee. I just found it odd that, given UW is a driving force behind Canada 3.0, a firm from outside Canada was selected -- regardless of who that firm may be. Strange, no?

In the end though, it all boils down to delivering a fantastic end-result and it looks as though that's just what UW is going to get.

Anyway, thanks for adding your perspective to the post, it's definitely an important one.

Jonathan, I'm working with the Canadian Digital Media Network as they work to build a community. The CDMN is responsible for providing the tools and support required to build digital media hubs in Canadian cities. UW's Stratford Institute is one of those hubs. They have their own website, which I believe is distinct from that of the university at large.

I can't speak for either of those groups or their website requirements, but I can say that the CDMN website (http://cdmn.ca) was designed by a local Canadian company.

Thanks for the info Larry -- I appreciate you joining in and am glad you've been able to provide some clarification. The CDMN site is great and it's nice that it was built be a Canadian company. Good luck.

If you care about nationalism when it applies to labor - when you just lost a job is the last time you should be questioning policy. The fact is: the context in which you are framing this (you just lost a prospective client) makes it look a little bit like sour grapes.

Since you did lose the job to White Whale - you should be thinking about how your future prospective clients perceive you. But I don't think questioning why you lost a job publicly (and making it about nationalism when it may not be) will help you in the long run.

If I were one of your prospective clients, I wouldn't want to worry about what kind of post you are going to make if I decided to give the work to someone else for some reason. I'd want to be able to ask you for a bid, and for you to be ok with my decision if you didn't get the work - for whatever reason.

Ultimately, the only response that matters to this question is the response from Waterloo. I would give them a call and ask them why you lost the work. And if there's a good reason for you to adjust, I'd adjust it in your pitches.

Hi Doug -- You bring up some very valid points, ones that I'd certainly considered while writing the post. I respect and am OK with UW's response (in that it wasn't us) but was merely a little confused given their backing of Canada 3.0 -- something we all believe in and want to be part of up here.

I've had a chance to check out some of the work you guys are doing at mStoner -- looks great, especially your post on Pwireframing.

Thanks for the feedback and constructive points, I appreciate it.