Posts Tagged ‘ community ’

It’s Snowing on WordPress!

And now it’s snowing on our blog!!

Last week, I saw that it was snowing on the WordPress homepage as I was signing in.  I thought it was fun, played around with the direction of the snow using my cursor, and of course shared it with those around me.  Thinking it was a one-time thing, I was surprised to see that there was still snow this week.  Then I saw this little note from WordPress that explained it all:

December 1st makes a lot of us think of the holidays. It’s hard not to think about snow even if your climate doesn’t bring it. Once again, we’d like to spread snow around the world through WordPress.com.

So I activated snow on our blog to share the seasonal cheer with everyone!

Quick side note on the fun that is WordPress – love their personality when explaining the snow, including the “latin jazz version of Let it Snow” that you can listen to (I opted for listening to it while writing this post rather than when changing my settings).  But how fun!  Makes us proud to be a part of the WordPress community. 🙂

2010
12/06
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Living Out Loud

Some people actually still wonder if social networks are important. Dugh.

Of course they are important! Entire lives are shared with hundreds of people. Facebook users have an average of 120 friends!

2010
11/11
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Bipartisan Brands

Perhaps after a weekend in Washington D.C. or because of the upcoming elections, I’ve been primed to find information about politics…but what place does politics have in advertising?  Usually we as advertisers and also our clients’ brands do not want to get involved in politics unless it is vital for the business or is seen as a direct connection and won’t alienate customers.  But with a nation mainly divided among Democrats and Republicans, the risk of alienation is salient enough to create caution.

Some very successful brands are able to transcend these divisions.  An article from The Good Men Project (an interesting idea in and of itself) discusses red and blue brands.  With this information, a more complete picture of a client’s customers can be developed.

Although consumers aren’t usually buying a big brand because they think its owners are actually on their political “side”—potential exceptions such as Ben & Jerry’s aside—marketers may well benefit from knowing how political partisans view them.

So which brands rate the highest among Democrats and Republicans?  Note that 7 of the top 10 in each group are bipartisan.

For those brands who have more of a presence in the perceptions of one party or the other, check out YouGov’s Brand Index.

2010
10/26
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What did you learn from the Texas State Fair?

The planners had a “Day at the Fair” yesterday afternoon for fun, togetherness, and obscene amounts of fried food.  Though there are many things to enjoy at the fair, I want to know what everyone learned during their time there.

Beyond the obvious that fried foods will make you quite ill for the rest of the day and beyond, there is a great opportunity for people-watching, and that all of the sudden you feel a bit more country around livestock, Big Tex, and food-on-sticks, I’d have to say my biggest lesson from yesterday was:

The best way to get the real deal on the best of the fair is to make fair friends.

As planners we naturally talk to people for work, but using those skills in our day-to-day can reap some pretty great rewards as well.  I befriended a couple in the food court as everyone was off finding their fried food of choice and swapped stories on the best things to eat.  In the process, I got our entire planning team a free sample of fried green tomatoes.  Later in the day, we happened to run into the same couple as we were eating round two of fried goodness and was able to follow up with them on what more they tried, liked and disliked.

Staying open and being friendly can go a long way in enriching your experience.  And I would have to say that we successfully made some good fair friends…and had a story to share.

What’s your fair story?

2010
10/15
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Immigrant Kitchens

How do you experience the world if you can’t travel?

Or even more broadly, how do you learn about the diversity that exists right next door – the world coming to you?

A beautiful mixture of understanding and experiencing can be found on Immigrant Kitchens.  Developed and written by professional chef Lindsay Sterling who says the inspiration for the blog was the fact that she was:

…stuck in Maine with no fancy world-travel budget.  In an effort to keep from withering away with vacation envy, I started asking anyone with a foreign accent right here if they wouldn’t mind teaching me how to cook their favorite foods from their homelands.

Part anthropology, part broadening of horizons, the blog is a mixed-style education on culture, food, and sharing.  Starting with a quick preview of the culture and food presented, links in the sidebar take you to the recipes, cooking instructions, and the full story behind the meal accompanied by pictures and fun anecdotes.  But the real highlight for me was the podcast of each adventure that is partly voiced-over but mostly background sounds of the context as well as quotes from those doing the educating.  The podcasts walk through the initial meeting, grocery-buying, cooking, stories behind the types of ingredients and meals being cooked, and the celebration and sharing of the food.

This reminds us that everyone brings along their culture and traditions and makes a home for themselves no matter where they are currently living.  So it doesn’t take world-traveling alone to foster understanding and appreciation for other people and cultures, just try your neighbor.

2010
10/07
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World of Jenks

Here I go again with another post about a tv show…World of Jenks.

Documentary filmmaker Andrew Jenks is profiling the lives of young people across the country.  He moves in with them for a week and presses them with questions about their lives.  What impresses me about Jenks is that he puts himself in situations that are entirely outside of his world but by the end of just one week, he calls the person he just met a friend and has an understanding of their chunk of life.

I encourage you to watch the fourth episode in the series called “Fifty Fists.”

It’s inspiring to see the struggles and triumphs of these young people.  As people tend to do, they will surprise you in many ways.  And you may learn about lifestyles that are completely outside your realm.

[A quick shout out to MTV:  As a leader in what matters most to young people, I’ve been very impressed with some of the shows they’ve been rolling out.  I believe that this wave of shows that promotes understanding and helping others is a key trend among teens and young adults.  Others to check out:  The Buried Life (What do you want to do before you die?) and If You Really Knew Me (breaking down barriers between people, bringing Challenge Day to high schools across the country).]

Only 24-years-old, Andrew Jenks has already become an accomplished filmmaker.  You may not recognize the name (yet) but you may have heard of one of his other efforts – Room 335.  At 19-years-old, a sophomore in college, Jenks moved into an assisted living facility to gain a “generational understanding” and interact with seniors.

Whether it’s peeking into the lives of others or using your enthusiasm and passion to make things happen, now, I’m learning something new every week.

2010
09/28
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Talk Like a Pirate Day

Arghh, make that the International Talk Like a Pirate Day which happens every September 19th – that makes it this Sunday, you scallywags!

Leave your landlubber ways behind and be a bucaneer for the day.  You keepin’ up, matey?  Sharpen your pirate vocabulary.

Now for the tall tale of this holiday.  Legend has it that two scurvy gents, Ol’ Chumbucket and Cap’n Slappy, claimed one day a year for everyone to talk like a pirate.  Let’s hear some more from ye ol’ Wikipedia:

…the day is the only holiday to come into being as a result of a sports injury…during a racquetball game between [Mark] Summers (Cap’n Slappy) and [John] Baur (Ol’ Chumbucket), one of them reacted to the pain with an outburst of “Aaarrr!”, and the idea was born. That game took place on June 6, 1995, but out of respect for the observance of D-Day, they chose Summers’ ex-wife’s birthday, as it would be easy for him to remember.

At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when John Baur and Mark Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002.  Barry liked the idea and promoted the day.  Growing media coverage of the holiday after Barry’s column has ensured that this event is now celebrated internationally, and Baur and Summers now sell books and T-shirts on their website related to the theme. Part of the success for the international spread of the holiday has been attributed to non-restriction of the idea or trademarking, in effect opening the holiday for creativity and “viral” growth.

Ya got wax in yer ears?  That just told us that this is a virally-grown holiday.  Shiver me timbers!  That means we all have to participate to keep ‘er goin’.

So get ye some grog, sit back with ye hearties, sing a shanty or two, and stear clear of anyone drunk enough to ask you to walk the plank.  Yo ho ho and a bottle o’ rum.

2010
09/17
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Out and About – Redbull Art of Can

Team outing!

For Dave and Knape’s birthdays at the beginning of August, we decided to visit the Dallas Galleria for a happy hour with a side of culture.  Lucky us that the Redbull Art of Can was showing and we got to see the different ways people created art with Redbull Cans as a theme (use of the cans as a material, the colors and Redbull logo incorporated in the art, etc.)

The exhibit is described on the website:

The Red Bull Art of Can is a nationwide hunt for creativity and is open to everyone, from fulltime artists to simply those with a creative flare.  Build, sculpt, weld, glue, hammer, bend, fold, print, tape and paint…

Be bold!  Send a message!  Make a Statement.  Your primary material must be a Red Bull can but you will need to add plenty of imagination and creativity.  Make a sculpture, a picture, a 3D model, a mobile, a video or a piece of modern art but make it beautiful, colorful, clever, amusing and outrageous.

Let’s check out the fine detail and artistry of some of the pieces, including a quick snap by the most birthday-appropriate piece of art (no, we didn’t supply the party hat):

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It’s important to remember to step away from your desk, go outside of the walls of the agency, and explore the city…so glad that Dave and Knape were up for anything to celebrate their birthdays!

2010
09/13
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Top 1% of Dallas Residents

I keep hearing that there are others out there like me. Seriously? Ten months ago I sold my house because I didn’t like living outside the city. I bet a lot of people think that is crazy. Last week, I sold my car because after moving to the city I almost never drive. In Texas, I am sure I could find lots of people who find this crazy too. But, I was introduced to a fun website today. www.walkscore.com It calculates the walkability of where you live. I scored 98 of 100 and am in the top 1% of Dallas residents for walkability and 92 of 100 for public transit access. I am in a paradise of sorts. But, is true for everyone? No. I realize I am a part of a very small portion of the US population. I always need to remember this. My opinion is good among at least 1% of the local population. It’s a start, but verifies how important it is for me to actually talk to people before making assumptions based on my experiences and preferences.

Now, off to find a site that measures my common sense and make sure it’s high enough!

2010
08/27
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Freedom of Speech, Just Watch What You Say

Old school Ice-T rap sums up how everything we say and do is seen by others and corporations are not exempt. The rise of Internet and social media has ensured that everyone is listening. Every time Facebook changes its interface, thousands of users rise in protest to keep the previous format. Facebook never listens, but it’s a lot of fun too see all my friends jump on the bandwagon.

Just this year Arizona lawmakers wanted to let police officers ask anyone for their immigration papers. There was an event two weeks ago spread through Facebook for everyone to “wear your [immigration] papers.” Actually everyone was to wear a blue triangle in protest, but the power of social media was prominent when tens of thousands of people were invited to participate all over the country.

Last year another campaign was created to boycott Whole Foods when the CEO implied that all health problems could be solved if we ate better. Yes, some people could eat better and some health issues might improve from it, but the bigger problem was that not all ailments are food related and there was no dialogue about the cost or accessibility of “healthy” food or healthcare.

Target and Bestbuy stepped into this minefield recently. Laws changed about corporate donations to political campaigns and both corporations decided to financially support an anti-gay rights candidate. Target has since apologized, but not asked for their money back while many consumers are angry.

We all believe in the freedom of speech, but consumers are listening and voting with their spending power.

2010
08/09
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