We're heading to SXSW!
The Humongo crew is headed to Austin, TX for SXSW, the annual music, film and interactive super festival. We'll be attending the geekiest portion of the conference - SXSWinteractive.
Stuck at home? Not to worry. We'll be doing our best to share our experience. And we're also producing a series of videos interviewing interesting people that we believe you might be inspired by.
Check the Brand Flakes for Breakfast SXSW Edition for the latest from all of the Humongo superstars (and friends):
Darryl Ohrt: That's me, the official Prime Minister of Awesome at the world's greatest agency.
Chris Spada: Designer, creator, and now blogger at Humongo. He'll be hitting Austin for the first time. Chris will also be covering the conference at CT's creative powerhouse ConnCreatives.
Kristien Del Ferraro: From our new awesomely cool parent company Source Marketing, Kristien will be sharing her internet genius, and also hitting the geek festival as a first timer.
Ben Kunz: Thought leader, Business Week writer, blogger for Thought Gadgets, and man of brilliance from media buying and strategy firm MediAssociates will be interviewing the internet's brightest people on BrandFlakes video.
Renato Ghio: (Yes, that's a wig.) The master with a HD camera and editing suite in his backpack, he's the man responsible for all of the world-famous PlaidNation tour videos. He'll be producing the best interviews of the smartest people.
So make room for a little bit of Texas!
Labels: blogging, humongo, self promotion, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:13 AM
1 comments
in the old days, there was geocities
You probably like reading Wired because it keeps you up on the latest in everything interactive, technology, design and stuff that we generally like to call "yummy."
It's also fun to look back a few years at the stuff our industry pimped, promoted and then threw away. That's the premise of Wired Reread, a blog devoted to scanning old issues of Wired to show dead, funny, or the overall ridiculousness of our industry. Like an ad for Geocities, above. Geocities. Hehe.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, creativeinspiration, publishing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
1 comments
Friday, March 05, 2010
guest posting on adland this week!
Just in case you haven't been paying attention, I've joined a few of the most awesome bloggers in the blogosphere and am guest posting over at Adland this week. Badass blogger Ask Dabitch is taking some unblogging time, and we're filling in with goodness.
(Mostly, I'm attempting to find stuff that @mtlb and @caff haven't already found on the internet days ago...which is almost impossible.)
Labels: adindustry, blogging
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:57 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
what you can learn from a whale attack
Scott Monty has an outstanding review of the good things that Seaworld did, after the when good killer whales go bad incident.
This is great reference for any brand using social media tools, and how to use them wisely in a challenging, difficult situation.
Labels: blogging, pr, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM
0 comments
Monday, March 01, 2010
guest blogging this week on adland!
I've joined a worldwide consortium of super bloggers that are guest-blogging on super awesomse Adland!
Check out Adland all week for our most delicious posts while the queen of blogging, the most badass, redheaded advertising geek, Ask Dabitch takes a well earned break from her duties.
Today's posts include Art delivered like the paper, Badges like us (a MUST see if you either love or hate Foursquare updates) and a history of Olympic stick figure dudes.
Stay tuned all week for more super blog juice, and then add Adland to your blog reader for good, regular doses of brilliance.
Thanks Ask, for the opportunity!!
Labels: adindustry, blogging, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:30 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
mardi gras, without all of the drunken nakedness
This year's Mardi Gras is more than likely going to be better than ever. If you've never experienced Mardi Gras, or - if you've only experienced it as a drunken tourist, you owe it to yourself to check out My Mardis Gras Experience.
It's a blogger's experience of Mardis Gras for the first time as a local. They've also channeled in plenty of the typical social media streams, so there's plenty of content for all to see.
It's brought us by Tabasco, and promises to be family friendly. So you can show your kids without fear of boobies or man spears. From @scottmonty.
Labels: blogging, creativeinspiration
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
1 comments
Friday, January 29, 2010
the internet is perfect now
Turn off the lights, and let's go home. We can rest easy now, knowing that there's at last a site devoted to documenting hot chicks with stormtroopers.
Labels: blogging, creativeinspiration, pop culture
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
0 comments
Thursday, January 07, 2010
milking got milk
Finally, there's a blog devoted to documenting the campaign that will never, ever go away. The Got Milk campaign must be the most parodied ad campaign in history, and it continues with each and every day.
Milking Got Milk is a group blog devoted to documenting the exploitation of this legendary addition to pop culture. Seen a "Got ____" ad around your town? Submit a photo. This could go on for eternity.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, creativeinspiration, photography, pop culture
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:46 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
because you can't be productive all day, every day.
You may want to visit the list of ten great single serving Tumblr sites for two reasons:
1. This is an excellent example of how simple and easy it is to set up a Tumblr blog, and proof that you can set up multiple blogs for your brand. While these are for entertainment purposes, who says that you're only allowed one corporate blog for the company?? (Our firm has at least ten blogs)
2. You need a break. You've been working for two days straight now, after the long holiday break. It's time that you took some "me time" and enjoyed a good laugh with quality content like People Talking on Bananas.
Get your blog on.
Labels: blogging, creativeinspiration, marketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
Thursday, December 31, 2009
a fun way to stop looking like an idiot
Send this to everyone in your office (we did), and get them schooled on the 10 words that are embarrassing to spell incorrectly. This is especially important in the age of email and tweetdom.
If you're making New Year's resolutions, you might want to start with making sure everyone on the team knows the difference between there, their and they're, as well as your, and you're.
Pretty pictures and excellent copywriting make it feel like fun, instead of learning. From @gregverdino.
Labels: blogging, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:45 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 21, 2009
blogs: now open for business
Blogger now integrates with Amazon so that bloggers can add anything that Amazon sells (which is just about everything in the world) into their blog posts.
Bloggers get commissions on any items sold, which opens up a world of possibilities for bringing commerce to blogs. Say hello to the new mom and pop shop.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM
1 comments
Friday, November 27, 2009
the ultimate gift guide for creative people
Happy Black Friday!
This is the day that the greatest blog in all of the land launches a gift edition!
The Brand Flakes For Breakfast Gift Guide is an entire blog devoted to the most killerest gift ideas for the creative person in your life. We'll post new, awesomely delicious ideas each and every day through the shopping, selling and giving season.
While today is the first day for the 2009 gift buying season, you can still browse through 2007 and 2008's awesome ideas, and then check back each day for more new, great stuff!
Get shopping. (And feel free to send ideas to @plaid)
Labels: blogging, holiday, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
0 comments
Friday, November 20, 2009
free legal lets bloggers take on the man
The Citizen Media Law Project is launching a new program for bloggers who need legal help dealing with copyright, defamation or other legal issues.
The program looks to help bloggers who might not be able to afford the support they need on their own. There are income and revenue requirements to qualify, but this is an awesome step to help keep blogger voices loud and proud.
(Your lawyer will likely not be sporting a Mexican wrestling mask. But you have to admit that "Chalko" looks like he's ready to take on the man.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
1 comments
Thursday, November 05, 2009
how bloggers are sharing video
Sysomos has done some interesting analysis on video streaming and sharing as it relates to video shared on blogs. They examined 100 million blog posts since July of this year, and determined:
Young Males Engage the Most - 20-to-35-year-old males constitute the most engaged demographic group in the study. In total, 77% of users are under 35-years old, while 60% of all users are male.
Asian Users Engage Differently - 90% of the users from Asia and Oceania are under 35-years-old. In comparison, a third of North American users are over 35-years-old. Bloggers in Asia and Oceania are less likely to use services other than YouTube, with 89% of the links and embeds pointing to YouTube.
Engagement Peaks on Tuesday - The most popular day for engaging with video in the blogosphere is Tuesday and Wednesday. The most active engagement takes place between 11a.m. and 1p.m EST.
There's a boatload of additional data where that came from. Read the details from their entire study and learn what's likely to get your video shared, posted on blogs and viewed by millions.
(There's also some slammin' graphs and charts that will make your PowerPoint deck look all juicy when you present this to the boss.)
Labels: analytics, blogging, social media, trends, video, viral
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
0 comments
Monday, October 26, 2009
blogging as a tourist destination
Bloggers are now so super cool that Club Med has arranged a tourist cruise where you can hang with them.
It's a Club Med vacation with food bloggers. Hang, cook, tweet about it, and eat. And then eat some more. (Your bloggers may not look as glamorous as the people pictured above.)
Let's take a Brand Flakes in the Bahamas trip, ok?
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
0 comments
Monday, October 19, 2009
lifestreaming made easy
There's a new hot camera about to hit the market that should have lifestreamers wetting their pants.
It's worn around your neck, and snaps photos automatically about every 30 seconds. It even has an accelerometer and light sensors to snap images when you enter a new environment, and an infrared sensor that senses body heat when someone is in front of you.
The camera was originally developed for patients with Alzheimer's, but now there's a planned consumer release for 2010. Get ready to document, tweet and share everything. From Loic.
Labels: blogging, photography, social media, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
mad men as an advertising history lesson
There's a new blog called The Footnotes of Mad Men that chats about advertising in the era of Mad Men, and ties real world topics to themes from the show. It's like a fun read about your favorite tv show, and a history lesson all in one blog.
The concept has already been picked up by Harper Collins for a book! Light up a smoke, pour yourself a scotch, and sit back and enjoy.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, publishing, tv
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 AM
0 comments
Friday, September 04, 2009
blogging will end the recession
Yet another survey for you to summarize in your PowerPoint presentation to the board. Now you'll increase your interactive budget by gazillions of dollars.
A survey of 1531 HubSpot customers (half that blogged, and half that didn't) shows that businesses that blog see 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links, 434% more indexed pages. Nuff said.
From Matt Singley.
Labels: blogging, search, social media, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:04 AM
0 comments
Friday, August 14, 2009
the lazy guy's guide to cooking
Former Plaid intern and Plaid Nation pro driver Ryan Varjas has started a blog. Not about marketing, design, creativity or pop culture. But about cooking. And this looks to be unlike any foodie blog that you've ever encountered.
Lazy Cooking E/Z features golden tips like how to make a can of soup in a cheap motel during the middle of the night, or cooking hot dogs in a toaster.
(So we now know what Ryan was up to while the rest of us were locked in motel rooms editing video, photos and writing blog posts during the Plaid tour.)
Warning: language is not for everyone, so stay away if you don't like f-bombs or drunken shenanigans.
I smell book deal. Or maybe it's just burnt hot dogs.
Labels: blogging, creativeinspiration, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
i fixed it
You know that you've done something almost as ridiculous at one point or another in your life, justifying some stupid fix in your own crazy head.
And that's what makes this blog of things getting "fixed" so much fun. From Urban Outfitters.
Labels: blogging, creativeinspiration, photography
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
going out of business. really.
If you don't read Andy Jukes' blog A Million Monkeys Typing, you should. Andy's one of those somewhat-unknown coolhunters who digs up the coolest-est stuff -- like this rug store going out of business forever.
posted by Ben Kunz @ 9:42 AM
1 comments
Thursday, July 16, 2009
not your everyday fashion blog
Here's a unique take on a fashion blog.
The Unknown Hipster documents his thoughts and adventures in the fashion world. Instead of the usual iPhone shots that grace most fashion blogs, the Unknown Hipster illustrates everything. Really entertaining writing alongside fantastic illustration reminds you that not all blogs need to be the same.
Oh yeah - if you weren't already hip to the fact, skinny shorts are the rage for guys this summer. Illustration above for reference. From Urban Outfitters
Labels: blogging, fashion, illustration
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:13 AM
0 comments
Thursday, July 09, 2009
the blog replaces associate press
Andy Sernovitz points out an interesting development he noticed when Google announced their new operating system yesterday. They did so with a blog post. One of the largest technology companies in the world announced a new product that affects one of the other largest technology companies in the world - potentially big news - and they announced it in a blog post.
Andy thinks that traditional news organizations should be freaking out. (We have a feeling that many already were.)
Labels: blogging, news, social media, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
fool your friends and let them think you still read the paper
Love blogs but afraid that the old people you hang with will make fun of you?
Not to worry! Now you can get the latest blog posts printed out in old-school paper format. Al Gore is crying somewhere. From @benkunz.
Labels: blogging, publishing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
confirmed: brandflakes is the best blog ever
There's a new chart in town, and we like it lots. Mostly because they put Brand Flakes For Breakfast as the #11 blog of all the blogs about branding. And the #6 blog based on unique visitors (!!) but you can visit the list to learn about lots of other really cool (but slightly less awesome) blogs around the industry and around the world.
Labels: blogging, branding, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:21 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
brandflakes confirmed as the best blog ever
It's true, because now we're in a book.
David Airey received his advance copy of Blogs - Mad About Design, and posted some sweet pics. This is a big, fat, beautiful book devoted entirely to blogs about design.
(David Airey actually has two blogs that are featured, which likely makes him the only person cooler than us.) It's awesome that BrandFlakes looks like it was placed in the front part of the book, so that you don't have to read the whole thing to get to the good part.
We can't find a link to where you can find the book just yet - and we don't have our copy yet either - but will share as soon as we find details. This should definitely be the gift that you give your mom, your grandpop, best friends and kids for their birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas.
Labels: blogging, design, publishing, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:05 AM
6 comments
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
not all newspapers are dead
Some journalists are actually using the internet.
Check out the insides of five innovative "newsrooms" that embrace technology or are otherwise interesting. Granted, many aren't for old school newspapers - but this is still a pretty sweet peek inside some places you're not normally allowed into.
From Eugene Driscoll, via Facebook.
Labels: blogging, publishing, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
don't believe your agency
"social work for H&R Block generated $18.8 million in revenue this tax season."
That's the type of statement that social media nerds and bloggers love to retweet, blog about and shout from the rooftops.
Ben Kunz says not so fast. Lots of agencies are spewing numbers. Many of them have questionable metrics. And people are quick to throw out numbers and quote numbers and use numbers to justify their own numbers.
We are addicted to numbers more than we are addicted to social media. We suspect that Ben is right, as we've seen first hand some people using really sloppy metrics and some really awesome metrics.
But how does that help your PowerPoint presentation??? Just make it up. Here's some numbers to get you started:
23% agree
46% are leaving
834% growth
76,432,000 just became aware
12 million lost
Labels: blogging, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:09 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
mayors geeking it up
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz recently held a bloggers breakfast. Not because bloggers are hungry and need food, but because he wanted to give bloggers the same respect that politicians used to give to media like newspapers.
And now perfect hair dude/San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom chats with the hot girls of Geek Entertainment TV about geeky stuff. Even before all of that, our own Mayor helped us take over the city of Denver.
Mayoral trend? We hope so. Perhaps Mayors are the new social media. And Bloggers will control the earth. And RSS is the way to salvation. Or something like that.
Labels: blogging, politics, social media, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:54 AM
0 comments
Thursday, April 23, 2009
the big o.
Ian Fitzpatrick has created something beautiful: Optimist Conspectus. What may sound like a psychology experiment is actually a wonderful collection of statements that answer the question: What are you optimistic about?
Let's face it. Our industry could use a little optimism. There's certainly enough hate and anger. Perhaps some positive energy would do everyone some good.
Feeling down? Check it out. Feeling awesome? Tell the world why. It's time that you give just a little bit of love to the wonderful, fantastical big O. (Optimism, of course.)
Labels: blogging, creativeinspiration, inspiration, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:35 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
less than 24 hours until the denver takeover
It's official. Just to teach Denver a lesson, we're taking things over for a day. We'll be commandeering the Denver Egotist tomorrow. We're going to call it the Danbury Egotist, because that's where Plaid hails from.
When the takeover is complete, the Egotist will be chocked full of content that we've produced, and stuff that makes our city look cool. And we'll make all of the Denver people fly Plaid flags from their offices.
Denver can put it on hold. Plaid is coming to town.
Labels: blogging, denver, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:14 AM
1 comments
Monday, March 23, 2009
plaid takes over
On Wednesday, we're planning a hostile takeover. Don't tell anyone, but we're going to storm the offices of the Denver Egotist. We'll tie up their staff, commandeer their site and will turn it into the Danbury Egotist. We'll write content that's all about us, our friends, and the cool things that happen in the city that we'd like to one day call Plaid.
It's all going down on Wednesday. Don't tell anyone.
Labels: blogging, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
say goodbye to the blogroll
More SXSW awesomeness! Famous VC dude Guy Kawasaki, founder of Alltop, (the incredible list of all the top everything) has launched your personal Alltop.
It's called MyAlltop. You can think of it as the celebrity playlist for the internet.
We're partial, because BrandFlakesForBreakfast is featured in several Alltop categories. That's how the greatest blog in all of the land rolls, yo.
We haven't set up our own personal Alltop (definitely will soon), but really like the concept. I can see this completely replacing the old practice of including blog rolls (a list of a blogger's favorite blogs) on their blogs. Now you can accomplish the same thing with just one link. Nice.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:11 AM
1 comments
Friday, March 06, 2009
stuff for your laid off friends
Send this to the 12 people that you know who have lost their jobs. 100 of the best blog posts about career advice.
From Steve Woodruff. (Photo from Drew's Marketing Minute, who happens to have quite a few posts on the list.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:56 AM
0 comments
Thursday, February 19, 2009
the internet is now complete
As Dabitch says, it was bound to happen. Maybe it needed to happen. Whatever the reason...it happened. And now we can all rejoice and enjoy the super fine collection of Headset Hotties. Yes, a blog devoted to capturing the cheezy sexy photos of girls in headsets.
I imagine that Sham WOW Vince is behind this, in some twisted way. Do you think that Vince and his headset hotties wear headsets when they're at home? In the shower? At restaurants?
Labels: blogging, photography, pop culture
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM
0 comments
Friday, February 13, 2009
blogs drive 80% of traffic to online video
Ummm, blogs and social media are really important if you want people to see your video. Here's proof with a bunch of numbers for your PowerPoint deck.
Which gives me the perfect excuse to top this post with Darth Vader's response to the David the Dentist video. Happy Friday.
Labels: blogging, marketing, social media, trends, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:50 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
what not to wear: grammy night
Just when you thought the music industry was completely dead, people actually tuned in and watched the Grammys.
The performances and music have all been well covered (and are downloadable) elsewhere. So Laura Sweet picked up the challenge of fashion coverage. If you like checking out rock star fashion, then you'll love her post critiquing the ensembles seen on Grammy night.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
0 comments
Monday, February 09, 2009
school that you don't mind going to
Omnisio has a great collection of videos with slide presentations from Startup school 08. This is a pretty cool conference of geeks talking about all of the things that you love: startups, business and the internets. Take 20 minutes a day this week and watch some of it. Your inner geek will love you more.
From StyleTime and Problogdesign, via Twitter.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, education, strategy, video, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:35 AM
0 comments
Monday, February 02, 2009
blogger mystery boxes
The team responsible for promoting the film Coraline have been doing a super awesome blogger relations program. They're sending 50 bloggers each a handmade box that includes props from the film.
Notcot is keeping a full list of boxes with photos. And Coraline keys are popping up in public. Nice use of props and an incredible showcase of the craft from the film. Creepalicious.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:24 AM
0 comments
Friday, January 16, 2009
a list of ad industry tweeters
I can't stand Twitter lists or rankings. And once you're knee deep in tweets you'll understand that they're typically worthless. The value of Twitter is all in the quality and relationships of the people you follow. Not a number.
That said, one of the questions we always hear from new Twitter friends is "how do I find good people to follow?"
Armando Alves has attempted to create a ranking of the Twitter users who also have Advertising Age Power 150 blogs (a list we're proud to be on). Armado calls his list the Twitter Power 150 (we just cracked the top 100 of this list, too).
Use this list as a starting point to find people that interest you. You've already got one thing in common: an interest in the ad industry.
Thanks, Todd (who by the way, is a hilariously fun person to follow.)
Labels: adindustry, blogging, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
3 comments
Monday, January 12, 2009
CES. more than big ass flat screen tv's.
Tired of the CES coverage that's limited to just flat screen tv's and mobile phones? NOTCOT has covered the other side of CES. Actually, the other side of Vegas.
Be sure to check out their visit to Alien Fresh Jerky or The Griffin when you're in the humdrum "I'm bored" part of your day today.
Labels: blogging, lasvegas, technology, tv, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
0 comments
Friday, January 09, 2009
Introducing friday flakes
We're going to try this podcast thing. Here's our goal:
+ A quick ten minute-ish clip from the makers of Brand Flakes for Breakfast.
+ Hosted each week by two Plaid employees, and posted every Friday.
+ A little bit about the industry, cool stuff we've noticed, and life at Plaid.
+ Un-rehearsed, quick and dirty, no editing, just sit down and chat.
Our first episode is above. This week, we talk about:
+ Returning from a long, long holiday break.
+ CES and MacWorld
+ Robert Scoble stuck on a bus.
+ David Armano makes social media magic.
And we highlight three posts we thought were interesting this week:
- A cool way to do testimonials
- Some new thinking on "free"
- How not to be a tweetscumbag
We've already torn the first episode to pieces and know what we'll do better next week. This is absolutely a work in progress. But what about you? What should we do more of? Less of? Get better at?
Labels: adindustry, blogging, fridayflakes, plaid, podcasting, self promotion, social media, technology, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:05 PM
7 comments
Friday, January 02, 2009
our friends are really smart
If you ever see anyone from Plaid at a cocktail party, you're going to want to hang with us. Not because we're interesting on our own - but because we know how to find cool people. Want proof? Just check out what some of our smarter friends are writing about:
First, agency friend Ben Kunz writes a masterful piece in BusinessWeek about the growing pay-per-post scandal brewing in the blogosphere. Ben jokes that perhaps we should take it a step further, and sell our personal conversations, too.
Then Make the Logo Bigger Bill imagines what that may be like.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:28 AM
0 comments
everyone agrees. brandflakes is the best.
Scamp is tracking the most popular advertising blogs in the land, and charting them by their traffic according to Alexa. And BrandFlakes makes the top 25!
Now you can finally stop reading everything else on the internet, and trust your one and only healthy source for creative goodness. Tell your friends, your boss, your mom. BrandFlakes. Even better with bacon.
Labels: blogging, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:14 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
pass this to your friend who's in danger of losing her job
Church of the Customer has some outstanding advice on how to deal with a layoff: Start your prep well before the layoff ever happens.
They suggest taking three steps that will help position you better in the marketplace, should your job disappear:
1. Blog
2. Tweet
3. Join niche communities.
The coolest thing? Even if you're NOT losing your job, these actions can help you in your current position. Now's the time for making resolutions, right?
Labels: blogging, facebook, social media, twitter, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:34 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 08, 2008
the cool bloggers have pop up stores
Popular tech blog Gizmodo setup a pop up space in New York, to showcase some of the most awesome gadgets in the history of gadgetry.
Part art, part promotion, part "this has got to be more fun than Christmas shopping", the event took place Thursday through Sunday, so you've missed it. (Yeah, only the cool people made it to the show.) The rest of us can check out the pics here.
Labels: art, blogging, newyork, retail, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM
0 comments
think blogging is hard work?
Imagine if you had to embroider every single post. That's what Nicole is doing, on her Embloggery blog. Holy freaking blogrageous. Found on kirtsy.
Labels: art, blogging, creativeinspiration
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:05 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
the cool bloggers have camera eyes
An artist in San Francisco who lost her eye a few years ago has put out a call to engineers to help design a new camera eye replacement. She's working with her doctor, and has some pretty aggressive specs/requirements for the camera eye.
Soon, everyone will have them, and will be streaming live. Maybe your coworkers already have them. Or that lady at Starbucks this morning. They're watching. Recording. And blogging.
Labels: blogging, technology, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:12 AM
1 comments
Monday, November 17, 2008
motrin's mommy mess
On Friday, Motrin launched a new campaign geared toward mommies, that referred to "baby wearing" as a trend that could could cause them personal pain. Lots of mommies disagree. And they started talking about it. And tweeting about it. And blogging about it. You could say that this weekend was Motrin-mommy-fest in the social media world.
There's a video devoted to the distaste for the campaign. A collection of tweets and links related to the distaste for the campaign. And countless blog posts. And as of the writing of this post - THEIR SITE IS DOWN, likely because it wasn't prepared to handle the onslaught of traffic.
So what did Motrin do wrong? They launched a creative execution that pissed some moms off. And they weren't listening to the internet over the weekend.
Realistically, no person's life is at stake here. This is not a 'stop the organization' emergency. But it's going to be very important to listen. And to respond.
Parents tell their teens that "the internet is permanent. Be careful of what you post there." Here's just one list of negative blog posts about Motrin. That's a permanently recorded negative response from a very large crowd of moms. Yikes. It will be quite interesting to see how Motrin deals with this, during the week.
In the end, what people will likely remember is how they handled it. Not the campaign itself, or the fact that they didn't have their Twitter ears on over a weekend.
What can you learn from this?
+ Be active in social media. Or have an agency that is monitoring it for you.
+ Social media doesn't stop at 5pm on Friday.
+ Have an emergency plan, or the ability to respond quickly to an audience. A blog is nice for this.
+ Mommies really enjoy 'wearing' babies.
Labels: blogging, branding, marketing, pr, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 AM
3 comments
Monday, November 10, 2008
company wikis: document culture for employees past and present.
Ann Handley from Marketing Profs has a beautious blog post about some of the fantastic stuff that happens in life, that many of us take for granted. But that's not even the great part.
As in most of Ann's posts - the community is deep and the comments are insightful. There's a treasure in one particular comment from Mike Volpe at HubSpot. (Go here - and scroll down to his comment.)
Mike works in a company where they value their culture and work environment. They have fun goofing on and pranking their coworkers. (One prank even has it's own website, for germaphobe Jonah.) And they've setup a private COMPANY WIKI to document the company's culture.
This is GENIUS. Forget employee manuals. What new employees really need to know are the inside jokes, the internal lingo, and the history behind these important items. Like at our firm - why the corner bodega is called "triple B" instead of it's given name. Or where the Harry Dick building is (pictured above). Or the trillion other little things that make up a company's culture.
A wiki will also serve as a historical reference for those that have left the company. Wouldn't you love to have that for some of the places in your past?
Awesome goodness from a wonderful post. Thanks, Ann and Mike!
Labels: blogging, inspiration, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:15 AM
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