hot to be a superstar
Advergirl has a sweet series of posts all about improving your career in the advertising industry. Most would apply to any industry - so pass them along to your friends.
Start at Advice for Newbies, or Advertising agency interview tips, or explore around on your own. And you don't have to be a girl to get in on the learning. Seriously great advice for any knowledge workers: man, woman, or elf.
My fave: Be as valuable your fifth year as your first year.
Labels: adindustry, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
everything you ever needed to know about moleskines
Love Moleskine notebooks? As much as us? Want to try and bring them into your life? Wondering if you're addicted to them? Check out The Ultimate Guide to everything Moleskine.
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:21 AM
1 comments
no really, i'm working.
If you use Facebook for business and pleasure (it's like a good mullet - business in the front, and party in the back), then you're going to love the new Get Stuff Done application for Facebook.
Organize, create lists, share files - this is one of the most robust applications that I've ever seen on Facebook. They've actually thought out how you might use Facebook as a project planner - and by the looks of it, supplied everything you need to get started. See a detailed overview on 5ThirtyOne. So, what are you waiting for?
Labels: facebook, productivity, social media, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
3 comments
people don't understand your emails
As an experiment in productivity, I've recently given up answering my phone. I'll take scheduled calls (and of course, conference calls), but don't pick up the phone randomly anymore. It's cool, because I"m staying on task, and really being more productive. Really.
But this new study shows how misunderstood emails can be. And how clear a phone call can be. Damn. Productivity foiled again.
Labels: productivity, trends, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:13 AM
0 comments
sched.org: people really dig this
Some are saying that the big hit to come out of SXSW this year is Sched.org. You can view the schedule I attempted to stick to here.
People used it to get a feel for what was happening at the conference, to see what their friends might be doing, and to keep track of where they were supposed to be going. It exports to your iPhone, and so much more. I saw it open on countless laptops while at the conference.
Made by Chirag Mehta and Taylor McKnight, this is certainly a tool that has some wonderful opportunities - and at the very least, should be a part of every future conference.
Labels: productivity, social media, sxsw, tradeshow, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:28 AM
0 comments
never let a meeting run over, again.
This is a blog has discovered the secret to corporate productivity. And it doesn't involve lighting the conference room on fire. Or duct taping anyone's mouth shut. (Although, those would be very good, in some companies.)
Introducing the TaskWatch. A whiteboard with a clock built into it. You can schedule an agenda around a clock that's in everyone's view.
They should have wall sized versions of these installed across the corporate world. Like world leaders should band together today, and require it. The end of senselessly long meetings. Thanks for saving the world, This is a blog!!
Labels: productivity, technology, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:54 AM
0 comments
how to give yourself the power of ten people
Feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day? Like sleep is getting in your way? Chris Brogan has the most excellent post on scaling yourself. To do more, be more and enjoy more. Really, really good read.
You'll have to find the six million dollar man leisure suit on your own.
Labels: productivity, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
2 comments
more cool work environments for your office envy
We love other people's offices. We're in the midst of our own addition/renovation at Plaid, and love checking out other people's cool spaces.
I've posted before about This Ain't No Disco and you've probably seen the Cool Hunter post that made its rounds. Now Core 77 has just discovered an awesome blog devoted to cool commercial interiors. They've even featured a bunch of your favorite web 2.0 offices. Nice.
Labels: architecture, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
two new habits to form in 2008
Happy New Year to all of our clients, friends and BrandFlakes readers!
The new year is the perfect time to form new habits and routines. I visit a lot of clients and brands across the country, and am always surprised at how many marketing folk still aren't using RSS to read their blogs, and are still a flutter about Twitter. If you fall into this category, I'm begging you to explore. Start now, with two easy resolutions:
1. Use an RSS reader. If you don't know where to start, Google's reader is awesome and easy. You'll be up and reading in minutes. Add blogs frequently. Whenever you come across something you like. You'll be amazed at how quickly you can read a HUNDRED blogs.
2. Start a Twitter account. You don't even have to Tweet. Not at all. But follow some other people who do. You can start with the NY Times, or Techmeme. Look at other people in the industry, and who they follow. (Look me up, too!) And now, check your Twitter feed a few times a day. I guarantee you'll be more informed.
Here's to more information, more fun, and more social/marketing/branding/design goodness for 2008!!
Labels: productivity, rss, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
4 comments
some other people's top 2007 lists
We're far too lazy to create a BrandFlakesForBreakfast top list of 2007. We're still technically, on vacation, after all.
But we have bookmarked some other people's lists, for you. We've culled through the crap, so that you don't have to. Here's a couple of worthwhile 2007 Best of/Top Ten lists for you:
Best of Zen Habits in 2007
Top NYC stories of 2007.
Top Ten innovation mistakes. This is a good one.
Best Internet Marketing Blog posts of 2007. Another really good one.
Top Albums of 2007. (I know this is a polarizing subject - so I just took the laziest approach. Cool Hunting's list was the first in my RSS. So I now declare that one the best.)
Top Ten Ways to use Twitter.
The WTF moment of 2007.
And, while I could care less about football, and didn't even enjoy the Twitters of the Patriots game, here's a Top 10 list for the Giants fans.
And last but not least, LifeHacker's list of top 2007 lists.
Happy New Year to all of the Brand Flakes readers around the globe. May your year be filled with BrandFlakes deliciousness!
Labels: holiday, newyork, productivity, social media, twitter, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:12 AM
0 comments
how to be creative while surrounded by december stress.
All of your projects are due in just three weeks. It's all got to be done before the holidays. And the family stuff. And the Xmas shopping. And your boss expects breakthrough creative.
Take a deep breath, and bookmark this sweet advice on maximizing creativity from LifeClever. SERIOUSLY. This is outstanding advice.
(The Cherry Chocolate Rain video is for your enjoyment only. Has really nothing to do with this post.)
Labels: adindustry, creativeinspiration, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
1 comments
present like a superstar. be like an actor.
Here's some outstanding advice on presentations. From Darren Barefoot. A writer, technologist, marketer and actor. If you're really serious, maybe you could dress in some Shakespearean garb. Your boss will dig that.
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:46 AM
0 comments
why that programming dude is ignoring you
Here's a really cool essay titled The Nerd Handbook, that may shed some light on what's going through that massive brain of your co-worker, the coder.
Labels: productivity, right-brain, webdev, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
delicious office space
As we prepare for adding some additional space to our agency, this post on SwissMiss feels extra delicious. Imagine spending your day in a cupcake? Sweet. For real.
Labels: creativeinspiration, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM
0 comments
IT: let your employees on facebook.
These kinds of stories make me sick.
Where's My Jetpack writes about his recent experience at a gig within an in-house creative agency in a large corporation. Their management/IT department has blocked employees from seeing many sites. To 'protect' them, and 'keep them productive.' As if they were pets.
I constantly meet with clients who can't see their own videos on YouTube, can't create Facebook profiles, can't see what the competition's doing, and can't see what's going on in the marketplace.
Yet, they're expected to generate marketing and brand campaigns that will connect with this world that they're not allowed to experience.
How about we just trust our employees? How about we give them access to tools that let them do a better job? How about we let them connect with the real world? And hold them accountable for performance, rather than their web surfing history?
(The pelvic thrust video is for those of us that enjoy internet freedom. Isn't it great?)
Labels: branding, facebook, marketing, productivity, social media, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
2 comments
stand up and rejoice! google added a presentation app
Now, you'll never have to attach a PowerPoint deck to an email ever again. Can't wait to dig into this. Google just added a presentation application to their suite of Google docs. Mmmmmm. Google.
Labels: google, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
other people's desktops
I love seeing how other people work. When I visit friends and clients, I always love hearing about new tools or techniques that they use for productivity. And to see their desktops. Both real and virtual.
Lifehacker has a sweet couple of posts showing (and detailing) other people's desktops. They even show some desktops using that older, archaic operating system - Windows. ;-) Really cool.
Labels: mac, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
0 comments
everyone else is doing it.
You're not alone. Even your boss does it. Turns out that nearly a quarter of all white collar workers are playing internet games on the job. "Improving their mental state." Hehe.
Labels: adindustry, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
0 comments
can we all just bring laptops to meetings?
Swissmiss points to an interesting NY Times article, and asks "are you using your laptop in meetings?"
What a conundrum. In every meeting that I attend, I always wish that it were more appropriate to use my laptop for notes. Because our project management system is web-based, it would even be more efficient.
Yet, if it's my meeting, and other people have their laptops open, I feel like they're not focused. Which, is usually a ridiculous thought, in this hyper multi-tasking industry.
What about you?
(photo: Peter Yates for the NY Times)
Labels: productivity, technology, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 AM
2 comments
pixel pop culture for your ppt pies
Anil Dash reports on the latest trend in info graphics: pixels. Pixels have become so much a part of our culture, that they'll look and feel great in your PowerPoint. Pie charts are for dorks. All the cool people are using pixels.
Labels: illustration, marketing, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:16 AM
0 comments
storyboards: the new powerpoint
I'll look for any excuse NOT to use PowerPoint for a presentation. We promise our clients "no fat decks" and do our best to keep to that.
So how cool that people are now using storyboards as presentation tools. From Micropersuation.
Labels: creativeinspiration, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:03 AM
0 comments
how to clear your inbox
Whoah. I could benefit from this policy about responding to emails, while on the Plaid tour. The inbox is building, and hours are slipping away.
So here's how you eliminate inbox overflow, and stay productive. The email secret. Sweet advice, found by Jack, via Twitter.
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:33 AM
0 comments
what you can learn from steve jobs' presentation
Business Week has a fantastic article on what made Steve Jobs' iPhone presentation so brilliant. Too lazy to click through? Not willing to sacrifice YouTube time for reading time? Here's the five key points:
1. Build Tension
2. Stick to One Theme Per Slide
3. Add Pizzazz to Your Delivery
4. Practice
5. Be Honest and Show Enthusiasm
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
prove to yourself that you're wasting time
Swiss Miss points to a really cool utility called Slife that tracks everything you do each day, and gives you a handy chart that you can analyze. And learn how many hours you spend working on productive things.
This actually seems like a really good idea. I haven't tried it yet, because I'm too busy working.
Labels: productivity, technology, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM
2 comments
common powerpoint mistakes
Bad Powerpoint is so common, that it's fodder for an excellent comedy routine. From ToddAnd.
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:20 AM
0 comments
have you failed today?
You've read it a thousand times. To succeed, you need to fail. Especially in our business. Here's yet another great post about how it's ok to fail. And how your success depends on it.
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM
0 comments
hiring in the internet age
This is a weekly simultaneous post featured on Brand Flakes for Breakfast AND the SmartBiz SmartBlog. The posts are geared toward small business.
We just completed a new hire at our firm, and we haven't even met the new employee yet.
There's a lot of press out there about the dangers of the internet as it relates to employees. "What if your employer finds your MySpace page?" But what about the employer side? As it turns out, using new internet tools for hiring employees can be amazingly productive. We just completed a new hire at our firm - and we haven't even met the candidate in person. We'll shake hands for the first time on his first day. Here's how the internet helped us find the perfect fit in a new employee:
The potential employee pool is now international. As a small business owner, it's a great feeling to get a resume from Iran. We're instantly international. By placing an ad online, you'll increased your potential market a thousand fold. In the old days, the local classifieds were your only tool. Maybe you'd spring for a more expensive ad in a bigger paper, like the New York Times. With ads online, you're reaching a worldwide audience in one fell swoop.
Results are immediate. In the old days, resumes (on paper) would begin to roll into the mailbox about five days after the first ad hit. Today, resumes begin hitting the inbox seconds after the ad is published. This has cut the timeline for screening potential candidates dramatically. For a recent position at our firm, we received hundreds of resumes from across the globe. And only two of them came in the mail.
Interviews. Not just for the boardroom anymore. Our first interview with Rob, our newest hire, didn't take place in my office. Or our boardroom. Or even our building. He was sitting at home in front of his computer, and I in front of my laptop. We used the popular iChat feature now standard on the new Mac products. Our first interview was done through a video chat window. When he became a finalist for the position, we interviewed Rob again, this time with a larger group of people on our side. But again with an iChat camera. Rob interviewed twice at our firm, and never left his house. I've even heard of firms using Second Life in the same way - but you lose the non-verbal part of the interview, which of course, is extremely important to the process.
Learn more. We hear of the horror stories of an employer finding pictures from a drunken frat party, on sensational news reports everyday. But photo collections can also be a fantastic way to learn more about a potential employee, or for the employee to learn about the company. It turns out that both Rob and our firm have Flickr photo sets. So before Rob ever sent his resume, he had a pretty good idea of what life was like as a member of our team. Because he's shared some of the high moments, through our photo collection. He's even seen our offices. At the same time, when we wanted to get to know Rob better, he shared his Flickr photo set. You learn a lot about a person (or a company) when looking through their photos.
Certainly, this isn't something that every employee would be comfortable with - but in our business, we work closely together. We know our co-workers better than some of our family members. Rob picked up on this, and was eager to share his photos. This was probably a key factor in his hiring decision - as it took away potential doubts about the unknown. "What if he's an axe murderer, that eats little children?" We're pretty sure that's not the case, after getting a picture of Rob's personal life. (Pretty sure, anyway.)
Save the details for email. When it was time to make an offer, we laid out all of the details in an email. No potential mis-understandings. Everything in black and white. Both parties knew exactly what was on the table. Email is awesome for detailing the nitty gritty specifications of money, benefits, and company policies. We made our offer to Rob via email. We didn't play phone tag for two days, but instead laid everything on the table, so that he could respond on his own schedule. (Turns out, he accepted the same day.)
So we're about to meet Rob for the first time in person. And yet, I feel like we already know him. Welcome to hiring in the internet age. Isn't it wonderful?
Labels: productivity, smartbiz, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
1 comments
while you were sleeping...
Google got better. Like they do every day. They've introduced iGoogle, and a host of new personalization products. Read about personalization on Google Blogoscoped, and how the power users are the only ones that really want it on Micro Persuasion. Love Google.
Labels: productivity, technology, trends, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
past, present, future. where are you?
Brain Fuel offers some outstanding advice for productivity:
"Assign a % to each that you are focused on, on an average day."
Then, set goals. For instance, maybe you want to spend 40% of your time on the future, 50% on the present, and 10% on the past. My 10% of the past would be spent watching Gilligan's Island reruns. But you could probably do better than that.
Labels: productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:04 AM
0 comments
youtube hack for today
It's Friday. You've watched the clip of tapeface 36 times. You really want to save it to your hard drive, so that you can watch it forever and ever.
Knufflebunneh points out a cool YouTube hack that makes it all possible. Just add the word 'kiss' in front of the YouTube video url ( e.g http://www.KISSyoutube.com/watch?v=fwFBoxpg5QA) and you're taken right to the download screen. So much for productivity.
Labels: hacks, productivity, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
how we wasted billable hours yesterday
It all started with Dave. He stumbled onto the link for this new M&M's dark game, and innocently sent it around the office. Before you know it, we're all doing our best to identify the 50 dark films. Instead of billing hours or meeting deadlines. Clues are flying around the office, and there's a race to identify them all. Dave won. Cuz he's down with the darkness.
Labels: productivity, viral, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM
1 comments
a moleskin pda
Creating Passionate Users posts on pretty cool system for using your moleskin as a PDA. I really want to give this a shot.
Working in this industry has given me a passion for paper. And I love the emotional appeal and texture that a moleskin gives, when held in your hands. But I'm also totally addicted to technology, gadgets and the internet, and have this commitment problem when it comes to paper. Anyone using this system?
Labels: creativeinspiration, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:17 AM
1 comments
burn your suit(s)
Mark Cuban is my new hero for today. Mark Cuban doesn't wear a suit. And he can't figure out why anyone does. An excerpt from his post:
If you are a CEO , are there not better things your employees could spend money on than multiple suits, ties, dress shirts, dress shoes, dress socks, dry cleaning, and all the other associated costs ? Gee, no suits would be the same as giving your employees a tax free raise. Think that might make them happy ? Or do employees consider having to spend money on suits a perk ?
I'm the same way with jeans. I'll look for any excuse to wear jeans every day. Today I've got a new client meeting and an anniversary party for a non-profit. I'll be wearing jeans to both.
But I think I like Mark Cuban's philosophy most because I look silly in a suit. Pretty much like a little kid dressed up to go to someone's bar mitzvah.
But if you look really good in a suit, and want to buy the one pictured above, here's the details, from GQ magazine:
Suit, $283, by Perry Ellis. Shirt, $325, by Michael Bastian. Tie, $145, by Jil Sander. Shoes, $595, by J.M. Weston.
Mark Cuban post found at Signal vs. Noise.
Labels: fashion, productivity, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:24 AM
1 comments
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