Well, today is my last day at Cre8tive Group. 18 months ago I was presented w/ an opportunity to choose between staying in big business Corporate America or jumping to a small business and now I know I made the right decision.
Not only do small businesses dominate the economy and the job market, there is almost unlimited room for growth and professional development opportunities that are simply not available to most employees in a Fortune 500 organization. That said, I also learned a tremendous amount during my days in Corporate America, but I believe I’ve found my heart in small business. And that comes in no small part from Cre8tive Group. It is with both anticipation and sadness that I move into the next phase of my career. I will truly miss the people (and clients) of Cre8tive Group. They are a wonderful, caring group that has meant a lot to me over the years. The growth over the last few quarters is only one indication of the great things to come for Cre8tive.
So, it is with great joy that I announce that I’m joining EOP Architects as their Director of Marketing. This firm is widely considered to be the best design-focused firm in the area. They design and build some of the most inspiring structures around and I’m proud to bring my marketing and branding expertise to bear on their behalf. I honestly believe that once more people are aware and turned on to what EOP is capable of, explosive growth is will be inevitable. The partners are great and I cannot wait to meet and learn more about the staff.
This blog will remain the same. I have not been able to devote as much time to it as I’d like recently. But I do hope to be able to continue to provide practical results-oriented marketing commentary. Blogging has developed into one of my passions and I’ve met some wonderful people online. I hope to to use this as a platform to document and transfer practical marketing knowledge as I apply it w/ EOP.
So, I’ll probably add an “Architecture” category as I learn more about the space. Like most design people, I’m intrigued by architecture and I believe that it is one of the few design disciplines that truly has the ability to shape culture and make a direct impact on society.
I’m excited about this new opportunity and hope you are as well. And lastly, I have to thank Dr. Seuss for one of the best motivational and inspiring books I’ve ever read (note the title of this post). “Oh the Place You’ll Go” has always been a guiding force for me - and I’m reading it to my daughter almost nightly hoping that that the positivity and reality will set deeply within her.
So with that, I’m off to EOP. Talk to you soon.
Hugh and I must be working through similar thoughts…. Two days in a row.
When I started blogging a year and a half ago, one of the goals I set for myself was to be nominated for one of the blog awards. I was delightfully surprised when I was checking my email this week to find that I’d been nominated for Best Marketing Blog, Best Design, and Best Blog Host (not entirely sure what that one means to be honest). So, a minor goal - but a goal accomplished none the least.
I really do appreciate the comments and emails generated by this blog. It has developed into more than I could ever imagine. And so, to you the readers, I say thanks. I hope to commit more time to writing in the near future. There have been some professional developments on my end that I think you’ll enjoying hearing about.
PS. and yes, I did have to vote for myself. Hey you never know, it may come down to that one vote. Remember Florida???? I hope we can keep the digital “chads” to a minimum.
Drew McLellan of the marketing minute asked me to submit a few words to college grads reading his blog. He has a long fruitful list of advice from bloggers on what to expect in the real world. I submitted my thoughts, and hope you do the same.
Keep up the good work Drew!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone reading. I hope your time off work is refreshing and beneficial. And I hope that 2007 is your best year yet.
I wanted to let you guys know that our son came through his heart surgery great yesterday. I’m keeping another blog for updates on him. You can find out more at: riceplayground.com
Thank you for all of your prayers and support. He’ll need a few more to come through the recovery process. It’s going to take a while. But once he’s well, there should be no side effects or long term issues.
We’ve had good news and bad news in the family. First off, my wife and I welcomed a new baby boy into the family on Oct. 10. The bad news is that he was born with a heart defect and is waiting for surgery to repair it. It’s a very fixable condition with little to no side effects after he makes it through the surgery.
For those of you that are medically-inclined, he has Transposition of the Great Arteries - not a walk in the park but a common heart condition. We are at the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital and are very impressed with the staff here. They are wonderful and are some of the best in this business.
So please keep him (and us) in your thoughts and prayers for the next few weeks.
We just want to get our little guy home safe and sound.
In a great many ways, Calvin & Hobbes is responsible for my creative thinking; so I just had to include this…
Calvin & Hobbes ran from 1985 to 1995. They are my favorite comic–by far. Bill Watterson drew thousands of strips, and while I wish that he would come back and draw more, it’s probably best to reflect and be thankful for what he’s done. Below we have showcased, in no particular order, some of our favorite Calvin & Hobbes strips of all time.
read full story | digg story
It didn’t take long to tire of the standard Blogger templates; so I’m trying out a new look & feel.
I’m still tweaking the final design, but let me know what you think so far.
technorati tags: new design, blog, blogger, templates, opinions
From forty media…
1. The Handshake of Synergy: You’ve made the sale and closed the deal. They can’t back out now—you shook on it!
2. The Flirty Customer Service Gal: Operators are standing by to take your call…and your heart.
See the rest…
So please, stay away from these worn out clichés. First off, no one looks like these people. How do you expect your audience to identify with you when you only use 25 year old supermodels in your advertising? Your customers are sick of it. It just shows how little you understand your customers.
Not that you have to spend mega-bucks on a custom photo-shoot; just put a little more thought and consideration into creating your marketing materials. As humans, we’re trained to only notice things that are different - things that stand out. If you put this level of effort into creating your collateral, you disrespect your customers and automatically lump yourself with every other business that thinks of marketing as an afterthought. Those businesses tend to focus more on their own products and services than how those products benefit their customers. No one cares about your product. People only care about meeting their needs and desires.
