I didn’t campaign on a promise of “Change We Can Believe In” because, quite frankly, I think the organization has a pretty good thing going! As the incoming president of the American Advertising Federation-Central MN, I would like to speak to the benefits of being a board member, plain ol’ member who enjoys all of the AAF member benefits, and an active volunteer in my local club. The benefits and growth I have experienced from being involved are priceless. I have met people, prospective clients…who have in some instance became active clients, learned a ton from extraordinary luncheon speakers, mentored current students, networked with local pros, people from other states, clubs, and agencies and have had a ton of fun in the process.
The new President, Jennifer Keul
As plagiarized from the American Advertising Federation website:
The American Advertising Federation (AAF), acts as the “Unifying Voice for Advertising.” The AAF is the oldest national advertising trade association, representing 40,000 professionals in the advertising industry.
AAF Mission
The American Advertising Federation protects and promotes the well-being of advertising. We accomplish this through a unique, nationally coordinated grassroots network of advertisers, agencies, media companies, local advertising clubs and college chapters.
Here’s what the AAF does:
· Brings members together to yield creative business solutions.
· Protects and promotes advertising at all levels of government through grassroots activities.
· Educates members on the latest trends in technology, creativity and marketing.
· Provides programs to assist local association volunteer leadership.
· Presents the industry with its future leaders.
· Honors advertising excellence.
· Promotes diversity in advertising by encouraging the recruitment of people of diverse cultures.
· Applies the communication skills of its members to help solve community concerns.
· ADDY Awards – the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition.
And on a local level, being a member gets you:
· Discounts to AAF luncheons and events
· ADDY registration
· Opportunities to attend social events
· Exposure and access to local professionals in the industry
· Networking opportunities
· A ton of great benefits, such as discount pricing to Adweek, Advertising Age, Brandweek, AdCases.com, FedEx Shipping, Hertz rental, and MANY others.
You don’t all have to jump online and register to become a member of your local AAF Chapter (even though I would if I were you), but I do encourage you to give your support to a local organization that will be mutually beneficial.
The National Chamber Foundation (NCF) has partnered with the U.S. Chamber’s American Free Enterprise. Dream Big. campaign to spur the creation of 20 million jobs over the next decade – restoring the 7 million jobs lost to the current recession, and creating the 13 million new jobs that our growing nation will need in the next 10 years.
The states will play a pivotal role in achieving this goal by creating the conditions for competition, innovation, and productivity through investments in workforce development and training, science and technology, and infrastructure. Enterprise-friendly policies at the state level can facilitate local job growth by championing entrepreneurship and mobilizing effective partnerships for improving the conditions for business and job growth. states, working together with businesses, can bolster exports in global markets.
Enterprising States connects the success of free enterprise to our nation’s economy by correlating key policy inputs and best practices in state-driven economic development with job creation and other substantive economic outputs.
The report was prepared by Praxis Strategy Group and Joel Kotkin. Authors from the Praxis team include Delore Zimmerman, Mark Schill, Doug McDonald, Matthew Leiphon, and Dave Roby.
Welcome to another edition of 5 Question Friday! Today I sit down with Phil Hunt, Flint Communications Copywriter. We manage to discuss his work, what inspires him and the trials of writing music for his band. Happy viewing!
This is the story of a blog post that I wrote a while back, and 2 big takeaways for us all.
It is easy to put the blinders on and tell yourself that your content is reaching your audience because your blog had some views, the link in your tweet was clicked or your group has lots of followers. Purely looking at the numbers at a high level won’t really tell you what is going on. You need to dig deeper into what the numbers mean, and who is making up those numbers.
After watching the views rise quickly, I decided to compare the results. Here is what I found:
Views on the Flint-Group blog: About 200 Views on the Social Media Today blog: Over 3,200
Tweets from the Flint-Group blog: 2 Tweets from the Social Media Today blog: 82
Are you talking to yourself?
Purely looking at the high level numbers will also be deceiving in regards to “who” is reading your content. I work at an agency, and it is pretty typical for several co-workers to read my post after it has published. That’s great, but if your goal is reach and thought leadership, which will ultimately lead to new clients down the road, those internal views are essentially like talking to yourself. Removing your internal traffic from your analytics will tell the real story.
It’s not just blog posts though. The size of your Twitter following is sometimes used to measure the reach of your message. Quite often I hear people say something like “I can reach over 4,000 people through Twitter” because that is how many followers they have. Yes, you are posting it out to 4,000 people who have the opportunity to see your message, but how many of them are actually logged on to Twitter at the time of your post? Even if they are logged in, how many of your followers can keep up with every tweet that comes through? It is easy to get caught up in a dialog (Twitalog maybe?) and think that thousands of people are listening in, but the reality is, they just aren’t.
NOTE: If you are smart enough to make a tool that can tell how many of your followers actually were logged on to Twitter at the time of a tweet, or logged in after the fact and scrolled back to the tweet so it appeared on the screen, that would be helpful. Extra credit if the tool can actually guarantee that the tweet was read. GO! (and good luck)
When developing marketing communications plans and materials there is always the crucial “approval” phase where the decision is made to proceed. One significant challenge at this point is managing the personal subjectivity that tends creep in. Time and time again, great communications concepts and ideas are tossed aside based on personal choices, at times undermining the potential impact of a tactic helping achieve a communications objective. Some of these may sound familiar:
I talked to a few people around the office and some didn’t like it.
I had my spouse look at it and s/he didn’t like this part of it.
I showed my Dad/Mom/Grandparent and they don’t understand it.
“I” just don’t like it.
The issue with placing credence in the above objections is often times your “audience of one” is not a true representative sample of the target audience the communications is seeking to reach. Many factors are considered in plan, campaign and tactic development including demographics, interests, product use patterns and more. In order to get the best possible evaluation on your marketing communications concepts and ideas you’ll want feedback from a solid segment of your target audience.
Focus on your audience first. Here are some points to help guide you:
Don’t assume that your target audience uses communications tools the same way you do. For example, you may not use RSS feeds and feel the need to crush a concept using RSS, but your audience may find great value in it.
Sit on the other side of the table when evaluating. Try not to think of the concepts and ideas from a company standpoint. Think of the concepts from your audience member standpoint. Remember, in most cases you are not the target audience.
Stay away from people’s opinions other than your target audience. Unless your co-worker, parent, spouse or friend is solidly a part of your target audience, don’t seek their opinion as you will simply get a subjective, reactive response.
Find means to engage your audience in the approval process. Focus groups, panels, test markets and other means are available to find out the true response of your audience to certain concepts. And new digital tools are making this easier and faster than ever before.
Bottom-line: You may be close to the work and close to the market, but don’t assume that you will react the same way as your target audience. They are often more astute, connected and discriminatory than you might give them credit for. Make the most of your marketing communications by reaching out to your customers for involvement and approval early. The impact at launch time will be well worth the effort.
Have you ever been surprised by a customer unexpectedly liking something you didn’t? If so, please share. It’s always great to learn from others.
Kimberly Wold Janke sits down to talk about what brought her to Flint Communications, her educational background, and what keeps her ticking everyday. She shares insights about working with clients and balancing work time with family time.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems Action Summit # 4 The Next Evolution of AviationMay 20-21, 2010
Alerus Center
Grand Forks, ND
For more information and to register : ResearchCorridorSummit.com U.S. AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF TO KEYNOTE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT ACTION SUMMIT IN GRAND FORKS, N.D.U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, will deliver the keynote speech at the 2010 Red River Valley Research Corridor Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Action Summit on May 20 and 21, 2010, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D.“Our region has become a center of unmanned aviation activity with the Grand Forks Air Force Base, the Fargo Air National Guard, the Center for Aerospace Technology, and the Customs and Border Protection Service all operating unmanned aerial vehicles. The Grand Forks Air Force Base is also going to be home to both Predators and Global Hawks in the near future,” U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan said.“I am thrilled Gen. Schwartz is coming to Grand Forks, as we showcase the growing opportunities for UAS operations and education there,” Dorgan said. “Air Force innovations are driving the future of unmanned systems, and we’ve worked to lay the foundation for the Red River Valley to become a national hub for unmanned aircraft activity. It’s now time to build upon this foundation and expand these initiatives.
”Spotlight on Evolution of Research, Training, Deployment and employment at UAS Summit
Change is a constant on all sides of the UAS equation – whether for military, scientific, law enforcement or civilian applications. This year’s summit will focus on current initiatives and emerging trends in education, training, research, technology and business.
Special sessions will focus on the outlook for jobs and career opportunities.
Confirmed speakers include Peter La Franchi, Shepard Group Limited who will talk about Business Opportunities in North America and the World and then lead a discussion comprised of leaders in the industry.
Summit sessions will focus on the future of UAS in the 21s century, airspace integration and building a regional UAS industry.
Summit Sponsorship/Exhibitor Opportunities Put You on the Radar Screen
The UAS Action Summit in 2009 was a huge success with over 300 experts, policymakers, industry leaders, technology innovators, and regional business leaders from 21 states in attendance. This year’s summit is shaping up to be an even bigger, more exciting event as North Dakota is poised to become a leading hub of UAS activity in the United States.
Registration is available online at researchcorridorsummit.com. Early bird registration for the summit is $175, which includes meals, materials and the networking social. The registration fee goes to $225 on May 5th, so register early. Student registration is free.
The Alerus Center is connected to Canad Inns Destination Center. Call (701) 772-8404 to make your room reservation. You can also register online at canadinns.com/stay/grandforks.php .
Don’t Miss Thunder Over the Red River: 2010 Grand Forks Air Force Base Air Show Saturday May 22nd
The 391th Air Refueling Wing is hosting their first airshow since 2006 at the Grand Forks AFB. This event will feature unmanned aircraft demonstration flights along with the USAF Thunderbirds, the U.S. Army Black Daggers Parachute Team, the US Navy F/A -18C Hornet demo and many others. For more info go to grandforks.schultzairshows.com/
Register now for the Research Corridor’s UAS Action Summit at researchcorridorsummit.com. Registration is $175 until May 5th. Students are free.
Dr. Delore Zimmerman, President and CEO of Praxis Strategy Group in Grand Forks and Fargo, N.D. with affiliate offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento, California and Accra, Ghana, West Africa, has served as the Coordinator of the Red River Valley Research Corridor since 2004. Praxis has been awarded 9 Small Business Innovation Research Awards.
As mobility and the speed and availability of connectivity continue to increase, local search is becoming much easier and much more efficient to accomplish online, rather than having to sift through the yellow or white pages. Besides that, they are adding value to their services through partnerships, user reviews and ratings, and more.
So is the Phonebook dead or nearing its death? What online services do you get the best return from? Please leave your comments below or on our Facebook page.
Welcome to another edition of 5 Question Friday! Today I sit down with Ken Zakovich, WestmorelandFlint Creative Director, to discuss brands that inspire him, the creative process, keeping up with changes in the advertising world and life outside of work including birding and playing guitar. Enjoy!
Grand Forks, ND (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 16, 2010 — A public policy news and information website published by Praxis Strategy Group of Grand Forks, N.D., has been named as a top site for 2010.
Planetizen, recognized as one of the world’s most popular urban planning websites, included newgeography.com on its 2010 list of the best planning, design and development websites for 2010. The sites named to the annual list are said to represent some of the top online resources for those interested in planning, design and development.
Websites are nominated by Planetizen readers and staff and judged against a common set of criteria including content, design and usability.
In citing NewGeography.com, judges commended its fair and balanced content, even though it sometimes goes against the grain of popular thinking among planners: “It was inevitable that certain voices that reject the current belief system of urban planning – people like Wendell Cox, Joel Kotkin, and Michael Lind – would band together. What wasn’t inevitable is that their collaboration would be readable, fair, and dare we say, balanced. With a bent towards the libertarian, Kotkin and crew cover urban issues, housing, politics and the suburbs with a hefty dose of demographics and GIS maps.”
Launched in 2008, NewGeography.com includes analysis and commentary on economic development, demographics, economics, politics and other public policy issues. It features writing and research from authors across the U.S., Europe, China and New Zealand and publishes an annual “Best Cities for Job Growth” in partnership with Forbes.com.
The professionals at HatlingFlint are always hungry for new marketing trends, techniques or hot topics that we can share with friends and clients. Watch for a regular stream of insightful information – or join in the conversation.
When developing marketing communications plans and materials there is always the crucial “approval” phase where the decision is made to proceed. One significant challenge at this point is managing the personal subjectivity that tends creep in. Time and time again, great communications concepts and ideas are tossed aside based on personal choices, at times undermining the potential impact of a tactic helping achieve a communications objective. Some of these may sound familiar:
