Cowbell in the air?

In addition to working diligently to maximize revenue for my employer, I was talking with one of my coworkers yesterday about Cowbell.  Specifically MORE COWBELL.  We were laughing out loud about the April 2000 SNL skit about Blue Oyster Cult featuring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken.  I can not believe that skit is 7 years old now.  Coincidentally,  another friend, whom I have not heard from in quite some time, sent me a link last night to Google Video featuring - you guessed it - more cowbell.  If you have never seen this video, check it out.  If you have seen it, check it out again.  Hilarious.   The best part is about 3/4 of the way through where everyone except Ferrell and Walken lose it, and try not to bust out in complete laughter.  “I’ve got a fever, and the only remedy is more cowbell.”  Something must have been in the Ohio air yesterday that screamed cowbell.  Actually, it probably was cowbells.   Thanks for the link D.

SNL - More Cowbell! - Google Video

20 Something Sales Rep

A good friend of mine who shall be identified only as K Lew, recently started a blog called 20 Something Sales Rep. He is still feeling out the blogosphere, aren’t we all, but already his post are great. He has a candid take on the world that is honest, educated, and humorous all that the same time. If you are looking for an interesting point of view, I suggest checking out his site. I have placed a permanent link to it in the blogroll. Nice work K Lew. Keep posting.

As for the post below, check out his take on the newly branded Jeff Schmidt Cadillac. My question is are they going to use that guy that yells at you to “Get in here” to sell Cadillacs? (Dayton thing) Should be interesting. Great take K.

20 Something Sales Rep: Jeff Schmidt Cadillac

The KR 500

Kenton Ridge High School has always been a hotbed of baseball talent.  The small school just north of Springfield, Ohio has turned out 3 major league starting pitchers over the past 2 decades - Dave Burba, Dustin Hermanson, and Rick White - and is always a contender to win their league.   One constant over the years at KR has been the presence of head coach, Tom Randall, whom I have known since I was a child.  I was proud and happy to learn that perhaps as soon as today, Tom will chalk up his 500th win as head coach of the Cougars.  I would like to extend my congratulations to Tom, and the KR Baseball Cougars past and present in reaching this milestone.  While I never played ball for Tom, opting instead to play what he jokingly described as the communist sport of soccer, I always held a deep respect for the passion with which he approached and coached baseball.  Good luck in getting win 500 Boo-Boo.  If you play for Tom or currently attend KR, I would not advise you to call him that.  In fact, I still half expect to get a detention for it.  Congrats Tom… uh I mean Coach Randall.

Randall gets 499 in season opener

Tribal Knowledge Coming to Dayton

John Moore, author of Tribal Knowledge, and owner of the wonderful blog Brand Autopsy is coming to Dayton, Ohio to speak to the American Marketing Association on April 11th, 2007. If you are in marketing, think you might like to be in marketing, want to learn about marketing, or wonder how your business should approach marketing, you should attend. This guy has an amazing history and a refreshing point of view. He has worked for Starbucks and Whole Foods, and is a huge proponent of Word of Mouth Marketing. By Word of Mouth Marketing I mean genuine, organic word of mouth delivered to the world by customer evangelists. It is the best 25 or 35 bucks you will spend this year - and you’ll even get a rubbery chicken lunch at the Schuster. I kid because I love - the food there is actually pretty good. I will continue to post more details on it as the event approached, but registration is open. I hope to see you there.

Brand Autopsy | Backgrounder, Services, Presentations, Blog

Our Place is a Cool Space

Bill Pote is the organizer of a great local site called Dayton Most Metro. The site is full of Dayton related content, with sections devoted to local entertainment, businesses, real estate, news, and more. I recently discovered it and promptly placed a link to it on my Squidoo lens, Dayton Marketing Community. Well lo and behold, today Hafenbrack Marketing turned up on Bill’s site. Bill maintains a weblog as part of the Dayton Most Metro site, and wrote a post about “Cool Spaces” in Dayton. The post discussed a project in Pittsburgh that helps businesses find cool places in the city to call home. Well, Bill was kind enough to use us as an example of a “Cool Space” in Dayton, and I would like to thank him for the link love. We are certainly delighted with the decision to move to the Kuhn’s Building in Downtown Dayton. It is a beautiful place, rich in history and full of unique features. If you ever want to come check it out, let us know. We always love to show people our digs, and we are proud to be downtown. Thanks for the kind words. Check out Bill’s site at http://www.Dayton.MostMetro.com

Check us out at www.Hafenbrack.com or to see some pics of the place just go here. The pictures are from just after our move, so we have done a great deal more decorating since then, including putting all the moving boxes away. Enjoy!

Dayton MostMetro.com - Dayton Topics

Why Dayton Marketing Community on Squidoo?

In addition to maintaining this site, voice, I also maintain a site on Squidoo.com called Dayton Marketing Community. The site is designed to serve as a resource for Marketing Professionals in the Dayton, Ohio area. It has job postings that are updated every 1/2 hour, a calendar of events featuring the latest happenings around town, local business news from the Dayton Business Journal and the Dayton Daily News, and a variety of links to other employment, networking, and professional sites. The site is very easy to find. Simply type the words “Dayton Marketing” into Google and there I am - or at least there I should be. Pretty cool eh?

When I tell people about the site I often get the question “Why did you put it together?”

Well, there are several reasons behind the creation of Dayton Marketing Community, many of which I will share with you in this post.

First, as someone who has been forced to look for employment a few times in the last few years, I know how hard it can be to simply find job postings. When I was looking, I found myself saying “I wish there was one site I could go to and find everything that is out there.” So, when Squidoo came along, I thought to myself, here is a way to make that happen. Certainly I don’t claim to have everything that is posted out there, but I can promise you a great place to start. With links to sites like simplyhired.com, emurse.com, jobster.com, creativehotlist.com as well as the usual suspects, the site serves as a good home base for finding employment.

Next, as I was interviewing and searching I began to better understand the power of networking. I found myself searching high and low for professional events where I could build my network, but discovered that it was really difficult to find much of what was happening around town. Thus the Dayton Marketing Community Calendar made it possible for me to aggregate events like local chamber functions, AMA, Ad Club, PRSA, IABC, and the litany of other groups that meet into one simple place. Now when I plan my week, I look at my appointments, find holes in my calendar, and fill them with networking events by simply checking the calendar. Just that easy.

The next benefit I discovered is directly related to the last one. Something else I learned was that the more new people that attend the events I attend, the more value for me to attend the event. I am going there to meet people and build my network, so by making it easy to find out what is going on in town, not only is it easier for me to attend, it is easier for others to do the same. I would not be so bold as to say that my calendar is the focal point of people seeking out events around town, but it is a start. I have referred several local professionals to the site, and occasionally someone will contact me with a note of thanks - a new connection.

Finally, at least for this post, the site has helped me to become more connected with the community in which I live. By knowing more about what is happening, I am better equipped to contribute professionally and personally to my community. The site has let me know who is hiring, who is making news, what group is involved in what cause and how effectively they operate.

Should you be someone in the field of marketing, living in or around Dayton, Ohio, I hope you will give the site a look. As always constructive feedback is welcomed.

Dayton Marketing Community on Squidoo

Google Bus Stop - Themes

While scrolling through Lifehacker today, I came across this post about a fun new addition to the Personalized Google Homepage - Themes.    Google is now offering 6 customized themes that you can apply to dress up your version of Google.  While they are not earth shattering designs, they are a fun way to liven up your Google experience.  I chose to use a theme with a scene from a bus stop.  The background will automatically update itself to match the weather in your zip code, which I thought was an interesting touch.  For those of you who like the Personalized Google Homepage, this is worth a look.

As I scrolled further down through Lifehacker, I discovered something else cool for the Google Home Page.  A live television gadget.  While this will certainly not improve my productivity, it is really cool.  There are a wide range of channels that you can choose from and view right there on your desktop.   Perfect for when “something is happening” and you have an immediate need to get the latest from your old friend television.   Use with caution.

Thanks to Lifehacker for the tips.

Customize your Google homepage with themes - Lifehacker

“Hey, don’t you write a blog called Voice?”

This is a story of one of the strangest, and most enjoyable, things to happen to me in quite some time - and it happened today. This morning I had the delight of hearing Rashad Young address the Dayton Chamber. The event was literally standing room only, as the room was filled with local business leaders, reporters, government officials, and various business professionals.

Mr. Young delivered a great speech. He outlined his plans for the future economic development of the City of Dayton, and exhibited a warmth and enthusiasm that resonated throughout the crowd. I am proud to be nearing completion of the same MBA program at UD, that helped to shape his intellectual vision. He has certainly done those of us trying to follow in his footsteps a great service. Following the meeting, I got to speak with him briefly - again I was very impressed. He was as personable and approachable in a 1 on 1 conversation as he was captivating in addressing the crowd at large. It was a pleasure.

Still all this is just the into to the real story I want to tell you about. Here goes:

So I was leaving the meeting, standing by myself outside the elevators at the Kettering Tower, when who should come up but none other than Mayor Rhine McLin, accompanied by Commissioner Nan Whaley. We all stepped onto the elevator and headed down from the 29th floor. As we were riding down, the Mayor introduced herself to me, as did Commissioner Whaley. They were both extremely friendly, and invited me to come to Riverscape for an upcoming Kayaking event. As we exited the elevator, I introduced myself to the Mayor, and thanked her for attending the Hafenbrack Marketing open house. She said how much she loved the place, and how much she appreciated the invite. All nice stuff, but it gets better - I promise.

So, as I tell the mayor my name, commissioner Whaley spoke up and said “Hey, don’t you write a blog?” “It’s called Voice, right?” I replied with a perplexed “uuuh, yeah,” trying to remember if I had somehow written something that might have offended her, which fortunately I had not. She responded to my dumbfounded response with an exuberant “I love your site, and read it every chance I get.” I thanked her, exchanged business cards, and we soon went our separate ways. Still, to say that I was stunned would be a huge understatement. I had to take a second to believe what had just happened. A complete stranger to me, who happens to be a city commissioner, recognized me from my blog. A blog that does not even prominently feature my name or picture, and rarely discusses politics. “What?” I must admit that it made my morning. It is little things like this that happen because of the web, and little things like this that remind me why I even have a blog.

I would like to thank Rashad Young for his message of hope, Mayor McLin for her politeness and kindness, and especially commissioner Nan Whaley for reading my blog, recognizing me, and caring enough to encourage me to keep on writing. Your voices inspire mine.

RashadYoung-Webbio.pdf application/pdf Object

Want to Expand Your Network? Look in to LinkedIn.com

When you think of networking and the web, social sites like Friendstr, Facebook, and MySpace probably come to mind. These sites tend to cater to teens and twenty-somethings looking to make friends and simply have fun on the net. They are all about connecting and building a network, but not really in a professional sense. So where does a young (or old) professional turn to leverage the web for networking? Try LinkedIn.com.

I began using LinkedIn a few months ago following an invitation I received to join a former colleague’s LinkedIn network. I signed up not really knowing what the tool was all about. Several month later, I have begun to utilize the site as a powerful tool for building business. The ability to search for contacts, keep information current, and share information with others all combine to make LinkedIn.com something worth using to build your business.

As an Account Executive, I am expected to generate new business for my employer. LinkedIn has helped make this task much less painful. Rather than having to blindly cold call on a new prospect, I can start by doing some research on LinkedIn. Living in Dayton, there is a pretty good chance that I know someone who knows someone who works at the company I am targeting. I can then contact my connection and learn more information or even ask for a personal introduction - thus taking a lot of the “Cold” out of the cold call, and dramatically improving my chances of success.

LinkedIn is also great because I can also keep track of people I know. If someone changes positions or companies, they simply need to update their LinkedIn profile and everyone in their network is provided with the most current contact information. The LinkedIn Outlook extension will even update your outlook contacts as new information comes available. It makes keeping your contacts updated virtually effortless.

Finally, LinkedIn allows you to keep the world informed as to your own professional accomplishments. The LinkedIn profile page lets you tell the world all about the latest committee you served on, the newest promotion you received, or the great web site you developed. Additionally, the page allows you to feature recommendations from those whom you have worked with in the past, lending greater credibility to your successes, accomplishments, and abilities.

I highly recommend LinkedIn to anyone in a professional role who believes in the power of the network.

AND…like almost anythng I recommend it is free!

LinkedIn: David Bowman

Tar Heel Mania

It’s that time of year again - March Madness. With yesterday’s victory, and season sweep, by UNC over Duke, I am in full tournament mode. My Wright State Raiders may even make it to the dance this year- something that has not happened since the early 90’s. Less than a week until we all begin filling out those coveted brackets. Who do you think will win it all this year? As always, I will be taking the Tar Heels to triumph over all foes. In the spirit of my pick, I offer a link to a great Tar Heel blog, Tar Heel Mania. A must see for the Tar Heel faithful.

Tar Heel Mania

Update:  Wright State is going to the Big Dance!  Woo Hoo!  Is there a Raider Mania site out there somewhere?