Going Like Hotcakes!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Ever since I put the word out to family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances about the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio pancake breakfast fund raiser event, my inbox has been blowing up with people looking to lend a hand or just come and and scarf down some hotcakes. Many have asked the following.

“Is there a way that I can donate money because I can’t make the event?”

The answer is now “Yes”. Visit http://www.PancakesPancakes.com where you can donate money, ask questions, see the growing list of sponsors, and even volunteer to help.

If you have emailed me and I have yet to get back to you, know that I am working on it. I thank you for your kindness and patience.

Special thanks also goes out to David Esrati, who donated the hosting for the site. Also, thanks to Bill Sterzenbach who informed me that Google Checkout is free for non-profits - enabling people to give directly to the foundation through the site. There is a long list, that keeps on growing of others who deserve thanks. See it on the sponsors page of the PancakesPancakes.com

We still need a lot of help. If you or your business are interested in getting involved, go here and let us know how you would like to help. Thanks again.

PancakesPancakes.com

Help Me Change the Outcome!

This is a lengthy post, but an important one. I ask that you please read it in its entirety.

Recently, I joined the board of the Western Ohio Epilepsy Foundation. I attended by first board meeting two weeks ago. At that meeting, I learned that:

1. The Foundation is short on cash, and facing a potential budget crisis.
2. I am the new marketing chair.
3. I need to come up with a way to help raise several thousand dollars to keep the foundation afloat.

This foundation is an amazing organization. It helps to serve the needs of individuals and families trying to deal with Epilepsy. The EFWO helps people who people with epilepsy, many of whom live below the poverty line, to get information, medication, and medical care. The group defends the rights of those with epilepsy, and works toward the goal of “not another moment” lost to seizures.

Why did I choose to get involved with this organization? My infant son was diagnosed with epilepsy last year. Watching him fight through seizure after seizure has inspired me to take action. Let me tell you, when your kid is having as many as 50 seizures a day, you have to do something. So, know that I am not doing this to “pad my resume”, or to “further my network.” This is a personal crusade. Not only do I hope to make his life better, but I hope that by getting involved in the fight against epilepsy, that I can make life different for other families, other children, other parents, and for anyone afflicted with epilepsy. We spend a lot of time working with the amazing people in the Neurology Department at Cincinnati Children’s . I mention this because they have a mantra that I love. “Change the Outcome.” I now share that goal.

So, I turn to you and ask for help. How? I need you to talk, email, and eat pancakes. Let me elaborate…

First, I need help spreading the word about an event we are putting together on the morning of March 22nd. The event is a Pancake Breakfast. Here are the details:

WHAT: Pancake Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt
WHERE: F&S Harley Davidson. 7220 North Dixie Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45414.
WHEN: Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 8:00AM - 11:00AM
HOW MUCH: $6.00 for Adults / $4.00 for kids under 12
WHAT ELSE: There will be Pancakes, Sausage, Milk, OJ, Coffee, Prizes Raffled, A 50/50 Drawing, an Easter Egg Hunt and more.

S0… Please come. Please forward a link to this page to others, and ask them to come. (Let me know you are coming if you like by filling out the contact form on this site). If you write a blog, please link to this post, or compose your own post telling others about the cause. Please help me change the outcome.

If you own a business and would like to donate to the event please let me know or contact the foundation directly at 937-233-2500. We are in need of food donations for the breakfast as well as items for the raffle and the Easter egg hunt. We are pulling this together quickly, so no formal marketing materials have been developed - quite frankly we could not afford them anyway. Although, what better medium could there be than a weblog? A real blog, by a real person, who is really involved in the cause.

Finally, if you are looking to make a difference in the world, I ask that you consider joining me. As the newly appointed chair of the Marketing Committee, a committee that does not go far beyond me, I am looking for energetic, creative, passionate people who believe they can change the world. I know I do. Help me make a difference. More importantly, help change the outcome of someone who has epilepsy. I don’t care if you are not a marketer, I need people who want to help - regardless of background. I need people to serve on the marketing committee. I need people to help solicit donations. I need people help run and plan events. Help me change the outcome… and the world.

Thank you,
David E. Bowman

UPDATE:

The event now has its own web site. Visit http://www.PancakesPancakes.com

You can RSVP, get all the event info, volunteer your help, donate items for raffle, and donate money directly to the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio. Check it out, and thanks again for your continued support.

Welcome to the Future

As I start my 3rd week of employment as Marketing Manager at LUCRUM, I am happy to report that things are going extremely well. The drive from Dayton to Cincinnati is actually enjoyable. I hit the road pretty early, so it’s just me, my coffee, my thoughts, my music and the news for 45 minutes. When I arrive at work, things are quiet and I have a few hours of uninterrupted time to be productive. Not a bad way to start the day.

That is all good and well, but not the reason for this post. The real reason for the post is that I want to let people know the LUCRUM weblog is up and running. It can be found at http://TheFutureValueofBusiness.com. The url was inspired by one of the many mantras found on the back of our business cards at LUCRUM. A couple bucks and the url was ours. The site is built in Wordpress, so that it is easy to update, easy to manage and easy to use. We have not rolled out the site “officially” within the confines of LUCRUM, but people are already asking when they will be able to post. I am working on setting up a little training on blogging and wordpress so that we can get everyone here contributing content. Even I am surprised at the level of enthusiasm that people here have regarding the project. It will be fun to watch the site grow and the web stats follow.

I was asked today “what are we supposed to write about on the blog?” I said “whatever you want to write about.” I then stopped and made the following list of forbidden topics:

• No profanity
• No private information (other people’s personal business or Client info)
• No pornography
• No politics (plenty of that to go around)

Beyond that, I am instructing people to post away. Basically, just use common sense and good judgment. I will also be giving a lecture on the 4 way Test for ethics as they apply to blogging as well, as I feel it has a lot of merit.

The site also has a list of links, an events calendar, a contact form, and more. The list of features will continue to grow as the site evolves and will likely include forums, wikis, and private discussion areas soon too.

Suffice it to say that I am having way too much fun. Please visit the site and let me know what you think.

The Future Value of Business

32 Flavors & Then Some - Hermes Awards 2008

The Greater Dayton Advertising Association held their annual Hermes awards a little over a week ago. I am proud to say that Hafenbrack Marketing cleaned up - taking home a total of 32 Awards including Best of Show. Not too shabby. I mention this because: a.) I think the world of the amazing people at Hafenbrack and b.) many of my former Clients were among the winners. I worked really hard during my tenure at Hafenbrack. While I am not a big “awards guy,” I do feel proud of what I was able to accomplish - with a lot of help from the HMC team. It is nice to see that hard work recognized by industry peers. Among my former Clients who came up big were CareSource, Brady Ware, Ali Industries, and gold medal winner F&S Harley Davidson. Don’t be surprised to see those names and more to bring home awards next year too. To all my clients, award winners and otherwise, I say thanks for allowing us to work for you. The knowledge I gained from working for you was the real reward for me.

HM - Home

32 Flavors & Then Some - Hermes Awards 2008

The Greater Dayton Advertising Association held their annual Hermes awards a little over a week ago. I am proud to say that Hafenbrack Marketing cleaned up - taking home a total of 32 Awards including Best of Show. Not too shabby. I mention this because: a.) I think the world of the amazing people at Hafenbrack and b.) many of my former Clients were among the winners. I worked really hard during my tenure at Hafenbrack. While I am not a big “awards guy,” I do feel proud of what I was able to accomplish - with a lot of help from the HMC team. It is nice to see that hard work recognized by industry peers. Among my former Clients who came up big were CareSource, Brady Ware, Ali Industries, and gold medal winner F&S Harley Davidson. Don’t be surprised to see those names and more to bring home awards next year too. To all my clients, award winners and otherwise, I say thanks for allowing us to work for you. The knowledge I gained from working for you was the real reward for me.

HM - Home

Songza: Search Engine Meets Jukebox

Hey music fans. Check out Songza, a web 2.0 style search tool for music. Type in an artist or song name and songza will deliver a listing of search results linking to audio files. It then gives you a number of options including playing the track, embeding it in your web site, or ranking the result. It seems to have an amazing depth of content. I tried to play “stump the band” and was not successful. Virtually everything I entered in Songza returned a result similar to or precisely in line with what I was seeking. It does limit the result to 45 links, but I am sure that some creative search techniques and careful keyword choices can serve to remedy that. This makes a nice compliment to another of my online faves Pandora. Give them both a look… and a listen.

Songza - The music search engine & internet jukebox. Listen. Now.

Kuler: Adobe’s Killer Color Application

Color choice is a critical part of design, especially on the web. The right color scheme can go a long way in making a site appealing and ultimately drawing new and repeat visitors. For those, like me, who can be color challenged check out kuler. This site from Adobe makes picking a color scheme easy. On the web you can choose your base color, the type of color scheme you are looking for such as monochromatic, triad, analogous, complimentary, shades, or custom, and kuler creates a color scheme for you on the spot. From there you can tweak and play around to your heart’s content. Kuler then provides you with all the specific color information you need to put your color scheme to work - HSV, RGB, CMYK, LAB, and HEX settings that represent your color choices. It is an amazingly easy and extremely powerful design tool that has already been added to my list of favorite sites. Another favorite is Seth Godin’s blog, where I learned about kuler. Thanks Seth. You still have the best site on the web.

So why would you care about kuler? I was thinking about how I might use it. The first thing that came to mind was to decorate my home. My wife and I are looking to repaint a large part of the interior of our home. We also have a number of rooms that just are not “there” yet. Kuler is the perfect tool for helping us get it right. Sure, we will probably resort to the good old fashioned paint swatch for the paint color we put on the wall, but then what. For us, the hard part is not the color of the wall, but rather the accent colors to go along with it. By entering the room color in as a base in kuler, I can then begin to put together numerous color schemes to fit the feel of each room until I get something I like- without having to piece together swatches or blindly guess as to “will this look good with that?”

Professionally, I can think of endless uses for this tool. Every brochure, presentation, web site, mailer, and marketing piece I design can benefit from using kuler. Again I can start with a base color, like the green we use at LUCRUM, and then quickly mock up multiple color schemes to create different feelings for pieces. This takes much of the guesswork out of the equation, and really streamlines the creative process.

I am interested to hear your thoughts on kuler (or color as a design element). Will you use this tool? How?

kuler

4 Way Test for Better Blogging

Yesterday, I was given the distinct privilege of speaking to the Dayton Rotary on the topic of blogging. I was joined by emcee Alan Pippenger, who put the program together, and bloggers David Esrati, and Bill Pote. As a member of the organization, I was particularly thrilled to be able to address my fellow Rotarians on something that has had such an enormous impact on my life.

In preparing for the speech, I was looking for something to help the message further resonate with the audience. Then it hit me - the Rotary 4 Way Test. This test, developed by Herbert J. Taylor in 1932, is used as a guide for ethical decision making, and is a cornerstone of Rotary International. It is also a great guide for effective and ethical blogging. It is as follows:

1) Is it the TRUTH?
2) Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

So how does this apply to blogging? Well here is my take.

1) Is it the TRUTH?: This one should be fairly obvious, but deserves explanation beyond just True / False. If you have read Meatball Sundae, by Seth Godin, he discusses the importance of telling an authentic story - one that is truthful with who you are. This can be applied to a person, a business, or even a philanthropic organization. Is who you are who you say you are? Is what you say consistent with what you do? Yes, it is important to tell the factual truth about the things written on your blog as they pertain to others, but it is equally important to be truthful about yourself. As Seth states, “Saying one thing and doing another fails, because you’ll get caught.”

2) Is it FAIR to all concerned?: Fairness need not be sacrificed to state what you believe to be true. Controversial, outspoken blog posts get people reading. It is true that strong opinions make for good reading, but fairness need not be sacrificed in the process of communicating your view. No, I am not stating that bloggers collectively hold hands and sing Kum Ba Yah, but rather that facts are portrayed in the proper context. Base opinions on the facts, as best as they can be understood. Don’t invite people to the conversation only to shout them right back out. The idea of fairness really plays itself out in comments and feedback. All too often, comment threads head for the least common denominator of name calling and labeling. There can be multiple views, and there should be a welcoming of diversity in opinion. This is what ultimately leads to a deeper understanding of the world.

3.) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?: You are upset. You sit down at your computer and begin typing. You put your clever wit to work writing a scathing post about the idiot business, friend, stranger, or public official that has seemingly wronged you. Be careful before publishing that post. Think about what you are trying to accomplish before you go tearing down others. What is it you hope to achieve? Do you want to change someone’s mind? Will berating them accomplish it? Dale Carnegie has some great stuff on this in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Ultimately we are always the hero of our own story. That applies to you. It applies to the person who wronged you. They think you are wrong. Calling them stupid is not going to change that, and really just makes you look foolish. What I would suggest is that you focus on the issue of contention and not the person on the other side of that issue. Yes, people disagree. Yes, people are stupid sometimes. Yes, sometimes you are the stupid one - you just may not know it. Look to build goodwill and better friendships through blogging. You will keep people listening rather than putting them on the defensive - and may well accomplish changing the opinions of others. Better yet, you may change your own.

4.) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?: This one is tough. You can’t make everyone happy, especially if you have an opinion to express. Still, this principle becomes an extension of the previous 3. Focus on delivering value by making your criticism constructive. If you can not do that, it may well be best to not saying anything at all. Think before you post. Is what you are getting ready to post going to help someone or hurt them? Using a blog as a platform to attack people without regard for their well being is counterproductive. Even in criticism, seek to propose solutions. Seek to help find deeper meaning. Seek the truth. By keeping the focus on benefiting all, you benefit yourself.

Back to yesterday’s speech. I was the first speaker, and was given 5 minutes to talk. By the time I had recounted a few stories of how writing a weblog has been an amazing experience for me my time was almost up. So while I mentioned the 4 way test, I did not get time to explain it in more detail. I hope that this post helps to accomplish that.

Thanks to everyone at Rotary for allowing me to speak, and to Alan for inviting me to do it. It was a thrill, and I am honored to have been given the chance to use my voice.

Dayton Rotary

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

What a treat to my friend Elizabeth Riley and her husband Mike, owners of Insignia Signs, featured in the business section of the Dayton Daily News. I actually saw Elizabeth this morning at an event where I was speaking about blogging, business, and brand you. She had invited me to address her BNI group on the topic - which I enjoyed tremendously. (Thanks to everyone who attended. You were a great audience.) I am delighted to see her in the paper, and to see her company thriving. Insignia does great work. I can attest to that first hand, having employed them to develop signs for several Clients. Elizabeth is a networking dynamo, who is always looking to make connections and help out the people she knows. It is no surprise to see Insignia enjoying such rapid growth and success. It is well deserved. And you thought the DDN only reported negative stories…

Couples sign company a success

Looking Good Dave

The Downtown Dayton Partnership has launched a brand new - and very nice might I add - web site. Thanks to Dayton Most Metro for pointing me to it. Anyway, as I was checking it out, I saw a link called My Downtown. It sounded interesting, so I clicked. To my pleasant surprise, I discovered a profile of Dave Hafenbrack, my former boss and current friend. Dave tells the story of how Hafenbrack Marketing moved to Downtown Dayton, and how that move that invigorated the business. Dave states, “Moving downtown was the best business decision I’ve ever made.” “Our business soared, and employee morale and productivity went with it. We wanted to reinvent ourselves, and downtown Dayton offered exactly what we had in mind.” Having been at Hafenbrack during this time, I heartily agree. The site also features stories about CareSource, Boston Stoker, and Dayton Primary Urgent Care. If marketing is all about storytelling, then this site is right on the mark. Nice work DDP.

Downtown Dayton Partnership

Next Page »