Went to OMMA today and was pleasantly surprised.  Heard from Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO, Denuo (what a smart and funny guy with lots of common sense), Ross Levinsohn, President, Fox Interactive Media who I had read about…was impressed then and impressed now by his gut instincts and his ability to move quickly and smartly into the digital age.  We all broke out into mini sessions where my favorite moment of the day came during the “Creative that makes friends with Social networks” where Henry Copeland, CEO, Blogads moderated…smart comments came from Sandy Marks on political campaigns online (she made statements like “you can create a sexy ad with click throughs but once the viewer has clicked are they finding what they are truly looking for or was the image/copy a ruse to get some fleeting attention from the viewer that in the long run doesn’t make sense (or get business or votes) for the client”) and Frank Radice, SVP The NBC Agency (the inhouse agency for NBC) said that less copy, more images and video makes for a strong presense on the web and can drive online users to TV which is a new equation for many to think about.

So the cool thing that I have concluded on my own especially after today is that this social media new digital age has leveled the playing field which is something to take advantage of.  All ages have entered the race and all backgrounds, men and women….it takes passion, thinking out of the box and flexibility to make something happen.  The truly creative, the truly hard working and the great listeners of the world will be able to make something of this new media.  It is very cool to be a part of this change in media and communications!!

One of our clients, The Orthodontic Center, had an interesting task for us to accomplish. Dr. Christie, the Director, wanted a website that not only gave out meaningful information about his practice but he wanted to share his research (he is internationally known for developing the Facial Print technology) in addition to finding new patients both near and far.

We at Creative Concepts had the perfect solution. We created a website that had a home page and 2 static pages (about us and “how we keep you smiling” which explains the Facial Print technology) plus we included 2 blogs that were seamless with the static pages.

The first blog titled, “we are talking,” is for the parents of the patients or the adult patients to read the latest news and also share their comments and/or questions. Also on this page, Dr. Christie can reveal his latest research and his staff can relay tips for the kids and parents. This page helps any new family feel comfortable with the process of braces because they can speak with The Orthodontic Center without going into the office….they can discover more on this page compared with many typical static pages of most websites because the information is always evolving because it is a blog.

The second blog is for the kids (the design is focused on the kids too). Kids are blogging and sharing their thoughts about getting braces plus their news about school, music, sports….this is a place where the kids can talk if they are getting nervous about getting braces…this is a place where they can make friends which may end up being the biggest marketing tool around.

We are very excited about this site and how blogging is being used as a communication and marketing tool. This is truly an example of how any business can use blogging for many purposes.

And here is more news about Vivapop.com…check out this interview from Tim from Techaddress who speaks with the founder, Elizabeth Tarbell.  This is a birds eye view of Vivapop and how it is different.

What the heck is TQM?  It stands for Total Quality Management and it was very big in the 80’s.  The “quality” way of doing business started in Japan..it took the US awhile to catch on but when it did, all companies wanted to get on board.  My father, while he didn’t invent TQM, he was the spokesperson for it in many circles.  He, David Luther, was the big guy who represented Corning Inc. around the world and talked about all the processes put into place by the company and how each and every one of those steps were effective.  Effectivness lead to a happy customer which lead to more orders which of course increased revenue!

Some of the elements of TQM consisted of departments working in teams to solve problems.  These teams were also asked to make present systems more efficient and effective.  If a memeber of the team wasn’t producing, the team would figure out what to do with that member, not the management.  Peer pressure lead people to a higher production rate.

There was also a big element of listening to the customer and hearing what their needs were and where the good and the bad rested.  Companies were taking time out to meet with their customer and the customer was both internal, the employees, and external, the buyer of the product or service and the vendors who partnered with the company.

Listening, communicating, and acting on the information put TQM ahead of the curve in its day.  My father was TQM and I am the daughter of TQM.

Blogging is very similar to TQM.  Bloggers are big communicators: they talk and they listen.  While every blog works on its own, bloggers can come together to update and/or correct information…Dan Rather’s story was blown away by bloggers and hence his career was down the tubes, Dell was also affected by the blogging community as well.  The blogging community also polices itself so peer pressure affects what people say about products, services or ideas…honesty must rule or you will be eliminated from the active blogging world. 

Blogging is a huge tool available for corporate bloggers who want to listen to their customers and act on their wishes.  If a car isn’t selling, go to the blogs to see what the car enthusiasts are saying (Chrysler does this often).  If a vendor isn’t quite working out, check out the blogs for what others are saying or check out their blog to see what the corporate culture is like.

Blogging is an available tool that may be new but it is effective.  Why not use all of the tools necessary to do better business?  This is what the followers of TQM did and now this is what we can do through corporate blogging.

Had yet another interesting day yesterday when the power went out (for about 24 hours).  You would think that I would have been happy to have a forced vacation for a day, you would have thought that it would have been nice to sit in the dark with the quiet laying softly like an old comforter, you would have thought I would have taken the time to do the unusual like reading a novel or cleaning out old papers…but no, I froze at the window waiting for the power truck to save the day.

I love my clients.  I love my computer.  I love lights!

As of last night, my very cool blog design has disappeared.  Where has it gone?  My server guys didn’t move it, Sabine, my tech director, is searching for it and Vikki, the designer, hasn’t touched it.  I hope the mystery will be solved by the end of the day!!  Maybe Wordpress has the key…we shall see.

So, over August life was too crazy to blog on a regular basis. Between proposals (yes, new media proposals) and vacation with the family, I couldn’t find the time to blog worthwhile entries….so I let it go.

An unexpected experiment took place. I figured that the ones who do follow my blog would disappear into the wild blue yonder never to return. Quite the contrary happened. As I was checking in on my performancing metrics, I noticed that I had more visitors than in the past much to my amazement. I was stunned and happy at the same time for I had discovered something else about blogging.

Here is my conclusion to my experiment (that took place by accident): if you write entries that are filled with interesting subjects and facts, the blog is timeless. Despite dates and times being posted everywhere, general thoughts and conclusions on all kinds of subject matter are searched for and found whether they were written yesterday or 6 months ago. People want information, people are looking for experts on all kinds of subject matter, people want to know things from other people!

Now for those who report on the latest discoveries like Techcrunch, up to date blogging is essential but for blogs like Shel Israel’s Naked Conversations where he investigates, reports and makes conclusions about marketing, pr, new media and more, Shel’s entries are invaluable and timeless…I can almost bet that what he has to say today could teach me a thing or two a year from now.

In getting the word out about Vivapop, I have had lots of fun getting to read some new blogs focused on families and moms specifically.  You ask why is Vivapop blogging with this crowd?  Well, Vivapop was developed by Elizabeth Tarbell, a mother of 2, because when she was running around like crazy trying to keep up with her kids’ busy day, no one in the community seemed to coordinate schedules into one place.  It is hard enough to have a busy calendar but to try and make plans and get to places on time is even harder so that is why Vivapop, a web based community calendar with IVR (phone access), is so great for Mom’s especially…everyone needs to call their calendars from the grocery store so they can have an updated schedule telling them how late they are in picking up little Jimmy from his playdate!

Take a look at these fun blogs:

I know there are more fun family blogs out there…I just have to find them.

Have fun!

“Yet another calendar” is what I am seeing from many in the blogosphere who aren’t taking the time to look at Vivapop closely…not having to search the web for info about your favorite organizations is a time saver because it is all within Vivapop for the beta city of Greenwich, CT (and nationwide before too long)…being able to download specific info into my calendar (my daughter takes ballet on Tuesdays at 4 or I want to see the ballet on 10/14 in NYC) is huge, being able to share this calendar with the rest of the family or friends is advatageous, sync and phone access help too….and for a premier advertiser who has something truly special to offer:  interested eyeballs…and for business people who need to market themselves/products/services, again, have interested eyeballs searching for info on insurance companies, banks, financial advisors or whatever within the merchant calendars…come on, the Vivapop list of features is growing and it comes from the founder and developer Elizabeth Tarbell living a busy life with family and career…this is useful and good stuff!

I am so happy to say that my client, Vivapop, is popping after a lot time, energy, passion, and enthusiasm!!  Vivapop is a web based community calendar that can make anyone’s life easier by sharing calendars, sync to Outlook, phone access and a choice of hundreds of calendars from local not for profits, schools, stores and restaurants (all Greenwich CT based now but national before long) that you can pop right into your calendar.  Techcrunch and TechAddress loves it and so do I!  Way to go Elizabeth…keep up the good work!