Well, I have done it again…I have had a gap with the entries but I don’t want to write unless I have some news or some interesting thoughts so today I am writing about news and I am writing about Creative Concepts.

Constantin Basturea’s blog reports a list called PR meets WWW.  This is a fully detailed list of pr agencies and consultants worldwide and their blogs along with some interesting entries.  Creative Concepts was mentioned so thank you for that!

Also take note, Techcrunch is coming to town (NYC) for a Meetup and Creative Concepts is their communications sponsor.  While the event is already sold out, I am looking forward to meeting all of those who are ready to party in bed in nyc with techcrunch!!

And for those of you out at the blog business summit in Seattle, look for Sabine Kirsten, Emerging Tech Director for Creative Concepts.  She is enjoying the conference and will be attending the Blogher meetup tonight.  Ask her about all of our corporate blogging projects…we have lots to share!

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!!

“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!

Hello all…haven’t blogged in quite some time because some new and wonderful clients are keeping all of us at Creative Concepts busy.  One new vivacious client I will reveal next week after it debuts on the web on various sites but before then let me not hold back by announcing that R C Bigelow Inc has decided to surf and ride the new media wave.  Bravo to them. 

They have hired Creative Concepts to help them navigate through the emerging media stream of potential and while we are introducing new options, we are also very mindful of protecting their hard earned solid reputation.  I say this not because the options out there don’t offer tons of opportunity but more because some bottom feeders are skimming the surface to find their prey (Bigelow Tea was approached by a game company who wanted to make a very shady deal (and yet they presented themselves so nicely)). 

How is a company to know about such things unless they have a consultantcy on board like Creative Concepts?  Well they may not have the resources to know so good for Bigelow for expanding their outreach and protecting their assets at the same time!

Look for more from Bigelow in the not so distant future…until then, welcome aboard!

 

What is the Business Smart Tools Conference?  It is a forum available where any business person can learn about this internet “stuff” quickly and easily knowing that what you hear and what you see and what you experience is the now and the future, it is the way to make doing business easier.

The speakers have a world of experience and can educate easily about blogging, podcasting, video online, search marketing and more.  The live demonstrations will include search engines, scheduling resources, online advertising and production resources.

Have you heard of these names?

David Pogue, Mike Dunn, David Parmet, Greg Verdino, Matt Kain, Ron Stevenson, and Reena Jana?

Have you heard of these companies?

Remembrix, Clearlight Pictures, ROO, Ingenio, CiviCom, TVEyes, MultiVu, ZoomInfo, VivaPop, MarketWire and Conversagent?

If not then come to the Business Smart Tools Conference to see the latest for business, www.BusinessSmartTools.com

Well, a smart tool for business is an item or process that can help a company acheive their goals which can be anything from getting new clients, communicating with employees more effectively, creating new products or improving existing services.

We are incredibly lucky in this day and age to have a whole new set of tools that can help us…tools that can relay our messaging, tools that can help us communicate, tools that can help us listen to our customers and speak with vendors…tools that can open doors that may have been closed in the past.

What are these tools?  They come in the form of blogging, podcasts, video on the web, search engine optimization for websites and more!  David Pogue-NY Times, Mike Dunn-Hearst Interactive, David Parmet-Marketing Begins At Home, John Piccone-24/7 Real Media, Greg Verdino-ROO, Ron Stevenson-GE, Reena Jana-BusinessWeek are all experts in their fields and can teach us the ins and outs of utilizing the internet/social media to achieve business goals in a timely and budget sensitive manner!

That is not all!  There are new tech products and services that business’ could use but may not know about.  How can you learn about them…how can you understand them?  The answer:  by experiencing them first hand.  Check this out:  TVEyes (TV, Video and Podcasting search engines), ROO (video and TV on the web), Ingenio (call per click advertising on the web), Dial-A-Note powered by CiviCom (helps you dicate into your phone and then sends you the written version via email the next day), Clearlight Pictures (interactive websites and guided messages), Remembrix (knowledge capturing tool), MultiVu (taking a press release and making it live via podcasts and video), ZoomInfo (a search engine that gives you info on people you could never find on google and yahoo), MarketWire (taking a press release, embedding codes so that the release leads viewers right back to your website)…and more.

Can it get any better than this?  Are you missing out on something spectacular?  Not if you sign up for the Business Smart Tools Conference on June 13th in Stamford.  Go to www.BusinessSmartTools.com for more information and to register.

Have you asked yourself any of these questions?

Who wants to learn about social media?

who wants to hear from fellow bloggers?

who wants to learn about podcasting?

what the heck is TV on the internet?

what do i do for better search engine visibility”?

how is journalism changing because of these new media tools?

what are the big companies doing and what direction are they turning?

what should I do with these tools if I am a pr or marketing person?

can I use these tools for better communication within my company?

are there some products or services out there that can make my business life easier?

If you have asked yourself any of these questions, then you belong at the Business Smart Tools Conference, June 13th 2-6, Stamford Marriott.

Go to www.BusinessSmartTools.com for more information and to register!

Well did you see the big buzz about the Huffington blog?  Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post blog claimed that George Clooney was a guest blogger and she did this to get more hits on her blog of course. 

Turns out she wrote the entry by bringing together a bunch of George’s quotes.  She added her own zip, got the OK from the handler and then posted. 

Bloggers are loyal to her but thankfully are more loyal to the purity of blogging…they gave it to Arianna.  It took her some days to come up with a response…she said that she was sorry and wouldn’t do it again and she made a mistake.

Now this brings up two subjects I have hit on before.  Blogging is nothing without honest contributions and the power of honesty when faced with a crisis.

I have said it many times, blogging is about honesty.  It is about the self policing that goes on in the blogosphere that keeps those with questionable ethics in place.  And i have also said before that it doesn’t take long for the bloggers to find the truth!  I love that about the blogging world!

The other point I like making, especially for my corporate clients, is that if there is a crisis, admitting to making the mistake and coming up with a plan to prevent the mistake from happening in the future is the best way to handle your public!  It is a simple thing, admit you are wrong and make it right the best you can.

Arianna may loose some bloggers and some numbers from her site; it may take her awhile to get those hits again, but if she stays true to her word, and works more honestly, she will make her come back like any other human who makes a mistake and makes ammends.

Well good news for me is that finally after working like a dog, my website is up and movin and groovin…check it out, www.Creative-ConceptsLLC.com

Also some news, Clarke Thomas, who I have refenced on ethics, is using some thoughts and quotes from this blog for his “Good News;Bad News” course at the Academy of Lifelong Learning at Carneige Mellon University.

Happy weekend, I am done until Monday.