Creative Concepts

Please forgive the over extended absence…we are working on the website…revamping…redoing… and once finished I and now others from the Creative Concepts team will take our thoughts from the Business Smart Tools Conference and overall social media experiences and news and share them with you on a regular basis!  We will be doing the same with Twitter.

Until then, here is a short clip from an hour long radio show where I was the guest.  WICC600 am with Ann Karrick as the host.  Enjoy and talk to you soon!

WICC600AM radio show on Social Media for Business

Well we are very excited about all the good stuff coming our/your way.  As you probably know we have our Business Smart Tools conference coming up tomorrow, Tuesday May 5th.  Speakers from Bigelow Tea, Pitney Bowes, Ford and PepsiCo will present, we will feature true social media experts and we will include breakout sessions on Twitter for Business, The Power of Video, Where do you begin Online and the ROI of Social Media (and a personal thank you to our great sponsors MarketWire, Everett Hall Associates, and CitySquares!)  You can’t beat this event for social media education and excitement especially seeing that you get lunch and a great networking cocktail party thrown in!  You can still register here.

We are also excited because we are right around the corner from launching our new website!  Flash based sites were cool how long ago…we know…too long ago, and that’s why we are updating it to reflect who we are, a PR and Social Media consultancy with fluency in communication both online and off via blogs, social networks, video and more.  Can’t wait!

And finally we are so excited about our new client Ouidad who are great people with a great product and service.  As you can see from my photo, I have naturally curly hair and well my curls were cured when I found Ouidad.  We have just launched their new blog so take a look and let us know what you think.

Well there will be more to report after the conference, after our new site goes live, after Ouidad has been up and running for a bit and after we announce or next newest client.

Stay Tuned!

Valorie

We produced this great video for Pitney Bowes called Better Mail Moment which is geared for direct marketers and small businesses or any business who needs guidance on how to effectively reach their customer through direct mail.  Watch Carol Wallace guide us through her daily mail opening and learn!  Go here for more information about direct mail via Pitney Bowes and go here to see more videos.

This video produced for our client Bigelow Tea is not only a perfect example of how to use video within the social media channels but it’s just a good business model to follow. Cindi Bigelow, President Bigelow Tea, hit the streets of New York City and got an earful about tea from everyone she talked to. No crazy editing, no corporate speak, just honesty from both Cindi and the variety of people she ran into.

Others seem to appreciate this as well. Take a look at what Chris Brogan has to say here and our mention of the video on our Business Smart Tools site here.

Take a look at more of our videos here.

We at Creative Concepts have been happily and crazily busy!  Working on bringing new clients aboard with our present clients expanding what they want to do both online with social media and off line with more traditional PR and Marketing.  Videos have also taken off with a slew of them going live soon for various clients (check www.CreativeConceptsVideos.com for updates).

With all of this expansion comes a shuffle of job responsibilities internally.  Julie is a content manager with expansion into sales and account managment and she is doing a great job!  Paula, who is still relatively new with us, is working on many behind the scenes support projects to help keep our clients moving forward at a fast pace.  Nicoline, as usual, is doing an amazing job supporting our various clients while building our PowerPoint presentations and reports that are unique for each potential client and client with the help of newly designed slides from Presentation Partners.  Cecilia, who was recenly quoted on Flacker, has become our media and blogger research queen while Andrea, who has returned to Creative Concepts, is doing mucho phone work for our clients.  Justin, who is forever our social media, marketing and video genius, is doing what he always does, he is producing exceptional work that keeps our clients coming back for more.  And let’s not forget our amazing developers, writing and design staff, they create the base for all that we do!

So if I haven’t written a blog entry for awhile, it’s not because I don’t believe in the power of the written word because if you know me, that’s what I am all about..it’s because I am working hard to bring great success to our clients and working hard at making sure the Creative Concepts team are well managed and happy!

After all my ranting and raving from my last round of events, it is only fitting that I give compliments to a conference well done…kudos to Nancy Andrews of PRSA-CVC.  She put together a good group of speakers who had experience with social media and had a handle on what is going on around them (thank goodness).  The audience was attentive and asked good questions.  A great time all the way around.

Above is a picture they just sent me…I swear I am not yelling shutup…I am just sharing information on how Bigelow Tea has used social media.

Well, I have had quite the week of events…not many but enough to make note of how others run their shows.  Attending the occassional conference or gathering is important to me because of chairing the Business Smart Tools Conference…I am like an an actor who goes out into the field to study for a role.  I need to know what others are producing, how they are conveying their messages and if there are any formats that work better than others.  I also need to know if our content is up to date and still important!!

What I discovered is that there are many people who can speak on a variety of topics, experts who have first hand knowledge of their subjects.  This is all fine and good but the information they bring to the table needs to be managed by talented, personable, respectful and knowledgeable moderators who know how to listen and can be flexible and go with what may work at that moment.  Information needs to be harnessed and released so the audience both understands and expands their thought process while listening which I would like to think is the ultimate learning experience. 

This is not an easy task and this week proved it. 

In NYC last week at this time I attended a tech PR conference.  Again, good speakers, horrible moderators.  They didn’t fully understand the knowledge base of the speakers and for sure didn’t get the information out that the PR audience really needed.  The one overriding message I walked away with was that PR practioners are horrible people who lie and spam and bloggers and the traditional media hate them.  Now, I half way agree wtih the lying and spamming part but hello…this was an audience of public relations professionals…teach them, guide them, instruct them.  It was a big opportunity to bring foes together for a merger of the minds but the chance was lost for everyone…the speakers and the audience walked away feeling the same way they did when they first walked into the room which should never happen at any successful conference.

I attended another event last night in Stamford.  Again, great topic.  An Exec Chairman who blogs.  Everyone wants to know about his process, what walls he encountered, what joys he has discovered and do the media really read the blog and more.  The speaker did very well.  The moderator tried to do some homework but I know this guy and he has resisted social media from day one so what is this moderator doing getting up and talking to Mr. Exec Chair about blogging when he barely understands the medium himself?  On top of that, the moderator scolded an attendee for asking a question before the question time…ever heard of the UnConferences like Podcamp?  They are very successful because of their flexibility.  Oh and how about the time he told people not to get on their soapboxes with long winded salesy questions that only promote their own business but we had to hear about how he blogged once and talked to the media and how fun it was?  Sorry…I will stop now.

Having said all of this, I am always on a quest to improve the Business Smart Tools Conference.  I learn every year what made it great and what needs to be improved and I work very hard at being a moderator who can prepare engaging questions that tend to the needs of the audience.  I also work hard at listening during the panels so I can go with the flow and make the next question relevant to where the conversation is going.

My and Creative Concepts’ goals for the Business Smart Tools conference remain the same every year.  I want this conference to be a place where the message matters and the content becomes a truly educational experience.  No cash sponsors to infuse the panels with a pitch, each speaker is chosen because of the expereinces they can share, and each demo company has something noteworthy to show in a way that is beyond the typical Web 2.0 company that doesn’t have a business plan or revenue stream.

Based on past responses from the attendees, we have done a good job but keep in mind that we never stop improving, listening and sharing content that teaches more than it preaches.

Join us May 5, 2009.  Stamford Marriott.  I will be the one listening and making sure the attendees get the biggest bang for their buck!

A big thanks to Debbie Weil for including Bigelow Tea’s blog on her very extensive and well thought out list of corporate blogs, see more here.

Here is our lastest video featuring Wally the Green Monster, mascot for the Red Sox, and Cindi Bigelow, of Bigelow Tea.  Cindi loves to make the perfect cup of tea!

We love making these videos for great clients like Bigelow Tea!  Check out the bigelow blog if you have a minute.

I had a photographer that I lost touch with.  I had another photographer who decided to step away from her business.  I needed a photographer to take pictures of my family….and of course it couldn’t be just any photographer. 

In true social/internet networking fashion, I found a site called SuzySaid.  It is all the rage in Fairfield.  Why?  Because they report on everything that is local and the content is top notch.  I liked them so much I signed up for their email blasts.  I began to trust their content and well Suzy whoever she is (I have heard that it is a bunch of very talented women behind the homepage ).  Because I trust Suzy, I pushed a client their way to advertise (I don’t like advertising and rarely suggest this road but again, I trust and value SuzySaid).  They handled my client so well that I thought all advertisers on the website must be top notch.  Because of all of these experiences, I began to trust everyone and anyone associated with SuzySaid (did I tell you about the 2 amazing restaurants I went to because of SuzySaid restaurant reviews?).  Having said all of this, I saw regular advertisements for a photographer.  The combination of her great photos, she was a regular on SuzySaid, and she had a blog that was updated regularly made me hire her immediately via email, no quesitons asked.

Guess what?  I wasn’t wrong about her, Char from Wink Photography was professional and amazing at caputuring the essence of my family.  Guess what?  SuzySaid has done it again!

Ahhhh, the power of the internet!

For some great pictures of the family, go here.