Water Street Design, LLC

 
« Older Entries      

Channeled Thoughts

The New Year

Look out, 2012!

I’ve hesitated over this New Year’s posting, mostly because I am not a fan of resolutions, or grand declarations at the start of a new year. But this year is different. I am welcoming the change of calendar with some hope that the changes in our industry will bring positive changes in our work, and in our lives.

2012 is going to be different. Our country IS in a recovery. It is not a bell-ringing full out fanfare sea-change of a recovery, but we are on the mend. It’s not beautiful, and really, still not much fun. There are some tough times ahead of us, and there will still be some heart breaking headlines. But, the businesses that are still standing are continuing to adjust to the new reality, and people everywhere are gradually adjusting ALL of our life patterns to reflect a more cautious approach.

Like seeds drawing strength buried deep in damp soil, I’m looking forward to the quiet dark months of winter to nurture the changes our industry is facing: Smaller MarCom teams, smaller budgets, new tools, and new vendor relationships. I’m part of that change, and even though change can be scary at times, I’m excited to be going through it.

I do have some goals for myself and my business for 2012. Past experience has shown me, though, that defining an absolute, concrete end is almost a recipe for “failure”: I start out aiming for one thing, and end up somewhere else. Not in the wrong place mind you, but I always arrive at an unexpected result.

I’ll keep those goals in mind as the year goes on, but for New Year’s, instead of drawing a target on the wall and aiming for it, I am borrowing a tactic that Chris Brogan has shared, and picking three words that will guide me through the coming months.

Lead We’ve been around the block a few times, and have a wealth of experience. We can present and hope our clients to tap into it, or we can lead them to the solutions they need. For 2012, I plan to lead more, and pitch less. Seems pretty basic, but in the rush of getting needs met, I forget that I can lead, so putting this front and center keeps me focused on that mission.

Adapt You’d think adapting would be the foundation of a small business, but during the crazy years, with work being thrown at us left and right, it was easy to keep moving ahead with more of the same. We’ve made substantial changes to our offering during the last few years, but we will continue to adapt to the changing economy. For 2012, we’ll keep adjusting our model to fit the new needs we see open up. I’m glad that I can still be surprised by change, and as I watch my colleagues adjust to their new roles, who knows what opportunities will pop up?

Thrive Like everyone else, we’ve been through crazy growth, and we’ve been through survival mode. The old model of running full tilt is not sustainable, it tends to burn through your resources. For 2012, I will be wary of survival mode, and focus on projects that will help us, and our clients, thrive under new conditions. I’m not so sure I want to grow more, but I do want to grow well, and that is thriving.

Those words feel like opportunity to me, and that is kind of exciting, isn’t it? They have personal connotations for me as well, which I will spare you. On the business side, as we march through another year, I’ll be looking for ways to help you Lead, Adapt, and Thrive, too.

Welcome, 2012. Let’s get started.

–George.

Living Social

Old Telephone iStock 10-21-10 © Igor ProleIt occurred to me this morning, as I poured my coffee and checked my twitter feed, that I am old enough to have lived with party line phone service, and now I am watching shared conversations on this little device in the palm of my hand. When Twitter first launched, it seemed so voyeuristic… why would I want to watch my neighbors? But really, it’s not such a new concept.

When we moved from Bethesda, MD to Martinsburg, WV, several of my school friends had, or had just removed, party line phone service. In 1970 Berkeley County was in the last phases of party lines, converting homes to single line direct service. Coming from a suburb of Washington, DC, we really did think we had fallen off the edge of the earth!

For those of you who missed this particular party, a party line was one shared phone line connecting several houses. Each house had it’s own ring pattern, and you only answered your calls. Shared lines were an economical way for each house to have a phone, and communication to the rest of the world, but it also allowed other people to observe that communication. In a small town everyone knew everyone’s business.

There was no mistaking that the neighborhood privy to your conversations. Common courtesy meant that your give your neighbors right of way on the phone line, but really, people listened in. I remember one friend demonstrating the art of silently lifting the Bakelite phone from the cradle, and then gently putting it back in place, making as little noise as possible so as not to alert the other callers. (Check out this old episode of Andy Griffith to see the benefits and drawbacks of a shared phone service.)

Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Yelp, these modern tools are just a new take on some old behavior. Humans are verbal and exhibitionist. We like to share our stories, and we like to perform them, too. We are just doing it in different places than our grandparents.

The proof is in the burrito

Yes, I bought a burrito the day Chipotle texted me:

Burrito for Dinner

Darn it, Chipotle!

The text from Chipotle came at 11:30 today, “Rejoice! We now have brown rice at all locations.” Just in time for me to be hungry lunch. But I didn’t have time to get away. ..and I can’t stop thinking about it.
What a great example of targeting their fan base. I signed up for occasional texts, less than one a month, and they have been true to their word.
And darn them for being so effective!
-George.

PS, it worked.

First Friday: Jan Blacka

Jan Blacka has always liked to make things.

She started making dolls out of the peel-off papers from the wide band-aids as soon as she was old enough to be allowed to have magic markers and tape. A long, long way from band-aids, markers and tape, but still in love with media and tools and process, Jan makes her own stuff, but has added a computer with a pen tablet to her toolset.

Using a pen tablet enables her to draw and paint on the screen as fluidly as on paper or canvas. Her working methods are closely related to collage and print-making in the use of repeated elements and layering. She sometimes includes her photos and scans of objects in her images. The finished work combines the precision of computer-aided design with a hand-made sensibility and abstract style.

She earned her BA at Williams College and her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Jan worked as a studio assistant for a master printmaker and for an American Craft Council fiber artist. She has taught art in many venues, including summer camp, various art centers, and the Maryland College of Art and Design.

First Friday: Robert Ballard

Robert Ballard was born in Morenci, Arizona and raised in the piney woods of East Texas near Tyler.  He attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Math and Art and a minor in Chemistry, and a Master of Arts degree in Art.

Robert has continued his art education through extensive travel to visit galleries and museums worldwide.

In 1996, after a successful business career unrelated to art, Robert decided to relocate his world headquarters from the Midwest to Northern Virginia and to work full time as an artist.

Robert is engaged by his work and is pleased with his on-going development as an artist and continues to receive enthusiastic acclaim for his paintings.

Robert has participated in numerous juried shows throughout the mid-Atlantic region and his paintings have been commissioned and/or purchased by art collectors throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Robert paints in acrylic and likes to leave in his work evidence of the process that it took to create it.  His paintings are fresh and original yet he acknowledges that his work has been informed and influenced by the art of Willem DeKooning, Arshile Gorky, Philip Guston, Richard Diebenkorn, Georg Baselitz, Raoul Dufy, the Rev. R. A. Miller, and Brice Marden.

Why Social?

I was speaking with a colleague a few weeks ago, and he said to me, “we need to get going with social media, right away. We need to get that stuff up and running.” And my very first thought was, “Why?”

Not “why” in the abstract sense of why bother, why would a company do that, but in the concrete question, “why do you need social media? What will you do with it?”

In this micro-explosion of new technology, it is very easy to get distracted by the tools, to look over at another company and see them doing something, using social tools, tweeting, facebook, blogging, etc. and think, “I gotta get some of that!” But the operative word in that last sentence is tools. These new apps and platforms are really just tools to be used as part of your total marketing kit. They should be used to extend your customer service, marketing, advertising and public relations platform.

If your company needs to “get going” with social media, I truly encourage you to take a look at answering WHY before you start planning the HOW.

In the Mail Today

AIGA postcard side 2This postcard came today from AIGA. I love the organization, and I love all the services they offer me as a professional, but this is one time where I think they missed the boat. This is so hard to read, I haven’t even read it yet.

Pivot, get it? All the type is in different directions…

Good food, Good cause

Chipotle knows their brand. And they know how to use email. I am rarely sent a note from Chipotle, but when I do get one, it relates to me, and my region. The format is always the same, a simple image of a burrito with a large, attention-getting headline. It works.

File this one under “Ideas I wish I had.”

And if you love burritos, check out their site and sign up for the emails. It’s worth it for the exercise in watching good marketing happen.

What I Learned This Summer Vacation

We took two trips this summer. The first was a family affair, a week-long trip to Los Angeles with both of our college-age daughters. The second trip was a long Labor Day weekend in Baltimore for just Chris and I, watching the ALMS and IndyCar races around the inner harbor.

We’ve been married a long time, so we approached both of these trips with more confidence and less planning than we have in the past. After all, we weren’t schlepping around two small children any more. On these trips, all the participants were adults.

In Los Angeles, we made broad plans for each day, bought tickets ahead, and rented a car. Our eldest brought her GPS , so we didn’t use road maps. For the Baltimore trip, we’ve been to many races and knew what to expect, so we didn’t make a schedule.

Aside from the general tension of having a 21-year old read the screen from the back seat and bark out instructions offer suggestions, we found relying on the GPS alone for driving directions was a little stressful. We had a general idea of where we were going, and we had some elementary maps from the car rental agency that showed the relationships of main arteries. What we were missing was a sense of anticipation, knowing that there are 4 streets to cross before the signal is a lot different than the instruction “In .4 miles, turn right.” For us, knowing the relationships between the steps was crucial to the sense of knowing where we were going.

At the races in Baltimore, Chris and I never even made a plan for our day. We checked into our hotel on Friday and took off straight for the track, exploring the new venue and checking out the sights. On Saturday we drifted from one area of the track to another, catching up with a few friends for a while in the ALMS paddock, and then moving around looking for the best viewing spots.

Wandering and exploring on a vacation wasn’t a problem. Meals, however, were the problem. We never stopped and chose what to do next, and in the end we ate at whatever was closest when we were too hungry and too tired to search further. By Sunday, we’d figured this out and made a sketch of a plan before we left the hotel. We still wandered, we still explored, we still found new things, but it all had structure: begin here, end here, and in between be free. On Sunday, we ate better and had a better time doing it because we weren’t tired and stressed about it.

Maps. Maps and plans should not be overlooked. A good map can tell you, “after I’ve done these three steps, I’ll need to make this decision.” Which is a lot less stressful than “Turn right here!” coming at you in the middle of heavy traffic. The traffic won’t be less, the time to make the decision won’t move, but a map or plan sets your expectations, and let’s you (and your team) have a sense of what is coming next. A good plan even allows you the freedom to be unplanned for a while before the next decision point crops up.

So what did I learn this Summer? Even if you have done it all before, take the time up front to make a plan and look at your map. It can make everything go smoother.