Adventures in Candyland

Did you know that there are over 15 billion web pages?  I learned that today from Common Craft, a consultancy which offers probably one the best services on the Internet today.  I was watching their video on “Social Bookmarking in Plain English.”  They know how to boil a topic down to base understanding and use illustrations and simple language to make it completely understandable.  Seriously, how could I ever describe del.icio.us to my mom - I’m sure I would lose my patience in .5 seconds (if anyone has a solution for impatience, please contact me ASAP).  I think Limor may have blogged about the true neccessity of Common Craft a while ago.  Check it out.

And though I may be a little late to jump on the bandwagon, del.icio.us is my current love.  Because there are over 15 billion pages, there is no end to the information you can take in.  And being an information junkie, I contracted a horrendous bookmarking disease very early on.  But in that ridiculous format, it’s impossible to see what your’ve bookmarked so I never go back to what I wanted to remember in the first place.  So for me, del.icio.us is a god send.  It even helps me truly understand and narrow down my interests. Architecture, Food, Design, Marketing, Trends have the most tags, but my page is growing quickly because I love seeing what other people who love what I love are bookmarking - it’s total genuis. Just think how lost I would be with out my daily dose of Tokyo Street Style or Streetsy.      

In this complex and over-informationed society of ours, there’s nothing yummier or more del.iciou.us than simplification.

Yesterday the Sweet Talk crew went for a little shopping trip on our lunch hour.  I was on a mission for a new pair of sunglasses since the nosepiece had fallen off mine over the weekend.  It was only an hour, so it had to be a quick trip, and I was laser-focused on finding the glasses…until I heard, “I know!  And did you hear about Owen Wilson?  I know!  Can you believe it?!”

Yep, that would be the chick standing in the aisle next to me talking on her cell phone (actually, it was more like yelling into her cell phone).  I tried not to listen, but really, how could I not?  She was trying on glasses in the mirror next to me, balancing her cell between shoulder and ear as she took pairs on and off.  I put a pair on, but couldn’t really tell what they looked like because of this: “And he used to date that little actress I love.  What’s her name?  Ummm…I can’t think of it, but I LOVE her.  Yeah, that cute blond.  I know, I know…what’s her name?  Nah, she’s not Kurt Russell’s daughter…she’s from the first husband.  Yeah - I love her!  What’s her name?!”  Seriously, I was so distracted I almost yelled “KATE HUDSON.”  But I didn’t. 

Instead, I mozied over to the shoe department.  And there were tons of shoes on the sale racks, but guess what?  You got it - couldn’t really focus on those either ’cause of this: ”Isn’t it weird that school starts Thursday?  Its so hot, it still feels like summer.  I know!  I couldn’t really buy them school clothes either ’cause its still so hot.”  Yeah - its hot outside, but you’re INSIDE.  If you’re gonna talk about how hot it is outside, maybe you should head out there so we don’t have to all hear your conversation!

I’ve gotta say, (even though we’re all guilty of it) this is one of my current pet peeves.  Why, oh why is your conversation so important that you feel compelled to talk about it so loudly in a store full of strangers?  Do you think we can’t hear you? 

But alas, this morning I was perusing one of the trend-spotting email newsletters I receive, and I saw this post about a mobile phone booth at the Copenhagen airport.  It actually says “Please, speak softly or speak here.” 

And I had a vision!  You know all those payphone booths in places like the mall that are always empty now?  Can’t someone, somewhere, somehow turn those into mobile phone booths so people can hang out in there talking about Owen Wilson, and I can actually get some shopping done?!

The article and picture featured on the front page of yesterday’s NY Times begged for some form of commentary. 

“Yes, They Deep-Fry Oreos, but Not in Trans Fat.” This is now the case at the Great Indiana State Fair where everyone should feel much more healthful while indulging in a Combo Plate,  which is composed of one battered Snickers bar, two battered Oreos and a battered Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  Thank goodness is all I have to say – I would be truly hesitant to purchase the plate while it was fried in the trans fat oil, but now I will fill my tummy full an assortment of these fried goods knowing I have much less chance of having a heart attack.      

Sarcasm aside, this article harkens back to Morgan Spurlock’s documentary, “Super Size Me,” which shockingly informed me that people actually believe eating McDonalds everyday, and even multiple times a day, is good for them. 

Sadly, both these examples prove the power of marketing over people.  Often, it is used for bad, but being the saint I am, I prefer to use it only for good.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been doing a lot of networking on LinkedIn.  If you don’t use LinkedIn, its basically a social networking site for professional use - like MySpace but for your career. 

Anyway, by using LinkedIn we’ve met new people from as far away as Hong Kong and as close by as the next town over; we’ve reconnected with old friends and colleagues; and we’ve generated a few new leads.  But my favorite feature on LinkedIn has to be the Answers section - what a resource!  Here, people post questions about everything from attending conferences to finding venture capitalists to planning events. 

Browsing the questions is a great way to monitor trends, to find out what cutting-edge ideas people need more info about; answering questions is a great way to share your expertise or new ideas; but asking questions may be the most fun of all. 

Last week we asked a few questions about things that were stumping us - we needed some better terminology for one of our ideas, we needed a consolidated resource for some statistics, etc.  And most of the answers we got were fantastic - really interesting ideas, professional concepts and phrasing, helpful links and introductions to experts.  

The answers really are out there.

Have you asked or answered questions on LinkedIn?  Let me know how it worked for you.        

Twice in recent months we’ve attended conferences/tradeshows for event planners.  We were interested in these events because they were planned by professional organizations for event planners.  The first was the BizBash LA Event Style Show, and the most recent was the ISES LA Jam.  Really, what could be better than an event for event planners planned by the event planning industry?

And while there were one or two interesting sessions at the Bizbash event, and a few good vendors at each event, we were largely disappointed with the events as a whole.  As we stood in a pack of people waiting for a lady to yell out our name after she printed our badges for the BizBash show, we wondered if there wasn’t a more sophisticated way to handle check-in and badges.  As we sampled mediocre food samples at the LA Jam, we wondered when we could get to dinner. 

And that hasn’t even touched on the “green” aspect of each event - which was heavily promoted, but was really rather half-hearted.  The decor in the green lounge at the ISES event included a canvas sheet hung as a backdrop with words like “Reuse” and “Recycle” stenciled on it…really glamorizes the greening of events!

So we’re left wondering…what does it say about the event planning profession when event planners can’t plan good events for other event planners?  Shouldn’t those events be the highlight of the profession - where the newest and best trends are highlighted, where all the stops are pulled out, where event planners can be proud of their profession? 

In my last blog, I wrote about a couple of brands that BusinessWeek gave design awards to.  The first brand I wrote about was Pangea Organics, and the other brand I noticed was Eclipse Aviation, who offers a very, very cool product – one of the first very light jets or VLJ’s as aviation people call them. 

Before starting Sweet Talk, I worked at an agency where I was responsible for getting publicity on number of aviation accounts, so I learned my fair share about planes and flying, topics completely foreign to me.  One of the newer ideas in aviation (believe me these don’t happen very often) were these VLJs, which only cost around 1 mill and seat about 8.  The idea is that these planes fly out of smaller airports, acting as air taxis for short flights and you’re in and out – no long lines, no million people and very light security – really ideal for the business traveler.  My agency did work with one of these companies, called Adam Aircraft, a competitor to Eclipse and I placed this article in the Dallas Morning News which actually gives a pretty good summary of what makes these VLJs cool.

In any case, what I did want to talk about was image here.  Eclipse Aviation is not only recognized for its performance, but for the design of its planes and being a well-branded company.  When I first saw the Eclipse 500 in person at NBAA,  I was struck by the look of it compared to all the big and little planes alike.  It just seemed there had been so much more thought put into its internal and external design (specifically the dashboard) and people were flocking to it. And if you go to the site, you will see the difference there, when comparing them to probably most any other aviation company.  Eclipse is definitely a stand-out in an industry that evolves very slowly – some are still stuck in another era.  And it makes sense the company would be more forward, as the president formerly worked for Microsoft and understands the importance of image and how it creates an emotional attachment to whatever your offering. 

I’m not saying business owners need to sink tons of money into branding for their companies, but it should be something fully-thought through.  Over and over again, it is apparent that the companies that are really making an impact in consumer’s minds and converting that into sales, are the ones thinking it through.

Have you ever thought about opening a business with your best friends, or do you currently run a business venture with a friend?  When Lauren, Limor and I began Sweet Talk PR last year, we learned that being in business with friends is not all fun and games.  Over the past few months, we’ve developed three basic ground rules we thought we’d share for anyone interested.

1.  Know your friends’ strengths and respect them.

2.  Be as direct and open with each other as you can.

3.  Laugh hard and laugh often!

The stress of running a business is the same whether you do it alone, with colleagues, with family or with friends.  But its all worth it if you remember to have fun (and forget that you sometimes want to kill each other!).