Business to Business

Media Placements

Business to BusinessTable Of ContentsDate Publication Title

3/1/2015 Smart Meetings Adventures In Team Building

10/10/2014 Inc. 5 Simple Ways to Get Employees More Engaged

9/24/2014 Inc. Why You Should Invest More In Social Marketing This Holiday Season (Infographic)

9/3/2014 ADWEEKHow the Girl Scouts Do Real-Time Social Marketing

9/3/2014 EntrepreneurThe Grand Ole Opry Gets Hip to Hashtags to Harvest a New Audience Online

8/28/2014 Entrepreneur The Video Revolution Will Not Be Televised

8/11/2014 PR WeekOfferpop App is Source of Inspiration for Brands

8/7/2014 Fast Company5 Ways to Manage Both Good and Bad Online Reviews

8/1/2014 Bloomberg BusinessweekBeach Read Recommendations of the Guiltless Sort

7/11/2014 Entrepreneur4 Ways to rewire the Corporate Brain to Compete in the 21st Century

7/1/2014 Fast CompanyHow GoPro is Transforming Advertising as We Know It

5/8/2014 Entrepreneur3 Alternative Tech Startup Cities with Less Traffic, More Housing (Infographic)

4/22/2014 ForbesHow Four Eco Brands Are Using Social Media Marketing Effectively

3/28/2014 Inc. Is Your Co-Founder "the One'? 7 Ways to Tell

3/27/2014 Entrepreneur3 Companies Share How They Stay True to Company Culture Amidst Rapid Growth

3/17/2014 Bloomberg Businessweek What's Your Workday Exercise?

2/24/2014 NBC NewsNot Your Grandma's Quilt: How to Speed Up a Timeless Art Form

1/31/2014 Wall Street Journal Internet Speed-Quilting Queen Jenny Doan

1/31/2014 ADWEEK The Second Screen Super Bowl12/1/2013 The Meeting Professional Crafting and Growing a Partnership

11/13/2013 EntrepreneurWhy Wait Until Saturday? Small Businesses Seek Black Friday Buzz

11/13/2013 Ad AgeHashtags Breathe Life Back Into Social Commerce

Business to BusinessTable Of ContentsDate Publication Title

8/9/2013 Bloomberg BusinessweekOfferpop Launches Facebook Poll App for Brands

4/24/2013 US News: Money How to Spot a Home-Contractor Scam

12/5/2012 Fox Business Philanthropic Team Building For Business

10/22/2012 Fox BusinessOwn a Piece of Karate Franchise and Keep Your Day Job

9/1/2012 Franchise Times Just for Kids

7/1/2012 Huffington PostJames Kosta, 3G Studios: A Wild Ride for Jailed Teen Hacker Turned Video Game Entrepreneur

5/4/2012 Fast CompanyWhy You Should Swap Your Corporate Boardroom For A Company Kitchen

4/1/2012 Entrepreneur Making sure the kids are all right2/1/2012 The Rotarian Manual Labor

11/1/2011 Money Magazine Point, Click and Cut Remodel Bills9/1/2011 Entrepreneur Startups Circle of Trust7/1/2011 Spirit - Southwest Airlines Diggerslist6/1/2011 Inc. Fabulous Facebook Pages

11/18/2010 The Wall Street JournalGM IPO Soaring, But GM as an Investment? Blech

3/20/2009 South Florida Business JournalShrink Wrap Franchisee Hopes To Buck Economic Trend

3/1/2009 Fortune Small Business Wrap Party2/1/2009 Entrepreneur Building Up Teams - And Communities

10/1/2008 Successful Meetings Hands Across America5/1/2008 The Meeting Professional Helping Hands

5 Simple Ways to Get Employees More Engaged 10.10.2014 BY KEVIN DAUM @KEVINJDAUM Most often just issuing a paycheck is not enough to get employees really excited

about their work. Here are 5 easy and powerful ways to boost their engagement.

Engaged employees can transform a company. They can take customer loyalty to new levels,

reduce hiring costs, and improve productivity and product quality. But boosting employee

engagement is hard work. And busy executives are sometimes so focused on the objectives that

they don't take the proper steps to keep employees tightly tied into company culture and inspired to

do great work.

A recent survey from Bain and Company in partnership with Netsurvey analyzed responses from

200,000 employees in 40 companies and found two troubling trends. First, the survey showed that

engagement declines with employee tenure, meaning that your most experienced and

knowledgeable employees are typically the least engaged. The survey also found that employee

engagement was weakest at the lowest levels of the company and in service and sales departments,

putting the least engaged workers on the front lines of a company's daily interaction with

customers.

So how does a company boost employee engagement without the trial-and-error, time-intensive

process of launching a new program from scratch without a blueprint for success? I recently had

the chance to discuss this challenge with Darius Mirshahzadeh, President and co-founder

of Endeavor America Loan Services. Mirshahzadeh has built a great team of highly engaged

employees at his fast-growing mortgage company based in Walnut Creek, California. In less than a

year, Endeavor has attracted 200 employees while spending zero dollars on recruiting. Here are 5

of his secrets for making sure employees start off on the right foot and stay highly motivated in

their positions throughout their tenure.

1. Me before WE.

Barrels of ink have been spilled over the concepts of collaboration and teamwork. These practices

are vital, but so is the often overshadowed emphasis on the individual employee. Mirshahzadeh

practices the "me before we" mentality using the StrengthsFinder talent assessment tool to discover

and grow employees' natural skills. His management makes it a point to mentor employees in their

specific strengths and assemble teams that have complimentary skill sets. "Me before we" does not

sacrifice the team for the sake of the individual, it puts an emphasis on individual development that

ends up making for stronger teams.

2. Practice the "1 Percent" rule.

So many executives delay putting a program in place because they think it requires a lot of effort or

resources. Mirshahzadeh instituted a rule requiring at least one percent of company resources

dedicated to employee development early in Endeavor's lifecycle. The commitment equals roughly

20 hours per employee each year focused on personal development. The program fosters company

loyalty and high morale.

3. Make first days and birthdays special.

Employees need to feel appreciated from day one and throughout the year or they'll feel detached

and possibly resentful. On first days of work, don't just put the employee in a desk and let them

fend for themselves. At Endeavor, first days are significant with an executive or founder spending

personal face-to-face time with employees. On work anniversaries and birthdays, employees get

hand-signed cards from senior management, a gift certificate and a personal note.

4. Use easy employee recognition tools.

Consistent employee recognition is necessary for engagement, but doing it in a meaningful and

consistent way is time-consuming and complicated for many. Endeavor uses a software tool that

simplifies the process and democratizes recognition to allow the entire staff to recognize their

colleagues. YouEarnedIt is a points-based software system that allows employees to gift points to

deserving co-workers. The points can be redeemed for prizes or other rewards. Recognition comes

in real time. The tool alleviates the burden of a manager having to launch the program and the

results are a more authentic gauge of true employee achievement.

5. Make feedback easy and effective.

A huge part of any executive or manager's job is listening. Listening sparks some of the best ideas,

helps identify workplace problems early and builds a more connected and collaborative workplace.

Endeavor uses the 15Five software system to provide a real-time, direct feedback pipeline to

managers. Employees take 15 minutes each week to send comments that take a manager only five

minutes to read, review and respond. The best ideas are quickly and easily passed up the chain of

command, while problems are identified and addressed immediately. Listening is still best done in-

person and face-to-face, but the system organizes feedback, sets up regular check-ins and allows

unfiltered feedback to be sent to the highest decision-makers in the company with the push of a

button.

Why You Should Invest More In

Social Marketing This Holiday

Season (Infographic)

BY GRAHAM WINFREY @GRAHAMWINFREY 9-24-2014 Cashing in on the 2014 holiday season is all about

socializing commerce. Here's what your marketing

team needs to know.

Social media marketing will play a crucial role in driving sales this

holiday season, when U.S consumers are expected to spend a

whopping $650 billion.

Nearly 70 percent of brands in the U.S. will invest more in social

media marketing during the 2014 holiday season compared to last

year, and 92 percent of marketers plan to spend the majority of their

social budget on Facebook, according to a survey from social

software company Offerpop.

The infographic below shares some of the most important social

marketing trends for the upcoming holiday season.

How the Girl Scouts Do Real-Time Social Marketing

Pop culture events widen social graph

By Lauren Johnson September 3, 2014, 1:41 PM EDT

gone are the days when the Girl Scouts relied on word of mouth and door-to-door

cookie selling to build brand buzz. Now, the organization enlists Facebook, Twitter,

YouTube and Instagram for everything from long-term recruitment efforts to timely

contests and promotions.

Indeed, the organization uses a team of three employees to capitalize on pop culture

momentslike when Luis Suarezs bit an opponent during this years World Cupthat

will broaden the brands appeal beyond moms and volunteers to the general public,

according to Kayla Santalla, senior social media specialist at Girl Scouts of the USA. And

in some cases, this real-time mentality helps the Girl Scouts blur the line between

marketing and public relations.

For instance, the Girl Scouts posted a 13-second video riffing on Suarez bite in June. The

video, which has been viewed more than 9,100 times on YouTube, shows a Samoa cookie

biting a Thin Mint.

The clip was produced in a day and posted to social media. The video garnered one

million media impressions during one night and was featured on ESPN and ABC. "Its a

way of leveraging digital assets that we create for social, creating a buzz around it and

then pitching it to get essentially placement without paying for an ad in a prime time

like the World Cup," Santalla said.

In another real-time marketing example, the Girl Scouts re-created Neil Armstrongs

famous moon landing to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in

July. Staffers also employ social listening tools to find and respond to online

conversations about the brand.

Tech-savvy selling

Beyond real-time content, the Girl Scouts uses mobile payments and an app that locates

nearby places where consumers can buy cookies. During "cookie season" the organization

runs app install ads on Facebook and Twitter targeted at markets where cookie sales are

going on.

The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. has more than 267,000 followers on Facebook and another

43,000 on Twitter. Instagram and Pinterest collectively represent another 21,000

followers.

Since the bulk of Girl Scouts are under 13 years oldFacebooks minimum age for

opening an accountthe organizations social efforts target parents but play up the

perspectives of scouts. "We usually lead with the girls stories and what theyre

accomplishing," Santalla said.

While cookie season generates the most social outreach (the brand even has astand-alone

cookie Facebook page), the Girl Scouts also runs year-round contests and posts content

regularly to keep the social engagement going.

Through Sept. 8, the brand is running a contest on Facebook called GirlSports Photo

Challenge. The Offerpop-powered promo asks consumers to send in pictures showing

how they stay active during the summer for a chance to win gift cards and merchandise.

"It has been going on a few weeks and engagements been crazyI think we have over

40,000 votes, over 1,000 entrants so far," Santalla said. "It was a fun, low-lift way of

keeping our fans engaged and keeping [Facebooks] algorithm in our favor to balance

out when we message out about other things that we want to resonate with our base."

Facebook ads have also been used to drive traffic to the contest, and the initiative fits

into a bigger marketing push that will be employed this fall to boost the organizations

recruitment efforts.

Other planned media include geo-targeted Facebook ads and influencer efforts with

Michelle Obama and Robin McGraw to recruit new volunteers.

`

The Grand Ole Opry Gets Hip to Hashtags to Harvest a New

Audience Online

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

I grew up in a rural Nevada town surrounded by barbed wire fences and

farm fields stacked with bales of alfalfa. A sprawling livestock auction

yard sat behind the pizza joint where I worked. Its most popular menu

item was appropriately dubbed Barn Wedges.

Oh, and you better believe that country music was a staple of my

environment. And yet, an organization that thrust the genre into

mainstream America and became a crown jewel of country culture,

completely skipped my notice until recently. Starting in the 1920s the

Grand Ole Opry showcased performers who were broadcast on radio.

Through the decades performers have included Hank Williams, Elvis

Presley, Dolly Parton and more recently Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts,

Dierks Bentley and Blake Shelton.

With its 90th anniversary on the horizon, Grand Ole Opry is staking a

comeback using the digital landscape to touch millennials and

generations with a newfound interest in country music.

I first encountered Grand Ole Opry because my 17-year-old sister

posted a slew of photos to Instagram holding a CD. I was first shocked

to see that she owned a tangible music medium, but her hashtag and the

plethora of comments and "likes" prompted me to dig further.

Turns out, by taking a photo with an album with the

hashtag #MyRoadBetween she was entering a contest hosted by Grand

Ole Opry. Hashtags, brands and contests are commonplace. But a

contemporary concept adopted by organization with little to no

recognition among the core demographic participating in said contest

struck me.

The Pew Research Center has reported that 91 percent of teenagers on

Instagram post selfies. If this many teens are posting photos of

themselves to social media and with Instagram and Twitter near the top

of their favorite social networks, according to Piper Jaffrey, Grand Ole

Opry struck gold with its strategy. Further inspection revealed that there

were scores of submissions, and a separate contest called for Instagram

videos, too. (The contest was conducted on multiple platforms and

Grand Ole Opry was able to aggregate the content and track it by using

software of Offerpop, a client of my firm.)

The key to Grand Ole Oprys success was not just harnessing a timely

trend but tailoring the campaign to appeal to a younger audience. Most

marketing experts will advise companies to harness social data and build

campaigns appealing to their core audience. But Grand Ole Opry

accomplished more than gathering a trunk full of user-generated

content and great metrics. The organization embedded its brand into the

lives and networks of a generation of fans that can carry them into the

future. Talk about "social security."

Creating a unique world within a social network

Survey data collected by GlobalWebIndex in in late 2013 demonstrates

Tumblrs impact on users between the ages of 16 and 24,

a demographic that BusinessInsider has pointed out is difficult for brands

to reach. Flooded by fashion companies, artists and indie musicians,

Tumblr is a breeding ground for youth-oriented content.

A common sentiment among social gurus is that those who want to

make social-media networking succeed have to put in the time. Grand

Ole Opry took every social network into account for its digital marketing

strategy, a bold choice considering the time and content commitments

companies take on with each new network engaged with.

Rather than simply paste a Tumblr logo on its web page, Grand Ole

Opry created a persona for the microblog labeled #thecircle. Its packed

full of video performances and interviews, making visitors feel apart of a

special backstage club with exclusive access to current stars and

country icons.

Treating content as a reward.

Signed posters are a great social contest prize. For Grand Ole Opry,

using them as leverage garnered a ton of user-generated content and

engagement between social media users and the

organization. But limiting fan rewards to such prizes places budget and

creativity limitations, and while its still effective, its traditional, the

opposite of Grand Ole Oprys new marketing tactics. After all, there are

only so many times that fans will post a photo to score a poster. Grand

Ole Opry took an interesting approach to this dilemma via Twitter.

Specific tweets from @opry requested 1,000 retweets by a certain time

in order to unlock videos from stars such as Lucy Hale and Carrie

Underwood. Fans responded in droves, requesting that their followers

also participate to reach the goal.

Rather than offering a typical prize, Grand Ole Opry engaged its fans

and rewarded them with in-house content in exchange for engagement.

Requesting shares, likes and retweets from fans is fine, but to do so and

offer them something in return is full-circle marketing at its best.

Not leaving behind faithful fans.

Grand Ole Opry hasnt forgot the loyal fans who helped the organization

weather 90 years and all the changes in the country music industry. Its

Facebook page shares video performances from Dolly Parton and

Wynonna Judd and takes the time to honor classic artists and mediums.

An effective social-marketing campaign targets multiple audiences and

engages on several levels while collecting additional data, user-

generated content and increasing organizations' reach to new fans. This

might seem straightforward for contemporary companies, but entities

with a long history could find it hard to creatively deliver brand

messaging and content to ever-changing social media users.

Grand Ole Opry could have easily bitten the dust or just kept things

simple and catered to a stereotypical demographic. Instead it has leaped

into the digital future with tactics that other companies can learn from

for their own efforts

The Video Revolution Will Not Be Televised

AUGUST 28, 2014

In the ongoing fragmentation of media that has already transformed the

newspaper and music industries, the television business is the biggest

and perhaps last traditional media giant to be dramatically affected.

Netflix and Hulu are eroding the base of this powerful industry. YouTube

and Vimeo are destabilizing it. The advertising implications will be

enormous as this industry is disrupted.

Billions of dollars of advertising and marketing dollars will be unleashed

on nascent but growing digitalvideo platforms. This migration of ad

dollars is already happening in a steady trickle. But should the television

studios' stranglehold on the video audience break, that trickle may

become a flood.

The waning power of TV.

Television certainly still holds major advertising power, but that's

changing rapidly. Live TV viewership is dropping dramatically and will

continue to wane asmillennials dominate viewership.

The advertising impact of television (which no longer has to be viewed

live) has also waned as DVRs have become prominent, letting viewers

skip ads. Television advertising might experience an increase in

spending with political ads being placed prior to the 2016 presidential

election and because candidate debates appear on live TV. But the long-

term trend of younger viewers relying on online methods of viewing is

bound to continue.

Licensing is a large revenue source for televison studios but things

are changing as companies like Netflix begin to develop their own

original programming (witness House of Cards). And when a show is

produced by a studio but broadcast online, this represents a transition to

online advertising, much the way a newspaper article supported by

online advertising represents a transition for publishing companies.

Cable is also facing deep disruption since its lucrative bundling structure

may be unraveled.

As Time reported in April, "With all these changes, industry has reason

to squirm. In a report last year, media analysts at the investment firm

Needham & Company estimated that if all TV content were unbundled,

the TV industry would take a $70 billion dollar hit, and all but 15 or 20

channels would disappear."

The new wave of digital advertising.

Advertising on cable and broadcast TV is a $78 billion

industry, according to Nielsen. But television ad growth is slowing even

as spending on digital video advertising is increasing dramatically. It's

clear that advertising is following the audience. Online video advertising

received 35 billion views in December alone, according to Business

Insider, and is averaging 100 percent viewership increases each month

in year-over-year comparisons.

With the rise of online media comes the ability to meticulously track

impressions and conversions and connect advertising directly to

ecommerce. With a traditional television ad, viewership has been the

prime measurement of its effectiveness. For online advertising, though,

everything from clickthroughs to conversions and impressions can be

gauged.

The rate at which digital ad spending is growing is impressive (and

is projected to double in four years).

This ad growth is fueling a flourishing of streaming services like Netflix,

which reported a steep increase in earnings in the second quarter of this

year as the company added 1.7 million new customers in three months.

The proliferation of channels and video sources is being supported by

mobile consumers. Thus the annoying push advertising of pop-up and

banner ads that consumers now largely ignore has given way to pull

advertising that consumers actively seek out. This pull video

advertising model has made video ads an effective online ad vehicle,

averaging a click-through rate of 1.84 percent, according to Business

Insider.

Future trends.

This advertising revolution will not be a simple transfer from television

screens to online digital sources. It will involve a transformation of how

advertising is served, tracked and converted. Instead of a studio-and-

agency model of video development and advertising production,

more online video will be organically created, crowdsourced and user

generated. Viral ads will be developed not in the war rooms of high-

priced ad agencies but instead hatched by ambitious creatives with an

idea, a camera, a laptop and some editing software. Stars will be minted

through YouTube views and multichannel networks.

Television networks will still exist, but I expect they will operate like the

newspaper industry today -- with smaller budgets: They will increasing

be tied into digital and social channels and no longer serve as

the dominant players in the medium.

The successful broadcast and cable television programming of the future

will have to be nimble and innovative, capturing audiences attention with

full integration with digital channels.

As the audience for television fragments across Netflix, Hulu, YouTube

and multichannel networks like Fullscreen and Maker Studios,

advertising will become more targeted, more data driven and more

connected to social media.

Artful video curation and aggregation will become a valuable

commodity. I predict that as the growth of content marketing sends an

increasing deluge of video into websites, mobile devices and viewers

social media streams, the companies that manage to organize, curate

and manage that overload of video will gain the trust of audiences.

After all, there is only so much content a person can consume. Content

fatigue will be headed off by companies that deliver only the most

inspiring, relevant and targeted video content to their audience. Waywire

offers a good example: The company curates videos that directly

appeals to a specific audience

For years now, product and service companies have been working to

become content producers. Now they are realizing that they also must

be content curators. So much video is flooding the digital world that

automated and efficient ways to showcase video can yield dramatic

results with minimal effort.

This wave of digital disruption in television will unleash a new round of

innovation in video creation, curation and programming. Just like the

rapid decline of newspapers set off a round of digital innovation with the

arrival of companies like Slate and The Skimm

and prompted newspapers like The New York Times to launch

innovative digital arms like 538.com, video will also birth new companies

and fresh online ventures at traditional television companies.

Advertising will follow the audience into a world of mobile, social and

web-based video. The video revolution will not be televised. But it will be

increasingly targeted and user-generated and curated. And companies

will be launched in a new digital landscape where capturing audiences

fragmented across many video platforms will become the new challenge.

The production and curation of video is more accessible than ever to

small and midsized entrepreneurs. It can be a powerful tool for

companies to gain widespread visual exposure among an audience of

young consumers who are turning off television and warching video on

smartphones, social networks and streaming services.

5 WAYS TO MANAGE BOTH GOOD AND BAD ONLINE REVIEWS WORRIED ABOUT YOUR REPUTATION ON YELP OR GLASSDOOR? LEARN

HOW TO BUILD TRUST AND ATTRACT NEW CLIENTS--WITHOUT FEEDING

THE INTERNET TROLLS.

August 7, 2014 | 5:41 AM BY CHRIS TERRILL

In a perfect world, customers would hire you based on the quality of your work, and not on the

opinions of Internet users whose feedback may or may not be entirely truthful.

According to an Ipsos Public Affairs survey, online ratings and reviews play a significant role in

your customers purchase decisions. How you leverage your positive reviews, while learning

from and managing your negative reviews, is critical to your businesss success.

Here are five ways to ensure that online ratings and reviews can work to your businesss

advantage.

1. SEEK OUT SITES THAT ONLY POST VERIFIED REVIEWS

Humans are predisposed to focus on the negative. This inherent bias is why were able to vividly

recall unpleasant experiences. Because negative events tend to elicit stronger emotions, people

are more apt to share their negative experiences. However, these emotions can easily cloud their

judgment and distort their perceptions of the experience. Given the ability to post reviews that

dont require verification, its easy for individuals--or competitors--to embellish or misrepresent

the truth without fear of recourse, especially when hiding behind a veil of anonymity.

The good news is that consumers are becoming increasingly adept at recognizing false reviews,

both positive and negative. Because a review is only as trustworthy as the individual posting it,

many consumers are seeking out sites that verify their reviews. Joining a site that only posts

verified reviews is the first step toward protecting your business from false reviews.

2. RESPOND TO NEGATIVE REVIEWS WITHOUT BECOMING DEFENSIVE

Negative reviews sting, and much like negative events they elicit stronger emotions. While you

might be tempted to respond to a negative review with an immediate and vigorous defense, doing

so could damage your reputation more than the initial review.

The best thing to do is to give yourself time to process the review before responding. When you

do respond, and you should, be as diplomatic and professional as possible. Dont be defensive

and dont blame the customer. Be apologetic if you came up short, or explain the situation if the

customer misunderstood what led to the complaint.

3. USE REVIEWS TO PINPOINT AND SOLVE PROBLEMS

No matter how good you are at what you do, theres always room for improvement. Ratings and

reviews give you the insights you need to make those improvements. The key is to reframe

critical reviews as opportunities to evaluate and address any shortcomings in your business

practices.

Monitor your ratings and reviews to identify patterns. If multiple customers are criticizing certain

aspects of your operations, work to address the issues raised in a timely and effective manner. At

the same time, dont overreact to negative reviews by making large-scale business decisions

based on a single critical comment.

4. MAKE SURE THE SITE RANKS BUSINESSES ON REVIEWS, NOT ADVERTISING

When a potential customer visits a site that provides ratings and reviews, they do so with the

expectation that the reviews will be authentic and honest, regardless of how positive or negative

they might be. Unfortunately, some sites allow advertising to influence their rankings.

In order to be effective, your reviews and rankings should be based solely on the opinions of

your previous customers, and not how much you spend with the site hosting those reviews. If a

site makes the pitch that you can improve your rankings by advertising with them, its time to

question the legitimacy of their ranking process.

5. CONSIDER A REVIEWS AND RATINGS SITE DEDICATED TO YOUR INDUSTRY

Some sites try to do it all: rating and reviewing restaurants, retailers, and professional services.

That might pull in visitors, but this everything-to-everyone approach can yield inconsistent--and

sometimes unsubstantiated--reviews from customers who arent as knowledgeable as those who

post on industry-specific sites.

While its a good idea to expand your reach by posting your business profile across multiple

sites, focus your efforts on those that are directly related to your industry, specifically those that

screen member businesses and verify all ratings and reviews before publishing them.

--Chris Terrill is the CEO of HomeAdvisor, the nations No. 1 resource for pre-screen home

improvement specialists. Terrill has years of leadership experience in the Internet business,

including executive positions at Match.com, Nutrisystems.com, and Blockbuster.com.

Beach Read Recommendations of the Guiltless Sort By Arianne Cohen August 01, 2013

4 Ways to Rewire the Corporate Brain to

Compete in the 21st Century JULY 11, 2014

The era of the robber baron is long gone and the days of the rapacious

capitalist are dwindling. The corporate world that once rewarded

aggression and strong-armed business dealings is now refocusing on

collaboration, transparency and corporate responsibility.

This amounts to an absolute cultural about-face for many companies -- a

rewiring of the corporate brain to reward skills that net a more

collaborative workplace.

Most companies are still only halfway through this transition. And many

are still searching for the tools and the tactics to power their success.

The bean counters have been slow to quantify the impact of such

changes on the bottom line. But turnover rates, customer loyalty, brand

image and project accountability for companies demonstrating this new

mind-set may eventually show that a sustainable culture and profitability

are the new yin and yang of business.

Here are four ways that companies can reframe their corporate cultureto

be more flexible amid all the technological innovation, globalization and

constant communication of today's business world:

1. Help employees become inspired by the why of

work. Managers and executives sometimes fail to grasp the motivation

for why people work. Humans are complex creatures, thriving on

reaffirmation, praise, the inspiration of working in a tight-knit team or the

ambition of changing peoples lives by building great products. They

work for a paycheck, too. But truly inspired workers are motivated by

much more. Understand that to unlock the secret to motivating

employees and connecting them in a team.

A 2013 Gallup study quantified the immense benefits of an engaged

workforce. Companies with highly engaged employees outperformed

firms with lower engagement by 10 percent in customer ratings, 22

percent in profitability and 21 percent in productivity. They also saw

significantly lower turnover and absenteeism and fewer safety incidents

and product defects.

If employees are adrift in a work environment not understanding the why,

they will likely have a morale problem. Connect employees to the why

and motivation, innovation and great customer service will follow. The

personal why and the company why should be aligned and

complimentary.

2. Make philanthropy a company cornerstone. After the Great

Recession, Gordon Geckos greed is good motto from the movie Wall

Street seems reckless. Today, many consumers and employees are

aligning with companies dedicated to philanthropy and corporate

responsibility.

Forward-thinking companies are weaving philanthropy into all aspects of

corporate culture and discovering that giving can have a positive impact

on the way they develop talent, retain employees, promote leadership

and serve customers. Giving is a critical way some corporations build

teams, encourage leadership, recruit and retain employees and connect

with customers and their communities.

Philanthropy is R&D for business and a growth strategy, says Doug

Conant, a former Campbell Soup Co. CEO: The more we leveraged our

business resources to deliver social value to the communities around us,

the more engaged our employees became and the better we performed

in the marketplace.

Fifty-nine percent of Fortune 500 companies increased philanthropic

giving from 2007 to 2012, according to the Committee Encouraging

Corporate Philanthropy, whose member firms gave $14 billion to charity

in 2012. As chairman of that committee, Conant sees philanthropy as a

staff development tool, a way to connect with community and as

incubators for promising ideas and a mechanism for understanding both

community and corporate needs.

3. Build teams that learn and adapt together. The every-man-for-

himself outlook is being replaced by an ethic that prizes the success of a

team over the accomplishments of single employees. If individual

survival and personal reward are the focus, team members will build

silos and create a scarcity mentality even in the face of abundance of

opportunity. Teams succeed through collaboration, effective

communication and adaptation.

One of the greatest achievements for a company is creating self-

sustaining teams whose members learn and grow on their own.

Fostering a company culture where ideas can germinate and thrive

organically and where team members adapt and advance by interacting

with others is the hallmark of a self-sustaining work environment.

A team structure where members mutually benefit from collaboration is

critical for a companys bottom line as well as staffers' sense

of connection.

4. Streamline communication. Effective communication is a key trait

that companies look for in a 21st-century work world. Yet today's

workplaces are saddled by communication overload. Often, employees

these days communicate too much, incessantly sending email, setting

up conference calls and conducting staff meetings and strategy

sessions.

High-performing teams communicate effectively by balancing

communication with action. They target their communication to be

actionable.

If companies were to step back and analyze their business operations,

communication is an area where streamlining and sharpening could

save time and boost effectiveness.

According to a report by international training firm 360 Solutions, a

business with 100 employees experiences on average 17 hours of

downtime a week, lost to having to clarify communication. This translates

into an annual cost of nearly $530,000. The report also noted that 38

percent of staff feedback hinders employee performance.

Wading through emails, sitting through long, unfocused staff meetings

and overbooking a week with conference calls can sap productivity and

motivation and make it hard to decipher what's truly important.

HOW GOPRO IS TRANSFORMING ADVERTISING AS WE KNOW IT

HARNESSING CONTENT CREATED BY THE USER IS NOT JUST AN

AFFORDABLE MARKETING STRATEGY; IT'S ALSO PRETTY POWERFUL

STUFF.

BY KEVIN BOBOWSKI

GoPros rising stock prices after its initial public offering (IPO) last week just go to show how

powerful and versatile user-generated content can be.

Some people still think of user-generated content as shaky videos or filtered photos, only good

for sharing with family or friends on social media. But that is an outdated concept, and one

which GoPro would dispel.

Many media platforms are proving that user-generated content has the quality to captivate

audiences. Video cameras affixed to the helmets of skiers, snowboarders, and BASE jumpers

generate footage for the slickest television commercials, and Instagram photos from fashion fans

are now the center of online catalogues for major fashion brands.

USER-GENERATED VALUE

Everyone got a glimpse of the power of user-generated content thanks to GoPros recent

financial disclosures leading up to its public offering. The company more than doubled its net

income from 2010 to 2011 to $24.6 million but only spent $50,000 more in marketing costs to do

it, according to Wall St. Daily. And GoPro repeated the feat in 2013, increasing marketing costs

by only $41,000, but making $28 million more in net income.

Embedded in those numbers is the multi-million-dollar marketing and advertising

value of user-generated content. In place of an art director, acting cast, and team of

videographers, GoPro simply hands a wearable camera to an amazing athlete and

gets back advertising and marketing gold. Regular customers have become advertisers

on a smaller scale, shooting high-quality video, loading it onto YouTube and social

networks, and advertising the capabilities of the cameras to friends, family, and

complete strangers.

THE NEW MEDIA REALITY

But GoPro wants to be much more than a hardware-maker with a built-in, affordable

marketing strategy.

The company wants to evolve into the user-generated media company of the future.

And in that regard, GoPro is in the vanguard of a new media reality.

Viewers can tune in to a full GoPro channel on Virgin America Airlines or stream the

video through an Xbox. What viewers see when they tune in is one of the most

remarkable, branded video experiences available. Viewers get a front seat to the

adventures of world-class skiers and snowboarders, BASE jumpers, and mountain

bikers, not to mention a whole range of video outside of the world of extreme sports, like

a stunning recent video of an African Pelican learning how to fly.

Technological advancements have made user-generated content both compelling and

high-quality, and GoPro proves that a tiny camera, in the hands of the right people, can

create captivating content that will gain an audience no matter what purpose it is used

for: social media marketing, advertising, or television programming.

GoPro is just one high-profile example of this fast-growing trend. Fashion retailers and

consumer-packaged goods companies are harnessing Instagram photos, Vine videos,

and other forms of consumer content to spread their brand message on television,

in online ads, and in marketing material.

User-generated content is the next marketing and advertising frontier for brands. Its

wide acceptance is due to the fact that it is both powerful and affordable. But most of all,

it is relatable in a way that polished, directed, scripted advertising is not.

GoPros valuation is based partly on the high-quality video camera that it makes. But

even more than that, investors are intrigued by the potential of the video camera

manufacturer to blossom into a full-fledged media company driven almost entirely by

user-generated video.

For the brands that are spending big advertising budgets, the ascendance of GoPro is

also a reminder of an evolution in marketing that they must adapt to: the attainable and

largely untapped marketing and advertising potential of user-generated content.

--Kevin Bobowski is vice president of marketing at Offerpop. The company creates a

global social-marketing campaign platform that helps audiences connect with

companies' brands.

3 Alternative Tech Startup Cities With Less Traffic, More Housing (Infographic)

BY JOHN SOLARI | May 8, 2014| 7 Comments

Silicon Valleys powerful entrepreneurial economy has resulted in some major downsides: gridlocked traffic, high housing prices and a growing and aggressive tech backlash. Today, three cities previously known more as vacation destinations are now legitimate alternatives to Silicon Valley life at a much more affordable price. For the adventurous startup or mature tech company, there's life beyond red taillights, long commutes and protestors blockading buses. Las Vegas, Denver and Reno, Nev., mix together a vibrant startup culture with world-class recreation or entertainment. And they all do it in places with plenty of affordable housing, a few million fewer highway-clogging cars and minus the debate over gentrification. Related: What Elon Musk Really Thinks of 'Silicon Valley' 1. Las Vegas. Tony Hsieh gets credit for jump-starting Las Vegas startup scene with his $350 million Downtown Project, but the city has grown into much more than his personal project. Switch Communications founder, Rob Roy, is pumping money and energy into the InNEVation Center, a collaboration space that delivers some of the fastest Internet speeds in the world (courtesy of his company's SuperNAP data center) and serves as a meeting place for startup and economic development events. Las Vegas Downtown Container Park, where an enormous metal praying mantis sculpture shoots flames out of its antennae, hosts live music events along with unique retail and dining spots. It's helping draw new hospitality sector investment like Seth Schorrs new ultramodern Downtown Grand hotel, a gaming, dining and entertainment venue.

While the VegasTech Fund, founded by Hsieh, is a big influencer in town, early-stage and maturing Las Vegas companies can seek financing from the Las Vegas Valley Angels, Brennan Capital and state sources like the Battle Born Venture Fund and the Silver State Opportunities Fund.

Competitive advantages: Las Vegas is an hour's flight away from California's two biggest population centers and the center of the convention and trade show universe. Representatives of the largest companies in the world touch down for business networking and product launches. Las Vegas has affordable housing and business costs, anchor businesses like Zappos and Switch Communications and a year-round industry-event schedule. Median home prices are $164,700, according to Zillow; about half a million dollars less than San Jose's. Related: Tech Firms Seeking Talent Spring for Spacious, Luxe Quarters 2. Denver. A healthy startup ecosystem includes companies of all maturity levels, whereby ones that have grown from shoestring outfits to market leaders might reinvest in the community. And Denver has businesses in fast-growing industries and companies large and small, young and mature. Denver-based businesses like HomeAdvisor, now a subsidiary of IAC with 1,200 employees, participate in community-building events like Denver Startup Week. At the center of Denvers startup activity is Galvanize, a 30,000-square-foot entrepreneurial campus including a venture capital funding firm, as well as collaborative co-working space and a social hub for events and education. Companies with origins in the Denver area include Mapquest, Photobucket, Rally Software, Cloudzilla and Forkly.

Firms like Grotech Ventures, with offices in Denver, are financing startups and are joined by large Boulder-based funds like the Foundry Group.

Competitive advantage: Denver is located in a mountainous region that many consider more of a vacation destination than a business hub. Indeed Colorado ski resorts are just down the highway and the area's mountain biking and hiking trails are virtually endless. Denver offers all of this, while retaining an affordable cost of living. Home prices, at a median level of $254,800, are higher than in Reno, Nev., and Las Vegas, but still less than half the price of San Jose's. Related: The 10 Best Cities for Buying or Selling a Home 3. Renos allure lies with its geographic location, affordability and emerging and energetic startup scene. Its a mornings drive from Silicon Valley and just a half-hour car trip from the ski slopes and beaches of Lake Tahoe. That mix of business friendliness, quality of life and entrepreneurial energy is attracting small, scrappy startups and the satellite offices of some of the world's largest technology companies. The Biggest Little City has transitioned from a gambling mecca into an entrepreneurial hot spot. Tesla Motors is eyeing the city to house its new gigafactory, a multibillon-dollar battery-production headquarters; Apple has already built a data center there and Intuit, Microsoft Licensing and Drone America are headquartered in town. Homegrown startups are sprouting downtown. Renos Startup

Row along the Truckee River features cloud-computing companies and fitness-software outfits, a vibrant co-working collective and a hardware developer that builds microcontrollers.

Reno's vibrant entrepreneurial culture includes 1 Million Cups events, hackathons and startup weekends all year long. Marmot Properties is remodeling and updating scores of Reno homes in central locations to house the influx of entrepreneurs.

Capital needed to fuel startup activity is also available: The Silver State Opportunities Fund is investing $50 million in Nevada-based business. And the Battle Born Venture Fund is a state fund that provides critical funding for early-stage, high-growth companies in Nevada. The Reno Accelerator Fund invests in early-stage companies in the capital.

Competitive advantage: Renos home prices are a world away from Silicon Valley's. The median Reno home price is $198,700, according to Zillow (less than a third of San Jose's) so nearby tech startups and maturing companies dont have to worry about employees struggling to find homes or commuting long hours. Renos tax environment is considered business friendly. And city's startup scene is alongside a downtown whitewater kayak park with terrific skiing and a web of mountain bike trails nearby. Plus, Renos thriving bar, restaurant, coffee and entertainment scene includes Campo, named one of the nations best new restaurants by Esquire in 2012. Below see an infographic created by the Economic Development Agency for Western Nevada to market Reno's startup culture.

FollowEntrepreneurs4/22/2014@9:40AM4,228views

HowFourEcoBrandsAreUsingSocialMediaMarketingEffectivelyCommentNowFollowComments

Environmentally conscious companies dont just sell products, they promote a mission and sustain a lifestyle that benefits their customers and simultaneously makes the world a better place. It is natural then that when these triple bottom line businesses take to social media, they use their authentic voice and positioning to simultaneously promote philanthropy and increase e-commerce sales.

However, according to Offerpop, a NYC-based social marketing platform, the most effective green brands not only raise awareness for causes on multiple networks, but tailor their campaigns to leverage the visual web and user generated content by allowing users to submit conscious content, give back and gain exclusive information.

Here are four sustainable brands that are doing it well:

1. TOMS

TOMS gained popularity with their one for one policy (where they donate one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased). They now have over 2 Million twitter followers. Theyve captured that audience using a variety of social tools and campaigns that keep philanthropy on the forefront of their fans minds.

Best Campaign: One Day Without Shoes

TOMS annual One Day Without Shoes campaign asks patrons to go barefoot to raise global awareness for childrens health and education, and they are rocking it on social media. Not only do they have a dedicated page on their website, but they host Instagram meet-ups in several social-savvy cities, offer a toolkit for those who want to participate, and a Pinterest board (with 33k+ followers) full of shareable fact photos and participant photos. TOMS delivers a fantastic example of a social awareness campaign that actively engages fans and spreads its message far and wide.

2. EcoTools

EcoTools is a company that offers quality eco-friendly beauty products and gives back to great causes. EcoTools utilizes social content from their team and fans to create unique social offerings.

Best Campaign: Hashtag #Ecotools

EcoTools used their brand hashtag #Ecotools to aggregate Instagram content from their fans and share it via the Hashtag Gallery tool from Offerpop. They also use their team of experts to share

tips and reward fans across platforms. They know how to create useful branded content extremely well. They have a $10k giveback program for customers to win money to donate back to charities of their choice.

3. Recyclebank.

Recyclebank is a company that rewards people with deals and discounts for taking everyday green actions. They are leveraging their position as green-lifestyle educators to be a hub for social buzz.

Best Campaign: LivingEarthMonth

Recyclebank is using Earth Month (April) to create community awareness on social media under #LivingEarthMonth. They have created a microsite that features content from Twitter and Instagram and aims to inspire readers to make the most of Earth Month. The site also directs viewers back to their website to purchase products that are environmentally-friendly.

4. Loomstate.

Loomstate is an eco-friendly clothing company that has a lot of projects to help make the planet a better place. They excel at blogging and their social content is perfect for sustainable hipsters to share and like.

Best Campaign: Act Natural Blog

Loomstate offers easy-to-read, interesting blog posts. Content marketing is a key feeder of social media marketing; they go hand-in-hand. Many companies attempt to create blogs that impact readers, but few accomplish it the way Loomstate has. Their blog posts are relevant to the eco/sustainable current culture, and feature easy-to-digest bullets on how to get involved and

how Loomstate is supporting each particular cause. They are a great example of how effective ongoing, well-composed content can work for a brands messaging.

All four of these companies are using social media for social good and engagement. They are proof that the two can be done in conjunction to create the most impactful messaging for brands and our planet.

Is Your Co-Founder 'the One'? 7 Ways to Tell BY MINDA ZETLIN You'll spend more time with your business partner than your spouse--make sure you pick the right one. March 28, 2014 ForyearsIhadafriendwhokeptsuggestingheandIshouldstartacafebookstoretogether.ItwastemptinginawayIlovedtheideaofacozyplacefullofpeoplereading,chatting,andsippinglattes.ButIalwayssaidno.ThoughIenjoyedthisfriend,Iknewhewasalwayslookingforgetrichquickendeavors.Heseemedtoexpectthegreatestreturnfortheleasteffort.Wouldheputinthelonghoursittakestogetasuccessfulbusinessofftheground?Unlikely.WouldIwindupputtinginextrahourstomakeuptheslack?Likely.Thatwasaneasydecision,butoftenit'snotsoobviouswhetherafriend,acquaintance,orcoworkerwouldorwouldnotmakeagoodbusinesspartner.Yetit'snotachoiceyoucanaffordtoflub.Notonlywillpickingtherightpartneraffectyourverylivelihood,forawhileatleast,youwillspendmoretimewithhimorherthanyoudowithyourspouse.Howcanyoutellifsomeoneis"theone"?Forthepast21years,BillJohnandLainHensleyhavebeenpartnersinOdysseyTeams,whichcreatesleadershipdevelopmentandteambuildingprograms.Here'stheiradvice:Trybeforeyoubuy.Noteverypotentialbusinesscouplehasthisluxury.Butifyoucan,spendsometimeworkingtogetherinthebusinessbeforeyoubothcommit.InOdysseyTeams'case,Johnwasalreadyrunningthecompany.Hensleyattendedoneofitsprograms,becamefriendswithJohn,andbeganhelpingout,firstasavolunteer,thenasapaidcontractor.Johnpromisedamonth'swork,thenafewmonths,thenafewmore.Hensleyhadrecentlygraduatedfromcollegeandwantedtobeabusinessowner.Atthetime,OdysseyTeamscouldn'taffordtopayeithermanasubstantialsalary,somakingHensleyapartnerwasbothawaytorecognizehiscontributionsandmakesurethathestuckaround."Hewasjustsohelpfulthatitmadesense,"Johnsays.

Shareoffhours.JohnandHensley'srelationshipwascementednotonlyatOdysseyTeamsprograms,butalsowhileflyfishing,snowboarding,andbuildingthingstogether."We'rebothprojectaholicsandwelikeswinginghammersandbuildingstuff,"Johnsays.Itwasduringtheseextracurricularactivitiesthattheybothlearnedhowcompatibletheywere.Traveltogether.Anyonewho'severtakenatripwithafriendknowsthatthere'snoquickerwaytofindoutjusthowwellyoudoordon'tgetalong."TakeatriptotheGrandCanyonandseewhowantstostayonscheduleandwho'slookingtogooffandseetheworld'sbiggestballofstring,"Hensleysuggests.You'lllearnifyouhavearealconnection,headds."Whenthere'sdowntime,doyouhavehealthyconversations?Doyoutalkabouthowyouwanttochangetheworldordoyouturntheradioup?Youcanlearnalotaboutsomeoneinashorttime."Lookformatchingvalues...OnethingJohnandHensleylearnedintheiroffhoursisthateachbroughtthesamehighstandardsandenergytowhattheydid."HewasagoodfishermanandIwasagoodfisherman,"Hensleysays."HewouldbuildsomethingwellandsowouldI.Ifweweregoingtorunarace,wewouldbothexpecttodowell."ThattranslatedintoasimilarworkethicatOdysseyTeams."Wewouldbothhavethesamehighexpectationforwhatweweregoingtogivecustomers,"hesays."Andwecanbothworkfrom7inthemorningto9atnightwithoutcomplaining."...Butdovetailingskills.Ifhavingsimilarvaluesandexpectationsmakesforasolidpartnership,havingdifferentabilitiesmakesforasuccessfulone."NowthatIlookback,IcanseehowperfectlyBillandIcomplementeachother,"Hensleysays."BillisreallygoodatWebstuffandfinancialcomplexity,whereI'mmoreonthepeopleside.IlovethedeliverybutIdon'thavethepatiencetoworkthroughthedetailsideofthebusiness."Decideaboutdecisions.Oneofthemostchallengingaspectsofanybusinesspartnershipisdetermininghowdecisionswillbemadeifthepartnersdon'tagree.JohnandHensleylearnedthisthehardwaywhentheytookonathirdpartnerwhohadacademictrainingintheirareabutturnedouttobeaterriblefit.

"Ifwewereinadebate,hewouldreachapointwherehewouldsay,'I'mdoingitwithorwithoutyou!'"Hensleyrecalls."BillandIwouldjustlookateachother.Wecouldn'tprocessthat.Wewereateam."Mercifully,thethirdpartnersoondeparted.ButtheexperiencetaughtJohnandHensleytheimportanceofcreatingadelineateddecisionmakingprocess."We'rewrestlingwiththatrightnow,"Johnsays.Picksomeonewho'sfuntobewith.Inretrospect,bothpartnerssay,thefunwasmissingwiththatthirdpartner.Andit'sthesinglemostimportantelement,theyagree."TherehastobethatXfactor,"Hensleysays."Youneedsomeofthatfriendsidewhereyouhavearelationshipthatwillsurvivewhateverconflictcomesyourway.Ifit'sjustabusinessdeal,thenwhenthoseconflictsarise,theofframpwillcomeupandyoumightmakethatchoice.""Tome,itwasallaboutcharacteroutsideofwork,"Johnadds."IrealizedthatifIpartneredwithLainitwasgoingtobefunonthisjourney."

3 Companies Share How They Stay True to Company Culture Amidst Rapid Growth

BY JOHN SOLARI | March 27, 2014|

Most companies start off steeped in culture. They begin as programmers pulling all-nighters writing code or scrappy advertising agencies teeming with wild ideas hashed out over informal brain-storming sessions. But as companies grow, and specifically when they grow rapidly, structure sets in -- often at the culture's expense. Soon a company that was founded on a wildly creative, loose and fun company culture runs the risk of becoming bureaucratic, stale and uninspired.

More and more companies are realizing that rapid growth when not paired with an equivalent emphasis on company culture, poses a threat to a companys ability to recruit and retain employees, innovate, inspire creativity and build brand loyalty.

Feeling like your company may fall in the same trap? Check out our advice from two fast-growing companies and one corporate culture expert.

1. Ditch the hierarchy and focus on a flat company culture. Offerpop is a rapidly growing company in a fast-moving industry. Based in New York City and backed by venture investors, the social marketing software-as-a-service company has added more than 45 employees and opened offices in London and San Francisco in the last year. Related: Creating and Keeping a Positive Company Culture But walk into their three-floor offices in Manhattan and you will see company CEO and founder Wendell Lansford sitting next to an Offerpop employee six months out of college. This flat company culture, room for career advancement and company sports teams are all key to Offerpops success in recruiting and retaining employees in a market that has them compete directly with high-paying industries like investment banking.

The company is very flat in terms of the work chart, says Kevin Bobowski, vice president of marketing for Offerpop. Informally, it is an incredibly flat structure because anyone can come up and talk directly to the CEO, co-founders and executives.

Besides having a flat culture, Offerpop builds on that camaraderie by fielding soccer and basketball teams, which allow employees to interact outside of the work environment. They hold trivia nights at the office, and when they launch a new product, they celebrate with a company-wide Poplaunch party where popcorn is served and different departments mix and mingle.

It allows people to connect, which is harder as the company grows, says Bobowski.

The emphasis on a vibrant workplace has paid off for Offerpop. Some of the companys more successful new employees are often hired from referrals, as Offerpop builds a culture of doers, not delegators, says Bobowski.

2. Instill passion and personal values. Reno, Nev.-based digital agency Noble Studios has grown 40 percent in the last year, a year after being named one of fastest-growing companies in the nation. Much of the companys rapid revenue growth came from an early company culture formed without a thought toward the bottom line. Related: Making Gratitude Part of Your Company Culture We care about our clients -- money was the last thing that we actually thought about, says Noble Studios founder Jarrod Lopiccolo. We love creating and we love giving value.

One way the company does this is through book clubs, where teams read and discuss the same text. Team leads pick the books with an eye for topics that specific teams needs to delve into. The book clubs help align teams, spur discussion and ingrain a culture of learning in the company.

The book clubs are one component of what Noble Studios has become known for in Reno -- building the talent and knowledge of a homegrown team in a second-tier technology city.

A lot of the talent we had to grow, says Lipoccolo. But they had to have the right ingredients -- the ability to think long term and not short term. Its exciting for companies to think that secondary markets can foster and maintain this level of talent.

3. Remember the big picture. Odyssey Teams is a Chico, Calif.-based corporate training company that has worked with some of the globes largest enterprises to build and maintain culture. Related: Google Employees Confess the Worst Things About Working at Google One of the fundamental ideas behind Odyssey Teams success is that many employees have lost track of the why of their work. They feel lost in a sea of co-workers all dealing with one miniscule portion of a very large task and fall into the uninspired monotony and ritual of completing their work day after day.

Odyssey Teams breaks through that apathy by reconnecting their audiences with the reason they work, the difference they can make and the value of communication and collaboration in the workplace.

That says, Odyssey Teams co-founder Lain Hensley realizes that companies cannot always keep the same culture they had when they founded. They must be willing to evolve and adapt as they grow.

You can't retain company culture when you are growing, you must carefully architect its evolution and surrender to the fact that it will never be the same as it was in the past, says Hensley. Look forward and build something new that would put any startup, like you used to be, out of business in a flash.

Hensley says that good company culture does not always mean a conflict-free environment. But strong cultures can survive conflict, and even benefit from it.

You need explosive ingredients to make a dynamite team, so be ready to work carefully and deal with a few explosions now and again. If that happens you are on the right track, says Hensley.

Nightly News | February 24, 2014

Not Your Grandmas Quilt: How to Speed Up a Timeless Art Form Jenny Doan at the Missouri Star Quilt Company can teach anyone how to make a quilt in a day.

1/31/2014 10:30:00 PM

Internet Speed-Quilting Queen Jenny Doan

If you want to learn how to make a quilt in a day, Jenny Doan can teach you. WSJs Jim Carlton takes a look at what makes her videos so popular, from the Jelly Roll Race to the Disappearing Nine Patch.

Entrepreneur Stitches Together a Quilting Business Short cuts and video tutorials boost an outfit in Missouri By JIM CARLTON CONNECT

Updated Jan. 31, 2014 10:39 p.m. ET If you want to learn how to make a quilt in a day, Jenny Doan can teach you. WSJ's Jim Carlton takes a look at what makes her videos so popular, from the "Jelly Roll Race" to the "Disappearing Nine Patch."

HAMILTON, Mo.This tiny farm town used to be known as the home of James Cash Penney Jr., founder of the namesake department store chain. These days, it is better known in some circles as the home of Jenny Doan.

Those would be quilting circles. Over the past few years, Mrs. Doan, 57 years old, has become a veritable superstar of the craft. Her YouTube tutorials on how to make quilts have drawn as many as a million viewers, some from as far away as South Africa. Her family's Missouri Star Quilt Co. gets as many as 30,000 orders a month for pre-cut patches and other quilting supplies. The 5-year-old company has become the second-largest employer in this town of 1,800, its operations covering a patchwork of formerly vacant downtown buildings that include a "sleep and sew" retreat hotel. Fans stop Mrs. Doan for autographs. "I can barely go to Wal-Mart without someone recognizing me," she says.

The key to Mrs. Doan's popularity: she appeals to "instant gratification" quilters. "I don't teach people how to be the best quilter," she says. "I teach them how to do it the easiest."

Instead of the weeks or months often required to complete a quilt, Mrs. Doan's method teaches how to make one in as little as a dayby using a variety of pre-cut fabric patches a quilter otherwise would have to painstakingly snip out and stitch together. She also supplies the materials to do so.

Jenny Doan, star of YouTube tutorials on quilting. Her Missouri Star Quilt Co. channel draws as many as a million viewers. Jim Carlton//The Wall Street Journal

"I'll show you something that makes it look like you worked really hard," she says.

That simpler process was the appeal for Carmen Leticia Attie, a psychotherapist from Mexico City, who learned to quilt in 2010 by watching Mrs. Doan's videos. She also found Mrs. Doan's breezy style less intimidating than that of other quilting tutors. "She makes you feel as if it is not only possible, but easy."

Some quilters reject the shortcuts, saying it takes away from the history of the craft. "Traditional quilting is the historical way to do it," said Linda Courtney, a shopkeeper from Stewartsville, Mo., who learned quilting from her mother.

Bonnie Browning, executive show director of the American Quilter's Society, said interest in quilting has been on the rise, especially people wanting to learn via the Internet. One reason Mrs. Doan is so successful, she said, is she was one of the first quilters to start making online tutorials. Today, there are several, teaching various approaches. "You know what, there's a place for everyone in the quilter's world," said Mrs. Browning, whose group is based in Paducah, Ky.

Among America's estimated 21 million-plus quilters, Mrs. Doan is a relative newbie. She didn't take up the hobby until 1997, shortly after she and her husband, Ron, left California to

move to this town 65 miles northeast of Kansas City, Mo., with their seven children. "We literally picked a place in the middle of the U.S.," she says.

Her husband landed a job as a machinist for a local newspaper, but by 2008 his shop had been cut from 25 people to five. "It wasn't a question of if I lost my job, but when," says Mr. Doan, 60.

Concerned for their parents' future, two of their grown children, Al Doan and Sarah Galbraith, that year took out a $36,000 loan to buy their mother a professional quilting machine. "We were thinking if we didn't do something, Mom is living in our basement when she gets old," says Mr. Doan, 31.

To accommodate the 12-foot-long machine, the younger Mr. Doan and his sister spent $24,000 buying a former antique store for their mother to work in. Not long after she got it up and running, Mrs. Doan says, her family noticed quilting searches were a hot topic on the Internet.

Enlarge Image

"Al said, 'Mom, we need to do tutorials,' " she recalled. "I said, 'Sure. What's a tutorial?' "

Their first, shot in her cluttered shop in February 2009, didn't go well. Mrs. Doan tripped on an electrical cord and broke her leg. She still managed to grimace through the video. "She was so awkward," her son says.

Subsequent efforts were better. Mrs. Doan turned on the charm, sometimes hamming it up. She started an "Iron Quilter" competition, mimicking the Food Network's "Iron Chef" cooking contest, with two of her daughters squaring off in samurai-style bandannas. About 500 people sent in pictures of entries.

In the precise craft of sewing, Mrs. Doan isn't always the most polished instructor, but that just seems to add to her appeal. "One time, she was making a quilt block but she almost cut it wrongand she laughed and said, 'How many of you were saying: NO, Nodon't do

that!'" said Monique Atkinson, a 53-year-old quilter from Quebec. "I thought it was just hilarious!"

In 2009, Al Doan and his family decided Missouri Star could be a serious business. They noticed that his mother's video fans would want to use the precise fabric she showed in a tutorial. So they began stocking up on those fabrics to sell. "One day, we got eight sales in one day," Mr. Doan recalled. "We were so excited."

Almost five years later, Missouri Star sells an average of 1,000 orders a day. Mr. Doan won't divulge the company's revenue, but noted the business invested $750,000 last year to upgrade its buildings, and now employs 80 workers.

Along the way, Hamilton has become a tourism destination for the quilting crowd. Most days, 50 to 100 visitors arrive to meet Mrs. Doan and members of her family in their 5,000-square-foot main shop.

City Administrator Dale Wallace says the tourism is great, and that maybe the town just needs to patch up its array of amenities. "For example, we really need to find something for the men to do," he said of the husbands who sometimes come in tow with their quilting spouses. "Maybe we'll put in a gun shop."

For now, Hamilton Hardware, once the location of the 500th department store in Mr. Penney's retail chain, serves as a way station for bored spouses. "The quilters don't come in, but their husbands do," said owner Eddie Ernat. "We have some pretty neat conversations."

The Second Screen Super Bowl

Brands bet big on hashtags to convert

television viewers into a social media

audience

By Kevin Bobowski January 31, 2014, 2:54 PM EST

As those $4 million, 30-second ads flash across flatscreen TVs this Super Bowl Sunday,

brands that bet big on the final NFL game of the season will be more focused on what is

happening on millions of small smartphone, tablet and laptop screens across the nation.

This year, more brands than ever will use their high-dollar ad slots to deliver a half-

minute pitch convincing consumers to interact with them on social media. Its what

marketers have long been calling the second screen audience, and this Super Bowl will

reveal how important this social media audience is to advertisers during the largest live

television event of the year.

The momentum has been building for several years now. In 2012, only 7 percent of

Super Bowl ads contained hashtags, but last year that number climbed to 50 percent,

according to MarketingLand.com. In 2014, hashtags are expected to overtake corporate

website mentions, according to Web-strategist.com.

Several large trends are converging to fuel this phenomenon. Televisions power is

waning, making must-see TV that consumers choose to watch live (without the use of a

DVR) more valuable to advertisers than ever before. But as the price tags for these live

TV spots rise, brands want something more than 30 seconds of TV exposure for their $4

million. They are finding that extra value on social media. And most are using

hashtagsthe symbols that unlock a connection across all social media platforms,

including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vineas the mechanism that taps consumers

into their social media channels.

Brands that use social media correctly are reaping a lengthened period of influence from

their Super Bowl ads. They are starting social media conversations before, during and

after the game. Adobe research shows that visits and page views to companies that

advertise on TV during the Super Bowl show a 20 percent increase in visits on the day of

the game and maintain higher than average traffic for a week following the game.

H&M has already jump started the social media engagement days before the Super

Bowl, giving their fans the opportunity to choose the ending to a Super Bowl spot

featuring David Beckham by voting for #covered or #uncovered.

The Super Bowl showcases an advertising world in the throes of deep, systemic changes.

The one-way broadcasting of advertising messages to a somewhat passive audience is

evolving into a much more interactive advertising and marketing experience. Brands are

conversing with customers, exchanging ideas, and soliciting content through social

media. More and more, traditional advertising is becoming a billboard, pointing

consumers toward social media, where more personal layer of marketing, advertising

and interaction closes the deal with consumers. Once consumers engage with them

online, brands have many more targeted ways to convert a transaction that is now only a

click away.

The Super Bowl is still the king of American advertising events. But as hashtag after

hashtag flashes across the screen on Sunday, it will be clear that the worlds largest

brands already realize that the second screens glowing in the room are the heirs to the

throne.

Kevin Bobowski (@bobowski) is the vp of marketing for Offerpop, a New York-based social

marketing software company that powered the first use of a hashtag in a Super Bowl commercial

in 2011, in the '#ProgressIs' campaign by auto manufacturer client Audi.

THE M

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Overall growth | US BEER INDUSTRY

50 THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL DECEMBER 2013

A popular Nevada-based canned beer festival is growing alongside the burgeoning craft brewing industry thanks to a new venue partnership.

CANFEST

BY ROB COTTER

Crafting and Growing a Partnership

THE RECENT BOOM IN CRAFT BREWING has been giving beer connoisseurs extra reasons to work up a thirst. Sales in the U.S. are up 15 percent in the past year, and growth potential is huge for the nearly 2,500 craft breweries making inroads into the US$100 billion beer industry. Many festivals, such as CANFESTThe Annual, Original Canned Beer Festival, held in August 2013 at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nevadahave sprung up as part of the beer revolution. These events offer a sure-ire way to get word about a new brew lowing to a wider audience. CANFEST started in 2009 as the only festi-val in the world strictly for canned beer, says Connie Aguilar, CANFEST event producer and head of strategic communications at digital engagement irm The Abbi Agency. A trend in craft beer was happening at that time, and beer festivals started becoming really popular. Out of that the little stepchild that emerged was canned craft beer, so we put on the idea for CANFEST. Establishing a ledgling niche idea in a growing industry placed a number of demands directly on the event organizer, but these de-

1% 15%Source: Brewers Association

Rise in volume | CRAFT BREWERS

BEER INDUSTRY 2012

Our security team is well versed in crowd and alcohol management and all trained from the medical side, says Pat Flynn (MPI At-Large member), executive director of hotel opera-tions and sales for Peppermill. We took on the responsibility to ID everybody that walked through the door and ensure that everybody that came into the venue was of legal drinking age. Safe and secure in the new surroundings, eager beer lovers were this year served up a whole new entertainment program to comple-ment the expanded selection of ine craft bev-erages on offer from almost 50 breweries. The Peppermill provided a full buffet of great food in our VIP sectionthere was a band playing, a DJ was in from the resorts nightclub and we also had a silent disco that we recruited from San Francisco, with around 50 pairs of headphones, Aguilar says. We had the ability to add these elements since we could breathe easy knowing the Peppermill was taking care of security.

mands were met through a strong partnership with a new host venue. We saw that people inside of and beyond Reno were very interested in CANFEST, and so each year we continued to do it and knew that we could keep growing it, Aguilar says. But we grew out of the venues, from a little the-ater to one of the bigger ballrooms to an event center. Going to Peppermill in 2013 changed everything. Peppermill oficials were able to raise CAN-FESTs proile through the direct use of their client database, an initiative that led to an increase of attendance by 600 (30 percent), one of several aspects of the event that saw a dramatic improvement due to the new partnership.

Securing GrowthAnother partnership coup for the event came through the venue assuming responsibility for security, freeing the organizer to focus on growing the entertainment.

Dec_Showcase-Nevada-Nov-23-2013.indd 50Dec_Showcase-Nevada-Nov-23-2013.indd 50 11/25/13 5:21 PM11/25/13 5:21 PM

A successful understanding between venue and organizer tends to be the perfect pairing in the meeting industry, with communication at the core of their relationship.

MPIWEB.ORG 51

No SpillageA no spillage attitude to waste was anoth-er success stemming from the partnership, realized through the venue taking care of signage and info sharing and the organizers responsibility for direct waste collection. Were really big on digital signage, so that theres not any waste factor when it comes to poster boards and podiums, Flynn says. Throughout the whole property theres just a ton of digital signage that we use to get the message out to our hotel guests. In addition, at check-in we inform guests of whats going on while theyre here. The Abbi Agency then takes care of the recycling that does need to be conducted. We work with a group in the communi-ty that ensures every single can is recycled, Aguilar says. We love canned beer because its better for the environment; we aim to make sure that not one beer can ends up in the regular garbage.

WHAT I LEARNED

PAT FLYNN

MPI At-Large Member

With CANFEST, I learned that by working together with a good cause you can really make a diff erence in improving peoples lives and benefi t the commun-ity in general.

WHAT IS A CRAFT BEER?An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional.

SMALL: Annual production of beer less than 6 million barrels. Beer produc-tion is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietor-ships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this defi nition.

INDEPENDENT: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not a craft brewer.

TRADITIONAL: A brewer who has either an all malt fl agship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50 percent of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten fl avor.

Source: Brewers Association

Bikes for BeerExtending the no spillage ethos to CSR, orga-nizers also reached out to the local community through their bike drive initiative, seeking do-nations of unwanted bikes to the NFP Reno Bike Project (with each donor receiving a free ticket to CANFEST). The charity rebuilds bikes for disadvantaged children, and also seeks out ven-ues where they can participate in some healthy sport. Every year the bike drive raises between 150 and 250 bikes for the charity, which is the bread and butter of their shop, Aguilar says. We also conduct a rafle that raises around $3,000 for them, and make sure they have a strong pres-ence on all of the PR and marketing we do up until the event.

Success in a CanWhile bikes and beer are the perfect pairing for CANFEST, a successful understanding between venue and organizer tends to be the perfect pair-ing in the meeting industry, with communication at the core of their relationship. Leading up to the event, even four or ive months out, we spoke to the Peppermill ev-ery day, Aguilar says. We had meetings two or three times a month and did walk-throughs together. They dedicated themselves fully in making sure that the event would be greatyou cant ask for more than they gave.

Dec_Showcase-Nevada-Nov-23-2013.indd 51Dec_Showcase-Nevada-Nov-23-2013.indd 51 11/26/13 10:53 AM11/26/13 10:53 AM

Why Wait Until Saturday? Small Businesses Seek Black Friday Buzz November 13, 2013 Predictions for Black Friday and 2013 holiday sales range from tentative to lackluster, thanks partly to a drop in consumer confidence following the government shutdown. But one thing is certain major retailers arent taking chances. That means stores opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, holiday ads before Halloween and aggressive layaway programs and discounts through Cyber Monday.

With Black Friday turning into Black Weekend, theres some fear that Small Business Saturday a nationwide campaign launched by American Express in 2010 may get lost in the blitz, along with the small businesses that cant afford to slash prices.

But theres a unique opportunity for small businesses, according to Ronald C. Goodstein, Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business, who specializes in retail and consumer behavior. With consumer confidence down this year, people will give fewer gifts but more meaningful ones, he said. The competitive advantage for small businesses is the ability to provide personalized service. They can help customers pick that thoughtful, relevant gift in a way that Macys, Walmart or Target cant.

The best way for small businesses to win customers, he adds, is to join forces.

Thinking little and local Power in unity is what drove Betsy Cross and Will Cervarich to launch Little Boxes, a two-day post-Thanksgiving shopping event in Portland, Ore., that rewards consumers who shop the city's local retailers. Little Boxes was born in 2011, after Cross saw a Black Friday ad for a big-box store opening on Thanksgiving night.

It struck me that you never think about small shops on Black Friday. I thought, There has to be a way we can band together and be more powerful, said Cross, who co-owns the Portland boutique betsy & iya with Cervarich, her husband.

Related: How Online Retailers Can Make More Money by Next Week The campaign now unites over 170 businesses, which offer discounts and raffle prizes to customers. Its also boosted bottom lines, with some store owners reporting as much of a 50% increase in Black Friday sales since joining Little Boxes.

Cervarich adds that the goal isnt to compete with Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, but rather harness existing buzz. There's no question that AmExs Small Business Saturday has helped focus the spotlight on small businesses. But one of the reasons we started Little Boxes was because it didn't seem right that shopping locally should come only after you've shopped big boxes. There are a number of similar initiatives brewing nationwide, including Seattles Gift Local Pledge and Dallas/Ft. Worths Spend and Win campaign. But even smaller communities are getting big benefits from building their own shop-local holiday campaigns.

The city and Chamber of Commerce in Fallon, Nev., created the Live Local Fallon campaign this summer to encourage residents to spend locally, rather than driving to nearby Reno. Theyve recruited 155 businesses to participate in a campaign where shoppers get stamps in a passport that makes them eligible for raffle prizes for every $15 spent. Theres a special push around Black Friday, during which incentives for shoppers will be tripled. Weve been very concerned about the leakage of dollars getting spent outside Fallon, said Rick Gray, executive director of the Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority. We tried educational campaigns and ads. But until we came up with this tangible way to reward residents, we didn't feel the message was hitting home.

Related: Disturbing Crime Trends Facing Retailers (Infographic) But other non-retail small businesses prefer to avoid one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Visit Myrtle Beach is launching Travel Saturday this year. For 24 hours after Black Friday, gift-givers and deal-seekers can book discounted travel, lodging and entertainment for 2014 at participating small businesses in the South Carolina beach community. The idea is to spotlight a travel-centric economy on a day when consumers are likely to be at home, online and less occupied with retail deals. According to Goodstein, this is the kind of creative thinking and unity that small businesses need to compete.

Black Friday used to delight consumers and offer real deals. Now big companies buy in order to sell at sale price. They compete on lower margins, which means less quality, he said. Small businesses need to work together to lower prices [but keep quality high]. Offer consumers service and something special in a tough economy at a discounted price you cant beat that

HashtagsBreatheLifeBackIntoSocialCommerceAlready Showing Promise as the Actual Mechanism of Payment By:KevinBobowski Published:November13,2013Socialcommercethepurchasingofproductsthroughsocialmediaisontherebound.Andthatreboundisbeingaidedbyanunlikelyallythesimplehashtag.

Hashtags have migrated to Facebook from their origins on Twitter and are growing in use from Google+ to Tumblr as well. They have particularly benefited from the explosive growth of Instagram, where they makes photos and videos easily categorized and searchable.

Now hashtags have an increasing presence in online search, and brands are realizing the hashtag's potential to be a link that unites messages in an increasingly fractured social-media landscape. While social networks will come and go, the hashtag is a tool that allows brands to be identified across any of them; content can then engage the social-media audience on whatever site individuals prefer.

Hashtags are also helping brands make the jump from social marketing to social commerce, adding the sought-after viral element to purchasing. When a consumer's social "friends" see when and what their friend purchases, it opens up a powerful viral element to online transactions that can be leveraged with coupons, discounts or offers. Unlike social commerce campaign