NEXT BOWLING GREEN DIG: Tuesday, October 19 (Brainstorming Methods)
WERKSHOP INSTITUTE PRESENTS
THE OCTOBER BOWLING GREEN DIG:
Brainstorming Methods
Tuesday, October 19
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Register for FREE at http://bgoctoberdig.eventbrite.com
Where? Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce
710 College Street
Light breakfast will be served. Compliments of Citizens First.
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Brainstorming. The daunting task of revving up those creative juices to come up with unique and amazing solutions. No pressure right? So how do you get from point A to point B in this process? While there is no standardized handbook to guide you through there certainly are different techniques to get there. We have handpicked some creatives who certainly have done their share of brainstorming for clients and we’ll be gathering for a panel discussion on the topic. Please join us and share your brainstorming techniques as well.
Panelists include: Steve Chandler – ChandlerThinks, John Oldham - Oldham Design Group, Dr. Jennifer Mize-Smith – WKU Dept. of Communication
Moderator: Tim Earnhart, Werkshop Marketing
Please post any questions you have about brainstorming on our Facebook page here. We will include them in our discussion at the DIG.
NEXT NASHVILLE DIG: Wednesday, November 17 (Marketing Planning for 2011)
WERKSHOP INSTITUTE PRESENTS
THE NOVEMBER NASHVILLE DIG:
Marketing Planning for 2011
Speaker:
Holly Grenvicz of Werkshop Marketing
Wednesday, November 17
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Register for FREE at http://nashvillenovemberdig.eventbrite.com
Where? RJ Young
809 Division Street
Nashville, TN 37203
Light breakfast will be served. Compliments of First Tennessee.
Social Media: Risk or Reward?
This week’s DIG was a tiny step away from the traditionally “marketing” focused content that our monthly gatherings are known for. But the topic of how Social Media (Marketing) is affecting the employee/employer relationship was fascinating!! I’m not sure that as marketers we could have known that the creation of the marketing platforms and social networks that have been so fanatically adopted would have the dramatic affect that it IS having on the world (and specifically, the world of Human Resources).
The experts from the Nashville office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart spoke to our group and shared a presentation full of anecdotes, laws, best practices and a heaping dose of a wake up call about the risks and reward of social marketing in the work place. The talk that Jennifer Rusie and Jonathan Harris delivered applied to all of us – those who hire, and those who are seeking to be hired.
My takeaway from the DIG? To be careful, and to document. While our agency has a sound social media policy for our staffers, we also have to manage social marketing for our clients. We need to encourage them to adopt simple, but structured policies to keep things on the up and up. The mere use of social networking in the workplace isn’t the primary issue, it is HOW it is being used, and what is being said that matters.
On hiring, I learned that if we choose (and it is a choice to consider seriously) to narrow candidates for an open position by looking at their online activity, that we need to proceed cautiously. It is perfectly legal to look at FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn or personal but public blogs, but as a prospective employer, we need to disclose that we are doing so. It’s fair, and it keeps the candidate from being able to say that they intended that information to be private – even though it may be publicly available.
Jenn and Jon’s presentation left me with some other things to consider as well – Do we need to consider a policy where managers are prohibited from “friending” their subordinates on FaceBook? How, and should we be monitoring text messages and tweets? Being a small shop, these actions are easier to manage because we can communicate directly with each employee about our expectations and rules of engaging in the social universe. It was also tremendously helpful to understand what larger employers, including our clients, may be faced with.
I know that the next time I am reading my FaceBook or Twitter feeds, I’ll think differently about what my own friends are posting – and how dancing the line between social and professional can be a risky balance.
View the presentation below.
Holly
Consumer Behavior
Fellow Consumers — we had some good times discussing our quirky behavior this past Tuesday at our Bowling Green DIG. For those of you who missed it, you missed some pure entertainment. We learned that although we all consume – we consume very differently. I enjoyed the conversation and interaction. As you focus on your own business and entity, remember that you can be a part of the consumer’s behavior patterns and processes.
One of the best ways to influence consumer behavior is to give buyers an acceptable motive. If marketers can convince consumers that they need a product or service for some “legitimate” reason, consumers will be more likely to make a purchase.
I look forward to seeing each of you at future DIGs.
Tim
