24 December 2008

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 2008

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 2008

#10 - Over-the-top spa treatments
#9 - Flowering Teas
#8 - Talking to and sniffing every baby I see
#7 - Talking trash with my grown daughter
#6 - Telling people I have a grown daughter so they can tell me how good I look
#5 - Telling people I am a grandmother so they can tell me how good I look
#4 - Making fun of kids facing puberty (sorry sweetie)... and their parents!
#3 - F U D G E
#2 - Karrine.com - It's real, raunchy and the truth
#1 - Discussions on race and politics since Obama won... Gloating that Obama won. Did you know Obama won?

02 October 2008

The Maverick Got Me Drunk...


I watched and I waited. I chatted away, I twittered, I pondered. I drank.

Every time Sarah Palin said the word 'maverick' I drank. I ran out of drinks.

Has this election been reduced to a bad cliche? 30threads.com was a pleasant suprise. A red room and a blue one. The opportunity to chat on both simultaneously. The pulse of America was evident here. Palin presented as an overprotective, underproductive leader. Joe Biden was confident and controlled, although at times obviously annoyed. Neither of them surprised me, but it was interesting.

Sarah Palin did not show up and although I do not like her, I looked for an opportunity for her to surprise me and gain my respect. She did not.

Joe Biden was confident and secure. No surprise there either. I did wait for him to lose it at least once. He did not.

A note to Sarah Palin, in the words of a popular elementary school philosopher, "Say it in your own words". She did not and appeared more puppet-like than life-like. In this election, life matters more.

01 May 2008

Why We Love Green

Environmental kindness and responsibility. Going green. Saving the earth. Natural-istic-isms dominate our media and our consciousness, but what does it mean for business?

We do it because it is the right thing to do. Maybe. We get excited about getting involved. Maybe. We love green because, well, it is the color of money. Studies have shown that people are much more likely to buy products and services associated with good cause. Why not use the cause that crosses every line and covers every demographic - to our advantage? Environmental responsibility is something that effects everything, from families to pets to real estate and the economy. What this means is the opportunity to reach markets that may have been out of reach. 

The green wagon does not, however, come without a hitch. Over-saturation of any concept or language in any area can be damaging and run a potentially great campaign off the road. It's time get creative. Here are a few tips to keep things on track:

1. Make small changes first. Starting a recycling program or find alternative ways to use technology and reduce the paper trail.
2. Create an incentive based contest for your staff to come up with creative ways to save energy and resources. 
3. Use children to discover ideas and execute them... Hello, can anyone say newsworthy? What about cheap?

Give back to the environment. Mother nature may just reward the bottom line. Contact Lenoir Group for more information, to compare notes, or to see if your green is better than mine.

So I ask - are you going green... or is that fungus?

29 April 2008

Just Say It!

Here's the spin on spin... Just say it. 

Whatever it is you want to accomplish with your marketing and media support, your lifeline is your ability to be direct. Subtlety certainly has its place, however, the art of being direct is so rarely used, you may just get your point across by getting to the point.