It’s inexpensive and right in your backyard NEPA!  I hope to see you there.  Just register online.  Thanks.

My topic is creativity and innovation.  A nice broad topic.  Somehow I will find a way to connect the topic to leadership.  Are leaders inherently creative? Innovative?  Is there such a thing as a Creative Leader? Am I one? I think I’ll let the audience decide.

So again, why me?  I will be curious to talk with the conference organizers.  Why did they choose this particular group of speakers?  Were they looking for different disciplines?  Backgrounds? Ages? (Matt Gabler, PA State Representative seems to be the youngest having graduated from Bucknell in 2006 – I have him beat by 30 years!)

I’ll tweet from the event and let you know how it goes.  Oh, and I’m also hitting the bookstore – need a new Bucknell coffee mug.

We’ve also had a lot of visitors.  Folks from the nonprofits have been checking in on us and bringing us goodies – thank you!  A group of students have also been here from my Advertising class at Misericordia.  They had the chance to talk with the professionals here and find out about their careers, ask about the process of creating a brochure or logo, etc.  I hope they enjoyed themselves – I know the folks here had fun talking with them.

If you want to watch the most recent updates on CreateAthon go to facebook.com/cdscreative

CreateAthon 2010 has begun.  There are 11 large post it pad pages up on the wall here at the Junior Achievement offices on Oak Street in Pittston.  Each one has a project (or two) and the names of the writer and designer who will be working on it.  By tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. all of those pages should be off the wall and the projects ready to be presented to the nonprofits.

The fun has just begun.  We’re looking forward to seeing and hearing from all our friends!  Touch base, stop by, call us, email, whatever!  We can use all the encouragement you send our way – right now coffee is the order of the day.  Thank you to Nancy Dressel from SCOLA Volunteers in Literacy for bringing us homemade, delicious breakfast!

This blog post will appear on my website, cdscreative.com and will also feed to my Facebook pages reaching a number of different audiences along the way.  It is an opportunity to present a thought, a new idea or ask a question knowing there will be those who immediately respond, those who will think about the post and respond to me directly and those who will read  and reflect without response.  (There will also be some who ignore me completely and that’s okay too.)

Social media and blogging have created the means to present the brand of your company through an additional marketing channel.  A channel that is highly interactive, instantaneous, and slightly intimidating for new users.  For those in retail (whether product or services) – this isn’t the place to hawk your weekend sale, but it is a place to talk about new product offerings or relate a customer story.  It is a place to invite customer feedback and comments or, if appropriate, take a stand on an issue in your industry.

Tonight we’ll be focusing on how to set up a Facebook page for a business, the do’s and the don’ts. We’ll take a look at some great company pages and some that could use some changes.  There will be information how to tie in Twitter and websites to Facebook and how to set up events and groups.

It should be fun.  This is the first of a monthly series of Cocktails & Connections mixers where we hope to pass along information you can use while you meet, mix and mingle with other business folks.  I’ll let you know how it goes – and I’d love to hear what you think if you’re attending.  Who knows, I might even tweet during the event – now that really would be doing as I say…..

As I began entering appointments for January and February, and conferences for March and April, it occurred to me that I have never been busier than I am right now.  When people ask, “How’s business?” I can honestly say “Great!”

I have found there are many smart companies who are taking advantage of the downturn economy to examine their brand position, review their marketing messages and channels, and make changes now that will help them outpace their competitors when the economy rebounds.

They have streamlined their processes and found savings in every corner of their budget.  Some plans have been put on hold or scaled back.  Choices have been made.

Realizing that the world has changed with advances in  technology, these companies are looking to employ new tools in the workplace and in their marketing.  That’s where I come in.

There is nothing more exciting to me than working with a company that is willing to challenge themselves to do better.  In some cases  we rediscover the brand promise that may have become blurred over time.  We focus on how that promise is experienced by customers, employees, vendors, media and the general public. We ask questions and are find nuggets of surprise in the answers.

It’s fun. And, as the saying goes, I love it when a play comes together.  This is a trend I see continuing as more and more companies, large and small, look for ways to bolster their brand.

So I’ll keep putting the dates in the datebook.

Columbia County Volunteers in Medicine Website

Columbia County Volunteers in Medicine Logo

Association for the Blind Updated Logo

Here are the first ones:

Telespond Website

Junior Achievement Website