Video will be posted soon!

Post of video to come.

Two-thousand-eleven started off slow, but during February things took off!

Exactly four weeks ago I started my photo project www.28daysofhappy.com. The postcards were printed and I’m about to start mailing these minute instances of happiness to strangers. Hopefully it will inspire people to notice the beautiful moments we experience everyday!

Go to www.facebook.com/28daysofhappy to share your moments.

I also finished my training sessions at the Animal Humane Shelter in Golden Valley, so now I get to play with puppies (and foster)!! More to come on that.

If you’re interested in volunteering, the organization is super inviting. It does take $20 in an application fee, finding two references, about 12 hours of orientation spread over five time slots before you are ready to be volunteering and interacting with animals, but it’s well worth it!

In February I was also asked to join a team to help start a non profit focused on bettering Slam Media distribution. We are still working out the details, but the link is here: Button Poetry

So those are the unpaid pastimes…

As for my career life: I was asked to be an online brand manager for Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm, I returned to the Minneapolis Farmers Market as their creative coordinator and I still am the marketing manager at Keefer Court Food.

Life has ramped up a bit since December!

But you’ve gotta work hard to play hard

And if you’re wondering how all of that work can be possibly done with any level of quality – you’d be surprised how far you can stretch an hour when you’re working with a proactive team. Look for more posts related to each of my projects/jobs. Everyone is excited to read what Colle+McVoy has to say about branding the Minneapolis Farmers Market.

For those who don’t know, I work at a Chinese Fortune Cookie Factory so I pay attention to the new year’s zodiac reading. I am born in the year of the Tiger and it seems much good can be expected in the Year of the Rabbit.

The owner of the company I work for swears by this website because of the depth of background information you can read regarding the zodiac: Chinese Fortune Calendar

I printed this reading and have it in my purse for good luck. It’s sole purpose… give me something to believe in when things aren’t perfect.

Tiger people probably didn’t have too much good news in 2010. In the year of Rabbit, however, Tiger people will have much better luck in career, money and love. From March, Tiger people will have very good people relationship and love connection. All the gloomy mood in 2010 will disappear. Tiger people should prepare to welcome the coming shining sunny days. However, the job pressure from the previous year will carry over in the beginning of the year. Since the job position and power competitions are continuing from last year, Tiger people still need to watch their speech and behavior at work. Also, Tiger people need to watch their health in the year of Rabbit.

Career: The Lucky Sun Star appears in the year of Rabbit to Tiger people. This is a good sign for the career luck. You will often receive the support and help from the people born in Rabbit. You will get along with your colleagues and boss, which will make your job easy. However, there is a Dispute Star appearing in this year, too. That means you might have conflict with someone because of a different business development approach or concept. Whenever the disagreement happens, Tiger people can look for people born in year of Pig, Horse, Rabbit or Dog to help you to coordinate the communication channel. Then the Sun Star will help you to remove the career’s obstacle.

Money: Tiger people have good money opportunity in 2011. Men have better money luck than women. Besides the income from salary, Tiger people have good chance to earn extra income from the investment. However, any money investment you still need to read the terms and conditions carefully into avoid any financial fraud. Since there is a chance of a financial dispute and money loss in the year of Rabbit, if you have extra money to lend to friends or relatives, then you have to make sure you don’t need money back in the near future. Otherwise, you might have a money quarrel with people this year.

Love: With the appearance of the Romantic Star, Tiger people have very good love opportunity in 2011. If you are single, then you have very good chance to meet the opposite sex and build a good relationship in spring. The best time is March and April. You need to increase your social events. Your soul mate is waiting for you. ( eek! ) If you are in love, you have same opportunity in spring. Your love relationship will go deeper. If you already have very good love relationship, then you might consider about the marriage. But you have to watch your words and deeds to prevent from unnecessary quarrels. If you are married, then you might have chance to meet the opposite sex in your social life, but you need to keep the distance. Otherwise, you will have the conflict in your marriage because the Dispute Star is standing in the corner.

Health: Tiger people should have good energy in the year of Rabbit. But an Unlucky Star related to health appears in 2011. There is a chance that a chronic disease causes you illness. Therefore, Tiger people should pay attention to their health. If there are any ailments, you should visit the doctor to make sure that no big problem is bothering your body. Also, you need to make sure you have good habit of enough sleep, right eating, proper exercise and good sanitation in your daily life. During August and September, Tiger people should pay attention on driving safety to prevent from getting any injuries.

Fortune: 2011 will be a good year for Tiger people. Their friend relationship, love connection, career opportunity, and money investment are showing auspicious signs. Tigers know they have to fight before owning the booty. Therefore, you still have to work hard in order to gain the return you are dreaming for. Hopefully, Tiger people won’t miss this golden opportunity in the Rabbit year.

Tiger people usually are brave, vigorous and may even have a radical personality. It’s easy to have quarrels with people. If Tiger people can prevent creating conflict with others, then they can avoid unhappy events in career and unnecessary loss in money or love.

On Monday, 1/31, I attended the first installment of the 2011 edition of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising (CATFOA) titled, DO WE NEED A NEW DEFINITION OF CREATIVITY? Rewriting the Creative Dictionary. The event is put on by MCAD and MIMA. You can follow the Twitter feed here: @catfoa

The speaker was Ana Andjelic (@andjelicaaa). As the e-mail invite put it, she would be speaking about how “the creative of the digital world is vastly different from its traditional predecessor; where creative once represented the astounding idea comprised of art and copy, or a brand identity turn cultural icon. Now the best work is about coming up with relationships and interactions that connect people into networks – potentially never ending, always in beta.”

This was expanded on that night to a crowd at the Fine Line Music Cafe, left with standing-room only. Ana spoke, in a beautiful Serbian accent, about the Complex Adaptive System. Where expertise isn’t needed in this age because we have entered into a world of the “Unknown Unknowns,” which is digital media. We don’t know what is going to happen next, like at a kid’s birthday party. But what you must remember is, you can position a product in three ways: individual, behavioral or cultural.

She lead the audience through an example of how Coke-a-cola focuses on the product, Pepsi focuses on the person. This desire to focus on the person adds complexity. And as a creative, your job is to put your idea through this complexity to deliver something simple. Some brands respond to the complexity of this world by being consistent. Do something more than a banner ad. Make your campaign thrive in this newly complicated environment. It’s about people! People have many mediums now to interact with your brand. How is your campaign going to make behaviors evolve?

Focus on the needs and behaviors of the people you’re trying to reach. It’s not about the product.

A great example she shared was NeighborGoods. It’s a platform making the assertion that its users need a “hole in wall” not a “drill,” so this website was built to let neighbors loan items to one another. It created a collaborative community. How are you going to make your creative solution work within this context? Focus on the people.

Is there a culture surrounding your product? Embrace it like Nike did with their Tour de France Campaign.

Another example is a store that announced its sale’s discount would be dependent on how many times someone tweeted about it. They rewarded people who talked about the sale with a larger discount. They used people as the medium.

The best creative is alive. It evolves together with its environment.

She told us to inspire emotions and follow up. Don’t just receive a big moment of attention and then let it die (like the Old Spice Campaign did). Create a blog to start conversation. Let the campaign live. How you frame a question creates a simple answer. Organ donors are higher in Germany than in France, because in Germany the default answer to the question is “yes.” Simple as that.

The Poppy Project, put on by Coach, encouraged participants to place a widget on their blog to lead a you on a trail. Whichever website gained the most attention won. Of course Coach threw in 50 little surprises along the way. This discovery of new content intrigued people and these guided steps were meant to build a system.

Take a culture and make it global, but always learn from mistakes.

She summarized her point this way: Insight is part of context. Make a creative solution so it can live in a wider behavior. Say, “Let’s try this and see where it goes.” Build for process. Monitor. Revise the insight. Think long term. Creative isn’t an end product. Change by observation. The best platforms are based on an assertion that exists. Ask yourself, “What kind of behavior do we want to transform and make better? Once answered ask, “What functionality do we need to include to make it happen?”

Create a simple interface, not a simple environment. Embrace the complexity of the situation (i.e. the fact buyers are persuaded by online reviews of your product while reading the reviews on their smartphone standing in the aisle in front of your product and the competition). Focus on behaviors. Crowdsource. Interact.

Ms. Andjelic is highly educated and intelligent, which shined throughout the entire presentation. Ech03 captured live video from the event, which may be posted on the CATFOA blog soon.

I was jotting notes on the bar top in the back of the room, so I’m open to comments on points I’ve missed or misinterpreted.

Hopefully, Ana’s presentation will inspire you to reevaluate and question if your creative solution is focused on long-term existence, embracing current culture, evolving behaviors and providing a simple call-to-action in a complex environment.

Look onto the shelves of my bookcase. These titles serve as an invitation. You’ve already made it into the house. Stop for a minute while standing in front of these sheets of paper resting on top of their more intact relatives. What color is the wood? Are the bindings cracked? Did I write my name inside the cover?

Pick one up. Is it dog-eared and highlighted? This one still has its college bookstore USED sticker stuck on. This one has never been opened.

You thumb through one with yellowed edges and mildew scented cologne. As the sun sets, casting a cut-out shadow through the blinds, a photograph drops from one of its pages.

To set some personal goals, here is my checklist of things I want to do in 2011 (this does not include things I normally do like go to the beach, slams or shows). I will post updates/photos of every goal I complete! Wish me luck

1. Search for the winter medallion

2. Learn basic Romanian

3. Foster a pet from the Humane Shelter

4. Attend the Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival, August 21
(http://www.spacestwincities.com/outdoor-style-and-floral/ci_15817826 )

5. Go camping ( I have never done this before )

6. Attend the International Film Festival (April)

7. Attend the May Day Parade, May 1

8. Watch an outdoors Twins game

9. Go Geocaching

10. Catch some more comedy shows at Acme

11. Participate in National Night Out because I just bought my first house, so this is a big deal!

12. Have multiple Grill Out Parties at my house!

13. Perform at one open mic a month

14. Write more blog posts

15. Peddle Pub!

16. Take Salsa Dance lessons
( Four Seasons Dance)
16.b) No wait – take some Hip-Hop dance lessons
(with $5 OFF coupon)

17. Watch the Ten Second Film Fest, Fourth of July
( http://www.tensecondfilmfest.org )

18. Plant a garden – in my own yard!

19. Attend more Third Thursday events at the MIA

If a 2011 edition occurs:
Attend B-Girl Be
Plan a Walker Open Field event.

And in 2012:
Visit the Art Shanty Project
Partake in the Polar Bear Plunge.

I <3 MY TWIN CITIES!

I am passionate about slam poetry. I want everyone that attends an event to get goosebumps, hate a piece, cheer for a poet, boo a judge and tear-up a little bit. Just feel something!

The National Poetry Slam is in its 21st year and it coming to Saint Paul August 3 – 7. This is a big deal!! 80 teams from all over the world will be competing over 5 days. Most cities will plan for this a year or two out. Saint Paul only had five months (the contract was signed in February). Now Nationals is two months away!

I love getting people excited about slam, not just because I write and get a natural high when performing, but because it’s guaranteed to make you understand life from different perspectives. So when asked if I would like to use my understand of social Internet environments, I gladly accepted the staff role as NPS 2010 Community Manager.

My first step in the marketing plan: Simple community awareness. We’re starting with a Facebook page and Website that people can search for and receive basic information from about slam. Our event will be posted on like-minded Facebook Fan Pages. Press Releases will be sent out on the local and national level.

Second step will start in July, as we accelerate the excitement. This will include releasing the line-up of venues that have signed on to support NPS and hold bouts over the week. This line-up will be posted on every major online events calendar so visitors can quickly share the information. Facebook will also be a major tool in not just sharing the event, but allowing for conversation to start surrounding it.

Two weeks before Nationals we’re going to push our Twitter page which will help poets keep up to the second tabs on all of the events. I’m going to have designated Tweeters in each bout that will post the scores. Each of these people will be listed under the NPS Twitter profile as “Scores” so people can easily follow along with whats happening.

Once the events start I want to have something occur connected with Foursquare, so that when people check-in to so many bouts that they can be recognized for it. But I don’t know how easy it is to create a badge for the event.

I have other ideas that I’ll most likely be sharing soon, just have to approve them first. But in the mean time if you have any contributions on how social media would help the National Poetry Slam, I’d be 100% open to comments and discussion about it.

Oh, and don’t forgot to “like” the Facebook Page.  Thanks!

The Untiedt’s farm thousands of acres of land in the Waverly, Minnesota, area. Jerry Untiedt hired me in May 2009 to photograph their farm during the seasonal progression of growth. After compiling these photographs, Jerry asked me in January 2010 to complete the second phase of his marketing plan and create a website for him.

I took the lead on design and project management and secured a developer to build the Drupal powered website. While designing I knew the photos I took needed to find a home – actually multiple homes – on the site. I took over 48 GB of photos during the six months of documentation. The design also needed to immediately communicate what their unique selling point is – “We Grow For You!” The site had to be about sincere interactions since in their direct marketing at roadside stands they constantly explain why their products are superior. This knowledge could not be lost on the site and had to have a space allotted to share it.

Thus www.UntiedtsWeGrowForYou.com has the ability to store a photo gallery for each product they grow, include a rotating home page slide show to promote what’s hot that week, visually share information about growing methods, crop time lines, different locations, employees and a publicly open stream of photographs for news articles. The site includes a blog and Twitter feed so that people can read about seasonal updates or those more timely posts – found simply on the home page.

The fully functioning site launched May 2010. My design changed a bit from the PSD files to what the Drupal site ended up looking like but the functionality I intended for it to have remained intact. I’ll be posting photos of my design soon. But for now,
View the Site.

This year’s season started so early Megan hasn’t had time to add all of the page content or photography, but the ability exists. This site can walk a user through what farming means to them. It can visually share their growing methods, passionate staff, and where to find their products. This site will allow them to truly share, through the digital interface, what growing for you for the last 40 years has meant.

I felt it was time to redesign my Web site – not just in look, but also in structure. I wanted content to be easier to edit – therefore making it easier for me to want to write content. This is my new look. Along with this change, there will be others. I’m going to start writing more about everything in life. ‘Blog’ will be dedicated to random personal posts, where the other navigational elements will all relate to their category. I’m going to use this space to clearly convey the topical expanse my thoughts cover in a day. I have always bogged myself down with the fear of needing to write posts perfectly – not anymore. This will be a stream of my understanding of the world. Look for more to come.