The HPO was founded in 1949, so music not only lives here, but it has been part of Hamilton for over 60 years. I have lived in this city for just over 5 of those years and I hadn’t even heard of the HPO. I finally attended my first show this year and I was shocked. How could something this amazing live in this city and me, Mr.-Know-It-All not know about it? I have been to a few more shows since and I must say, I had no idea what I was missing.

Awareness will be a play a big part in this years campaign. Building on what has been done in the past, showcasing it to a dedicated audience that has been attending the orchestra for years, and introducing it to a new audience that has not yet experienced the HPO. We used photography of real Hamiltonians and quoted their thoughts on the Orchestra.

Hamilton is full of talent and treasures. Sometimes we don’t think of this city as one that houses such talent and that Toronto is our only option for entertainment. Art lives here. Theatre lives here. And now more than ever, Music lives here.

The 2010-11 season is going to be a great one. Make sure you check it out!

Using Social Media is easy, but it’s the “media” part that sends us into a tale spin. Many people fear change, shy away from technology and hide from the unknown. So I’m throwing away the media. Bye media. Bye.

What’s left? That’s right, “Social”.

Being social is easy. We do it everyday. On the phone, in the grocery store, at a party and at work. The same rules that apply to being social in the real world apply to the online one. Whether you use twitter, Facebook, a blog or Linkedin the same rules apply. And lucky for us, we learned all these rules in kindergarten.

Rule One: Listen

Mrs. Miller was my kindergarten teacher. She was about 12 feet tall, if I remember correctly, and she had it out for me. I was basically a mouth with legs. My report card that year came with a note that read “Chris could talk the leg off a chair.” Being a very visual person, I imagined myself doing just that and found it quit amusing! One thing Mrs. Miller did teach me though was to listen. It was ok to talk at the appropriate moments, but when someone was speaking, she urged me to take it all in.

When being social on the interwebs, the same applies. Listen to what others are saying. If you listen more than you talk, you will make friends and have more fuel to add to the conversation later. Being part of the conversation is key and what better way to take part than to actually “hear” what someone is saying.

Rule Two: Share

Remember wanting to play with something some other kid had? Remember when he won’t give it to you? Remember punching him him in the ear? No? Well I do. Jeremy Sampson was not happy that day.

Sharing information is one way to make friends online. You know things I want to know. Tell me! It will build trust and make you a resource to others.

Rule Three: Be Yourself

While many of the other boys where digging in the indoor sandbox or playing with the blocks, I was over at the “house” area. This was a section of the classroom that looked just like a tiny house, made just for people my size. Many times I would put on an apron, sit in the rocking chair with two giant pencils and pretend to knit a scarf. Mrs. Miller asked me once why I I liked to do this. I told her that I wanted to be just like my Grandma when I grew up ( I adored my Grandmother). She then grabbed her Polaroid, took a pic and gave it to me to take home to my Grandma Gilda. That made me happy. It was ok to be me.

It’s imperative that your personality shine through online. When you are your true self you come off as transparent and honest. You have nothing to hide. You also attract the people that will like you for who you are. These people will be the ones that will want to work with you and who you will want to work with. Working with the right people is key to a successful business and a happy you.

Rule Four: Come Prepared

The first day of school was always the best day of the year for me. This was the day I had everything before I started to lose things. My mother would take me to Zellers a few weeks before and we would shop for new pencils and paper and gym shoes and rulers and an art smock and lots of other fun stuff. Because of my wonderful mother I came to school ready to learn, play and have fun.

It’s not the time to start creating your brand the minute you hit Social Media. That’s the time to showcase it. Before you start your adventures online, you should be prepared. Start a policy. Have a plan of action. Know who you are.

Rule Five: Play Nice

I was at Tony Perano’s birthday party. His Mother came into the living room and stood before about 12 hungry and excited 6 year old boys. In her very strong Italian accent she stated, “No pushing. No shoving. No fighting.” All i remember from that day were those words and the cake. I’m a sucker for an ice cream cake.

Picking fights, causing conflict and making enemies is one way to ruin your brand while using Social Media. I’m not saying you need to roll over and pee on the floor the minute someone confronts you. You can still stand your ground. But if someone is antagonizing you, it’s ok to walk away and not reply. Plus if you do decide to get into that tiff, everyone around you will see that fight happen and you will look like a digital crap disturber to all the on-lookers. Be the nice guy. Don’t punch. Don’t shove. Don’t fight.

When you look at Social Media in terms of just being social, I think everything becomes clearer. Act the way you do at a regular social event and you’ll be just fine. One last thing we all learned in kindergarten that applies to Social Media: Not everyone needs to know when you have to use the little boys room.

RECESS!!!

If you want to see more pictures of the event you can find them on our facebook fanpage here.

Yesterday kitestring hosted Snow Ball – a social media social at the Staircase Theatre in Hamilton. It was a fun filled morning of learning about social media, enjoying each others company and eating some scones.

The “kitestring players’ started the Social with a short skit titled “Lemonade Stand”, a story about building your brand using online communications. It’s the story of three lemonade stand business owners, Cindy, Kevin and Teddy.

Cindy from Lemonade Inc. has decided not to implement social media into their business, sticking to what she thinks are tried and true modes of business development.

Kevin, owner of The Best Lemonade in the World knows that he should get involved in social media. So, he comes up with his own plan to implement social media as part of his business, shouting information about his business whenever and wherever he chooses at whoever happens to be online. He plans how often he will check his social networking accounts and even what he plans to broadcast, sometimes days in advance.

Theodore, Teddy for short, from Squeezed Lemonade, also knows that social media is valuable for his business. He uses his vision, mission and values to decide how he will engage the communities that best fit his business’ culture.

Regardless of whether they knew it or not, each of these three companies are part of a new market place. We pretended that balloons were social media interactions, and that everyone in the audience was the world’s online audience.

It was a great exercise to show how building relationships, being transparent and becoming part of the conversation is a good way to get social media to work for you.

We also had an amazing presentation by Tricia Mumby of Mabel’s Labels on how social media is working for their company.

We learned about the different social media outlets from Brandon, and Jenn and I talked about building your brand using social media. Oh! And Cameron helped us all loosen up by playing a few fun ice breaker games.

The day ended with an old fashioned Tea Social, jam packed with cupcakes, cookies, tiny sandwiches and scones. Deeeeeelish!

Thank you everyone who attended! We had a blast and you made the day so fun!

I also what to thank these great sponsors!

Marta Hewson has been working with kitestring since day one. Her photography is fun and fresh and not only is she super talented, working with her on any project is a pleasure and a half. You can find Marta on twitter at @martahewson

Thank you so much Cameron Tulloch. Whenever kitestring needs some strategic, fun training exercise for an event he is our go to guy. Follow Cameron on twitter @CamTulloch

Florea is the super adorable new flower shop on James South, owned and styled by two young and hip sisters. Meg loves to visit to start the weekend!

Caroline Peer, from Fastsigns, makes all of our artwork look amazing through print. She provided all the signage for the event. Thank you Caroline we love working with you. Follow Caroline on twitter @FASTSIGNS_677

Hello everyone! Here at kitestring we are so excited!!!! Tomrrow is Snow Ball – a social media social. We have been working hard to put together an amazing…well…I’m gonna call it show. We have some fun stuff planned, along with cupcakes, scones, candy and more. I hope you have a ticket! There are a few tickets left, so if you need one click here.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Chris

Wow! I love Olympics! I do. I really do. I watch it all: Ski Jumping, Figure Skating, Biathaloning, and Hockey..ing. And I`m no expert, but tell me, was there something up with those closing ceremonies?

I loves myself a good “Poo Poo on us” joke more than anyone, but as our nations gift shop exploded with the largest, mish mashed, snow globe I’ve ever seen, was the world laughing with us, or at us?

Hardy har har, they took every Canadian stereotype, filled them with Helium and tied them to a string. Even Mlle. O’Hara didn’t escape the Helium treatment…. Oh, wait. I’m being told that was her, aux naturale. Sorry.

As I watched on with some hipster friends of mine, they pondered aloud what it means to be truly Canadian. Diversity, Multiculturalism, Aboriginal land claim disputes all came up. One’s profound words were, “Isn’t the essence of being truly Canadian wondering what it means to be truly Canadian?”

That’s deep. But not nearly as deep as Mr. Shatner’s scotch glass must have been before he came up from the underworld to talk about intimacy in a canoe. It’s a strange brew to be both proud and embarrassed, all at once.

I have a philosophy I live by: Poo Poo on yourself first, and it’s much harder for people to Poo Poo on you.

What is “Poo Poo”? Basically, if you have a problem, issue, wardrobe malfunction or even a zit, in my opinion, it’s better to let everyone know about it. Bring it up, address the issue, move on. This way, your friends or acquaintances can’t have a discussion about it later without remembering that you brought it to their attention first.

Now I use this method daily, and for me it works. But how does this apply to your business?

Many companies have issues and problems they would like to hide. Sweep under the rug.  But in a time where brand transparency is demanded from you it is better to bring that issue out into the open. Yes, there are certain things you don’t need to tell your clients, customers and partners. But if you think this issues is going to be discussed by them, it is better to start the conversation first. Shed some light on it. Own it.

Many believe we are the owners of our brand. “It’s my logo, my company, my way of doing things. I own my brand.” This thinking couldn’t be farther from the truth. People experiencing your brand are the true owners. You have the means to shape your brand anyway you like, manage it on your own terms, but when the day is done, it’s not yours.

There are many ways to “Poo Poo” on your company, but one of the most effective ways is through a blog. If you start a discussion where your audience is able to comment and partake, it gives you more control. You can comment back. Be part of the discussion.

“Poo Poo” is a harsh term I know. I only use it because I’ve been calling it that since I was 15 and started high school. Believe me, it worked like a charm for 5 years. But next time , when your company is going through some sort of issue, try it. It will build trust, respect and most importantly brand transparency.

BTW I have a zit.

Often new entrepreneurs are faced with the necessity of taking on any work that comes their way in order to build the business – it may be outside of your area of specialty  and it may be for clients that frankly, aren’t fitting into the landscape of what you envisioned. You can’t turn it down, right? YOU NEED THE BUSINESS!

It’s easy to understand this logic and quite honestly, it is most likely necessary. It provides you with work, a track-record and most importantly, capital to keep building your dream. The important thing to remember as you’ smile and service’ your way through these projects is that all of these ‘experiences’ help you define and build your business – and your brand.

Continue to build a strong brand that clearly articulates what your business is and the experience that you promise to your clients. Most importantly, infuse all of this into the marketplace! Ensure that your unique brand is being consistently used in all of your marketing materials (both in print and online) as well as your social networking efforts, face-to-face interactions, your physical environment, the style in which you answer the phone, your business card…I could go on and on.

By doing this, you’ll have your first filter in qualifying clients. The right clients will be naturally attracted to you. Your cultures will align, the work will excite you and TA-DA – you’ll start to build ’success on your own terms’.

It’s a lovely place to be – you should try it!

- jenn

About 3 weeks ago our wonderful clients, Mabel’s Labels, came to us with an a challenge; Make a fun video to promote their BlogHer’10 Contest.

Did I hear Challenge? I LOVE A CHALLENGE!

The kitestring gang took this project to a new level of creativity. From hand crafting puppets to writing a script and filming and editing all in house, we came up with a little video I am truly proud of.  We had to keep it a secret for a few weeks, which was HARD I must say. But now we can share it with  the world! Take a look below.

Meg was a BIG help on this project. We stayed late many nights making all the puppets and puppet accoutrement. My favourite is the keyboard. I think we might frame this peice of art and hang it in our office.

Thank you so much to all our friends at Mabel’s Labels for allowing us to play. You all rock my socks!!!!

If you want to find out more about this super cool contest , check out the Mabel’s Labels website for more info. And you could be the winner!

Even the commentators have been saying throughout the games that the component score is “just like the artistic mark” from the old system.

Watching the variety of dance pairs, you can sort of tell that pairs from different places obviously subscribe to their own unique vision of artistic excellence.

So the question always comes up: If artistic taste is highly subjective, how do the judges come up with the artistic component score?

This blog totally had a point. I was going to talk about client or organization’s design preference or artistic subjectivity and the delicate balance that needs to be achieved between that vision and the professional opinions of marketers.

Instead, I’m going to try to see the good in every artistic attempt in Olympic Ice Dancing. Instead of saying that I “hate” this team’s costume, or that team’s weirdo lifts, I’ll comment knowing that some choreographer made those artistic decisions with a strategy, vision and voice in mind. Ice Dancing routines have been carefully planned and pulled together with a target audience in mind. And those commentators should do the same.

Once upon a time, far, far away…

O.K. It was today and it was on Facebook. A friend posted a very old Disney cartoon titled – Silly Symphony – The Grasshopper and the Ants. I’m sure you know the story. If not, I’ll break it down for you.

1. Grasshopper goofs off all spring and summer not wanting to do much but play on his fiddle.

2. Ants work hard during these months gathering food for the cold long winter.

3. Ant warns Grasshopper that if he doesn’t work too he will freeze and go hungry come December.

4. Grasshopper doesn’t care and continues to have fun playing his fiddle while the ants all work.

That pretty much sums it up. Growing up I knew of this story. My mother read it to me and I saw it in cartoons. It has a great message. Work hard and you’ll be provided for. Right?

Then I watched the cartoon again as an adult today.

At the the end of this 1934 Disney version, posted below, the “lazy” Grasshopper finds his way through the snow and ice back to the Ant’s front door. He is let in and the Ants warm him up and give him some food. The Queen of all the ants, referred to as “Queenie” by the Grasshopper, makes her way over to him. The Grasshopper is humbled and asks that she not throw him back into the cold. Queeniw says “With Ants, those who work may stay.” At this point you think, damn, that lady Ant is gonna throw him out. Then out of left field, she hands him the fiddle and asks him to play (I’m assuming he is the entertainment for the rest of the winter.)

Once I finished the cartoon the question hit me. Would I rather work half the year doing something I hated (ie. carrying large amounts of food none stop into my house preparing for winter.) Or something I loved to do (ie. Play the fiddle) none stop all year round.

Answer: Play the Fiddle of course!

The past few weeks we have been super busy at kitestring. I have joked a couple times that I haven’t slept in 18 days (18 is usually my exaggerated number when I’m describing things). Even today, Jenn had to peel me off the computer to go for lunch.

Yes there is a lot to do. And that’s good. What’s even better is that I’m working on some of the most creative and challenging projects we have had as a company. From the full illustration of a board game, a campaign for a large Arts organization in the city, branding a children’s store (this will be our 4th!) to planning a Social Media Social.

I love what I do. I love the people I do it with. I love the projects I get to work on. If I have to work, it might as well be playing a fiddle and doing just that for as long as I can.

Take it from this Grasshopper; Do what you love to do and do it for as long as you love it.

The End