LifeHacker is one of my favorite sites to visit (or peruse via Google Reader that is) and yesterday they started a Coolest Cubicle Contest. One of the nice things about CurrentMarketing is the great, open air offices we try to maintain. No one is closed in by a cubicle and though some people have their own offices, most of us share areas. We know that it is more warm and friendly, not only for our employees but also for guests. No one wants to walk in and see a cubicle maze.

In LifeHacker's contest page above they show a few examples, but I'm fond of the Tiki/Bamboo pictures. Perhaps a bit too busy, but definitely thematic and not as over the top as some shown here from last year. There is such a thing as "too much".

I share a divided office (big opening between the two) with the other "geeks" here. I have a huge desk that is usually cluttered with tasks lists, notes and most of all at the moment: computer parts. On the fun side of things I have about a dozen glow-in-the-dark zombies, 5 statues of Buddha, one statue of Kuan Yin, a little metal dragon that can open up to put stuff in, a Rubik's Cube and a toy version of myself in a miniature cubicle surrounded by geek stuff.

That is, 5 websites that promise to keep you in the know and know-how.

John Nack on Adobe (Blog)
There's more than just Adobe stuff here, folks. As a senior Product Manager at Adobe, John knows whats going on in the industry. His blog features links to interesting articles on design, photography, technology and of course Adobe related news. Its updated daily and worth a look just as often.

Logo Pond
Looking for inspiration? Curious about the latest trends in logo design? Come on in, the water's fine.

InDesign Secrets
"The Independent Resource for All Things InDesign" The tagline says it all. Can't figure out why its such a pain in the ass to print from CS3? Have another intricate question that you can't search under the Help menu? Go here.

The Graphic Mac (Blog)
This blogs combines to communities that go hand-in-hand. Find out about the latest plug=ins for your Adobe apps and how to tweak your iPhone, all in one place. A great daily read.

You Suck at Photoshop
Bored with the same ol' tutorial format? Here is a series of Photoshop tutorials that offer an interesting twist...entertainment! Nothing here for advanced Photoshop users to actually learn, but nonetheless, you will be entertained. And hey, your not exactly goofing off since its educational, right?

In two days, we will officially be entering into my favorite time of year...March Madness. What's not to love for a self-proclaimed basketball freak like me? Basically, there is 12 hours of televised basketball every single day for at least three weekends, followed by two more weekends of buzzer beaters and make-or-break-your-season type games.

What's almost as awesome as Memphis losing last weekend, is that CBS has done some really cool things to promote the tournament. A couple of years ago, CBS introduced their "Free VIP Pass", which allows users to watch streaming video from each game. This comes in super-handy when don't have access to a TV or WLKY is showing Fordham University vs. USC instead of Indiana vs. Cincinnati.

New to the 2008 tournament is a Facebook application from CBS Sports. Greg Gumble and Seth Davis have been endlessly promoting this new application for the past two weeks. The application, which can be saved to your own Facebook page, allows users to watch every tournament game, vote for your favorite and most despised teams, check scores, view and add to team pages, post messages on the "Trash Talk Wall", join fan groups, along with lots of other stuff. This is the best example of a Facebook page, from an advertising viewpoint, that I have come across.

Just for fun...
Top Favorite NCAAB Team Pages
1. Tar Heels (12,188 Fans)
2. Blue Devils (10,313 Fans)
3. Jayhawks (7,271 Fans)
4. Hoosiers (4,323 Fans)
5. Wildcats (4,091 Fans)

Top Despised NCAAB Team Pages
1. Blue Devils (26,739 Haters)
2. Tar Heels (12,386 Haters)
3. Gators (4,390 Haters)
4. Buckeyes (3,397 Haters)
5. Hoosiers (3,041 Haters)

Two of my favorite things together: scary movies and advertising. Well, one thing at least.

But you just can't get any better than Annie Wilkes as a spokesperson in my humble opinion. Take one of the most memorable scenes in modern thriller cinema and have her pitch your satellite television service. I think that's totally brilliant, but maybe more applicable if she was a spokesperson for Home Depot. You know .. sledgehammers?

If I could post a thought bubble, you'd see a pic of me looking into the air contemplatively about:

Freddy Kreuger selling Lunesta.

Jason Vorhees selling Ginsu.

Lionel Cosgrove selling lawnmowers.

Okay, okay, so I the last one is more esoteric than the first ones, but this is my thought bubble, I'll think about what I want!

Text messaging has become a ubiquitous form of communication. It started with the technology savvy Millenials and quickly emerged as a part of every day life for all generations around the world.I have friends that use texting as their main communication with their grandmother. Our presidential candidates are text messaging their supporters along with knocking on their door. Kenya's troubled recent election has sparked terrorists to send hate text messages encouraging others, even bribing them. And the Kenyan government is countering the terrorists' campaign with a peaceful text message campaign of their own. Check it out.

Advertisers are integrating text messaging into traditional media campaigns, capturing opted-in phone numbers to send future updates on events or new products.

In my opinion, text messages may be the most flexible advertising medium available today. Traditional media, such as broadcast, outdoor and print, are minimally invasive because a consumer can chose not to look at them. Telemarketing is extremely invasive because you are engaging someone in a conversation in which they may or may not be available to have at that time.

But text messages are an invited intrusion and highly targeted, as consumers - - by opting in - - are asking for information. And at just pennies per impression, text messages are incredibly cost effective!

With so many applications for text messaging to interact with a willing consumer, it's quickly becoming a staple of integrated marketing campaigns everywhere (including here at CurrentMarketing!)

Someone (yeah, I don't know who) has developed a plug-in for Firefox called AdBlock Plus. If you have AdBlock Plus installed, it blocks all advertising that is served to you on the web, including Google keywords. Holy frijoles, Batman, it blocks our ads!

So, you might think as a media buyer, I am against this sort of buffoonery.

Not so!

If a user wants to support a site that she likes, she can override AdBlock Plus and allow ads to be served to her from that site. I like etsy.com, for example. I want etsy to stay around, so they need some ad revenue. I will disable AdBlock Plus so I can see the ads on that site.

Basically, all this does to my job is force me to become a more discerning web advertising buyer. Of course, I will still look at traffic, demographics, click thru rates, etc.; but I also need to make sure content is fresh, appealing and applicable to the audience to which I want to appeal. If my target finds none of these three in a site, it's AdBlock Plus to the rescue!

The good news is that only 17% of surfers use Firefox currently. The real chore will begin when some wiseacre ports AdBlock Plus to Internet Explorer (that's 76% of web users!)

Recently, I completed a project in Flash that required all of the graphic elements to be rendered as vector shapes. I decided to use ActionScript only to draw every interface element. Why? Well, as our French friends say, "For the challenge!" There are practical reasons too involving control over look and feel of the page and other esoteric issues, but that is for another post.

What's important is that I developed a burning desire to add Apple gel-type buttons to my interface (I like the way they look, so sue me), and I searched online for ways to create these buttons using vector tools. I found many links like this and this and this, but none addressed creating the buttons using the Flash Drawing API. So I studied each tutorial, absorbed the process, then automated it. And I will show you how I did it.

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As I continue to think about the place I would like to create for all of us to come to work each day-it occurred to me that having a dog around would add yet another bit of character to our already "colorful" environment. I read that having pets around help keep blood pressure low and productivity high.

And in our line of work, anything healthy that can lower stress and make us laugh from time to time -- and doesn't involve alcohol or illegal drugs -- is worth a try. So, MONA (who was an anniversary gift in November) started working at CurrentMarketing at 7 weeks old. And she was a hit from the moment she joined our team.

MONA is a GoldenDoodle, one of those "designer" dogs with a Standard Poodle as her father and a Golden Retriever as her mum. Her paws are ginormous and so we're guessing she will get to 60-70lbs. She doesn't shed much at all-just some light fuzz.

And the fact that she is hypo-allergenic makes her an even more attractive office mate. Here is another article talking about how pets in the office are coming back in vogue.

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Earlier this week, I posted some initial points on successful event marketing. Today, I’ll share what I think are four keys to help any event be successful.

Know Your Audience
Too many companies, businesses and even festival and event groups spend more time marketing to themselves instead of their potential audience. Many events have several tiers or several different demographics for their events. It is important to know all your audiences and to target your event messages to each one. The SBA has a helpful article about establishing clear guidelines on how to drill down and learn about the people you're trying to reach.

Your marketing message is not just the image you project in media. It is also the message you send to your staff, vendors and participants. From the way you reply to an email to the way you answer the phone. Positive correspondence to everyone involved in your event is key so they will continue to partner with you in the future.

And you must allocate your budget to grow for impressive creative and solid media plans and strategy.

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It's every creative professional's worst nightmare: when the ideas just won't come. You stare at a blank computer screen and every time that cursor blinks, you're one second closer to the deadline...and you've got nothing. Zip. Nada. Squat.

When I get in this funk, I'm a big fan of letting the Universe do a little of the creative "heavy lifting" by using a word or phrase, chosen at random, as the guide to my problem-solving. It's not a new idea, but I first read about it in Roger Von Oech's book "A Whack on the Side of the Head." (If you haven't read his series of books, you should. They're very quick reads and have been tools I've gone back to over and over again for inspiration. Check him out.) Here are his thoughts on the subject:

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