Are you looking for something a little less traditional in outdoor furniture. Not only has loll designed a really nice looking modern line, they have done it with 100% recycled materials. You can relax in style while enjoying the outdoors you are helping to save.

The world’s best urban cyclist got picked up by Volkswagon. You can check out his ninja skills and take a look at the Golf Escape here.

Angela Natividad of AdRants presents a first-person example of how social media should be used. Her encounter with Rishad Tobaccowala at ad:tech resulted in an interview that illustrates how companies can benefit from using social media as it is intended and not force social media to be an advertising channel.

When I first read about this, I wasn’t really sure what to make of it. What did Freshjive really mean by “Anti-Branding”? Well, it turns out that Rick Klotz, owner of Freshjive, has decided to remove the Freshjive logo / name from the outside of their fashion lines as well as any inside labels. Their new product lines will feature no logo or name as to who their brand is whatsoever.

I can certainly appreciate not wanting to walk around like a human billboard for a company wearing their logo, and admit that it takes some pretty serious guts to go this route and stand firmly on the product alone, but I guess the question is – what would Nike be without the swoosh, what would Chanel be without its reversed letter C’s, and what would BMW be without its badge. The fact of the matter is that your brand and logo do matter to consumers on a variety of complex and subconscious levels.

Remember in the 1980’s when you would be able to buy generic “beer” at the grocery store, typeset in lowercase Helvetica. That was pretty amusing, but there is a reason that you don’t see that any more. Companies can make more money with a brand that is memorable verses one that is not. Brand loyalty pays the bills. Freshjive is by no means like generic beer, and has BRAND credibility and loyalist. Let’s see if the brand loyalty sticks when kids don’t know its Freshjive anymore.

Check out the full story and let us know what you think.

I’d like to share with you the Social Marketing Playbook. A worthwhile read.

From the Forward…

The goal of this playbook is to help marketers:

• Provide a framework for establishing a set of clear objectives for their social marketing strategy
• Move beyond the checklist approach and provide a filter for evaluating the myriad of opportunities and platforms
• Think of social marketing as an opportunity to have a continuous, valuable exchange with their customers
• Think about extensions to amplify offline campaigns

This year during the Tour de France, Nike will chalk up to 100,000 messages of inspiration, hope and action on the same course the cyclists will ride. Part of Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong campaign, these messages will not only be seen by the cyclists, but the millions of spectators that are and will be watching the most grueling sports event in the world.

You can share your messages three different ways. Tweet @chalkbot, text ‘LIVESTRONG’ followed by your chalk message to 36453 or submit your message to Nike. If your message is approved, the Chalkbot will put it on pavement then send you a picture of it.

Mashable.com has aggregated a ton of wonderful info on using Twitter into their Twitter Guide Book: the basics, getting followers and even Twitter for businesses.

Thanks Mashable.

My son’s teacher e-mailed us a PowerPoint presentation that my son did for one of his third grade assignments. Besides the fact that it was kind of cute and it was teaching him computer and communication skills, it’s still PowerPoint.

PowerPoint is an epidemic of misguided expression that has taken over the board room. Sitting through meetings comprised of oodles of meaningless slides has become a corporate skill set, not to mention the “art” of creating such masterpieces.

AND THEY ARE EMBEDDING THIS INTEREST EARLY IN GRADE SCHOOL!

But the revolution is near. Neglected briefs, memos and whitepapers are organizing a revolt. Their leaders are Edward Tufte and David Byrne. Mr. Tufte, the godfather of information architecture, published an essay a few years ago titled “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within” which is very critical of the effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations and continues the fight to this day. Mr. Byrne, of Talking Heads fame, created a satirical art exhibition using only PowerPoint with its drawing tools and the included clip art to poke fun at how business people communicate and how “good” the tools they use are. And there are others, like Steve Jobs of Apple, who’s always noted for his masterful presentations void of bullet points and maybe even Al Gore for his global warming triumph.

I guess it’s good my son will be able to express himself in the vernacular of his peers, but I’m afraid we’re stuck with PowerPoint lunches for at least another generation.

Funny story,  at least for me. My wife was talking with someone who kept refering to this hot new thing on the Internet – Twizzle. She immediately recognized this reference was really about Twitter. There was a third person in the conversation that agreed they had heard of Twizzle as well and they all should get involved. My wife did not correct them. It’s a shame to spoil good humor.

I suggested Twizzle is a hot new social-media site founded by Snoop Dogg.

Effective communication is vital to the success of any project. Effective communication makes your, and the others around you, job easier. Here are a few tips I’d like to share with you to help improve communication in your organization and improve the outcomes of your projects.

Small Teams Rock
Companies often mitigate risk by getting more people involved in a project. There’s a “the more, the better” philosophy, when nothing further could be the truth. Here’s a simple formula that measures communication channels to prove my point.

C = ( N ( N – 1 ) ) / 2   [From the Project Management Institute]

N = number of people involved in a project
C = number of communication channels

If there are 4 people in a project, there are 6 communication channels. 6 people = 15 communication channels. 10 people = 45 channels.

The number of communication channels increases dramatically. This number means more work to manage communication and an increased risk of miscommunication. If you want to be efficient, keep your teams as small as possible.

Make Sure You are Understood
Communication has not occurred until the receiving party understands the meaning of the message. Just because an e-mail was sent, you have no way of knowing it was read, or understood. Require a suitable reply so you are confident your message was effective. Whether it’s e-mail, a phone conversation or a person-to-person meeting, it is your responsibility to make sure you are understood, not the other person’s to figure out what you meant.

E-mail Peeves: CC, Reply To, Reply To All & Subjects
CC-ing people on e-mails is THE biggest cause of over-filled Inboxes in corporate America today. CC-ing leads to the Reply To All, exaggerating the problem. Only send e-mails to those who absolutely need to receive them. This is a lazy habit fueled by the need to cover one’s ass. Please stop the madness.

Another lazy habit is using an old e-mail for a reply instead of starting a fresh message. This creates an issue with having a subject that does not relate to the contents of the message. This equates to lost information. Help your fellow co-workers by writing relevant subjects and sending e-mails on topic.

E-mail is Not Always the Correct Method
Everyone gets tons of e-mail every day. There’s a lot of noise and clutter in one’s Inbox. If you need something, call the person. Make sure to actually talk to them -  not just leave a message.  If the issue is important, talk to the person(s) in person. Seventy percent of human communication is visual. This is totally lost over the phone.

Meetings Suck
There is not a greater consumer of work hours than meetings. Little work gets done and most attendees sit idly by while others discuss issues irrelevant to them. If you really want to communicate more effectively and get a lot more work accomplished. Don’t have as many meetings, keep the meetings short and with only key people. I recommend standing meetings. These are short, to-the-point meetings where no one sits down and only people close to the topics discussed are present. No food. No vacation discussion. All business. They are very effective.