MindComet

SXSW 2010: Opening Remarks: Privacy and Publicity with Danah Boyd

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be in the audience to hear Danah Boyd serve as the Opening Speaker for theSXSW Interactive Festival 2010 event. One of the world’s foremost authorities on social networks, Boyd works at Microsoft Research New England and also serves as a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Boyd recently completed her PhD in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley (my major at FSU) and her thoughts on the topics of privacy and publicity really got my attention. Specifically, I appreciate the simplicity of her perspectives and the “layman’s” approach to understanding how each of our decisions as marketers and individuals shapes the landscape around us. Bravo, Ms. Boyd!

Read More & View Comments

Posted by Marcelle Turner on Mar. 25, 2010

My “Snap Out of This Funk” Spot

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.“ ~Confucius

Do you have a special spot you go when it feels like the weight of the world is making your knees buckle? Many moons ago when I was studying for a year at Bryant College in Rhode Island I found mine.  I had been to Newport, Rhode Island a few years earlier with my mother and had loved the area, so when it came time to explore the New England region Newport was the first stop on my itinerary. I’m not sure what part of the town attracts me most—the water, the food, the history, the architecture, or the isolation—but by my second visit I was certain that this place was made for me.

Along Ocean Avenue I found a small state park, and at that park, a bench resting on a patch of lawn peering over the jetties and the Atlantic Ocean. It sits completely unprotected from the elements exposed to sun, wind, and ocean spray at every moment. Sitting there, I find it impossible not to be humbled and inspired by the forces of nature and it’s openness to world. I think it’s vulnerability attracts me to it!

As the years have passed, I try to make regular trips back to what I now consider “my bench” when I need some spiritual re-alignment. I sit with my bench and reflect about the gifts of life and love, the lessons gained with time and maturity, and the inner strength in all natural things to survive.

Where is your spot?

Read More & View Comments

Posted by Marcelle Turner on Mar. 16, 2010

Marriott: On The Move and Embracing New Media

http://news.marriott.com/

It’s no secret that I am a Marriott Brand loyalist. As a former employee and a family member of a current employee, my experiences with Marriott both as an associate and an guest have guided many of my customer services interactions. The organization taught me about what it means to provide “an experience”, the value of individual empowerment, and what it feels like to love your career.

In my current role I am often tasked with guiding my client partners to examples of other companies who lead in the field of interactive marketing. Marriott’s newly-launched “News Center” is very well-executed example of the marriage between corporate communications, social media, and consumer information. The difference in this type of news room verses a traditional “press” section of a corporate site is that it doesn’t make an assumption about who the user is. This style of news room treats all personas equally and allows for consumption of content in the media that the user chooses.

• Have a tech-heavy journalist visiting the site? There are digital media kits, interactive blogs, and a tag cloud to share the most current topics and help them write the story.

• Have investment banker interested in the brand? There are easy links to twitter feeds and RSS subscriptions, and information about the company’s culture and commitment to community available to keep them in the know.

• Have a mommy-blogger looking for content for her post about her dream vacation to Aruba? There are blog posts about Marriott’s top-rated hotels and links to executive chefs’ regional recipes to get her excited.

The point of approaching a news room in this manner is abandoning the assumption that visitors to this news site need advanced segmentation to ensure effectively communication. To the contrary, visitors who choose to visit the news section of a corporate site are already looking for information. Smart news and public relations marketers organize news content by topic to allow the visitor to choose their content and media type while exposing them to other topics of importance to the company. Did you know that Marriott has a Five-Point Environmental Strategy aimed at helping to protect the rainforests? Neither did I until I visited the News Center!

There is still room for improvement with Marriott’s News Center, (for example the “investor relations” link re-directs to an older design that looses the global navigation), but all-in-all I applaud Marriott for taking a big step forward in their communication efforts.

Read More & View Comments

Posted by Marcelle Turner on Mar. 05, 2010

Here’s to New Beginnings

2009 was undoubtedly the most stressful, gut-wrenching, exciting and rewarding year of my personal and professional life. A back injury early in the year, a cancer scare during the summer, and a three-month ear ache (caused by too much air travel) almost brought me to my knees. Throughout the year at MindComet we were re-inventing the company and our brand from the inside out, fighting a tough economy, and aggressively participating in a ten-month long partnership selection process with a major brand. I can laugh about it now, but it felt like the year would never end! Then, (as almost by the grace of a higher power), the faith and honest-to-goodness hard work paid off with a December avalanche of the biggest, brightest and best-fitting client partnerships in our company’s ten-year history.

Admittedly, as a “newish” CEO, this first part of my management journey has been an emotional roller coaster—but one that I would never undo. As I reflect back on what made 2009 work (so I NEVER forget what got us here), the story brings me back to one common thread…LOVE. The people in this company who rose to the occasion to fight the odds, the economy, the nay-sayers, and the rutt we had gotten ourselves into have LOVE. They are dedicated to their crafts, committed to excellence and really understand what it means to be part of something worth fighting for.

In the next week, I’m making my attempt to re-acclimate myself to active blogging and I plan to share stories of the company’s renaissance—and some of the mistakes we made along the way. Please feel free to leave me a comment or ask questions!

Read More & View Comments

Posted by Marcelle Turner on Mar. 03, 2010