Summer

I'm a Chicago girl through and through, and with that comes a real appreciation for summer.  Even this year, with our relatively mild winter, we've earned our summer, as always.  The Chicago lakefront. Light until almost 9pm. Dining al fresco, backyard BBQs, beaches, pools, and being barefoot. Reading outdoors. Riding a bike. Thinking about summer also got me thinking about summer music.  Here's Billboards list of summer's top 30 songs.  Whether it surprises or disappoints, it will get you thinking about your favorite summer music.

Bike to Work Week – June 9-15!

Eire will be celebrating Chicago’s annual Bike to Work Week by participating in Active Transportation Alliance’s Bike Commuter Challenge. This will be the 5th year we have participated. Oh wait we didn’t participate last year because I was on maternity leave and no one covered for me. I’m back! So let’s get excited and bike to work!

We challenge you to compete too.
The Bike Commuter Challenge is the best way to celebrate Chicago Bike to Work Week, June 9–15, 2012.

Just sign up your company and be a Team Leader or join an existing team and start logging your trips during Chicago Bike to Work Week. Any bike trip to work counts – even partway. You can bike to the train, bus, or carpool location and lock up there.

It’s easy, free, and most of all, fun! There is even help you get ready for the Challenge with tips and tricks on how to ride to work.

The Bike Commuter Challenge is brought to you by the Active Transportation Alliance. Active Trans is a non-profit advocacy organization that works throughout Chicagoland to improve conditions for bicycling, walking and transit while engaging people in healthy and active ways to get around.

What's new with the USPS?

Who finds new offerings from the United States Postal Service exciting? I do! And maybe you do too if you are reading this blog.

This past week I attended an Open House at one of our preferred vendors and went to a seminar given by Marcia Sapien, a 35 year veteran of the USPS. Not everyone finds mail as exciting as I do but maybe some of these new offerings will at least spark your interest or give you some ideas to enhance your next direct mail package.

USPS QR Code Promotion for Postage Savings
The USPS is running a special  promotion to entice mailers to test mobile barcodes on their direct mail. The ultimate goal is to build awareness of mobile technology and demonstrate to mailers how mobile barcodes can increase the value of mail. The program runs from July 1, 2012 through August 31, 2012 and is available for First Class, Standard and Non-Profit Mailers who incorporate a two-dimensional barcode either on the face or inside every piece in the mailing that is designed to direct the user to a promotional website. Mailers will receive an upfront 2% discount on postage for mailings that meet the program requirements. There is a possibility that this promotion will also run in November and December of this year. I will let you know if this promotion gets approved.

Every Door Direct Mail
With Every Door Direct Mail® service from the U.S. Postal Service®, you can reach the market that matters most to your business: nearby neighborhoods. Postage is as low as 14.5¢ per piece – and you don't even need to know names or street addresses. You simply identify the neighborhoods you want to target, and your printed piece is delivered with the day's mail to every address.

Picture Permit Imprint Indicia
Mailers are now able to use the indicia area of their mail pieces — prime real estate — to advertise their brands — thereby attracting more attention and potentially improving the reading rate of their mail pieces. USPS has established requirements for embedding logos, trademarks, pictures or other images into the indicia. Mailers will have to submit sample mail pieces for USPS review and approval before implementation.

All in a day...

Well, I attended a Webinar yesterday and it was somewhat interesting. The webinar, hosted by INEXPOLIVE, featured a guest speaker (Carman Tarren) who talked about Innovative Techniques for Multi Taskers. The subject seemed perfect for me. After all I consider myself an exceptional Multi Tasker, have been my whole life. Although some people have suggested I have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. I even took a 300 question test for it and I did not qualify (I think because I actually finished the test).

When I started the webinar I expected it to be live, but a still picture of the speaker came up on the screen. She was quite attractive and I wondered if this was planned. I thought INEXPOLIVE meant LIVE? After getting used to seeing Carman’s face (and realizing I’d just be staring at this for an hour), I noticed that people were chatting and answering questions on another screen. This was very distracting, but then again it was a seminar on MULTI TASKING. Maybe just like not being diagnosed with ADD I was not as proficient at Multi Tasking as I originally thought?

About 10 minutes into the presentation, while looking at Carman and reading the comments on the small screen, I decided to take some notes myself. Some of the more revealing stats that the lovely Carmen shared were:

• 294 Billion emails are sent a day
• 2 million blog posts are posted a day
• 35 million apps are opened a day
• 250 million photos are downloaded a day
• 200 million minutes a day are spent on Angry Birds
• The one that really blew me a way was…
• The average length of time that a person stays on a website is 8 seconds…

Sounds to me like all these Multi Taskers are wasting a lot of time not doing much.

All in a day…

If at first you don’t succeed…

My 10-month old son is learning how to do many things these days. He’s crawling like crazy, and now learning how to pull himself up to standing by holding on to a chair leg, the couch, a table, my leg. He’s listening hard to noises we make, and learning how to say them himself (they’re not complicated noises obviously… consonant noises like da-da and ga-ga and the ever-popular raspberry noise!). One day a couple weeks ago I watched him attempt to stand using the dining room table and chair. He worked on this for about 20 minutes before he got tired or distracted.  For every time he successfully stood up, he attempted and fell at least twice. The next day, he was at it again. Now, he’s a pro and can pull himself up using only one hand.

As I have been watching him, I’m amazed by his perseverance. Where does a tiny child get the urge and desire to try and try again? Of course, he gets frustrated. Of course, he falls and hits his head, or knee, or fingers. But after he cries for a minute, he usually gets right up and tries it again.

As adults, we tend to not be as resilient as children. While we’ve all heard the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, how many of us have really done this lately? We tend to get complacent, expecting that things will go our way without much effort. If I run a meeting that doesn’t go well, present a plan that falls flat, or pitch our services to a new business prospect who chooses someone else, I’m disheartened and disappointed, and sometimes feel like I will never succeed.

Mostly, though, I’m thinking about the failure from every angle. What should I have done instead to achieve success?  Should I have prepared differently? Been more creative in my approach to the problem? Talked to others to get more information before beginning? How can I change my work so it’s better the next time?

And then, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and get ready to do it all over again the next time, learning from my son in the process.

VALUE: A term that expresses relative worth, merit or importance.

With the economic downturn over the past few years, providers of goods, services and products have seen the word “value” be transformed into the word “price.”  Value traditionally was defined as being able to deliver a quality product and results, all at a fair price.  This applies to virtually every business in the service category supplying goods or services to their clients and customers.  But lately, price seems to be the new definition of value.

 

You see it with retailers – people are accustomed to waiting for the final markdown because many consumers don’t want to pay full price.  Are the retailers marking down to their thinnest margin, or are the initial prices inflated to account for price-shoppers?  Consumers don’t always know that answer, but they have been trained to wait for the markdown.  Conversely, there are shoppers who consider their highest priority as quality.  They may even over pay for an item because they have been trained to believe that higher prices equate to better quality.  Neither scenario is completely right.  We need to go back to the basic definition of “value” – it’s a combination of quality and price – relative worth, merit or importance.

 

The same applies in the agency business.  If a client is focused on price, a freelancer will win the bid over a full-service agency.  And, if a client is focused on quality and results, they might not even include a qualified freelancer in the bidding process.  As with the retailers, neither scenario is completely right. 

 

It takes time and effort to define “value”, and it’s not always as simple as lowest price or highest quality.  We need to remember that relative worth is part of the definition too, and customers need to feel that they received a fair deal.  People want to deliver value – they want their customers to be satisfied and feel that they were treated fairly.  As consumers in our personal and professional lives, we need to remember that there is a person on the other end of all our transactions wanting to be treated fairly.  And, in return consumers should expect a quality, fairly priced product or service.

The Eire St. Patrick's Day Social

Last week was Eire’s 25th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Social.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Eire hosted its first party in their first year of business. This party has become an Eire tradition. Not only is it a celebration of Eire’s Irish roots, more importantly, it’s a reminder to our clients, vendors and associates that we appreciate everything they’ve done throughout the year to contribute to Eire’s success. It’s also a great opportunity to see a friendly face that you haven’t seen in a while or finally meet that person you’ve only talked to on the phone or communicated with through email.

So whether you’ve made it to one of our parties or haven’t had the chance, Eire would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to each and every one of you. And be sure to join us next year. You won’t be disappointed.

“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.”  – Adrienne Cook