When Facebook and Twitter can do something even the juggernaut that is the Disney Corporation couldn’t you know they have something really special. The Muppets have scratched and clawed their way back into the spotlight and they owe a lot to social media. A while ago I wrote about how some brands have rejuvenated themselves using social media. Like those brands, the Muppets had a loyal following and Disney, at least partially, used that following to re-invigorate the brand in a big way – and they did it without spending loads of cash.
Read MoreArchive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Using Coupons to Boost Your Social Media Presence While Keeping Fans
As I’ve said here on The Stairwell many times, one of the keys to social media marketing is to give your fans something new as much as possible. That can be everything from new information or even just a laugh, or something to talk about. That can be okay for a bit. But if you really want to build a following and convert your social media presence into genuine customers you need to give them something concrete – either a giveaway for something real or coupons they can come in and use. A great social media giveaway accomplishes two things.…
Read MoreFlow & the User Experience
The User Experience experience belongs to the individual. Always has; always will.
Read MoreTea Time with Sarah Rose
Tea always seemed like a peculiar concept to me: put some dried leafy stuff in hot water, add saccharin supplement, and be soothed.
Perhaps Starbucks enlisted me at too early an age with Grande Caramel Macchiatos and its many variations. How could I even compare leaf-flavored hot water to a caramel chocolaty caffeinated shake that my mom somehow allowed me to drink before school?
In the last year, though, I’ve voyaged out to discover what the big deal was, why my dad, who remembers nobody’s name remembers Earl Grey’s when he’s sick, why my roommate always makes a cup of chamomile before…
Read MoreDorothée Royal-Hedinger: Chicago’s Digital Tree Hugger
Dorothée Royal-Hedinger has been a force to be reckoned with in non-profit social media advertising since she started out at See3 Communications as a new media strategist. She moved on to co-found NobleTree Media where she has worked with non-profit causes like Minds Matter Chicago and the National Association of Working Women. She created OrganicNation.tv in May 2009 and has won numerous awards including Tree Hugger’s Best Food Twitter Feed (.treehugger.com/best-of-green-food-and-health) and the Do Something American Express Grant. In addition to being a top flight social media guru, her work with OrganicNation.tv has appeared on Current TV, The Huffington Post, GOOD and TreeHugger.com.…
Chicago Hot Glass: The Harley Davidson of Fine Arts
Just outside Chicago’s Humboldt Park at North Central Park and Potomac Avenue, I approached a somewhat clandestine warehouse where a burly man donning all the gear you’d a imagine a Hell’s Angel to have in his closet—plus the imperative lengthy grey beard—stood outside. He tugged on his golden retriever’s leash.
I’m not a dog person (you can blame my parents for never getting me one), so I instinctively took a step back for every one I took forward as the retriever leapt toward me with thick drool flinging from its mouth.
“Hot Glass?” the Hell’s Angel asked me.
“Uh…yeah!” I answered.
The Angel opened…
Read MoreAwesome Dev+Design Playground
Every so often I come across a company or community of developers (and designers) who put out great, inspiring, innovative work…for free.
I believe a big part of being an active member of any community, such as the “people who build websites community”, is to give back and provide people with the opportunity to learn and grow. On top of giving information and showing how things can be done and built, every now and then you come across work that is a notch above the rest.
Recently, I was browsing a popular design/dev website and came across this playground, built and maintained…
Read MoreThe importance of documentation and planning for user experience
User experience expert – John Yesko, gave this latest presentation and the topic was “Rich User Experience Documentation – Beyond Static Wireframes.”
Read MoreBillups Design is movin’ on up…
…to the 3rd floor!
Though we’ve only been in our new space here at Lake Street for one year, it’s time to grow and move into a larger studio that accommodates even better our creatives’ and programmers’ needs. Natural light. Ample space. Relaxing amenities. This is the place! Thank to everyone whose talent and dedication makes this exciting new chapter in our agency a reality. Thanks also to all of our valued clients – without you…well, you know. Come and visit us when we open the doors on August 1.
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