When I started this little title contest I asked myself one, somewhat intimidating question.  “What if I didn’t see any entries?” It happened before. I was terrified, but with faith in my social media community, I posted anyway.

I checked stats after an hour – nothing.  I checked stats after three hours and there was a hit or two, but no entries.  Then, after a day, one trickled in…  then another and another… within three days, I had so many titles that I almost stopped the contest just to use ALL of the entries for future posts!

I was blown away to see the creativity and fun people were having with the opportunity.  From the sublime “Eat This,” to the off-putting “The Smurfs Were Communists,” each new entry gave me a little insight into the participant’s personal brand - funny… reflective… passionate… curious… driven… While not my intention, I learned a little bit about all of them, and I thank them all.

Which brings us to our winner:

“Flourish Where You Live.”

When Sheena Rae Lara (@SheenaMacGruber on Twitter) posted her title entry, I knew it was one I was going to have to look into some more – win or not. It had depth.  It had weight that made me think of a million things to write, and that, originally, was the reason for the post “Conquer Writers Block – Save The World,” and Sheena killed it!

So, like I said, my original intention was to take Sheena’s title and write my own post from it.  After some reflection (and basic curiosity), I decided instead of telling you about how I thought “Flourish Where You Live” applied to me, I’d let Sheena tell you.  Because without Sheena and the community in which we live, how could The Brand Chef truly flourish?

Flourish Where You Live

(Brand Chef) What possessed you to post your title for this competition?
(Sheena Rae Lara) I had been thinking about doing my own blog post on this topic and saw your contest and wrote it in.

(BC) So, what inspired your title?
(SRL) I tell people that my plan, when I was in college, was to leave Iowa. I ended up staying and doing well here.

(BC) It sounds like a personal calling or mission you try to follow, yes?
(SRL) Yeah, I think so. I think it’s a waste of energy wishing/thinking about living somewhere else. If you really want to get out of Iowa then take the steps do it, otherwise quit dreaming and start making Iowa into the place you want it to be.

(BC) How to you integrate your title into everyday life?
(SRL) Flourishing can be different to different people, but for me it’s about doing what makes me happy and adding quality to my life. If that means staying home and baking bread from scratch, taking my son to the park, heading out to dollar pints at Olde Main with good friends or working on creative side projects.

(BC) Are you “a local” or do you hail from outside our little, Midwestern bubble?
(Note to readers: I ask this just because Sheena and I had connected on Twitter a few months ago to discuss her interest in multi-cultural marketing.)
(SRL) I’m an Iowan, spent my whole life living in Iowa except when I backpacked across Europe for two weeks and lived in Rome for a semester. I love learning about different cultures and people!

So, of course, here come the branding questions…

(BC) If you could sum up your personal brand in one sentence, what would it be, and would your title be incorporated?
(SRL) Tough one! Adventurous and responsible, nothing is beyond reach with a little creativity and ambition.

(BC) What do you want the readers to know about you that isn’t evident through your social media activity or blog?
(SRL) Well, some people have picked up on the axe stuff. I’m a contributor to Best Made Company’s social media presence. I started their facebook fan page and contribute to their blog.

***

Well Sheena (and the rest of you), I just want to thank you for taking the time to participate in my little social media contest this week.

It IS through the community in which you live that the passion and love for your surroundings fosters TRUE growth.  Sure, I’ve lived in Boston, Kansas City and traveled to other countries, but I kept coming back to my community, my family, my friends in Des Moines, Iowa. Why? I think Sheena said it best,

“I think it’s a waste of energy wishing/thinking about living somewhere else. … quit dreaming and start making {where you live} into the place you want it to be.”

It warms my heart to see social media fostering new relationships and creating these communities around virtual commonalities.

This is where I live!  This is where I flourish! How about you?

Keep Cooking! (Wherever you live!)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Sheena Rae Lara is currently the Graphic Designer for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University.
She is looking into pursuing a Master’s degree in marketing and transitioning her career into digital media/marketing with a multicultural emphasis.

Life spins around us pretty fast. It’s astounding that when we sit down to write, create, work, or whatever; the world comes to a screeching halt. Of course the distractions, the annoying emails, the tweets and post alerts seem to continue, but when creating really matters, you freeze. My last post talked about the need to conquer this writer’s block. If you don’t want to click back to read the whole post, here’s an excerpt:

It kills me every Wednesday night. While I’ve known all week that I have a personal deadline set to post every Thursday morning; I wait until Wednesday night (or later) to actually start writing. I take notes, jot ideas, scribble and doodle all week, but when it comes to Wednesday, I open TextEdit and just sit.

CRAP…

Suddenly, tonight, a voice in my head said “What the hell are you doing? Just start writing, you moron!” So I did. I wrote, “You’re going to die anyway.” and POW, the words started rolling.

So I challenged you to write the title of a future post for me – to kick-start some of the juices. And to my surprise, you stepped to the challenge (yay).

Now we – more to the point, YOU – get to vote on which title will be my next post! Read the entries below and vote for your favorite. You have until the end of the day (6:00 pm CST) Monday, June 21st to make your decision.

I will take the most popular title and interview the person that submitted it to get “the full story.” Who knows? It may reveal something about one of our fellow community of readers or it may just be cool to hear how they came up with the title. Any way we look at it, it’s going to prove to be interesting and challenging.

So, vote away! I look forward to seeing the results!

Keep Cooking! (free-flowing creative that saves the world!)

Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

When it comes to a little friendly competition, I’m all game.  I love the challenge.  I love the strategy.  And obviously, my friends over at Lessing Flynn advertising agency, think the same way.

At the end of what was an extremely busy social media week for Central Iowa, we were made aware of a little competition brewing in the advertising agency social media ring.

The competition?

In short, there was a Michael Glass poll created asking, of 45 ad agencies listed, who had better social media reach?  Who had true social media skills? (click the image below to go to the poll)

As the poll started to grow legs, it was evident that the two overwhelming leaders in the group was an agency out of North Carolina by the name of Media Two and our own Ad Mavericks (Lessing Flynn) from little ol’ Iowa.

For me, it started Thursday afternoon when I saw a tweet…  innocuous at first, but in its tone was more of a challenge, thrown down to all central Iowa social media professionals, purveyors and hobbyists.  As I continued to monitor the conversation, the tone became, well, more of a battle royale. Here’s a sample…

You can check out Ad Maverick’s complete Twitter stream here.

The game was on.

Some of the contenders never had a chance, but as Mr. Glass’s poll grew from a couple hundred respondents to well over 600 (at the time of this post), the competition for “Social Media Agency of the Month” was obviously between Media Two and Ad Mavericks.  The two pulling away with double and triple the number of votes of other agencies.

What was driving the polls?  Well, social media, silly!

Both agencies had a reputation to define and defend.  So much so that Media Two, in typical, politicized, mud slinging fun, posted a (sightly) myopic commentary on the viability of social media surviving  in the Midwest, trying to discredit Ad Mavericks. (shame on you Media Two…)

With true, Midwestern grace and poise, Ad Mavericks responded with their own post, or should I say call-to-arms; making a great argument for their cause as well as some of the best examples of social media success one could think of for Iowa and the Midwest as a whole.  Iowans – social media savvy businesses, compulsively connected individuals, huge social media celebrities – have made the medium truly viable for the “fly-over” states.  In contradiction to Media Two’s tongue-in-cheek jab at Iowa, Ad Mavericks raised the flag of social media superiority for the state and solidified the reputation Iowans have taken pride in – humbly and honestly.

I encourage you to review the poll entries.  Weigh your thoughts on both Media Two and Ad Mavericks and vote your conscience.

With that, what a week it’s been in Iowa.

On top of the usual social media buzz Iowa generates, Iowa’s week started off with an astoundingly successful Highlight Midwest, where entrepreneurs, techies and the social media strong merged in downtown Des Moines to spread the good word, educate and perpetuate the great things that are happening with technology and social media throughout the Midwest.  Even more specific to advertising agencies, Love Scott & Associates just sponsored the DSMCVB Social Media Marketing Workshop where top Iowa businesses converged to discuss social media as it applies in marketing, public relations and human resources (more here).  And promotions for the upcoming I_Blog Conference started hitting the social media stratosphere in earnest to bring businesses and individuals together to create an even stronger force in Midwestern social media.

Competition is good.  Cooperation is better.

Social media fosters both competition and cooperation in a way that traditional media has never been able.  While the competition on Mr. Glass’s poll is fun and driven by silly jabs at the competitors; the nature of the poll is serious. Who does have true social media chops?  Is it a Midwest vs. East coast competition – Iowa vs. North Carolina?

Or what if we took this week’s experiences and made it social media driving the greater good through communication within and between our respective communities?

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

P.S. As a side point, if there were a write-in option for the poll, this post would be solely about The Brand Chef and the silliness between Ad Mavericks and Media Two would be a moot point. I wish luck to both agencies.  They’re both great social media purveyors and advocates, providing great value to the medium.  May the best agency win.

“Open the kimono” is a phrase that I once heard, loosely meaning “everyone should share data. There should be no secrets between those in the meeting. As in a Japanese wife showing her husband her naked body by opening her silk robe or kimono.” Of course, this means that all bets are off. Perceptions are laid on the table for the world to evaluate, comment on, and make public judgment on – for better or worse.

At Love Scott & Associates, the West Des Moines marketing communications company I work for, we’re experimenting in a little kimono-opening research. We’re asking simply,

“If public perception rules a brand, what is your perception of “Advertising Agency” as a label?”

It’s a little risky when you open yourself to judgment, but without asking the right questions outside the walls of your company, you’ll never understand your brand – nor will you understand the challenges that face it.

Of course, being a Twitter Poll, this is basically quantitative and not qualitative research, but it is an interesting peek into the public perception of companies that call themselves an “Advertising Agency.”

I invite you to go take the simple, one-question poll. Polling ends Monday, June 8th, 2009, and after, I’ll post the results along with some of the reaction and some questions that develop within Love Scott.

We look forward to seeing your results!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef