Communities – Page 3 – universal positive

Contribute Now to the Biggest Night in Sports: The ESPYS

May 14, 2024July 14, 2018 by Roger Darnell

This Wednesday, July 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, The 2018 ESPYS Presented by Capital One is once again set to feature the world’s premier athletes, the sports’ world’s biggest stars, and the very best sports stories of the year. Hosted by Danica Patrick, this 26th annual celebration supporting ESPN’s ongoing commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research will be televised live from LA’s Microsoft Theater.

In the meantime, ESPN’s Annual ESPY Day Auction to benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research is officially underway on eBay, where it will run through July 18. This year’s auction of more than 80 items includes tickets to prime sporting events, autographed memorabilia, unique experiences with athletes, celebrities and hall of fame coaches, sports-related experiences with ESPN personalities, and much more.

Another way for fans across America to participate in The ESPYS is to help determine exactly who will be selected for these and other ESPYS Awards:

Marketing Imperatives: Center Everything Around Your PR Strategy

May 14, 2024August 3, 2017 by Roger Darnell

I have a longstanding working relationship with a CEO who recently changed jobs. Coming into his new company, he told me that his mantra was this: He intended to center every marketing initiative around PR strategy. In virtually every industry, I’m seeing many wise marketing industry leaders endorsing this idea. Another prominent example from the past several years comes from Jason Harris of San Francisco- and NYC-based Mekanism, where in an interview with HubSpot.com, he described his agency’s framework for creating shareable content.

“Our approach is to always think about the PR headline. Why will the idea, content, innovation, etc., travel? Why will people care, and why will they want to talk about it and share it? If there is no PR headline, the idea won’t be shareable. That is our goal on every project.”

The video I’m embedding with this article perfectly demonstrates the increasing focus on PR, presenting the 47-minute “Content & Storytelling: Is the PR Landscape Shifting?” session from the 2014 CDO Summit in NYC.

Media Spotlight: Creators

May 14, 2024July 26, 2017 by Roger Darnell

Creators was VICE’s arts and culture platform, covering every aspect of the creative process. Its mission was to make art more accessible to a wider audience with diverse voices reporting on emergent arts and artists.

From sculpture and light projections to street art and dance, the platform’s curators and contributors immersed themselves in cultural hotbeds and travel to the far corners of the globe to explore the spectacle and color of making art today.

Read moreMedia Spotlight: Creators

Career resuscitation advice from The Branding Diva, seconded by yours truly

May 14, 2024July 16, 2017 by Roger Darnell

I am very fortunate to have a lot of friends. These days, with the impact of the economy continuing to wreak havoc on many industries and a lot of lives, I’m regularly hearing from many of them who suddenly find themselves unemployed. While this is definitely a scary situation, I stand ready with encouragement and a handful of smart ideas that are proven best bets when it comes to finding great career opportunities. Clearly, Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva(R) has the same mindset. An international authority on branding matters and the author of the best-selling books Brain Tattoos and Brand Turnaround, Karen’s blog post entitled “Puking Pink Slips? Jumpstart your personal brand today” takes my personal rah-rah speech to new heights. Do jump on over to read it, and below, also consider my paraphrased and slightly adjusted listing of her spot-on career-rejuvenating suggestions.

Sharing secrets: Smart planning and production for marketing content

March 11, 2024January 13, 2017 by Roger Darnell

Ever since hearing that failing to plan is a sure plan for failure, I have been a firm believer in taking the time necessary to diligently and intelligently lay out plans for anything I’m seriously aiming to accomplish. When I attended the ReCourses New Business Summit (NBS) back in 2012 thanks to David C. Baker and Blair Enns, I witnessed a new approach for how creative businesses and professionals can change the way they handle sales. My understanding on the secret is this: The key is to think and operate like a publisher. Along those lines, naturally, the business model requires successful handling of content. The NBS lessons were very timely for me, as you have seen here; I have deep admiration for innovative publishers of all sizes, and as time moves forward, I hope to follow the best of them and achieve my own version of greatness.

Over the past two years, this idea of content marketing has really caught fire, so for anyone beginning the planning process of fathoming these types of practices and putting them to work in new ways, you are in luck. It’s my pleasure to share five different highly qualified paths toward brilliant content marketing – each of which is focused on helping to facilitate solid thinking and planning.

Great to know: Filmmaker Jonathan Lim

May 10, 2024April 26, 2016 by Roger Darnell

I recently had the chance to meet filmmaker Jonathan Lim, whose dramatic feature film “Pali Road” is opening in theaters in 20 U.S. cities across America later this week. Jonathan wrote and directed the film, which was entirely shot on-location in Hawaii and is the first Hawaii-China co-production in history. While Jonathan describes it as a mystery and a romantic thriller, here’s how it’s introduced by the programmers of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, who have chosen the film to close the festival’s 32nd edition, this Thursday night, 28 April:

“…As stylish as it is mysterious, ‘Pali Road’ by Jonathan Lim echoes the most daring and challenging of classic Hollywood mysteries. If you look closely, you’ll find a hint of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 romantic mystery “Rebecca” starring Joan Fontaine; and maybe even espy a nod to George Cukor’s legendary “Gaslight” (1944) starring the great Ingrid Bergman…”

Read moreGreat to know: Filmmaker Jonathan Lim

Celebrating the late, great DUMBO Arts Festival

May 10, 2024September 21, 2015 by Roger Darnell

Back in 1997, a very ambitious dream came to life at the hands of Joy Glidden and Tyson Daugherty, who were residents of the DUMBO or Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass area of Brooklyn. Thanks to their dedication, the first D.U.M.B.O. Art Under the Bridge Festival kicked-off, using the neighborhood’s unique urban landscape and its gifted occupants to vibrantly showcase new art and ideas. Since then, the highly successful event has been presented every year in late September, thanks to Glidden and Daugherty’s stewardship via the DUMBO Arts Center through 2009, and thanks to Two Trees Management Company since then.

While the DUMBO Arts Festival grew to welcome more than 200,000 visitors each year for its eclectic and popular mix of film screenings, live music, fashion shows, performances, open studios and arts-centered activities for all agees, from all appearances, its time has now passed. The event’s official website http://dumboartsfestival.com refers to the festival’s closure after 2014.

What’s the impact of winning a Cannes Lion?

May 10, 2024June 26, 2015 by Roger Darnell

Happy Friday, friends! I hope your work week is wrapping up nicely and that you’ll soon be able to enjoy some well-earned downtime, like a lot of people have been doing all week in Cannes (kidding, of course). Before ending this week, I wanted to share this video I’m embedding here from experience design agency Freestate, and a few more comments about the significance of winning a Cannes Lion award.

As you can hear first-hand from FreeState’s creative director Adam Scott in this video directed by Ilan Metev, FreeState won a Gold Design Lion at Cannes in 2013 after designing the world’s largest kinetic sculptures for Blackpool’s promenade. Under the heading of “Why Winning a Lion Matters – An Agency’s View,” Mr. Scott enlightens us while pedaling his bike around the city: “Sometimes it’s hard to find your way, and especially hard given it’s so darn crowded out here…. How do you stand out,” he asks.

And about the results of winning Cannes Lion Gold, he continues: “I would say people are far more interested in our approach, and that has to be a good thing. And well, if it can happen to us then it can certainly happen to you.”

Isn’t that lovely? Also, to me, it’s a perfect summation to what it means to win a Cannes Lion.

Meanwhile, the image I’m providing here offers a newer angle into this discussion. Taken hours ago

Moving Forward: Water Day is Every Day

May 10, 2024March 20, 2015 by Roger Darnell

As I write these words connecting to this year’s worldwide efforts commemorating World Water Day, I’m already thinking ahead to the 2016 edition. That’s because of a story I just read in Inhabitat making the case that California – which according to the LA Times is experiencing its warmest winter in at least 120 years – may have only a single year of water left. When I’ve focused on this event in the past, difficulties arising around the world’s supply of clean water have seemed much further away from touching my way of life. Clearly, water conservation and its management need to be priorities for us all.

Of course, research already tells us that 750 million people lack access to safe water, and that every minute, at least one child dies due to water-related illness. Whether you’re concerned about the issues being faced by people in America or in other parts of the world, you may be wondering what you can do to help.

Sharing secrets: Venture capitalist Charlie O’Donnell

March 21, 2024February 23, 2015 by Roger Darnell

I love finding people who are so successful in business that I learn great deals and become inspired just by reading their blogs and following them on social media. A few years ago when I was getting up-to-speed for a new client based in Brooklyn, I learned about venture capitalist Charlie O’Donnell, who founded the seed-stage investment firm Brooklyn Bridge Ventures in 2012. I’ve been doing my best to keep up with Charlie ever since! Here’s an introduction to his background from his personal This Is Going to be Big blog, where he’s been writing about sales, hiring, the venture business, startup communities and New York in his very straightforward, no-BS style for over 10 years.

Charlie is a partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures working on very early stage investments in the Greater Brooklyn area, which also includes Manhattan and the other boroughs of New York City. He was previously with First Round Capital, where he sourced the firm’s investments in GroupMe (sold to Skype), Backupify, chloe + isabel, Refinery29, Docracy, Singleplatform, and Salescrunch.

Read moreSharing secrets: Venture capitalist Charlie O’Donnell