A multitude of small tasks and decisions have led to substantial changes at 531 E Market Street since February 27th. Three 92% efficient Carrier gas furnaces have been installed as well as all HVAC trunk lines.

Several channels have been cut in the basement concrete to accommodate a perimeter drain and plumbing for three bathrooms and a coffee bar. Now that the concrete sills that were pored over the original limestone ones have been sawn out, a total of 28 new windows are being installed. Brick repair and replacement is well under way along with the infilling of several non-original windows and wall air conditioning units. The second floor is beginning to see natural light - something that it hasn't seen in over 20 years since the windows were bricked in. With the arrival of several steel beams, one load bearing wall is being removed to create a more open lobby area.

View more photos on our Flickr stream. Check back on our progress in May as the finishing decisions are being made daily!

Let me start with a little profanity: Internet Explorer.  Okay, so maybe it’s not the type of profanity you were initially thinking, but in the Internet world, Internet Explorer is one of the foulest, most cruel phrases anyone could say.  Why? Simple.  It’s terrible mainly due to its inability to follow simple web standards and user basics.

I will be fair though, with the release of IE 9, Microsoft has finally begun listening to consumers and web developers alike, by releasing software that follows web standards a bit more strictly. The only new problem we, web developers, face are people who don’t, or simply refuse to update.

Not using Internet Explorer? I’d like to give you a high five.  In case you’ve been living in Windows98 for the past several years, companies such as Apple, Google and Mozilla have made great strides in building better browsers to best Microsoft’s.  

It wasn’t until IE9 that Internet Explorer finally supported HTML5.  Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple’s Safari have been supporting it since 2009, whereas IE was two years behind.

HTML5 support isn’t the only reason to update your browser, though.  Recent improvements Apple, Google and Mozilla have been implementing are hardware acceleration, user preference and bookmark sync features, as well as faster rendering for the jQuery JavaScript library, which can be found on most websites.

Here are a few other reasons you should update your browser:

• Security updates – Most releases usually have some form of security updates, whether it’s dealing with SSL, HTTPS or other small operating system related fixes
• A better web experience – Take a look at http://dowebsitesneedtobeexperiencedexactlythesameineverybrowser.com/  Crazy URL, but hover over the word you see. Do you see a black background with white text?  How about a blue and purple backgrounds?  Do the words appear differently?
• Themes – Everyone likes a little personalization and customization, right?  Why not break away from the typical gray/sandy colors and jazz up your browser with a new theme?
• HTML5/CSS3 – Animations are no longer confined to Flash.  With CSS3, animations and transitions are fully supported, speeding up webpage load times.
• I’m a happier person – Building a website to look aesthetically pleasing in a browser takes time.  Making it work in IE7 requires a lot more time.  In fact, it usually requires the use of its own stylesheet, just to make web pages appear correctly.
• Beautiful interfaces – Currently, everywhere you look, advertisements and pictures are using color gradients to make products more visually appealing.  With modern browsers, creating beautiful websites is much, much easier and doesn’t require the use of hundreds of images.
   

Little mistakes can add up.

Last week I received three pieces of promotional mail from the same bank offering incentives for becoming a new member. Which would be great if I wasn’t already a member. First of all, I’m a little insulted that they don’t even know I’m a member since I’ve been banking with them for over 15 years. Secondly, I started wondering how much money are they wasting since I’m probably not the only member receiving these? Three in one week is rare, but on average I receive four a month. If I do some quick math that comes to 48 pieces (4 x 12 months) of mail annually for postage cost of $21.12 (48 x 44¢.)

Now $21.12 may not sound like a lot but I bank with one of largest US banks that has over 5,000 branches nationwide. If I take a conservative number and say 10 members from each branch are receiving the same mailings that comes to 50,000 members. Now all of a sudden that $21.12 has turn into a staggering $1,056,000. That’s over $1 million of wasted budget spending. 

To the bank this is a drop in the bucket compared to their entire budget, but for most companies their annual budget does not even come close to this. To help you spend your budget more wisely, here are some common mistakes to avoid:

Marketing Waste No. 1: Not having a strategy
Performing lots of different campaigns without first having a clear vision and strategy in place can be extremely wasteful. Unorganized campaigns may be sending mixed messages and confusing your consumers. A strategy will outline objectives, provide goals and tell you where you want to go. Then you can put a plan in place that is going to get you there.

Marketing Waste No. 2: Spending money to reach the wrong people
One of the biggest wastes is spending money to reach the wrong audience. This is both an issue for B2B and B2C companies that have a limited target market. With a clearly defined target audience, it is much easier to figure out which media you can use to reach them and what messages will resonate with them. You will save money and get a better return on investment by defining your target audience.

Marketing Waste No. 3 Losing people on your website
Any serious prospect will be looking at your website multiple times throughout the interaction with your company—before, during, and after the purchase decision. A few tips: First you need to make sure your website content is supporting your brand and is of interest to your consumers. Secondly your website should be easy to navigate. A frustrated viewer will leave quickly. Thirdly you must have calls to action that will engage your visitors. Creating interaction is key to keeping viewers on your website longer and not losing them. Finally, you need to make sure to review your website analytics. With this information you will be able to tell how well you are engaging your viewers and where they might be dropping off. You may find a trend where viewers are leaving – allowing you to review the pages and correct any issues.

Marketing Waste No. 4: Failing to repurpose content
Creating new content for campaigns takes time and money. So once you have created strong content that engages your consumers, don't let it go to waste. Your consumers process information in different ways, so you can take the same content and repurpose it for multiple channels. Reusing content is easy and fundamental to a successful unified content strategy. For example, you can reuse a webinar for a whitepaper, e-newsletter, blog post, Facebook post and tweet.

Marketing Waste No. 5: Not measuring results
Every advertising campaign should be attached to a measurable goal. If it's not, you probably shouldn't be doing it. A measurable goal could be number of leads, number of new members, opportunities, and all the way down to revenue dollars. If you don’t track results will you never know which campaigns were successful and which ones weren’t. By tracking results you can make adjustments to develop the best plan possible.

That’s it! Just five simple tips. At TrendyMinds, we aim to help all clients achieve their goals in an effective, efficient manner. These are just a few pieces of advice from years of experience in helping organizations deliver results. Do you have any others to recommend?
 

SXSW was, as always, a great trip full of inspiration, aha moments and useful tips. Whether it be from a speaker in a panel, a website I checked out b/c of a free button or just the general overall creativity that buzzes around Austin, this year’s conference was energizing.

The best panel I saw was “Style Tiles.” Samantha Warren, a designer based out of San Francisco, came up with her own process that is a cross between mood boards and a design comp. This was a total aha moment for me as I’d tip toed around doing this before, but never quite pushed it to where she does. Instead of pulling from other designers work for inspiration aka: a mood board, she creates the style of buttons, chooses PMS colors, creates patterns or textures and chooses the fonts. She told us that most of the time, her clients approve design comps with no changes! That seems like magic so I can’t wait to give it a try!

Another great panel was “Designing for a Content Management System.” The best thing I think I took away from that is our brains try to set things right, meaning that even if something isn’t correct, we may not notice. He proved this concept with the latest jumbled paragraphs that you can still read even though the words are completely in the wrong order. With this in mind, it’s important to create surprise in web design in order to get a users attention. If the whole point of your website is for people to sign up, make the sign up button different from the rest of the page so it doesn’t follow order. This way your brain won’t overlook it and will be surprised by it. A good tip on actually making sure it works is to blur your design comp and if your eye still goes to that area, you’re set!

Since infographics are as hot as The Biebs, I couldn’t miss the panel “Data Vis is Dead, Long Live Data Vis.” We’ve been creating infographics left and right around here so it was great to get some tips! One was my favorite – my beloved color-coding. They mentioned how using different colors can show an unintentional hierarchy. Good point! Another good tip was to not distort graphs. Even if the graph is shown as teeth in a monster’s mouth, they should still be straight bars without angles that distort the facts.

These are just a few of the things I learned at this year’s SXSW. Of course, it wasn’t all panels and discussions. Check out the TrendyMinds Flickr page to see some of the fun things we did.

SXSW 2012 is over and it was another great trip for the TrendyMinds team. We learned quite a bit at various panels and also ate some great food and attended some fun parties. Below are some of the panel highlights from the trip.

Designing from the Gut: Dangerous or Differentiator

This panel really intrigued me as it’s an internal battle I often have. Is it better to design based off lots of research or analytics, or what your gut tells you is right? The panel not only had some agency veterans but also had employees from Facebook and Twitter. The variety in speakers provided many unique perspectives.

It was interesting to hear that at Facebook, Jane Leibrock, often passes her mockups around the office to get feedback before diving into usability testing. 

Laurel Hechanova brought up a good point that we always make gut decisions, even when we might not be aware of it. Even if we are really into using data to dictate a design or layout, knowing when we have enough analytics to move forward is a gut decision.

Leibrock brought up several good points regarding the sites we use to justify the design decisions we make. Apple is an example of a very popular site for designers to draw inspiration from, but do we know whether Apple’s decisions were based on gut calls or whether they did any usability testing on their site?

Rebuilding LEGO

Dave Robertson from The Wharton School led this panel on the history of LEGO and how innovation led them from almost certain bankruptcy in 2003 into today’s powerhouse. LEGO has always been an innovative company, but their creativity almost killed them when they lost focus. In turn, their new products weren’t profitable. 

To get back on track, LEGO went back to their roots and focused on the flexibility of the products by reducing the variety of pieces they manufactured. They also engaged their partners earlier in the product creation process, allowing complimentary products to be released at the same time – maximizing profits. Perhaps most importantly they engaged the fans by asking them to help create new products. Not only did this give LEGO a community point of view, but guaranteed demand for the new products LEGO was developing.

UX Team of None

The UX Team of None panel gave an enlightening talk on getting feedback on prototypes when you have a small budget. They shared a lot of great techniques on coming up with ideas quickly and getting feedback on those ideas without building out complex designs or templates. 

The TrendyMinds team had already used or discussed using several of the techniques described by the panelists, but seeing them in action really helped to drive the point home. I know we’re excited to start implementing many of these ideas on client projects.
 

We all have seen the Wizard of Oz, (at least once). This famous Technicolor feature film stars Judy Garland who plays Dorothy, a Kansas farm girl who’s been dropped into a mystery land of munchkins, lions, tigers and oh my, witches! Although, Dorothy does not have a roster of great clients to support, she does look to many along her yellow brick road for ideas, support and suggestions on whom, and what can get her (and her little dog too!) back home to Kansas to be reunited with her family.

Just like Dorothy, TrendyMinds is always looking for the best cast of characters, resources and helpful industry insights to make our clients shine as bright as Emerald City. To help accomplish this goal we send a strategic team of TrendyMinders to Austin, TX each year to attend the South By Southwest Interactive Conference. 

Below is the SXSW 2012 starting team line-up and what we are looking forward to learning about this year:

Trevor Yager

Trevor is interested to see what new tech/marketing themes will create the most buzz this year. His experience over the past few years has shown him that there always seem to be a few "biggies" that EVERYONE is talking about. He’s also interested to see what other interactive/PR/social media trends are big within the healthcare industry. On the side, Trevor will try to catch a few "start-up" panels as well.

Justin Ohlemiller

Justin is looking forward to hanging out with clients and co-workers outside the normal work setting. As far as the conference goes, he’s hoping to get a better grasp on new strategies for using social media to build relationships for our clients. Also, he’s thinking he will get a lot out of the session "OMG Your RFP is Killing Me" (I've had that exact thought on more than one occasion).

If he’s being totally honest, Justin is also hoping Apple trucks out the iPad 3 to sell at the conference (just like they did this last year with the iPad 2).

Maggie Hames

Outside of mimosas, tacos and a chance to break out her spring clothing early, Maggie is looking forward to hearing from industry peers on the latest in visual storytelling, video strategy and content creation. Based on last year’s experience, the energy and innovative atmosphere in Austin will be hard to ignore, making it impossible to come back feeling anything but inspired.

Tom Hudock

Tom is looking forward to immersing himself once again as one of 13,000+ interactive industry attendees at SXSW 2012. Outside of the mild Texas temperatures, great food and industry parties, Tom is looking forward to learning more about user-interface design, the latest and greatest social media marketing techniques and HTML 5 best practices. Finally, Tom is look forward to meeting his childhood idol, Bob Villa, in person.

Seth Benson

Seth is looking forward to getting out of our Arctic-environed office for a few days of Austin sunshine, not to mention four days of being immersed in one of the richest learning environments in the interactive industry. He also hopes to bring home lots of new and interesting ways of solving our next design challenges.

Brooke Roche

Brooke is looking forward to coming back from SXSW feeling re-energized. She loves being inspired by speakers who have done some amazing things in the industry and are willing to dish out some great tips and tricks.  SXSW always makes her want to be a better designer.

Jon Immel

Jon is excited about expanding his knowledge further on creating effective user interfaces for clients. He is also looking forward to attending a few sessions on video and perhaps a panel or two on a new emerging technology. Finally, he can’t wait to eat at Stubb’s BBQ, Jacklope and Death Metal Pizza.

Todd Kersey

Todd is looking forward to his first experience at SXSW. He is hoping to learn a great deal from industry leaders about their thoughts on the web and it’s future. In addition, he wants to meet other developers in order to create relationships within the interactive community.

If we are privileged enough to be working with you currently or will be in the near future, please know if you are met with a “I’m out of the office” message this next week, you can rest assured we are not home playing hooky. Instead, we are surrounding ourselves with over 13,000 other industry professionals learning how we can refine our trendy skill sets and help set our clients apart from the rest.

Eight roll-off dumpsters containing more than 240 yards of debris have been hauled away from the old house and hall. Demolition was prolonged by the discovery of three ceiling layers, two wall layers, multiple floor coverings, pumice rock used as wall insulation, 4,000 square feet of dark brown paneling and clay brick used for interior wall additions. Some of the interesting finds include a Due Book of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America from 1998 and an original copy of the By-Laws of Local Union 60.

During February, the interior plans have been finalized and the framing has started. It is great to see the formation of our offices and collaboration areas. A few features of our new headquarters include: 35 parking spaces, 1,000sf rooftop deck, 36 office areas, multiple collaboration huddles, gas fireplace, break room, coffee bar, 2 large conference rooms, an interactive theater suite, 5 bathrooms, shower room and an event space (bar).

See more photos on our Flickr stream and be sure to check back in March as the heat will literally be turned up on this project!

“To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.” – Oscar Wilde

We’re all beautiful, unique snowflakes (at least, that’s what Mom said). We all carry with us a one-of-a-kind set of experiences, beliefs and idiosyncrasies. And more and more, the companies we work for are embracing that diversity.

So then, isn’t it time we start talking like ourselves in the workplace? I don’t mean to say we should do away with general decorum and start cursing up a storm at our desks, but when’s the last time you’ve said “let’s round back on that” in real life?

I thought so.

Here’s a list of some of the most used and abused business jargon in the modern era, and some suggestions for ways you can sound less like an HR harassment training video and more like a human being.

Touch base: to meet or check in
 

• Example: “Let’s touch base on that presentation before end of day.”
• Why it’s silly: Because we’re not playing baseball (if you’re a professional baseball player and you’re reading this, you’re an odd duck)
• Normal people say: meet, get together, talk, chat

On the same page: to share understanding or agreement
 

• Example: “I want to make sure we’re on the same page when it comes to our marketing strategy.”
• Why it’s silly: Because you most likely really mean, “I want to make sure you understand what I’m telling you.”
• Normal people say: understand, agree, get it

Leverage: to use a quality or advantage to obtain a desired effect or result
 

• Example: “We can leverage his experience as a pig farmer to improve our standing with pork companies across the U.S.”
• Why it’s silly: Because until recently, you couldn’t even find it listed as a verb in an online dictionary. The only reason it’s becoming a verb is because we use it incorrectly that much.
• Normal people say: use, take advantage of, capitalize on

Low hanging fruit: easily attainable accomplishments or easily executable tasks
 

• Example: “Let’s begin this project by grabbing all the low hanging fruit first.”
• Why it’s silly: Because it evokes images of you picking fruit, and it makes you sound like the opposite of a go-getter. Also, it may make your coworkers hungry.
• Normal people say: basics, grunt work

Action item: something that needs to be performed or take place
 

• Example: “I emailed you a list of action items so we can touch base on deliverables and next steps before circling back with Don tomorrow.”
• Why it’s silly: Because life isn’t an episode of “The A-Team.”
• Normal people say: task, need, to-do

Miscommunication: an instance in which an intended message isn’t properly conveyed and/or received
 

• Example: “As evidenced by your firm missing the deadline, it’s obvious there was some sort of miscommunication during the process. Let’s touch base on it during this afternoon’s call.”
• Why it’s silly: Because it’s usually not what you really mean.
• Normal people say: you didn’t meet expectations, this is incorrect

Sooner than later: very soon
 

• Example: “We need to provide the client with this document sooner than later.”
• Why it’s silly: Because it’s like telling your barber you’d like your hair shorter than longer.
• Normal people say: soon, very soon, ASAP, immediately

Baked into (baked in): to be included as a piece of a larger item
 

• Example: “Those details are already baked into the overarching creative brief.”
• Why it’s silly: Because you can’t make a press release in your oven.
• Normal people say: included, within

Brain dump: a creative collaboration session during which ideas are proposed and discussed openly
 

• Example: “I’d like to get everyone in the room and just do a quick brain dump.”
• Why it’s silly: Because it sounds inappropriate and/or like the name of a terrible game show.
• Normal people say: meeting, creative session, brainstorm (not as ridiculous)

Out of pocket: a state of being away or largely unavailable
 

• Example: “Reginald will be out of pocket most of the day.”
• Why it’s silly: Because when you’re available, you’re not working in a pocket
• Normal people say: gone, away, on vacation, busy

Ducks in a row: having all details or considerations accounted for; organized
 

• Example: “Well Tina, it’s 15 minutes until showtime, but I think we’ve finally got all our ducks in a row.”
• Why it’s silly: Because the most popular theory as to this phrase’s origin is that it was invented by early bowlers (really) who referred to pins as “ducks.” Your favorite professional metaphor was invented by some dudes in a bowling alley.
• Normal people say: organized, locked up, finished, ready, prepared

Full-court press: maximum effort or exertion
 

• Example: “Our deadline is in two hours and we’ve still got a lot to do. We need to put a full-court press on this to make sure I can have it ready for Beatrice on time.”
• Why it’s silly: Because in basketball (where full-court presses are actually used), this is a tactic in which a team puts an annoying amount of pressure on an opponent in hope that they’ll make a critical error. That’s probably not what you’re actually going for in the office.
• Normal people say: work hard, make this a priority, finish this soon

Irregardless: regardless; despite a set of circumstances
 

• Example: “Gertrude is out sick today. Irregardless, we still need to get a lot accomplished.”
• Why it’s silly: Because it’s not a word. Really. It’s not a real word. Don’t say it.
• Normal people say: regardless

We all do it. It’s inevitable. If you live in Spain long enough, you’ll start speaking Spanish – I get it. But let’s challenge ourselves to avoid talking like pre-programmed robots on occasion. We’re not jargon-spewing goofballs in real life – do we have to be at work?

After you’ve had a chance to digest this, we can touch base regarding your thoughts.