When I moved to the mid-west 4 years ago, I had a friend explain the over arching difference in doing business on the east coast, where I had moved from, and the mid-west, my new home. She said that I would find that while out in the east coast the mentality for doing business was ”what can you do for me”, here in the mid-west that mentality is “what can I do for you”. I initially thought it was an over simplified exaggeration, but as I have watched my business grow and experienced the support of my clients and colleagues here in Kansas City I am recognizing that there was a lot of truth to that statement. The dinner on Thursday evening was just another example of the support this community provides for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The KTEC program “is designed to systematically identify high potential technology entrepreneurs and match them with best-in-class training, resources and mentors to facilitate their dynamic growth in Kansas.” The fact that the program has decided to focus not only on the business opportunity but more specifically on the business leader is another example of the mid-west’s practice of putting people first. As the economy struggles to get out of a recession, one that was in no small part caused by businesses choosing to put profits first, it was refreshing to witness the culmination of a program that was created “as an aggressive model to create leaders for the Innovation Economy.” I believe along with many others that it is those leaders of the so-called Innovation Economy that will be a driving force in our recovery process as a nation. It was exciting Thursday to honor the 2009 innovators andwelcome the 2010 class.

On the other hand, as a female business owner who has always believed that glass ceilings were something only our mother’s had to worry about it was eye opening to see that out of the 19 participants on stage (members of the 2009 and 2010 class) only 1 was a woman. Is this still really a boys club? Come on ladies, are we really leaving all the innovating in this world to the men? I will admit that it was refreshing to see that the President of KTEC Pipeline was a woman, Joni Cobb, as well as one of the speakers and investors, Laura Kilcrease, so all is not lost. But if nothing else.. my eyes have been opened and I am more adamant that ever to prove that women can play a very important role in technology innovation too… watch out KTEC class of 2011, I think there will be more high heels on that platform next year…

The Kansas City Freelance Exchange hosted its annual ICE awards last night to recognize local “Independent Creative Excellence”. Curious Pixel was honored to take home 6 awards including Interactive “Best of Show” for the website we created for eShipping (www.eshipping.biz). Other awards included:

Interactive - Gold Award – eShipping’s website (www.eshipping.biz)
Interactive - Gold Award – Curious Pixel’s website (www.curiouspixel.com)
Interactive – Silver Award – Acta Wireless’ website (www.actawireless.com)
Logo Design – Silver Award –  Connectiv Solutions
Logo Design – Silver Award – The Hope Center

I am always grateful that our clients provide us with the opportunity  to produce great work and thrilled to have this work recognized by our peers.

Jamie Turner, Director of Consumer Insight for BKV, opened the event by stating that although human behavior has not changed much over hundreds of years, marketing has changed drastically within the last 10-20 years. Are we keeping up? Jamie noted that humans buy for emotional reasons but justify through rational explanations. As brand developers it is our responsibility to create and nurture these emotional connections that drive sales. In the ever evolving digital world it is important to recognize that customers don’t differentiate brands where they encounter them, and as Jamie so eloquently put it, “if you don’t guide the perception of your brand, it will guide you”. His advice was to make sure your web strategy was more than just a website, that it should exist as a hub across all digital platforms.

I listened to Chris Hill of Hill Group Design talk about creative’s role in marketing and I really appreciated his point on design firms that have a certain style. A good designer’s work and therefore a firm’s style should not be recognizable because good design should represent the client’s brand and not the designer’s vision. I agree but realize that as a creative director this is something that requires constant effort to achieve. It is important to put your client’s needs, and their audience, above your own taste. .. i.e. there is no place for ego in an effective campaign…  confidence, yes.. expertise, yes.. but ego and personal opinion, no.

Chris also had a slide with my favorite quote of the day. “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation” – Plato. I love how this translates to our relationships with our clients as well as our client’s relationships with their audience. Something we should remember as we work to build better relationships and therefore build better brands.

I look forward to next year’s event.