Posts Tagged ‘hugh weber’
Head Coach Hugh Weber has a New Year’s message for you!
We’ve got one last 2009 surprise for you…our own Head Coach Hugh Weber rallies the troops as we head into the new year. Watch the video, get inspired, and let’s kick some major butt in 2010!
PRESENTING: Deep Bench’s 9-9-09 “9 Hour Giveaway”
You want advice. You need consulting. You just need a little bit of help with your marketing.
But you don’t want to pay for it.
We feel your pain. And you’re not alone. But on this legendary day of 09/09/09, Deep Bench is prepared to make an offer that will forever be known as the greatest offer ever in the storied history of marketing consultancy.
We will give you nine – that’s right, NINE – free hours of Deep Bench’s time and strategic efforts if you participate in and win the Deep Bench Facebook Fan Page Contest of 9-9-09. You know what, let’s shorten that to our 9 Hour Giveaway.
“How can we win such an amazing offer?!” you ask? By leaving us a message on our fan page telling the community how you would use your 9 free hours of Deep Bench consulting and then encouraging everyone you know to “Like” your idea on the fan page.
We are ready and willing to share our insight with the winner of the contest, whether that means helping the local flower shop revamp its traditional and online media strategy or teaching a roomful of bank or hospital employees the do’s and don’ts of social media.
Are you desperately hoping to conduct some research before kicking off a new campaign or looking for strategy on which promotional materials you should be using to spread the word about your new business? Let Deep Bench’s nine free hours serve that role (and save you some cash money).
Or maybe you want to conduct a focus group, but can’t afford the 40 hours of work it would take. If you win the Deep Bench Facebook Fan Page Contest of 9-9-09… 9 Hour Giveaway, we’ll credit you with 9 hours of that 40 to lessen the burden of a full-priced focus group analysis.
All we’re asking you to do is encourage your friends and colleagues to become Deep Bench Facebook Fans and support your great idea.
Seems too good to be true, right? Well it’s not. Seriously.
Only a (very) few restrictions apply.
- Nothing criminal or illegal. No matter how cool it may sound.
- We won’t do any work to benefit the pornography industry (that goes for you too, Twitter spambots).
- Deep Bench reserves the right to decline work for people or businesses that may present a conflict of interest or conflict of character.
- The 9 hours have to be used before December 31st, 2009.
On a final note, if you don’t feel like you, your company, or anything related to your livelihood could put 9 hours of Deep Bench consulting to good use, share why you think Deep Bench should donate its time to a charity or non-profit of your choosing. You could end up making a huge difference in the world of a non-profit that could use the strategy and insight without the usual costs that come along with it.
So there you have it. Join the fan page, post how you would use 9 free hours of Deep Bench’s time and brainpower, and build up support for it with “likes.” In fact, we might even make comments on your idea worth a bonus point, so share your idea with everyone you can, and you might just end up spending 9 hours with our Deep Bench crew (and getting some great advice along the way).
The contest will run through the 19th, so you have 10 days to get rolling. We look forward to all of your ideas and suggestions until then!
-The Deep Bench Team
UPDATE: To be clear, the winner will be determined by three criteria:
1. Quality of answer to the question “How would you use 9 hours of Deep Bench support?”
3. Number of “likes,” comments, retweets and other mentions of an individual’s entry and/or of the giveaway in general.
That leaves 2. But 2 is tricky like that. Good luck everyone.
Fiesta Mission 5 – We want YOUR help!
As we move into month five of the Ford Fiesta Movement campaign, Deep Bench’s favorite Fiesta Agent, Hugh Weber, has received his next mission. The potential for this mission is nearly limitless, so we need your help in narrowing down what exactly it is Hugh should do. Watch the clip below, and when you’re finished, share your ideas in the comments section. Or, you can throw thoughts at Hugh on Twitter or on our Facebook fan page. Thanks!
Sioux Falls Business Journal: “What’s in a name…or title?”
The Sioux Falls Business Journal recently featured Deep Bench and fellow Sioux Falls advertising company ADwërks in a story on marketing and advertising businesses that use creative job titles to help differentiate themselves from the typical “agency” titles. As Head Coach Hugh Weber put it, “It makes it clear from the moment they get my business card or read an e-mail that we do things differently than a standard organization.”
To read the full story at the Sioux Falls Business Journal, click here, or read it below.
What’s in a name … or title?
Labels convey unique business approaches
“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Some local professionals put a spin on Shakespeare’s theory of identity. Would a rose with a better name smell even sweeter?
With the variety of titles out there now, LeisureSuits went to the roses themselves to find out if their unique labels sweeten their performance.
Jim Mathis is principal and certified advertologist at Adwerks Inc. Actually, he’s the “world’s only certified advertologist.”
How did he attain such distinction?
“You just make up a name that sounds like fun,” he said. “So the certification process – I joke that it just happened over cocktails.”
But there is a point.
“The big thing is just that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we’re not afraid to have a little fun with our jobs,” Mathis said.
In the Adwerks office, there’s also a director of legume enumeration (bean counter), congruence coordinator (traffic and projects manager) and ambassador of media logistics (media director), among others.
At Deep Bench Strategies, Hugh Weber is president and head coach.
Rather than hiring standard positions, his advertising company relies on freelancers, Weber said.
“They’re by no means my staff, they’re free agents. So I get to be a bit of a talent scout and cheerleader, but that doesn’t fit on the business card,” he said.
It also sends a message to clients.
“It makes it clear from the moment they get my business card or read an e-mail that we do things differently than a standard organization.”
Also at Deep Bench, the offensive coordinator handles operations and project management, and the special teams coordinator handles creative freelancers.
“Listening, honesty and how you’re screwing up” – Box Scores: June 15-21
First and foremost, we hope those of you who celebrate Father’s Day had a great Father’s Day. Whether that meant a day off, a day of activities, or a solid combination of the two, we here at Deep Bench hope it was what you fathers (and children of fathers) were looking for. Also, I’d just like to give a special shout-out to our own Head Coach Hugh Weber, who is celebrating his first Father’s Day as a dad this year. Congrats, Hugh.
Moving along, we’ve got some great posts from the blogosphere collected into this week’s Box Scores, so read up and enjoy the insight of the talented bloggers sharing their wisdom on this new-fangled Internet thing. And then let us know what you think by sharing your thoughts below or tweeting us on Twitter at @deepbench. First up – a great post on listening from Drew McLellan…
Drew McLellan asks a simple question with a not-so-simple answer. Are you truly listening to your customers and audience, or do you just act like you’re listening? As he puts it, “I think this happens to every one of us — each and every day. Clients make a casual comment or an aside…and in our rush to get the work done or the information we need, we rush right by it.” His advice: take a minute or two to listen…really and truly listen. Our guess is that, after reading this post, you might be a little more inclined to give it a try.
-“13 Tips for Marketing Your Business With Your Blog”
This Problogger post shares some great ideas on how to best use your blog to promote your business. Ranging from fairly common sense concepts like “Be Useful” (“Consider what channel/s of your business your blog is going to help strengthen, what goals you want to achieve with it and what it will and won’t aim to do.”) to slightly more in-depth ideas such as “Integrate Your Blog with Your Website,” Darren Rowse serves up some great ideas to keep in mind if you own a business and intend to start a company blog to help market it.
-“Augment your social media marketing efforts with honesty”
Marc Meyer makes his way into Box Scores yet again with his post on doing what’s best for your client (even if it doesn’t seem like the right “business” approach). As he puts it, “At the end of the day, it’s not about bangin’ the client for as much as you can get, or getting the project at any cost, or saying what they want to hear. It’s about you being honest and seeing the challenges of running a business from the perspective of the business owner.” It’s a mindset we here at Deep Bench firmly believe, and it’s always good to see when other people have success with the same approach.
-“7 Ways You’re Screwing Up Relationship Marketing”
This is just a flat-out awesome post from Naomi Dunford at Copyblogger discussing – and even contradicting – some of the current standards and clichés of relationship marketing. For example, “Relationship marketing is not about connection. Just because Steve Jobs doesn’t know your kid’s name doesn’t mean you’re going to buy a Dell next time… Relationship marketing is not about equality. The only thing that’s equal about you being my ‘fan’ and me begging you for money is that we’re equally codependent.” The post’s overall point? “Relationship marketing is about marketing.” Read the post to see where Naomi is coming from. Then, let us know if you agree or disagree by leaving us a comment or a tweet.
-“Tune Up Your Personal Message”
Chris Brogan shares some great wisdom on how to make sure you present yourself well (and keep the audience engaged) during speeches and presentations. Via common sense thoughts like this – “If your stories are about how amazing you are, they get old fast.” – Chris gets to the overall purpose of his post, which is this: “My intentions with this piece are to have you think about yourself and how what you’re saying might impact how people are perceiving you.” If that’s not something you’ve considered, you probably should. This post is a great place to start.
(UPDATE: Forgot to include this Box Score upon originally posting this week’s batch, but leaving this post out from Box Scores would simply be a mistake…)
Interesting thoughts from Matt Jones over at Advertising Age regarding social media and why he’s not necessarily a fan. While he acknowledges that saying he “hates social media” is probably marketing heresy, he goes ahead and says it anyway. Of course, his heretical points are probably worth noting. For example, as he puts it: “What if we stopped getting all hot and heavy over the latest new media success stories du jour, and starting realizing that the real triumph of, say, the Obama campaign was the product and the story, not the channel used for storytelling?” Hmm…good question (if you ask us). And there’s more where that came from.
And with that, we’ve done our job of passing along this past week’s Box Scores. Now it’s your job to read the posts and utilize them in whichever way you feel like utilizing them. Hopefully you get as much out of them as we did. And if we missed a great post or two (or you just want to share your thoughts on Box Scores in general), leave us a comment below or let us know on Twitter at @deepbench.
Are YouTube videos the website of the future?
As firm believers in an innovation-focused approach when it comes to projects and campaigns, we were thoroughly impressed when we stumbled across the new BooneOakley website. Why? Because they are clearly bold enough to take a game-changing approach as far as corporate websites go. For the record, by website, we mean, YouTube video…website…thing. If you want to see what we’re talking about, take a look at
the embedded video below and then read up on what this means for the future of websites and interactively engaging your audience.
It’s not easy to be one of the first to embrace a new effort. But based on some of their ad campaigns, it’s obvious that BooneOakley lives in the realm of telling stories through video. So why not embrace that medium with a website dedicated to telling a story through video? It’s a prime example of understanding where your talents lie and taking them to the next level.
Although there will definitely be people who A) Don’t understand this “website” and B) Don’t like this “website,” we definitely expect to see more and more of this type of effort in the future from other companies and agencies.
According to our Head Coach Hugh Weber, “You can go through a hundred agency sites and see 99 of them that are exactly the same. It’s another unique approach to ‘What is a website?’ A website doesn’t have to be static HTML, it’s whatever you want it to be. I love that level of interactivity.”
Our question is this: what are your thoughts? Were you impressed with this new approach to an interactive “website?” Did you find it to be confusing or too different from the norm, or did you really enjoy it the same way we did? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below or hit us up on Twitter at @deepbench.
Box Scores: May 18-24 – Killing Your Website, Eye-Tracking Studies and More
Although it’s Memorial Day, we didn’t want to break our tradition on Box Scores and wait a day to post them. In fact, not only did we continue our Monday tradition, but we also added a new element to the mix. From now on, we’ll be including video intros to Box Scores. Why? Because we love Box Scores and we figured that if we have this much passion for them, you should be able to experience our passion with us. So watch the video and then read up on the Box Scores to see how much you can put them to good use in this upcoming 4-day week.
-“It’s Not About Technology, It’s About Ideas”
This Future Buzz blog post by Adam Singer can probably best be summed up with this opening sentence: “It’s not about technology or being able to manipulate tools “better” than anyone else, rather – it’s about ideas.” From there, Singer goes into plenty of detail regarding the difference between tools and ideas. The bottom line: Anybody can use a tool. It takes great ideas to be truly innovative and effective as marketers. Read why in the post to understand the difference. Then put it to use and become better at what you do as a marketer.
-“Human Motivation and Your Brand”
While Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is an often-cited element to how marketers relate to and engage with consumers, this post on the PR-Squared blog keeps the breakdown short and effective in their logical use of Maslow’s Hierarchy. As a short post, it’s worth giving a read to see how they compare the modern needs of consumers with the pyramid, but this summary sentence wraps the whole post up nicely: “When you start thinking in these terms, you won’t start-off a marketing strategy meeting by asking, ‘What’s our Twitter strategy?’” Words of wisdom to keep in mind, marketers.
-“11 Striking Findings From an Eye Tracking Study”
Eyetrack III just completed a study of where website visitors’ eyes travel as they access various websites. Some of the findings could be very helpful for you as you build out your blog or website design and layout, so it’s worth giving both this summary post from Problogger as well as the findings of the original study a read. Some of the summary thoughts include gems like “For headlines — especially longer ones — it would appear that the first couple of words need to be real attention-grabbers” and “We found that ads in the top and left portions of a homepage received the most eye fixations.”
-“There Is No Social Media Kit”
The title of this “Altitude Branding” post almost says it all. While we highly recommend reading the entire post, this quote summarizes it quite nicely: “There are some examples of what works. There are examples of what didn’t work. The answer to “will this work for us” or “how should we get started listening” or “what’s the best way to engage our audience online” will always be this: it depends.” Give it a read to see how this is expanded in more (and quite beneficial) detail.
David Armano comes in on this Logic + Emotion post with those three direct and deliberate words. The logic behind them makes perfect sense and is worth giving a read (whether you currently have a top-notch website or you’re just considering whether or not you even want/need a full-fledged website). He certainly justifies the headline of this post and it’s worth giving a closer examination.
-“5 Sales Pitch Fundamentals That Win Business In A Recession”
This guest post on Drew McLellan’s “Marketing Minute” blog comes from Joey Asher (President of Speechworks) and gives some great (short) insight into winning business in a recession with effective sales pitches. Joe includes some great tips on how to go into that sales pitch and effectively prove why you deserve to win the business. If you’re someone who has to be a part of sales pitches, give this a read and make sure you take some of these suggestions with you into your next pitch.
So there you have it. Box Scores posted and accounted for, a new video component to help us share our excitement, and some content that you can put to use in the upcoming workweek. Let us know what you think about any/all of these posts by leaving us a comment in our comments section below, or hit us up on Twitter at @deepbench.
Also, let us know what you think about our video intro. Anything you liked or disliked? Anything you’d do differently? Share your thoughts so they can help us make this a better experience for you. We’d definitely appreciate the input.
BBC Blast Studio: Letting You Control Machines in London (From Your Computer)
Have you ever wanted to control machines in a random room in London?
Well now you can! Courtesy of BBC’s Blast Studio, you can control one of four artistic devices (remotely, via your computer) that respond your keyboard commands in real time. (Here’s a screenshot for you so you can see what I’m talking about…)
Want to play a song on a set of hanging colored lights that light up and make a musical tone when you type the corresponding key? Do it!
Want to decorate a wall with paints that you control? Do it!
Want to type a message and have it print out on paper inside the studio to be saved forever (barring any disastrous fires or floods in London)? Do it!
Want to drop goops of paint on some randomly big spinning thing in the middle of the room? Do it.
You control the room. From your computer. Very far away. If you don’t think this is fascinating and awesome, let me know why you aren’t impressed. That’s not meant to come off as a challenging tone, I’m just curious as to what people do/don’t like about it. I think it’s got great potential as projects like this down the line continue to grow and flourish. I mean, you’re controlling machines from your own computer at home. And they’re in LONDON!
Beyond being just cool as a concept, what does this mean for companies and brands down the line? Are there companies that could use this type of technology to better engage fans or customers? Is this the next step in the process of letting customers personalize their brand experiences?
After talking with our own Hugh Weber about it, he’s got some cool ideas for efforts like this in the future. For example, one thought was to create a group problem-solving project that utilizes people in various locations working together to move an object in the room from one point to another. Another concept would be a group-painting that involves various artists taking turns to create works of art all from remote locations. With so many possibilities, it will be interesting to see where endeavors like this take us in the future. Let us know what you think about all this in the comments section below or hit us up on Twitter at @deepbench.
Evaluate your business game plan for success
Hugh Weber’s guest column advising companies to “evaluate their market landscape and look internally to evaluate return on time invested” is up online at the Sioux Falls Business Journal. Give it a read by clicking here or by reading the full story below.
“Evaluate your business game plan for success”
Have you taken the time recently to evaluate the market landscape in your industry? No matter the industry, technology is lowering barriers to entry and changing the speed of competition.
Have you taken an opportunity to look internally and evaluate the return on invested time for your daily activities? A simple time-management review can have a substantial impact on a company’s bottom line.
Have you considered sitting down for a thorough review of your marketing strategy to determine a clear return on those invested dollars? I’m not talking a change of brand or a revised Web presence. I’m referring to a holistic evaluation of the way you spend your advertising budget. Whether you spend $400 or $40,000 per month, you should have a sense of what type of return you are receiving on that investment, and whether it could be spent more efficiently or effectively elsewhere.
If you’ve said “no” to any or all of the questions above, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, you can assume that your competitors may be a step ahead of you.
It would seem an absolute certainty that there are things you don’t know about your business. These blind spots may be in your marketing plan, internal communications strategy or, even worse, in the area of consumer experience. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that what you don’t know is costing you.
Perhaps it is just costing you time, but it’s even more likely that what you don’t know is costing you money.
Wasteful spending and poor strategic choices can be even more costly than simple dollars and cents. It’s even possible that what you don’t know is costing you customers and revenue. To defend against these costs, I suggest a detailed, three-step process.
First, analyze your playing field. Whether you have endless competition or a virtual monopoly, a world of activity circles around you and has a direct impact on your bottom line. This evaluation should be as comprehensive as possible and should set the tone for all of your efforts moving forward.
Next, establish a game plan. Just as you wouldn’t set out for a travel destination without a map or directions, you can’t expect to reach a successful business destination without a series of benchmarks and action goals as well as a clear picture of where you’re headed.
Finally, look for the opportunities to include a little razzle-dazzle. Too often, companies reward those that echo the company line. Instead, this is the opportunity to let your unique products and culture shine through in truly innovative ways.
Weber is president and head coach of Deep Bench
hugh@thedeepbench.com
From a Fiesta Agent understudy: How Ford’s doing it right…
Doing something unique is fun. Doing something really unique is really fun. And doing something that only about 120 other people in the entire United States get to do is just flat-out wicked awesome.
Luckily, last Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to be a part of Ford’s “Fiesta Movement.” No, I didn’t win one of the cars (which would have led to an entirely different post…probably just a video of me screaming and shouting for joy), but I DO happen to have a boss who DID happen to win a car. And, seeing as the 10+ hour drive from Denver isn’t all that fun on one’s own, I was fortunate enough to have a boss who wanted me out there to help him film, stay awake on the drive back to Sioux Falls, and do all of the other cool things that assistant-ish employees get to do.
After an early morning journey with boring details, I eventually found myself in Denver, meeting up with Hugh and the other 7 or so “Fiesta Agents” who were preparing to go see their cars for the first time. After a lengthy drive out of the city, we pulled up to the raceway where the cars were waiting for their respective Agents. Hugh’s excitement at finally meeting Ruby (his name for his Fiesta……yeah…I know…) was like a kid who just found out Christmas was happening every day for six months. I couldn’t have punched the smile off his face. And I’ve got really strong fists (that’s me on the left…)
Needless to say, Ford did it right. Nothing around but racetrack and open air, and a set of brand new cars begging their owners to sit down inside them (and probably literally begging, because these Fiestas are the smartest cars ever…it’s almost creepy…more on that later…). After the initial introductions, Hugh handed out the soon-to-be iconic “Fiesta Hugh” shirts (crafted by none other than Deep Bench’s own up-and-coming graphic design phenom, Andrew Brynjulson (Bren-yool-son)), which you can see in the image below.
And then it got even more awesome. After a quick instructional session on the cars themselves, the Fiesta Agents got to take their babies out on the speedway track. Although the maximum speed limit was 55 mph, the curves on the course were insanely tight and they managed to make 55 feel like 85. Although I can’t drive a stick shift, Hugh absolutely dominated his test runs like he was Jeff Gordon himself (or whichever NASCAR racer is relevant these days).
After it was all said and done, we were on the road back to Sioux Falls, and that’s a different story for a different post. For a sample of what’s on the way, here’s this photo:
Onto the point of this post… I was extremely impressed with Ford’s ability to make this Fiesta Movement a true social media campaign throughout the entire day. Although there are a few (necessary) rules and restrictions, I was blown away with how open everything was to filming and photography. I was loaded up with two video cameras and one photography camera, and I was never once asked to put them down or turn them off. Whether it was instructional sessions or video-recording conversations between agents and the marketing crew, I was never restricted from taking photos or footage. They’re perfectly willing to let this be a living, breathing social media effort, relatively out of their control.
In my opinion, Ford is taking big steps (and potentially big risks) to ensure that it’s on the forefront of online/social media marketing efforts. This isn’t a crafted and scripted series of videos and tweets that Ford’s invested in to get positive brand recognition. These are real people, doing real things, with the only rules being don’t break the law and don’t destroy your car.
Oh, and share it with the whole world.
It’ll be a blast to see where this goes (mostly because I hope to be going along with Hugh and Ruby wherever it all goes). I have a feeling the Secret Missions and subsequent adventures will be a lot of fun. Luckily, Ford’s willing to let you be there every step of the way too.
What do you think? Do you think Ford’s taking the right steps by putting its brand in the hands of customers for the world to see? Would you rather see a different campaign or strategy from Ford rather than the Fiesta Movement? Let me know your thoughts and I’ll pass them along to Hugh. With no restrictions, we’re willing to try just about anything, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment and let me know what you’d like to see!
And here are some more pictures of the journey:
“Sioux Falls man’s video attracted Ford’s attention”
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader covers Deep Bench’s own Hugh Weber, who was recently named one of 100 Ford “Fiesta Agents.” The Argus’s Jay Kirschenmann covers the story, which you can read below or at the Argus Leader online by clicking here.
“Sioux Falls man’s video attracted Ford’s attention”
A creative video application for an upcoming national promotion won a Sioux Falls marketing company owner free use of a 2011 Ford Fiesta for six months.
It won’t be hard to miss Hugh Weber as he cruises around town: The big guy will be driving the small, bold-magenta-colored car with custom detailing.
Weber, 32, made the application video driving his SUV, wearing a giant sombrero, occasionally stopping to play the maracas and a piñata shaped like a guitar. Ford picked his video from among more than 4,000 entrants looking for a chance to become a part of the carmaker’s “Fiesta Movement.”
Ford is loaning 100 of its 2011 Fiestas for the promotion that leads to the car’s upcoming release.
Weber picks up the 2011 Fiesta May 6 in Denver.
Weber is president – he calls himself head coach – of the Deep Bench, a strategic planning and innovation firm.
“We knew we’d have to be big thinkers to cut through the clutter and get Ford’s attention,” Weber says. “Several people have said our video was their favorite, which is pretty humbling.”
Weber will keep the cameras rolling for the next six months as he travels and documents special “missions” as one of what Ford calls “Fiesta Agents.” See his winning video online at http://tinyurl.com/bnmyq9 or search with key words “Hugh Weber Ford” on YouTube.com. Or, you can just watch the embedded video below.
Or, check out the (hilarious) outtakes here…
So…who exactly IS Deep Bench?
As we were preparing to introduce you to the newest member of the Deep Bench Team, we realized that some of you may not even realize who comprises the Deep Bench Team in the first place.
Although we could simply link you to the “About Us” section of our website, we figured we’d give you a blog post with even better details than that section can offer.
First up is Team President and Chief Experience Officer, Hugh Weber. Hugh has lived his whole life looking to improve the world around him with a “Work. Play. Do Good.” approach. Hugh’s mission statement is to educate, engage, and empower those he encounters to maximize their personal potential through their church, community, charity and career, in turn maximizing each of these institutions.
Pretty deep, huh?
To see the dozens of other successful endeavors Hugh’s been a part of, hit up his LinkedIn profile to catch up on his background.
More importantly (at least, hopefully more importantly), Hugh recently became the father of a beautiful, beautiful baby girl named Emerson Victoria Weber. At his alter-ego of Dude To Dad, Hugh has chronicled much of his lovely wife Amy’s pregnancy, as well as live-tweeting and 12 Second updating Dude To Dad fans and followers through the entire birthing process.
Hugh recently became one of 100 people chosen to spend the next six months driving and sharing his experiences in a 2011 Ford Fiesta for Ford’s “Fiesta Movement” promotional effort. To see the winning video, check out the embedded video below (and when you’re done with that, watch the outtakes here).
Alright, enough about Hugh. Let’s move on to the real driving force behind Deep Bench. That’s right, up next is Deep Bench’s Offensive Coordinator, Mike Billeter.
Mike is a recent graduate of Augustana College whose life of constant moving and relationship-building destined him to find a passion in the social media field. His first foray into the online realm came when he served as New Media Director for the 2008 Chris Lien for Congress campaign. From there, his passion for blog-writing and online relationship building led to the highly-coveted Offensive Coordinator position at Deep Bench and he’s been grinding away in the online space ever since.
While his list of accomplishments doesn’t quite rival President Weber’s, Mike intends to revolutionize the online world one blog post and tweet at a time. Fortunately, with the current and incoming talent at Deep Bench, this goal shouldn’t take long to achieve.
So there you have it. From Hugh to Mike to our soon-to-be-unveiled Draft Pick [UPDATE: said pick has since been unveiled...check him/her out here...] the Deep Bench crew is in full force and is pumped to change the game not only in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but worldwide.
The question is, World…are you up for the challenge?
Box Scores for March 23-29: Almost too much excitement to handle!
While we thoroughly enjoy writing up the Deep Bench Box Scores, we’ve got bigger fish to fry today, as Deep Bench’s President, Hugh Weber, and his lovely wife Amy have just brought their first child, Emerson Victoria Weber, into the world. Here’s her introduction to the online community on the Dude to Dad website, as well as a link to the 12 Seconds video introduction where the world first got a chance to see her:
D2D Update: Introduction on 12seconds.tv
Hugh will certainly have some more in-depth thoughts to share with us in the next day or two, so hopefully the linked-to post can hold you over until he makes his triumphant return (with little Emerson at his side) to the Deep Bench office.
Now, moving into our actual livelihoods, here are your Box Scores for the week of May 23-29, 2009…
-“The Quest To Inspire Action”
We’ve got Chris Brogan up first (probably not a surprise to our regular readers), as he discusses this Thomas Kempis quote: “The object of education isn’t knowledge; it’s action.” It’s certainly an interesting perspective on how we gather, share, and use information (especially when it comes barreling in at breakneck speeds courtesy of the internet).
Up next, we’ve got a Guy Kawasaki double-whammy! The first will be his thoughts on the future of Twitter (a topic of great interest to us here at Deep Bench lately). The second will be some controversy he’s recently stirred…
-“The Future of Twitter: Social CRM”
Guy talks about where he thinks Twitter will head next. Ads on the site itself? Ads on search tools? According to Mr. Kawasaki, the answer won’t come in the form of ads, but instead will come in the form of an opportunity to capitalize on Social Customer Relationship Management. That opportunity lies specifically in the “Management” element of the equation, where “this has tremendous opportunities for Twitter should they create their own brand management system that they can resell to the world’s companies to monitor, alert, track, prioritize, triage, assign, follow-up, and report on the interactions with brands.” Interesting indeed.
*Now for the controversy:
-“Guy Kawasaki Discloses Ghost Writers, Defuses Issue”
Guy Kawasaki unveils that he occasionally allows ghost writers to write a few of his tweets (between 5-7 a day). This is an interesting topic of discussion, so we’d love to hear your input on the issue in our comments section. Do ghost writers bother you? What if they’re disclosed from the beginning? Do you want the content you read to be guaranteed from the source itself, or is that source’s trust in his ghostwriters enough to win you over? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
As usual, Seth Godin comes in with a short, logical post describing what it takes to make something remarkable. Take, for example, the baxter. Haven’t heard of it? Well read up on what it is to understand why it’s so remarkable. Also, our own Mike Billeter has claimed that the official Deep Bench term for something remarkable is “The Mikeness.” So…dibs on that one…
This post from the Direct Marketing Voice blog goes against the typical “norms” of the social media discussion by arguing against the need to “fully invest” in social media efforts and managing to show just how many people social media really can affect (note: the numbers are lower than you’d think). In our mind, it just goes to show you that it’s not simply a matter of being online, but is much more a matter of having a focused and strategic marketing plan overall. If you don’t believe it, give the post a read and see what we mean.
-And last but not least, we’ll leave you with a good slideshow post full of inspiration to lead you into the coming work week. Plenty of insight gathered here, and it’s definitely worth the read.
So, what do you think? Agree with the topics in this week’s Box Scores? Any posts you disagreed with or just flat-out didn’t like? Let us know why in the comments section. Your input is key, so don’t hesitate to let us know what’s on your mind.
On that note, we will now carry on with our work week. We’re excited for the work we’ll be doing, but we’re probably even more excited for the arrival of the new addition to the Deep Bench crew. Hopefully she’s as intelligent as her parents (and her dad’s employees). If so, we’ve got lots to look forward to in the future of Deep Bench.
Do you know TED?
It’s pretty rare to meet someone online and know that your life has just been changed forever. However, from my first encounter with TED, I knew I had found someone (or something) special.
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an elite gathering of our world’s thought leaders and innovators. Challenged to “give the talks of their lives,” the best of best are given the stage for 18 minutes to inspire and challenge the assembled notables. This year, TED celebrates its 25th birthday.
I believe the true power of TED comes from a decision made in 2004 to share its presentations with the world. Freeing these world-changing speeches from their $6,000 per seat auditorium was at the same time both generous and visionary. Whether you choose to watch it on their site or download it to your iPod, we all now have the opportunity to know TED.
This weekend, I was challenged and inspired by yet another TED alum, Benjamin Zander. His limitless energy and focus on maximizing the potential in others was the message I was looking for. I have accepted Zander’s challenge to make Deep Bench a “one-buttock company.”
TED 2009 (on Twitter @ted2009) is being held this week with speakers including Bill Gates, Tim Berners-Lee (credited with inventing the World Wide Web), Seth Godin, Herbie Hancock and a former professor of mine, Barry Schwartz. Do yourself a favor and stop by www.ted.com to check out the brilliance being shared.
-Hugh Weber