Month: October 2012

Social Marketing Finds: Classes, Contests, and Partnerships Oh My!

General Assembly + OfAKind Partnership Contest
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

The week started off with a class themed overload, just forewarned, but these contests, partnerships, and content finds just couldn’t be ignored. However, there’s more than just classes, I promise.

Here’s a few examples of partnerships and contests from my favorite brands, in addition to extra goodies I wanted to share with you all. Enjoy!

Of A Kind + General Assembly: Get Schooled Giveaway

General Assembly + OfAKind Partnership ContestGeneral Assembly + OfAKind Facebook Contest

I was first introduced to Of A Kind a few weeks ago, when I found out they were having an event at their limited time only Pop-Up store. While checking out the company I fell in love with the concept. It felt exclusive, like buying something truly unique. I saw this back to school set on the site before, which I loved and seemed like the only reasonable thing I could afford. However, I’m also one of those indecisive buyers. That’s why I’m glad I found this, and this is such a great partnership.

General Assembly: Private Class Giveaway

General Assembly Private Classes Social Media Contest

I’m not sure what the reason is for so many giveaways with General Assembly but I’m not complaining. Who wouldn’t want a private class. Keep ’em coming. You have my attention. I’ve enter to win both. Pick Me Please!

3rd Ward Brooklyn: Creative Speed Networking

3rd Ward Speed Networking Class Facebook Post

Why must 3rd Ward be so far away. I’m in need of more class based companies in Astoria. This image instantly caught my attention first and then I looked at the description. Now that’s a creative event concept, especially since I don’t really like networking. This is a great solution; it’s quick, easy, and if it’s awkward you can move on in a few minutes.

Warby Parker Class Trip + American Express

Warby Parker Class Trip Facebook Post

This is simply well executed. More than anything, I love A.) A creative campaign or event and B.) Attention to detail. Check out the full site to get the whole experience. My personal faves: Their Facebook Class Rep Video Contest & the on the road blog. Now I’m super bummed I missed out on NYC- I’m due for a new pair of glasses. These old ones need to get off my face immediately!

ModCloth: Awe & Order Contest

ModCloth Facebook Contest Modcloth contest entries

This contest works because it makes me realize how much I need to spruce up my space and put more order in my life. These entries provide great visual examples of organizing your space while putting my apartment to shame. Then it hooks me into ModCloth– Could they be the answer to my clutter? Now I’m on their site…again. Brilliant. Just wish there was more buzz and promotion on it. As you can see I caught the tail end of the contest and I’m not the only one, they only had a handful of entries.

Seamless: It’s Raining

Seamless "It's Raining" Facebook Post

Clever, funny, simple, and doesn’t have to go too far on the design to get its message across.

Orbitz & 5 Gum Micro Pack – Freebies

Mini Gum Pack Samples from Orbit and 5

Hustler Tip: Stick around Midtown for awesome street promotions and marketing ops, like these free micro gum packs I scored. I tend to avoid Midtown (and Chinatown) like the plague but I forgot about the freebies. I may need to rethink this.

Enjoy the rest of your week! Share your favorite social media brand posts, contests, partnerships, freebies, anything at all, in the comments.

Creativity Comes In All Industries: My Love for Creative Mornings NY

Simon Sinek Creative Mornings
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Creative Mornings NY

NY Creative Mornings Nametag

Anyone who knows me at all knows I’m a regular at Creative Mornings NY. I have been going for almost a year now and have been to:

Now what is the reason for this post?

As I attended my regular monthly Creative Mornings today — or as the speaker today put it “The Breakfast Club”, which I love, (both Creative Mornings and the Movie of course.) I realized what I truly love about this community is the speakers. Recently I’ve noticed that I’ve been sticking to industry related meetups, talks, classes, and networking events. As much as I love social media and digital, it’s wearing on me. Back in high school and college I would attend at least one concert a week. I was a film major watching countless of movies from all genres and regions of the world, and when I first moved to NYC there was never an event or corner I wouldn’t explore — from cooking lessons to comedy shows to photography group scoutings. Life is full of culture and I wanted to taste it all.

Point being is I miss mixing it up. And frankly, that’s the best part about Creative Mornings, when it comes down to the event I simply don’t have to think. I am always guaranteed an amazing speaker that will be at the peak of creativity in their industry. Whether that industry be film, illustration, design, art, science, tech, business, inspiration, or imagination. These mornings force me out of my usual social/digital comfort zone to explore the creative approaches to so many different fields. This is what I truly love about it. 

Thanks SwissMiss!

P.S. If you know me at all, even when I can’t remember the date for the next Creative Morning, I always seem to have this six sense as to when the next one is coming. True Story. I also have a strategy when it comes to sign-up — which I can not reveal at this time.

Random Creative Mornings NY Photos:

Brand Alphabet Creative Mornings NY   Simon Sinek Creative Mornings  Inspiration NY Creative Mornings NY Quote from Creative Mornings NY

The Art and Science of Making Things with Seth Godin

How do you define making?
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Last weekend I made my way to the New York Hall of Science for the annual Maker Faire. Now with 2 years under my belt it is definitely an event worth checking out. This year I was particularly giddy to get the chance to see a presentation from one of my ideals Seth Godin.

Seth Godin

Here are a few of my key takeaways from his speech:

Learn by doing things wrong. 

The guy who invented the ship, also invented the shipwreck.

In schools, particularly in science classes, we are programmed to show that we know how to do the steps done by scientists 40 to 400 years ago. And when we try to test something new or do something different we get in trouble and get marked down.

Rembrandt had assistants, yet we don’t know who they are because they did exactly what Rembrandt wanted them to do.

If you’re doing something that might not work, you’re making — and that’s risky.

If you’re not willing to fail you’re not willing to innovate. 

Even at the Maker Faire you see people buying these science kits to do at home. We do this because we naturally want something to work. We’re programmed this way, otherwise it feels uneasy to us.

With the internet, social media, and technology, we now have the ability to connect. We also need to get better at connecting and not being afraid to share things we’re working on. Instead, what we should be saying is: “I made this, what do you think? How can I make this better?”

We naturally connect to those that are doing work that matters.

Start asking yourself:

  1. What is school for?
  2. If you are a maker, what have you made recently that you failed at?
  3. What have you made that was interesting, why haven’t you shared it? You should be sharing — it’s the connecting that helps you get better at it.

Visual interpretation of Seth Godin's Maker's Faire talk

This was a visual interpretation of Seth Godin’s speech. To hear the full version of his presentation — you can view the full talk here.

Social Marketing Mondays: Facebook Cover Photos

Fun Stuff- Holiday Matinee Facebook Cover Photo
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Facebook Cover Photos

A few months ago this change was new to us, now we know it as the large picture in our Facebook profiles everyone first sees when they land on our page. There are a few rules to live by — such as you cannot use your own contact information or CTA’s (calls to actions) such as “Like our Page”, “Buy my new book”, “Tune in Sept 3rd at 7pm” because this is what Facebook Ads are for… Yet I enjoy these rules. It makes limits limitless and the beauty of rules is that they were always made to be broken. Simply put, I love finding examples of how companies are embracing these boundaries and in turn trying to tell their story visually.

Here are a few examples:

Fun Stuff- Holiday Matinee Facebook Cover Photo

Inspire // Holiday Matinee

My initial reaction to this image and message was inspiration and that’s exactly what Holiday Matinee is — a blog for creative inspiration. It tells you everything you need to know about the company from a single image.

Lomography Facebook Cover Photo

Show Off Your Community // Lomography

Lomography just did an update that showcased: A.) Their product — analog cameras with analog film quality and B.) Their community of users. I’m very familiar with these shots better known as photography workshops, which are always the best.

3rd Ward Facebook Cover Photo

Tell a Story // 3rd Ward

I am familiar with 3rd Ward but maybe not everyone else is. There’s a lot of tools going on here leaving me curious to find out more about what they do. Which if you explore further, is perfectly fitting for them.

Tasting Table Facebook Cover Photo

Creative Approaches // Tasting Table

I have mentioned Tasting Table‘s Custom Guest Editor Facebook landing pages in an earlier article. Yet I’m still impressed by it, it’s such a creative way to showcase content while also putting a face to them. Brilliant!

New York Road Runners Facebook Cover Photo

Motivation // New York Road Runners

If this image of seasoned runners doesn’t get you motivated to run, I don’t know what else will. Not only that, but it makes me feel good that there’s a community out there that supports a range of runs in NY for a wide range of people on all kinds of levels.

Open Sky Facebook Cover Photo

Leave Me Hanging  // OpenSky

I would have to include this as my bad example. I have never been too familiar with what OpenSky does — but I know this image doesn’t help either. Are they cooking supplies, lessons, lifestyle? Nope, actually they are “a shopping experience that matches individual taste with the exceptional finds of industry insiders.” — but you wouldn’t really know this from this image.