Award of good deeds...

Friday we were honored to receive a bronze medal at the 54th Annual Art Directors Club of Houston Award Show for our work on the Cristo Rey Jesuit logo. The format of the show does not provide time for acceptance speeches. However, if it did, we would thank Father T.J. Martinez, Susan Martin and all of the amazing staff, faculty and board members involved for trusting us with such an important project. Opportunities such as these are what drive us to do “the Magis.”

Thank you.

Speaking of social media...

This week I presented to two marketing classes at Houston Baptist University on the subject of business-to-business social media applications and strategies. Beyond the case studies, it was surprising how many students had not stopped to consider how their facebook pages might impact their careers. More and more, employers are looking at candidates’ twitter streams and facebook posts as part of the vetting process.

As you can imagine, questions ranged from “Are you hiring?” to “Is there really a job with the professional title of ‘Facebooker?’”

So, here are my top five tips for those students looking to advance their careers and stand out.

Recognize the importance of networking. Sign up for LinkedIn NOW and grow your relationships. Invite everyone you meet (and like) to join your network.

1. Put yourself in a position to meet and interact with working professionals – attend business and industry events. Most organizations have student chapters or ambassadors. Ask everyone you meet about internship opportunities – even if they are unpaid.
2. Be respectful of those you meet and learn a bit about what they do and how you might be able to help them someday. It is better to give than to receive. By showing you care about them, they might care to help you.
3. Come prepared. If you are fortunate enough to get an interview, do your homework. Know something about the company and the people you are meeting.
4. Remember, most companies see hundreds of resumes and candidates, so the responsibility to stand out is yours. Always follow up and stay in touch; you never know when they might call you back. We have followed up with people up to a year after we interviewed the candidate for the position.

At the end of the day it’s simple, follow the golden rule and be patient. You have a lifetime ahead of you.

TEI Houston

Last Thursday we participated in The Entrepreneurship Institute's Houston Forum at The Rice Jones Graduate School of Business where over 100 entrepreneurs and company leaders gathered for the day to discuss the state of their businesses and hear speakers such as Tony Parella, President and CEO of Shared Technologies speak about building good businesses. For the second time, Nancy Barry spoke about generational differences and how to embrace them and Dr. Stephen Klineberg of Rice University talked about the changing demographics in the city of Houston. As board members, we moderated or spoke on panels ranging from Maximizing Human Capital to Smart Marketing. As sponsors of the San Antonio, Houston and Dallas chapters we're always amazed at the conversation and collaborative spirit of these events. Our thanks go out to Jan Zupnik, Jack Freeh and all those at TEI for their support and professionalism.

Check out TEI when you get a chance!

Aimee Receives ‘Big Head’ Accolades

This quarter’s Big Head award for employee excellence went to a very deserving individual — Aimee — who exemplifies our core values.

A versatile, experienced writer, Aimee brings Web sites, brochures, ads and other marketing materials to life by writing copy that is interesting, engaging and persuasive. Clients and coworkers know that copywriting is in good hands when it’s in Aimee’s.

Dependable, responsible, creative, smart, funny, empathetic…these are just a few of Aimee’s many strong points. What I admire most is her willingness to try new things, and the way she soaks up feedback and applies it when a similar situation presents itself.

Aimee is a coworker who can be counted on to follow through, meet deadlines and keep an eye on the details. She has outside-the-box ideas and you can tell she enjoys what she does.

Our clients appreciate the value Aimee brings. So do we! We’re proud that you’re our quarterly BrandExtract Big Head winner.

Doing Good for the Community

It’s funny how yesterday, a day that started off so gloomy with thunderstorms, turned out to be such a bright day. We spent the day volunteering at Habitat for Humanity. We hammered, sawed, tiled, installed cabinets, framed walls, and cut through bathroom counters to insert sinks.

We worked hard and we laughed a lot, just like we do in our everyday work.

BrandExtract helps companies and people grow. Habitat for Humanity helps people and communities grow. It was the perfect matchup from a cultural perspective.

Community involvement is a passion of ours and it’s always such a tremendous morale booster.

Give us materials and tools and we’ll put our creative talents to work on building something, whether it’s a brand, a home, or goodwill.

We had barely finished yesterday before we started talking about “next time” at Habitat for Humanity. We’ll definitely do this again. It was fun and really, really rewarding.

BoyarMiller Breakfast Forum

On Thursday, September 10th, we attended the BoyarMiller breakfast forum. One of three forums the firm holds each year. This one was focused on The Current State of the Capital Markets and included the following speakers:

• Paul B. Murphy, Jr., Chief Executive Officer – Amegy Bank of Texas Commercial Banking
• Andrew D. Kanaly, Chairman and CEO – Kanaly Trust Equities and the Public Markets
• Tom Fish, Vice Chairman – CBRE | MelodyReal Estate Finance
• Thomas M. Hargrove, Managing Director and Co-Founder – GulfStar Group Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions

The presentations were insightful and played well of one another. While most of the information was not positive, there were a few bright spots that provided a ray of hope for 2010 and beyond. View the event spotlight at BoyarMiller.com or view the press release for more information.



Debt produced by decade. Download the presentations from the BoyarMiller site.

Today was an award-winning day!

We found out today that we’ve received five Awards of Excellence from the Web Marketing Association!

What makes this news especially exciting is that the WebAwards is a prestigious, juried show.

Thousands of Web site entries are received from all over the world – so the competition is fierce and draws some of the best in the business. Each site is judged on each of the seven criteria: design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting, ease of use. Awards are given for Best of Industry, Outstanding Web site and Standard of Excellence.

Five sites developed by BrandExtract were judged as excellent: Chemstations, Graham-Pelton, Hughes Watters Askanase, Rignet and Tellepsen.

Congratulations to our employees. who put their strategic thinking, expertise and creative juices into creating these sites, and to each of these clients of ours for their inspiring collaboration and partnership.